Intellect and Will: Rarely Do the Twain Meet

Confronted by all the hatred and stupidity evident in both our world and our country, I try to view it all from an eternal or more comprehensive perspective. It’s remarkable and disturbing that so many human beings seem to have lost or, at best, misplaced their humanity. We — at least some of us — believe that God, by creating us in His image and likeness, imbued us with both intellect and will, gifts that define our humanity and separate us from other earthly creatures. Sadly, far too many of us do not apply either of these gifts very well, or focus only on one and ignore the other. 

Leadership, of course, demands the effective, coordinated application of both intellect and will. A leader with a keen intellect, who strives to understand the situation facing him, but lacks the courage to make a meaningful decision and apply his will correctly is essentially powerless. Fundamentally he knows what he should do but fears doing it. As you might expect, the results are usually catastrophic. I fear that our president and those who surround him have succumbed to this failing whenever the real interests of our nation are at stake. Instead they focus the administration’s will on a collection of “woke” sideshows that seem only to undermine our culture and its moral and spiritual roots. I trust they will soon come to recognize the nature of the challenges facing them and develop the will to act courageously and decisively in the defense of our civilization. I won’t hold my breath, though. Ideologues rarely change their core beliefs unless they undergo a radical conversion. St. Paul is among the most obvious examples. Actively involved in the murder and imprisonment of first-generation Christians, he didn’t change; God changed him. As Christians we must pray for a global metanoia, a Pauline-like conversion through which God will change the hearts and minds of those striving to destroy His Church and suppress His holy Word.

But the willful leader who lacks understanding can be equally, perhaps more, dangerous. By failing to use his intellect and grasp the reality of the situation, including its moral aspects, he is motivated only by ignorance and emotion. This most often leads to very destructive results. For example, the terrorist, blinded and consumed by the ideology that motivates him, applies his will amorally and, focused solely on the attainment of the ideological goal, leaves his intellect far behind. This is why negotiation with committed and thoroughly indoctrinated terrorists is inevitably fruitless. Driven by their ideology, they are unmoved by arguments based on truth and morality. The only truth is their truth; all else are signs of weakness. They will take advantage of the weaknesses of others and use them to achieve their ideological ends. At one point in our diplomatic history, we refused to negotiate with terrorists because it was immoral and inevitably led to a degradation of the current situation. Now we not only negotiate with the demonic, but also allow it to dictate the terms. As I have said elsewhere, the willful, especially those captivated by evil, respect only power and the willingness to apply it.

Do I side with the Israelis in the current conflict? Yes, indeed — not because they are perfect, because they’re not. Like every nation, including our own, they have done some very stupid and immoral things. But they at least struggle to do what is right. All those Americans protesting in our streets and on our campuses in support of Hamas are too ignorant or too filled with hate to understand the idiotic slogans they chant. What to do with them? Because as a nation we respect free speech, about all we can do is shame them, make them understand that actions and words have consequences that might affect their current or future lives, and inundate them with the truth. And if Israel destroys Hamas, support for this specific terrorist group will likely fade away quickly. And most importantly pray for our ally Israel.

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.

 

Hamas, Intelligence Failures, and Iran

I suppose we can safely say that Israel experienced an intelligence failure of massive proportions when the nation was caught by complete surprise early Saturday morning. Ironically and sadly, the attack came on the holy day of Simchat Torah, which means “joy of Torah.” It is the day Jews celebrate the completion of the annual reading of the Torah as it begins anew. This year there was certainly no sense of joy. And I suspect the absence of joy is especially present among those actively involved in the Israeli intelligence community. How could they have missed the signs? Are Hamas and its Iranian allies and funders that good at hiding their preparations? Apparently, they are.

A year or so ago I read a report on the efficacy of Israeli technology used to protect it from attacks by its enemies. The report addressed the high quality of this technology, how it could ensure Israel would be safe from any attempts to invade. Judging from what happened Saturday morning the technology was grossly deficient. Of course, another possibility is that the Israelis were so confident in their technology that they ignored the need for human eyes and ears. I wouldn't be surprised if this were a problem within most intelligence agencies, where human intelligence resources have largely been replaced by technology. The problem with technology is that it has limitations, and these limitations can be tested, so the technology can be overcome or simply avoided. Of course, technology is probably cheaper than human agents and far more reliable, at least from the perspective of the geeks who have the ear of their bosses.  

It would seem the Hamas terrorists took advantage of this. Their brutal early morning attack on the Sabbath was amazingly low-tech. Smashing through border walls and rushing into southern Israel in Toyota pick-ups and flying in via paragliders, they took out the police stations and small military installations along the border, killing everyone they encountered. They crashed through the doors of civilian homes and brutally killed men, women, and children. Pregnant women were slaughtered, and their unborn infants torn from their bodies and thrown down beside them. Many of the women were raped in front of their families and then paraded through the streets. Infants were decapitated. Elderly Israelis, even Holocaust survivors, were also murdered or taken hostage. Indeed, Hamas terrorists intentionally targeted a music festival and killed nearly 300 mostly young people. Many others attending the festival were taken hostage. What has happened to them is unknown, but we can be certain they are not being treated well. Pray for them.

The brutality and sadism of the terrorists wasn’t isolated; it was intentional and carried out wherever Hamas attacked. They took videos of these barbarous atrocities and then posted them on social media for the world to see. Hamas terrorists are obviously proud of their savagery and enjoyed every moment of it. This tells us a lot about Islamist terrorists in general and specifically about organizations such as Hamas, Isis, Hezbollah, and the nations that support them. To assume Iran had no role in the planning, arming, and training of the terrorists who attacked Israel is the height of naïveté. At the very least the United States should reinstate full sanctions against Iran and refreeze the six billion dollars being held in Qatar. Most Iranians do not support their government. It would be wise for us to encourage and actively support those Iranians who hope to overthrow this brutal, theocratic regime. After all, our nation had its genesis in a revolution, a war of independence in which we claimed God had endowed us “with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” As the world’s primary supporter of terrorism, Iran is a serious threat. We should do all in our power to ensure a change in that hateful regime.

In case you don’t realize it, we are in a war. It is a war between good and evil, a war between civilization and barbarism, a war between those who cherish life and those who celebrate death. I have absolutely no problem waging and winning a just war.

A Few Observations

Every day I read things that disturb, perplex, amaze, outrage, and occasionally even delight me. Most often I just set these news bits aside with the idea of maybe addressing them in the future. But this week I decided to hold onto some of them and actually jotted down a few notes. Here goes…

Pray for Israel. The surprise attack on Israel by over a thousand Hamas terrorists is among the most brutal of recent times. Hamas is a Sunni Islamic terrorist group, a collection of sadists that governs the Gaza Strip. They seized control of Gaza after a landslide win in the 2006 election. Since then Hamas has done very little for the people, since it is focused primarily on doing all in its power to kill Jews and eradicate Israel. This is Hamas’ goal, and those who think otherwise are fooling themselves. Since Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, and stashes weapons and munitions in hospitals, schools, and civilian neighborhoods, we can safely ignore its purported love for the people of Gaza. Although I labeled Hamas as sadists, that’s likely an understatement. What Hamas has done in recent days simply confirms its vicious ways. Hamas terrorists not only targeted civilians but were purposely brutal, dragging women and children from their homes, raping and killing them, then emptying their weapons’ magazines into the faces of the dead. They slaughtered nearly 300 people, all civilians, who were attending a music festival, which ironically was dedicated to peace. They also took hostages, more than a hundred, including many women and children. Reportedly they have imprisoned them in the elaborate system of tunnels beneath much of Gaza. Today they threatened to begin executing hostages if Israel continues to carry out its response to the Hamas attack.

Israel really has no option but to destroy Hamas. At the moment the Biden administration has offered its full support to Israel, declaring it has a right to defend itself. I suspect that will change within a few weeks once the global anti-Israel hive begins to call for an immediate ceasefire. The weak, epitomized by the Biden administration, fear using their power, so they might as well not have it. Perceived weakness always enables terror and violence. Unfortunately, groups like Hamas respect only one thing: power, and a willingness to apply it. My concern is that this attack by Hamas is just the beginning. I expect, in the months, and perhaps only the weeks, to come, we will experience similar attacks throughout the world. Our enemies are not stupid and will take advantage of our political confusion and impotent leadership. Keep your eye on Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, and even the minor players like Nicaragua, Cuba, Syria, Venezuela, and so many others. We are entering very dangerous times.

Pray for Israel, good people. They just might need divine power to withstand the future that awaits them. 

Save Democracy! For a few years now the political left has been screaming its latest mantra — Save Democracy! — at high volume. Their attacks are aimed at anyone who believes in and openly defends what I’ll call American traditionalism. If you believe the U.S. Constitution is the greatest secular document every written, or at least humanity’s greatest political accomplishment, you are certainly an American traditionalist, and you will be attacked as a destroyer of democracy. After all, the Constitution is conspicuously anti-democratic because it purposely rejects democracy as a form of government, preferring instead a constitutional representative republic. In truth the founders abhorred pure democracy, for them a system that guaranteed a tyrannical majority would inevitably persecute a nation’s minorities. A constitutional system not only protects the rights and freedoms of the people from their elected government, but also protects the people from themselves. Of course, there’s an irony here. As the left screams its mantra, it simultaneously promotes policies designed to curb the basic freedoms of Americans. If you disagree with their far-left policies, you should be denied the freedom to state your case publicly. If your religious faith fails to promote gay marriage, or so-called transgenderism, or abortion, the legal system must be distorted so it can prosecute you. In a way, then, I suppose next year’s elections just might be a way to save the republic from the left’s skewed version of democracy. Otherwise, as my son said to me the other day, “It’s all over.” That might be an exaggeration, but then again, maybe not.

May Their Tribe Decrease. I suppose here, at the start, I need to explain myself and share a few pieces of my own psyche before I launch into criticism of others. I reveal this, not to impress, but in a spirit of true humility. First, I am not an ambitious man. Indeed, I can never remember being ambitious in a worldly, material, or competitive sense. I was blessed with intelligence, a desire to learn, and have always enjoyed a sense of satisfaction due to accomplishment. I was, therefore, able to achieve a reasonable amount of success at most of what life offered me. And for me that was enough. I had no desire to achieve human greatness; my object was far more confined and limited to the happiness that comes from family and friendships and the joys of daily life. Like the rest of humanity, I am a sinner, but one who struggles to get better at this business of living the Christian life. 

This being said, I trust the comments that follow don’t appear conspiratorial, or irrational, or simply petty. Now that I think about it, though, I don’t really care. So here goes: I don’t trust politicians — not just some politicians, but all of them, without exception. That being said, let me define my terms. To me, a politician is someone who spends the bulk of his adult life in or seeking elected office. This includes those who, having failed to get re-elected, gravitate either to appointed government positions, or to politically oriented jobs in so-called think tanks or foundations, or as temporary executives in the well-paying “military-industrial complex” where they remain positioned for another run at elected office. I suppose it boils down to my distrust of those possessed of unbridled ambition, the “professional” politicians. I find it amazing that so many, when they finally leave what they like to call “public service,” retire as multi-millionaires. Driven by greed and unwilling to sacrifice their personal ambition, these are the politicians who care more about their own re-election than the good of the people. The professional politician will never support term limits.

Our first politicians, the nation’s Founding Fathers, were citizen legislators. They were farmers, lawyers, judges, clergymen, teachers, merchants and traders, men who truly sacrificed to serve their fellow citizens. For example, of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, five were captured by the British and imprisoned and tortured. Nine signers fought in the War for Independence and either died of their wounds or from the hardships suffered. The sons of two signers joined the Continental Army and lost their lives in the war. The sons of two others were captured by the British and imprisoned. The homes of at least a dozen signers were pillaged and destroyed. Many, far too many, died impoverished. The founders were men who knowingly and publicly called for independence, fully aware of the dire consequences they would face. I wonder how many of today’s lifelong politicians would do the same. 

My advice: never vote for anyone who’s spent more than 10 years in political office.

A Few Thoughts: Books and Other Stuff

I have a lot of books, or as Dear Diane might tell you, “He has far too many books.” Indeed, had I not bought books, but instead taken the money I have spent on them and instead invested it in almost anything else — except maybe Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX — I’d be far more comfortable today, but not nearly as happy. Maybe I’ll make the switch to Kindle, a rarely used app stored on all my devices. It would certainly be much less expensive. But I suspect it would take me a long time to adjust psychologically from real, bound books to digitized imitations. It just ain’t the same. And there’s something reassuring and comforting about going to the right bookcase, finding the right book, then flipping through the pages to locate the right words. I often forget the exact titles of books, but for some reason recognize the “look” of their bindings or dust jackets.

Anyway, as long as I’m writing about books, here’s a quick look at two books in my library: one recent addition and another that's been there a while.

Bibi: My Story, by Benjamin Netanyahu (2022) This book, a gift from one of my sons, is a “must-read.” Regardless of your attitude toward the once and present Prime Minister of Israel, you will find this autobiography more than interesting. Like his brother, Yoni, who was killed while commanding the remarkably successful rescue mission at Entebbe, Netanyahu also served in combat as a special forces officer. But it is his subsequent life in Israeli politics that makes up the bulk of this fascinating and well-written autobiography. If you want to come to a better understanding of Israel, still our closest ally in the Near East, and its current leader, this book is a must.

The Evolution of Civilizations, by Carroll Quigley (1961). In September 1962 I began my freshman year at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. I spent only that one year at Georgetown because I was fortunate enough to receive a congressional appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy where I would spend the next four years. But like every freshman at the School of Foreign Service, I took the required course on the development of civilizations taught by Carroll Quigley. To say that I enjoyed the course would be a gross understatement. Quigley taught in a large lecture hall and before the first class had ended, we were all captivated. After all, we were 18-year-old freshmen and this legendary professor simply wowed us with his knowledge and delivery. It was a form of education we had never experienced, and he left us spellbound. We listened and scribbled in our notebooks, hoping to capture the important points. We were several classes into the course before someone dared ask a question. As I recall it was an intelligent, relevant question, asked by a young Nigerian woman, and answered quickly and satisfactorily by Quigley. I was happy to receive a C for my first semester grade, not a particularly impressive grade, but better than the majority of students who were lucky to get a D. My class notes disappeared long ago, but after 61 years I still have the text, Quigley’s book, The Evolution of Civilizations. I enjoyed reading it once again a few years ago, and recommend it to anyone who desires a better understanding of how we as a society, as a part of what’s left of Western Civilization, came to be. The above link is to a 2nd edition, published posthumously in 1979.

A brief afterthought. I recently came across an article — “Is Georgetown University Committing Suicide?” — written by Quigley in 1967 and published in the university’s newspaper, The Hoya. It’s an interesting article, written over 50 years ago by someone who would have been considered a liberal, back when liberals really were liberal.

9/11 Twenty Years Later

On that Tuesday morning in September 2001, I was in my office in Hyannis, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, engaged in a conference call with perhaps twenty other people from around the world. Suddenly, one of the callers, a woman in London, interrupted and said, “A plane just flew into the World Trade Center in New York. It’s on the telly.” I asked only one question: “Can you tell what the weather’s like in New York?” Her response, “Oh, yes, I can see blue sky, so it must be good weather.” I simply said, “Then it also must be a terrorist attack. Planes don’t fly into Manhattan skyscrapers when the weather is good.” 

With that I stopped the call, rescheduling it for another day, and went to our corporate dining room where I knew there was a large screen TV. Of course, when the second plane crashed into the south tower, everyone knew we’d suffered a terrorist attack. This began our 20-year journey to the present day and its confusions.

This Sunday morning our local newspaper devoted its entire first section to the vicious terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and it’s aftermath. This is a good thing, and I look forward to making my way through the series of articles as I try to relax this Sunday afternoon. But our newspaper’s primary, front-page headline made me cringe. The paper? The Villages Daily Sun, and the headline read:

After the towers fell, we were frightened and angry. We ached for security, and we’re willing to trade some civil liberties to get it. 

Now, unlike the so-called journalist who penned this headline, I can speak only for myself. So what’s wrong with the headline? Well, I certainly agree with part of his first sentence. I was angry. No doubt about that. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever been angrier. But of one thing I can be sure, I was not frightened. Only a coward, a fool, or  one of little faith would be frightened in the wake of a terrorist attack like 9/11. Sadly, we have many of each in our nation. I pray for them, that they will open their hearts to God’s gift of faith to obliterate their fears.

I also turned immediately to prayer, not through fear, but because I knew we must, as a people, turn to God. We must beg for His help and direction, for His grace in dealing with this horrendous attack on our nation, this act of war. And because of its source, this attack was actually an attack on Judeo-Christian society, on Western Civilization, or what’s left of it. 

As for the second sentence of today’s headline, I completely disagree. Back on that first September 11th, I did not, in any way, “ache for security.” No, as an old Navy pilot, as a retired Navy Captain, I wished I were about 20 years younger so I could have joined the fight-to-be. If I ached for anything, that was it. 

And so, after prayer, the first thought that ran through my angry mind was one of concern, for I knew that governments love to accumulate power and once they have it, they never relinquish it. What will our government do to enhance our security? At first, I dismissed those concerns and naively believed government agencies responsible for our security would take proper and wise steps to protect our nation from future attacks. Again, unlike the headline writer, I definitely was not willing to trade my constitutional rights, my civil liberties, for a bit more security. In fact, drastic security measures were about the last thing on my mind. I had hoped we would learn from the one democratic nation that had been the most successful in preventing terrorist hijackings, the nation of Israel. Israel’s approach was personal; that is, it focused on the person more than the stuff. They didn’t ignore the contents of baggage and personal belongings, but they turned their attention primarily to the person. They had discovered that terrorists often had obvious, predictable traits, that potential terrorists could be identified before they boarded an aircraft. But instead, President Bush created another pair of unwieldy bureaucracies, the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA, and along with his successor and an agreeable Congress, resorted to extreme but not always the most effective means to increase security. In this effort we often use blatantly unconstitutional, and often quite foolish, approaches to security. Today the elites who burden the nation’s citizens with authoritarian rules avoid them by flying in government or private aircraft. I, too, avoid commercial air travel whenever possible, but since I lack the means, I must drive. I simply refuse to subject myself and Dear Diane to the folly of present day aviation security…like the time a TSA employee revealed that I was singled out for more intensive search because I wore a cross on my lapel.

And today, we look to Afghanistan, where all this began twenty years ago, and for reasons we can blame only on ourselves, nothing has changed.

Pray for our nation. 

 

The Bad, the Ugly, and the Stupid

Reading the news these days has become like a visit to one of those Ripley’s Believe it or Not “museums” where one is confronted by the outlandish, the truly weird, and the absolutely screwy. Things are happening in our nation and in the world, unexpected odd things, irrational things, that make us question the very sanity of many of our human race’s most esteemed members. Let me just toss a few recent headlines your way and perhaps add a word or two of explanation where explanation is even possible.

U.S. Threatens Taliban with Isolation if Kabul Falls. Not only did the U.S. threaten the Taliban with the horror of isolation, but they were joined in this threat by even more forceful words from both the European Union and the United Nations who also threatened global isolation. Let’s see, the Taliban are a vicious, sadistic, self-isolated collection of radical Islamists who could not care less about being isolated by a world they despise. The U.S, the E.U., and the U.N. Represent everything they hate, everything they want to destroy. I can think of nothing they fear less than global isolation. 

“Come get us,” they will cry to the world once they take control of the entire Afghan nation. “Come get us,” just as so many in the past have tried to conquer the Afghan people. They all failed. Who does the E.U. and the U.N. plan to send? Belgian and Norwegian military police, U.N. Peacekeepers, or perhaps a judge from the European Court of Human Rights? That’ll work.

Perhaps we have finally learned — although I doubt it — that we cannot turn an Islamic nation with an ingrained, millennial-long, militaristic, tribal, misogynistic mindset into the mirror image of a modern European parliamentary republic by telling Afghans about the glories of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, and the works of Thomas Paine, which most couldn’t read even in translation. 

Scotland: 4-year-olds Can Change Gender Without Parental Consent. Yes, indeed, the Scots, who once stood tall and even fought vigorously for the clan, now cede parental authority to the state. It’s all about the government’s new LGBT inclusivity guidelines, which among other things, allow young children to change their genders and names without parental consent. London’s Daily Telegraph reported that the guidelines claim students of any age can change genders. Schools must also design gender-neutral uniforms and use recommended reading lists promoting transgender inclusivity. Do you think, perhaps, any citizen who voices opposition will likely be accused of a hate crime?

We’re not Scotland, you might say, and you’re right. But, believe me, we’re not that far behind. And if you listen to our modern movers and shakers, they’re already talking about doing exactly what the Scots have done. Just a guess, but I suspect Scotland doesn’t permit home schooling.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Says Criticism of Him Is “Inexplicable”. That’s right, the ubiquitous immunologist and “live-shot” TV star, has expressed concern that some of his viewers have been criticizing him, and doing so openly, in public. This man, the highest paid federal employee, finds such criticism “inexplicable” and says everyone should realize the virus, not he, is the enemy. He said this and much more in an MSNBC interview with Joy Reid who, of course, absolutely loves the doctor. Not discussed was Dr. Fauci’s increased politicization of the “science,” all too apparent by his frequent flip-flops on almost every aspect of how we mere peasants must deal with the pesky virus. Does anyone who really matters still listen to this man? I certainly don’t, although admittedly I probably don’t matter very much. 

Here’s one more, a very sad story that should put all Americans on guard when we hear the left waxing eloquently about the glories of government-run healthcare. 

UK Government to End Life of Two-Year-Old Jewish Girl. I won’t provide a detailed report since you can read the entire story yourself, but here are the basics. This little girl, Alta Fixsler, whose parents are Israeli citizens (The father is also a U.S. citizen.), must not be kept alive by the UK’s medical authorities. This decision by the ironically named European Court of Human Rights declared her parents do not have the right to keep her alive even though treatment is available elsewhere, specifically in the U.S. and Israel. To show how the state has completely usurped the rights and authority of parents, the court stated, “Alta is not of an age, nor in a condition to have knowledge of and adopt her parents’ values.” The parents, of course, are believing, practicing Jews and want to take their child to Israel, but even this is prohibited. 

The Israeli president wrote to Prince Charles in June requesting his help for little Alta. According to Yeshiva News his letter included the following plea:

“It is the fervent wish of her parents, who are devoutly religious Jews and Israeli citizens, that their daughter be brought to Israel. Their religious beliefs directly oppose ceasing medical treatment that could extend her life and have made arrangements for her safe transfer and continued treatment in Israel. 

“I know that representations have been made to HM [Her Majesty’s] Government on this matter, but I feel that the unique circumstances warrant a personal intervention on my part to you. It would be a tragedy if these parents’ wishes could not be accommodated in a way that respects both the law and their religious beliefs.”

Back in June a large number of Republican U.S. senators requested that President Biden ask Prime Minister Johnson to help this little girl. And just last week a group of Democrat senators asked the UK ambassador to “facilitate the travel of Alta Fixsler from the UK to the United Staes, where care for her is waiting.” Senator Schumer even obtained a visa for the little girl’s travel. Wow! It looks as if little Alta Fixsler might actually have led the Senate to some form of bi-partisan agreement.

I pray for this little girl and her family, and ask the Holy Spirit, the “Lord and Giver of life” to move the hearts of those who have become so seduced by the world’s culture of death. I also pray to Blessed Margaret of Castello (if you don’t know of her, look her up) that she intercede for the sake of Alta’s life.

Here We Go...

Our new president has been in office for 120 or so days, so maybe it’s time to take a look at the nation and see what’s happened on Joe Biden’s watch. 

Let's look first at the job situation and the statistics for April. According to the Department of Labor, there were 8.1 million job openings which, by the way, is an all-time record. The companion statistic relates to the number of jobs filled, and was a paltry 266,000, far short of the one million expected by the “experts.” 

I actually expected something like this simply because I have never seen so many small and mid-sized businesses with “Help Wanted” signs taped to their windows and doors. I’ve noticed this here in Florida and we saw the same thing on a recent trip to rural Georgia. Stores, restaurants, bars, contractors, gas stations, supply companies...the signs are everywhere. 

Business owners and managers all attribute the labor shortage to the extraordinary unemployment benefits now being paid to those who are out of work. As one owner told me, “People who make less than 40 or 50 grand would be fools to take a job. They get as much or more with unemployment, and get to stay home.” Thanks to President Biden, those benefits will continue into September, despite a booming economy. Interestingly, the Secretary of Commerce said, “The reason people aren’t getting back to work is fear.” She apparently presumes that Americans are afraid to return to the workplace because of COVID, even though anyone can now get vaccinated easily. 

And then there’s the rest of the economy. If you lived through the Carter years, you’ll remember inflation and how thrilled you were to get a 16% mortgage. Well, today the Consumer Price Index popped up at an equivalent annual rate of about 7%. And the Dow? It  dropped over 1,000 points in two days. If you live in the southeast, you might have noticed the long lines at gas stations because of the hacking of the Colonial Pipeline by a group of Russian criminals. They are indeed criminals but our smart spooks know they’re also supported by the GRU, Russian military intelligence. The President, of course, is taking a hands-off approach since he really doesn’t care much for pipelines. 

Under President Trump we achieved American energy independence, but during this pipeline crisis, we’ve had to buy gasoline from Canada. Guess who the Canadians buy much of their oil from? You got it...Russia. Gas prices today are at the highest level since 2014. 

Almost 50 years ago, when I was in graduate school I took a few courses in macroeconomics and microeconomics and learned all kinds of wonderful things about supply, demand, inflation, and other boring stuff. But based on the little I still remember, I expect inflation to continue and stick around for a while. 

The problem is, when the government gives lots of money to people and then tells them not to work, we end up with a bunch of folks who produce nothing but have real purchasing power. And then, when that same government hammers those who actually produce goods and services by subjecting them to higher taxes, you get even far fewer goods. The result? Lots of money chasing fewer goods, so prices rise and we get inflation.

Interest rates anticipate all this and will likely last for quite some time. The value of assets will drop. Major tax increases will probably, but not surprisingly, lead to less tax revenue. And while all this is going on, the Fed will continue increasing the money supply and buying bonds. Combine all of this with the administration’s wild spending and destructive energy decisions, and the long-term effects can be disastrous. 

Keep your eye on interest rates and the price of gold, then watch out for the crash of the dollar. We just might see a return to the ugly economy of 1979. Fortunately, I'm pretty poor and have nothing to invest, so I really don’t have to worry too much about all this. 

Of course, all of this ignores the chaos on our southern border as well as the administration’s weak foreign policy and the apparent abandonment of our only real ally in the Middle East, Israel. This week Hamas launched over 1,000 rockets from Gaza into Israel. And who supplied them with these weapons? Iran, the same terrorist nation to whom we gave a billion or more in cash thanks to the firm of Obama, Biden, and Kerry.

Iran is testing President Biden in Israel and doing the same with its Revolutionary Guard gunboats. This week 12 Iranian gunboats swarmed 6 U.S. ships and a submarine in the Strait of Hormuz. Our response? Warning shots. So long as we respond in weakness, they will act with increasing aggression.

None of this even considers our two greatest enemies whom Joe Biden considers mere competitors: Russia and Communist China, who by the way are both supplying weapons to Iran. 

How did the old curse go? May you live in interesting times.

Going Poilitical Again...

Since the 2016 presidential campaign, my opinion of our president has undergone more than a little change. I was no Trump supporter, but neither was I a "never-Trumper." Before and immediately after his election I was leery of the man and his intentions. It was hard to believe he really meant what he said, especially when some of what he said, and how he said it, seemed so outrageous at the time. For example, his campaign comments about John McCain's status as a POW during the Vietnam conflict were particularly offensive to me, a veteran of that war and, like McCain, a naval aviator. I was never a fan of John McCain, the man or the politician, and believe the Republicans couldn't have chosen a worse candidate to compete with Barack Obama. But McCain's military service was honorable and not worthy of ridicule by someone who never served in the military. This, plus other Trumpian campaign statements, caused me concern. And yet, despite my misgivings about the man, I predicted Donald Trump's election fairly early (see my post of July 18, 2016), and did so for a number of reasons:

First, I agreed with candidate Trump that the American people had become increasingly fed up with career politicians, especially Washington politicians, who promise everything and anything during their campaigns. Once established in Congress, however, many, perhaps most, vote against the good and the will of their constituents, and do so without embarrassment. I thought that Donald Trump's clearly stated mission -- Drain the Swamp -- appealed to enough voters to make his election probable.

Bill and Hilary

And second, although Hillary Clinton was perhaps the best candidate the Democrat party could have nominated, she was still a horrible candidate. She seemed to exhibit an attitude of entitlement, as if she and only she deserved to be president. This is the kind of elitist attitude despised by many Americans. It's an attitude we'd expect from socialist elites who believe they are so much smarter than the rest of us that they should have the power to plan every aspect of our lives. Despite her husband's Rhodes Scholarship and his two terms as president, I'm pretty sure she's convinced she's the smarter of the two. She might well be right. I also believe a large number of Americans had come to view her as unethical in the extreme and hoped she and her husband would vanish from the public square. Some voters probably feared a Clinton presidency more than they hoped for a Trump presidency. And others simply didn't believe her or like her. I never really thought Hilary Clinton could be elected president. I could not believe our nation had fallen that low.

Donald Trump won the election, and like most of the nation, I sat back and wondered how this most unusual president would carry out the responsibilities of the office. Since then, however, I have come to appreciate his rather unorthodox approach to things political. Don't get me wrong, though; I am still astonished, and often perplexed, by some of his comments (and his tweets). And yet his use of Twitter and other unorthodox means to communicate directly to the American people and the world, thus bypassing a hostile and increasingly irrelevant media, is a stroke of true genius. Although I don't always agree with the man. I suspect we're probably on the same page more often than not. And most surprisingly I usually know exactly where Donald Trump stands on any given issue. If he changes his stance, he doesn't dance around the issue, but lets us know. He is actually willing to admit a change in belief or policy, and to tell us why. This is more than refreshing; it's unheard of in modern American politics. We have become so accustomed to politicians and their constant lawyerly spin (apologies to my few honest lawyer friends) that we have come to accept their behavior as "normal."

The career politician's approach to his responsibilities eludes me. I've known quite a few over the years, and if I were to name one trait that most of them shared it would be their unfamiliarity with the truth. Instead of accepting the Gospel maxim, "The truth will set you free" [Jn 8:32], they seem to believe that the truth will lose elections. A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to name the members of Congress whom I most respect, and I decided it would be best to ignore the question. Whenever I've spoken well of a politician he or she soon says or does something that causes me to regret my words of praise.

President Trump Rally

I'm pretty sure President Trump honestly believes he is speaking the truth. And he delivers it in plain, non-political, unrehearsed language. It's the kind of talk most Americans hear around the dinner table or when they share their views at work or with their friends. Like me, you might not always agree with him, but unless you're a denizen of the far left, consumed by hate, you probably find him refreshing.

As I look back on the past few years, I am truly amazed that Donald Trump, who is so despised by the mainstream media and his political enemies on both sides of the congressional aisle, has accomplished so much. But even more amazing, to me at least, is that I am in agreement with so many of these accomplishments.

Perhaps most encouraging is his pro-life record, one surpassing that of all his predecessors. I never expected this of him, largely because other Republican presidents talked pro-life during their campaigns but did little while in office. I just assumed Donald Trump would be no different. How inspiring to encounter a president who took action and courageously took the heat that predictably followed.

Pro-Life Support for Trump

I also agree with President Trump's decision to move our embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel is our only real ally in the Middle East, the only nation in the region with a truly representative form of government. Israel isn't perfect, but then neither are we. And every nation, including Israel, should strive to do what is best to further its citizen's interests and defend itself from aggressors. The rest of the region is a sewer, a collection of despotic regimes that truly despise both Israel and the United States. Worse, far too many of them support, bankroll, or harbor the Islamist terrorists that have plagued the world for so long.

Like Trump, I too am not a big fan of the nation-building goals of our protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although I'll admit my views have undergone some change in recent years. But I've always believed that any effort to develop democratic systems in Muslim-majority nations is doomed to failure. Islam is far more than a religion; it is a societal totality that strives to permeate and control every aspect of a people's life. Its governing rule of law -- shariah -- is simply incompatible with democratic, representative forms of government. Any attempt to democratize a fervently Muslim nation will eventually fail. Such attempts will also be overwhelmed by the growing number of Muslims willing to use force (I.e., terror) to achieve their Islamist ends. 

Pope Benedict XVI (2006)

Most informed people now realize Pope Benedict was absolutely correct when he addressed violence and Islam during his Regensburg lecture in 2006. It was the ideological intolerance of both Islamists and Western academics that drove the criticism and violence that followed the pope's well-reasoned remarks.

President Trump has shown he understands the need to destroy the Islamist terrorist organizations whenever and wherever they arise and thrive. This may well be his most difficult international challenge because this aim runs counter to the appeasement efforts of so many of our European allies, and of too many in our own government, including both the state and defense departments. Yes, indeed, it's easy to hide in that murky swamp water.

President Obama made a total mess of the Middle East. Examining his policy in the region, one would think his every decision was driven by what would be best for the Shiites of both Syria and Iran. His do-nothing approach to the atrocities the Syrian government inflicted on its people only strengthened Russian presence in the region and increased Iranian influence. Repairing the long-term damage caused by President Obama's agreement with the Iranians is a case in point. I find myself in full agreement with President Trump's decision to dump the agreement, a non-treaty even the current Congress would never have supported. Russia and China are certainly long-term threats, but Iran, the world's foremost exporter of terror, must be dealt with today.

I also support the president's tax cut, a piece of legislation to which only a socialist would object. Whenever we have slashed taxes, especially taxes on businesses, the economy has boomed. It happened when John Kennedy cut taxes, just as it happened when Ronald Reagan did the same. And yet not a single House or Senate Democrat voted for this tax cut. Democrats have certainly changed since Kennedy's time. Indeed, their rejection of the legislation tells us much about the current core beliefs of the Democrat party, a party that has moved increasingly to the far and irrational left.

What the Democrat Party Once Believed

President Kennedy, when promoting his plan to cut taxes, said, "It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low -- and the soundest way to raise revenues in the long run is to cut taxes now." He was right and his tax cuts led to a period of remarkable economic growth. Like Kennedy and Reagan, Trump also ignored the deficit hawks of his own party, believing that the tax cut will, in the long run, lead to a significant increase in revenues. Ironically, many Democrats, and more than a few Republicans, who have never uttered a word against increased deficits were suddenly all aflutter, expressing fears about the legislation's potential impact on the deficit. Go figure.

When it comes to immigration I find myself wondering why we don't focus on the root cause of illegal immigration. Most immigrants flock to our borders because they want to leave the failing economies and corrupt governments of their native lands. How often have individual bishops, much less the USCCB, challenged the corrupt governments of Latin America and elsewhere? They seem far more interested in attacking our nation for trying to control immigration and protect our borders. And how often do our politicians do anything to encourage our corrupt neighbors to change their ways? If these nations actually developed free economies and truly representative governments perhaps they, too, would become lands of opportunity. As for those screaming for "no borders," I think we can safely ignore them for the ideologues (or "useful idiots") they truly are. The only aim of those pulling their strings is to destroy this nation. Every nation has the obligation and the right to control its borders -- how much control is something its citizens must decide. This is a question that Congress has danced around for some time, but time is running out. I suspect the President and the voters will force the issue sooner rather than later.

As for North Korea, President Trump's efforts to overcome the horrendous mistakes of previous administrations should be interesting to watch. For the first time since 1953 this vicious, totalitarian regime seems to realize they are dealing with someone who won't allow them to break agreements. I expect these negotiations will take some time, quite likely several years, before they bear real fruit. We'll see what happens.

Then there's China, the world's most populous, communist, totalitarian state. It is a nation ruled by those who murder and enslave, a pack of liars and thieves who will do anything, absolutely anything, to maintain their power. Like Mafia dons, they dress up in their shiny suits and smile at the cameras while they plan the destruction of all that is good. They cleverly instituted some elements of a free economy because they realized their socialist policies had failed and they needed to bankroll their ever expanding base of power. But make no mistake, every Chinese firm is under the thumb of the ruling Communist Party leadership. 

The Communist Dons

Unlike his predecessors Trump seems to recognize the truth about China and his negotiations with the communist leadership will surely break the mold. When he hammered the Chinese with tariffs and other barriers, the talking heads and Wall Street hand-wringers screamed and assured us the president would drive us into economic ruin. Many said the same thing when Trump was elected in November 2016, but our economy instead experienced continued record-setting growth. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly in the long term, despite the efforts of the Senate Democrats to block confirmation votes on the president's judicial and executive appointments, most of these appointments, particularly those of federal judges, have been wonderful. Once again a president is appointing men and women who actually read and understand the Constitution and reject ideological activism. If President Trump serves another four years the federal judiciary will likely experience historic change.

Our president, like all men, is far from perfect, but he's certainly far better than the collection of wannabes the Democrat Party offers us. Every single one of them supports the great atrocity of our age, the deliberate, pre-meditated murder of the most innocent among us. I fear God's judgment, not for me, for I'm too near the end of my life. No, I fear for my children and grandchildren, and for all who may well face a faith-testing decision to choose between a culture of life and a culture of death. 

Here's something I trust all the faithful can agree on: Pray for our nation and our president.

Sad Happenings...and Odd

The slaughter of Christians in the Middle East and Africa continues, but at least our president openly addressed this ongoing tragedy when he spoke to the gathering of the leaders of Muslim nations in Saudi Arabia. He didn't parrot the foolish political correctness of the previous administration, but identified the enemy as Islamist terrorists.

President Trump in Saudi Arabia

It was also refreshing to hear him scold those leaders for their halfhearted, at best, efforts to rid Islam of this cancer. Now we'll see if they actually do anything. I'm not holding my breath because in far too many of these nations a sizable percentage of the population actually support some of the terrorists' goals, specifically the universal imposition of sharia law. (See Pew Research Center's polling results.)

I also applaud President Trump's strong support for our ally, Israel, perhaps the only nation in that part of the world that doesn't hope for our destruction.

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Yesterday's slaughter of Coptic Christians in Egypt provided an interesting juxtaposition alongside the recent terrorist attack in the UK. While the UK attack has almost monopolized the news for several days,  I suspect we'll hear much less about the wholesale murder of a larger number of Egyptian Christians, many of whom were also children. I'm not belittling the tragedy in Manchester, far from it, but what happened in Egypt is no less tragic.

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In a related story Thomas Mair, the mayor of Greater Manchester, speaking about the horrific terrorist bombing in his city, stated: “This is an extremist act and the person who did it no more represents the Muslim community than the person who killed Jo Cox represents the white Christian community.” Jo Cox, you might recall, was the Labour MP who was stabbed to death a week before the "Brexit" referendum. The problem with the mayor's statement is that I'm pretty certain the vast majority of the UK's white Christian community doesn't support the indiscriminate killing of Muslims and would report such plots to the authorities. Sadly, a recent poll indicated that a majority of the UK's Mulims would not report suspected Jihadist activity to the police.
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I found it interesting that Nancy Pelosi, now perhaps the most irrelevant of left-coast politicians, for some unknown reason chided the president for visiting Saudi Arabia on his first international trip. She seems to think he instead should have visited Canada, or perhaps one of those needy foreign people's republics like San Francisco. I expect some in her party are urging her to retire before she does even more damage to their collective credibility.
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Greg Gianforte, Body-Slammer

And speaking of the credibility of the Democrat Party...Things must be very bad indeed when a Montana Republican, Greg Gianforte, wins a special election for a U.S. Congressional seat the day after he's charged with misdemeanor assault for body-slamming a pesky reporter. The Democrats had expected the election to result in an anti-Trump win for their party, an expectation considered a certainty after the Wednesday assault. Last-minute radio and tv ads by the Democrats focused almost exclusively on the assault, and three Montana newspapers pulled their endorsements of Gianforte. But the Repblican still won, and by a decent margin. I certainly don't support assualting reporters, even those who are purveyors of fake news, but the incident certainly says something about the mood of the country. Mr. Gianforte has since publicly apologized for his ill-considered aggression toward the media.
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Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's Finance Minister, another of Europe's brighter lights, suggests that Germany's Christians can learn from its growing Muslim population. What can they learn? In the minister's words, “Many human values are very strongly realised in Islam. Think of hospitality, and other things like, what is there… And also tolerance, I believe, for example.” Hospitality and tolerance were certainly in evidence in Manchester and Nice and Paris and San Bernardino and Egypt and...the list goes on. Of course many, perhaps most, Muslims are hospitable and tolerant, but to deny the religious basis of Islamist terrorism is not just foolish in the short term, but suicidal in the long term. 
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I have to admit, I've pretty much written off all career politicians, a class of people epitomized primarily by their inability to tell the truth. It's no wonder people are rejecting the liars and increasingly voting for politically inexperienced men and women. It's a trend I suspect (and hope) will continue. 

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One of my heroes, the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, believed strongly that the Islamic world would eventually convert to Christianity through the intercession of the Blessed Mother. He expected that Mary, because she occupies an especially exalted position in Islamic theology, would draw the Islamic world to her Son and Christianity. She will bring this about as Our Lady of Fatima, a title that has some fascinating Islamic roots.

I've always thought that Archbishop Sheen was likely correct about all this and that our politicians, as usual, will follow a much less productive course. This, of course, is just another good reason for all Catholics to pray the Rosary daily, not just for the conversion of Russia, but for the conversion of the entire world. After all, as St. Paul reminds us: 

"This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" [1 Tim 2:3-4].

"All men to be saved..." Why not? With God all things are possible.

And how fitting that we should turn to Our Lady of Fatima this year, the 100th anniversary of her apparition to the three children of Fatima. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

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.