Guest Blogger -- The Fiddling Ant: It's NOT the War on Terror Stupid!

It's NOT The War on Terror, Stupid!
http://fiddlingant.blogspot.com/2013/09/its-not-war-on-terror-stupid.html

On the 14th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the powers-that-be continue to refer to "The War on Terror," as if we are fighting terror.  "War on Terror" gets more than 85,000,000 Google results.

At the risk of being politically incorrect, the correct label should be "War on Islamic Fascism." However, this only shows up on Google 1,760,000 times which is only 2% of the "War On Terror" label. As usually, political correctness wins out, even when it is wrong.
In the past fourteen years, ALL of the terrorist attacks on America have been perpetrated by Islamic Fascists. (scroll to the bottom of this post for a definition of Islamic Fascism). We don't have militant Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, or even atheists attacking the United States.
Twenty-five of the twenty-eight terrorists on the FBI Most Wanted List have Arabic names. When Christians leave a church, Jews leave a synagogue, Buddhists or Hindus leave a temple, you don't see them rioting and killing people. However, it is a common occurrence for Muslims to riot and kill after leaving a mosque service after being incited by a Muslim preacher. It happens with disturbing regularity.
To be clear, the overwhelming majority of Muslims do not ascribe to the radical views of Islamic Fascists so thoroughly demonstrated by ISIS, but they are allowed to preach their terror inciting views nonetheless.
In our modern PC world, in its quest for equality and diversity, all cultures are recognized as having equal value.  This is not true and thank goodness the PC virus did not exist when America fought WWII. When Germany and Japan were defeated the fascist Nazis and fascist Japanese imperialists were rooted out. Germany and Japan are now much better for this.  However, in Iraq and Afghanistan, no action was taken to combat the roots of Islamic Fascism. No wonder there is little hope for improvement in these countries without America's presence.
The Associated Press, which is the source for much of our news, perpetrates the whitewashing with stylebook rules (also here) that keep reporters from identifying Islamists as terrorists.
To look at Hollywood, the movie industry has studiously avoided making Muslims the bad guys. For example, when Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears was made into a movie they changed the terrorists from Muslims to Europeans. Most movies that tackle the subject of America's fight against terrorists show America in a bad light. (For a screenplay showing what would happen if Hollywood was attached by terrorists, see here.)
In World War II, Franklin Roosevelt announced that it would be a war that would end with the Unconditional Surrender of our enemies. There was no talk of "degrading" the enemy. The war ended in less than four years after this statement. Now Germany and Japan have turned from suppressed fascist states to thriving democracies.  Here we are 14 years after 9/11 and although we have been able to eliminate some of the terrorist leadership, the root source of animosity to America remains.
Where do you think Germany and Japan would be today if the philosophies of Nazism and Japanese imperialism were not eliminated? During the cold war, America had a Voice of America radio show that broadcast news and American values to countries under communist suppression. Why have we not done the same during this war?
________________"The most obvious points of comparison would be these: Both movements are based on a cult of murderous violence that exalts death and destruction and despises the life of the mind. ("Death to the intellect! Long live death!" as Gen. Francisco Franco's sidekick Gonzalo Queipo de Llano so pithily phrased it.) Both are hostile to modernity (except when it comes to the pursuit of weapons), and both are bitterly nostalgic for past empires and lost glories. Both are obsessed with real and imagined "humiliations" and thirsty for revenge. Both are chronically infected with the toxin of anti-Jewish paranoia (interestingly, also, with its milder cousin, anti-Freemason paranoia). Both are inclined to leader worship and to the exclusive stress on the power of one great book. Both have a strong commitment to sexual repression—especially to the repression of any sexual "deviance"—and to its counterparts the subordination of the female and contempt for the feminine. Both despise art and literature as symptoms of degeneracy and decadence; both burn books and destroy museums and treasures." Christopher Hitchens, Defending Islamofascism: It's a valid term. Here's why, Slate, 2007-10-22

The BSA Bows to the god of Political Correctness

The Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has issued a summary of the resolution passed by the National Executive Board on July 27^th.

This summary consists of four points regarding what the BSA will and will not allow, and what they will and will not defend as it pertains to homosexual adult leaders in the organization.  The bottom line is that the organization will allow homosexual adult leaders among the youth of BSA, a point of contention with many religious organizations which sponsor Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops.

The problem with this newest Resolution is that the BSA issued a previous resolution stating this would never happen.  When the BSA now says "The BSA will steadfastly defend the right of religious Chartered Organizations to select leaders whose beliefs are consistent with those of the religious organization," they actually mean they will defend that right until the next BSA decision to the contrary.  

The Boy Scout Promise starts out: "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country..."  Now, to be truthful, Boy Scouts will have to say some along the lines of "...to do my duty to God, except where BSA officials give me leave to disobey Him."

Several organizations such as the Mormons and the Assemblies of God church have formed their own youth organizations to replace the BSA.  Maybe that is a good thing.  If God is to be the center of our teachings to today's youth, we should at least ensure God is obeyed, and not treated like a smorgasbord meal -- a little from here and a little from there.  He is either God and the center of our obedience, or He is not and we should not play games with what He requires of us.  

Sadly, grown men have bowed in worship to the false god of political correctness and the power of the mob.  I maintain that political correctness is merely a loose invention by the unprincipled to have their own way over critical thinking; an excuse for stereotyping, glossing over, and not having to deal with reality.  How unfortunate that tomorrow's leaders must suffer this example of poor leadership; the spectacle of leaders of industry bowing before the false god of mercurial public opinion.

"THIS IS WAR. PEOPLE ARE DYING."

By Ed Evans, MGySgt. USMC (Ret.)

"THIS IS WAR. PEOPLE ARE DYING." -- Alonzo Lundsford, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant (Ret.), Victim of 2009 Fort Hood terrorist attack

For my Marine friends, the double tragedy of this cowardly shooting in Chattanooga is that these four Marines were members of the 4th Battalion, 14th Marines, 4th Marine Division. While a couple of Marine units have been known as "Dark Horse", this unit was the Dark Horse of Fallujah, the heroes of Fallujah who set a record for number of mortar rounds fired, taking the city that couldn't be taken from the enemy. This unit also served in Afghanistan. These Marines didn't deserve to be cowardly slaughtered, unarmed, like this.

We must change our strategy. This is war. A stronger stand overseas and armed military at home. They go armed overseas, why not at home, where the war has now come to us?
I make the point that when the Fort Hood Army Major took his personal weapon on base and began to murder soldiers, they were unarmed. When a female Army MP got to the scene with her weapon, she took him down immediately. One woman less than five foot tall, with her weapon, took him down. Name any terrorist murder scene with a shooter, and one person with a weapon would have stopped it when it started. 

This is war. People are dying.

We know the enemy and we know who supports them.  Yet we do not properly equip those trained to do the fighting.  We don't go after them with victory in our throat, and that is at our own peril. Our pansy leadership today, dragging ROEs, collateral damage issues, bean-counting practices onto the battlefield are ultimately responsible for our cemeteries of warrior dead, and the fact that we face an enemy inside our gates, and that we stand so deathly close to losing our God-given freedoms and liberties.

This is war.  People are dying.

Commitment is a Verb

By Chaplain Ed Evans

          The word “commitment” has always seemed to me to be a word of action.

          But as my high school English teacher would affirm, “commitment” is a noun.  It doesn’t describe anything so it’s not an adjective, and contrary to what I think, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary says it is not a verb, not an action word.

          What “commitment” is, says the dictionary, is a promise to do or give something; to be loyal to someone or something; the attitude of someone who works very hard to do or support something.  Now, those all sound like actions to me, but I won’t quibble because I would rather discuss what one of our patriot forefathers – John Adams – had to say regarding “commitment”.

          What brought this subject to mind is that I had been spending the 4^th of July watching a series of patriotic films on the Turner Classic Movie TV channel, specifically the movie "1776", the three hour portrayal of the newly formed American Congress as they struggled through creating the Declaration of Independence, accepting the difficult task of setting aside their own families and fortunes to put this nation on the course destiny held for it. 

          While visiting Philadelphia, I had the opportunity to spend time in that room used by those men, so watching that portrayal had a special interest for me.

          The give and take of crafting that remarkable document – the Declaration of Independence – brought about several verbal and physical assaults.  The original document crafted by Thomas Jefferson saw hundreds of words deleted and added.

          Three quotes in the film stayed with me, perhaps because those three lines were also matters of history.  In the first, Benjamin Franklin assures his fellow members of that first Colonial Congress that if they do not hang together on this issue, they shall surely hang separately.  Once the document is signed, John Hancock is the first signee but the discussions continue until Hancock declares, “Gentlemen, if we are arrested now, my signature is still the only one on the damn thing!”

          But it is one of the final quotes by John Adams to which I wish to direct your attention.  In the film, Abigail Adams finds it necessary to remind her husband, John Adams, of what he has said to her many times: “There are only two creatures of value on the face of this earth - those with a commitment and those who require the commitment of others.”

          I bring that quote to your attention because in our current day and age, it seems to be the very quality of commitment that is missing, covered over and shoved out of place by political correctness.  It’s my private theory that “PC” is a loose invention by the unprincipled to have their way over critical thinking; an excuse for stereotyping, glossing over, and not dealing with reality.

          I believe John Adams must have been an intellectual prophet of sorts, or perhaps humanity has not really progressed all that much since the 1700’s.  For throughout the United States and the entire world itself, John Adams’ observation remains true.  There are those who are committed to a cause, and those whos e3ntire survival often depends upon those who are committed to a cause.

          U.S. Marines like to quote the words of a Marine from the Korean War era: “Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share. -- Captain J.E. "Ned" Dolan, USMC (Ret.) Platoon Leader E/2/7, Korean War.  There you have an example of commitment, and those who will only survive by the commitment of others.

          Finally, there is one last Korean War era quote I would share with you, from 1^st Marine Division Chaplain Father Kevin Keaney, “You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth -- and the amusing thing about it is that they are.”

          Where is your commitment?  To yourself, your skill, your God?  The word of God tells us commitment should be found in various aspects of our life: commitment to our families, neighbors, employers, the church, our health, and in everything that we do and say.  Those things are referenced in Ephesians 6:5; Hebrews 10:25; and 1st Corinthians 6:19 and 31. Commitment to all the things we might expect.  And yet, the Bible also teaches the chief commitment of our lives must be to God Himself. Jesus said, in Matthew 22:37-38, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”  True, it’s a commandment to us, but it should also be a sacred commitment by us.  Are we committed, or relying on the commitment of others?

The Less Than Supreme Court

by Ed Evans

          Many people are now saying the U.S. Supreme Court made a mistake in their ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.  I contend it was no mistake.  The Justices deliberately made themselves enablers to immoral behavior and accomplices to the coming persecution and prosecution of Christian ministers who will, in accordance with holy scripture, refuse to perform such marriages. 

          Members of the Southern Baptist Convention, at their recent annual meeting, affirmed their intention not to perform such ceremonies.  Other ministers have affirmed the same.  The town of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, already has on its books a law that will jail any minister who refuses to marry a homosexual couple.

          A Smithsonian.com article of two years ago said, “According to a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, about 20 percent of the population is attracted to their own gender. That’s nearly double the usual estimates of about 10 percent.”  The article went on to say the difference may lay in survey methodology.

          If the figures from that survey were still true today, that would still leave 80% of Americans who are not homosexual.  Now, those figures must have changed with time, but they can’t be far off in just two years.  So the question arises, why would the justices of the Supreme Court force on 80% of the people what pleases only 20%; something that goes against the religious beliefs and training of most of that majority; something so repugnant it was illegal only a short time ago; so repugnant it is called an abomination to God in scripture.

          Recently there was a break-in at a home in Texas that carries a message for us regarding this recent judicial decision.  A 30-year-old burglar was shot coming through a window in a home belonging to a senior citizen.  The senior citizen had a .357 Magnum pistol and the intruder died inside the home he came to rob.  When the police notified the burglar’s relatives, they were irate that the senior citizen did not fire a warning shot. This Supreme Court travesty of claiming legality for what is wrong is a warning shot to those pure of heart.

          There are things that are right, and there are things that are wrong.  And claiming that wrong things are right, because doing them gives you pleasure, will never make them right. Such things are wrong for very valid reasons.

          Even the learned opinion of highly educated legal judges on the U.S. Supreme Court cannot make actions that are wrong … right.  Attempting to change or justify wrongness into rightness will only prove to set in motion Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Physics, i.e., “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  We have yet to see the Pandora’s box of justified evils to be set into motion by the legal precedent this latest decision establishes.

          There may be reasons beyond our human understanding as to why God set marriage up to be one man and one woman, something beyond creating the kind of family that can procreate and raise children.  But we do know that at least one of those reasons alone is reason enough for marriage to involve a male and a female.  Whatever His reasons, Biblical marriage involves one man and one woman, although the Bible does document instances where men took multiple wives.  But even those unions were male and female. 

          On the other hand, holy scripture has plenty to say against same sex relationships.

          Some will say it is nothing personal by the Justices, they are merely weighing judicial precedent, merely following the law.  But as C.S. Lewis pointed out, “You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.”  It also follows that the law without justice is simply unjust. 

          And that is what the Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have done, as they ignored the needs of the primary building block of the nation – the family – and blindly allowed political correctness to warp their sense of justice.  They have acted unjustly, and become both enablers to and accomplices with those who for selfish and transitory entertainment would destroy that which is good and right and unselfish. 

          There is no good way to do a wrong thing.  What the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have done is eternally wrong.  

Get Ready for Social Martyrdom

 With American ethics and morals descending into cultural Marxism and the family unit -- the building block of democracy -- being destroyed, as the Supreme Court prepares to redefine marriage, Christians may as well prepare spiritually for a kind of social martyrdom; social shunning, the Christian ethics and organizations, the Church, attacked in courts, maybe job loss.  We're already seeing businesses like bakeries and florists forced out of business because they won't compromise their ethics and morals. 

The late Cardinal George of Chicago saw it coming, as does, apparently, Pope Francis. He sees where the world is headed. He talked about it a couple of weeks ago in a homily that did not get much media attention.  But then, the news media today reports only gossip, not news, anymore.  http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-get-ready-to-be-martyrs-even-in-the-little-things-67893/

Yes, For Such As This

            Men and women join the Marine Corps for many reasons.  Not being female I will not speak for the ladies, but young men often join either hoping the Marine Corps will make a man of them, or because they believe it is the manly thing to do.  And of course, there is a bit of patriotism mixed in there, too.  Along the way the desire to be the man they eventually realize they are becomes less important, and patriotism begins to play a much bigger role in our lives.

            As we grow older, speaking just for myself now, the ideals we fought for, and the high price of the lives who paid for protecting those ideals comes back to me more and more.  I, like you probably, know by name many of those who paid the price to ensure you and I are still here today.  And it becomes more and more important to us to support and protect those original ideals of what freedom, individual liberty, and this nation are all about.

            After all, we fought for those ideals, those freedoms, and we know the names of those who not here to enjoy the freedoms they paid dearly for.  So when we see corruption, on a local or national scale, when we see the law being twisted to favor this one and impinge on the freedoms of that one, we are not pleased.  Let’s face it, we are a very diverse people, coming from many different backgrounds, seeking many different things.  Even when we wore the Marine Corps uniform, we didn’t get along with everyone.  We had their back, and they had ours, but that didn’t mean we liked all of them.  We were brothers.

            So now later we must admit to ourselves and others, we don’t like everything we see going on around us.  There is sadness, anger, frustration to be worked out among us.  But if we dwell on those things, we find only more sadness, anger, frustration. That is not where the answers lie.

            But as we might expect, our God knows where those answers lie.  We find a strong hint about that in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter four, verse eight: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

            In a week when many of the things I see going wrong all about us seemed to climb on a tall pedestal and shout at me, suddenly out of the stinking fog that surrounded me came a reminder of Philippians 4:8.  It came in the form of a YouTube video, a fantastic combination of what using computers should be about, with the highest talents of individual strangers, and music.

            It’s actually been around for a while, so perhaps you’ve already seen it.  It is Eric Whitacre: A Virtual Choir 2,000 Voices Strong.

            As I watched this presentation of how it all came about, how it came together, and the final product, and then a preview of the next version to come, it occurred to me that of such is the human race intended, glorifying God with who and what they are, as individuals and in consonance.  Listen to what he has to say when he talks about "human beings will go to any lengths to connect...."

            Throughout the video, God was never mentioned, and yet it was the culmination of all the technical, creative, imaginative abilities with which He gifted us.

            It is for such beauty that we exist, not to glorify ourselves, not to get over on one another, not to merely exist, not to do violence to one another to impose our beliefs on others, not even to be the best or the brightest.

            Watch this when you have a chance, listen, notice what is happening.  Even as an experienced writer I find it difficult to pull together the right words to adequately describe how good and fulfilled I feel when I watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NENlXsW4pM 

            May God richly bless them, even as their shared efforts have blessed us.