Greetings from Tyler,
Big plans are in the works for the pope to visit Israel, where he will be shown around by his Rabbi friend. No doubt the trip will be described as “historic,” as he tours both Christian and Muslim sites, including the al Aqsa mosque. (I’m guessing the rabbi will wait outside lest a riot ensue.) Word is that the pope intends to remain absolutely “balanced” as to the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict. In discussion of the trip, we’re hearing for the first time that this pope has only one lung, and that it represents a serious health problem.
Of late he’s made news significant to us, but barely noticed by the mass media. It certainly warrants our attention when he urges the major players at the UN to work toward “wealth redistribution” and condemns the global economic system as “impersonal” and having “no humanity.” All that will no doubt be remedied when some new economic order is ushered in. That may prove inevitable one day, with Europe’s currency faltering and the U.S. dollar on a sustained path to destruction. The only problem is that both Europe’s currency troubles and the dilution of the dollar are as a direct result of the very kind of policies the pope is insisting the whole world should implement. But then, everything about socialism makes no long-term sense and never did.
Meanwhile a political backlash to Europe’s austerity policies, and to the euro itself is beginning to emerge. According to reports the euro is losing popularity due to the inability of the member nations to print their own currencies to deal with national shortfalls. Some rising political movements in Europe are likening EU membership to imprisonment. A recent poll shows that only 52% of Europeans till support the euro. Political movements in Germany and France are on the rise that want to see the EU dissolved, and some new coalition established. Those movements are described as frightening by the media, because they are nationalistic and because they want the massive influx of immigration from north Africa and the Middle East curtailed. The anti-EU political movements are also seen as anti-semitic, which begins to remind all concerned of Europe’s dark chapter with Germany in the last century.
As for the United States, for all these decades since World War II a stabilizing force around the world, it is in full retreat. Not only has the role of international leadership evaporated, our very culture is under attack from within. Underage children from all over Central and South America are showing up on the southern borders by the tens of thousands. Estimates for this year are over 60 thousand youths coming in droves as the talk of “immigration reform” ramps up, and word spreads of the cornucopia of government benefits they’ll be able to access.
While foreigners are able to take advantage of never-ending financial assistance, we’re drowning in the latest scandal of poor treatment of America’s veterans by the agency of Veterans Affairs. A report by a former Pentagon spokesman was published today claiming that the terrorists being held in Guantanamo Bay receive far better treatment than our own military veterans.
Consider this quote from that report by J.D. Gordon, published by Fox News. “Despite the fact that Al Qaeda terrorists carried out the Sept. 11 terror attacks, killing 3,000 people in America, the admitted co-conspirators and their roughly 150 fellow jihadists at Gitmo have approximately 100 doctors, nurses and health care personnel assigned to them. Doctors and medical personnel are at their beck and call. Got a cold, a fever, a toothache, a tumor, chest or back pain, mental health issues, PTSD? No problem, come right in. Military doctors are waiting to see you.”
It is hard to imagine what could better illustrate our current national dilemma on a whole host of issues, more accurately than the comparison to be drawn as to how our nation’s leadership treats terrorists as opposed to how it treats those who served in the U.S. military. Apply the example wherever you like, and it fits.
And it is against this backdrop that America is set to observe Memorial Day this weekend. How does our society honor the service of those who sacrificed, in many cases everything, to preserve values and a way of life that is being overthrown, besmirched and replaced by a cresting wave of fascism that dares anybody to stand for traditional values of family, God and country?
We’ve known that there would be consequences for a national turn away from God’s Laws and His values. As sickening as our daily news has become, we have to realize that it is just the beginning. The onslaught of venom toward everything good and wholesome has accelerated past our expectations in a relatively short period of time, and looks as though it is here to stay.
Persecution of those who profess Christianity is already on display in many parts of this world, particularly the Muslim countries. And it looks to be gaining traction here at home. The difference is that those who profess Christianity in the United States have already been overruled or silenced. In the present environment, it has become too dangerous to speak up for the values God imparted to mankind. Anyone who dares quote from God’s word on any of these issues is beneath contempt in the culture that has evolved around us.
The 2014 Feast brochure has been mailed, and you should have yours any time now. We’re also in the late stage of layout for the next Twenty-first Century WATCH. We’ve had some very kind revues in response to recent issues, and hope you will like the upcoming issue at least as much. Thanks to all in the field for your service and support. Have a wonderful Sabbath and holiday weekend.
Mark Armstrong
