The occasional, often ill-considered thoughts of a Roman Catholic permanent deacon who is ever grateful to God for his existence. Despite the strangeness we encounter in this life, all the suffering we witness and endure, being is good, so good I am sometimes unable to contain my joy. Deo gratias!


Although I am an ordained deacon of the Catholic Church, the opinions expressed in this blog are my personal opinions. In offering these personal opinions I am not acting as a representative of the Church or any Church organization.

Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Overcoming Hatred and Evil

"There will be peace in the Middle East only when the Arabs love their children more than they hate Israel.” ~ Golda Meir

Have you been listening to the ongoing controversy about the attack on the Gaza hospital? If you haven't, you must be stranded on a desert island awaiting rescue. Apparently, according to Hamas (a collection of rapists, torturers, and murderers of women and children), as well as every Islamic nation, and most Western media, Israeli aircraft bombed a Gaza hospital and killed hundreds of patients and medical personnel. Did the mainstream media question this assertion by Hamas, an organization whose leaders cannot open their mouths without lying? Did they tell us they were investigating these claims to see if they were true? No, they simply accepted them as true. But then Israel stated it has extremely convincing evidence that the catastrophe at the hospital resulted from an errant missile fired by Islamist terrorists supporting Hamas. Our own intelligence agencies have confirmed the same. And, believe me, anyone who knows anything about the effects of bombing know full well the damage was not the result of a bomb dropped by an aircraft. This has been generally ignored by all the usual suspects who, as expected, accept the word of baby killers and rapists over the that of the Israeli government and our intelligence agencies. One underlying belief that motivates all those accusing Israel, or just blindly accepting the Hamas lies, is what we like to call anti-Semitism, which I will translate into the far more descriptive, “hatred of Jews,” especially those who live in Israel.

Of course, our president, while declaring his full support for Israel, just can’t bring himself to mention the nasty elephant in the room: the terrorist Islamic Republic of Iran. Addressing the states that support Hamas and hate Israel, which presumably includes Iran, he tells them all not to do anything rash by saying, “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.” What exactly does that mean? If our enemies don’t know, they will logically assume we don’t either. The president’s words are certainly no real threat to those who plan to do Israel and us real harm. How much more effective it would be if President Biden simply told them bluntly that by joining in this conflict, they might well precipitate World War III. To prevent this we would be forced to attack them in their homelands, destroying their military and industrial infrastructures. It would seem, however, the administration will continue to deal with our enemies as if they were rational beings. But that is not the case. Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and too many others are zealots who have no problem sacrificing their own people for their quasi-religious cause. Life and death mean little to those driven solely by their hateful ideology. These are not easy people to deal with, but one thing we know: they respect power only when believe it will be used against them.

The next few months should be very interesting. Sadly, Hamas is run and staffed by vicious people so there’s little chance they will change without God’s help. This is true also of Hezbollah, Iran, and far too many others blinded by sheer hatred. Continued peace for Israel will likely require a lengthy and challenging effort to destroy the war-making capability of Hamas and remove it from power in Gaza. There is much our nation can do to lessen the threat to Israel, and the greater threat to Western civilization. I’m just not very confident our current political leadership has the courage and the will to do what must be done. We pray for peace, but for continuing peace. Pray, too, for the conversion of all who despise the Lord and His people. After all, with God, all things are possible.
 

Saturday, January 7, 2017

News from Israel: Old and New

I thought it might be interesting to share a few recent news items out of Israel -- some relate to current events while others touch on the nation's ancient roots. The first item says much about the attitude of the United Nations with regard to the state of Israel.


UNRWA School in Gaza
UN Schools Teach Palestinian Children to Hate Israel and Jews. In the West Bank and Gaza the United Nations operates a number of schools attended mainly by Palestinian children. These schools, which receive funding from the United Nations' Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), use textbooks provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Education. As you might imagine, these textbooks are strongly anti-Israel. They purposely do not recognize the existence of Israel, even excluding the country from maps of the region. Equally disturbing, the books claim that the holy sites in Israel are exclusively Muslim sites, fail to mention their Jewish origins, and even accuse the Jews of trying to control them illegally. The books also contain no historical reference to the Jews or the Hebrew language. In effect these UN schools simply continue the racism and antisemitism that typify the official Palestinian position. Is it any wonder that peace between Israel and the Palestinians is so illusive since one side refuses to accept the existence of the other? It also explains the recent anti-Israel resolution passed by the UN, a resolution which the Obama administration supported by its refusal to exercise its veto.

Gaza-based Jihadist: Ban Christmas. If you're a Jihadist (aka, a terrorist) a good place to hang out is in Gaza where you will be well protected by the Palestinian authorities. You'll also have access to some cool textbooks. Anyway, one of these jokers, who's been given the label of "Senior Islamic State Jihadist," goes by the name of Abu Omar Almaqdesi. (Let's just call him Abe.) It seems Abe has been very vocal of late. Discussing recent terrorism in Turkey, Germany, and Jordan, he announced that such attacks are "the price these states must pay for positioning themselves as part of the Crusader Coalition of infidel countries fighting against Islam." Just a thought, but I suspect the German. Turkish, and Jordanian governments (or, for that matter, the US government) do not consider themselves as part of a Crusader Coalition. Too bad. If they did we might actually get somewhere in our misnamed war on terror. 

Abe also added a few seasonal comments relating to Christmas: "If somewhere there are Christians who insist on celebrating Christmas with the support of the heretic authorities, one must unleash upon them all one's might and deploy all the available means." He went on to explain that "all methods are admissible when it comes to preventing blasphemy against Allah and his commandments. Yes, including killing and blowing up." Then, apparently getting into the Christmas spirit, Abe added, "But...we believe that first you should act politely and explain that living in Islamic countries is conditioned on accepting Sharia and refrain from openly practicing rituals other than Islam." I guess after you've been polite, you can go ahead and blow them up. Don't you just love these guys? Abe sounds like a prime candidate for an extended vacation at Gitmo.

Having been promised by God to Abraham about 4,000 years ago, the Holy Land is a remarkable treasure trove for archaeologists. Like much of the Middle East, modern day Israel has lots of interesting stuff beneath its surface just waiting to be uncovered. Here are a couple of cool stories I found particularly interesting.

Egyptian Slab -- Ancient Hebrew? Inscriptions
Hebrew is #1. A Canadian archaeologist, Douglas Petrovich, has generated a whole lot of controversy among his colleagues by claiming that the Hebrew alphabet might just be the world's oldest. One can only assume his claims will not be well-received in Gaza. Petrovich believes that the Hebrews, when they were in Egypt, converted the local hieroglyphics into their own alphabet so they could express their Hebrew language in written form. He dates this alphabet to almost 4,000 years ago. He also claims to have found specific Biblical references from Genesis and Exodus -- to Moses, Ahisamach and Asenath -- as he translated various inscriptions. He's taking a lot of heat from the skeptics, but who knows? He might be right. After all, we know God was partial to Hebrew.


One of the many Temple Floor Tiles recovered
Second Temple Floor Tiles Discovered. Jerusalem's
second Temple, the one started by Herod and destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., is now covered by a Muslim shrine. This makes excavations a bit tense since the Muslims do not want Jewish access to this holy site. The second Temple is also the Temple of the Gospels at which Jesus and his disciples worshiped. As a result of excavations that began in 2005, over 600 of the Temple's floor tiles have been found and many have been restored. These are the only known physical elements of the Temple so they are considered extremely important. They are also of interest to Christians since Jesus quite possibly walked on many of these floor tiles.

I find it amazing that today, thousands of years after these events, we continue to discover such wondrous things. And so often these finds support the Biblical narrative that so many have considered unreliable at best. It would seem that God delights in leading us to that which magnifies His Word.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Christmas 2011

Over the past week or so I've come across several news stories, most related to Christmas, that I decided might be of interest to those who read this blog. I found these stories intriguing because they span the globe and don't really form a cohesive whole or obvious pattern. The events described depict our world in all its often contradictory strangeness, and show us how ill-advised it can be to draw general conclusions from single events. I'll refrain from making too many editorial comments and will let the stories speak or themselves, letting you draw your own conclusions.

Indonesia. Members of a number of Muslim groups attended Christmas Masses in Catholic churches and services in Protestant churches in an effort to discourage attacks by Islamic terrorists who have targeted these churches in the past. 1,500 members of one of these groups, the Muslim United Organization, actually patrolled Christian churches to protect them from attack. The result for Indonesian Christians was one of the most peaceful Christmas seasons in recent years. To read more: Muslim commitment ensures peaceful Christmas

Bethlehem and Gaza. This is the story of two Christmases, one in Bethlehem, a city in Israel governed by the secular Fatah of the Palestinian National Authority, and the other in Gaza, ruled by Hamas. This Christmas in Bethlehem, over 100,000 Christians from across the globe celebrated Christmas, worshiping the newborn Jesus in Manger Square. For Fatah Christmas is a real money-maker, and they also must accept that large numbers of Arab Christians still live in Bethlehem. But in Gaza, where all is controlled by the Hamas Islamist terrorists, there were no Christmas celebrations by the Christians living there. They know better. Any public display of their Christian faith can have dire consequences. Even the UK's leftist, pro-Palestinian Guardian found the plight of Gaza Christians worth addressing: Hamas cancels Christmas. To read more on the difference between these two celebrations: Bethlehem and Gaza

USA and Canada. From Toronto to Florida it's apparently become an "in thing" to steal the Baby Jesus from nativity scenes. The thieves seem to be interested only in the Baby Jesus and generally do not take the other statues in the nativity scenes. Although I have my suspicions, I won't hazard any guesses as to the motives behind these odd thefts and will let you decide for yourselves. Read more here: Baby Jesus thefts

Nigeria.  For the second straight year, Islamist terrorist have attacked Catholic churches in Nigeria at Christmas. This year 39 people were killed in the attacks; last year 32 were killed. And each year dozens more have been seriously injured. The group responsible for the attacks, Boko Haram, has as its goal the institution of Sharia Law throughout Nigeria. According to their spokesman, "There will never be peace until our demands are met. We want all our brothers who have been incarcerated to be released; we want full implementation of the Sharia system and we want democracy and the constitution to be suspended." I suspect such a group is not likely to engage in meaningful negotiation. To read more: Church attacks in Nigeria

Boston. The famed MBTA, Boston's subway authority, donned a Scrooge suit on Christmas night instead of the traditional "gay apparel", and reprimanded one of their dispatchers for programming the lyrics to "Deck the Halls" on the Park Street LED sign that normally displays only the date and time. Apparently the authority's authorities considered any display of Christmas spirit in the bleak underground world of the MBTA to be undesirable. Passengers, however, seem to disagree. Speaking of the cheery sign, one rider, Miriam Monlisa Gharavi, stated, “...it's probably one of the best things they’ve ever done. I can’t remember the last time the T made somebody smile.” To read more: MBTA Scrooges dispatcher

Vatican City. Pope Benedict XVI, in his final general audience of 2011, urged the faithful to focus on the truth and reality of Christmas and not so much on the often distracting externals. In his words, "Christmas greetings, which are exchanged in these days, must not lose their religious significance in today's society and the celebration must not be absorbed by external aspects that touch the heartstrings. Certainly, the external symbols are beautiful and important, provided they do not distract us, but rather help us to experience Christmas in its truest sense, which is sacred and Christian, so that our joy is not superficial but profound." The pope added, "Today - every day - we are invited to discover the presence of God's saving love in our midst. In the birth of Jesus, God comes to us and asks us to receive him, so that he can be born in our lives and transform them, and our world, by the power of his love. The Christmas liturgy also invites us to contemplate Christ's birth against the backdrop of his paschal mystery. Christmas points beyond itself, to the redemption won for us on the Cross and the glory of the Resurrection. May this Christmas fill you with joy in the knowledge that God has drawn near to us and is with us at every moment of our lives." To read his entire address: Papal Audience

Bangladesh. An interesting effort undertaken by a Buddhist has resulted in the construction of a hostel for that welcomes orphaned, abandoned and disabled tribal children, Buddhist and Christian, with the aim of educating them so they will have a significant impact on the future of the nation. Joined by several of his colleagues, the founder, Mong Yeo Marma, who spent much of his own childhood in an orphanage, has already built a Christian chapel and a Buddhist temple on the grounds of Hill Child Home. According to Mong Yeo, "This sense of frustration is something you carry inside you from when you are small. This is why this hostel is so important. It provides opportunities for these kids to grow up in an environment where they feel welcome and accepted for who they are, where they can explore, discover and develop their talents, to learn respect for and the value of women. Even the tribal children are the future of this country and education plays a fundamental role. Only when the entire population is educated, can there be a real development of the state. Education is the cornerstone of a nation." To read more: Bangladesh hostel

Yes, it's a strange, unpredictable world. Thank God for God, and the power of His love.