There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.Romans 10:9
There must be confession with the mouth. Have I made it? Have I openly avowed my faith in Jesus as the Savior whom God has raised from the dead, and have I done it in God’s way! Let me honestly answer this question.
There must also be belief with the heart. Do I sincerely believe in the risen Lord Jesus? Do I trust in Him as my sole hope of salvation? Is this trust from my heart? Let me answer as before God.
If I can truly claim that I have both confessed Christ and believed in Him, then I am saved. The text does not say it may be so, but it is plain as a pikestaff and clear as the sun in the heavens: “Thou shalt be saved.” As a believer and a confessor, I may lay my hand on this promise and plead it before the Lord God at this moment, and throughout life, and in the hour of death, and at the Day of Judgment.
I must be saved from the guilt of sin, the power of sin, the punishment of sin, and ultimately from the very being of sin. God hath said it—”Thou shalt be saved.” I believe it. I shall be saved. I am saved. Glory be to God forever and ever!
“Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13
Manufacturers of hand sanitizers claim their products kill 99.9% of all germs. Makes you wonder about the remaining one-tenth of one percent!
If 99.9% was good enough
~ 12 babies would be given to the wrong parents each day
~ 291 pacemaker operations would go wrong this year
~ Almost 900 thousand credit cards in circulation would contain incorrect ‘card holder’ information
~ And two landings at Chicago’s O’ Hare airport would be unsafe every day!
Dear one, 99.9% is NOT enough. Especially when it comes to heaven. Do you know where you’re going when you die? You can be absolutely, 100% sure about your eternal destiny because the Bible says so. Jesus says so! If you place your trust in Him, He promises you will someday meet Him in Heaven. That’s a glorious, 100% guarantee!
“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
Compare the definition of faith from God’s word with this dictionary definition of optimism: “A tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation.” *(American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.)
The two words’ definitions seem superficially similar. Both mention “hope,” and both talk about having confidence that things will turn out well. But where does the optimism of someone who doesn’t know Christ find its foundation? On what basis can someone who doesn’t know Christ be reasonably optimistic? Surely not from observing the world around us. Pick up any newspaper, and most of the news you’ll find will be quite depressing. By mere observation of our fallen world alone, no optimism could reasonably be found.
A Christian’s faith, however, in contrast to optimism, is “assurance” based on evidence. By knowing the living God and His divine promises, we know that no matter how bad things may look, God is ultimately sovereign and in control. “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!” Paul assures us, quoting the Old Testament prophet Joel (Romans 10:13; Joel 2:32). We know that among God’s people, He “will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:3,4)
God has proven again and again by His historical acts in the Old Testament (such as the Exodus) and the New Testament (the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus) that He provides the firm foundation upon which to base our faith.
Unlike some who follow their own whimsical, baseless optimism, followers of Jesus can take real comfort. We do so not because of blind optimism, but instead because of our faith in God and His firm foundation: His mighty works, and His words: “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Question: How would you explain the difference between faith and optimism?
Hamas says ‘another war of liberation is coming’ Osama Hamdan warns that future violence against Israel will be bigger than October 7. Osama Hamdan, a Beirut-based senior official of Hamas, made the statement during an interview last week with Lebanese media outlet Bel Moubashar Online, When the interviewer asked if the “war of liberation” would occur in the foreseeable future, Hamdan said “I do not think it is far off.”
Gallant: We do not have the legitimacy to stop fighting’ “Two months ago, at the start of the war, Hamas thought that the outcome would be different. [Contrary to what they expected], Hamas keeps getting struck, keeps losing control.
Netanyahu to women’s orgs: Where the hell are you? Speaking in English, he said: “I say to the women’s rights organizations, to the human rights organizations, you’ve heard of the rape of Israeli women, horrible atrocities, sexual mutilation? Where the hell are you?” “I expect all civilized leaders, governments, nations to speak up against this atrocity,” he said.
85+ killed, 66+ injured in ‘mistaken’ drone attack emergency response officials confirmed the tragic consequences of the “mistaken” drone attack on a Muslim holiday gathering in northwest Nigeria. Both government and security officials noted that the drones were “targeting terrorists and bandits” in Kaduna state’s Tudun Biri village.
Labor Market Implodes: Job Openings Crater, Prior Data Revised Sharply Lower the latest revisions mean that the number of job openings was 848K lower in the past 5 months, suggesting that the Fed was still hiking this summer on fake, manipulated “strong” data. According to the BLS, the largest decrease in job openings was in health care and social assistance (-236,000), finance and insurance (-168,000), and real estate and rental and leasing (-49,000). Job openings increased in information (+39,000).
Speaker Johnson Tells White House No Ukraine Funds Without Beefed Up Border “I reiterate that President Biden must satisfy Congressional oversight inquiries about the Administration’s failure thus far to present clearly defined objectives, and its failure to provide essential weapons on a timely basis,” Johnson wrote in a Tuesday letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, which demands “transformative change” to the country’s border security,
FBI Director Admits He Hasn’t Fired Anyone Over Anti-Catholic Memo FBI Director Chris Wray admitted to Sen. Josh Hawley that he has not fired anyone at the FBI’s Richmond office over the memo urging the FBI to investigate “radical traditional Catholics.” “You haven’t fired anybody,” Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said to Wray in a Senate hearing Tuesday. “In fact, what the House found …, you admonished them,” Hawley said. Mockingly, he added, “Oh I feel much better. They’ve been sent to bed without food.” “Do you have a problem with systemic bigotry against Catholics at the FBI?” Hawley also asked. Wray flatly responded, “No.”
Enemy of Freedom: AOC Ocasio-Cortez is a socialist, but only so long as it doesn’t interfere with her glamorous lifestyle. She just wants everyone else to suffer under her preferred policies, because the cruelty is the point. She’s the kind of socialist who wears a “Tax the Rich” dress to the Met Gala, pals around with anti-Semites, and parks her $50,000 Tesla wherever the f— she wants.
Hamas rocket struck suspected nuclear base on Oct. 7 a rocket fired during the Oct. 7th invasion of Israel, presumably by Hamas, struck near the Sdot Micha military facility in central Israel. International experts believe that the base houses the IAF unit ‘Wing 2’, which is responsible for the majority of Israel’s nuclear-capable Jericho missiles. The attack caused a fire near the base but does not appear to have caused any damage, or even danger, to the missiles themselves.
Illinois School Segregates Students by Skin Color, Blames Racism For ‘Achievement Gap’ Under the guise of closing the “achievement gap” between students of European ancestry and those of African and Latino heritage, victims of a government school in Illinois are being put into classes segregated by race. Yes, really. Apparently, “education” officials believe eliminating all white students from class will help non-whites perform better, or so they say. The explosive scandal, first exposed by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend under the headline “To Shrink Learning Gap, This District Offers Classes Separated by Race,” Lawyers for the district north of Chicago claim that because the white-free classes are optional, laws forbidding segregation and racial discrimination do not apply.
Israeli singer calls to ban Red Cross from Israel Israeli singer Idan Raichel posted an Instagram story Monday, in which he criticized the International Red Cross for not doing enough for the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.”Right, left, and center, can we all agree publicly that the International Red Cross is now persona non grata in Israel, until the last hostage is returned?”
Topical Cyclone “Michaung” makes landfall in Andhra Pradesh, India After wreaking havoc in Chennai with torrential rains, Tropical Cyclone “Michaung” made landfall in Andhra Pradesh’s Bapatla on December 5, 2023. The cyclone, the first to hit the state’s coast since 2021, has caused significant disruptions, including eight fatalities in Chennai. Authorities are conducting rescue operations amid continued heavy rainfall in the region.
Death toll rises to 23 after sudden eruption at Marapi volcano, Indonesia A major eruption at Mount Marapi in Indonesia on Sunday, December 3, 2023, has led to a confirmed death toll of 23. Rescuers, facing challenging conditions, found additional bodies near the eruption site. The volcano, remaining on high alert since 2011, unexpectedly erupted, impacting climbers and nearby villagers.
Joe Biden Wants to Ban Christian Families From Adopting Children in Foster Care Joe Biden wants to effectively ban Christians from adopting children in the foster care system. Biden wants to essentially ban Christians from adopting foster care children based on their religious beliefs and opposition to radical LGBTQ ideology. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a new rule that would prohibit families who do not support LGBTQ ideology from caring for foster children.
China defense report links high-altitude spy balloons to hypersonic missile program China’s high-altitude balloon program is linked to the military’s hypersonic missile program, and a new command for both systems is prepared to conduct “merciless” attacks in a conflict with the United States, according to a Chinese defense research report.
Transgender Bathroom Battle Heating Up State By State …“There stands a man in a woman’s bathing suit, looking at, watching, and touching little girls who were taking down their bathing suits,”…The man is a YMCA child care worker who identifies as a woman. He was supervising the girls in the changing area as part of his job,
WHO Investigates Mysterious Pneumonia Cases In Children In China The World Health Organization has begun investigating a respiratory illness in Chinese children. The WHO is requesting detailed information from Chinese rulers on the increase in pneumonia among the country’s children, using language similar to a January 5, 2020, pre-pandemic missive regarding COVID-19.
NZ Vaccine Data Whistleblower Could Face up to 7 Years in Prison. The whistleblower, Barry Young had disclosed that data had shown a concerning proportion of individuals had died shortly after receiving a Covid vaccine. Days following this disclosure, journalist Liz Gunn reported that Young had been raided by the police on Sunday, and now, according to James Freeman on radio station TNT, he could face up to 7 years in prison.
UN Cybercrime Treaty has morphed into an expansive surveillance treaty A new draft of the controversial United Nations Cybercrime Treaty has only heightened concerns that the Treaty will criminalise expression and dissent, create extensive surveillance powers and facilitate cross-border repression.
The decades-long effort to reduce the world’s population through United Nations agencies The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (“DESA”) has an online resource called ‘World Population Prospects’ where anyone can view graphic representations of the UN’s demographic profiles and probabilistic projections data. You can view the data for an individual country as well as prescribed groups or regions.
49-Year-Old Develops Severe Heart Problems After New 5G Antenna Installed Immediately after a 5G tower was erected across the street from his apartment building, a previously healthy 49-year-old Swedish man developed concerning cardiac symptoms and other issues that dissipated when he took refuge in an apartment without 5G, according to a new case study published in the Journal of Community Medicine & Public Health.
“As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust: So there are other qualities in human nature, which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence.” —James Madison (1788)
Fellow Patriots, on this day in 1865, slavery was officially abolished with the ratification of the 13th Amendment. It’s a terrible and disgraceful shame that rather than learn from slavery’s stain on American Liberty, an entire political party is dedicated to keeping open its wound. —Mark Alexander
Editor’s Note:
We’re saddened to announce that Lewis Morris, longtime contributor to The Patriot Post, recently passed away. His last article for us was posted in February, as he began dealing with declining health at far too young an age. He joined us way back in 2004, making his tenure here longer than anyone save Douglas Andrews, Nate Jackson, and, of course, Mark Alexander. He was especially gifted with providing historical context and always wrote insightful commentary on government and economics. We’re eternally grateful for all that he contributed to the cause of Liberty. RIP.
Testimony from FBI Director Chris Wray and three university presidents illuminated some real problems.
Nate Jackson
The world’s three major monotheistic religions — Christianity, Judaism, and Islam — were all in some respect in the congressional spotlight yesterday. While college presidents tried to explain why students using genocidal chants against Jews is protected free speech, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned again about increased pro-Hamas terrorism in the U.S. Unfortunately, his FBI is often busy chasing phantom Catholic “extremists.”
We’ll start in reverse order. The FBI earlier this year issued a warning about “radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology” based on the spurious work of the hate-baiting Southern Poverty Law Center, claiming this supposed extremism “certainly presents new mitigation opportunities.” A new report from the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government says that the FBI did not define its terms on the way to unfairly and over-broadly targeting Catholics, even for the “sin” of being pro-life. Wray admitted as much back in July.
The fireworks in yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing came when Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) blasted Wray. “You haven’t fired anybody” for that targeting, he thundered, marveling that Wray instead had only “admonished them.”
“Good heavens, director! This is one of the most outrageous targetings,” Hawley went on. “You have mobilized your division, the most powerful law enforcement division in the world, against traditionalist Catholics — whatever the heck that means — and you have just told us you have not fired a single person.” He eventually demanded: “What are you going to do about this? Are you going to fire these people or not?”
Wray merely reiterated that they “have all been admonished.”
The problem is twofold: First, to borrow an idea from “A Food Good Men,” who ordered the code red? In other words, tracking down the exact FBI personnel responsible may be easier said than done. The House report says it originated with a Richmond Field Office investigation, but it’s still unclear how that came to be or why that became a template for “an FBI-wide memorandum.”
Even if the “who done it” is answered, the second problem is how difficult it is to fire federal employees of any type.
As for Catholics, the FBI seems to think that anti-Semitism runs amok among the people it claims are radicals. Anti-Semitism is certainly not unheard of among Christians. We can’t sort that out in this case other than to say Christians are not the ones committing hate crimes or other acts of violence in the U.S.
What we can say is that it brings us to Wray’s warning about anti-Semitism coming in the form of pro-Hamas terrorism. “I see blinking lights everywhere I turn,” Wray said. “I’ve never seen a time where all the threats — or so many of the threats — are all elevated all at exactly the same time.” Specifically, he stated, “You’ve seen a veritable rogues’ gallery of foreign terrorist organizations calling for attacks against us,” all “inspired by Hamas’s horrific terrorist attacks in Israel.” Translation: These are generally Islamofascists, not Catholics or anyone else.
That, in turn, brings us back to the college problem.
The respective presidents of such elite institutions as Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania — all women, we might add — testified before the House Education Committee about the alarming rise of anti-Semitism on their campuses and others. They were presented with videos of students chanting slogans like “Globalize the intifada” and “Long live the intifada.” Another popular genocidal slogan, promoted even by Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), is “from the river to the sea.”
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), an alumna of Harvard, repeatedly asked a simple question of the three university presidents, growing more alarmed with each evasive answer: “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate [the school’s] code of conduct?”
Astounding, all three presidents engaged in verbal gymnastics to avoid a simple answer. “If targeted at individuals, not making public statements,” said Sally Kornbluth of MIT. “It’s a context-dependent decision,” said Liz Magill of Penn. “It can be, depending on the context,” replied Harvard’s Claudine Gay.
Gay did later say the aforementioned slogans are “hateful, reckless, offensive speech,” but they are protected speech nonetheless.
Try “misgendering” someone at Harvard and see if Gay is so tolerant (and that’s not even a joke about her surname).
The House committee also received testimony from Jewish students at these elite universities. One asserted “I do not feel safe” on campus. The others agreed.
Stick with us here; this is important. Perhaps the FBI should be less worried about pro-life Catholics than it is about hateful and potentially violent Hamas-sympathizing atheists and Muslims who want to harm or kill Jews. Perhaps university presidents should get back to educating students instead of indoctrinating them in hateful and potentially violent Marxist ideology. And perhaps adherents of the Religion of Peace™ could stop threatening, attacking, and killing members of other religions.
“The FBI singled out Americans who are pro-life, pro-family, and support the biological basis for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic terrorists.”
Tim Graham
After 9/11, leftist journalists passionately exposed the New York City Police Department doing surveillance of mosques to try to prevent violent Muslim extremism. By contrast, they largely yawned when it was leaked in February that the FBI’s office in Richmond, Virginia, discussed surveilling local Catholic churches to root out potential violent extremism from the “radical Catholics.”
The Biden administration loves the narrative that white conservatives and “Christian nationalists” are the biggest domestic terrorism threat. The FBI’s Richmond office wrote an internal memo, titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.” They reported “high confidence” that they would find Catholic terrorism plotters.
Now House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan’s Weaponization subcommittee reports the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to develop its assessment and the FBI even proposed developing sources among the Catholic clergy and church leaderships: “Not only did the FBI propose to develop sources, but it already interviewed a priest and choir director affiliated with a Catholic church in Richmond, Virginia for the memorandum.”
If there were an actual extremist threat — like someone wanting to bomb an abortion clinic — that would be understandable, but no such threat emerged. So why would they be nosing around, interviewing priests and choir directors?
Apparently, it was a Richmond church affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X, which is a breakaway traditionalist group of priests and bishops that presently has no official canonical status in the Church. They can validly celebrate the Mass, but Catholics are discouraged from attending. The FBI claimed, “Richmond’s highest priority DT [domestic terrorism] subject” was a man who “self-identified” on social media as a “radical traditionalist Catholic Clerical Fascist.”
No one to date has identified any violence committed by a “Catholic Clerical Fascist.”
It looks like people are being monitored for their “far-right” religious and political opinions. The report said that the documents obtained by the committee’s subpoena show that “the FBI singled out Americans who are pro-life, pro-family, and support the biological basis for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic terrorists.”
The two FBI employees who co-authored the memorandum later admitted to FBI internal investigators that they knew the sources cited in the memo had a political bias — leftist sources including the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Atlantic and Salon.
The FBI withdrew the Richmond memo from all field offices. But now, despite all the problems that the FBI found with the memorandum, Jordan’s subcommittee report notes FBI Richmond still “desires” to get this information out about “radical-traditionalist Catholics.”
On Dec. 5, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray, asking if Catholic choirs were now breeding grounds for terrorism. Wray claimed the FBI does not and will not investigate Americans for exercising their religious liberty. Hawley shot back that this is exactly what the Richmond memo was advocating, probing Catholic churches for swaggering “clerical fascists.”
This is the same Justice Department who raided the home of pro-life activist Mark Houck in the fall of 2022 with a SWAT team of about 25 and pointed guns at the Houck family over an alleged violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. All Houck had done was shove an abortion-clinic volunteer who was harassing his son a year earlier, in 2021. Does this sound like a government that’s a good judge of who’s a violent extremist, or in this raid, did they look like the violent extremists?
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Tuberville backs down, Supreme Court hears arguments on wealth tax, China’s credit rating slips, and more.
Douglas Andrews, Thomas Gallatin, & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
Biden hedges on running in 2024: Joe Biden made news yesterday at a Boston fundraiser when he reiterated that his mission in life is to beat Donald Trump. What was different, though, was how he said it: “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running. But we cannot let him win for the sake of the country.” Was this equivocation just another gaffe, or was it the cleverly orchestrated makings of an off-ramp for bowing out? At some point, the polling that now consistently shows Biden losing to Trump and has his fellow Democrats in full freak-out and fearmongering mode will become impossible to ignore. By now, everyone besides Biden realizes that the ruse is up; that the American people are now wise to the decrepit old guy they propped up to beat Trump in 2020. The challenge for the Democrat establishment, then, is to convince this stubborn and dementing president that he’s not the best guy to beat Trump. Asked by Fox News’s Sean Hannity last night at a town hall in Davenport, Iowa, whether he thought Biden would be the Democrat nominee, Donald Trump also made news with his reply: “I personally don’t think he makes it. … I think he’s in bad shape physically. Do you remember when he said, ‘I’d like to take him behind the barn’? If he took me behind the barn, and I went like this [makes a blowing sound], I believe he’d fall over.”
Tuberville backs down: It was a good fight, but a lonely one. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach who put principle before party by putting a months-long hold on nearly all military promotions in order to protest the Biden Pentagon’s unlawful policy of allowing troops time off and travel funds for abortions, has called an end to the battle. In doing so, as The Wall Street Journal reports, he clears the way “for hundreds of officers to move forward immediately while still demanding individual votes for about a dozen four-star generals and admirals.” The same Pentagon that fixates on white supremacy and funds sex-change operations for its “warriors” claimed Tuberville’s protest hurt our military’s readiness, but intelligent folks could always see through those crocodile tears. “I’m not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer,” the senator told reporters yesterday. “We fought hard. We did the right thing for the unborn and for our military, fighting back against executive overreach and an abortion policy.” Indeed, the coach fought hard, and he fought the good fight. Too bad none of his fellow Republicans saw fit to join him.
The deadly reality of a “safer” drug: We ignore the law of unintended consequences at our peril, and another example of this comes via a study showing that a reformulated version of the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin — a reformulation meant to make the drug harder to crush and therefore harder to snort or inject — actually led to an increase in suicides by children. As Reason’s Jacob Sullum writes: “The root cause of such perverse effects was the substitution that occurred after the old version of OxyContin was retired. Nonmedical users turned to black-market alternatives that were more dangerous because their potency was highly variable and unpredictable — a hazard that was compounded by the emergence of illicit fentanyl as a heroin booster and substitute.” We’ve come to expect this sort of disastrous do-goodism from Big Government, but we expect better from private industry. As for the confounding nature of addictive drugs, Sullum sums it up: “The fallout from the reformulation of OxyContin is one example of a broader tendency: Interventions aimed at reducing the harm caused by substance abuse frequently have the opposite effect.”
Team Biden finally investigates a locker room outrage: It’s funny — not funny — how quickly Democrats will compromise their principles in a swing state, especially with a presidential election looming. Such was the case in Wisconsin recently, where the Biden administration finally, after six months of dithering, opened a Title IX investigation into a Wisconsin school district’s handling of an 18-year-old “transgender” male student who’d been exposing himself to female freshmen in the girls’ locker room. As The Federalist reports: “East High School officials failed to investigate the incident at the time. … It took more than a month for school officials to hold an in-person meeting about the locker room incident.” What’s more, in its complaint to the Department of Education, The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a Milwaukee-based civil rights law firm, says that no one from the school district contacted the girls “to offer supportive measures or an opportunity to file a formal complaint of sexual harassment until after [the law firm] became involved.” With behavior like this, it’s a wonder that Democrats continue to get overwhelming support from women at election time.
Pandemic wealth: The COVID pandemic hit hard not only against the U.S. economy but the global economy writ large. Federal and state governments shut down large swaths of the economy, and then Congress almost indiscriminately passed out cash to Americans across the board, inevitably leading to current high inflation. A recent survey from Pew Research found that wealth surged during the pandemic, but it also notes that the poor effectively got poorer. Funny how not being able to work for months will negatively impact a person’s bank account. But who got richer? Well, those who were able to continue working, especially those who already had higher-paying jobs that often allowed them to work remotely. But those who have benefited most from the federal government’s COVID relief funds just happened to be state governments and special interest groups. Recently, the Treasury Department enacted a rule change relaxing how states can use money from the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, which was part of Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. The rule change amounts to what the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) describes as a “Bidenomics slush fund.” According to EPIC, “In essence, Treasury is offering a slush fund pathway to state and local governments as a way to ensure at least the covered billions of SLFRF dollars are not left on the table when it could be spent on the salaries of local bureaucrats and other loosely administrative or compliance expenses.” And what have these state governments and municipalities been using this cash for? Well, everything from golf courses to legal services for asylum seekers.
Supreme Court hears arguments on wealth tax: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a tax case that has generated a lot of fearmongering headlines from the Leftmedia. As Forbes headlined it, “Supreme Court Will Hear Case That Could Upend The Current Tax System.” Well, to many fiscal conservatives, upending America’s current bloated tax system would be music to their ears. The issue in Moore v. U.S. is essentially definitional: what constitutes income? Back in 2005, Charles and Kathleen Moore invested in a friend’s company to distribute farm equipment in rural India. The Moores’ earnings on their investment was never received or payed out, but was immediately reinvested in the company. However, in 2018, thanks to Congress passing a one-time “mandatory repatriation tax” (MRT) in 2017, the Moores were hit with a $14,729 tax bill over $132,512 in “income” from their stake in their friend’s company. Since they had neither controlled nor taken any return from their initial investment in the company, the Moores challenged the tax bill, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against them, asserting that “realization of income is not a constitutional requirement.” Now, the justices have an opportunity to clearly define what is “income.”
China’s credit rating slips: China’s economy is slowing thanks in large measure to the country’s national debt that has been piling up significantly. Indeed, China’s growing debt has gotten so concerning that on Tuesday Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook for China’s credit rating down from stable to negative. By some estimates, cities and provinces in China are holding as much as $11 trillion in off-balance-sheet debt. Of Moody’s downgrade, a Beijing spokesman said, “We are disappointed.” Meanwhile, the other two big credit-rating firms, S&P and Fitch, have continued to give China an A+ rating and a stable outlook.
Affirmative action ain’t dead yet: While the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this summer in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that the use of race in admissions considerations is illegal, leftists who view affirmative action as a sacred cow have developed a workaround. That workaround is seen in the increasing practice of ending merit-based testing requirements for admissions. Using the excuse of seeking greater equity via racial demographic representation, or what is termed “racial balancing,” advocates have leveled attacks against merit as simply being “racist” because the student body that qualifies on testing merits often doesn’t meet the Left’s racial diversity quota. A recent example of this anti-merit racism at play comes from New York State Assemblywoman and Brooklyn Democrat Party chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who wrote an op-ed published in the Daily News blasting New York City’s eight specialized high schools as bastions of segregation due to their using “the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) [as] the sole admission factor.” Some baiters never quit.
Headlines
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy will retire from Congress at end of year (Washington Post) | Former interim Speaker Patrick McHenry joins mass exodus from Congress (Fox News)
Four GOP candidates on stage today for fourth presidential debate (CBS News)
Hunter Biden attorney says monthly transfers to Joe Biden were reimbursement for car payments (National Review) | Biden was in direct contact with Hunter’s business partners using email alias as VP (Fox News)
House votes to “strongly condemn” anti-Semitism; nearly 100 Democrats vote “Present” (Daily Wire)
Just 4% of American universities condemned Hamas terror attack on Israel as anti-Semitic (Free Beacon) | “I do not feel safe”: Jewish students call out anti-Semitism on campus (Free Beacon)
Netanyahu to women’s rights organizations: “Where the hell are you?” (Daily Wire) | Hostages given tranquilizers to “look happy” upon release from captivity (Jerusalem Post)
Newsom cancels public Christmas tree lighting amid planned pro-Palestinian protests (National Review)
China is happy to produce green energy as long as the West ignores its ever-more aggressive steps in Southeast Asia.
Emmy Griffin
Communist China is making bank off of the West’s climate goals and green energy initiatives. It is the number one producer of solar panels, batteries (specifically lithium-ion), and electric vehicles (EVs). China is able to do so cheaply and efficiently because the land there is chock-full of rare earth metals; because of how it runs its manufacturing sector; and because it is flush with loans from the People’s Bank of China to help with the purchase of plants in other countries as well.
This is a problem for the West on many fronts.
First, many of the promised “green” jobs that our climate-fanatical politicians try to sell their constituents are not even going to become a reality. Most of those jobs will be in China, some of which are already being performed by enslaved Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province.
Another thought to consider is that if China is producing most of the EVs, there is a serious risk of data-mining by the Chinese Communist Party. There is also the dangerous possibility that a Chinese-made EV could be controlled and manipulated by the CCP for nefarious purposes.
Moreover, China is only willing to participate in the green game initiatives as long as it profits by bilking the West. This is made perfectly clear through its approach to green energy at home. According to NBC News: “In 2023 the world increased its annual emissions by 398 million metric tons, but it was in three places: China, India and the skies. China’s fossil fuel emissions went up 458 million metric tons from last year, India’s went up 233 million metric tons and aviation emissions increased 145 million metric tons.”
Spectator writer Cindy Yu claims that China is cleaning up its act at home, and “remarkably quickly” at that. Yu reports: “Hundreds of billions of dollars have also been spent on cleaning up China’s rivers and on the ‘Green Wall of China’ in the Gobi desert, a re-forestation project which is intended to reclaim an area the size of Ireland each year. Forests cover almost a quarter of the country, up from 17 percent in 1990. China is on track to have its carbon emissions peak by 2030 and aims to be carbon neutral by 2060: a tough target, but not impossible.” At the same time, Yu admits, “China wants to grab the obvious export opportunities of renewables and assuage the disgruntled middle class by cutting pollution, while continuing to burn record amounts of coal for its own energy needs.”
To combat the dominance of China in this green tech race that the West is quickly losing, there are several options. One idea that was pledged to at the UN’s climate summit in Dubai is investing in nuclear energy. Nuclear is a zero-carbon energy source and is much more efficient. Nuclear energy has long been understood as a viable alternative to coal, though its critics will point to the disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima as potential devastating consequences to nuclear gone wrong.
Twenty-two countries, including the UK and the U.S., signed on to this pledge. Investing in nuclear will help the economy and have the added benefit of breaking China’s green energy tech stranglehold. If nuclear is better than solar or lithium-ion, then China is sunk financially.
Another, more practical step the U.S. should take is to continue Trump’s idea of “decoupling” from China economically. This may be too little, too late though. China has already set its sights on Taiwan. The money that China receives from its green-products industry goes straight into military spending, and it is preparing to take the small island democracy by force.
Taiwan isn’t the only land that China has its greedy eyes on. It is eyeing the disputed area of its border with India. China also has been infringing on other island territories. It is madness for the West to continue enriching a global rival at the expense of global security.
China is a country with ambitious global goals, namely to unseat the U.S. as the world’s hegemon. Achieving those goals through producing cheap green energy products to sell to the climate boondoggle obsessors of the U.S. and other European nations is particularly devious.
An audit of Disney’s special self-governance status reveals the company’s self-serving abuse of the community around it.
Thomas Gallatin
Maybe this is why Disney execs believed they could disingenuously weigh in on Florida politics with impunity. If anything, a newly released audit of the company’s special little district in Florida presents a classic rationale for the need of good government.
In 2022, Disney decided to go to war over Florida’s parental rights law on behalf of the Rainbow Mafia, which, with the Leftmedia’s help, deceitfully labeled it “Don’t Say Gay.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded not by backing down to one of the Sunshine State’s largest employers but by standing firm. In fact, he went on offense, using the power of his office to check Disney’s bullying.
Disney lost its cushy special self-governing status in the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), as DeSantis and the Florida legislature revoked the 55-year-old deal and installed the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD).
At the time, DeSantis’s move was questioned and even condemned by many on both sides of the political aisle. Critics said it set a potentially dangerous precedent of abuse to wield state government power against a private company. Some pundits even claimed DeSantis was infringing on Disney’s free speech rights.
Well, that narrative has been greatly undermined by the publishing of an independent audit of the old RCID commissioned by the CFTOD. In brief, what the auditors concluded in their 72-page report is that Disney, via its RCID, “facilitated the most egregious exhibition of corporate cronyism in modern American history.”
That’s a pretty damning indictment.
Going back to the 1960s when Walt Disney first began buying up land on the down-low near Orlando, his dream was to create the city of the future. Toward that end, Disney and Florida worked out that company’s special self-governing status by creating the RCID. The idea was that doing so would help facilitate not only the building of Disney World but also of the community within the district. Not long after the deal was made, Walt Disney died.
In the years that followed, Disney World was completed, but what the audit shows is that the promised development of a city was never truly realized. This is because The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) worked to ensure that it controlled RCID so as to do its own bidding.
The audit goes into great detail as to how TWDC controlled RCID’s board of supervisors, a board that in theory was supposed to be independent of TWDC and represent the interests of the greater community. In reality, the board looked out for the interests of TWDC to the disadvantage of the citizens of Osceola and Orange Counties in which RCID is situated.
The audit notes that members of the RCID board of supervisors were effectively employees of TWDC, even receiving the same theme park perks as TWDC employees. As a result of its control of Reedy Creek, TWDC received significant tax breaks, as well as streamlined services for its building projects.
Yet because Disney was so big and so popular, for years the state government effectively looked the other way. “Hardly anyone outside of the special district knew about the scope and scale of the problems plaguing it,” the audit observes. “Moreover, due to the sheer size of Disney, virtually no one in Tallahassee was keen to take on the company. As such, complacency and an absence of political will allowed Disney to use the public-private partnership to entrench and amplify its corporate power.”
What DeSantis has done in confronting Disney is what government is supposed to exist for in the first place — to provide oversight and check against abuse. Rather than an indictment against DeSantis, his willingness to fight Disney demonstrates that he is made of the right stuff for challenging and tackling the bureaucratic corruption that overwhelms Washington, DC. His impressive record in Florida is a ringing endorsement for the White House.
Despite the fearmongering Left’s claims that his second term would be all about retaliation, Donald Trump has put together a bold and detailed plan called Agenda47.
Douglas Andrews
It’ll be bad. Very bad. Very very bad.
That’s what The Atlantic wants you to believe about a prospective second term for Donald Trump. “America survived the first Trump term,” warns the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, “though not without sustaining serious damage. A second term, if there is one, will be much worse.”
To make their case, the magazine’s Chicken Littles have lined up 24 contributors to ponder and populate their upcoming January/February issue with all the bad things Trump could do if he were to return to the White House.
One of those articles, by Trump-hating RINO David Frum, said Trump would “bring a more focused agenda of retaliation against his adversaries.” We’ve got news for David, though: Trump will have bigger fish to fry. He’ll have a border to close and an energy sector to revitalize.
Another doomsayer, Anne Applebaum, says Trump will abandon NATO. Really? Not if its members pull their weight when it comes to defending their continent, Anne, and not if its members pay their agreed-upon share for the organization’s maintenance.
For Caitlin Dickerson, the specter of “family separation” looms large. But it won’t loom nearly as large when Trump closes the border on day one. And it won’t loom at all if these families would only respect our laws and our borders.
Meanwhile, Sophie Gilbert laments that a second Trump term would mean “four more years of unchecked misogyny,” and that “women would once again be targets.” This flies in the face of reality, though: Trump appointed hundreds of women to leading roles in his administration. His lead lawyer, Alina Habba, is, last we checked, a woman. As were his press secretaries, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany; and his UN ambassador, Nikki Haley; and his CIA director, Gina Haspel, who was the first woman to ever hold that post.
We’ll make a prediction: None of these things will happen. And further, no one at The Atlantic will be held to account for their misplaced hysteria. Here, we’re reminded of how The Atlantic does progressivism so well. They think of conservatism, and then, as Jack Nicholson’s character in “As Good as It Gets” might put it, they take away reason and accountability.
Then there’s poor pathetic Trump-deranged Liz Cheney, voted out of House leadership by her Republican colleagues and then resoundingly voted out of office by the good people of Wyoming. “A vote for Donald Trump,” she hyperbolized to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, “may mean the last election that you ever get to vote in.”
The last election we ever get to vote in, huh? Man, how stupid does she think Democrats are?
What’s interesting about the Left’s apocalyptic hysteria is that Trump could’ve declared martial law after the 2020 election. Instead of telling his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” make their voices heard, he could’ve thrown Joe Biden in prison for being on the take from Communist China. But he didn’t. So how plausible is it that he’d do those things in a second term?
Anyone who’s interested in Trump’s agenda for a second term need only check the Agenda47 page of his 2024 campaign website. It’s all there, in detail: undoing Biden’s regulatory onslaught; ending veteran homelessness; eliminating welfare for illegals; making a college education available for free without using federal funds; supporting homeschool families; revitalizing our energy industry; returning pharmaceutical manufacturing to American shores; rescinding Biden’s crippling green mandates on the auto industry; protecting our students from leftist indoctrination; enforcing fair trade via the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act; using impoundment to squeeze savings out of the bureaucracy; stopping Chinese espionage; ending birth tourism and birthright citizenship; and on and on.
He even has a detailed plan for dismantling the Deep State. On this front, we wish him well, but we’ll believe it when we see it.
The Wall Street Journal touches upon a few other agenda items of the second Trump term, such as a declaration that hospitals and healthcare providers that approve “medical interventions” for young transgender people will “no longer meet federal health and safety standards for Medicaid and Medicare.” Another item: mandating that law enforcement agencies receiving grants from the Justice Department would need to adhere to tougher policing standards, including stop-and-frisk and cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement “to arrest and deport criminal aliens.”
Last night, the once and perhaps future president was in Davenport, Iowa, for an hour-long interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity. Even a cursory look at Trump shows just how differently age hits different people. At times, Biden seems like he can barely stand up, barely walk, barely carry on a coherent conversation. And then there’s Trump, sitting on a stool, on a stage, in front of a raucous crowd of voters, riffing for an hour about one issue after another. The contrast between the 77-year-old Trump and the 81-year-old Biden couldn’t be starker.
Asked by Hannity whether he thought Biden would be the Democrat nominee, Trump made news with his reply: “I personally don’t think he makes it. Okay? I haven’t said that [before]. I’m saving it for this big town hall. … I think he’s in bad shape physically. Do you remember when he said, ‘I’d like to take him behind the barn’? If he took me behind the barn, and I went like this [makes a blowing sound], I believe he’d fall over.”
Hannity noted that there’s a lot of fearmongering on the Left about how Trump’s second term will be all about payback, all about retaliation against the forces that have conspired against him since his election in 2016. Hannity asked him point-blank if that was his plan: “Under no circumstances, you are promising tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?”
“Except for day one,” answered Trump. “I want to close the border. And I want to drill, drill, drill.”
Perhaps Trump thinks he ought to go through Congress to enact these measures in due time rather than on day one, and that doing so immediately and unilaterally is an abuse of power. But we get his point. “I am an environmentalist,” said Trump, “but we’re going to destroy our country with the Green New Deal stuff.” He vowed to make the U.S. an energy-dominant country, noting, “We have more energy wealth than anybody, but we don’t use it.”
As for Trump’s prospective 2024 opponent, he made news at a fundraising event in Boston yesterday when he said: “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running. But we cannot let him win.” To the best of our recollection, that’s the closest he’s come to admitting what’s become painfully obvious to everyone else: that he might not be up for another four years.
‘Son of Hamas’ Exposes Hamas ‘Holy War’ — Mosab Hassan Yousef defected from the terrorist group in the late ‘90s and secretly worked with Israel to expose and prevent several Hamas terrorist attacks.
Calls for Genocide Are Just Free Speech? — The presidents of MIT, UPenn, and Harvard said that calling for the genocide of Jews would not necessarily violate their schools’ code of conduct.
An Unguarded Gaffe, or the Beginnings of an Off-Ramp?
“If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running. But we cannot let him win for the sake of the country.” —President Joe Biden
Hot Air
“This is insane to be thinking that, you know, we’re asking people to give up [energy sources]. … But gas will have a confrontation with the future in the future.” —climate czar John Kerry
“There shouldn’t be anymore coal-fired power plants permitted anywhere in the world. … I find myself getting more and more militant because I do not understand how adults who are in position of responsibility can be avoiding responsibility for taking away those things that are killing people on a daily basis. And the reality is that the climate crisis and health crisis are one and the same.” —John Kerry
“The scientists are saying this moment is alarming. It’s without precedent. It is terrifying, some have said, and others will say we are in uncharted territory.” —John Kerry
“If we can’t hear Mother Nature and can’t judge with our own eyes what the science is telling us — this is not about politics. There’s no ideology. There’s no pejorative against any one business or any approach. There is simply mathematics and physics and some chemistry and biology. That is what we are acting on.” —John Kerry
Belly Laugh of the Day
“I’m guided by the science. And I can tell you, honestly, there is zero politics or ideology in any decision that President Biden has made or the administration has made. We are driven by the science.” —John Kerry
Non Sequitur
“The Mexican drug cartels are the ones who control the fentanyl trade at the border. And unfortunately, the Mexican drug cartels have that authority because they possess guns and weapons of war. But unfortunately, those weapons of war come from American manufacturers, not from Mexico or elsewhere.” —Congressman Dan Goldman (D-NY)
The BIG Lie
“Under President Joe Biden, wages are up, inflation is coming down, and more than 14 million private-sector jobs have been created. Under President Joe Biden, [the] stock market is up. Gas prices are coming down.” —House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
For the Record
“While there may have been times over the years where individual threats could have been higher here or there than where they might be right now, I’ve never seen a time where all the threats or so many of the threats are all elevated, all at exactly the same time.” —FBI Director Christopher Wray
“The Jewish community in this country is like 2.5% of the American public — and yet they represent something close to 60% of all religiously based hate crimes.” —Christopher Wray
Useful Idiot
“I do not believe we should be appropriating over $10 billion for the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government to continue its current military approach. What the Netanyahu government is doing is immoral, it is in violation of international law, and the United States should not be complicit in those actions. … Israel has a right to defend itself, but it does not have, in my view, the right to wage all-out war against innocent men, women, and children.” —Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (VT)
Friendly Fire
“It is very important that we are giving voice to the women who were raped and murdered on October 7th. … When I saw the list of women’s rights organizations which said nothing, I nearly choked. Where is the solidarity for women in this country and in this world to stand up for our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters?” —Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
And Last…
“I say to the women’s rights organizations, to the human rights organizations: You’ve heard of the rape of Israeli women; horrible atrocities; sexual mutilation. Where the hell are you?” —Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
“Who do the women’s groups represent? … We know they don’t represent any Republican women or libertarian women or pro-life women or independent women. Among feminists they don’t represent women in sports who don’t want to compete against men. They don’t represent women who believe in legitimate safe spaces away from men… They don’t represent obviously Jewish women. And they don’t represent white women unless they buy a dinner where they confess that they’re an oppressor to woke scholars. And I’m trying to think, who’s left to represent? Is it men who say they’re women? Because once you no longer stand up for victims of mass rape, what good are you as a women’s group? … You’re worthless; you’re pathetic.” —Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In testimony before the United States Congress, Ivy League presidents showed off nice new mustaches while explaining to House members that not all calls for mass murder are wrong.
“Some chanting for fellow students to die is okay – it’s all about context,” explained Penn president Liz McGill, adjusting her Swastika armband. “You have to consider the context of the three of us goose-stepping into Congress chanting ‘Final Solution’.”
According to sources, the three presidents arrived at Congress each driving Panzer tanks and surrounded by “SS” bodyguards. After warmly saluting each other, the three women carefully affixed Iron Crosses to their blouses and headed inside. Each of the three Ivy League presidents then took turns explaining why chanting to lynch minorities is not harassment. “Did you not hear that we’re talking about Jews??” laughed Harvard President Claudine Gray. “When you’re deciding if cheering for the death of a minority is wrong, you have to consider the minority. Obviously you can’t call for killing gays or African Americans. Killing Asians — maybe. But these are Jews! There is only one solution, intifada revolution!!”
At publishing time, the Ivy League presidents had agreed that the KKK could hold anti-Jew rallies on campus, so long as they replaced their white hoods with checkered scarves.
Here is a comprehensive list of the only instances it is acceptable for men to shed a tear.
Pinal County Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb released a video on Tuesday.
Sheriff Lamb alleges that illegal border crossers in Arizona are immediately given a $5,000 gift card once they step foot inside the United States – and free plane ticket!
They really do win the Lotto when they enter America!
The the House Committee on Homeland Security released a report last week on the massive cost illegal aliens has on the country. According to the committee, the so-called asylum seekers who enter the US illegally are costing the government $451 billion a year.
Breaking News: Mark Lamb (R) Pinal County AZ Sherriff says that every illegal crossing the border receives a $5,000 gift card.
Sheriff Mark Lamb: We have our government giving people that came into this country illegally $5000 gift card. Hey, folks. Sheriff Lamb here. So I got a truth bomb for you. You know, we see all these people coming across, mostly military-age men coming from China, from Africa, from all over the world, most of them not even being vetted when they come in here. But here’s what’s really going bother you. When these folks come across and they’re processed, they are being given a cell phone, a plane ticket to wherever they want to go in this country, so probably to a community near you and a $5,000 Visa card. So while this Christmas season, you’re struggling to keep your lights on, while you’re struggling to pay your rent, put Christmas presents under the tree for your kids. We have our government giving people that came into this country illegally $5,000 gift cards. That’s the truth, folks. God Bless.
Joe Biden and his handler Obama opened the flood gates. Now they are encouraging the the invasion.
I’ve always believed that extremist political positions of Left and Right are actually much closer aligned to each other than they are to their less extreme sources located close to the centre. But it’s always been a wonder to me how there could be such a bond between Western Leftists and Islamic extremism.
But no longer. It is, I now realise, that Islam itself is an extremist view. Why do I say that? Because Islam, like all extremist views, is completely “black and white”. If you are not a follower, or even if you are and you err even minutely from orthodoxy, you are unacceptable and liable to condemnation.
And this is what we see in the West, with Left-wing extremist groups labelling any view that’s less extreme than their myopic orthodoxy as “Fascist”.
Simplistic and Dangerous Ideologies
But you might wonder how a religion can be anything like an extreme political ideology. That’s easy. It’s not only a religion. Although I can’t find the exact quote, I recall somebody once describing Islam as a political system of repression masquerading as a religion. And more recently there have been similar statements by political figures in America.
“When we discuss ‘Islam,’ it should be assumed that we are talking about both a religion and a political-social ideology.” — former assistant US attorney Andrew McCarthy
“Islam is not even a religion; it is a political system that uses a deity to advance its agenda of global conquest.” — former Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives John Bennett
“Islam is a political ideology [that] hides behind the notion of it being a religion.” — national security adviser Michael Flynn
As such, it is then easier to see how it is not such a “strange bedfellow” of the Left in the West, as it is to them just another minority victim group fighting the “corrupt” West. And as we know, as long as you’re a minority, to the Left you are by definition oppressed.
As former Iranian Muslim-turned-atheist Armin Navabi wrote in an article in the online journal Quillette following the October 7th massacre:
“Leftists in English-speaking nations tend to see Palestinians (including Hamas) as an oppressed, brown victim class, whose freedom-fighting “resistance” against their oppressive, white, US-backed colonizers in Israel is a righteous cause with which to stand in solidarity. This facile view of the long-standing conflict in the Middle East leads to confused and contradictory thinking…”
So, in the case of this sudden trend among our youth supporting Hamas against Israel, and even, as reported in an article by author Julie Burchill in Spiked, converting to Islam, it now makes sense to me.
It’s why they’re drawn to Islam as though it were some Progressive “light on the hill”. And as a quote from the Daily Mail in Burchill’s article notes:
“Millennial and Gen Z women say they’ve been inspired to convert to Islam by the Israel-Hamas war – and are sharing their religious awakenings on TikTok… Among those sharing their journey is a self-described “leftist queer gremlin” named Alex, who recently purchased a copy of the Koran – even though most interpretations of Islam take a dim view of LGBT relationships. Alex, who has begun covering her hair with a hijab in line with Islamic teachings on modesty, says she began after the 7 October terror attacks and the retaliatory strikes on Gaza.”
Australian Youth Call for Genocide
Recently, we’ve seen school students in Australian capitals attending public protests, the most recent being at Sydney Town Hall. I’m sure that I’m not alone in wondering who has been organising these strikes.
And now we know!
As reported in The Sydney Morning Herald, posts on Facebook and Instagram, as well as other resources for the classroom walkout, are being produced by university students associated with the Socialist Alternative and other activist groups, primarily the Palestine Justice Movement Sydney, with the backing of the Maritime Union of Australia.
In other words, children from every stage, from Kindergarten to Year 12, are being used as “useful idiots” for radical Left-wing groups.
Isn’t it the ultimate hypocrisy that they hold up signs accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza while they chant, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free”, a slogan referring to the Palestinian vow of genocide against Israel! The logical disconnect is staggering!
As philosophy professor David Benatar notes in another recent Quillette article:
“How are we to interpret this call? Some critics see it as a call for genocide against Jewish Israelis, while some supporters propose that it has an entirely benign meaning. But according to any reasonable interpretation, the slogan is a call for the end of the state of Israel. If Palestine extends “from the river to the sea,” that leaves no place for the Jewish nation…
… Many critics of the Palestinian slogan want to go further and claim that it is a call for genocide against the Jews in Israel. There are certainly some people, including Hamas, who mean precisely this. Hamas expresses this genocidal fantasy in its Charter and the 7 October attack has provided yet more evidence that they mean what they say, as have their promises to repeat such attacks until Israel is annihilated.
Once a chant is used with genocidal intent by enough people, anybody else claiming to use it in a benign way knows that it might reasonably be interpreted as either noxious or at least ambiguous.
Context does matter, but only within reason. For example, if a group with a suspected antisemitic agenda were parading with a swastika, they wouldn’t fool anyone if they explained that the swastika is a symbol of divinity in eastern religions. It is not that this claim is false. It’s that we wouldn’t believe that that is why they are brandishing the swastika.
The fact that the “from the river to the sea” chant is associated with genocidal aspirations should be an even stronger consideration for those progressives who eschew even the mention — as distinct from the use — of racial slurs. (To mention a slur is to refer to it, rather than wield it.) If you will not even mention the slurs that others use, it is harder to justify using the slogans of those calling for genocide.”
In reference to these school children mindlessly chanting it, I have a possible response. Perhaps the more senior students at these protests should be seated down in a room and shown some of the bodycam footage that the Hamas terrorists proudly took as they raped and beheaded Jewish civilians on October 7th.
Wrongheaded
This also further highlights the “facile view” noted by Armin Navabi, which “leads to confused and contradictory thinking”. And possibly the most obvious example is the one he refers to:
“… as seen in the incoherent slogan (and now meme) “Queers for Palestine,” emblazoned on banners brandished at anti-Israel rallies.
“Queers for Palestine” attempts to meld LGBT advocacy with Palestinian liberation, a juxtaposition that has precipitated a whirlwind of criticism and ridicule, since LGBT rights scarcely exist within the Muslim world, and the Palestinian territories are no exception. The slogan has been widely satirised. Variations like “Chickens for KFC” and “Blacks for the KKK” highlight its proponents’ basic lack of awareness of just how incompatible the values of the Western left are with those of the Islamic right they so readily champion.”
Herein lies the fatal flaw at the heart of both these extremist ideologies. They are founded on lies and self-contradictions.
As Jesus tells us, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:25-26 NASB)
This is where, as Christians, we can take comfort in the fact that these equally contradictory, but equally oppressive, ideologies will fail. Although we know from history that such repressive ideologies may occasionally hold sway for a time, as Socialism did over Russia for three-quarters of a century, they ultimately crack and collapse.
And I don’t mean the kind of comfort that soothes into relaxation, but that which is found in the original Latin, which is to strengthen one’s resolve. The comfort this knowledge provides should provide encouragement to better understand the flaws and logical inconsistencies of any false ideology or belief, so that whoever you are, you can contend against them with those who hold to those ideologies.
If there are enough people with a voice provided to them by outlets like those I’ve cited here, as well as those who recently met at the inaugural conference of The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, there will always be hope that these incoherent extremisms will fall apart under the weight of their own irrationalities. And the rest of us, by being informed by these, can hope to inform others.
Wray opting for misdirection instead of transparency suggests he knows precisely what the FBI did in response to evidence implicating the Bidens in a bribery scandal: nothing.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin and his camera crew on the southern border have found that few of the hundreds of military-age illegal males he encountered are genuine “asylum seekers,” and at least one thanked Joe Biden by name for inviting him here.
Melugin’s report shows that few of the millions of immigrants who are breaking our laws to come here are escaping actual oppression. Most just want to get a job, make money, and send it outside the U.S. and back to their home countries.
They are not at all interested in seeking “asylum” from troubles at home, nor are these illegals interested in becoming Americans. They are only coming here to make money and soak up any freebies that Joe Biden or the Democrat leaders out in the states will give them.
“One of our live shots in Lukeville, AZ this morning. Masses of men crossing illegally from all over the globe. Trash everywhere. Horrific stench of human feces. None of the men we’ve spoken w/ today have been ‘asylum seekers’. They tell us they want work & opportunity in US,” Melugin wrote in an X post on December 5.
One of our live shots in Lukeville, AZ this morning. Masses of men crossing illegally from all over the globe. Trash everywhere. Horrific stench of human feces. None of the men we’ve spoken w/ today have been “asylum seekers”. They tell us they want work & opportunity in US. pic.twitter.com/WYRYdgG0w9
In another video, Melugin showed dozens of illegals pouring through a breach in the border barrier and you can see a criminal human trafficker give the cameras a little salute after the last of them come through. Meanwhile, agents of Biden’s neutered U.S. Border Patrol did nothing to interfere.
NEW: Our cameras were rolling in Lukeville, AZ as groups of illegal immigrants rushed through a breach in the border wall as Border Patrol & federal contractors were trying to fix it. Their human smuggler then shrugs at our cameras & salutes us. Cuts/breaches all over wall here. pic.twitter.com/z2EI4KC9HH
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In yet another video, something even more frightening was seen. A video shows hundreds of military-aged men — many well-dressed and who appear to be Chinese — being detained by the U.S. Border Patrol.
HAPPENING NOW🚨 Large groups of migrants , mostly Chinese national men crossing illegally through open gaps on the border wall in Jacumba Hot Springs , CA @NewsNation
Tomorrow San Diego County officials will vote on whether the county will spend $3 million in taxpayer funds for… pic.twitter.com/mPN46jr7yH
Melugin also came across an illegal who was profuse in his praise for Joe Biden for making it possible for countless millions to cross U.S. borders with impunity.
“I love you, Joe Biden, thank you for everything, Joe Biden!” the man said, according to the Fox News reporter.
Melugin also added that he talked to two men who said they came from Africa and they are here for money, not to become Americans and not for “asylum.”
“I love you Joe Biden, thank you for everything, Joe Biden!”
I talked to two African men who crossed illegally into Lukeville, AZ (Morocco & Liberia). Both admitted to me they are not seeking asylum, & instead want work and opportunity in US. Both are planning to go to NYC. pic.twitter.com/IK8fcY3qvB
In a separate interview a day earlier, with reporter Adam Klepp of KGUN9 in Tuscon, the same described not having eaten in 24 hours and said he wanted to be taken to prison to be fed.
The first guy also came up to me yesterday. I guess he is still there! https://t.co/pBRHyzmhWQ
Clearly, Joe Biden has created a humanitarian crisis, not just for the dangers he is exposing every single American citizen to, but also for these criminal illegals who are left stranded on our border with no shelter, no food, and no support.
Tens of thousands of these people are swamping our border every few days, coming here because they think Joe Biden has thrown the door wide open and is allowing them to come here without going through the legal process.
NEW: Per CBP sources, there were over 10,000 migrant encounters at the southern border in last 24 hours, including 8,400+ apprehended by Border Patrol after crossing illegally, & another 1,700+ encountered at CBP ports of entry. More than 20,000 in CBP custody as of this morning.
America is a country built on immigration, certainly, but only when those immigrants come here to join our great nation, accept our ethos, and become a naturalized American in both the legal and emotional sense. But these people are only coming here for money. They think they can come here and get rich, then take all their earnings back to their real homes, with nothing but contempt for American immigration law.
This is just the latest in a series of major investigations and court cases in the last year to uncover federal censorship laundered through private cutouts.
America First Policy Institute’s Ret. Lt Gen. Keith Kellogg joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss the latest news emerging from the Israel-Hamas war as the IDF moves to the third phase of the ground operation. #foxbusiness
The Department of Justice is hiring eight attorneys to represent the federal government against vaccine injury claims in what appears to be an effort to ramp up personnel amid an expected surge in cases involving the COVID-19 vaccines.
The Bible is intentionally blank where Jesus’ boyhood is concerned. After His birth, the Bible is silent on what Jesus was doing. We know is he lived in Galilee. We know as a child, not a baby, he was taken by his parents to Egypt, to flee Herod’s rage. And now, this, He is 12 years old and in the Temple.
With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding (Job 12:13).
Further Reading:
The Day Jesus Went AWOL Second, in this account are recorded the very first words of our Lord Jesus. Naturally, no words were recorded from the birth and infancy of Christ. Many of our Lord’s words were recorded from His later ministry. But the words of our Lord in this text are His first recorded words, and very important words they are indeed.
Twelve-year-old Jesus goes to the Temple After the host of witnesses to Jesus in Luke 1:5–2:40, Jesus now speaks for himself for the first time. This is the literary climax of Luke’s initial section and shows the sense of mission and self-awareness Jesus possesses. Jesus has a unique relationship to God and a clear sense of his calling, one that transcends his relationship to his earthly parents.
The Son of God at twelve years old This is the only story in the gospels about Jesus between his infancy and his public ministry as a man. Some have argued that the story is a legend created by the early church to fill in some of the gaps in their knowledge of Jesus’ life. What shall we say to this claim?
Most people would agree that it’s better to be hopeful than pessimistic. But there’s a big difference between true hope and wishful thinking! Dr. Robert Jeffress shows us why Jesus Christ is the only one who’s worthy of our hope, faith, and praise.
Do you fervently study God’s Word because it is the only source of the spiritual sustenance you crave? Or are you simply checking a box in your daily devotional routine?
“One bad apple spoils the bunch.” This saying highlights the detrimental effects a corrupt individual can have on an entire group. Listen to Truth For Life a…
7 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter.2 Daniel declared,<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f1-1" title="Aramaic answered and said” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>1“I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it.5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
The Ancient of Days Reigns
9 “As I looked,
thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. 10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
11 “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
The Son of Man Is Given Dominion
13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
Daniel’s Vision Interpreted
15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f2-1" title="Aramaic within its sheath” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>2was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me.16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.17 ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’
19 “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet,20 and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions.21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them,22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.
23 “Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast,
there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. 24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. 25 He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. 26 But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. 27 And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f3-1" title="Or <a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f3-1" title="their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f3-1" title="” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>3
28 “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.”
Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat
8 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal.3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.4 I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.
5 As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.6 He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful wrath.7 I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power.8 Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
9 Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land.10 It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f4-1" title="Or host, that is, some” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>4of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them.11 It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown.12 And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression,<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f5-1" title="Or in an act of rebellion” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>5and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper.13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?”14 And he said to me,<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f6-1" title="Hebrew; Septuagint, Theodotion, Vulgate to him” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>6“For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”
The Interpretation of the Vision
15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”
18 And when he had spoken to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But he touched me and made me stand up.19 He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end.20 As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.21 And the goat<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f7-1" title="Or the shaggy goat” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>7is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king.22 As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f8-1" title="Theodotion, Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew a” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>8nation, but not with his power.23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise.24 His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints.25 By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand.26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.”
27 And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Testimony Concerning the Son of God
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.7 For there are three that testify:8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
That You May Know
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God<a href="https://www.esv.org/plans/through-the-bible/340/#f1-1" title="Greek he” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-touch-callout: default; -webkit-user-select: text; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.38); color: inherit; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration: none”>1will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
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