End of the Year - Just News

So much of what I read or view or hear in the news I simply ignore. Very little affects me directly, and even when it does, I find I can't do much about it. But then I encounter that which either gladdens or saddens and decide it's worth repeating. What follows are just a couple of news items that struck me in these final days of 2021. 

Richard Marcinko, R.I.P.  A truly remarkable man, Dick Marcinko left this world on Christmas Day at the age of 81. I am certain that a lot of people in present-day America did not like Dick Marcinko. In fact, I suspect he was (and still is) quietly hated by many of our military's senior leadership, much of the media, politicians of both sides, and certainly by the "woke" crowd that hates everything American. Dick, you see, was a full-blown, 100%, all-American, warrior. He despised those who despised America and devoted much of his life to protecting this country from the very worst of these. If he had one major fault, he was perhaps too much of a warrior, the kind of man who tended to ignore politically inspired "rules of engagement" when it came to both training and real warfare.

A Pennsylvania native, Dick enlisted in the Navy at 18 and eventually earned a commission. He held a B.A. in international relations from Auburn and a M.A. in political science from the U. S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. In fact, that's where I met Dick, as I made my own way through the school's postgraduate degree program. As I recall, we first met at the bar in the Officers Club. When he heard I was a helicopter pilot, he spent a half-hour questioning and instructing me on how helicopters could be best used to support special operators. Of course, he was a Navy SEAL and had spent some serious, heroic, almost legendary time in Vietnam. Anyway, that bar-stool meeting was the first of two rather brief encounters with this man. I never ran into him again, although I did exchange a couple of emails with him maybe ten years ago. 

The above photos show Dick as I knew him (center) as rogue warrior (left) and as long retired hero (right).

Perhaps Dick's greatest accomplishment was the establishment of SEAL Team Six. At the time the Navy had only two SEAL teams, but Dick thought it would confuse the Soviets, causing them to invest time and effort looking for non-existent teams three, four, and five. SEAL Team Six was designed to be the Navy's top counterterrorism unit and Dick commanded the unit during its first three years, from 1980 to 1983. 

Later he was given the task of testing the Navy's ability to detect and withstand terrorist infiltration at its most secure bases. His unit, called Red Cell, was composed of a handful of SEALS and a Recon Marine, but they were remarkably successful penetrating target bases and commands. This work and Red Cell's somewhat questionable tactics (not unlike the tactics terrorists would use) identified serious weaknesses in many commands. It also made Dick some powerful enemies within the Department of Defense, among them my first Commanding Officer, by then a Vice Admiral. He has since died, so I won't mention his name, but will say he always seemed to care more about his own career than the welfare of those under his command. After Dick retired as a Commander in 1989, he was charged with defrauding the federal government, eventually convicted, and served 15 months in federal prison. I've always believed Dick was railroaded because he made so many senior officers look absolutely foolish and incompetent. Here's a link to a request for a presidential pardon. It's worth reading: Petition: Presidential Pardon for Commander Richard Marcinko

None of this slowed Dick down, and as a civilian he wrote many best sellers, including his autobiography and several novels. He was also CEO of a private security firm, Red Cell International. In 2011, just a few weeks after Osama bin Laden was killed by SEAL Team Six, Dick was honored at an Alabama Sports Festival in Birmingham and answered a few questions. He gave some interesting responses: Marcinko Answers Questions

Despite Dick's faults, I salute him and thank him for all he did for this country.

The Perils of Nationalized Healthcare. Here's a horrible story that clearly depicts what a nation can expect once it turns its healthcare over to government bureaucrats and fiscal freaks whose primary concern has little to do with actual healthcare. It offers us a clear example of the culture of death in action. 

During the pandemic, the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom attempted to give special needs children, including those with learning disabilities, do not resuscitate notices (DNRs). Adults with learning disabilities and mental illnesses had also received such notices. DNRs tell healthcare workers to withhold special treatment that would keep an ill patient alive. Most often it's the elderly or those suffering from terminal diseases who will sign a DNR. But in the UK, the NHS policy states: "You must be told that a DNR-CPR form will be/has been completed for you, but a doctor does not need your consent." 

Isn't that wonderfully, bureaucratically deadly. Of course, applying DNRs to children with learning disabilities during a pandemic would make things a lot easier (and less costly) for the NHS. If they get COVID, forget the therapeutics and simply let them die. And as several parents discovered, when their children with learning disabilities were asked if they wanted a DNR, most children had no idea what it meant and accepted it. The lesson for us all: If we ultimately opt for government-run healthcare, this is what we can expect to encounter.

Archaeologists Stunned: Ancients Were Smarter Than They thought. I've always been amazed by archaeologists, historians, theologians, and other certifiably intelligent folks who seem to believe that today's human beings are much more intelligent than those who came before. It's really a form of temporal bias or prejudice resulting, I suppose, from scientific and technological advances that result from the advance of knowledge. They seem to think these advances somehow appeared spontaneously in modern times and did not result from the dedicated efforts of many very bright people of the past who built on the work of their predecessors over the centuries.

Yesterday I read an article describing the surprise of archaeologists who finally realized the meaning of a Babylonian artifact, known as Plimpton 322. First unearthed in 1894, it was sold to a collector, and later (in the 1930s) given to Columbia University. In 1945 researchers realized it contained what are called Pythagorean Triples, but then everyone simply forgot about it. This year, when an Australian scholar, Dr. Daniel Mansfield, was given access he quickly realized the importance of the artifact. In his words it provided "Evidence ancient Babylonians were far more advanced than we thought." He went on to describe it as the "most interesting, most sophisticated mathematical document from the ancient world."

Yes, indeed, those ancients were actually pretty bright, and it seems the Mesopotamians had a surprisingly sophisticated understanding of Pythagorean Triples. The Babylonians, then, understood the geometry of right triangles and rectangles a thousand years before the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras came up with his theorem in the 5th-century B.C. The artifact, probably used as a device to assist in the art of surveying, shows that the ancients were avid appliers of science and mathematics. It makes us wonder how many similar advances were made by the ancients, but will never be known.

I've heard architects denigrate the architectural wonders of the ancient world, calling them primitive constructions. Such comments always lead me to question how many modern buildings, like the pyramids of ancient Egypt, will still be standing after 4,000 years. In the same way I find the plays of Shakespeare, the poetry of the Psalms, or the novels of Jane Austen far better than today's imitators. Too often today so-called educators excise the past from the education of the young, depriving them of the knowledge and wisdom of those who came before us.  As Isaac Newton wisely stated, "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

Happy New Year.

Just In Case You Missed It

I haven't written much lately about the persecution of Christians and other religious groups, so I decided to share a few recent news stories that describe this growing worldwide trend. Some of these stories address real persecution by governments or other religious groups, while others describe the increased societal rejection of religious values, even in nominally Christian countries. Of course, life for believing, practicing Christians is almost intolerable in most Muslim and Communist nations.

I don't intend to offer much detail since you can simply click on the links I've provided and visit the original news stories. Here goes...

In Africa, Uganda has seen its share of violent persecution. Just last month a Christian pastor was murdered outside his church, in front of his daughter, by three Muslim attackers who demanded he destroy his church because it was too close to the local mosque. Because he refused, he was beaten and slashed with machetes after being told, "Today you will face the wrath from Allah." Sadly, it's just one more story of violent anti-Christian attacks -- read more here.

In Nigeria, a country which has experienced far too much anti-Christian persecution, a Muslim militia group attacked a Christian community, killing 49 residents and kidnapping another 27. Read more about the almost daily attacks on Nigerian Christians here. 

Things are no better in Asia. In Myanmar, for example, the military has been attacking Christian settlements, destroying churches, burning homes, and even murdering clergy. In Afghanistan, hundreds of Christians have fled because of the intolerant, murderous policies of the Taliban toward other faiths. Many more, however, remain in the country, unable to make their way to a safe refuge. Based on experience with the Taliban, many of these will no doubt be slaughtered. Life was never easy for Afghan Christians, but our grossly incompetent exit from the country has made things far worse and will certainly lead to more persecution of these courageous, faithful people. 

French Catholics Threatened With Death. On December 8 a small group of about 30 Catholics in the Paris suburb of Nanterre were taking part in a torchlight procession celebrating the Immaculate Conception when they were accosted by perhaps a dozen Muslims. The Muslims shouted out threats to "the infidels" and called for the death of the priest leading the procession. This is just another example of similar attacks by anti-Christian groups that have become more common in France. Not long ago Leftist Antifa radicals violently attacked a similar procession in Paris. Between the years 2008 and 2019 attacks against Christians in France have increased by 285%.

Christianity: The #1 Target of Hate Crimes. Click on the link and read Raymond Ibrahim's article describing the disturbing growth of attacks on Christianity in Europe. Even though many European countries do not keep track of anti-Christian attacks, such attacks outnumber hate crimes against any other religion. Ibrahim, by the way, is always worth reading. He is among the most knowledgeable scholars and commentators on the Middle East.

Dying Catholic MP, Sir David Amess, Denied Sacraments by Police. On October 15 Sir David Amess, a Catholic Member of Parliament in the UK, was meeting with constituents in a local church hall when he was attacked by a Muslim and stabbed to death. His pastor, Fr. Jeffrey Woolnough, hearing what had happened drove to the scene with the intention of offering the sacraments to Sir David in the event the MP was in danger of death. As it turned out, he was, but the police refused to allow the priest access to the dying man declaring it was a crime scene. Priests, of course, are fully aware of the necessity to avoid causing problems with crime scenes, but the UK has become so officially irreligious that police and other authorities see no reason to accommodate clergy who desire only to minister to the dying. 

President Biden's Build Back Better legislation discriminates against religious facilities. The bill, which includes federal funds to improve child-care facilities, prohibits the use of these funds by religious based childcare facilities. This will no doubt lead to increased costs for these church-based facilities and end up forcing many of them to close, unable to compete with better funded secular facilities. It's just another form of subtle religious persecution by the Biden administration.

I haven't addressed the severe persecution evident in communist countries such as China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba. Perhaps in my next post.

Pray for persecuted Christians here and throughout the world. 

Europe's Eradication of Christianity

It's really remarkable that the continent that owes its place in history to its Christian roots is now trying to eradicate all signs of Christianity. The process is sometimes blatant and sometimes subtle, but it continues nevertheless. 

Two major European businesses recently joined the effort when they apparently realized that some of their products were wrapped in packaging that displayed tiny Christian crosses. Lidl, the huge  German retailer, has its own brand of Greek-style food. Its packaging depicts a scene from the island of Santorini that includes the famous Anastasis Church. As you might expect the domes of the church are topped with crosses. It seems that Lidl, after suffering with the crosses for more than ten years, decided to alter the packaging and remove these Christian symbols. The company, after receiving many, many complaints, responded with an interesting statement:

Santorini Church with Crosses (former packaging)

"We are extremely sorry for any offence caused by the most recent artwork and would like to reassure our customers that this is not an intentional statement...In light of this we will ensure that all feedback is taken into consideration when redesigning future packaging.”

Lidl packaging without those pesky crosses

One can only wonder how the airbrushing of the crosses could be anything but intentional. As an amateur photographer who often "doctors" my photographs, I can state without question that the crosses did not disappear accidentally. And notice that Lidl does not intend to replace the crosses. No, in the future "feedback will be taken into consideration" -- whatever that means. The company then added:

“We avoid the use of religious symbols on our packaging to maintain neutrality in all religions. If it has been perceived differently, we apologize to those who may have been shocked.”

Of course such neutrality is a new policy in line with the general trend in Europe, a policy that is hardly shocking 

Nestle, the Swiss conglomerate, also depicted the Santorini church on packaging for its Greek yogurt. Not to be outdone by Lidl, the company followed suit and removed the church's crosses from the packaging. It claimed that the crosses might offend the "sensibilities" of those who are not Christian.

New Nestle packaging (without crosses)

The Greek Orthodox Church is unhappy with the actions taken by Lidl and Nestle and has called for a boycott of their products. We'll see if that results in further changes.

The trend, however, has reached down even to the local government level. In the UK a local council tossed a rare bookseller from a marketplace because she sold coffee mugs that might offend the sensibilities of Muslims. The bookseller, Tina Gayle, is upset and says she's never had a Muslim complain to her about any of the products she sells. (Read the story here.)

The mugs contained an image that reflected the Knights Templar and also included the famous verse from the beginning of Psalm 115, in Latin:

“Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam"  [Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory]

The Knights Templar were an interesting order of monkish knights, formed to protect Christian pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land. They were actually quite heroic, but were treated abominably by the royals of France and others. I tend to look on them favorably, something which, happily, is extremely irritating to politically correct progressives. (I also want one of those mugs.) But I can't see how a coffee mug and a psalm would offend Muslims or anyone else, unless they are history deniers. Anyway I'm really tired of all those folks who get so offended by speech  or writings or pictures or attitudes they don't like. Grow up people. If you disagree with something, learn how to defend that with which you agree.

By the way, if you'd like to read more about the Knights Templar, pick up a copy of Regine Pernoud's book, The Templars: Knights of Christ.

Finally, also in the UK -- once the bastion of freedom of speech -- police departments around the country arrested 3,395 people last year for breaking a law that declares it illegal to intentionally "cause annoyance, inconvenience, or needless anxiety to another." (Read the story here.)

Now, I don't know about you, but I probably do all of those things several times a day. Dear Diane tells me regularly that I'm being annoying. I sometimes go out of my way to make the lives of others mildly inconvenient...but only when they're really annoying. And how can one differentiate between needless and necessary anxiety? Heavens! I'd probably get a life sentence from the Queen's courts. 

As you might expect, the law is not evenly applied. Several Muslim media types in the UK regularly accuse others of all kinds of nasty crimes simply because of their race or religious beliefs. For this they are not prosecuted. But if a Christian criticizes Islam..."OK, be a good chap and put your hands behind your back."

Well, Jesus told us to expect persecution, and our experience with Nazism and Communism should have been warning enough. But I wonder how many American Christians still believe they are immune to the persecution to come?

Quick Trip Around the World

Pakistani Women Celebrating Their Freedom

Pakistan: Death to Dancers. The next time you attend a wedding reception and join the other guests as they "Ooh" and "Aah" when the bride and groom take to the dance floor, just be thankful you don't live in Pakistan. In that country, our on-again-off-again ally in the war on terror, an Islamic court recently sentenced six people (four men and two women) to death for the crime of dancing at a wedding. I trust this will be an eye-opener for those of you who think the imposition of sharia law is really no big thing. It seems the four men managed to escape and are now in hiding, while the fate of the two women is unknown. According to the court, "Dancing is against Islam." I suppose they've never heard of their mystic Sufi co-religionists, the Whirling Dervishes.

Holy Family Church

India: Fear Among Catholics in Kashmir. Holy Family Church in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was set afire a few weeks ago by unknown perpetrators. Jammu and Kashmir is the only Indian state with a Muslim majority population and the local authorities seem uninterested in finding and arresting those responsible. Indeed, one local man, a Hindu convert to Catholicism, stated that this attitude on the part of the authorities shows how Christians have been abandoned by the state. "Catholics feel less secure," he added, and "in Kashmir, they have been reduced to zero." 

Vivian Salameh

Jordan: Creeping Islamization. Jordan, a majority Muslim nation which in the past has been very tolerant and respectful of its Christian population, is changing...and it's not for the better. For example, a Christian woman was just fired by her employer, the Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank, for not complying with its new rules requiring women to cover their heads while at work. Vivian Salameh has worked for the bank for 25 years, and has, therefore, filed a complaint against the bank. The director of the Catholic Media Center in Jordan, Fr. Rif'at Bader, is particularly concerned about Ms. Salameh's case. In his words, "Gulf States are using Islamic banking to introduce Sharia precepts in the population. No one was ever been discriminated for being Christian. The government should not allow such practices in our country. Our constitution protects freedom of worship."

United Kingdom: Pro-life Literature Is Offensive. Margaret Forrester received a pink slip from the UK's National Health Service because she engaged in "gross professional misconduct." It seems the mental health worker committed the horrible "sin" of giving a colleague (not a client) a booklet that discussed the problems, both physical and psychological, that some women experience after undergoing an abortion. Her supervisors at the NHS were particularly upset because, horror of horrors, the booklet was "religious in tone." She is challenging her dismissal in court.

USA: President Obama Losing the Religious Vote. The president, who did fairly well among Catholics and evangelicals in the 2008 elections, is apparently losing much ground among these constituencies. It seems the president's campaign staff and the DNC have taken the moderate religious vote for granted and are focusing their efforts elsewhere. Click here to read an excellent article on the subject: Obama Losing Religious Vote.


And yet, despite all the strangeness in our world, God remains in charge. Thank Him for that.

The Rabbi and the Pope

Lord Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, paid a visit this week to Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience at the Vatican. During his visit Rabbi Sacks echoed what the pope has been saying for years and expressed his concerns about Europe and the rejection of its Judeo-Christian roots. "We are very concerned obviously with the soul of Europe, I mean Europe was built on Judeo-Christian foundations, even the market was built on Judeo-Christian foundations,” the rabbi later stated in an interview with Vatican Radio. He believes these Judeo-Christian roots are responsible for Western civilization's remarkable political and economic success over the centuries.

The rabbi added that although religious leaders are powerless in the world's eyes, they can exert a tremendous amount of influence in the world. Indeed, he stated that the pope's influence brought him to Rome "because I think if Jewish and Christian voices are heard, along parallel lines, then they should not underestimate the influence they have.” Rabbi Sacks was impressed by the overwhelming positive response to Pope Benedict's visit to England and Scotland last year and the "acute and...widespread" interest the pope's trip generated.

At the same time he also expressed optimism that many Europeans are beginning to question the secularism and materialism at the root of so many of Europe's problems. They have come to recognize that "there is something lacking in the wider secular culture where all that matters is ‘what I am, what I spend, what I buy, what I earn,’ instead of ‘what I am.’” Rabbi Sacks has noticed symptoms of this new awareness in the increase in attendance at synagogues and among Jewish parents who are now enrolling their children in Jewish schools.

Rabbi Sacks also urged Christians and Jews to unite against anti-Christian and anti-Jewish persecution throughout the world, and only recently condemned the persecution of Christians during a debate in the House of Lords.

To read more click here:

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Vatican Radio

Rabbi Sacks delivers inaugural Pope Benedict Lecture in UK (September 2011) -- Listen to audio file


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The UK, Great Britain, England & a whole lot more

I tend to notice how people will misapply the names of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England, and enjoy explaining the differences to them. I too used to err in this regard until an English friend took the time to educate me. But if you want to be fully educated about the Crown and all that falls under its sway, then I offer you the below rather remarkable video. As you will discover, the narrator provides thirty minutes of information in a five-minute video. Enjoy...

De-Baptism, All the Rage in Pagan Europe

Have you heard about the latest not-so-subtle attack on religion that is apparently gaining adherents throughout Europe and especially in the UK? It seems that a growing number of people are very upset over the fact that they were baptized as infants without their consent. And so, to counter this unwanted and forced entry into the Church, the National Secular Society (in the UK) has initiated a process of "de-baptism" by which a person can renounce his real baptism and all that goes with it. Not only does the person go through a de-baptism ceremony, but he also receives a "De-baptism Certificate" that contains the following verbiage:

"I ________ having been subjected to the Rite of Christian Baptism in infancy (before reaching an age of consent), hereby publicly revoke any implications of that Rite and renounce the Church that carried it out. In the name of human reason, I reject all its Creeds and all other such superstition in particular, the perfidious belief that any baby needs to be cleansed by Baptism of alleged ORIGINAL SIN, and the evil power of supposed demons. I wish to be excluded henceforth from enhanced claims of church membership numbers based on past baptismal statistics used, for example, for the purpose of securing legislative privilege."

As you might expect, this has received a lot of press in the mainstream media. If you'd like to see what the secular media has had to say about de-baptism, check out these articles in Time Magazine and USA Today. I've also included a Sky News video story below:

As I stated above, the process is sponsored and encouraged by the UK's National Secular Society, an organization dedicated to promoting the idea that "supernaturalism is based upon ignorance and [the society] assails it as the historic enemy of progress." According to the society, "The Rite of Debaptism is a secret and powerful ceremony that removes and counters the rites of baptism. This ritual can only be performed by trained and ordained Debaptizors, and is an eternal and irrevocable Rite." I find it interesting that what the Church has for 2,000 years taught is an indelible mark on the soul of the baptized, the society believes it can remove eternally and irrevocably through its odd little rite. You can read all that the Society has to say about de-baptism here and check out their certificate here.

Of course, it's all very sad and just another indication of what Walter Cardinal Kaspar called the "aggressive new atheism" so popular in the UK these days. Unfortunately it's not restricted to the UK and is increasingly common in most Western European nations. These lost and searching souls need and deserve our prayers and our evangelization. Let's pray that the words of the Holy Father will touch some of them during his visit to the UK this week.

Muslims Planning Protests of Pope UK VIsit?

This morning I came across an interesting post on the blog, Vivificat, that refers to comments made by Muslims in England concerning Pope Benedict's upcoming visit. The comments were made on a website called, The Islamic Standard, and show the depth of the hatred some Muslims have for the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict XVI. Here are some excerpts:

A change of venue gives Birmingham Muslims a chance to tell the Pope just what they think of him after his insults against the Prophet Muhammad (saws) in 2006 in Regensburg when he said…

“Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

As well as this chance to challenge these evil words of this evil Pope, over 80,000 Catholics from all over the UK are also expected to attend the open air ceremony in Cofton Park, Birmingham, after the venue was changed to here from the original plan of doing the pontifs final day at Coventry airport.

The Birmingham site has been selected over Coventry due to its connection to a dead Catholic priest, Cardinal John Henry Newman who is being made into a Catholic ‘saint’ for his supposed miracles witnessed by delusional and misguided catholics after his death.

...We hope Muslims can be there to meet him as well and to also call people away from the shirk of worshipping the dead like the Catholics do...

The Birmingham event however brings the pope and who worship him into direct contact with the the large Muslim population of Birmingham and offers them the perfect chance to learn about Islam and for the Muslims to forbid the Munkar of worshipping dead men and following the dictates of the sodomite child molesting Church of Rome.

We at the Islamic Standard hope the Muslims of Birmingham take this duel opportunity to give Da’wah to these 80,000 travelling disbelievers, whilst at the same time telling the Pope in no uncertain terms what Muslims think of his evil slanders against the last Prophet of God and his message.

I'd write off this hateful screed as just another example typifying the widespread ignorance of Catholic belief and teaching out there today, except that the author in "quoting" the Holy Father had to know that these were not Benedict's words. The pope, in the course of an academic lecture at the University of Regensburg, was not speaking his own beliefs but quoting fourteenth-century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II. Anyone who had read the text of the lecture would know this. I can, therefore, only assume the pope's attacker hadn't read it, it which case he shouldn't have quoted it. Of course, if he had read it, he is being disingenuous at best.

Everyone agrees that the words were not particularly flattering to Mohammed, but they formed a part of a question, a legitimate intellectual inquiry in which the emperor asked a Persian Muslim some of the same questions many of us are asking today of Al-Quida and those who support them and the terrorism they inflict on the innocent; for example, "Is violence justified in the pursuit of religious goals?" and "Is it moral to force people to accept religious beliefs?"

Father James V. Schall, S.J., of Georgetown University has written a wonderful book on the subject of the Holy Father's lecture at Regensburg, a book well worth reading.

Let's pray that most Muslims view this upcoming apostolic visit by Pope Benedict for what it is, an opportunity for the Holy Father to share his faith and God's peace with a nation that has left its Christian roots far behind.

We pray that it will not be used as just another means to attack Christianity and Christ's vicar. And pray, too, for Pope Benedict's safety.