Courage and Cancellation

Before I forget them, here are just a few things that popped into my aging brain this morning on the drive home after Mass. I had some errands to run — fill the car with gas, buy milk and cream — so my mind was wonderfully empty and open to deeper thoughts. I’d considered praying the Rosary as I drove but knew I wouldn’t have time to complete five decades and I never like stopping in the middle…so my attention wandered.

I found myself thinking about a young woman, born in North Korea, who ultimately escaped via China, Mongolia, South Korea, and finally to the United States. I had seen her interviewed on TV the other day, and her courage and wisdom overwhelmed me. In China she and her mother were forced into sex slavery, but she managed to escape, crossed the Gobi Desert into Mongolia, and from there made her way to South Korea. She came to the USA and eventually graduated from Columbia, a university where she encountered a woke American version of the forced leftist orthodoxy she thought she had left behind in North Korea. Her name is Yeonmi Park, and she’s written two books: one about her escape, In Order to Live; and another, While Time Remains. The latter relates her experiences dealing with leftist political indoctrination here in the United States, especially in Academia. She is a remarkable and courageous young woman, and I have ordered both books. I might write about them in a future post. 

Listening to her, though, led me to consider the lack of moral courage, indeed the outright cowardice of so many Americans, especially young college-age Americans. They seem so afraid of being out of sync with the current zeitgeist, so afraid to speak up in defense of truth and what is right, that they succumb to social and psychological pressures, and to the fear of “cancellation”, believing or at best not daring to contradict whatever lies they are told. Because they have been so thoroughly indoctrinated at every educational level, they find if far easier to let others think for them rather than taking the time to study, to learn the truth, and perhaps even to think for themselves. When I consider our young service men and women, who exhibit remarkable physical and moral courage almost daily, I am appalled by the moral cowardice of far too many of the “more educated” among our youth. 

Of course, the indoctrination of our children and young adults plays right into the hands of those who seek to rule us. The young folks are so accustomed to believing everything they are told by their controllers, that the chosen rulers can claim infallibility, even in the face of failure. An abject failure that turns into a deadly fiasco — for example, Afghanistan — is hailed as a huge success and the woke media and party-lime politicians just rave about it. And the more such things occur, the more often truth is hidden behind lies, the more the workers and drones in the hive actually come to believe what they’re saying. 

The only solution is to speak the truth always, regardless of the consequences. That’s really the best definition of moral courage.

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.

Persecution Update

I haven't done one of these updates in a while, but it's not been from a lack of news. Indeed, the persecution of Christians throughout the world has only increased. In some parts of the world it has become nothing less than genocide. The source of persecution hasn't really changed, and the usual suspects are responsible for most of it. The communist governments of North Korea, Beijing, Hanoi, and even Cuba, continue to persecute Christians. But the most wide-spread persecution, on a scale not seen in recent years, is being carried out by Islamic extremists.

I suspect that most American Christians believe this persecution is limited to that by groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) and other Islamist terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, Boko Haram, and Al-Shabaab. When the persecution of Christians manages to make its way into the mainstream media, it's usually to cover persecution by one of these groups. And while it's true that these terrorist organizations are responsible for much of the most severe persecution of Christians in Asia and Africa, it's important to realize that the governments of many of our so-called allies are just as guilty.

Open Doors is an organization that publishes its annual watch list of the nations in which Christian persecution is worst. At the top of the list for 2016 is North Korea, the communist nation run by the barbaric Kim Jong-un. He has imprisoned close to 100,000 Christians in labor camps where the conditions are beyond despicable. But North Korea is a kind of aberration. Because it is ruled by one man with total power, it is also a nation in which a change of leadership could bring about radical change in its treatment of Christians. That isn't true of many of the other nations on the Open Doors list.

Once we move past North Korea, the next nine nations among the top ten are all Islamic. See the image below:

To view the complete list of 50 nations, click here, then scroll down: Open Doors World Watch List

Open Doors has also prepared a full report, world map, and reports on the individual countries included on its list. The map -- which you can download as a PDF file -- provides a nice visual of places throughout the world where Christians are most unwelcome. Click here. to see the list of  all downloadable files.

One of our supposed closest allies, Saudi Arabia, is #14 on the list. Famous (or infamous) for its religious police, the Kingdom prohibits any form of public Christian worship, and many Christian immigrant workers, imported from places such as the Philippines, suffer greatly under the heavy hand of sharia law. Interestingly, conversions to Christianity, particularly among the youth, are growing in Saudi Arabia due largely to the Internet.

#11 on the list is Yemen, a country where Christians suffer great persecution. Just this past week four of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity nuns were murdered, along with 12 others, in Aden where they ran a nursing home for the elderly. Speaking of this tragedy, Pope Francis said:

“These are the martyrs of today! They are not on the front page of newspapers; they are not news. They are the people who give blood for the Church. These people are the victims of those who have murdered them but also of the indifference, of this global indifference of those who do not care.”

Such is the level of hatred by the persecutors, and the level of indifference by the once-Christian nations of the West.

Some Western Christians might be surprised to find India relatively high on the list (#17), but the persecution of Christians has increased dramatically since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power a few years ago. The party actively supports the radical Hindus who have been responsible for the severe persecution of Christians. No longer can India bill itself as the world's largest democracy when its government openly sanctions the persecution of religious minorities.

The Knights of Columbus, working in partnership with the group, In Defense of Christians, has prepared a comprehensive report on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. You can download a copy of this report here: Genocide Against Christians in the Middle East.

Just to give you a sense of the nature of this persecution, read the words of Mark Arabo, a California businessman and Chaldean-American leader. Speaking to CNN's Jonathan Mann, Arabo called what's happening in Iraq a "Christian genocide" and said "children are being beheaded, mothers are being raped and killed, and fathers are being hanged."

"They are systematically beheading children, and mothers and fathers. The world hasn't seen an evil like this for generations. There's a park in Mosul where they actually beheaded children and put their heads on a stick...this is a crime against humanity. They are doing the most horrendous, the most heartbreaking crimes that you can think of."

Take a moment to sign the Knights of Columbus' petition which will be sent to Secretary of State John Kerry. The petition asks that the United States government declare what's happening to Christians in the Middle East a genocide. Here's a direct link to the petition: Stop the Christian Genocide.

Pray for our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world who suffer persecution simply because they keep the faith.

Friday Thoughts

Prayer Breakfasts. Our president, the nation's self-proclaimed leading aficionado of religious freedom, decided to address the issue at Thursday's National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. And let me tell you, it was an uplifting, hopeful address and was doubtless equally well received by the politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, justices, and other holy folk who came together to ask God to advance their respective ideologies.

President and Mrs. Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast

Okay, let me give the president his due. I was very pleased to hear him mention Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American who has been imprisoned in Iran simply because he is a Christian. I may be wrong, but I believe this is the first time the president has mentioned Pastor Abedini publicly. He also referred to another American, Christian missionary Kenneth Bae, who has been imprisoned by the even more barbaric regime in North Korea. The president stated that “The United States will continue to do everything in our power to secure his release because Kenneth Bae deserves to be free.” Later, speaking of Pastor Abedini, he said, "Today, we call on the Iranian government to release Pastor Abedini.” It was good to hear these comments and promises, regardless of their efficacy. [Note: As I write this I just heard a news report that North Korea has transferred Kenneth Bae from a hospital to a labor camp, where he will serve out his 15-year sentence. Sad news indeed. We await the president's response.]

Pastor Abedini and his family

The president also referred to the blasphemy laws used by Muslim nations to persecute non-Muslims, especially Christians. As one might expect, Mr. Obama's reference was somewhat circumspect and avoided mentioning Islam: "Going forward, we will keep standing for religious freedom around the world.  And that includes, by the way, opposing blasphemy and defamation of religion measures, which are promoted sometimes as an expression of religion, but, in fact, all too often can be used to suppress religious minorities." 

The president drifted off into political correctness a few times, as when he said, "We sometimes see religion twisted in an attempt to justify hatred and persecution against other people just because of who they are, or how they pray or who they love" [my italics]. With this comment, of course, the president accuses those who believe homosexual acts to be sinful of twisting religion and justifying hatred. I guess that makes me and the Catholic Church and most orthodox Christians twisted haters. I've been called worse things.

Kenneth Bae

Political correctness was also obvious in what the president didn't address. His administration's attack on the Catholic Church and others who object to being forced to use health insurance that funds contraception, abortion, and sex-change procedures was conspicuously omitted, as was the fact that our nation has slaughtered 55 million unborn human beings since 1973. 

My problem with prayer breakfasts is that they center less on on prayer and more on poorly veiled political speeches. The president's comments [you can read his entire address here] are not addressed to God but rather to the gathered Washington insiders, and their purpose is less worshipful than political. But I suppose we should be happy they actually get together once a year to talk about God...a far better subject than what they usually talk about.

Persecution of Christians. The Pew Research Center has released its latest findings on global religious persecution, and not surprisingly Christians are the most persecuted of all believers. The persecution of Christians has been reported in a mind-boggling 110 countries. Jews, who make up a tiny percentage of the world's population, experienced persecution in 95 countries. Interestingly, the harassment and persecution of believers increased in every region of the world, except the Americas. Furthermore, the number of nations experiencing religious terrorism and sectarian violence also increased significantly, doubling over the past five years. These trends are less than encouraging.

The Internet as Teacher. There's a lot of trash on the web, actually more than a lot, but there's also some very interesting stuff. You can read virtually all of the world's great literature. You can access the minds of experts in every field. You can work your way through courses offered by some of the world's great universities. You can even read this blog. And you can do much of this absolutely free! It's truly remarkable. Another fascinating online resource is Youtube. Yes, I admit that there are a lot of strange and ridiculous videos on Youtube, but there are also some very useful things. YouTube is eminently practical. For example, if you want to learn how best to re-grout the ceramic tile in your shower, there's a video showing you how. If you want to clean your Mossberg shotgun...yep, there's a video. Even more remarkable, however, Youtube can teach you how to open a bottle of wine using only your shoe! This is something I've been aching to learn for decades, and now, here it is, wonderfully encapsulated into a 49-second video, thanks to Mirabeau Vineyards.



One can also learn how to open a bottle of beer without a bottle opener, but for some reason it requires over six minutes of instructional video. Perhaps beer drinkers are slower learners.

Strange, Unexpected and Tragic Things

(Late Note: my apologies for the bad links in the earlier post. They have now been fixed.)

Every once in a while I can't help myself and I get "political". Here are Just a few interesting and strange things I encountered in the news today...

John Kerry. It seems our Secretary of State, a man by the way, who shopped for combat decorations and told some whoppers about his service on swift boats in Vietnam, apparently doesn't realize that North Korea already has nuclear weapons. In an interview with Martha Raddatz of ABC News, Secretary Kerry said, "To have a nuclear weapon, potentially, in the hands of somebody like Kim Jong In - Jun just becomes even more unacceptable." Potentially? Uh, Mr. secretary, the North Koreans have tested nuclear weapons at least three times. Kim Jong Un already has these weapons. Ain't nothin' potential 'bout that. Read the transcript here.

Presidential Polls. As of today polling shows that a sizable majority of Americans believe the president lied when he repeatedly told the nation that under the so-called Affordable Care Act -- aka Obamacare -- we could keep our health care plans and doctors, period! The 2014 election cycle should be really interesting, especially for the Democrat House and Senate members who supported Obamacare and are up for reelection. Oh, yeah, as I recall every single Democrat in the Senate and the vast majority of Democrat House members voted for the act...without ever reading it.

Duck Dynasty. Interesting stuff. Phil Robertson, the Duck Dynasty patriarch, has been placed on indefinite hiatus (i.e., fired) by the A&E Network for his blunt comments about sin and the homosexual lifestyle in a GQ magazine interview. Since then, the vast majority of TV's talking heads have labeled the interview a big mistake by Robertson, who they believe didn't consider what his "inflammatory" words might lead to. One wag, Howard Bragman, of reputation.com stated, "There's too much money at stake. Although he plays kind of a hick on TV, I don't think he's dumb. I think he gets what's at stake here. And I hope people on his team, the network and his producers get the message that what he did was wrong." Dana Perino, a regular on the Fox News show, The Five, just couldn't stop wringing her little hands over the fact that gays and many others were so very offended that Robertson called homosexual activity sinful and lumped it together with greed, bestiality, adultery, terrorism, and other sins. Well, Dana, duh! Orthodox Christianity -- and here I'll include Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and most Evangelicals, etc. -- all believe and teach this. These things are sinful, but like Phil Robertson, we hate the sin but love the sinner. And like Phil, too, we know we're all sinners.

I suspect most of these inside-the-beltway folks have never watched the show or they'd realize what is truly important to the Robertsons. What all these upwardly mobile, dollar-driven, and PR-obsessed media flacks don't realize is that for Phil Robertson and his family, the money, the show's success, and the "bad" PR resulting from his comments are all secondary concerns. This family is a Christian family that accepts Christian moral teaching. Living and professing their faith is more important to them than a TV show and they will gladly walk away from their lucrative A&E gig rather than compromise their beliefs. Phil Robertson may have been overly graphic in his choice of words, but he spoke only what he and many Christians believe. Personally, I consider him a courageous man. May his tribe increase!

And for those homosexuals who see Phil Robertson and other believing Christians as threats, I suggest they look east and see what's happening to homosexuals in Islamic nations. Indeed, even in India Muslim clerics are issuing fatwas against homosexuals, calling for the execution of gays and unmarried couples who have live-in relationships:  "A person may be burnt alive, pushed from a high wall or be beaten publically with stones if he indulges into either of the two behaviours." I predict the gay activists who have been so vocal about the Robertson clan will say nothing about these atrocities since they're not committed by Christians. The photo below shows two young homosexuals, Mahmoud Asgari, 16, and Ayaz Marhoni, 18, about to be hanged in Iran. Read more here.

Lying is OK. That's right, according to some in the mainstream media it's okay to lie if by doing so you support the progressive agenda. Several media types have recently stated openly that it's perfectly acceptable to lie for politically correct reasons. During a panel discussion, MSNBC host, Toure Neblett, stated, “If a lie is being told to a corporation, it’s not really a lie" -- an interesting comment coming from an employee of Comcast, a major corporation. Panel member Josh Barro agreed, saying in effect that corporations lie in their advertising so we can lie to them. And then there was Matt Yglesias, the liberal blogger at JournoList who confidently included this missive on Twitter: “Fighting dishonesty with dishonesty is sometimes the right thing for advocates to do..."  It's all reminiscent of an interview with Dan Rather back in 2001 when, speaking of Bill Clinton and honesty, he said, “I think at core he’s an honest person...but I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things.”

Killer of Christians Convicted. Two years ago, on Christmas Eve, a bomb exploded in St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, a suburb of the Nigerian capital. The attack killed 37 Catholic parishioners and wounded 57 more. It was carried out by the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, a group that believes Christians must either convert or be killed. This week a Nigerian court sentenced Kabiru Sokoto to life imprisonment for his role in the deadly attack. This was a courageous decision by the court since Boko Haram has not hesitated to target government officials who act against it. Read more here.

The devastation of Nigerian Christian communities is ongoing and over 200 Christians have been murdered by Islamist terrorists in the past six months. Condemning the attacks on Christian communities, Bishop Michael Apochi of the Diocese of Otukpo, stated that “Life has become unbearable for our church members who have survived these attacks, and they are making worship services impossible.” You can read more on the persecution of Nigerian Christians here.

Prince Charles Surprise. The future King, assuming he outlives his mum, is usually very careful not to utter a disparaging word against anything Islamic. But even Charles has apparently been forced to admit that Islamists are systematically killing Christians. For Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, the so-called Arab Spring has resulted only in dramatically increased persecution. At a London reception at Clarence House, the prince informed his guests that "For 20 years I have tried to build bridges between Islam and Christianity to dispel ignorance and misunderstanding...The point though, surely, is that we have now reached a crisis where bridges are rapidly being deliberately destroyed by those with a vested interest in doing so. This is achieved through intimidation, false accusation and organised persecution including to the Christian communities in the Middle East at the present time." Read more here.

Inside the Beltway...They Really Hate Us. The Washington Post, the fish-wrapper of record in our nation's capital, has let the cat out of the bag by revealing how the DC types really feel about those who live elsewhere. Because much of America disapproves of how these parasites feed greedily on their money, the Post calls them "haters". (Click here to read the Post piece.)  

Republicans winning big among haters, Post-ABC poll finds

It's been an interesting year. I have a feeling 2014 will be far more interesting. Reading about all the strangeness in the world, I find myself especially comforted knowing that God is in charge...because we sure aren't.

Persecution Update: the not-so-nice countries

Every year World Watch List (WWL) takes a look at the persecution of Christians throughout the world and ranks the 50 countries with the worst records. Click here for this year's list in PDF format. The file also includes some interesting commentary on each nation. And don't neglect their homepage which will lead you to much additional information on religious persecution throughout the world.

Who is number one on the WWL 2011 list? North Korea. It seems the Great Leader, Kim Jong-Il, and his loyal followers do not like Christians at all. Whenever an underground Christian community is discovered, it's leaders -- ministers, priests, lay leaders, etc. -- are summarily executed and the rest are imprisoned. And yet, despite this horrific persecution, several hundred-thousand Christians still worship in secret. God bless and protect them. (I also wrote about North Korean persecution of Christians in a previous post on August 11, 2010.)

The rest of the top five include Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia, all Muslim nations. Indeed, a significant majority (41 of 50) of all nations on the list are Muslim, including eight of the top ten. (Makes you wonder how Muslims in the US and Europe can actually complain about "islamophobia" whenever someone gives a Muslim a second glance. Go figure.) Five on the list are Communist nations: North Korea, Laos, China, Vietnam and Cuba. Three nations have Buddhist majorities -- Bhutan, Burma (Myanmar) and Sri Lanka -- while one, India, has a Hindu majority.

The other nation included on the list is Russia at number 50. Persecution in Russia is greatest in the southern Muslim-majority parts of the country, but is also meted out by the FSB, the descendent of the infamous KGB. Another issue relates to the government's labeling as a "sect" any Christian denomination other than Russian Orthodoxy.

Most the the nations included on the list represent the "usual suspects", but one is particularly irritating: Afghanistan. This is a nation we "saved" from the vicious Taliban, a nation we have continued to protect by sacrificing the blood of America's best, and instead of showing gratitude they persecute Christians. And notice they are #3 on the list, so the persecution is not just occasional but frequent and severe.

Here's a brief video providing an overview of this year's list:

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North Korean Persecution of Christians

Communist North Korea is such a closed, totalitarian society that any news about daily life is rare and news about religion is virtually non-existent. But this week some news of the ongoing persecution of Christians managed to find its way to the Western media via a group of North Korean exiles. According to the group, North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, the regime apparently uncovered an underground Christian church and arrested all those involved. The three leaders were quickly executed and the remaining 20 were sentenced to a penal labor colony after extensive interrogation. There was no information on the denomination of the underground church.

It seems these North Korean Christians had visited China where they encountered underground Christian churches and started up their own when they returned to North Korea. Pray for these brave Christians who willingly risked their lives for their faith.

Like most totalitarian regimes North Korea rejects the idea of religious freedom, and encourages instead a kind of secular cult that "worships" the Eternal President Kim Il-sung and his son, the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il. But it seems that, as life has become increasingly difficult for the people, there has been a growing interest in religion. It was a peaceful spiritual revolution in Poland that ultimately led to the overthrow of the Communist governments of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Perhaps the same thing will happen in North Korea. With God all things are possible.

North Koreans in front of statue of "Eternal President" Kim Il-sung

To learn about North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, the organization made up of dissident exiles, click here. And to read more about the execution and arrest of these North Korean Christians, click here for the AsiaNews story.

One final thought. I haven't read or heard about this in the secular media. I wonder why?