The famous atheist Richard Dawkins said that many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense, but September 11th changed all of that. The people who attacked the Twin Towers were men of religion. Religion is often a cause of suspicion, distrust and conflict because religious people don’t always ask critical questions about their faith and can confuse religion and politics and culture together. What may just be cultural becomes invested with religious significance. So is organized religion about God, or is it really about maintaining community and identity? Can being Christadelphian become more important than actually being children of God?
Jesus’s parable of the Pharisee and the publican illustrates the “us and them” attitude and how we can simplistically divide the world into the good guys and the bad guys. Paul says,
“don’t be wise in your own conceits”
but that’s exactly what the Pharisee does in enumerating his good deeds. He’s saying
“I am deserving of God’s favor because I do all these things,”
and in contrast, all the publican can say is
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Groupthink is a very deeply ingrained human tendency. Societies and communities maintain cohesion through groupthink. Religious communities are susceptible to it when they prioritize their own identity, their privilege at all costs:
“We are special. We have the truth, and because we have the truth, we are in God’s favor.”
The Pharisee in the parable is a very powerful example (as is the case of Al Qaeda and ISIS) of how groupthink enables certain views of the world and attitudes to become normalized, but to anyone outside that group those attitudes are just bizarre or immoral. Jesus’s parable is especially subversive because the Pharisees represented the popular ideas of piety within Judaism but in this case it isn’t the religious man who is right with God, it’s the sinner.
In Jesus’s time groupthink was probably much more powerful because of the Roman occupation. The foundational event for Israel was the Exodus from Egypt, so they could probably more justifiably mobilize religion in favor of their aspirations for liberation. They tried to draw in Jesus by asking whether it was appropriate to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus doesn’t criticize the Romans or Herod or Pilot, but Jesus was very critical of people who represented popular ideas of religious piety. Jesus is trying to bring the Jews back into an authentic relationship with God rather than one that was just based on formalism or rituals.
If religion is just about how we appear to other people, then it’s only ever going to be superficial. Jesus makes the point that the Pharisees cleaned the outside of the platter but not the inside. There is obsession with respectability, with fitting in with the group, which results in hypocrisy. Jesus said in John’s gospel,
“I know you don’t have the love of God in you. You receive honor one from another, how can you receive the honor that comes from God?”
They were the children of those who murdered the prophets. They could celebrate the righteous and the prophets in death, but they couldn’t abide them in real life.
These are really penetrating and cutting criticisms of the way religion is co-opted and abused. We could apply it to our own community. We may not be the worst offenders – I don’t know any Christadelphians who have flown airplanes into the sides of buildings! – but these words of Jesus have a lot to say about the state of religion today and the way that religion is mobilized as part of identity politics.
“I haven’t come to destroy the Law and the prophets, but I’ve come to fulfill”
because he was aware that the people who were listening to him wouldn’t actually recognize what he was saying. For them, religion was all that the Pharisees represented, temples, rituals, externals. Jesus was aware that his message stressing a direct relationship with God without all of this other stuff would appear to be unrecognizable. It was beyond their concept of religion because it was about a personal relationship with the Father.
That idea of being the children of God should be important to us in a very personal and powerful way. Christ made this very clear through his personal communion with the Father. There’s an incident in Matthew’s gospel where the Jews ask Peter
“does your master pay the tax”
and Jesus said to Peter
“what do you think? of whom do the Kings of the earth take tribute from strangers or from children?”
The implication of the question is,
“why are we having to pay this? Are we strangers from God or are we his children?”
The whole point of Jesus’s ministry is to bring us into a real, authentic relationship with God.
For the Jews of Jesus’s day, the one thing that represented God more than anything else was the temple. The temple was impersonal and vast, but that suited everyone because it kept God at a distance. Our challenge is to be up close and personal with God. That’s what Jesus came to do, to break down that wall of partition between us, to tear the veil of the temple. We need to cultivate hearts and minds that are less concerned with the appearance of respectability or groupthink, and more sensitive to the real presence of God in our lives.
To listen to the full interview with Karam and Steve please check out WCF A Little Faith podcasts
Het Russisch leger wordt beschuldigd van oorlogsmisdaden. En vreemd woord is dat, oorlogsmisdaad. Een pleonasme eigenlijk. Want oorlog is per definitie misdaad, de grootste van alle misdaden. Wat ook het doel is, het middel is altijd massaal doden en vernietigen. Er is geen oorlog waarin geen afschuwelijke slachtpartijen voorkwamen. Het woord suggereert dat er twee manieren van oorlog voeren zijn: een beschaafde en een misdadige. Als er ooit een verschil tussen beiden bestond, dan werd dat uitgewist door de vooruitgang van de militaire technologie. Sinds het begin van de 20ste eeuw is het percentage burgerslachtoffers in oorlogen gestadig gegroeid. In de 19de eeuwse Amerikaanse burgeroorlog waren militairen nog meer dan 90% van het totaal aantal oorlogsdoden. In de eerste wereldoorlog was het aantal burgerslachtoffers 59% van het totaal. In de tweede steeg het tot 63%, in de Vietnam-oorlog tot 67%. In de diverse…
Als schalkse ruiter voor de Vlaamse onafhankelijkheid die al heel wat watertjes doorzwommen heeft, en meer dan eens zeer moeilijke dossiers voorgeschoteld kreeg, heeft de heer Theo Francken ook wel zijn eigen kijk op de wereld waar hij, zoals meerderen van ons, (naar eigen zeggen) naar tuurt.
Zijn kinderen van 12 en 8 zijn de derde generatie Vlamingen die zonder oorlog opgroeien. Hierover schrijft hij
Hun kennis van oorlog in Europa beperkt zich tot Flanders Fields, de Menenpoort in Ieper, papa’s lange verhalen en uitstapjes naar militaire begraafplaatsen en wat ze leren in de school(invul!)boeken. Een onafgebroken periode van 77 jaar vrede en veiligheid op het Europees grondgebied, de wieg van de Westerse beschaving, is ongezien in onze geschiedenis. {Nooit meer oorlog}
Zij die al vele jaren in België wonen, hebben de Falkland oorlog en de Joegoslavië of Balkan oorlogen niet hoeven mee te maken. Ook al ben ik niet opgeroepen voor de Falklandoorlog, hebben wij in Groot Brittannië wel goed de gevolgen van die oorlog toen gevoeld. In de hoofdstad London gingen ook de IRA bomaanslagen ons niet voorbij en heb ik er zelf twee mogen (of moeten) meemaken. Ook ik kon toen de stukken mensenvlees zien vliegen en ruik het verbrande vlees nog altijd tot op vandaag.
Trouwens de Irak-Iran oorlogen gingen ook niet onopgemerkt voorbij en hadden ook hun weerslag op het economisch leven in ons moederland. Maar daar heeft de huidige jonge generatie in België natuurlijk helemaal geen last van gehad!
De Benelux is in wezen goed gespaard gebleven van oorlogen. Interne twisten kon het wel met een veelvoud krijgen. Vooral van hen die Belgiëland willen scheiden konden meer dan één spil van onverdraagzaamheid teweeg brengen.
De BelgischWaalsgezindepoliticusJosé Happart, lid van de Franstalige partij Parti Socialiste (PS) mag hierbij nog de grootste onruststoker genoemd worden. Maar die naam zal de meeste jongeren weinig zeggen. Eveneens zal weinigen de strijd rond Vlaamse en/of Duitsefaciliteitengemeenten als Ronse (Renaix), Wemmel, Wezembeek-Oppem, Kraainem en Voeren gekend in de oren klinken. De regering heeft daartoe bijgedragen door het geschiedenis en aardrijkskunde onderwijs af te bouwen, dit in een tijd waar kinderen nu juist meerdere landen kunnen gaan bezoeken (al is het gewoon maar tijdens hun vakantie). Daar konden de Belgen meestal wel lachen met die absurde ‘oorlogvoerinkjes’. Die Belgische komedies hielden dan wel dikwijls de aandacht weg van belangrijkere en van buitenlandse of internationale problemen.
Veel jongeren die hier in België wonen, zijn er zich helemaal niet bewust van dat dit piepjonge landje vroeger de oorlogsgrond van Europa was. Eeuwen heeft het als algemeen slagveld gediend om ruzies tussen grote naties uit te vechten. Vooral Fransen, Duitsers en Oostenrijkers voelden zich goed genoeg om hier hun oorlogsspelletjes uit te voeren. En het nam jaren om niet te zeggen eeuwen in beslag voor dat die Vlamingen eindelijk eens de moeite deden om het heft in eigen handen te nemen.
Britse soldaten in een veroverde Duitse loopgraaf bij Ovillers-la-Boisselle in juli 1916 tijdens de slag aan de Somme.
Meer dan vijfhonderd jaar later liet het voetvolk in de loopgraven de legers met tanks verstaan dat het in de Lage Landen levende volk geen kleintje is dat met grove middelen te verslaan is. Een grove fout was dat zij na die loopgravenoorlog dachten dat er nooit meer oorlog zou komen. Nog geen dertig jaar na die Grote Oorlog stond daar weer een verschrikkelijke oorlog aan de deur, die men wel al enkele jaren had zien aankomen.
De Berlijnse Muur bij de Brandenburger Tor op 1 december 1989
Twintig jaar na de gouden jaren zestig dacht de Belgische regering misschien dat men zorgen om oorlogen op haar of rond haar grondgebied mocht vergeten, omdat men kon rekenen dat na de val van de muur in Berlijn alles nu wel goed zou komen en men met de NATO een veilig eiland had om op te vertoeven. Voor hen was het tijd om op defensie te gaan besparen.
Terwijl de vroegere bevolking van de Lage Landen goed wisten dat zij altijd moesten uitkijken en voorzichtig moesten zijn over hen die zich rondom hen begaven, probeerde de Belgische regering haar inwoners te sussen en wijs te maken dat zij zich niet ongerust hoefden te maken.
Toch komt het niet vanzelf. ‘Vis pacem para bellum’ wist men 2000 jaar geleden al.
Om de vrede te bewaren, moet je voorbereid zijn op oorlog. {Nooit meer oorlog}
schrijft hij verder op zijn blog.
Toch sloegen we deze wijze raad van onze voorouders decennialang in de wind. Het Westen werd vadsig en zelfgenoegzaam. Zeker na de val van de Berlijnse muur voelden we ons oppermachtig. The Intouchables. Onze perfide krekelmentaliteit maakte van België dan nog de slechtste leerling van de gebuisde Europese Defensieklas. Tot Rusland Oekraïne binnenviel en de Krim bezette, tot China zijn wapenfabrieken op volle gas zette en tot president Trump ons bullebakgewijs voor onze verantwoordelijkheid plaatste. {Nooit meer oorlog}
Met die bullebak uit de Verenigde Staten is de hoop op wereldvrede nog sterker verminderd. Zijn bemoeizucht en absurde apenstreken hebben ons meermaals in heikele toestanden gebracht. Men zou dan denken dat de ogen van de regeringsleiders zouden open gaan en dat die zouden beseffen dat wij toch wat meer op eigen benen zouden moeten staan. Maar dat gebeurde niet. Alsof zij bleven denken dat wij onze dankbaarheid voor de Amerikaanse bevrijders uit 1945 eeuwig moeten tegemoet komen in alles wat zij verlangen en zeggen.
Verder zitten wij met het probleem dat het Europees Parlement, de democratische tak van de Unie, geen toezicht kan uitoefenen op de financiering en actie van militaire activiteit. Een verontrustend gebrek aan transparantie!
In de afgelopen jaren hebben wij wel kunnen zien hoe de EU-leiders hun solidariteit hebben betuigd met het verlangen van de bevolking in de oostelijk gelegen landen van Europa, naar democratische grondrechten te leiden, en hun steun betuigd aan de OVSE-voorstellen voor bemiddeling van een proces van nationale dialoog. De EU-sancties tegen het Wit-Russische regime werden echter enkele weken uitgesteld toen Cyprus deze in verband bracht met zijn langlopend territoriaal geschil met Turkije. Wat Mali betreft, veroordeelde de EU de staatsgreep snel als een inadequate reactie op het diepe sociaal-politieke conflict in het land, schortte haar opleidingsmissies op en steunde bemiddelingspogingen, pogingen van de Economische Gemeenschap van West-Afrikaanse Staten.
Er mogen al wel goede bedoelingen zijn bij de Europese instellingen en bij de individuele landen, maar uiteindelijk zullen zij gezamenlijk een sterk gefundeerde houding naar buiten moeten brengen. Dit hoeft niet in te houden dat elk land individueel een enorme strijdkracht nodig heeft. Men moet eerder inzien dat een goede samenwerking met elk een vergroting van middelen in hun eigen specialiteit veel meer kan opleveren dan elk landje met een apart militair apparaat.
Zij die uitkijken naar enkel de militaire macht in hun eigen land zullen ontevreden achter blijven. Zoals Francken het stelt zullen zij (zoals België)
nog altijd achter de rest aanlopen, als één van de slechtere leerlingen van de klas. {Nooit meer oorlog}
Hij beseft ook dat bepaalde landen geen keus hebben en zullen mee moeten lopen.
De al op de NAVO-top in Wales in 2010 gehandtekende belofte dat 2% van het BBP naar defensie moet gaan, is voor veel Westerse landen binnenkort realiteit. Het afdoen als onhaalbaar of een fetisj is verleden tijd. President Trump haalt, ondanks ons dwaas gehoonlach, finaal zijn gram.
België heeft geen keuze en zal mee moeten evolueren. Uiterlijk in 2024 komt dit terug ter tafel. {Nooit meer oorlog}
Dat is de harde realiteit waar wij mee moeten leren leven. Doch geloof ik sterk dat de Europese Unie uiteindelijk zich toch wat meer zal moeten gaan bevrijden van de handboeien die de V.S.A. ons sinds 1945 heeft aan gedaan. Sindsdien denken zij dat zij de meester over de hele wereld zijn en moeien zij zich met elke wereldaangelegenheid. Maar het is juist die Amerikaanse bemoeizucht die anderen in gevaar brengt. Al meerdere keren hebben wij ook kunnen zien hoe hun hulp aan bepaalde groeperingen zich later ook tegen hen keerde (herinner hun steun aan Al Qaeda, dat dan later hun aartsvijand werd), hun kampwisseling tussen Iran en Irak, etc.. Nu ook brengt hun inmenging met de gebeurtenissen rond de Oekraïense grens geheel Europa in gevaar.
Minister Francken geeft aan
Oorlog in Zuid-Ossetië (2008) – Onderdeel van het Georgisch-Ossetisch conflict: Rusland en Georgië, beide voormalige deelrepublieken van de Sovjet-Unie eisten de gronden opvoerden daarvoor de eerste Europese oorlog van de 21e eeuw.
Twintig jaar geleden was een dergelijke agressieve houding vanwege Rusland tav een NAVO partner als Oekraïne simpelweg ondenkbaar. Maar met de komst van sterke man Vladimir Poetin durft de Russische beer terug klauwen. De inval in de Krim in 2014 en bezetting sindsdien is er een perfect voorbeeld van. Al begon het eerder met de inval in en annexatie van delen van Georgië in 2008 en Poetin’s assertieve Syriëpolitiek sinds de Arabische lente van 2011. {Is het Westen de weg kwijt?}
Het lijkt er op dat het Westen het Noorden kwijt is en niet onder Grote Broer (Amerika) wil onderuit komen. België is daarbij ook haar 14de en 19de eeuwse gedachte vergeten dat wij samen meer kunnen doen dan als enkeling. Is het door een bepaalde grootheidswaanzin dat die Belgische regeringsleiders hun landje zo machtig voelen dat het wel alles zal aankunnen? Of zijn ze gewoon blind en zien ze niet hoe de wereld evolueert en wat er mogelijk niet enkel België, maar de gehele Europese Unie schade kan toe brengen?
Vroeger wilden de bewoners van de Lage Landen juist onafhankelijkheid, terwijl hier in België de regeringsleiders zich meer en meer afhankelijk van anderen hebben gemaakt, dit terwijl er bepaalde partijen wel energie staken in het proberen het land te scheuren in belachelijk kleine entiteiten die dan onafhankelijk zouden moeten gaan regeren. Maar nu kunnen ze nog geen onafhankelijkheid van anderen genereren!
Niet enkel onze energie-afhankelijkheid is een zwak punt sinds Verhofstadt’s verkoop van Electrabel aan Frankrijk. Ook de besluitloosheid om in te zetten op wind-, water- en zonne- energie en dan nog eens de valsheid om zich niet aan beloften te houden (zoals een terugdraaiende elektriciteitsmeter) maken dat de burgers ook het vertrouwen in die regeringsleiders meer en meer verliezen, terwijl wij bij meerdere landen met biddende handjes moeten gaan aankloppen om toch maar de elektriciteit niet te laten uitvallen.
Zoals die regering haar bevolking wil bedriegen heeft ze ook zichzelf willen bedriegen met het proberen begrotingen in evenwicht te brengen. Dat ze daartoe bereid was om te snoeien in noodzakelijke uitgaven deerde hen niet, want dat zouden kopzorgen mogen zijn voor de regeringen die na hen zouden komen. Als zij maar goed in de schijnwerers konden komen te staan.
Naar het buitenland was die triestige houding wel een lachertje, daar zij enkel maar een hoopje klungelaars konden waarnemen, die bereid waren hun burgers een rad voor de ogen te draaien en daarbij nog hun gelden verkeerd investeerden. Men kan vragen stellen bij het ‘toekomstdenken’ van die regeringen. Vreemd ook dat die regeringen liever gelden in zuiderse landen investeerden terwijl deze beter konden aangewend worden in de eigen Europese omgeving waar hun hulp dan ook meer gewaardeerd zou worden terwijl het in Afrika als een ongewenste inmenging werd aanschouwd.
Betreft de republiek Mali en de vroegere sportjournaliste die alsmaar met flauwe argumenten af komt en nooit daden bij woorden voegt, schrijft minister Francken
Minister Dedonder houdt 12 miljoen euro klaar om 250 militairen naar hellegat Mali te sturen. Een operatie die volgens de grootste militaire vakbond gedoemd is te mislukken. Het Afghanistan van Afrika duldt geen Westerse inmenging. Wat hebben we er ook te zoeken? We houden deze troepen beter ter beschikking voor als het misloopt aan onze Oostgrens. {Is het Westen de weg kwijt?}
Is deze regering wel bereid om voor de spiegel te komen staan die zij al jaren mijden en die minister Francken hen nu wel graag wil voor houden?
Twintig jaar hebben de Verenigde Staten van Amerika met Canada, het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Frankrijk, België en Nederland geprobeerd orde op zaken te stellen in Afghanistan en de Taliban hun macht klein te krijgen. Dat laatste hebben zij vast en zeker niet kunnen doen. Ook hebben zij geen blijvende goede oplossing voor het land kunnen brengen.
Eens dat zij aangaven dat ze gingen terugtrekken heeft de Taliban een zeer opmerkelijke opmars kunnen maken en lijkt het wel of die 20 jaar oorlog niets hebben uitgehaald.
Toen Amerika werd opgeschrikt door anarchistische terreur in het begin van de 20ste eeuw gaf president Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) al aan dat er niet viel te onderhandelen met terroristen. In het begin van de 21ste eeuw blijft dat nog steeds een hekel punt. Men kan zich afvragen of men nu met de Afghaanse Taliban rond de onderhandelingstafel moet gaan zitten of niet.
20 jaar geleden had Amerika al een poging ondernomen om de uitlevering van Osama Bin Laden te krijgen. Mits zij die persoon niet op een blaadje kregen gepresenteerd zijn ze dan maar Afghanistan binnen gevallen met het gekende gevolg van 20 jaar bloed, zweet en tranen.
Het is een gekend feit dat meestal heel veel bloedvergieten vooraf gaat tot beide partijen in een conflict toch besluiten om bij elkaar te komen om te overleggen om er een einde aan te maken. Men moet zich er bewust van zijn dat een conflict niet kan eindigen zonder praten en bereidwilligheid to overleg.
Terroristen zullen bij aanvang misschien het onmogelijke vragen, maar ook zij beseffen maar al te goed dat beide partijen water bij hun wijn zullen moeten doen.
Ook al willen de Taliban in Afghanistan ook niets minder dan totale controle, beseffen zij maar al te goed dat zij voor bepaalde zaken, zoals de invoer van graan en andere levensmiddelen, zij de hulp van het Westen zullen nodig hebben. Of ze uiteindelijk bereid zullen zijn om de macht met anderen te delen is andere koek, vooral nu ze de hete adem in hun nek voelen van IS-K die vindt dat zij veel te zachtaardig zijn.
Doorheen de jaren zijn er heel wat splintergroepen bij Al Qaeda of Daesh ontstaan. Onderling bakkeleien ze ook en gaan zelfs zo ver dat ze tegen elkaar beginnen te vechten.
De klappen die het Westen dacht aan te brengen hebben die groepen niet verzwakt, maar integendeel hebben ze regelmatig eerder tot versterking van hun acties gezorgd. Dat geweld de aanhang van de terroristische bewegingen niet stopt, zelfs als de beweging militaire klappen krijgt, zoals bij de IRA en de ETA gebeurde, dan zal deze zich niet zo maar gewonnen geven en nog minder zal ze uit te roeien zijn. Dit geldt voor alle verzetsbewegingen wereldwijd.
Er was een tijd dat Amerika maar al te graag wapens voorzag aan ISIS, vooraleer het werd bestempeld als het ergste “Kwaad”. Ook de Taliban is lange tijd voorgesteld als een wreedaardige beweging die zeker moest uitgeschakeld worden. Maar nu de Amerikaanse troepen wegtrokken uit Afghanistan zagen die Amerikanen er niets op tegen om heel veel leger materiaal daar achter te laten zodat het makkelijk in de Taliban strijders hun handen kon vallen. Op televisiebeelden zagen wij dan ook heel wat Talibanstrijders met zowel Amerikaanse, Belgische en Russische wapens in de lucht zwaaien en schieten.
Na de evacuatie uit Afghanistan zijn er nog heel wat mensen achter gebleven die voor de geallieerden hebben gewerkt, maar ook heel wat Broeders en zusters in Christus, die door hun keuze van geloof al daarvoor in een moeilijke positie zaten. In de geloofsgemeenschap van de Christadelphians wordt er nu daarom overleg gepleegd met verscheidene parlementsleden en organisaties om een waardige oplossing te zoeken om die niet-trinitarische Christenen toch wat meer veiligheid en zekerheid van leven te geven. Hierbij kan het wel zo ver komen dat men met de Taliban zal moeten overleggen om deze mensen naar het Westen te laten overvliegen.
Ook de verschillende hulpverleners, zoals het Rode Kruis, Artsen Zonder Grenzen en medisch personeel van de Christadelphians zullen met de Taliban moeten overwegen hoe zij toch de nodige medische zorgen aan de Afghaanse bevolking zullen kunnen geven. Hetzelfde betreft het onderwijs, al zijn onze medebroeders daar helemaal niet gerust in. Vooral voor vrouwen zal men zwaar moeten overleggen om die ook een toekomst te geven, maar ook om de Taliban er van te overtuigen dat de gemeenschap die vrouwen in verscheidene posten zal nodig hebben. Als men bedrijven wil draaiende houden of voldoende productie wil laten opbrengen voor het land zullen vrouwelijke handen onontbeerlijk zijn. Zulke onderwerpen zullen dan ook de komende weken of maanden op de tafel van de bewindvoerders (lees Taliban) moeten komen liggen.
Because the Belgian government considered the background information of a coming attack at the airport a serious risk of danger, they stopped their evacuation program in time, before the explosion made so many casualties.
Thursday at the Abbey Gate of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, where hundreds of Afghans and foreign citizens had been queuing up to get on the last evacuation flights out of the country, there were two bomb explosions killing at least 90 people. The warning several secret services had received became a real drama. The explosions killed 13 U.S. service members, injured 18 Americans and killed at least 60 Afghans. In a video of the carnage shared with several television stations, bloodied bomb victims lay still among water bottles and backpacks crammed with the possessions grabbed for the exodus from Kabul. A man wearing an Afghan national soccer team shirt floated in the canal that runs along the road to the gate, next to the small body of a boy, both heads submerged.
The attacks marked the most gruesome and ignominious moment of a country which is on its turning point, looking forward to a Taliban regime. But for some those Taliban militants are not religious enough and not demanding enough of the Afghan people. Several Taliban members, therefore, have chosen to connect with the regional branch of Islamic State, a sworn enemy of the Taliban, giving this bombing just as a sign for those who would not turn over to the Sharia Law.
It looks like the world shall have to face a new enemy: Islamic State-Khorasan Province, abbreviated ISIS-K or ISKP).
In Afghanistan the dreams and goals of the women seem to have all gone,
“everything is gone.”
The Taliban instantiated itself from the bombings and consider ISIS-K as a rival, not an ally — and ISIS-K is neither as large, nor as wealthy as al Qaeda was. When they took over Afghanistan it was already a huge question mark if they would keep to their promises to be more lenient than 20 years ago. The Taliban are now also looking for legitimacy. This time they also promised not to exercise their power to limit women’s rights. Their leader promised children would be able again to go to school. Until what age he did not tell.
Kabir Taneja, a fellow at New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation said that ISIS-K is:
“definitely not comparable to al Qaeda in 2001.”
“For now, they are an Afghan-based insurgency with diminished power.”
While experts say it’s difficult to estimate how ISIS-K’s presence in Afghanistan will play out in the future, the attack at Kabul airport indicates that it is a growing threat.
“The fact that they could impact Western forces and the Taliban in one attack is a big win for them,”
says Saurav Sarkar, a security specialist and former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center, a Washington, D.C. think-tank.
Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second largest city after Kabul, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of 1,010 m (3,310 ft).
2001 destruction of two giant Buddhas in Bamiyan by the all male group Taliban = lack of respect by the Taliban for historical & cultural heritage of Afghanistan.
February 2020, Trump administration + Taliban signed historic deal in Doha, Qatar > 14-month timetable for America & NATO allies to withdraw all of its forces from Afghanistan. > Taliban agreed not to allow al-Qaeda or any extremist group to operate in the areas they control.
Since 2001 the war forced 2.7 million Afghans to flee their homes mostly to Iran, Pakistan and Europe.
United States of America Defense Department states > war- fighting costs over the years in Afghanistan total $815.7 billion; from food for troops to fuel; to Humvees, weapons and ammunition; from tanks to amoured vehicles to aircraft carriers to airstrikes.
Taliban = not strong in area of human rights or women’s right. impose strict limitations on women’s bodies & their human rights + women treated as possession of men
women are not allowed to dance in public, => bachas (boys), as young as 12, usually orphans or from very poor families, can be made to dance in women’s clothing + they are often sexually abused = bachabaze = playing with boys
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) = second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, + collective voice of Muslim world to ensure & safeguard their interest on economic socio and political areas
“Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.”- John F. Kennedy.
We have all seen the stunning and alarming images on our television; hundreds of Afghans both men and women running alongside a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane as it moves down a runway of the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The script was not supposed to end like this. The Taliban have moved with fighting speed to control Afghanistan. The United States of American trained Afghan security forces hardly resisted the Taliban. This military maneuvering by the Taliban has led many to wonder whether or not the United States and her allies miscalculated the capacity and capabilities of the Taliban. Many will view the surrender of Kabul as well as the other provinces in Afghanistan with some suspicion especially since the former president Ashraf Ghani fled before Kabul fell to the Taliban. A significant…
New York, Washington D.C., nabij Shanksville (alle in de Verenigde Staten) op 11 september 2001 getroffen door de terreurorganisatie Al Qaeda onder leiding van de Saoedi-Arabische multimiljonair Osama bin Laden.
Een niet te vergeten dag
Over enkele weken herdenken wij weer 11 september, toen wij eerst dachten dat er ongeluk was gebeurd. Maar toen wij op rechtstreekse beelden op televisie een tweede vliegtuig in de World Trade Centre zagen vliegen, wisten wij snel dat dit niet om zo maar een ongeluk ging. Dit was duidelijk met opzet gebeurd. Ook de leidinggevenden in Amerika wisten al snel dat het hier om een terreurdaad en zelfs om een oorlogsdaad ging. Na deze terroristische aanslagen die worden beschouwd als de grootste uit de geschiedenis en waarbij bijna drieduizend mensen, afkomstig uit 87 landen, rechtstreeks omkwamen ging Amerika ten oorlog tegen Al Qaeda.
Uitschakelen van Moslimfundamentalisten
Deze terreurdaden op het einde van vorige eeuw zou de geallieerden in Afghanistan brengen om daar voor twee decennia hun best te doen om de Islamitische fundamentalisten uit te bannen. Maar zo makkelijk leek het niet te gaan om Moslim fundamentalisten uit te schakelen.
In een fatwa of juridisch advies in de islam, uit 1998 werd er door Al Qaeda elke moslim opgeroepen om Amerikanen en hun bondgenoten te doden, volgens die fatwa is dat de wil van Allah en een individuele plicht van elke moslim. Dat veroorzaakte een golfstroom van meerdere terroristische daden in meerdere kapitalistische maar ook in ontwikkelingslanden.
Moslimfanaten creëerden verscheidene Jihad groepen die als paddestoelen uit de grond rezen in het Oosten zo wel als in het Zuiden. De VS vroegen aan Afghanistan (waar hij zich sinds 1996 ophield) om zijn uitlevering maar daar werd niet op in gegaan. Honderden Taliban-schriftgeleerden kwamen toen bijeen om te beraadslagen. Zij verzochten Bin LadenAfghanistan te verlaten en wensten te onderhandelen met de VS. De VS gingen daar niet op in. Wel slaagde men er in op 2 mei2011 de Saoedi-Arabischeterrorist en oprichter van de islamistische terreurorganisatie Al Qaida of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, dood te schieten tijdens een operatie met Navy SEALs in het zwaarbeveiligde huis in de Pakistaanse stad Abbottabad, waar hij op dat moment verbleef. De dood van hun leider bracht de beweging echter niet tot stilstand. Het stichten van een verenigd volk naar het model van het voormalige kalifaat werd nog steeds als het heilige doel gesteld. Op meerdere plaatsen werden dan ook Moslim getrouwen getraind om her en der de ‘ongelovige staten’ te ondermijnen.
Een oorlog tegen terrorisme
Uit een Pew Research-enquête uit 2012 (voordat Da’ish/Daesh of ISIS terrein won) bleek dat de grote meerderheid van de Iraakse bevolking (74%) werkloosheid als een “zeer groot probleem” voor het land beschouwde. Daarentegen beschouwde minder dan de helft van de bevolking conflicten tussen religieuze groepen als een zeer groot probleem. Maar de druk van de extreem religieuze moslims werd overmate groot in de gebieden van Irak, Syrië, Iran en Afghanistan.
Als onderdeel van de War on Terror, brachten de Verenigde Staten van Amerika allerlei geruchten in de wereld die het zou vergoelijken om landen zoals Irak en Iran aan te vallen. Volgens de opgezette coalitie moest men het regime van Saddam Hoessein ten val brengen omdat deze de Iraakse bevolking zou onderdrukken, het internationale terrorisme zou ondersteunen en massavernietigingswapens zou hebben ontwikkeld, bezitten en hebben ingezet. Weldenkende geesten konden eerder vermoeden dat de olie een eerdere reden zal geweest zijn.
De Amerikanen waren in 2001 Afghanistan binnen gevallen met als doel Bin Laden te overmeesteren en zo een einde te maken aan zijn terroristische beweging. Zij dachten ook een democratisch land te kunnen opbouwen als zij de talibanregering konden afzetten om na een overgangsregering onder Hamid Karzai hem in 2004 als president te bevestigen in de eerste vrije verkiezingen van het land. In 2004 werd ook een nieuwe grondwet opgesteld waarbij men dacht een weg naar meer vrijheid te kunnen verkrijgen.
Blijvende strijd
Aanhangers van het voormalige talibanregime gaven hun land niet zo maar af en bleven de NAVO troepen bevechten. De wereld moest zien hoe zij bleven strijden met aanslagen en terreurdaden tegen de aanwezigheid van ‘ongelovigen’ in Afghanistan, en ook tegen de Afghaanse regering, die zij als een marionet beschouwden. Ze opereerden vanuit het Pakistaanse grensgebied.
In die twintig jaar die er nu over heen gegaan zijn, sneuvelden ruim 3500 van de Amerikaanse militairen; er vielen 51.000 burgerdoden en 120.000 doden onder de strijdende partijen, evenals medewerkers van het Rode Kruis.
hoe lang moeten buitenlandse strijdkrachten Afghanistan helpen om het land onder controle te krijgen.
Want men kan niet zeggen dat er tijdens die twintig jaar enige zekere controle is geweest. Het is heel de tijd een wankel iets geweest waarbij de gehele bevolking slachtoffer van geweest is. Er is geen enkel moment geweest waarbij de bevolking zich echt vrij kon voelen en kleren konden dragen die zij wilden aan doen, lessen volgen voor wat zij wensten te studeren, boeken lezen die zij graag wilden lezen. Overal en altijd bleef er een wakend oog dat na ging of Islamitische regels niet werden overtreden.
Van godsdienstvrijheid kon men ook niet echt spreken. Meerdeeren die zich niet als een moslim gedroegen of niet overtuigend genoeg uitten, werden voor de keus gesteld om het Islamitische geloof aan te nemen of een kopje kleiner gemaakt te worden (letterlijk). Heel wat mensen vonden zich meer dan eens genoodzaakt om de vlucht te nemen van waar zij verbleven. Overal kon men mensen zien sterven door het nutteloze geweld, waar precies geen einde aan kwam.
Chaos op een vluchtheuvel naar de vrijheid
Datgene wat als de sleutel tot de stabiliteit van de Afghaanse hoofdstad werd aanzien is de laatste dagen tot een hel van chaos omgetoverd. De vele strijdkrachten die zogenaamd de Westerse waarden verdedigden blijken nu niet zo ‘broederlijk’ te zijn, maar enkel nog ogen te hebben om hun eigen hachje te redden. Het lijkt niet zo dat zij voorzieningen hebben getroffen om hun vroegere helpers nu mee te helpen evacueren.
De woordvoerder van de Taliban wees de militaire aanwezigheid van wie dan ook af en gaf te kennen dat hij die ook zo vlug mogelijk uit het land wenste. Hij zei:
Al degenen die in ons land willen blijven, zullen we zeker als indringers beschouwen.
De wanhoop die hen trof die met de geallieerden hadden geholpen, en nu door hen in de steek werden gelaten, was duidelijk te zien op de beelden die vanaf de nationale luchthaven, Hamid Karzai International Airport, de wereld werden ingestuurd.
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Op hallucinante beelden kan men hoofdzakelijk mannen zien die mee met de vliegtuigen hollen en er op klimmen om zo aan hun land onder dreiging te ontkomen, nu de radicaal-islamitische taliban er de macht hebben gegrepen. Deze vliegtuigen stopten echter niet, met gevolg dat hoe hoger het vliegtuig ging de laatste ‘klevenden’ naar beneden storten om zo aan hun einde te komen. Op bepaalde zenders kon men zulke beelden van neerstortende mensen zien en van vertrappelde mensen verspreid over de tarmac.
Onze vraag bij het zien van zo veel mannen is, waar hun vrouwen zijn. Laten zij die zo maar achter voor de Taliban, zodat deze op hen wraak zou nemen?
In video’s van ooggetuigen is ook te zien en te horen hoe de Amerikaanse soldaten in de lucht schieten, in een poging de mensen tot bedaren te brengen. Met lede ogen kan het Westen zien hoe duizenden mensen op het tarmac doorgedrongen zijn, in een poging hun land te ontvluchten, maar ook hoe door hun eigen onbeheerstheid vliegtuigen niet veilig kunnen landen of opstijgen, wat de ‘ontscheping’ nog moeilijker maakt.
Volgens de Qatarese nieuwszender al-Jazeera hebben de taliban een cordon opgezet om mensen te verhinderen de terminal van de luchthaven binnen te gaan. De taliban, die zwaar bewapend zijn, zouden ook waarschuwingsschoten gelost hebben om mensen weg te houden.
Aarzelende westerse naties
Het is onbegrijpelijk dat België er zo lang over doet om zelfs maar tot de beslissing te komen om grote vliegtuigen te sturen om vluchtelingen op te vangen. Nederland en Duitsland hebben wel al vliegtuigen gestuurd. Maar de chaos is zo groot dat een Nederlands militair vliegtuig niet eens kon landen. Ten lange leste heeft België dan toch besloten vliegtuigen richting Kaboel te sturen. Maar tot enkele dagen geleden durfde een parlementslid voor Buitenlandse Zaken die lid is van de C’D&V of zogenaamd christelijke partij nog zeggen dt hij er geen graten in zag om Afghaanse vluchtelingen terug naar hun eigen land te sturen.
Alle commerciële vluchten van en naar Kaboel zijn intussen geschrapt. Alleen militaire vluchten zijn nog toegestaan. Daarmee proberen westerse landen in hoog tempo staatsburgers en ambassadepersoneel en andere medewerkers te evacueren.
De razendsnelle val van Kaboel zadelt de wereld met veel vragen én zorgen op. Hoe vreedzaam zal de machtswissel verlopen, welk soort regime zullen de taliban installeren en hoe zullen zij omgaan met de mensen die vroeger voedsel en ander materiaal of diensten aan de geallieerde troepen hebben geleverd? In welke mate zal men de klok nu al of niet terug draaien?
Bij velen is er wel de vrees dat men zich niet meer zal mogenkleden zoals men wenst alsook niet meer zal mogen uiten hoe en wat men wil zeggen of uitdrukken. Sommigen vrezen zelfs dat zij niet meer zullen mogen lachen.
Some seven years ago just days after the militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria said they killed hundreds of Syrians, dozens of Iraqi Christian families had to flee the ISIS-controlled city of Mosul, hoping to avoid a similar fate.
The 18th of July 2014, the al Qaeda splinter group issued an ultimatum to Iraqi Christians living in Mosul – by Saturday they had to be converted to Islam, pay a fine or face “death by the sword.” A total of 52 Christian families left the city of Mosul early Saturday morning, with an armed group prohibiting some of them from taking anything but the clothes on their backs.
“They told us, ‘You to leave all of your money, gold, jewelry and go out with only the clothes on you,'”
Wadie Salim told CNN at that time.
Images obtained exclusively by CNN show that the phrase “property of ISIS” scrawled in black paint on a number of the homes that were abandoned.
There and then those Christians could still find a place to go to. Some of the families headed for Irbil – which was then controlled by Kurdish forces – and others toward the Dohuk province. The majority went to Dohuk, which is 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Mosul.
Like at that time people now in Afghanistan do not know how to act. Many wonder
“Are we going to get killed?”
We saw in 2014 ISIS to be able to take over large swaths of land due to the lack of centralized authority in both Iraq and war-torn Syria. We also saw how the Sunni militants hoped to establish an Islamic state throughout the region and how much bloodshed came over the land.
Today the Taliban again repeated soothing words that people in Afhanistan should not have to worry. But the past reactions when they conquered land did not prove they were very friendly to people who thought differently than they.
We may not forget that the ultraconservative political and religious faction that emerged in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s following the withdrawal of Soviet troops, protected and hid Osama Bin Laden, who was responsible for the 9/11 attack on the U.S.A.. Them also enforcing a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, and wanting to have that Sharia being practised all over the world, they were a threat to the entire Western democratic world.
The Taliban already gave our Western world a picture of what would happen when they would govern all the world. During their rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to 160,000 starving civilians and conducted a policy of scorched earth, burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes. In several countries where those conservative Islamists take power, we can witness how they banned activities and media including paintings, photography, and movies if they showed people or other living things (?!?), and prohibited music using instruments. In all countries where those religious activists took power, women were oppressed and could not study or take a proper job. Except in the medical field because male doctors were prohibited from seeing women, and therefore a few women were allowed to treat females under certain circumstances.
The whole affair is not a comedy of errors, but more a tragedy of errors.
What the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban tells you about the limits of American power is that we can’t change the ethos of other countries — that is well beyond our capability. We can’t take a deeply conservative, male-oriented, and archly Islamic country and make it over into our image of a Western democracy with equal rights for everyone and freedom of religion. And we shouldn’t try to. It’s bound to fail.
They are all now blaming Biden for this defeat, but, to be honest, he was a very late player in this comedy of errors. The initial error was to expand our enemies list from al-Qaeda to the Taliban. The Taliban never attacked the US; al-Qaeda did.
For Afghanistan, the last 24 hours have been a treacherous and sudden change in the times. Everything from the Taliban’s siege of the capital, Kabul, to Taliban control of all areas of Kabul, to President Ghani’s departure from Afghanistan, every development goes down in history.
After 9/11 2001, America persuaded the West to get on board to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban. With all their might, they tried to prepare the Afghan army to fight terrorists on its own. After more than 20 years, all the work done, lots of money spend, and the many deaths did not seem to have changed much, except for the greater freedom of the citizens, which remained endangered by the many restrictions imposed on the people by the Taliban.
It is only logical and understandable that Joe Biden wanted to pull the plug on the endless well because it had already caused so many deaths while not much had changed in terms of substance. As soon it was made public that the U.S.A. would start a withdrawal of its troops, the Taliban very easily conquered one territory after the other.
According to the latest news from foreign media, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naim told Al Jazeera on the 15th of August 2021, that the war in Afghanistan is over and the form of the regime will soon become clear. As Afghanistan’s second largest city, Kandahar is not only the economic, cultural and transport hub of southern Afghanistan, but also considered the most important city and “spiritual home” for the Taliban, therefore Taliban officials were proud to say on the 16th, that the southern Afghanistan Kandahar International Airport has been fully controlled by the Taliban. They even went to promise that Afghanistan’s domestic and international flights are expected to resume within three days.
On Mother’s Day, August 15, former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai said on television and social media that people had not to worry and that Afghanistan had formed a “coordination committee” to prepare for a peaceful transition of power, and to be responsible for maintaining security, law and order. Members of the Coordinating Committee would include Karzai, Abdullah and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Islamic Party of Afghanistan and a former prime minister. The committee called on Afghan government forces and the Taliban to avoid conflict and chaos. But a few hours later thousands of Afghans who had fled to Kabul airport, on the tarmac of Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan’s national airport, 16 kilometres from the centre of Kabul, could see their head of state fleeing, boarding a very large Boeing 747.
Why couldn’t the other seats there be filled with some of the many who also tried to flee?
It became a real chaos at that airport.
The same day, Mujahid announced on social media that Taliban militants had entered the city “to keep the population safe and maintain social order” as Afghan security forces in Kabul had given up their responsibilities and dispersed.
Ghani said in a statement on social media that day that he faced a difficult choice, and that his action was to safe as many Afghans as he could. In order to avoid the killing of the people, he decided to leave Afghanistan, to go first to Tajikistan.
The U.S. military on the 15th used a number of helicopters from the embassy in Afghanistan to evacuate personnel, its embassy compound on the same day rose a plume of smoke. Some sources said it was the “urgent destruction of sensitive documents” by U.S. diplomats.
NATO said in a statement the same day, NATO will continue to maintain its diplomatic presence in Kabul, and to provide assistance to keep Kabul airport running.
I wonder how much work they shall invest to safeguard all those people, who in the last 20 years helped them in getting certain goods, having them to communicate with Afghanis, translating for the troops as well as for the press. What I could see from television reporting was that it more looked that the West abandons all those people who helped them in the past. A real shame!
At the moment it looks like the Taliban has conquered the country and soon shall be planning to bring back the sharia law as well as taking away the right for young women to study and to do a proper job. Possibly Afghanistan shall come back to be a country in the Middle ages, with the oppression of women and the impossibility of religious freedom.
Twintig jaar heeft men geprobeerd om Afghanistan tot een democratisch land te laten opgroeien. Miljarden zijn er door het westen geïnvesteerd. Maar als men in iets gaat investeren moet het ook positieve resultaten opleveren. En dat kan men zeker niet zeggen van Afghanistan, dat we een bodemloze put leek te zijn.
Na 9/11 2001 heeft Amerika het Westen zo ver gekregen om mee in de boot te stappen om al-Qaeda en de Taliban te bestrijden. Met man en macht hebben ze geprobeerd het Afghaanse leger voor te bereiden om zelf zelfstandig terroristen te lijf te gaan.
Sinds Biden de terugtrekking van de Amerikaanse soldaten ernstig liet doorvoeren kwam er weer grote chaos in het land en leek de Taliban in één twee drie het land te veroveren. Begrijpelijk lokte dat veel onrust uit zo wel in het westen als in het land zelf, waar zeer veel mensen hun toevlucht gingen zoeken in de hoofdstad. Maar daar zouden ze moeten ondervinden dat het precies is alsof het Westen hen nu in de steek laat.
Het is schandalig te merken dat tolken en zij die pers en geallieerden bijstonden nu plotseling alleen staan en dat er voor hen geen voorzieningen zijn getroffen om hen veilig naar het westen over te brengen.
Het ministerie van Buitenlandse zaken heeft de laatste dagen ook tientallen vragen van Belgen binnen gekregen, die momenteel problemen ondervinden in Afghanistan.
“De situatie in Afghanistan is op 24 uur tijd helemaal veranderd”,
zegt Buitenlandse Zaken. De FOD kreeg de afgelopen uren 47 vragen van Belgen ter plaatse en een twintigtal familieleden. Contactpunt is de ambassade in Islamabad (Pakistan). Op de televisie konden wij ook zien hoe in België wonende Afghanen hier telefonische noodoproepen krijgen van hun radeloze familieleden. De angst zit er bij zeer velen in.
Chaos op de luchthaven van Kaboel
De duizenden Afghanen die naar de luchthaven van Kaboel gevlucht waren, konden wel hun president op een zeer grote Boeing 747 zien stappen. Waarom konden de andere zitplaatsen daar niet opgevuld worden met een deel van de velen die ook probeerden te vluchten?
Op ooggetuigebeelden is te zien hoe mensen vechten om bij vliegtuigen te komen om te worden geëvacueerd. Duizenden mensen zijn op het tarmac van Hamid Karzai International Airport, de nationale luchthaven van Afghanistan, 16 kilometer vanaf het centrum van Kabul, doorgedrongen, in een poging hun land te ontvluchten. In die chaos is het niet verwonderlijk dat er al meerdere doden zijn gevallen, want iedereen tracht zijn hachje te redden en is enorm ontgoocheld hoe zij geen verdere hulp schijnen te krijgen van de Westerse mogendheden.
Een getuige vertelt aan persagentschap Reuters dat hij de lichamen van vijf mensen heeft gezien terwijl die in een auto geladen werden. De Amerikaanse krant Wall Street Journal heeft melding gekregen over drie mensen die werden doodgeschoten. Mogelijk zijn er ook mensen vertrappeld in de mensenmassa.
Te nemen verantwoordelijkheid
De geallieerden moeten nu hun dankbaarheid voor de hulp die zij kregen van vele Afghaanse burgers. Koks, vertalers en andere medewerkers moeten nu beloond worden voor hun werk, door hen de beveiliging aan te bieden die zij nodig hebben. Zo te zien is de enige veilige oplossing, hen zo vlug mogelijk uit het land te halen.
Het is aan de Westerse mogendheden er nu nog voor te zorgen dat die medewerkers hun hoofden niet over de grond zullen rollen.
A Catholic bishop granting plenary indulgences for the public during times of calamity. Note the almsgiving in the background. Wall Fresco by Italian Artist Lorenzo Lotto, Suardi, Italy, circa 1524.
The Pope not pleased with those lay preachers who could undermine his establishment got enough clergy interested to battle those who had other thoughts than they. He established the “Holy Inquisition Against Depraved Heresy” to deal with breakaway ‘Christian sects’. At first it was a judicial procedure set to be able to judge all sorts of people who did not want to go with the Roman Catholic Church. But later an institution was established by the papacy and, sometimes, by secular governments to combat heresy and to act like we now see Al Qaeda, ISIS/ISIL or Daesh, Boko Haram and other fundamentalistIslamic groups to press what they believe would be the only true faith everybody had to have.
First being relatively powerless, as secular rulers, suspicious of Papal meddling in their own internal affairs, did not allow it access to their countries, in a period of more than 200 years, very few heretics were burned at the stake. In 1481, at the peak of the Ottoman power, however, after extracting a promise from the Pope that the Inquisition would remain under the Crown’s control, thus ensuring that confiscated assets of heretics would revert to the throne, Ferdinand and Isabella established the Inquisition in Seville (Reconquista). While it is commonly assumed that the Inquisition was brought to Spain out of a concern that Jews were trying to influence conversos to leave the Christian fold, one prominent historian is of the opinion that by 1481 Jewish consciousness was virtually nonexistent among the conversos, and that Jews did not attempt any such outreach. Rather, he believes, the Inquisition was an outgrowth of the attitudes of Spain’s Old Christian population. In the words of one Spanish historian,
“The Inquisition was a genuine expression of the soul of the Spanish people.”
When we hear about the Inquisition we most often do not think of the Jews, with good reason, because most damage was done to sincere godly people who had taken Jesus as the son of God and their saviour and not as their god. Though the horrible action taken by the Roman Catholics, undertaken in the twelfth century and following centuries to find “Christian heretics” who would be punished or killed, had her eyes also set on the Jewish community. Eventually, Jews too were open to such charges of heresy, simply for being Jewish; and torture was routinely used to extract “confessions.”
These coming weeks we also remember how this coming up time to Pesach was a very dangerous time for Jews, because they could be caught cleaning their houses and linen and buying vegetables before Pesach, blessing children without making the sign of the cross, fasting on Yom Kippur, and refraining from work on the Sabbath.
Interestingly enough, Jews who never converted to Christianity were not under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, and could practice their religion freely and openly. It was only conversos who were considered heretics for forsaking the Christian creed and practising Judaism. Worse for the Catholic Church was that some of those converts did not become a Catholic but accepted rabbi Jeshua as the Messiah, the son of God but not a god son, like the Roman Catholics did. Those having gone in the water to become a Baptist, became with that group a target for prosecution, according to the Roman Catholics being a dangerous ‘cult’ and with other protestants to be removed from this earth.
Marranos: Secret Seder in Spain during the times of inquisition, an 1892 painting by Moshe Maimon
Mainly because of persecution, Muslims and Jews in Spain at that time found it socially, politically, and economically expedient to convert to Catholicism, but where not really practising that faith and at home kept their ow practice of faith. In 1481 the Inquisition began to function in Spain to expose the secret Jews, known as the Anusim (who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will) or Marranos, who converted to the Christian faith to escape persecution but who continued to practice Judaism secretly, but over the years spread to many countries. The Spanish Inquisition was anti-Jewish more than in any previous countries. The first public sentencing and burning alive of six marrano men and one woman by the Spanish Inquisition was held on this date in Sevilla in Southern Spain.
All sorts of torture where good for the unsparing cruel fanatics, of which many also set their eyes on the Jews and certain Christian groups or monasteries their assets.
Differently with the present day inquisition groups of Islam the Roman Catholic Church did not want to spill blood, but only “save souls”. For not having their clergy to become accused for having blood on their hands they made use of civilians and secular authorities for the many executions, whereby they found it was best to use bloodless deaths, such as strangling and burning alive.
For ISIS the colour today is orange, but at that time the condemned people wore yellow sanbenitos, cloaks, with red crosses and the letter X painted on them. Those given the death penalty wore tunics with paintings of flames and devils. The procession marched through the town to the burning area where the judges sat. The cases involving lesser penalties were judged first, then those receiving strangulation before burning, and finally those condemned to be burned alive.
The first auto-de-fe was held in 1481, and the last in 1731, an old woman who was accused of
“being influenced by the Devil, after which she laid eggs with prophecies written on them.”
Tomás de Torquemada (Thomas of Torquemada) Castilian Dominican friar, and the first Grand Inquisitor in Spain’s movement to homogenize religious practices with those of the Catholic Church in the late 15th century, otherwise known as “The Spanish Inquisition.” (Wikipedia)
In 1483, Queen Isabella’s personal confessor, the Dominican priest Tomas de Torquemada, was appointed head of the Inquisition. Of converso origin, Torquemada was a fanatic Jew-hater who was wholly incorruptible. He was convinced that only the total expulsion of the Jews from Spain could end Jewish influence in the national life.
Torquemada did not cut the grass from under the Jews’ feet and quickly began taking steps to weaken the unconverted Jewish community and eventually expel it from Spain. In 1485, he forced all rabbis, under pain of death, to report conversos who were practising Judaism, and to pronounce a rabbinic curse on any Jew who failed to notify the Inquisition of such behaviour. This cruel edict badly split the Jews of Spain. Alarmed by the greatly increasing power of the Inquisition, that year a group of conversos plotted to kill the inquisitor of Saragossa, Pedro de Arbues, hoping to begin a popular uprising against the Inquisition. However, the assassination had the opposite effect. The townspeople were enraged, rampaging through the streets, killing many conversos. All the conspirators were caught and executed, and the Inquisition grew even stronger.
Purity of faith became the national policy of the Catholic sovereigns, and thus came about the final tragedy, the edict of expulsion of all the Jews from Spain on March 31, 1492. Portugal promulgated an edict of expulsion in 1497 and Navarre in 1498. It was under de Torquemada his guidance that the Inquisition became such a terrifying institution, amassing enormous assets confiscated from its victims, much of it used to finance the war to conquer the last Muslim stronghold of Granada.
In 1680, the most spectacular of all autos-de-fe was held to celebrate the wedding of King Carlos and his bride. At that time, the Inquisition spread to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the New and Old Worlds, with victims burned in Havana, Cuba; Mexico City, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Goa, India. After 350 years, the Inquisition was finally abolished in 1834, the year the Liberal Wars ended in Portugal and pro-republic uprising fails in Piedmont. In all, more than 400,000 people were accused of heresy, with 30,000 of those put to death.
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity three core values of the democratic country France where remembered on the Day of the Bastille, the 14th of July, the national holiday of France.
Though the French values of liberty, equality and fraternity may be swiftly being trumped by a larger emphasis on laïcité, or the separation of church and state. In the last decade, the government has passed laws banning religious symbols — namely the hijab — in public schools and buildings and as such got some members of the Muslim community against them. It also got France looking at a series of riots in 2005 in the suburbs of Paris where many youngsters of North African origin feel disadvantaged and discriminated. The measure of the government giving in to the employers, making done with lots of received rights for work arrangements, created lots of protests which at times became very violently. Unemployment coupled with growing religious tensions across the country is an ideal seed-bed for anti government actions but also for trying to rib the nation apart and bring fear over it by a growing religious tension in the country.
The South of France has cities, like Marseille, which have different cultures. This can be well seen in Marseille which is more defined by the cultures of its Arab and Italian immigrants than by its French nationality. In the streets of Marseille, you’ll hear French, Arabic and Italian. In many of the city’s most popular restaurants, you’ll find Italian and Arab dishes rather than the French classics like escargot and frog’s legs. In Nice or NiçardOccitan you may the Niçois speaking Occitan or Niçard like the Nizzardo or Italian inhabitants of Nice and those who do are bilingual in French. Nicknamed Nice la Belle (Nissa La Bella in Niçard), which means Nice the Beautiful, in the town you may also find people from North African origin and several Muslims.
French, Belgians, English and lots of people from other countries where having leisure time enjoying the day of work or on holiday. On the morning of 14 July 2016 the French President François Hollande reaffirmed that the state of emergency put in place after the November 2015 Paris attacks would end after the Tour de France finishes on 26 July 2016. he could be pleased nothing had happened at the target European football championship. Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, this year strong measurements of security were taken in France as well as in Belgium, this with the knowledge the ISISJihadists were aiming this event as an easy target. This year France was beaten by 1–0 at the final in Saint-Denis after extra time. The French got a blow by this, but were already hurt much harder by several terrorist acts the last few months. Several communities had their share of it, but the coastal reasort of posh and glamour with Cannes and Nice, the capital of the Alpes Maritimesdépartement, as attractive poles were blessed with sunshine and good news. Soon the Jazz music would sound in the third busiest airport in France, bringing occasional extra swing.
The driver reportedly zig-zagged his way through the crowds along the promenade Credit: matrixpictures.co.uk
To watch the Bastille Dayfireworks large crowds of people had gathered along the foreshore of Nice.
At approximately 22:40 local time (20:40 UTC), a Renault Midlum19 ton cargo truck was driven at at high speed along the famed Promenade des Anglais towards the crowd of people, who had been watching a Bastille Day firework display; the truck travelled at least 100 m (330 ft) before it hit the crowd and then continued to drive two kilometres (1.25 miles) into the crowd. After being stopped by armed police, who fired bullets into the lorry’s windscreen, the so far unnamed man exchanged fire with officers using a 7.65 pistol, before being shot dead.
Though it was a French-Tunisian criminal well known to the police for armed attacks this man seemed not to be followed up and nobody of the intelligence force was able to foresee he could be doing this horrid killing.
Once again France was hit this year by a “cowardly and barbaric” atrocity making victims along the streets where people would think they could walk freely and peacefully. 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel on his track of evil killed at least 10 children and got 50 children treated in hospital with sever wounds, among the 84 or 86 dead and several fighting between life and death, in the Riviera city. Officials fear the death toll will rise.
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As hundreds remained in hospital – including 18 fighting for their lives in intensive care – anti-terrorist judges opened an investigation into “mass murder” and investigators searched the home of the driver in the Abattoirs area of Nice.
The killer his identity card was found in the truck. He had French and Tunisian nationality. The fact that the killer was known to the authorities will be of grave concern to those trying to prevent terrorist attacks in France.
French President Francois Hollande said in an address to the nation in the early hours of Friday.
“France as a whole is under the threat of Islamist terrorism, and so under these circumstances we have to demonstrate absolute vigilance and show determination that is unfailing.”
“There’s no denying the terrorist nature of this attack of yet again the most extreme form of violence.”
For many heads of state it is clear Europe shall not bow down to those acts of terror, contrary all those attack will ad more oil on the fir and give them reason to continue their attacks on Syria and Iraq.
“Nothing will make us yield in our will to fight terrorism. We will further strengthen our actions in Iraq and in Syria. We will continue striking those who attack us on our own soil,”
Francois Hollande said, in reference to France’s involvement in a coalition of nations carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.
It seems clear that the driver wanted to mow down the maximum number of people. Nice Matin journalist Damien Allemand said
“I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route. Heard noises, cries that I will never forget.”
Photo Gaillard/Reuters
At the extra news screening last night, at 23.45 h, we already coverage of witness, declaring how they fled from the ‘unknown’ and how the crowd got in panic. Many bodies, blood and body parts could be seen all along the road. After ramming into the crowd with his lorry, the driver started shooting and created what looked like a battlefield. Several messages on social media by people present at the scene, described a sense of helplessness faced with the carnage.
Al Jazeera reporter David Coady was also at the scene.
“I was enjoying the Bastille Day fireworks just like thousands of other people at the promenade in Nice,” he said.
“I was just walking back after the fireworks had finished. I looked towards the truck and I thought it was a bit odd, because the roads were shut down and there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people walking along. But then, from the direction of the truck, I started hearing screaming and then people started running. And so I joined all those people in running away from there.”
European Council President Donald Tusk said it was a “tragic paradox” that the victims of the attack in Nice were celebrating “liberty, equality and fraternity” – France’s motto – on the country’s national day.
Last night very soon French people offered a place to stay for those who could not return to their apartment or hotel, and a hashtag soon went viral. Leaders around the world responded to the attack, and Twitter users were using the hashtag #PrayForNice. President Barack Obama, standing in solidarity and partnership with France, also issued a statement offering
“any assistance that they may need to investigate this attack and bring those responsible to justice.”
He also said
“On this Bastille Day, we are reminded of the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world, and we know that the character of the French Republic will endure long after this devastating and tragic loss of life.”
Tusk tweeted a photograph of himself and other European and Asian leaders standing in tribute to the Nice victims at an Asia-Europe summit in Mongolia.
France has had its share last year with the January 2015 attack on the Paris offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo, linked to al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch, and the multiple attacks in the same city in November claimed by ISIS. People wonder when it is going to stop.
We are afraid we can not offer good news on that part. Followers of the Creator Redeemer God have received His Words of warning where we are told of what is going to happen after the Great War. Most people then thought it would not ever happen again, but only a few years later a second World War brought sorrow over the whole world. Today we can see many things happening which are foretold in the Holy Scriptures. As Brothers in Christ we are not surprised what happened after the start of the war between Iraq,Afghanistan and Iran. The internal conflict (1978–92) between anticommunist Muslim guerrillas and the Afghan communist government (aided in 1979–89 by Soviet troops) was a start for many battles between Muslim extremists and different states. The September 11 attacks triggered a harsher reaction from Western countries, bringing it into a international conflict in Afghanistan. In 2001 that war got in a first phase toppling the Taliban (the ultraconservative political and religious faction that ruled Afghanistan and provided sanctuary for al-Qaeda, perpetrators of the September 11 attacks). [The joint U.S. and British invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 was preceded by over two decades of war in Afghanistan.]
From then onwards it only seemed to escalate and certain groups America first helped and provided with ammunition, turned their back on to them and the West. More and more nations got involved and religious groups started getting creating amok between different groups. Religion stood up against religion like it is foretold in the Bible. Many many signs foretold in the Holy Scriptures have become a reality.
So, for those who ask
“When would it end?”
We can only say that it all shall come to an end when World War III shall come to an end. No matter what people may try to keep or to bring peace we shall have to go to face a terrible war, which shall be even greater or more horrible than the previous two world wars. We do not want to be doom preachers, but lets face it, of all the prophesies in the Bible there are only a few which did not come true. all other prophesies, even told more than 2500 years before have come into being. They happened and the world continued like it was foretold.
Much too often people do forget that the ancient writers provided the world with the torch of civilization and liberty, a guide for life, for the believers but also for non-believers. All sorts of people can make use of the wise words which are provided in the 66 books which make up the Bible. Throughout the ages it influenced people for good. In society it has been recognized by the greatest statesmen to be a book of books that made a big change in their life and often helped them to come to decisions. We also do have to admit that certain holy scriptures have been looked at it through the various glasses of conflicting creeds and sometimes might unintentionally but woefully be misrepresented. Though now we have come in a time where intentionally people want to give false interpretation as the core of their business. different groups made it a sport to falsely interpret the Bible and the Quran. Today we have certain groups which claim to fight for the cause of justice and to bring a war in the name of Allah/God. Others cannot put them on their place, because they themselves also do not know the true content of those holy books. they too live by many long-revered misconceptions of the truth of those books, received through the traditions of their fathers. Instead of putting the enemies to confusion by disarming them of their weapons, both groups become more agitated and call to the battle.
Man may look at himself and see or speak about an evil world. H should know that this “present evil world” in which man is permitted to try governing himself soon shall come to an end.
After a Jewish Age, or the period following the death of Jacob, during which all of his posterity were treated by God as his special charge — “his people” we can see that often that chosen people forgot Who was with them and Who had liberated them. For centuries the Most High Maker showed special favours, and declared,
“You only have I known (recognized with favour) of all the families of the earth.” (Amos 3:2)
But the stubborn people had to come to see that God was willing to provide an opening for those who are willing to come to Him. Also goyim or non-Jews found a wayto God by the send one from God, the Messiahrabbi Jeshua (Jesus Christ). The promises made to the original People of God were typical of the “better promises” made to us. Having come in the Gospel Age, those who believe in God should know that they have the “better sacrifices,” which do make atonement for the sins of the whole world. They know that the promised one shall return and not only take up his role or seat in the “royal priesthood,” composed of all those who offer themselves to God “living sacrifices,” holy and acceptable, through Jesus Christ, but to be the King of the coming Kingdom here on earth.
But before it comes so far that Jesus shall become the Chief or “High Priest of our profession.” (Hebrews 3:1) this world shall have to withstand the terrible times which were prophesied long before. Too all who are willing to take Jesus as their master is demanded to go out in the world and to warn it. Not only should they notify the peoples of what shall be coming, so that they can prepared themselves for those horrible times, they should look for the signs God has given mankind, to be alert and prepared. In that time of people warning and bringing Good News of the coming Kingdom, therefore called the Gospel age, we find the realities of which the Jewish age and its services and ordinances were shadows. (Hebrews 10:1)
The Gospel age, is the period during which the body of Christ is called out of the world, and shown by faith the crown of life, and the exceeding great and precious promises whereby (by obedience to the call and its requirements) they may become partakers of the divine nature. (Pet. 1:4) Evil is still permitted to reign over or rule the world, in order that by contact with it these may be tried to see whether they are willing to give up the human nature with its privileges and blessings, a living sacrifice, being made conformable to Jesus’ death, that they may be accounted worthy to be in his likeness in the resurrection. (Psalms 17:15)
Coming closer to the times of more disasters Jews, Christians, Muslims, other believers and non-believers shall have to think how they want to cope with the turbulence and shall have to find solutions to live themselves in a more protected environment. Their choices may not always bring the hoped for reactions, because those against God (the adversary or satan) are going to play more for devil.
Before Christ, with royal title and power, will be present as Jehovah’s representative, taking charge of all the affairs during this day of trouble, taking up his seat in the city of Jerusalem, many shall fight to get the power in Jerusalem and to be able to conquer the people all over the world. This battle for the power has already started. All those terrorist acts are not as such a matter of bringing people to Allah/God but to show the power of which everybody should be afraid and has to submit to.
The world shall have to endure that strive for power of false people. Meantime, as false and imperfect views and systems fall, the standard of the new King will rise, and eventually he shall be recognized and owned by all as King of kings. Thus it is presented by the prophets as Jehovah’s work to set up Christ’s dominion:
“I will give thee the Gentiles for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” (Psalms 2:8)
“In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” (Daniel 2:44)
The present evil times shall frighten us, but when we do not mind to take up the bible and use it as our indispensable guide we may have the hope in getting stronger, though more than once we shall also have to suffer and be taken by sorrow. But by looking at these times we can see that the “Ancient of days” shall come to sit on his throne. We can look at the bad things which are past, we may see lots of things happening around us and in front of us. All that may have en influence on our life is simply there for preparing us all for that grand family reunion hosted by “our Father,” the “Father of all” (Ephesians 4:6), “of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Ephesians 3:15).
Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV)
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
In the mean time we do have to build up patience, and should try to bring others also to see what time we are heading to and get them to unite under Christ.
The Divine Maker of all things is giving the world time. He requests from man that they come to see what man made of this world and how He is a better “Gardener” for this world. Having received all this time from God we should come to realise that mankind is incapable of solving the world’s problems. This permission of evil has the very purpose of educating and preparing mankind for the promised times of restitution. At that time, they will begin to seek for God’s righteous kingdom under the rule of the great Messiah, who shall come at God’s time. They will be blessed with a full knowledge of God and a full opportunity for attaining everlasting life through their redeemer — the great restorer and life-giver.
Every sincere student of the Bible can see what is coming and should warn others.
In these times when honest-hearted people are losing faith in humanity, and humanity is losing faith in God, faithful lovers of God should reach out their hand to the community.
These days the west came to understand how seriously Islamic State group wants to launch “enormous and spectacular attacks,” as jihadis broaden their focus to target Western lifestyles.
The heart of Europe was severely hurt on the 22nd of March with up to 35 deaths and 396 wounded (as registered on the 31st of March).
The Paris and Brussels attacks have rightly caused outrage across the globe. However, while millions in the West took to social media to share their grief, there are numerous attacks across the world that go largely unreported in the mainstream media are which are forgotten or not remembered by lots of Westerners.
The “black flag of jihad” as used by jihadist militants since around the late 1990s
On 21 March, the Kurds celebrated the biggest cultural event of their year, Newroz or New Year, but once again they too were under attack by Turkey but also by groups of their own, namely the PKK.
Pro-Assad media hails recapture of ancient city as ‘strategic victory’ but others allege collusion between Damascus and retreating militants
A Syrian soldier looks at graffiti in Palmyra reading: “The Islamic State is staying’ (AFP)
The ruins of Palmyra in 2010
The dramatic recapture of the ancient city of Palmyra by the Syrian army and its allies on Sunday prompted some commentators in the Arabic-language media to declare the beginning of the end for the Islamic State (IS) group, while others predicted a long and drawn out battle to come with regional and global consequences. {- See more at: Middle East eye}
Four days after the Brussels attacks the terrorists showed they were not at all only focussing on fakir Christians. At least 41 people were killed and 105 wounded when a teenage ISISsuicide bomber blew himself up at a small soccer stadium in the Iraqi city of Iskanderiyah, less than 30 miles south of Baghdad. The attack targeted the crowd watching an amateur soccer match on Friday evening in the mixed Sunni and Shiite town, and the city’s mayor, who was presenting awards to the soccer players at the time of the bombing, was among those killed. The BBC also reports that 17 of the dead were boys between the ages of 10 and 16. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack using its social media channels, according to the Site extremist monitoring group.
On Sunday the 27th of March Pakistan got its share also with a bombing that killed 72 people and injured more than 350 at a crowded park on Easter Sunday. Though the violent Pakistani Taliban offshoot known as Jamaat-ul-Ahrar — which boasted that it targeted Christians in a crowded park in Lahore — once publicly declared support for ISIS, but has hit more Muslims and Hindy people than Christians.
Now it’s the subject of an intensive crackdown in the world’s second-most populous and only nuclear-armed Muslim nation. On dealing with the threat of Islamic State, Obama said he had invited participating nations to work on improving intelligence-sharing to prevent terrorist attacks.
“At our session on ISIL this afternoon there was widespread agreement that defeating terrorist groups like ISIL requires more information sharing,”
Obama said on Friday April 1, using an acronym for the militant group.
Pakistan, a country long considered an al Qaeda stronghold, feels more and more also the negative pressure of that group and similar related groups which want to govern lots of people, telling them what they can or not can do.
Those “cowardly” suicide attacks shall continue. And with them we can see the Biblical prophesies of having the religions coming up against religions, after the period when the people living in the land of Euphrates and Tigris would have fought against each other (Iran & Iraq).
Whilst US President Barack Obama called for a world without nuclear weapons yesterday after arriving in France for a Nato summit, where he won French endorsement of his new Afghanistan strategy, we should be fully aware that the war on terror continues and shall bring forth some other serious attacks form underground people or different cells which sprout up like ulcers.
It are those rebels who misuse the name of God and try to get religious people against each other. Believers in God should be very careful not to fall in the trap and going to one or another religious group. In Belgium, Holland, France and some other Western countries we can see movements from right as wall as extreme left wing organisations defiling the Muslim community.
Flag of Taliban (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
For sure the Western states do have to get a grip on rising violence by al Qaeda and Taliban militants driven from power in 2001 but never completely defeated. But Christians should be careful not to be carried away by hatred and should abstain from any violent action. They also should show their love for those who are different than them and who have an other faith than them, but who also sincerely believe in the Divine Creator.
We always should remember that those who rape and sell children, kill innocent people, burn Koran‘s, mosques and bring terror on so many places are all doing things which are against Koran teaching and as such against real Muslim faith.
They are not only misusing and defiling the Name of God, but they are bringing discredit to all those believers who belong to the Islam.
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Attacks targeting civilians linked to or inspired by ISIS Since January 2015, outside Iraq and Syria.
Circles represent number of deaths of confirmed ISIS-related attacks.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for several explosions causing many deaths and severely wounded, creating lots of horror and pain
November en december waren twee maanden waarin men de inwoners van dit land er nog eens wenste aan te herinneren dat wij gewoon alweer eens een oorlog tegen gewoon alweer een vijand konden voeren, die men gewoon alweer als ongewoon en uitzonderlijk voorstelt. {Als één blok tegen de terreur. Ook de oppositie…}
Edward James door René Magritte – La réproduction interdite (Reproductie verboden), 1937
Na de aanslagen in Parijs kon Belgiëland nog eens tonen aan de wereld wat een “apenland” dit wel kan zijn. Dat dit het land van Kafkiaanse toestanden is moet toch nu en dan eens bewezen worden aan de buitenwereld. Dat wij ook allen aanverwanten zijn van Magritte moet ook voor iedereen zichtbaar zijn.
De vraag is hoe velen er wel mee willen gaan met dat denken van de regering. Hun pensée unique waarvan men uit angst voor de volgende peilingen zelfs de uitgangspunten niet durft te bevragen.
Voor velen was al het vroegere terreur gebeuren een “ver weg van mijn bed show”, maar nu leek het plotseling oh zo nabij. Voor velen is terreur minder erg naarmate die verder van huis toeslaat,
maar het teneergeslagen gevoel dat het je geeft, is toch onmiskenbaar sterker wanneer het gevaar dichterbij komt. Dichter in de buurt van je geliefden. Het roept dan persoonlijke vragen op, in plaats van alleen wereldverbeteringsvraagstukken. {La Douleur}
De politici en de media hielpen elkaar gretig om de mensen met angst op te zadelen en zelfs buitenlanders te doen geloven dat men maar beter niet onze contreien kwam bezoeken wegens véél te gevaarlijk.
Het diplomatiek en materieel isoleren en uitputten van IS door een boycot van Saudi-Arabië en Israël, lijkt vast en zeker te moeilijk daar koning Boudewijn vroeger de Saudi’s nog die mooie Brusselse moskee voor de radicalisering in België had geschonken en er zojuist nog een delegatie naar dat land was gegaan om onze economische betrekkingen te verbeteren. Want rond geld draait het uiteindelijk toch. Met de wapenleveringen aan de jihadisten gecompenseerd met de nieuwe geldinbreng voor de Antwerpse haven en enkele plaatsingen van Belgische bedrijven in Saudi Arabië moet alles toch gecompenseerd kunnen worden, of niet?
Men kan toch niet eisen dat men alle Europese wapentrafiek naar de hele regio zou stilleggen (volgens de lui met geld). Maar wat met
het sluiten van bondgenootschappen met de zovele Moslimlanden die zich volkomen hebben gedistantieerd van IS en die hun steun aan de strijd daartegen al hebben uitgesproken (?). Het zou de regio eindelijk “opkuisen” zoals het nu heet. En het is een methode die historisch haar nut al uitgebreid heeft bewezen.
Verspreiding van oemma (1995) – Al-oemma al-islamiyya of kortweg: Al-oemma = wereldwijde islamitische gemeenschap
Ga je zweepslagen uitdelen omdat je laveert tussen twee culturen? Vrouwen verkrachten omdat je in een schotelwijk woont? Dan zouden er beduidend meer moslims geradicaliseerd zijn. {Waarom jihadi’s niet onze eigen schuld zijn}
Zoals in Nederlands zijn er hier in België heel wat opiniestukken neergepend en televisiedebatten gevoerd over de bekeerde Belgen en Nederlanders die als ‘geradicaliseerde’* moslims afreisden naar het kalifaat. Al maanden kun je geen krant openslaan, geen opiniesite bezoeken, televisie noch radio aanzetten of het gaat erover. *(voor duiding zie Migratie en veiligheid even geherformuleerd)
Anno Bunnik schreef ruim drie jaar geleden samen met Peter Knoope, de toenmalig directeur van een internationaal terrorisme instituut “Al Qaida is geschiedenis”.
De gedachte was dat de Arabische opstanden aantoonden dat alleen vreedzame protesten de machthebbers in het Midden-Oosten omver konden werpen, iets wat Osama Bin Laden jarenlang tevergeefs probeerde te bereiken. Na de dood van Bin Laden enkele maanden later werd onze stelling definitief overgenomen door vele politici en journalisten. Al Qaida was dood en begraven. {Al Qaida is nu echt dood}
Nu kunnen zij met ons er niet naast zien dat ruim drie jaar later Jihadistische milities vaker het nieuws beheersen dan ooit te voren.
In Mali wisten de lokale Jihadisten een stuk land ter grootte van Frankrijk te veroveren. Al Shabaab haalde de voorpagina’s met een grote aanslag op een winkelcentrum in Kenia. In Nigeria doet Boko Haram steeds vaker van zich spreken. En Syrië veranderde in het epicentrum van de internationale Jihad door de introductie van ruim 12.000 buitenlandse strijders aan de zijde van de oppositie, waaronder ook ruim 100 Nederlandse jongeren. {Al Qaida is nu echt dood}
De Jihad is in Syrië, Irak, Mali, Somalië, Nigeria en vele andere landen springlevend. Het succes van ISIS bewijst dit meer dan ooit. Maar in plaats van dat we het over al Qaida hebben, heeft niemand het meer over het centrale gezag van de organisatie. De vervanger van Bin Laden, de Egyptenaar Ayman al-Zawahiri, wie kent hem nog? In plaats van ellenlange discussies over al Qaida hebben we het nu over ISIS, Jabhat al Nusra, Boko Haram en al Shabaab. Deze namen zijn inmiddels gemeengoed voor Jan met de Pet. Alleen in Jemen hebben we het nog over “al Qaida op het Arabisch Schiereiland”. {Al Qaida is nu echt dood}
Velen mogen dan wel vinden dat de Jihad dus meer lokaal is dan ooit, nochtans kan men zien dat zij over het zuidelijk halfrond zeer actief zijn. Maar wij moeten beseffen dat het neit zozeer om het Westen te doen is, zoals sommige media willen doen uitschijnen.
De huidige Jihad heeft vooral oog voor de lokale en regionale vijanden, zoals de Syrische en Iraakse autoriteiten en de Sjiieten. {Al Qaida is nu echt dood}
De vele buitenlandse strijders hebben tot nog toe hebben slechts tot enkele geweldfeiten in België en Frankrijk terwijl er in het Midden-Oosten bijna dagelijks terreuraanslagen plaats, vooral gericht tegen Sjiitische burgers.
De Sjiitische versie van Jan met de Pet heeft veel meer te vrezen van de Jihad dan wij. Alle buitenlandse strijders in Syrië die zover zijn geradicaliseerd dat zij bereid waren een zelfmoordaanslag uit te voeren deden dit ter plekke, niet in Londen, Parijs of Amsterdam. Ten minste twee Nederlandse jongeren brachten tot dusver het ultieme offer. {Al Qaida is nu echt dood}
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Te onthouden
Enige vorm van terreurbestrijding = die echt terreur doet ophouden = conflict dat aan basis ligt aanpakken + vrede stichten, schrijven Jan Blommaert en Christophe Callewaert.
15 jaar war on terror > militarisering => meer bloedvergieten + globale veiligheid = op achteruitgegaan
Na verschrikkelijke aanslagen in Parijs => overheerst de oorlogsretoriek =>aanpak terreur voorgesteld als oorlog die gewonnen kan worden door gemeenten waar de daders van afkomstig zijn ‘op te kuisen’ en hun ideologische basis in Syrië uit te roeien.
Frankrijk voert bombardementen in Syrië op.
reacties emotioneel + brutaal = weinig plaats voor de rede
geopolitieke strategie, die afstapt van de roep om meer oorlog.
Internationale conflictenneiging te delokaliseren
niet afsluiten van wereld > worden afgerekend op wat we elders in die wereld uitrichten
in straten van Europese steden zwaarbewapende politiemensen zij aan zij met militairen in oorlogsuitrusting = repressief + agressief apparaat
Algerijnse onafhankelijkheidsstrijd > golf aanslagen in Frankrijk hield op zodra Algerije onafhankelijk werd
IRA stopte bommencampagne > eerbaar compromis in Noord-Ierland
India reeks aanslagen tegen hotels, een treinstation en een ziekenhuis in Mumbai = provoceren > Indiase regering hield hoofd koel
geschiedenis leert > Terreurbestrijding > één deugdelijk recept: conflict aanpakken door vrede te stichten
pacificering + einde militarisering = enige realistische + haalbare oplossing.
Het geweld dat ons zo schokt, is precies hetzelfde is als datgene wat miljoenen heeft doen vluchten
De enige vorm van terreurbestrijding die echt terreur doet ophouden, is het conflict dat aan de basis ligt aanpakken en vrede stichten, schrijven JAN BLOMMAERT en CHRISTOPHE CALLEWAERT. Hebben vijftien jaar war on terror nu nog niet aangetoond dat militarisering alleen maar naar meer bloedvergieten leidt?
Na de verschrikkelijke aanslagen in Parijs overheerst de oorlogsretoriek. De aanpak van terreur wordt voorgesteld als een oorlog die gewonnen kan worden door gemeenten waar de daders van afkomstig zijn ‘op te kuisen’ en hun ideologische basis in Syrië uit te roeien.
De Franse president François Hollande heeft de noodtoestand afgekondigd en nog meer militairen zullen worden ontplooid ‘om terreur te bestrijden’. Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy stelt voor om de 11.000 mensen, die in de gaten worden gehouden door de staatsveiligheid, preventief huisarrest te geven. Ondertussen voert Frankrijk de bombardementen in Syrië op.
It is not because some lunatics or some power horny people want to get their lust for power fulfilled and therefore use terror to achieve their goal, that a full community has to be penalised with the idea that all Muslims would agree with what ISIS or Al Qaeda is doing.
Many Muslims are moderate believers who honour Allah, trying to live according to His Laws and who do know that lovers of Allah have to respect the creatures He allows to live on this earth. They also know that sharing the love is a much mightier weapon than the man-made weapons which literally kill, but never can kill the connection with the Most Highdivine Creator, when a person has an intimate relation with the God of gods.
often heard Muslim greeting “As-Salaam Aliakum” = Peace Be Unto You! > in a world that doesn’t understand the language of peace
Wa-Aliakum Salaam = shared in response
barber Mo = devoted Muslim + highly intelligent + deeply peace giving spiritual man
online activities of typed out words, posted banners, shared videos profess a great divide between our brother and us… our sister… according to way we dress, worship, or seek meaning and purpose
language of a person of peace = not to have a linguistic barrier restricting from culture, religion, our nationality
language of peace = built upon power + significance of our relationships to the other = language of communal embrace!
As-Salaam Aliakum. So often I think we hear these words today and the hairs on the back of our necks rise as images from Paris, Syria, and Iraq flash in our minds. Is this not a Muslim greeting?!
Wa-Aliakum Salaam. I hear it shared in response while I sit in the barber’s chair at my local neighborhood men’s barber shop. Mo has cut my hair for the last 6 years and we have developed an amazing relationship. We’ve spoke about his family, his kids and there schooling, his 5-year-old son (now 8 years old) who is dealing with Leukemia. I passed along comfort and gave financially to his family while I told him of my prayers for him when he went through a massive heart attack a little over a year ago. And yes, we have deep discussions about faith, Jesus, and the stories of scripture both in the Bible…
Many Christians do want the world to believe that the war ISIS is preaching is a war against the Christians. Their war is not just a war against unbelievers in God or against believers in a wrong God (for them Christians believe Jesus is God, though not all Christians do believe that). The issue of the ISISterror is to create fear fro their agenda of an Islamic State where all the power has to go to them and nobody else. It is a matter of “Power” and not so much about religion.
In case ISIS was really concerned about the faith of the followers of the prophet Muhammad then they would not kill other Muslims, certainly would not burn any Quoran, because that is considered to be a holy book and also would not destroy mosques, all horrible things they do.
Today having Terror Alarm 4, for the Region Brussels, Belgium becomes more a country at the beginning of war, having the shopping centres closed and all big events cancelled. Last night again four places found where terrorists prepared several attacks to be executed at around the same time all over Belgium. Lots or armoury was found.
Yesterday again two Belgians were killed by Al Qaeda terrorists, this time in Mali‘s major city Bamako.
There might being lots of people who call for revenge and would love to see our forces to go into combat and to have a stronger force in the warfare against ISIS.
It is not only the Bible that in many instances condones the act of war and the use of deadly force for protection. Torah, Kethubim Aleph, Kethubim Bet or Messianic Scriptures (the New Testament) and the Quran demand that we respect the creations of the MostDivineAllah, the God of gods, Master of heavens and earth, the ElohimHashemJehovah.
Real lovers of Allah will respect His Words given to us in the Holy Scriptures and shall know that our force must be in a spiritual battle, taking on such an attitude which is so much in-breath of love that it destroys the hate of others.
The adversary of God (Satan) is calling to go into the battle. The adversaries of Allah, ISIS, al-Qaeda and many other networks of Islamic fundamentalist groups, would love to see the world going into the battle and providing more reasons why to attack others.
We do have to be very vigilant not to fall into the trap.
The Bible has warned us about the signs of the end times and we should be more concerned about these: having a war starting at the land of Euphrates and Tigris (Iran & Iraq), having children revolting against their parents, having more earthquakes and tsunamis, having religions fighting against other religions, all signs which we could notice to happen the last few years. This should worry us more. This should have us to prepare for the coming times of agony and make us so that our spirits (our minds) shall be strong enough to withstand.
We always should be very attentional to take on the right attitude and not to fall-into the booby-trap of the satan (adversary).
That there might be a time for everything, should not mean we do have to be partakers in such a killing act. Let others fight their war and let us try to spread peace. We should know that joining hand to force the peace by peaceful actions is much more worth than spreading hatred.
*
To remember
1st sight when reading the Bible= appear Christian should never contemplate killing of another fellow human being > no matter what the circumstances.
Jesus tells people around him + turn other cheek == biggest problem that seems to plague people and specifically Christians
human tendency to partially remember verses taken out of context + turned into doctrines
2nd problem = ability to efficiently and accurately study the Word of God in 1st place.
focus on concept of Christians at war or protecting themselves even with deadly force
social, religious, & political issues at the time the book was written + What was intended purpose of the book + does each book line up with the whole spirit of the bible itself?
look around at this time in global history = realize potential for war + violence toward Christians on a global scale
topic of war + taking life of another human even outside of a war = repugnant to teachings of Christ and his apostles
New Testament = Christ focuses attention in primary sense on principle of love and respect = govern the actions of men + expressing love toward one’s enemies
Jesus’ life on this earth was to fulfill the Law of Moses, draw all sin to himself, + die on the cross for our spiritual salvation = purpose on earth = not to engage in a physical fight
not mean to stay physically weak + disengaged
He actively encourages His servants to fight when the time arrives (John 18:36). Certainly, Christ Jesus = no pacifist in any of his teachings.
Jesus did not want his Disciples to interfere with his capture = result in his taking stripes for our healing and dying on the cross for our sins.
Jesus to go peacefully + without blemish > lamb led to slaughter
Matthew 26:52 = referencing those who chose to live a violent way of life =/= Christians to stand still + be killed in the name of Jesus => work to do here on earth + dead people cannot do their work
Luke 22:35 = we are to go out into the world + teach that the kingdom of heaven is here => to take gospel of Jesus Christ to all people who will listen + dead Christians cannot talk.
meek =/= similar to being timid + non-violent
meek =/= being weak
great spiritual power
no killing out of anger, or aggression such as murder
allowance to execute criminals for capital crimes = shown by apostle Paul when he stated that even Gentile governments had divine authority to use the sword against evil doers (Romans 13:1-4).
sword = instrument of authority
Jesus told disciples = time had come to sell a garment + buy a sword (most proficient weapon to carry for self-defense)
self-defense = Jesus referencing
to follow the laws of the land providing the laws are not turned against us
no authority except from God + to resist authority is to resist God
ruler who chooses to do evil against Christians cannot be from God
meek Christian = you do not have to prove yourself not force your beliefs on another person
to protect oneself, family, + close friends from someone who tries to do evil, falls well within the approval of God even to the point of taking a life
for a Christian to go on the offence is to stand on the side of evil + against God’s will
At first sight when reading the bible it would appear that a Christian should never contemplate the killing of another fellow human being no matter what the circumstances. Most Christians and even many non-Christians can partially quote the scripture where Jesus tells the people around Him to turn the other cheek when your enemy strikes you, Matthew 5:39 & Luke 6:29.
Here in lies the biggest problem that seems to plague people and specifically Christians and has for centuries; the human tendency to partially remember verses which are taken out of context and then turned into doctrines. Whether the scriptures were taught in their fullness or taken out of context makes a huge difference. Not to mention the limited time people spend studying the Word of God for themselves. Which brings us to the second problem which is the ability to efficiently and accurately study the Word of God in…
Lifestyle and Readers Digest Magazine founded by Marcus Ampe on the 26th of March 2014
Translate – Vertaal – Traduction
Welcome
New to this site. You may like to read this first
If this is your first time you visit us, you might like to know about our aims and intentions.
This site does not want to be a specific religious site, though now and then religious articles may be presented. The main interest on this site is about worldly matters, social affairs and the behaviour of human beings in this universe.
Our aim is to bring first articles about our responsibility in the progress of human relations and peace involvement.
Please find to read about our aims and aspirations:
Messengers of Peace and Positivism – Boodschappers van Vrede en Positivisme
We belong to the Bloggers for Peace and you can join them too. (Click on the picture to know more and to connect.)
Club members their own blog-writings – Clubleden hun eigen persoonlijke blogs
Articles by Guestwriters members – Artikelen bij Gastschrijvers leden
Most club members "From guestwriters" do not have their own blog, but shall write under their own name as "Guestspeaker" on the Lifestyle magazine Stepping Toes.
Those who do have their own website can be looked at underneath:
Please do find those independent authors their recent postings on their own website:
Van de schrijvers die een eigen blog hebben kan u op hun site als laatste artikels vinden:
Thoughts by and a Look at the world by Marcus Ampe on: Marcus Ampe's Space
I first started to write about “Why certain people don’t understand some things” but this night wrote first more about the lack of empathy we encounter in this world. Being 4 am, I got lost in writing, forgetting the initial title. So today I changed the title of my first writing on the question What’s […]
What’s something most people don’t understand? Throughout history, one can find some people who have acted weird, according to the majority of people. It was men and women who preferred to be themselves and not go with the mainstream. At their time they have strange things and did not mind following their dreams or thoughts. […]
The further attack by publishers of novellas and literary masterpieces by simply deleting words and descriptions to be supposedly acceptable in our contemporary culture.
What do you wish you could do more every day? The present days seem to have exchanged their hours for minutes or seconds. At times, it is impossible to stop those hands of the clock or call the days to silence. Even if I leave the days of the tear-off calendar untouched, they are gone […]
While I may be uncertain about my own abilities, I am very confident about the things that have become prophesied in the Bible, which makes me joyful on that front of confidence every day.
What makes you most anxious? There may be lots of things that may get me worried, but also lots of things I am anxious to do. I might be anxious that something should happen, me very much wanting to do it, or very much wanting it to happen. Not meeting requirements or expectations worries me […]
An other look at the world by Marcus Ampe on: Some View on the World
Some good news: Congratulations! Your site, Some View on the World, passed 10,000 all-time views. The previous days I was very busy with things that had to be done around the house as well as for problems I had with my car, as well as the need to find enough time to write articles for […]
Originally posted on Levant's Agora: The National Editorial. Sunday’s news that Lebanon’s residents woke up in two different time zones led to jokes about “Muslim time” and “Christian time” but it also exemplified some of the problems facing the state. The government announced that the usual start of Daylight Saving Time would be delayed…
Originally posted on Levant's Agora: By Ghassan Charbel. The world is living on Kremlin time. The decisions of its master leave their mark on the security of the planet and the prices of energy and grain. Experts agree that another year of the Russian war on Ukraine will be catastrophic to the world. Vladimir…
Putin suggested a nuclear announcement was on the way earlier in the week, saying Russia would respond to Britain’s decision to supply armour-piercing shells to Ukraine made of depleted uranium.
Long Covid Two-thirds of affected UK workers face unfair treatment, says report TUC and charity call for better support and legal right to reasonable adjustments at work for sufferers UK ministers should act to ensure long Covid sufferers receive the support they need from employers, with as many as two-thirds claiming they have been unfairly […]
Recent Posts on the other Lifestyle Magazine: Stepping Toes
Christians in politics have been accommodated through a policy of don’t-ask, don’t-tell, but some argue endlessly about which bathrooms trans people should be allowed to use. Cisgender psychologists and sexologists pathologise the transgender experience according to their own biases, cisgender insurance executives arbitrarily what is and isn’t “necessary care” for transgender policyholders, and so on.
Originally posted on Quo Vadis: Zionisme is het (blijven) streven naar en behoud van een Joodse staat. Anti-zionisme is dus het verzet tegen de enige joodse staat. Behalve de genoemde landen met een islamitische meerderheid, zijn praktische alle andere landen, incl Israel, seculier, geen enkele religie is dominant en er is godsdienstvrijheid. Godsdienstvrijheid is één…
Event Turkey has broken Nato unity on Finland and Sweden’s push to join the alliance, blocking an initial vote on accession after President Erdogan demanded that the two countries hand over dozens of Turkish exiles he accused of “terrorism”. The veto came hours after Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary-general, hailed a historic moment for western […]
The Times, May 2, 2022 Event Ukraine, one of the most fertile and productive countries in the world, has been known historically as the “bread basket of Europe”. Now it is facing a complex and unprecedented agricultural crisis, in which landmines are only one of numerous interlinked problems. The United Nations estimates this year’s harvest […]
BBC, April 22 + Audit of antisemitic incidents Event The number of anti-Semitic incidents around the world dramatically increased last year, a study by Tel Aviv University has found. The report identifies the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia as among countries where there was a sharp rise. This was fueled by radical left- […]
The Times, April 16 Russia’s setbacks could prompt President Putin to use tactical nuclear weapons, William Burns, the CIA director, has said. Moscow has a stockpile of about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, also known as low-yield or battlefield munitions, that can be deployed by air, sea or artillery. These are generally less potent than the […]
We continue reading and meditating on Solomon’s Proverbs; if all the people in Israel had put his precepts into practice surely his kingdom would have continued to be a great and righteous kingdom for “a great while” (2 Samuel 18:9) after his death. Sadly the history of the generations that followed shows that was not […]
“Die Tage unserer Jahre, ihrer sind siebzig Jahre, und, wenn in Kraft, achtzig Jahre, und ihr Stolz ist Mühsal und Nichtigkeit, denn schnell eilt es vorüber, und wir fliegen dahin.” (Ps 90:10 ELB)“Stimme eines Sprechenden: Rufe! Und er spricht: Was soll ich rufen? “Alles Fleisch ist Gras, und alle seine Anmut wie die Blume des […]
“Les jours de nos années s’élèvent à soixante-dix ans, Et, pour les plus robustes, à quatre-vingts ans ; Et l’orgueil qu’ils en tirent n’est que peine et misère, Car il passe vite, et nous nous envolons.” (Ps 90:10 LSG)“Une voix dit : Crie ! — Et il répond : Que crierai-je ? Toute chair est comme l’herbe, Et tout son éclat […]
Dans nos vies, il y a un temps pour tout. Lorsque nous venons au monde, nous ne sommes conscients de rien et vivons simplement des choses alors que ce sont nos parents qui sont autorisés à vivre leur temps joyeusement lorsqu’ils ont un enfant. Cet enfant doit être élevé par eux là où il y […]
“The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.” (Ps 90:10 NHEB)“The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory […]
Recent Posts by the Brethren in Christ: Broeders in Christus
Mindful “It is well to bear in mind how Jesus’s instructive prayer concludes. “For yours is the Kingdom, yours is the power, yours is the glory. Forever.” Is my prayer Kingdom-worthy? Does it recognize God as the only power there is? Does it give Him all the glory? Crucified “I have been crucified with Christ,” […]
De uit de wereld gekozenen hebben geen angst om tot de Onzichtbare God te bidden, in Wie zij alle vertrouwen hebben en geloven dat zij Hem als schild kunnen gebruiken.
Het koninkrijk der wereld is het koninkrijk van onze Allerhoogste Heer en van zijn Christus geworden, die autoriteit, heerschappij en macht heeft gekregen en als koning zal regeren tot in alle eeuwigheid.
Meerderen van ons worden getroffen door het leed dat aangedaan wordt door oorlogsgeweld, aards geweld (zoals aardebevingen en modderstromen) maar wij willen niet gebukt gaan onder een slachtoffersrol. Wij beseffen dat al dat lijden mar een tijdelijk gebeuren is.
Er moeten geen voorgeschreven woorden volgens bepaalde regels opgezegd worden. Met onze eigen woorden kunnen wij aan God kenbaar maken dat wij Hem liefhebben en nog beter willen leren kennen.
In je dagelijkse communicatie met God is het niet onbelangrijk Hem te laten weten dat jij Hem lief hebt en dat jij graag zou willen leven volgens Zijn Wil.
Het modelgebed “Onze Vader” wordt meestal afgesloten met onze erkenning dat het Koninkrijk toebehoort aan Jehovah God , Die de Allermachtigste is en alle Kracht en Heerlijkheid bevat.
Bible prophecies do not deal only with the ancient past. They also accurately foretell events that are taking place in our day. But at the moment we focus at numerous prophecies preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures (commonly called the Old Testament) which long before the man was born told about events which would happen in his time and around him, his betrayal, humiliation, torture, execution, death, and burial. From those writings of the Old and New Testament nobody should have doubts who that man is who is called Immanuel, the son of man and Messiah, born out of the root of Jess in the tribe of king David.
In Scripture, all things are directed towards a man who was a servant of servants, in whom people should come to have faith. First we saw the connection with Eve and her seed, and in this article you may see the connection with Abraham.
Already in the Old Testament we find the focus on a son of man who is called the son of God, who shall be the most pure set apart (holy) servant of God who was been told about in the Garden of Eden, to be the one bruised.
Many Old Testament writers wrote about the prophet to come, about whom is spoke in the book of Moses and who shall be the special “Seed of a woman” given by God and who will bruise Satan’s head whilst his heel would be bruised with nails on the wooden stake.
Jewish and Christian literature since the time of Yeshua or Jeshua have pointed to Genesis 3:15 as the first reference to the Messiah in the Torah. Genesis 3:15 NHEBJE I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his […]
Recent Posts: Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
Luke 2:25-35 – Simeon’s Blessing and Warning LK2:25 Now look, there was a person in Jerusalem named Simeon. And he was righteous and reverent[1] and was waiting for Israel’s consolation,[2] and holy Pneuma was upon him. LK2:26 For it had been revealed to him by holy inspiration[3] that he would not experience death until he […]
Luke 2:21-24 – Presenting the Baby to God LK2:21 Now when eight days[1] had passed it was time for the infant to be circumcised and then to be named “Jesus” just as the angel had stated before he was even conceived in the womb. LK2:22 So when the period of their purification[2] [Leviticus 12:2] was […]
Luke 2:15-20 – Shepherds Find the Infant Christ LK2:15 Now when the angels departed from them to heaven the shepherds talked to one another: “Let us go up to Bethlehem now and see if this has really happened just as the LORD[1] has made known to us.” LK2:16 Quickly they arrived [in Bethlehem] and found […]
Luke 2:8-14 – Angels and Shepherds in the Night LK2:8 Now there were shepherds[1] in the same area who were living outside keeping watch at night[2] over their flock. LK2:9 Then YHWH’s angel[3] appeared to them and YHWH’s glory[4] shone all around them and so they became frightened with a great fear. LK2:10 And the […]
CHAPTER TWO: THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JOHN AND JESUS [“Birth and Growth of a Father’s Son”] Key word: Christ Luke 2:1-7 – A Firstborn’s Birth In Bethlehem LK2:1 Now it occurred in those days[1] that a decree[2] was sent out from Caesar Augustus[3] to register[4] all the inhabitants of the land.[5] LK2:2 This was […]
Recent Posts by bible Scholars: Bijbelvorser = Bible Researcher
Originally posted on Living Life in a Fish Bowl!: How’s your prayer life? What is prayer? Communicating with God – the One who rules the universe and all the galaxies beyond, who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere Asking Him to intervene on a particular situation or person Asking for His peace, joy, love, hope…
Jesus once gave a series of seven Kingdom illustrations in close connection with one another. We should remember that the most important reason for his telling such short stories is to persuade people to enter the kingdom of which he speaks.
Klinken onze gebeden als het gebed van Jezus Christus? Hierboven wordt niet gevraagd of u het modelgebed dat Jezus de wereld gaf, bidt. Vermoedelijk bidden heel wat christenen regelmatig het “Onze Vader“. Hierbij kan de vraag gesteld worden of zij wel degelijk de inhoud er van beseffen. Velen denken namelijk dat zij na hun dood […]
Als afsluiting van het modelgebed Het Onze Vader kunnen wij nog eens benadrukken hoe wij Gods Naam, Heerlijkheid of Glorie, Macht en Kracht hoogschatten.
First of all to come to a good relationship with some one, one has to talk with that person and has to listen to what that person has to tell. God talks to the people by the way of His Word, presented to mankind by the many Bible translations, so that most people can read […]
The One Who created everything and Who gave His Word, did all He did with a purpose and out of love. The Bible teaches us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Everything God does is motivated by love. Out of love created man in His image also with the intention to have a good relationship […]
In the previous writings we saw that the Divine Creator gave His Word to the world so that people could come to know Him. The Bible is a gift from God. It gives us information that we can’t find anywhere else. For example, it tells us that God created the heavens, the earth, and the […]
Menahem Schmelzer, a Hungarian refugee who for more than two decades was the doting custodian of one of the world’s greatest collections of ancient Hebrew and other Jewish manuscripts and books as the librarian of the Jewish Theological Seminary, died on Dec. 10 at his home in Manhattan. He was 88. During Professor Schmelzer’s tenure […]
Right now, we are in a time of seeking, and there is good reason to yearn for the Qadosh Barukh Hu, El ʿElyon, thirsting for Jehovah the living God, to find our way through the darkness. Those who have tasted the Bore and got that personal relationship with Him, have found that nothing else can satisfy their souls but Him.
In the north of Europe shelling brings a lot of darkness, but these days our brethren and sisters from Ukraine, with us are all united in the commemoration of another war won by the grace of the El’ Elyon.
As we gain new experiences and learn every day so does the confrontation of reading the Torah every year again from beginning to end, which makes us discover each time some new things, making us grow in our Bible knowledge.
Originally posted on Jewish Young Professional: I put “Assimilated Jew” in the title of this series because “Authentic Self and the Assimilated Jew” had a nice aesthetically-pleasing alliteration to it. But honestly, I don’t self-identify as a secular Jew or as an assimilated Jew. Secular? I don’t consider myself secular because in spite of my…
Adolfo Kaminsky (or Adolphe; 1 October 1925 – 9 January 2023) was an Argentine-born member of the French Resistance, specializing in the forgery of identity documents, and photographer.
We always should remember that Shabbat is not just about not doing certain things, or the other way round, just doing special things, or having special food or bringing sacrifices.
Before planning to live together in union, one should carefully consider the cultural and religious differences and how one will deal with them after the marriage commitment.
Dit jaar zijn er nog 2 sjabbatot tot Soekot en is er voor elke sjabbat een parasja en de sjabbat voorafgaande aan Rosj Hasjana lezen wij nu de de parasja Nitsawiem.
Verwonderlijk kreeg ik vandaag het bericht van WordPress dat ik tegen een jubileum mag aankijken. Gefeliciteerd met je jubileum bij WordPress.com! Je hebt je 5 jaar geleden geregistreerd op WordPress.com.Bedankt voor het gebruiken van onze service! Ga zo door met bloggen. Wat zijn die vijf jaren voorbij gevlogen. Voordat mijn pen al mijn gedachten kon […]
Met Rosj Hasjana denken wij aan de wondere scheppingsdaad van de Allerhoogste. Spijtig genoeg moeten wij toegeven dat de mensheid van die schepping een janboel heeft gemaakt.
Recent Posts: Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
The apostle Paul wrote about the dispersion, the dispersed House of Israel. They had been “without covenant“, but Paul was sent out to recover them. So they were “grafted in again“ (Romans 11/23). Or, Grafted back in“. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been […]
Rob Mac wonders when the door to door will return? He wrote this a while back, and went sharing it again. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses hate the door to door ministry, although they won’t readily admit it. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses have developed ‘creative’ ways of counting their time doing this work, and many strategies for avoiding actually […]
Constantine wanted unity in his realm, and his call in 325 C.E. for a council of his bishops at Nicaea, located in the Eastern, Greek-speaking domain of his empire, across the Bosporus from the new city of Constantinople was in a certain way his goal to achieve some agreement by which many could live. Constantine […]
Superstition, misunderstanding and hatred caused the Christians trouble for many generations, and governmental repression they had to suffer occasionally, as a result of popular disturbances. No systematic effort was made by the imperial authorities to put an end to the movement until the reign of the Roman emperor (249–251) who fought the Gothic invasion of […]
Self-enhancing When the apostles had died there came a time when those in charge of teaching and going around telling about the gospel, started coming to see themselves as special people. Some even started to consider themselves as ‘clergy of the highest order’. After a time the organisation of the church was given only to […]
When having many questions an interesting blog to look at: their old and more recent Posts: Questiontime - Vragenuurtje
God heeft de wereld van Zijn woord en Zijn profeten voorzien, maar niet altijd wensten de mensen van die leiders of profeten weten, waardoor er verscheidene groeperingen ontstonden die elk dachten of denken de juiste aanbiddingswijze te hebben.
Does one need proof to come to a certain belief? We can look at the signs in nature and find out what happened to certain people in the past, such as Noah and Paul. With the Book of Books, Allah has provided the world with His Interpretative Word.
Heeft men bewijzen nodig om tot een bepaald geloof te komen? Wij kunnen naar de tekenen in de natuur kijken en nagaan wat er in het verleden met bepaalde mensen, zoals Noach en Paulus is gebeurd. Met het Boek der boeken heeft Allah de wereld van Zijn Alzeggend Woord voorzien.
When we speak about “Faith” (iman) we look at acceptance of the Belief in the existence and oneness of God (Allah).and the existence of the Book of books of which God is the author, existing of five main parts, the Torah (revealed to Moses),,the Psalms (revealed to David).and the Writings of Kings and prophets as well as the Gospel (revealed to Jesus) with the writings of his apostles,
Wanneer wij over “Geloof” (iman) spreken, zien wij op de aanvaarding van het Geloof in het bestaan en de eenheid van God (Allah) en het bestaan van het Boek der boeken waarvan God de auteur is, bestaande uit vijf hoofdstukken, de Torah (geopenbaard aan Mozes), de Psalmen (geopenbaard aan David) en de Geschriften van Koningen en Profeten, alsmede het Evangelie (geopenbaard aan Jezus) met de geschriften van zijn apostelen,
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Biblestudents – Bijbelstudenten
A Google Site presenting the Biblestudents with articles in English and Dutch – Voorstelling van de Bijbelstudenten met artikelen in het Nederlands en Engels
Christen Focus
Vanuit de Bijbelonderzoekers oogpunt kijkend waarop de mens hoorrt te focussen
Getuigen voor Christus
Tegenover de Getuigen van Jehovah zijn er ook de Getuigen voor Christus die Getuigenis afleggen voor Christus en zijn God Jehovah.
Relating to God wordPress Blog
Proving there is Only One True God which should be honoured and followed and how we can come in a better relationship with Him by following His only begotten son Jesus Christ as the Way to God.
Unmasking anti-Jehovah people
Debunking all the false sayings of those who fight against non-trinitarian groups and people
Blogroll
Hoop tot leven
Platform van Marcus Ampe voor hulpverlening en hoop geving
Christadelphian
Belgian Christadelphians
Google site with articles in English from the Belgian Brothers in Christ or Christadelphians
C4All
Christ For All – Presenting ways to find Christ in your life
C4U – Christ for you & Christadelphians for you
Site of Brothers and Sisters in Christ, who love the Creator and His creations and want people to show who is the way to Him and to His Kingdom where there shall be peace for ever.
Our World
News and thoughts about what is happening in the world, brought by the Free Christian Marcus Ampe. – Een kijk op het wereldgebeuren vanuit het standpunt van de Vrije Christen Marcus Ampe
Relating to God wordPress Blog
Proving there is Only One True God which should be honoured and followed and how we can come in a better relationship with Him by following His only begotten son Jesus Christ as the Way to God.
Immanuel Verbondskind
A site where issues of Judaism, Christianity, Islamism, their search for continued authenticity and relevance for today are discussed and looked at the position of the Jeshuaist community wrestling with the non- or anti-religious world
Jeshuaisme
Het Jeshuaisme brengt volgers van de Nazareense rebbe Jeshua (door velen beter gekend als Jezus Christus) te samen en verenigd Jehudiem (Jehoediem) of Joden zowel als goyim of niet-Joden en doet een oproep naar alle soort gelovigen en niet-gelovigen om Je
Jeshuaist
Personal pages of a Flemish Jeshua-ist – Persoonlijke paginas van een Vlaamse Jeshuaist
Jeshuaist communities
A community of real followers of Christ, assembling for sharing the Good News of the works of the Moshiach Jeshua and his heavenly Father the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.
Jeshuaist Focus
Uiteenzetting hoe eenieder tot het Volk kan behoren dat het Koninkrijk van god zal mogen binnentreden
Jeshuaisten – Jeshuaists
Een plaats van en voor liefhebbers van de Joodse Nazarener rabbi Jeshua om het bijbelkennis te versterken. – A site of and for lovers of the Nazarene Jewish rabbi Jeshua to strengthen their knowledge of the Scriptures.
Jeshuaists (or Yeshuaists)
Jeshuaists (or Yeshuaists) are followers of the Nazarene rebbe Jeshua who presented himself as a sent one from the Adonai Most High Elohim, Hashem Jehovah.
Jeshuaists for Jehovah
Followers of the Nazarene rebbe Jeshua witnessing for him and his God, the Only True God of Isrrael, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.
Our World
News and thoughts about what is happening in the world, brought by the Free Christian Marcus Ampe. – Een kijk op het wereldgebeuren vanuit het standpunt van de Vrije Christen Marcus Ampe
Some View on the world
Marcus Ampe presenting general and religious newsitems. – Wereldse en religieuze nieuwsfeiten bekeken onder de loep van Marcus Ampe.
Stepping Toes
A Lifestyle magazine which can be for some a provocative site created by Marcus Ampe
Zij die al vele jaren in België wonen, hebben de Falkland oorlog en de Joegoslavië of 
Veel jongeren die hier in België wonen, zijn er zich helemaal niet bewust van dat dit piepjonge landje vroeger de oorlogsgrond van Europa was. Eeuwen heeft het als algemeen slagveld gediend om ruzies tussen grote naties uit te vechten. Vooral Fransen, Duitsers en Oostenrijkers voelden zich goed genoeg om hier hun oorlogsspelletjes uit te voeren. En het nam jaren om niet te zeggen eeuwen in beslag voor dat die 
![Afghanistan: anti-Taliban fighters [Credit: Reuters NewMedia Inc./Corbis]](https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/91/74191-004-B0D40245.jpg)
On Sunday the 27th of March Pakistan got its share also with a bombing that killed 
In 
De 
Jan Blommaert en Christophe Callewaert
As-Salaam Aliakum. So often I think we hear these words today and the hairs on the back of our necks rise as images from Paris, Syria, and Iraq flash in our minds. Is this not a Muslim greeting?!
alsowritten
Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
belgischebroedersinchristus
Bijbelvorsers
Christadelphians
Guestspeaker
Immanuel Verbondskind
jeshuaist
Vragensteller - Inquirer
lizaborstlap
Marcus Ampe
Success Inspirers' World
Fan of Pequeña Sudamérica
Relating to God
From guestwriters 