What In The World?

This will likely be a disjointed post full of seemingly random thoughts, but every so often I'm just overwhelmed by what I see in the world. I'll begin close to home.

Although I was born in Connecticut, I spent most of my childhood in a suburb of New York City and so for years I considered myself a New Yorker. I was, therefore, taken aback when the governor of New York stated that “extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay....have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are." -- Also sprach Governor Cuomo from his chair in Albany.

Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio

Hmm...let's see. I am indeed pro-life and I support the right to bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment of our Constitution. I certainly wouldn't call myself "anti-gay" because as a Christian I "hate the sin but love the sinner." Of course, the fact that I believe marriage is sacred and unites only a man and a woman in a sacramental way no doubt makes me "anti-gay" from the governor's skewed perspective. I find it particularly curious that he would label me an "extreme Conservative" because I hold these beliefs which are also held by at least half of the US population. Fortunately for me, I haven't lived in New York since I was 18, so I guess I'm safe from whatever the governor has planned for those who disagree with him. 

Pope John Paul II: Extremist

Not surprisingly New York City's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, agrees with the governor. In his words, “The first point is, we represent our people and Governor Cuomo is right and I believe I’m on firm ground in saying our people, the people in New York State and the people of New York City reject extremists views against a women’s right to choose and in favor of the proliferation of guns in our society. And I stand by that 100 percent.” Why do I get the feeling that the "our people" to which the mayor refers actually includes only those who agree with him. And I always thought those we elected were supposed to represent all the people.

And don't you think there's something a wee bit scary about a governor who wants no one in his state excerpt those who share his beliefs? Will New York change its name to Stepford? Such thinking by someone who holds the reins of political and legal power in New York can lead to all kinds of nasty policies and their enforcement. It's also a rather blatant form of bigotry in that it attempts to exclude from society most Catholics and many other Christians who hold orthodox beliefs; that is, those who, unlike the governor, accept the tenets of their faith and believe what their Church teaches. Apparently the governor objects to the First Amendment as well as the Second. 

Governor Cuomo also provides us with another reason to be against capital punishment. Once you give a government the right to put people to death, what's to stop it from expanding its list of capital crimes? Once political correctness is formulated in law -- and this is already happening in many Western nations -- eliminating some of these "criminals" just might become too tempting for the authoritarians in charge. It's worth noting that the Marxist roots of political correctness can be easily traced back to Germany in 1923 and the Institute for Social Research, also known as the Frankfurt School. According to Bill Lind, PC is a form of Cultural Marxism in which "all history is determined by power, by which groups defined in terms of race, sex, etc., have power over other groups. Nothing else matters. All literature, indeed, is about that. Everything in the past is about that one thing." The history of Marxism put into practice clearly demonstrates how capital punishment can be used by those in power to eliminate any who refuse to toe the party line. (You can read the full text of Lind's comments here.)

And how can we forget another New Yorker, former Mayor Bloomberg, and his soda ban? In the course of his legal battle to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy by forcing them to drink less root beer and cream soda, he made the telling statement: "I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom." Ah, yes, Big Brother knows best and we should just go along.

The Soda Jerk

But honestly, there are worse things than those politicians who despise me for my beliefs and others who are nanny wannabes. Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg might be small potatoes in the overall scheme of things, but what troubles me most about them and those like them is their willingness to disregard that pesky Constitution of ours. They seem not to realize that the words of this document have meaning and our acceptance of them has been the guarantor of our freedom. 

For example... 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." 

These are the words of the 4th Amendment to our Constitution and like all ten amendments that make up our Bill of Rights, they define the rights of the people, not the rights of the government. The Bill of Rights was added to our Constitution to protect us from the government, from those we elected to positions of power. It you doubt this, just read the Federalist Papers, written by those who also wrote the Constitution. And so I am a bit confused when attorneys for the Department of Justice declare in federal court that American citizens have no right to challenge the government's collection of their personal records. I guess it all boils down to which we believe is more important, freedom or security. Personally, I'll join Patrick Henry who on March 23, 1775 ended his rousing speech to the Second Virginia Convention with the words: "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" And one can't help but cheer the people of New Hampshire who have "Live free or die!" as their state motto.

And speaking of life and death, isn't it interesting that pro-choice politicians often claim their policies are aimed at "protecting the children" while at the same time actively supporting the killing of unborn children in the womb? We saw an example of this when the administration joined the world in decrying the deaths of several hundred Syrian children who perished as a result of a chemical weapons attack. But when the federal government's own figures tell of the deaths of 55 million American babies since the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, we hear not a peep from that same government.

If we look beyond our borders, things don't seem much better. As a result of our feckless foreign policy, does the international community, in particular the nations of the Middle East, hold the United States in greater respect today than in 2008? If you want a clear answer, just listen to what the Iranians are saying about us now.

And what about the changes that have swept across the Middle East and North Africa, changes our government openly celebrated and supported? As a result of this so-called "Arab Spring" are the people of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Syria better off now than they were living under the despotic regimes of Mubarak, Qaddafi, et al.? Are the Christians (what's left of them) in these countries better off now than they were before? Why do all our real smart people fail to anticipate such "unintended" consequences, while some of us dummies saw them coming from the beginning? Go figure.

And, finally, does it trouble you, as it troubles me, that the nations we have aided and for whom we have expended so much American blood and dollars are now among the worst persecutors of Christians? Our war in Iraq, begun in 2003, has been catastrophic for Iraqi Christians. Not too many years ago, Christians made up nearly 10% of Iraq's population. During the past ten years, however, it's estimated that half the Christian population of the country has fled as a result of violence and other forms of persecution. How and why did we let this happen? Why do we hear little or nothing from the current administration about the murders of Christians and the widespread destruction of Christian churches by Islamist and Jihadist terrorists? Why has the administration openly supported Islamist groups -- for example, the Muslim Brotherhood -- responsible for this persecution?

Ah, well, too many unanswered questions. Thank God for His gift of faith.

Irish and Islamist Terrorism

Not long ago a friend, speaking of what he called the "tensions in the Middle East", told me that eventually the Israelis and Palestinians would follow the example of the Irish and come to a "reasonable solution" that would no doubt lead to lasting peace. I thought this was more than little Pollyannish and suggested that the two conflicts were not at all alike. He, however, countered that there was little difference between the IRA and Islamist groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah or the Muslim Brotherhood or even al-Qaeda. "We just need to get them all together with the Israelis," he argued, "apply some serious diplomacy, and they will come to see that violence never leads to success." When I said that World War II was a rather obvious example of the successful application of violence, he got personal and said, "That's the sort of warlike talk I'd expect from you." (He knows I am a retired naval officer.) At this point I concluded there was little reason to continue our argument.

Sadly this all occurred before I read the following article by Clifford May, or my (rhetorical) weapons would have been considerably more effective. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on national security. The article appeared this week on National Review Online. I intend to share it with my friend, who I am certain does not read this blog or NRO.

Dublin — In 1978, I was a young foreign correspondent assigned to cover “the Troubles,” the conflict in Northern Ireland between Protestants and Catholics, between those loyal to the British Crown and those determined to make Ireland a united and independent nation. There were “paramilitaries” on both sides. Terrorism — bombings, assassinations, and other forms of violence targeting civilians for political ends — was among the principal weapons employed.

But in at least one way, terrorism was different then: Although I sometimes worried that I might end up on the wrong Belfast street at the wrong time, I was confident that no one saw me as a target. Journalists were neutrals. “Loyalists” and “Republicans” alike were eager to tell me their stories, and have me retell those stories to distant audiences. Without fear, I would sit down with hard men and ask tough questions.

At some point over the years since, new technologies and ideologies brought changes that became obvious when the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Pearl took his notebook and pen to a 2002 meeting with terrorists in Karachi. They had a different approach to shaping the narrative — one that would entail beheading Pearl on camera and posting the video on the Internet.

The Troubles wracked Northern Ireland for almost 30 years. More than 1,500 people were killed. In those days, that was a serious number. But early in the new century, nearly twice as many innocent people would be killed on a single day in New York, Pennsylvania, and Arlington, Va. Meanwhile, in Syria over the past year, a conflict with ethno-religious-political undercurrents has taken some 20,000 lives. Perceiving this as an inflationary trend does not inspire optimism.

Queen Elizabeth & Martin McGuinness, former IRA commande

George Will, the venerable columnist, once cited Northern Ireland as one of the world’s two “intractable” conflicts. The other was what was then known as the Arab–Israeli conflict, today more usually called the Palestinian–Israeli conflict, though in reality it is now Islamist regimes and movements that are most seriously waging what they call a jihad against Israel.

Will was wrong about Ireland. The Troubles ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Two Northern Irish politicians, John Hume and David Trimble, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — a rare occasion on which the awards were actually deserved.

Today, Northern Ireland remains British. But a good road connects the Republic in the south with the United Kingdom in the north, and no border guards or checkpoints impede travel between the two. Former terrorists, reformed if not repentant, serve in Northern Ireland’s government. Rightly or wrongly, Queen Elizabeth II shook hands with one earlier this year.

On a brief return to Northern Ireland this week, it was apparent that there are still tensions, still segregated neighborhoods, still pubs where Protestants and Catholics do not mix. But the Troubles ended when most people on both sides accepted the idea of an imperfect peace, when they came to see compromise as preferable to more killing and dying, and when they tired of the poverty and degradation that chronic carnage brings in its wake.

Should that give us hope that peace in the Middle East also is possible and perhaps even imminent? Absolutely not.

At its worst, the IRA never sought the destruction of Britain and never vowed to wipe Protestants off the Irish map. The most extreme Protestant paramilitaries did not argue that southern Catholics had no right to self-determination.

These days, it is fashionably multicultural and politically correct to assign blame in roughly equal measure to Israelis and Palestinians. It also is patently false. Time and again, Israelis have demonstrated their willingness to compromise in order to achieve an imperfect peace with their neighbors, not least those in Gaza and the West Bank.

Hamas, by contrast, is openly committed to Israel’s annihilation, attacking those who would settle for less as traitors and apostates. Fatah’s spokesmen, at least in Arabic, express solidarity with Hamas on that score. Meanwhile, Iran’s rulers, Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood all continue to insist that they will never accept Israel, that they will not allow even the tiniest swath of the Middle East to be ruled by non-Muslims, least of all the despised Jews, who, it is charged with bewildering inconsistency, defied the Prophet Mohammed in ancient Arabia and have no roots in the region.

“There are fascist forces in this world,” David Trimble said in his 1998 Nobel Lecture. “The first step to their defeat is to define them.” In Ireland, enough people took that step, and what Trimble has termed “a sort of peace” has been the admirable result. In the Middle East, too many are still unwilling or unable to take that first step, and so no other steps can follow.

Here's a link to Clifford May's original article on NRO: Letter from Ireland

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Update

I haven't posted much recently, but I have an excuse. Two of my grandsons are visiting Diane and me here in Florida and my time is now their time. We've been enjoying ourselves though, despite the soggy presence of tropical storm Debby who, like our grandchildren, wants to hang out here in Florida as long as possible. Oh, yes, our daughter, Siobhan, and son-in-law, Jeffrey, have also been visiting, but they must take a distant second place to the grandchildren.

Ezekiel (left) & Phineas (right) and parents

Despite the rain we've been determined to have a good time. We spent two days at Legoland, a rather odd (to me) theme park located at the site of the old Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida. We dodged the thunderstorms enough to enjoy every ride several times and even spent a morning at Legoland's water park where the boys, aged four and six, proved to me that merely watching children have fun can be exhausting. The boys loved every moment of their time there.

Since Phineas, the younger of the two, has a real fondness for trains we also took a ride on the Orange Blossom Cannonball, an ancient train that runs out of nearby Tavares, Florida. The ride also included a train robbery complete with nasty outlaws, the local sheriff, dance hall girls, lots of shooting, and a strong box filled with cash. It was all very exciting.

Then Debby got serious and started dumping huge amounts of water on us. This will continue through the remainder of their visit, so we've been doing inside stuff to keep busy. Fortunately, we have a Wii game system here, which we use only when grandchildren visit. Yesterday we flew airplanes, bowled, engaged in exciting sword fights, and played a few rounds of golf -- all in our living room.

Train Robbery in Progress

Ezekiel, who has a fondness for tractors and all kinds of other heavy equipment that dig and move earth, will get a treat today since there is an International Harvester tractor museum only a few miles away in Leesburg, Florida. Since everything is indoors the rain will present no obstacle.

And so...that's why I haven't been very active. Sadly, however, the world has continued to spin out of control. A few interesting events have caught my attention:

Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood. Back when the so-called "Arab Spring" hit Egypt, most observers were proclaiming the events as nothing less than a victory for democracy over tyranny. Although the revolution in Egypt may have been led originally by young secularists, I always anticipated that the Islamists would end up in charge. Read my posts from January, February and May 2011 on the emerging events in Egypt:


Egypt on the Brink (Jan 28, 2011)


The Plight of Christians in Egypt (Feb 4, 2011)


The New Egypt: Islamist or Secular (May 17, 2011)

And now Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood has just won the country's presidency. I find it particularly interesting that a nation which has never had a free election in its long and varied history should elect those who will quite likely ensure any future elections will not be free.

Pray for the Christians of Egypt. They make up 10% of the population, but are under constant threat of persecution. With the Muslim Brotherhood assuming control, persecution will likely increase.


Fortnight for Freedom. Our U.S. bishops have finally come together to challenge the obvious attack on religious freedom represented by the Obama administration's Health and Human Services mandate. You can read more about it here on the bishops' website. We are now in the midst of their "Fortnight for Freedom" which extends to Independence Day, July 4, and urges all parishes to take part through prayer and efforts to increase awareness of the threat among parishioners.

The following video, made by Bishop John Noonan, the Bishop of Orlando, was shown at all Masses this past Sunday throughout the diocese.

Pray for our country.

The New Egypt...Islamist or Secular?

In case you haven't heard, the so-called "Arab Spring" that has swept across much of northern Africa and the Middle East just might be transformed into an Islamist Winter if groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have their way. 

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, is the organization from which sprang virtually all Islamist radical movements. It's motto is a succinct statement of its aims: "Islam is the solution." In the words of its founder, "The Qur'an is our saber, and martyrdom is our desire. Islam is faith and cult, religion and state, Book and sword. As a universal religion, Islam is a religion good for any people and in any time of human history." (For more info on the Brotherhood, check out this Weekly Standard article.)

Almost from the beginning the Brotherhood has advocated resorting to jihad -- that is, war -- not only against non-Muslim societies, but also against Muslim regimes it believes have betrayed the Islamic cause. The Brotherhood has a significant reach, having spread its influence not only throughout the Muslim world, but also among the Muslim populations of Europe and the U.S. For years the Brotherhood was the best organized opposition group in Egypt, making it well-suited to capitalize on the political chaos that followed Mubarak's ouster. Interestingly, the Brotherhood's English-language website is wonderfully sanitized, presented in a way that makes them sound almost moderate, but omitting their radical statements that are openly pronounced throughout the Muslim world.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Founder, Hassan al-Banna

Today the Muslim Brotherhood seems to be assuming a leading role in the evolution of the new Egypt being formed out of the now-defunct autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak. Most knowledgeable observers are saying that the Brotherhood's candidates may well receive strong support from the electorate in the scheduled September elections. And so there's a real possibility of the creation of a radical Islamist state in Egypt, an outcome that would be tragic for both Egypt and the rest of the Muslim world.

One bright spot is the recent meeting of 1,500 of Egypt's moderate leaders who came together for the sole purpose of counteracting the Muslim Brotherhood and transforming Egypt into a secular state. According to Fr. Rafik Greiche, of the press office of the Catholic Church of Egypt, “A coalition of moderate parties is the only way to stop the progress of radical groups, and avoid the creation of a confessional state." Not only would such a state create another base for global terrorism, but according to Fr. Greich it would also have serious societal consequences. The radical groups support a fundamentalist application of Sharia law in which women would not be permitted to work or even leave their homes. According to Fr. Greich, “A takeover by radical Islamic parties would especially hurt widows and women abandoned by their husband because they would not be able to maintain their children." Aware of this possibility, many Muslim women in Egypt have joined with Coptic Christians openly protesting against the idea of an Islamic state and calling for a distinct separation of religion and government.

Egyptian Christian and Muslim women protest in front of the state television building in Cairo

For those who are ambivalent about the ascendancy of the Muslim Brotherhood, it might be revealing to realize that the Brotherhood, along with other jihadist groups in Egypt, have declared Osama Bin Laden a hero and a martyr for Islam. (See this article in The Atlantic.) Accompanying this talk has been a significant increase in anti-Christian propaganda and an upsurge in the persecution of Christians, some of it deadly. According to Fr. Greich, “Muslim leaders are calling Christians infidels, who have no right to representation in parliament...An atmosphere of psychological terrorism is causing fear in people who want democracy, driving many out of the country." (See this article, Give Us Back Our Church.)

As the protests grew in intensity and spread throughout the Islamic world, many in the West were all excited about the "Arab Spring" and its possibilities. It would, however, be well to remember that the law of unintended consequences can bring about a whole other set of possibilities, many of them not very pleasant. Here's a video of a news report that addresses this:

If you want to better understand modern Islam and its relationship with the non-Muslim world, I recommend reading 111 Questions on Islam, a wonderful book by Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, a Jesuit who grew up in the Muslim world and is one of the Church's (and the world's) most knowledgeable scholars on Islam. 
 

New Egyptian Government Will Include "All Parties"...Except Christians

President Mubarak is gone and the Egyptian people -- well, most of them -- are euphoric. Egypt's thirty-year virtual dictatorship has ended with the military taking control, presumably on an interim basis until elections can be held. It all sounds very good -- free elections, democracy -- but lurking in the political background is the Muslim Brotherhood, a jihadist group that commands the loyalty of anywhere from 20% to 30% of the population.

Coptic Christian being beaten by devotees of Muslim Brotherhood

I know next to nothing about the Egyptian constitution, but if it's anything like the constitutions of most nations in that part of the world, it's a meaningless document, particularly when it comes to religious freedom. Many nations with Muslim majorities claim to protect their citizens' right to worship freely while at the same time persecuting non-Muslims. In Egypt, for example, the Christian Copts, who make up more than 10% of the population (some estimate 15%-20%), have been subjected to centuries of fierce persecution. Recent mass murders and church bombings only show that nothing has really changed, even though these atrocities took place in a supposedly secular state. I can just imagine what will happen to the Copts if a group like the Muslim Brotherhood becomes a "partner" in any future government. Democracy can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be a dangerous thing -- essentially a "mob" thing -- especially when there are no constitutional protections of legitimate minorities. Simply disagreeing with the mob can lead to serious problems -- just ask Socrates.

Another sign of problems to come for Christians in Egypt rose to the surface last week after President Mubarak stated he would not seek reelection in the scheduled September elections. He then appointed a vice president and called on "all parties" to join in dialogue to address the future of the Egyptian nation. Unfortunately, "all parties" did not apparently include the Christian minority. Although the Copts are being excluded from this dialogue, it would seem that representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood will take part. This does not bode well for the courageous Christians of Egypt.

For details on all of this, click here: Egypt's Christians Excluded

Plight of Christians in Egypt...and other news.

There are already some early indications that the future of Egypt may mirror what we have already seen in Iran as radical Islamists position themselves to become a major force in any evolving government.

US Supports a Government Role for Muslim Brotherhood. And guess who's getting the most attention in Egypt these days, and even being talked about as a coalition partner in any new government? You guessed it, the Muslim Brotherhood. Allowing this long-time terrorist organization to have even a single seat in a future Egyptian government would be a serious mistake, one that would lead to disastrous consequences. And yet, according to the LA Times, "The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a reformed Egyptian government." Why would the United States condone the inclusion of this large, international terrorist organization in a future Egyptian government? These guys are really bad news. Just check out their catchy motto:

Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.

The Brotherhood's hatred of Israel, Jews in general, and all of Western civilization, is almost palpable. And their stated goal is to bring the entire world under Islamic law. They also hate Christians and have encouraged attacks on them and their churches. Here's an example from this week...

Coptic Families Murdered in Egypt. the midst of the current chaos in Egypt, a group of Islamists decided to take advantage of the lack of police protection and attack their neighbors, who happened to be Coptic Christians. In Maghagha in Upper Egypt, 11 members of two Coptic Christian families were murdered in their homes. Aided by the Copts' Muslim neighbors, the attackers entered the homes through the roof of each house. The dead include several children, aged three, four, eight and fifteen. Four others were badly wounded in the attack.

According to the local Coptic bishop, Anba Agathon, "The two families were staying in their homes with their doors locked when suddenly the Islamists descended on them killing eleven and leaving for dead four other family members. In addition, they looted everything that was in the two Coptic houses, including money, furniture and electrical equipment. They also looted livestock and grain." The bishop also named the men, neighbors of the victims, who led the two groups of attackers and called on the police to arrest them. But, as one Coptic activist stated, "Why have those Islamists chosen those two Coptic families and not Muslim ones to slaughter and rob? I believe it is because they know that with Copts they can literally get away with murder."

For more on this story, read: Muslims Attack Two Christian Families

In other news, did you hear about the decision of the French Constitutional Council, France's highest court when it comes to constitutional issues? It ruled in favor of defining marriage in terms of traditional marriage; that is, as between a man and a woman. Amazing isn't it? While our courts are doing all in their power to destroy marriage, the French are actually upholding it. Of course, the advocates of same-sex marriage will no doubt appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, a court that has never been too fond of things traditional...or moral. Pray that they will come to their senses on this one. Read more here: French High Court Affirms Traditional Marriage

And on the pro-life front, Planned Parenthood has once again shown its true colors. A man and a woman, posing as a pimp and prostitute, made a secret video of their visit to a Planned Parenthood "clinic" in New Jersey. During the course of their conversation with the PP office manager, they mentioned that they "managed" a group of underage (14 and 15 year-old girls) prostitutes who didn't speak English. When they asked the PP manager about treatment of the girls for sexually transmitted diseases, she told them, "Minors are always accepted without parental consent," but then warned them to be careful because, "if they are a minor we are obligated if we hear certain information." You won't believe what else she told them. Yes, there's more, a lot more...all of it proving how despicable an organization Planned Parenthood is. Read it all here: Planned Parenthood Abets Sex Trafficking.

Pray for our nation, brothers and sisters...

Egypt on the Brink

My oh my oh my...I just spent some time listening to a BBC shortwave broadcast on the events taking place in Egypt, and then browsed for a while on the Al Jazeera website to get the Arab view, and quite honestly, I think the entire Middle East is in the midst of an upheaval of mammoth proportions, one that just might spread throughout the Muslim world. Seeing what happened in Tunisia, and how quickly it was exported to Egypt (and now also to Jordan and soon probably elsewhere in the area) one gets the sense that these long-corrupt, near totalitarian governments are doomed.

I don't think anyone expects President Mubarak, Egypt's longtime dictator, to be president much longer. Assuming he has any sense of self-preservation, and doesn't actually believe that 30 years of power have made him invincible, he'll quite likely join his family in exile sometime very soon. Once the Army comes to believe that the regime has no future, it will join the protesters and bring it all to an end. The problem, of course, is, who or what will replace Mubarak? That's the trouble with dictatorships, especially long-term corrupt ones that impoverish and tyrannize the people. They don't allow the development of the institutions necessary for representative democracy, really for anything other than another dictatorship. And since most of the Islamic world is rife with corruption and has no real experience with democratic institutions, we can probably rule out any flowering of democracy in Egypt. The most likely successor to the present regime are the Islamists, folks like the Muslim Brotherhood who already have in place a kind of shadow infrastructure and are no doubt ready and willing to assume control. And, like Hezbollah and Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood should probably be included among the world's terrorist organizations. I expect Egypt will be a very different place if they are in charge. If you check out their website it's pretty obvious that they are positioning themselves for a major leadership role in whatever evolves out of this situation.

Protesters in Jordan

And don't you think the Saudi royals are getting a bit antsy about now, wondering whether this revolutionary fervor might infect the kingdom's population? If Mubarak, one of the true strongmen of the Middle East, falls, this just might spread throughout the entire Muslim world. And why do I see the hand of Iran in all of this? After all they've been active and overt supporters of Hezbollah and Hamas, terrorist organizations that are now key players in the Lebanese and Palestinian governments. The fact that Iran is predominantly Shia and Egypt Sunni is really immaterial. Indeed many of Iran's religious leaders have praised Egypt's Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, an approach in line with their focus on Islamic unity that downplays Shia-Sunni differences.

Because the United States has allied itself with, or at best tolerated and supported, most of these dictators for decades, I think we can safely assume that any new governments will not be very friendly toward us. The Islamists, of course, see us as the enemy of Islam, the prime example of decadent Christianity, so we shouldn't expect anything but hostility from them. Sadly, I believe we can also expect increased persecution of Christians throughout the Middle East. And little Israel must also be very concerned since they had developed a tolerable understanding with Egypt, a situation that will likely change.

Pray for peace in that troubled part of the world and take solace in your knowledge that our loving God is in charge.