L'Shanah Tova!

SYMBOLISM OF THE SHOFAR BLASTS

The Sound of Teru'ah

"Happy are the people that know the trumpet (shofar) call (te'ruah); O' G-d, in the light of Your countenance they shall walk" (Psalms 89:16).

This verse, recited directly after the shofar blowing on Rosh HaShanah, is explained by the Ba'al Shem Tov z"l as follows: The epitome of spiritual work is a broken heart; the perfected manner of spiritual service is that of walking humbly (with G-d). Happy are the people who know the te'ruah--who know how to shout for joy (l'ha-riah, a permutation of the word te'ruah), as they break their inflated sense of separate existence ("ego"). Inwardly their heart is broken, but outwardly they are joyous, as they have merited to be true servants of G-d. "O' G-d--the Supernal One," they request, "in the light of Your countenance they shall walk." Wherever they may be, let them bask in the light of Your countenance.

The Baal Shem Tov renders te'ruah as referring to the breaking (as in l'roea, "to break") of one's inflated "ego" and haughtiness. Similarly, the Chassidic interpretation of the verse (Psalms 98:4): "Make a joyful noise (Ha'ri-u) to G-d, all the earth" is that for the sake of G-d one must break all of one's "earthly" sense of independent, material existence. Thus, the teruah sounded on Rosh HaShanah, a sound resulting from the breaking of the long simple note (the te'kiah) into numerous short notes. (The she'varim note reflects the breaking of the simple te'kiah into three shorter sounds; the te'ruah--the breaking of the she'varim--breaks each she'varim note into three even shorter sounds, such that each te'kiah is equivalent to nine te'ruah sounds).

"Knowing" the te'ruah ("Happy are the people who know the te'ruah") is the inner knowledge (unique to the Jewish people) of how to call out in joy. It is the perfected service of the broken heart; the inward "breaking" is enclothed in a visible joy, reflecting unaffected "walking humbly."

"A broken and contrite heart, O' G-d, You will not despise" (Psalms 51:19). The perfect vessel for receiving revelations of G-d's inner light is a broken heart; "There is not a more perfect vessel than a broken heart." The Supernal G-d, Havayah, responds to those who humbly turn to Him with a broken heart. In the merit of the broken heart in one's innermost recesses, one's earnest spiritual request, "G-d in the light of your countenance," is met with "they shall walk"--the quality of "walking humbly."

READ THE REST HERE

Shofar


There are things that are important for us, so we speak about them. There are things very important to us -- and so words flow out from us, bursting with emotion, meaning and depth.

And then there are things that shake us to the core. The core of our being does not wait for the mind's permission or for the right words -- there are no words that can contain it. It breaks out in a cry, in a scream and in silence.

This is the sound of the shofar: A crying voice, not even of a human being, but of an animal's horn. We need the animal -- not for its coarseness, but on the contrary, because we need to express something so sublime, it cannot find words; so essential and unbounded, the mind can neither fathom it nor hold it back.

The very core of our souls needs to cry, "Father! Father!"





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
Elul 29, 5767 * September 12, 2007

ROSH HASHANAH BASICS:

Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "head of the year" or "first of the year." Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. This name is somewhat deceptive, because there is little similarity between Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days of the year, and the American midnight drinking bash and daytime football game.

There is, however, one important similarity between the Jewish New Year and the American one: Many Americans use the New Year as a time to plan a better life, making "resolutions." Likewise, the Jewish New Year is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year. More on this concept at Days of Awe.

The name "Rosh Hashanah" is not used in the Bible to discuss this holiday. The Bible refers to the holiday as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the shofar). The holiday is instituted in Leviticus 23:24-25.

Shofar: Click to hear it blow!The shofar is a ram's horn which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. One of the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the sounding of the shofar in the synagogue. A total of 100 notes are sounded each day. There are four different types of shofar notes: tekiah, a 3 second sustained note; shevarim, three 1-second notes rising in tone, teruah, a series of short, staccato notes extending over a period of about 3 seconds; and tekiah gedolah (literally, "big tekiah"), the final blast in a set, which lasts (I think) 10 seconds minimum. Click the shofar above to hear an approximation of the sound of Tekiah Shevarim-Teruah Tekiah. The Bible gives no specific reason for this practice. One that has been suggested is that the shofar's sound is a call to repentance. The shofar is not blown if the holiday falls on Shabbat.

No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah. Much of the day is spent in synagogue, where the regular daily liturgy is somewhat expanded. In fact, there is a special prayerbook called the machzor used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because of the extensive liturgical changes for these holidays.

Another popular observance during this holiday is eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of our wish for a sweet new year. This was the second Jewish religious practice I was ever exposed to (the first one: lighting Chanukkah candles), and I highly recommend it. It's yummy. We also dip bread in honey (instead of the usual practice of sprinkling salt on it) at this time of year for the same reason.

Another popular practice of the holiday is Tashlikh ("casting off"). We walk to flowing water, such as a creek or river, on the afternoon of the first day and empty our pockets into the river, symbolically casting off our sins. Small pieces of bread are commonly put in the pocket to cast off. This practice is not discussed in the Bible, but is a long-standing custom. Tashlikh is normally observed on the afternoon of the first day, before afternoon services. When the first day occurs on Shabbat, many synagogues observe Tashlikh on Sunday afternoon, to avoid carrying (the bread) on Shabbat.

Religious services for the holiday focus on the concept of G-d's sovereignty.

The common greeting at this time is L'shanah tovah ("for a good year"). This is a shortening of "L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" (or to women, "L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi"), which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." More on that concept at Days of Awe.

You may notice that the Bible speaks of Rosh Hashanah as occurring on the first day of the seventh month. The first month of the Jewish calendar is Nissan, occurring in March and April. Why, then, does the Jewish "new year" occur in Tishri, the seventh month?

Judaism has several different "new years," a concept which may seem strange at first, but think of it this way: the American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year. In Judaism, Nissan 1 is the new year for the purpose of counting the reign of kings and months on the calendar, Elul 1 (in August) is the new year for the tithing of animals, Shevat 15 (in February) is the new year for trees (determining when first fruits can be eaten, etc.), and Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashanah) is the new year for years (when we increase the year number. Sabbatical and Jubilee years begin at this time).

See Extra Day of Jewish Holidays for an explanation of why this holiday is celebrated for two days instead of the one specified in the Bible.
List of Dates

Rosh Hashanah will occur on the following days of the Gregorian calendar:

* Jewish Year 5768: sunset September 12, 2007 - nightfall September 14, 2007




And now....

Words of New Year Wisdom from Rav Buzzsawmonkey:

#225 buzzsawmonkey 9/12/07 12:18:54 pm

Notes on Rosh HaShanah

Rosh HaShanah, literally, "the head of the year," is often--usually--referred to as the Jewish "New Year."

This is not, strictly speaking, correct. G-d instructs the Jews on the eve of the Exodus that the month in which the Exodus occurs shall be considered the "first month." The month of Tishri, which begins at sundown today, is in fact the seventh month.

This is quite significant. There are a number of cycles of seven in the Jewish calendar--the most obvious being Shabbat, the seventh day, the day of rest. This seventh day of rest is mirrored in the yearly cycle, in which the seventh year is a year of shmita, also known as a sabbatical year, in which we are instructed to refrain from sowing and reaping and during which we are assured that HaShem will provide for us.

After a cycle of seven shmita years--49 years--has passed, the fiftieth year is the Yovel--the Jubilee year--in which debts are cancelled, lands "sold" under long lease return to its owner, etc. It is the year in which we are instructed to "Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land, unto all the inhabitants thereof," the words which, if I recall correctly, are also inscribed upon the Liberty Bell.

The cycle of shmita years and the Yovel is replicated in miniature each year, with the counting of the Omer from the second night of Passover. Seven weeks are counted, ending on the fiftieth day with Shavuot, the "Feast of Weeks," which is the anniversary of the Revelation at Sinai. Thus, a parallel is drawn between the Yovel, the Jubilee year, and the giving and receiving of the Torah--and, since the Yovel year is a large-form remembrance of the receiving of the Torah, it is also a foretaste of the Messianic era.

What has this to do with Rosh HaShanah? The month of Tishri is full of holidays; Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and followed by the holiday of Sukkot. It is as close to a solid month of festivity as one can get without letting business totally go by the board. It is, in other words, a month of Shabbat--the seventh month is the Sabbath played out on a monthly, rather than a weekly, scale.

It was during Yom Kippur that the shofar was blown to herald the Jubilee Year. This year, Yom Kippur will fall on a Sabbath, so the shofar will not be blown--but this is, nonetheless, a Jubilee year.

So at sundown today we enter into the Sabbath of months, which will usher in the Jubilee year which serves as a foretaste of the Messianic era.

May this year be one full of blessings for all of us.

AMEN, Buzz.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A CORRECTION FROM RAV BUZZSAW:



My mistake: it is NOT a Jubilee Year; it is merely a sabbatical--shmita--year. Just prior to Rosh HaShanah, at minyan, we all entered into a Prozbul, which assigns debts to a bet din (rabbinical court) so that they could be collected on our behalf in the coming year.

My apologies for the error.




SEE ALSO: The Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee

You may not be interested in holy war, but holy war is very interested in YOU

THE RAGE AND THE PRIDE

NEVER FORGET

9/11/01

NEVER SURRENDER

"Praise You in This Storm"

by Casting Crowns

words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone
how can I carry on

if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

A Sermon for the West

TEXAS FRED has a link fest to all the sites he found with tributes up so far, they can be found as 'sticky' posts at Reject the U.N. and TexasFred's

FROM GATES OF VIENNA:

Our fellow warriors are being arested in Belgium today for protesting Islam:

6:29 am EDT

I just received a phone call from Aeneas, a British blogger who is in Brussels for the SIOE demonstration. It was hard to hear him during our conversation due to the sirens in the background.

The demonstration is proceeding, and, despite the rumors in advance, the Brussels police are not allowing the demonstrators to protest without hindrance. People are being dragged away by the police and put into buses.

Flyboy then got on the phone and told me that riot police have been deployed, and that dogs and water cannon are being used against the demonstrators. There has been no violence except by the police. I could hear the demonstrators chanting and dogs barking in the background.

Paul Belien of the Brussels Journal was the next person to talk to me. He says that there are maybe 500 demonstrators in Schuman Square, and that many of those are being arrested and carried away. He has seen Danish, Swedish, British, American, and Canadian flags on display.

There is a large contingent of Vlaams Belang (the Flemish separatist party) at the demonstration, and the party’s leaders are among those arrested. Mr. Belien says that the president of the party, Frank Venhecke, was beaten to the ground by the police, arrested, and put into a bus.

It seems that the police are trying to arrest everybody at the demonstration. I will add updates when I hear more.

An American Trilogy

Working on some posts. Dig on the King till I'm done....

My Dajjal shall kick your Mahdi's ass!

Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed)

~ 1 Corinthians 15:51 (Amplified Bible)



A Study of Biblical and Islamic Eschatology



Comparing The Biblical Antichrist And The Mahdi




Comparisons Between The Islamic And Biblical Narrative Of The End-Times




A COMPARISON OF THE FOUNDERS OF CHRISTIANITY & ISLAM



A Contrast Between Mohammed and Jesus



Another Comparison between Jesus and Muhammad



Comparative Index to Islam

FROM ISLAM TO CHRISTIANITY

FOR THE CAUSE OF ALLAH





WALID SHOEBAT ON THE END OF DAYS AND BIBLICAL PROPHECY









An Oracle Concerning Damascus

More on Amanpour, the Caliphate's Whore

VIDEO found by Jehosheba at LION ROARS:

MSNBC's Dan Abrams Slams "CNN's Holy War"

Christiane Amanpour and the Moral Lottery



The Christiane Way Why CNN's Christiane Amanpour represents a new low in reporting standards

Christiane Amanpour: With Understanding Comes Knowledge

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak talks with CNN's Senior International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, October 12, 2000


RE: CNN's Agenda:

CNN Reporter Admits He was Propaganda Tool for Hezbollah

CNN Refrained From Reporting Atrocities about Saddam Hussein Until After the War in Iraq

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands, of Jews
have died because of this infamous forgery.


THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION


Important exchange from the comments:

It is unfortunate that the song's sarcasm is directed at Christians. The Elders was written by atheists. It has been long disavowed by all ordinary Christian sects. The only distributors in the modern world are Muslims and they are the only one who believe that nonsense. Interesting enough, there is a Muslim book that reads almost like The Elders, It is called The Muslim Brotherhood, and it is not a concoction of imaginary plots. It is real. The singers' attitude is one common among liberal Jews and is reflected by Foxman of the ADL, in spite of Israel's attempt to moderate Foxman's anti-Christian hysterics. Particularly in view of the dhimmifcation of the West.
~ pat

pat

all true what you wrote

Most people are quick to make fun of Christians and Jews and slow to make fun of Muslims because they like their heads where they are

IOW out of fear...

I still think it's a very good very funny song

and there is no denying there are plenty of people calling themselves Christian today who believe this crap too,
I know, I have met them

but your point was not lost I noticed it when I first watched it too and almost didnt post because of it
~ BabbaZee

Jewish Music Group

RAV SHMUEL's SITE

Search: Chosen People

Warriors of God my ass..... Behold Christiane Amanpour, Agitprop Whore of the Caliphate !

David Wilder reporting from the Shalhevet Neighborhood (the shuk) in Hebron

The following is reproduced here with David Wilder's permission:

Following screening of the CNN production "Warriors of G-d", including a 2 hour segment dealing with Judaism and Israel, I think it appropriate to post the following two letters, between myself and Mr. Jonathan Klein, President of CNN/USA. The two letter are, I think, self-explanatory.

I must note, that following my 'revelation,' I notified a number of people who had, like myself, agreed to participate one way or another, with CNN. Some of them immediately ceased all contact with CNN and refused to take part in the program.
Others decided to continue.

Each person can draw their own conclusions.

David Wilder

Hebron

From: Hebron [mailto:hebron@hebron.org.il]
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 5:44 PM
To: 'public.information@cnn.com'
Subject: Cnn production of Religion and politics - produced by Andy Segal
Importance: High



Dear Mr. Klein,

A couple of months ago I was approached by one of your Israeli correspondents about participating in a program produced by CNN, dealing with politics and religion in Judaism. He introduced me to Mr. Andy Segal , who is producing the program, and we had several lengthy conversations, first by phone, and later in person, here in Hebron, in Israel. Our conversations were quite open and frank – I saw no reason to hide my suspicions about cooperating with CNN – the network's reputation concerning Israel is less than positive. We discussed this at great length, and at one point Andy requested to center the program around Hebron and the Hebron Jewish community.

Following much thought and conversations with colleagues of mine, I decided to refuse Andy 's request, but did agree to participate in a more minor role in the program, basing our response to each request on its own merits.

A couple of weeks ago Andy again made contact and we spoke of several possibilities. He was interested in speaking to a family which had experienced terror first-hand, and had chosen to remain in Hebron, despite their loss and the dangers involved. I decided to try to assist and introduced him to Mrs. Tzippy Shlissel, whose father, Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, was killed by terrorists in Hebron some eight and a half years ago. He met with her three times: first an introductory meeting, followed by an in-depth interview, and followed, earlier today, by a filmed interview and filming of the family, home, etc.

So far so good.



However…

When we first discussed this project I asked Andy who was responsible for writing the script. He told me that he would be working on it, but there would be others involved. To the best of my recollection, my impression was that he was 'in charge' and for the most part, would determine the outlook of the script and would be 'on top' of the entire project.

This afternoon, that illusion shattered when he mentioned to me that in a few months, the chief international CNN correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, would be coming to Israel and would probably also want to speak with Mrs. Shlissel. Almost in shock, I asked him what her role is in this project. He told me that she is the narrator. I asked if she would have anything to do with writing the script and was told that "I will write the first draft." "Will she have anything to do with writing the final draft?" "Yes."



I then told Andy that had I known she was involved with this project I would not have had anything at all to do with it.

I am personally familiar with Christiane Amanpour. A number of years ago (about 10 years ago) she interviewed me. I had the dubious pleasure to have her yell and scream at me on camera. She obviously wanted me to scream back, so as to show her viewers 'an extremist from Hebron' exploding on camera. I refused to play into her hands and answered all her questions with a relaxed, calm smile on my face. However, I never forgot the interview. I haven't been yelled at, on camera, by too many journalists.

How can CNN produce an 'objective program' about Israel and religious settlers, when one of the prime elements of the program is known to be vehemently 'anti-Israel' and certainly 'anti-settlers,' so to speak? Her reputation is so blatantly prejudiced.
For example

So when people ask: "Why did the Palestinian people elect a terrorist group?" The answer is because they see them as a lifeline.

Each time I go to the Palestinian territory of Gaza, I am shocked by the reality on the ground. On a recent visit, I passed through a short tunnel from the First World in Israel and emerged into the Third World that is Gaza. The poverty there is among the worst in the world.

Hamas officials told me they did not expect to win the election as overwhelmingly as they did. They say their main priority now is to meet the demands of the people for a better life.

But that may be impossible, because Israel and the United States refuse to deal with Hamas and have already cut funding to the new Palestinian government.

Posted By Christiane Amanpour, CNN Correspondent: 11:03 AM ET



A woman who justifies and backs Hamas is going to deal 'fairly' with Jews in Hebron, or anywhere else in Judea and Samaria? She is going to present us as 'religious nuts and fanatics' who are endangering world peace. She is certainly not going to present anything that could be considered positive concerning us, our lifestyles or our beliefs. She is certainly not going to present a balanced, objective program dealing with religious Jews and Eretz Yisrael.

I basically told Andy that I was out – and wouldn't have anything more to do with the project. I put a rather large degree of trust in Andy – I believed that he had the possibility to present an object, balanced program. However, I cannot have any trust whatsoever in Christiane Amanpour, whose reputation stands before her.

Andy Segal told me that you are responsible for this project, that you initiated it. Without being presumptuous, I think it fair to demand that Christiane Amanpour be removed from this project. I cannot imagine that such a biased person could have anything to do with a project dealing with religion and politics in Israel. The results are a foregone conclusion, even before the cameras start rolling. The question is whether the program you are producing is to be an interesting objective account of religion and politics in Israel, or another CNN-produced Israel (settler)-bashing?

I await your reply and hope, very much, to learn that Ms. Amanpour will no longer have anything to do with this project.

Sincerely,

David Wilder
Spokesman
The Jewish Community of Hebron






From: Klein, Jon
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 6:41 PM
To: hebron@hebron.org.il
Subject: Response to your email dated January 30, 2007


February 13, 2007



Mr. David Wilder
Spokesman
The Jewish Community of Hebron
February 12, 2007

Dear Mr. Wilder,

Let me begin by thanking you for your comments. I am sorry that the Jewish Community of Hebron has chosen not to be represented in our documentary. Our mission is to produce a program that goes far beyond what is normally seen in daily news broadcasts so that our viewers can better understand the people who risk their lives -- and their children's - to live on land they believe is their birthright: Jerusalem and the West Bank. Our goal is not to find fault or fix blame -- but to simply understand. To that end, I believe that you are missing a prime opportunity to be heard, not only in the United States, but in 180 countries around the world, and I would ask you to reconsider.

Regardless of your decision, I stand by CNN's reputation as a fair and impartial source of information. On conflicts as heated and long-standing as that between Israel and the Palestinians it is not surprising that "both sides" are at times unhappy with our reporting. We often hear that we are biased towards the other side, and that may be the surest indication of our impartiality.

Christiane Amanpour is one of our most talented and prominent international correspondents, and she is supported by a team of our strongest producers. In fact Andy Segal, our senior producer, is one of the best. As you probably have discovered, Andy comes to the table prepared. He is fair, honorable and ethical - a journalist who takes his work very seriously. He has produced a number of award-winning documentaries. Andy and his team are researching, producing and writing this documentary, and you can be assured that his reporting will shape the final program. As a spokesman for a prominent organization, I am sure you appreciate the need for others input before you represent the positions and views of Hebron's Jewish community. The same is true at CNN - not only will Ms. Amanpour have input, but so will editors and executives, to insure journalist standards and practices are met. In the end a program like this will be fully vetted and sourced.

I can honestly say that if you decide not to contribute to this program - perhaps the fullest exploration of this issue ever seen on western television - you may regret missing the opportunity to let millions of viewers understand your story. I hope you will reconsider your decision, but if not, you can be assured the program will meet the highest standards of journalism.

Sincerely,

Jon Klein

AUDIO:
WALID SHOEBAT DISMANTLES AMANAPOUR'S GOD'S WARRIORS

Also see at An American Expat in Southeast Asia:

Exposing God's Muslim Warriors

and

Where are God's Christian Warriors?

UPDATE from Jehosheba of Lion roars:

She is Iranian - that makes everything very clear.

Her father´s name is Mohammad


She grew up in Iran.

The Amanpours led a privileged life in IRAN.


Her sister, Lizzy Amanpour, the Channel 4 producer, is believed to be joining the Arabic satellite television news channel al-Jazeera , which is launching an English-language service. The move comes as Al-Jazeera has confirmed that Sir David Frost will also be joining the network and follows Lizzy's brother-in-law (the WHORE´s -Christiane Amanpour- husband) making a move into television.
Last month the WHORE`s husband, James Rubin, a former US state department spokesman under Bill Clinton, was announced as the presenter of a new international show on Sky News.


More on HER LATEST LIE -God´s Warriors-

UPDATE II:

Christiane Amanpour: An Accomplice to Lies
By Michael Devolin

As a rebuttal to those who questioned her professionalism after witnessing her emotional outbursts during her coverage of the siege of Sarajevo, Christiane Amanpour replied, "There are some situations one cannot be neutral about, because when you are neutral you are an accomplice." Apparently Christiane Amanpour feels less emotional and more neutral about Jews and their religious connection to Israel than she does for the Muslims of Sarajevo.

In her latest documentary, God's Warriors, Amanpour vilifies Jews simply by equating religious Jews with religious Muslims. Of course, not everyone will see it this way. Not everyone these days is willing (or brave enough) to critique Islam and its adherents, both for the violence and anti-Jewish hatred this religion and its attendant culture advocates, and the advocates of this religion and its culture, for how they are all too willing to accommodate such violence and anti-Jewish hatred. Obviously, the journalist Amanpour is not brave enough. An Oriana Fallaci she is not.

Anyone who has studied the history of Islam will know that Jews and Judaism do not deserve to be in any way compared as imitations of Muslims and their Islam. Anyone as knowledgeable as Christiane Amanpour should be, who makes such a comparison in her documentary God's Warriors, can do so only wilfully, with laboured effort and with malefic intent. A religious Jewish friend, a directing member of the right-wing B'nai Elim intoned to me after watching the film, "I fear that she has awakened more sleeping anti-Semites and empowered the rest of the Jew-haters in the world. The attacks on Jews and Jewish establishments will no doubt increase as a result."

I'm sure CNN is so very proud of Amanpour's anti-Israel, anti-Judaism diatribe. Of course, her "moral equivalency" is standard for CNN and their self-aggrandizing, cowardly journalists. Heaven forbid they should point out that Jews do not blow themselves up in German and Austrian restaurants for the sins of the Holocaust and the Crusades. Heaven forbid they should reveal, as did Ayaan Hirsi Ali in her book Infidel, that "Violent jihad is a historical constant in Islam." Heaven forbid they should expose the fact that Muslim zealots in the 21st century behead journalists and aid-workers simply because those journalists and aid-workers are Christians and Jews and therefore do not measure up to the Prophet Mohammed and the glory of the Koran. CNN and their effete journalists like Christiane Amanpour (all her war correspondence notwithstanding) are incapable of making such veridical contradistinctions simply because they have long ago made the obsequious choice to feed the masses with palatable slander, even though the masses, as history has so often exposed, often howl for anti-Jewish slander.

[SNIP]

On CNN, Muslim ‘Warrior’ Gets Sympathetic Treatment, Christians are ‘Totalitarian’

By Matthew Balan | August 24, 2007 - 18:47 ET

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR SHEDS THE MASK

By Michelle Malkin • January 30, 2006 11:30 PM

Fitzgerald: A tribute to Christiane Amanpour

Christiane Amanpour, despite her family background, has no real experience or knowledge of Islam. Hers elf secular, and married (in a mariage blanc) to James Rubin, she is confused about Islam. She knows Iranian Muslims who are nothing like the Iranian Muslims now in power, but she fails to recognize that those she knows were never the real thing. She doesn’t realize that they were unrepresentative, as unrepresentative of Islam as was, say, Maxim Litvinov of the Soviet regime -- even though he served that regime as Foreign Minister and as ambassador.

She is defensive about Islam without knowing about it, and without knowing how the primitive Muslim masses think. Yet that is what should count in Infidel calculations, and not the suave and often deceptive exceptions -- whether they are Chalabi and other westernized Shi'a exiles inveigling the Americans into removing Saddam Hussein, or plummy-voiced Prince Hassan, a real performance artist, capable of impressing the impressionable.

Amanpour has never studied Islam, never quite grasped the significance of its texts. After all, apparently her own parents were capable of ignoring large parts of them. Nor has she studied the history of Islamic conquest and subjugation of non-Muslims and destruction of non-Muslim cultures, although as someone of Iranian descent, she might well have bothered to do so. Her name gives her, for audiences, a false authenticity, and allows her to be endowed with an authority her level of knowledge does not actually entitle her to claim, or to have attributed to her.

Meanwhile, there is that CNN glory. There is that money. There is that celebritydom. There is that Washington wedding, attended by le tout Clinton administration, and that marriage of convenience, that mariage blanc.

Petro-dollars explain part of it. Stupidity another part. In the case of Amanpour, one wondered how she would come out. Would she realize, in the manner of so many Iranians in exile, that Islam and not merely the Islamic Republic of Iran, was the problem? Would she move from her older positions, like Oriana Fallaci, and see what Islam was all about? Or would she play her "Islamic" card for all it was worth to her -- in entree here and there (to the Hajj, for example)? She is a careerist hell-bent on furthering her career. And what better way to further her career at this point in history than in being a Muslim? Not a real one -- her faith is as sham as her marriage. Instead, she is almost a "Muslim-for-identification-purposes-only" Muslim, who does what she does out of a curious blend of monomaniacal careerism and ambition, together with filial piety. There is also in play for her all sorts of misremembered nostalgia for that jeunesse-doree life as a spoiled child in Teheran -- a child of the very class that benefited financially from the ancien regime, that corrupt, stupid, and unaware regime, that when confronted with Khomeini did not know where to put its feet and hands.

She used to be tolerable -- just. No longer.

Why does the press, why does television, who do political leaders simply refuse to even hint at the truth? Do they think this makes things better, makes us more able to conduct ourselves in what is a permanent war? When, to give one example, 60 Minutes some time ago had a segment devoted to Muslim mistreatment of women among the immigrants in France, the bland and blind though endlessly self-assured Amanpour never, not once, mentioned the word "Islam." When one of her interviewees explains the oppression of young girls -- mass rapes, burning to death, that sort of thing -- as being the result of "tradition," she lets that vague word stand unchallenged and unglossed.

What will it take? Must there be bombs in Jain temples, or at a Confucian altar, sufficiently publicized to make clear to all but the hopelessly stupid and those who are wedded to false symmetries and pat phrases (not just Amanpour, but Tom Friedman, with his platitudes and fake plongitudes, comes nautically to mind)? How much evidence had to be assembled before Copernicus could dare suggest that, after all, the earth really did travel around the sun? How much evidence needs to be accumulated about what is happening now, and what has been happening for 1350 years of Islam's aggression against all non-Muslims, for people to become their own little Copernicuses, and arrive at the unstoppable and ineluctable and unavoidable explanation of what is going on? How much evidence needs to be accumulated for even Christiane Amanpour to do so?

Posted by Hugh at January 19, 2007 12:32 PM



UPDATE III:

from Right Truth

CNN'S MASTER PLAN: PART ONE





CHRISTIAN CRUSADERS ALSO WANT A CALIPHATE: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHRISTIANE (PART TWO OF CNN'S MASTER PLAN)

Fallback LGF: Whores of the Brave New World

We Are Muslims!

Line of the Day

Turkey’s Transport Minister Osman Gunes said one hijacker is Turkish, while the other is believed to be Palestinian carrying a Syrian passport. Passenger Erhan Erkul told NTV that the hijackers ran toward the cockpit shortly after takeoff, tried to break down the door but failed. “They claimed to have bombs,” Erkul said.

Passengers speaking to NTV and CNN-Turk said the hijackers spoke Arabic to each other and promised not to harm the passengers. “We are Muslims,” the passengers quoted one of the hijackers as saying.

JEWISH TASK FORCE
Fighting to save America and Israel from Islamic terrorism!

Bob Dylan on the end of days, Toronto, 1980

Bob Dylan's unshakeable monotheism -- Part I: The 1960s



Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part II: The 1970s






Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part III: The 1980s


Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part IV: The 1990s

"Behold, it is coming... and it will be done" ~ Ezekiel 39:8

China and Russia Begin Teasing Washington FROM: ARAB NEWS Linda Heard, sierra12th@yahoo.co.uk —

Moscow and Beijing have teamed up and appear determined to send a message to the White House, singly and together, which translated could mean, “Don’t mess with us” and “Stay clear of our allies.” The two countries are currently playing war games together with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), considered a buffer to US oil and gas ambitions in the Caspian. The SCO claims its mission is counterterrorist but while Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia have been invited to attend an associated Aug. 16 summit, the US has been rebuffed. This comes hard on the heels of a not subtle Chinese threat to the American economy. Last week, two Chinese officials made statements, which did nothing to settle market jitters. In essence, they warned the US to quit pressuring China to revalue its yuan or else it could decide to dump its dollar reserves, worth $1,330 billion and cash in its US Treasury bonds, roughly valued at $900 billion. In the unlikely event of China following through on the implied threat, the ensuing economic carnage could make the 1929 Wall Street Crash look like a picnic because other countries would be panicked into following suit. Incredibly, some 45 percent of America’s foreign debt is held by foreigners, which leaves the US in an extremely vulnerable position. Not to be outdone in the audacity-stakes, Russia claims to have buzzed a US airbase on the Pacific island of Guam in a show of its military resurgence. According to the Russian military, two of its bombers were intercepted by US jets. The pilots smiled at one another, says Russia, before going their separate ways. The Pentagon denies any such interception ever took place. Russia’s new confidence derives from its friends in powerful places plus the fact it is swimming in oil and gas wealth, partly because Bush’s wars and aggressive Middle East foreign policy has driven up prices. Its recent foray into the Arctic where divers erected rustproof titanium Russian flag on the seabed of the North Pole was interpreted by some as Russia having laid claim to some of the world’s largest untapped petrochemical reserves. In the past, the logistics of tapping into those reserves were daunting, not to mention uneconomical, but now that ice caps are melting and prices are rising, Russia sees an opportunity. It seems so does Canada and Denmark. Last week Canada announced the opening of two military bases in the region, while a group of 40 Danish scientists are traveling to the Arctic on an icebreaker to stake Denmark’s claim. Now Georgia has stepped into the fray by asserting a Russian military aircraft has violated its airspace, leaving behind a missile that failed to explode in a farmer’s field, near the disputed region of Ossetia. Russia has denied the incident and accused Georgia of putting on a “theatrical presentation” aimed at canceling scheduled talks over the breakaway area’s future status. Russia has further made it crystal clear that it does not approve of George Bush’s anti-missile defense shield being erected in Poland and the Czech Republic out of concern it could be directed at it rather than Iran and North Korea, as claimed. President Vladimir Putin initially proposed a joint missile defense venture with the US — an idea that was not well received. And so he has decided to beef up his own defense system, modernize his army and navy and, in the event Bush’s star wars plan proceeds on his doorstep, he has threatened to direct his missiles toward Europe. Russia’s relations with Britain have also gone south. Their erosion began when people Russia termed as British spies working under cover of the British Embassy in Moscow were filmed concealing a telecommunications device inside a dummy rock, through which secret messages could be transmitted via a palm-sized computer. Diplomacy succeeded in papering over that embarrassing incident that was shown to viewers around the world on Russian TV. But nothing could put a lid on the mysterious death of Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned by Polonium-210 after meeting with two former KGB agents and an Italian friend in London. Following investigation, Britain’s director of public prosecutions requested the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi, a Russian citizen and was told in no uncertain terms that Article 61 of Russian Constitution forbids the extradition of Russian citizens to foreign countries and any such trial must take place within Russia. Russia also accuses Britain of refusing to extradite Russian citizens wanted by Moscow. The contretemps is still ongoing and has thus far resulted in the tit-for-tat expulsions of both Russian and British diplomats. This is all a far cry from those cozy post-Cold War years when President Bush said he looked his Russian counterpart in the eye and sensed his soul. The only looks they’ll be giving one another nowadays would be decidedly shifty. It seems to be a terrible shame that such a wealth of goodwill has been so cavalierly wasted. If the Bush administration hadn’t been so intent on pushing its global weight around to fulfill a neocon agenda of full spectrum dominance we might have enjoyed a world where major powers worked together for the good of all. Together they could have striven toward alleviating poverty and disease, reducing conflict and tackling climate change. Instead, untold billions will go toward weapons of death and destruction. This is Cold War Mark II folks — a deadlier sequel to Mark I now that China is on board. Fasten your seatbelts for an uncomfortable ride ahead! And he will go forth to deceive and seduce and lead astray the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth --Gog and Magog-- to muster them for war; their number is like the sand of the sea. ~ Revelation 20:8 Gog is a symbolic name, representing the leader of the world powers antagonistic to God (see also Rev. 20:8). Meshech and Tubal are understood to have been the same as the Moschi and Tibareni of the Greeks--tribes that inhabited regions in the Caucasus. Rosh, which some would identify with Russia, must have designated a land and people somewhere in the same area. And therefore the Gog of Ezekiel must be viewed as in some sense the head of the high regions in the northwest of Asia. (Patrick Fairbairn, The Imperial Bible-dictionary). See Also: Enter the King of the North, yesterday's video by the Rabbi & the links in the lyrics here

The Gates of Babylon

Look away from the sea
I can take you anywhere

Spend a vision with me
A chase with the wind

Move closer to me
I can make you anyone

I think you're ready to see
The Gates to Babylon

The power of what has been before
Rises to trap you within
A magic carpet ride a genie maybe more
A city of heavenly sin

Sleep with the devil and then you must pay
Sleep with the devil, the devil will take you away
Oh Gates of Babylon

You can see but you're blind

Someone turned the sun around

But you can see in your mind
The Gates of Babylon

You're riding the endless caravan
Bonded and sold as a slave

A saber dance removing all the veils
Getting as good as you gave

Sleep with the devil and then you must pay
Sleep with the devil, the devil will take you away

The devil is me
And I'm holding the key
To the gates of sweet hell
Babylon

Same Crocker Shit, Different Day

US and Iran hold rare direct talks on Iraq security

Arch enemies the United States and Iran launched a second round of rare face-to-face talks in Baghdad on Tuesday aimed at stemming the raging violence in Iraq.

The talks began at 10.15 am (0615 GMT) at the office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who began the meeting with a brief speech, according to an official at the Iraqi premier's office.

Photographs from the meeting showed the three delegations sitting around a triangular arrangement of tables in conference room in Maliki's offices inside Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone.

The US was represented by its ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, while Tehran's envoy Hassan Kazemi Qomi headed the Iranian delegation in the talks attended by Iraqi officials.

As with a similar meeting held on May 28, officials said the talks would only focus on the security situation in Iraq, leaving aside a roster of other disputes between the United States and the Islamic republic.

May's meeting did not achieve any major breakthrough as both sides stuck to their familiar positions, with Tehran calling for a US withdrawal and Washington accusing Iran of fomenting violence.

The United States broke off relations with Iran in 1980, when Islamic revolutionaries seized the US embassy in Tehran and held its diplomats hostage for 444 days.

The two countries remain at loggerheads over a range of issues including Iran's nuclear programme, which the United States claims is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, an accusation vehemently denied by Tehran.

US forces also accuse Iran of arming and training Iraqi militias, allegations firmly denied by Tehran.

Relations have also been chilled by the detention in Iraq by US forces of at least five Iranian officials whom Tehran insists are diplomats, but Washington says are covert operatives from of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.

Tehran in turn has detained four US-Iranians accused of espionage and harming national security by being linked to alleged US efforts to topple Iran's clerical authorities.

On Monday, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack ruled out raising the issue of the US-Iranians at the talks, saying their "primary focus is on Iraq security."

Tehran claimed that scholars Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, who were arrested in May, had exposed in television statements a US plot to overthrow Iran's Islamic authorities through a peaceful "soft revolution."

California-based businessman Ali Shakeri has also been detained. Parnaz Azima, a journalist for Radio Free Europe's Persian arm, is technically at liberty but has had her passport confiscated and cannot leave the country.

Asked whether Washington would miss a rare opportunity by not raising the fate of the four, McCormack said, "I think it is a missed opportunity for the Iranians not to allow these people to leave over the past two months."

Given the acrimonious backdrop, Iraqi lawmakers were divided in their expectations of Tuesday's meeting.

"Nothing much is expected from the US-Iran meeting," said lawmaker Mahmud Othman, a Kurd. "The US wants Iran to keep off Iraq and Iran wants US to leave Iraq. Each side has its own agenda," he said.

"Iraqis are insisting on such meetings because they themselves have failed to solve the problem. But Iraq's problems can be solved only by the Iraqis. They should work together."

But for Iraq's Shiite leaders, known for their close links with Shiite Iran, the meeting was a positive step.

"There is a strong will by the three parties to solve the problems and support the Iraqi government," said Humam Hammoudi, MP from the Shiite Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, a party known to be close to Iran.

Shiite MP Abbas al-Bayati said May's meeting had broken the "psychological barrier and the upcoming meeting will put in place a practical framework to help the three parties support the (Iraqi) political process."

Well....Grandma used to say You can hope in one hand and shit in the other and see which one gets filled first:

U.S. hopes Iran meeting will show results this time

By Sue Pleming
Reuters
Monday, July 23, 2007; 10:46 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States hopes a meeting between the U.S. and Iranian envoys to Baghdad will push Tehran to change its ways in Iraq even though their last encounter made no difference, said U.S. officials on Monday.

"One would hope you would see a change in Iranian behavior. I can't tell you whether or not we will see that. It is up to the Iranians," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack of the proposed meeting between ambassadors in Baghdad on Tuesday.

"If they really do want to see a changed Iraq and they want to contribute to that, then they are going to have to match their actions with their words," he told reporters.

Washington accuses Iran of stoking violence in Iraq by backing militants. Iran denies the charges and blames the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 for the bloodshed.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said explosive devices blamed for the deaths of many U.S. troops in Iraq as well as other weaponry were still coming into Iraq from Iran.

"This is an opportune time, at the invitation of the Iraqi government, to revisit commitments Iran has made, saying that it believes in trying to stabilize Iraq. We have seen signs that we think need addressing," said Snow.

Tuesday's meeting between Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi-Qomi and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker follows a similar one in Baghdad on May 28 in what was the highest-profile contact in almost three decades between the two countries.

U.S. officials said the May meeting did not lead to any changes by Iran and it was decided that further talks were needed.

"It was the decision of Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice, talking with President (George W.) Bush ... that it was appropriate to take this opportunity to see if we could underscore with the Iranians that they need to change their behavior, despite, at this point, any lack of change in their behavior," said McCormack.

McCormack said it was not clear whether more meetings would follow, adding the United States did not want to meet the Iranians just for the sake of it.

SYRIA

In May, Rice met the foreign minister of another U.S. foe, Syria, to discuss how to stabilize Iraq. Washington also accuses Damascus of interfering in Iraq and of not doing enough to stop the flow of arms and fighters across the border.

McCormack said the Bush administration had not seen improvements by Syria either since Rice's meeting, but he still believed such talks were worthwhile.

"Sometimes this takes a gradual ramping up of pressure and keeping the spotlight on the need for these countries to play a positive role (in Iraq)," he said.

Tuesday's meeting would again be limited to discussing Iraq and would not touch on other issues such as Iran's nuclear ambitions or the detention of three Iranian-American academics by Tehran as well as a radio reporter prevented from returning to the United States.

Asked whether it was a missed opportunity not to discuss the detained Iranian-Americans during the envoys' meeting, McCormack replied: "It is a missed opportunity not to allow these people to leave (Iran) for the past two months."

U.S. authorities have been holding five Iranians in Iraq since January and Tehran has, in turn, demanded their release.

The U.S. military says the five are linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and were backing militants in Iraq while Iran has insisted they are diplomats.

U.S. Responses and Prospects


The Iraq Study Group final report’s first recommendation is that the United States include Iran (and Syria) in multilateral efforts to stabilize Iraq. Even before the Study Group report, U.S. officials, eager to try to stabilize Iraq, had tried to engage Iran on the issue.
In December 2005, then U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad stated that he had received President Bush’s approval to undertake negotiations with Iranian counterparts in an effort to enlist Iranian cooperation in Iraq. The United States and Iran agreed to such talks in March 2006, but U.S. officials opposed Iran’s efforts to expand such discussions to bilateral U.S.-Iran issues and no talks were held.

The Bush Administration did not initially endorse the Iraq Study Group recommendation on engaging Iran as part of a solution in Iraq, and instead launched several initiatives to limit Iran’s influence there. In his January 10, 2007, speech announcing a U.S. troop buildup in Baghdad, President Bush stated that the United States would “interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria ... [and would] seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.”
In that speech, he also announced deployment of an additional aircraft carrier group to the Persian Gulf and extended deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries reportedly stationed in Kuwait and Qatar.
President Bush, in a January 31, 2007, press interview, reportedly confirmed prior reports that he had authorized U.S. forces in Iraq to treat Iranian agents in Iraq as combatants if they are observed actively assisting armed elements in Iraq.
However, in an apparent shift that might have been caused by Administration assessments that pressure on Iran was increasing U.S. leverage, the United States supported and attended an Iraq-sponsored regional conference in Baghdad on March 10, 2007.
Also attending were the Gulf monarchy states, Egypt, and the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Iran and Syria attended, as did the United States, with most participants terming the discussions “constructive.” Both Secretary of State Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki attended the follow up meeting in Egypt during May 3-4, 2007, but held no substantive bilateral discussions, according to both sides.

However, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker attended the Egypt meeting and had some discussions with Mottaki’s subordinates, and the two countries subsequently agreed to hold talks in Baghdad on May28, 2007, confined to the Iraq issue and attended by Iraqi diplomats.
Despite the burgeoning U.S.-Iran diplomacy on Iraq, the Administration has continued to pressure Iran on Iraq issues. On March 24, 2007, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1747 on the Iran nuclear issue.

However, the Resolution has a provision banning arms exports by Iran, a provision clearly directed at Iran’s arms supplies to Iraq’s Shiite militias as well as to other pro-Iranian movements such as Lebanese Hezbollah. The Resolution could provide legitimacy for enhanced U.S. searches of truck or other traffic from Iran into Iraq under the umbrella of enforcing the Resolution.



IRAN: US CONCERNS AND POLICY RESPONSES






SEE ALSO:

American Ambassador Crocker Agrees Broadly with Genocidal Theocracy


Crocker Shit


Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling!

Drunk With the Blood of Saints

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the people who testify about Yeshua.
~ Revelation 17:6



FIRST READ AT : Weasel Zippers

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH BY : pat




Report: Christians crucified by terrorists in Iraq
Believers in Jesus said to be nailed to crosses, tied with ropes, set ablaze

[SNIP]

Voordewind described how a person, who "survived" a crucifixion, "even showed holes in his hands," apparently from nails. Voordewind said victims of the crucifixions are “in most cases Christian converts who abandoned Islam or people who, religiously speaking, are involved in mixed marriages."

[SNIP]

The Quran commands crucifixion and mutilation

The Quran in Sura 5:33 says:

5:33 Those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land should be punished by death, crucifixion, the amputation of an alternate hand and foot or banishment from the land: a disgrace for them in this world, and then a terrible punishment in the Hereafter . . . . (MAS Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford UP, 2004)

Whoever does not carry his own execution stake and come after me cannot be my disciple.
~ Luke 14:27

Where is Islamic justice and human rights?

Three main (twisted) purposes of torture are to punish criminals, to extract information, and to exact revenge. But torture by its nature is excess multiplied by excess, so it is wrong and unjust by its nature.

It is at least one of these three purposes that Muhammad, the founder of Islam who asserts that his way is the best for all of humanity, had in mind when he tortured some criminals and a treasurer who would not disclose where Jewish wealth lay hidden, and an enemy—an old woman taken as a prisoner in a Muslim raid.

In an apparent reply to these unpleasant facts about original Islam, one of the oddest interpretive gymnastics performed by Muslim polemicists and missionaries asserts that Jesus also endorsed torture and summary executions. So who are Christians and the West (though the two are not identical) to complain about Islam? But did Jesus really endorse such barbarism? Where would Muslim apologists (defenders) find even a hint of it in the life and teachings of Christ?

Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [ cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].
~ Matthew 16:24

Darfur and Southern Sudan

Iran, audio

Here is a Wikipedia article that has been whitewashed. Paragraphs and citations purged.

But a first person account is quite different. Fraud? Hmmmm, That is what the wikipedia says, with but a single citation.

But it is common knowledge

Christian Monitor Daily ~ monitors Christian Persecution around the world

Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom authority to act as judges and to pass sentence was entrusted. Also I saw the souls of those who had been slain with axes [beheaded] for their witnessing to Jesus and [for preaching and testifying] for the Word of God, and who had refused to pay homage to the beast or his statue and had not accepted his mark or permitted it to be stamped on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived again and ruled with the Messiah a thousand years.

~ Revelation 20:4


Persecution Blog