Are the European floods linked to the climate crisis?

Almost certainly. Scientists have long predicted climate disruption will lead to more extreme weather, such as heatwaves, droughts and floods. Human emissions from engine exhaust fumes, forest burning and other activities are heating the planet. As the atmosphere gets warmer it holds more moisture which brings more rain. All the places that recently experienced flooding – Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, London, Edinburgh, Tokyo and elsewhere – might have had heavy summer rain even without the climate crisis, but the deluges were unlikely to have been as intense.

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There has not yet been an attribution study for the latest floods in Europe because the analysis takes several days.

Please continue reading: What is causing the floods in Europe?

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Investigating how climate affects intense rainstorms across Europe, climate experts have shown there will be a significant future increase in the occurrence of slow-moving intense rainstorms.

The scientists estimate that these slow-moving storms may be 14 times more frequent across land by the end of the century. It is these slow-moving storms that have the potential for very high precipitation accumulations, with devastating impacts, as we saw in Germany and Belgium.

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Professor Lizzie Kendon, Science Fellow at the Met Office and Professor at Bristol University, said:

“This study shows that in addition to the intensification of rainfall with global warming, we can also expect a big increase in slow-moving storms which have the potential for high rainfall accumulations. This is very relevant to the recent flooding seen in Germany and Belgium, which highlights the devastating impacts of slow-moving storms.

“Our finding that slow-moving intense rainstorms could be 14 times more frequent by the end of the century under the high emissions RCP8.5 scenario, shows the serious impacts that we may expect across Europe if we do not curb our emissions of greenhouse gases.”

The study findings are relevant to climate mitigation and adaptation policy in Europe, with specific implications for future flooding impacts, the design of infrastructure systems, and the management of water resources.

Currently, almost stationary intense rainstorms are uncommon in Europe and happen rarely over parts of the Mediterranean Sea. Accurate predictions of future changes in intense rainfall events are key to putting effective adaptation and mitigation plans in place to limit the adverse impacts of climate change.

> Extreme Storms Will Be More Likely In Europe Research Shows

Europe’s catastrophic flooding was forecast well in advance – what went so wrong?

Almost 200 people dead and many others still missing. Billions of euros’ worth of damage. Communities devastated. Thousands of homes destroyed and their occupants traumatised.

Hannah Cloke  advises the Environment Agency, the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, local and national governments and humanitarian agencies on the forecasting and warning of natural hazards. She is a Council member of the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council, a fellow of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts, a fellow of the Centre for Natural Hazards & Disaster Science in Sweden and is also affiliated to Uppsala University in Sweden. Her research is funded by the UKRI Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council, the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

I am a flood forecaster who helped to set up the forecasting system that was used to predict the recent floods in Germany and surrounding countries. I saw days in advance that they were coming. I read reports of rainfall and river levels rising. And then I watched with growing horror as the death toll surged.

The European Flood Awareness System (EFAS), which I helped to set up, is part of the EU’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service. It provides early information on flooding to national and local authorities across Europe. I work closely with people there in my role as an independent flood scientist at the University of Reading to improve and analyse EFAS data. I don’t work in the team that issues early flood information to authorities, but looking at the data with colleagues, I could see early on just how serious the floods looked.

Forecasts on Friday July 9 and Saturday 10 for the Rhine catchment, covering Germany and Switzerland, had shown a high probability of flooding that would begin on Tuesday July 13. Subsequent forecasts also showed the Meuse in Belgium would be affected. The forecasts in the following days showed that there was little doubt that a major flood was coming.

EFAS sends out bulletins of early information which are designed to be read, understood and acted on by experts. They are not directly available to the public. Public flood warnings come from the national and regional weather, environment and civil protection agencies, and EFAS information needs to be used by these authorities alongside their own forecasts.

The first EFAS bulletin was sent to the relevant national authorities on Saturday July 10. More updates continued over the following days as more precise predictions became available. Formal flood notifications were issued to authorities in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxembourg, as well as the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) of the European Commission throughout Monday and Tuesday. As the event neared and uncertainty in the forecast shrank, the predicted start of the flooding was pushed to Wednesday for smaller rivers and Thursday for the larger downstream rivers. Around 25 individual warnings were sent out to parts of the Rhine and Meuse.

The German weather service, DWD, had independently forecast extremely high rainfall too and issued warnings for more than 200 mm of rain in the same areas several days ahead of time, saying that flooding was possible. Regional warnings were also issued, for example by the Environment Agency in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, one of the areas hit particularly hard by flooding.

The floods that did happen matched the scale and distribution of those that were forecast several days before. I was very surprised, therefore, that so many people died, given that authorities knew about the event and had sufficient warnings to get people to safety before the floods began.

Where flood warnings fail

Clearly, tragically, the whole system designed to save lives by ensuring people act on warnings before floods arrive, did not work as it should have done. It may be that individual parts of the system worked exactly as they were designed, and it is certainly true that forecasts were accurate, and there were some warnings issued through official channels. In some areas, many authorities did act in time, to evacuate people, erect temporary flood defences, and move vehicles to higher ground. But this clearly did not happen everywhere.

In the middle of an election campaign, some German leaders in national and regional government still seemed to defend the locally-devolved nature of disaster management in Germany, insisting that the warnings were adequate and agencies did their work well. It is like claiming that the maiden voyage of the Titanic was a success because 99% of its engineering worked perfectly throughout. While their arguments may be true on an individual scale, unless those in power admit that the system ultimately failed, they risk failing to learn lessons and put others at risk in the future.

Science, in large part, is about helping people see the invisible. What is the use of a perfect forecast if the people it is supposed to warn cannot see the danger they are in? Effective flood warnings require people to be able to see into the future and imagine their house full of water, to assess the likelihood of that happening, and to see the multiple paths they could take to keep them, their family, and their property safe.

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Read more: Report from Europe’s flood zone: researcher calls out early warning system gridlock amid shocking loss of life

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I recently took part in an exercise encouraging scientists, from senior professors to school pupils, to trace the path of water in a river through time using just their imagination. Weeks later, we are seeing what happens when people cannot visualise the threat of a river ripping down their street, or a lake appearing in their house. These are the elements of flood warnings that must improve.

As climate change increases risks from heatwaves, fires and floods, we need to not only slash emissions but prepare ourselves for the problems we already have in store. Even with sufficient decarbonisation measures – which we are still yet to see from any major government – there is no avoiding the consequences of a hotter, more turbulent environment.

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Suggested further reading

McEwan, L., Garde-Hansen, J., Holmes, A., Jones, O. & Krause, R. (2016). Sustainable flood memories, lay knowledges and the development of community resilience to future flood risk. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 42, 14 – 28. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12149.

Alexander, M., Priest, S. & Penning-Roswell, E. (2017). The risk of ill-informed reform: The future for English flood risk management. Area, 50, 426 – 429. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12393.

Forrest, S., Trell, E. & Woltjer, J. (2018). Civil society contributions to local level flood resilience: Before, during and after the 2015 Boxing Day floods in the Upper Calder Valley. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 44, 422 – 436. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12279.

Europe Floods: Death Toll Over 110 as Rescues Continue

Probably we are looking at more than 150 victims of the heavy rain and flooding which took parts of Germany, Belgium and the South of the Netherlands. Authorities said late Thursday that about 1,300 people in Germany were still listed missing, but cautioned that the high figure could be due to duplication of data and difficulties reaching people because of disrupted roads and phone connections.

In Belgium, Pepinster, Theux, Chaudfontaine, Spa, Liège a.o. got enough water to forget draughts for months. Most of the drowned were found around Liege, where the rains hit hardest. Skies were largely overcast in eastern Belgium, with hopes rising that the worst of the calamity was over.

Please find this report about the flash floods this week which followed days of heavy rainfall, sweeping away cars and causing houses to collapse across the region.

“Some parts of Western Europe … received up to two months of rainfall in the space of two days. What made it worse is that the soils were already saturated by previous rainfall,”

said Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization.

Those who keep saying Climate chance is an invention of revolutionaries and lefties, should have a better look of how our weather becomes unpredictable.

Extreme weather events are hitting Europe more frequently as climate change warms the continent, experts agree.

2020 was Europe’s hottest year since records began over 300 years ago, according to analysis of global weather stations by Berkeley Earth, and eight of the 10 hottest ever years have been in the past decade.

The continent’s average temperature is now roughly 2C warmer than it was at the start of the 20th century – an increase that has come with a growth in extreme weather.

For example, warmer air holds more water which, in turn, can lead to extreme downpours.

Please find to read and watch another video > Europe Floods: Death Toll Over 110 as Rescues Continue by Frank Jordans

Religious Resistance against vaccination

In the United States we can see a great tendency not to go for vaccination because according to lots of Christian citizens God would protect them.

Millions of white evangelical adults in the U.S. do not intend to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Tenets of faith and mistrust of science play a role; so does politics. Also in Calvinistic Holland we can find lots of people who do not want to be vaccinated.

Some people also come with the most absurd stories, like the government placing a chip in people or having vaccinations with “aborted cell tissue.” Others claim to have received a divine message that God was the ultimate healer and deliverer

“The vaccine is not the saviour.”

Several religious people find they do not need the vaccine because God designed the body to heal itself, if given the right nutrients. They are also convinced that it shall be the Will of God to decide who becomes ill or not and if they shall survive this pandemic.

Across white evangelical America, reasons not to get vaccinated have spread as quickly as the virus that public health officials are hoping to overcome through herd immunity.

There are about 41 million white evangelical adults in the U.S. About 45 percent said in late February that they would not get vaccinated against Covid-19, making them among the least likely demographic groups to do so, according to the Pew Research Center.

“If we can’t get a significant number of white evangelicals to come around on this, the pandemic is going to last much longer than it needs to,”

said Jamie Aten, founder and executive director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College, an evangelical institution in Illinois.

Those who refuse to have a jab forget that they are putting the lives of others in danger, the same as they are putting people at risk by ignoring the request not to have a public meeting with too many people. Several church groups can still be found to have public church services, with people coming very close to each other and by singing loud.

In the States

“The sheer size of the community poses a major problem for the country’s ability to recover from a pandemic that has resulted in the deaths of half a million Americans,”

the Times warned.

“And evangelical ideas and instincts have a way of spreading, even internationally.”

Though not all pastors advice their flock to stay away from vaccination.

Many high-profile conservative pastors and institutional leaders have endorsed the vaccines. Franklin Graham told his 9.6 million Facebook followers that Jesus would advocate for vaccination. Pastor Robert Jeffress commended it from an anti-abortion perspective on Fox News.

“We talk about life inside the womb being a gift from God. Well, life outside the womb is a gift from God, too.”

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention, J.D. Greear, tweeted a photo of himself receiving a shot.

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Related

According to Pew Most White Evangelicals Don’t Think COVID-19 is a Medical Crisis

the Soup will not be eaten as hot as it is served

“Are they really bringing people to workplaces to give them a better life?”

It was known or said that even if Jews were converted to the Christian faith, they remained “different” because of their bloodline. It was also known that many were jealous for the lifestyle and family feeling which could  be found in the Klal Yisrael or Jewish communities. Many goyim found the Jews separated themselves from the society, but they did not often see it were goyim who themselves gave enough reason not to mix too much with them.

Samuel Morgenstern was one of those shopkeepers who was one of the most loyal buyers of Hitler’s paintings in Vienna, by which Hitler could receive enough money not to be a tramp. Naturally there were also rumours Hitler could not stand Jews because he got a disease from regularly going to some ‘Jewish harlots’.

Portrait of Karl Lueger (ca. 1900), mayor of Vienna. He used anti-Semitism as a political strategy. Collection: Austrian National Library / painter: Alois Delug. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Rights: Public Domain

Mein Kampf, (German: “My Struggle”) political manifesto written by Adolf Hitler. It was his only complete book and became the bible of National Socialism (Nazism) in Germany’s Third Reich. It was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1927, and an abridged edition appeared in 1930. By 1939 it had sold 5,200,000 copies and had been translated into 11 languages.

It perhaps were not just rumours that the politician, co-founder and leader of the Austrian Christian Social Party, and mayor of Vienna Karl Lueger (1844-1910), used anti-Semitism as a political strategy, and that he was also praised as “the greatest German mayor of all time” by Adolf Hitler (In Mein Kampf) who did not mind following his ideas.

The prejudices about the role of the Jews in the Great War were incorrect, but as with many rumours, it spread like a virus. Many Germans did not want to believe how more than one hundred thousand German and Austrian Jews had fought for their homeland, one of them being Otto Frank, the German-born merchant best known as the father of Anne Frank, who witnessed the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

In the 1920ies our family members could already hear how our brethren were compared with germs. It was as if our people had been infecting generations for ages. That Hitler never thought his people were not strong enough to live according to the wishes of their god or according to the mitzvot of the Only One True God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. Lots of our friends could not believe that those who said they were “Christian” and as such would, or should, be following the Nazarene Jewish rabbi who preached brotherly love, could do such atrocious things, as others told about them. Perhaps it was to set up Jehudiem against Christians, so that the goyim had all the reason to tell

religion is the cause of war.

The words spread that Hitler said that you cannot fight a disease without destroying the person who caused it, and as such according to him, the influence of the Jews would never disappear without removing the perpetrator, the Jude, from the midst of the Arian race.

Radical ideas paved the way for the mass murder of the Jews in the 1940s, but not many of the Bnei Yisroel or Chosen People of God wanted to believe the rumours at first.

In many families, like ours, it was the saying

“the Soup will not be eaten as hot as it is served”.

They heard about plans which would be taken, but they seemed so unbelievable that they could not be true or would have been exaggerated, as by a circling fire. Others were not so much at ease, and warned

“to be aware of a silent dog and still water”.

Should we look askance at him? Now we can easily say they had much better looked at him out of the tail of their eyes. By not believing the many rumours, lots were woken up with a start, when it was too late.

For a long time, many wondered if it was within the odds, whilst others said

“He is not likely to go.”

Others wanted to be a friend to all, forgetting that then they would be a friend to none. Many debates about what went on in Germany and Austria could bring lots of talks after the children were sent to bed. For sure that what was to be spoken about was not for children’s ears.

It was, and is still, known that there was and is, an existing prejudice that Jews associate with financial power and monetary gain. Many are also convinced Jews are “foefelaars“, who make their pile on the poor white people. Lots of Jews may be looked at as a ramay / nokhel, a fiddler or cheater whilst there was no oysnarn at all.

White movement propaganda poster from the Russian Civil War era (1919), a caricature of Leon Trotsky, who was viewed as a symbol of Jewish Bolshevism.

In many countries people also looked at the Jehudi as the originators or conspirators and spreaders of communism. The vast majority of the communist leaders at that time were Jewish. However, it is only a small part of the Jews that were communists, and what a lot of people did not see is that several Jews were promoting or aiming for social equality, this being considered by many liberals and capitalists a danger for the economy and consumption gain. During the war with the Soviet Union, from 1941 on, it will be the idea of the ‘Jewish communism’ (sometimes also called Marxian-communism or meant to be Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism) with terrible consequences. The population and the prisoners of war being brutally treated by the Germans.

When Hitler got into power rumours got stronger, but still many did not want to believe what went around. Others were smart enough to be at the safe site by sending their beloved far away from Germany and Austria. Some thought they would be safe in Holland, but how they were mistaken. Having gone to Holland luckily several managed to cross the channel and find a safe haven in the United Kingdom, but the others got taken and deported.

At the Schalkland, in the “Klein-Brabant” region, less than 25 kilometres from the centre of Brussels and 19 kilometres from Antwerp, to the south of the Dendermonde highway (Mechelen – Dendermonde) was build the “Willebroeck Fort” as a fortified defence to protect the port and city of Antwerp, which by Royal Order dated 12 January 1907 rechristened the fort “Breendonck Fort”. On september 20th 1940 Sturmbannführer Philip Schmitt brought his first victims to Breendonk. The Fort officially became the Auffanglager Breendonk, a transit camp; a major centre for the Sicherheitspolizei-Sicherheitsdienst (SIPO/SD), the german political police.

Words spread that in Breendonk the kaze-the mats were to be removed from the earth in which they were covered. Three or four men had to push a railway carriage that was loaded with the earth. It was not the best marterial the prisoners had to use. Of these vehicles, the wheels were worn out, having to be pushed on worn-out rails, so that a person would have more than it is possible. Was it a rumour or was it true that the SS guards, with their weapons beated on the upper arms, the backs of the heads of the unfortunate ones until the latter were exhausted, but also fell dead?

Former working site at the camp of Breendonk. The regime set up here by the Nazis hardly differed from that of an official concentration camp. The undernourishment and the forced labour wore down the body and mind. The ever-present physical cruelty sometimes caused the death of prisoners. Initially, the camp was only guarded by a few German SS and a detachment of the Wehrmacht. In September 1941, the Wachtgruppe of the SD arrived as back up. This time, these were no longer German SS but mainly Flemings.

Some of the prisoners were to be buried up to the neck, after they were first on a ferocious manner, beaten. The S, S. jailers were there, then settled for the pitiful earth at the face of them. The game lasted sometimes for 1 or 2 hours, and when the victims were about to die, they did not stop to punch and to death. During the singing of the song of Breendonk, the text of which these words were placed on the grave:

” Wir werden nie mehr Breendonk vergessen, das Paradies-tier Juden…’.”

Sturmbannführer (majoor) Schmitt had created and placed a pulley on the ceiling in a folterbunker (torture bunker or blockhouse) of the camp, to make, that the victim’s hands at the back tied up would be drawn to the ceiling.

After that, it was a pizzle of the shot, he was then beaten with a bullepees (bullenpees: baton between a whip and a stick made from dried penis of a bull). When the hoist was released, the unfortunate person fell on two angular boards. Kachelpoken or stove pokers were glowed for immediate use,… because the Jews were not worth the bullet. They had to be sent to death during work and by torture.

When the words rang true for most of the Jews still living in the region, it was too late to find a safe place for their children and for themselves.

After the camps in Belgium or Holland as “Musselmen” (completely emaciated) thousands were deported to Germany to find an end to their unbearable suffering, either of starvation, giving up, or in the gas chambers.

The remaining Jews in Belgium were unable to follow the course of events that their fellow believers underwent elsewhere. Their own concerns were too overwhelming for this and contact with neighbouring countries was too incomplete. The seeping job tidings were considered exaggerated …

Commissioned by the notorious member of Heinrich Himmler’s SS, the Nazi paramilitary corps, Adolf Eichmann, the Sicherheits polizei in Berlin, wrote the following urgent letter, in which the word “Secret” is not missing (22 June 1942):

“From mid-July and early August this year, special trains of 1,000 people each day are planned, first of all about 40,000 Jews from the occupied French territory,
Send 40,000 Jews from the Netherlands and 10,000 Jews from Belgium to employment in the Auschwitz camp.
“The circle of persons to be included extends primarily to Jews who are skilled in work, insofar as they do not live in mixed marriages and do not have the nationality of the British Empire, of the U.S.A., of Mexico, from the enemy states, from Central and South America, as well as from the neutral and related states.

“I may request willing access and assume that there are no objections to these measures on the part of the foreign office either.
Commissioned get. Eichman “

On 12 July 1942 the last restriction on freedom before the local raids started was put visible on billboards. From the onward Jews were no longer allowed to visit cinemas, theatres, sports grounds or public institutions. In the trams they were only allowed to stand on the front platform of the trailer.

Such regulations still did not unbalance many of the Jewish diluted community. According to many the German measures only wanted to deprive the Jews of public pleasures … (Few will then have immediately known that the first nocturnal masses in Paris on Friday July 17, 1942 raffle had taken place.)

Pennant for Organisation Todt

Woman with Ostarbeiter OT badge at Auschwitz

The second Jewish labour team was also confidently leaving the civil and military engineering organisation “Organization Todt” to Charleville-Mèzières (18 July), until on July 22 the second deception beared its bitter fruit.(It was the day that the memorial of the destruction of the Temple took place in Jerusalem in the evening – Tischa be’af – -). Jews were arrested without any excuse! When that day the trains from Brussels and Antwerp stopped at Mechelen as usual, Feldgendarmen were on the platform. All the Jews, both men and women, were taken out. The same happened at the Antwerp and Brussels North terminus stations. (The Brussels-North-South connection did not yet exist.) Their freedom had ended. Some went to Breendonk. Most were sent to the 18^th century Dossin barracks, where between 1942 and 1944, 25,484 Jews, 352 Roma and Sinti were deported. Just over 5% returned from Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Kazerne Dossin, Goswin de Stassartstraat 153, B. 2800 Mechelen, where in the old barracks, visitors will find a memorial, which commemorates countless people who stayed there in despair and fear and who died later in unspeakable circumstances.

From the onward the Jews throughout Belgium were being seized by panic. Being an ode alone was therefore sufficient here to be arrested … The Jewish Council was powerless … followed by a reaction of partial sobering among the Jewish population. They forged new flight plans that were kept secret even from close acquaintances.
The panic mood was tempered after a few days. When  people received mail from the internees in Mechelen it all looked not as bad as the rumours went around.

They are not nearly as bad there … Fruits are missing … They may receive packages …

Faces from those who lost their life after being brought to the Dosin Kazerne in Mechelen

These days we remember all those who lost their life in a struggle to survive in a hatefull world.

Let us not forget how politicians can use disinformation and propaganda to mislead many and to create unwanted scapegoats.
We also may not let ourselves be fooled this time that it would not be as bad today with what was happening in the 1930ies. There are people who say

That can never repeat again

but after the Great War all people agreed also that such a horror should never take place again. Only a few years later the world found itself again in such time or terror.

This time let us be more careful, notice the signs of people bringing others on the wrong path, and react wisely to those who want us to believe we are ridiculous seeing ghosts or bad things in what are just jokes or carnavalesc activities.

 

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Preceding

Remembrance and freedom in the Netherlands – Dodenherdenking and Bevrijdingsdag

Niet te negeren gebeurtenissen rond Joden in België

The danger of having less than 25 000 Jews in Belgium

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Additional reading

1. The Great War changed everything
2. Reformed Churches Muzzled but Protest at Barmen
3. 2019 was #4 a Year of much deceit in Belgium and the rest of Europe
4. Signs of the times – “An object of scorn and ridicule”

The false prophets in the present world

When Marcus Ampe received (a few weeks ago) some e-mails from worried brethren living in Israel, fearing attacks from evangelist preachers he on the request of his brethren and in Jesus interested Jews, took away the mentioned articles on his blog “Our World“. Though nothing should have worried sincere people, because in the article was mentioned the good work done by and between Israelis and Palestinians who wanted to opt for peace and a way of living together.

Certain Zionist groups with fundamental christians oppose such a world were Jews, Muslims and Christians would live together in peace. In Israel, the Netherlands, as well as in the United States of America we can hear lots of voices who shout for the return of the Jews to Israel, but this at the cost of other people.

What people should notice by such preachers and by the mega churches which seem to pull more and more people to their church, is what those preachers say in their sermon often goes far away from the Biblical text.

 

Hannes Zegement Grove of Matthew101:disciples for Christ also questions

Did you ever watch some celebrity preacher on tv and thought by yourself, is this guy speaking truth or not? {False Prophets and their empty words}

also here in Belgium we can find on several tv-channels, mostly from the Netherlands, several preachers who are very capable to speak with fire  and with drama. We can not resist to think they are very good performers. But God does not require a priest, pastor or minister to be an actor. Everything what is said about God and His commandments should come out of the heart.

We can not ignore that the last few decades we have seen coming up many more preachers we would consider to be false preachers and even false prophets.

False prophets are becoming more prominent in today’s age of tolerance and rebellion against God. Not many people are interested in God, and the majority who feel something for a god or God love to see a god who fits most their idea of a god or does the best for them. In our days we find the majority of people who want to be religious, looking for an easy religion. They prefer that the religion fits their way of life and would not require to much effort and would offer no consequences. This generation more than any other wants to live however they’d like, without boundaries or authority. Unfortunately, there are plenty of teachers and preachers eager to give the people what they want to hear.

In this world full of adulterers we can say it is like in the ancient times at certain moments, when there was the force of man which was not right. In the past, even God could find profane priests their wickedness.

“11 “For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness,” saith the LORD. 12 “Therefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation,” saith the LORD.” (Jer 23:11-12 KJ21)

Also in the Messianic writings people are warned for the time that would come when people will not endure sound teaching, but would prefer to hear that what they would love to hear and what sounds good in their ears, suiting their own passions.

“3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts. 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned toward fables.” (2Ti 4:3-4 KJ21)

For many the Truth is something very hard to grasp or is something what takes away all their lovely myths and breaks with all their heathen traditions. that is why so many churches, like the Roman Catholic Church, always have adapted their rites to the common traditions of the regions where they tried to convert people to their faith. The Roman Catholic Church is one of the religious groups which succeeded most successfully to adapt their teachings to the wants of the people and providing them enough power to have everyone in their hold.

This culture is eager for an easy religion – one that requires no effort and offers no consequences.For them several protestant groups do have a solution. In the protestant churches of today there are plenty of teachers and preachers eager to give the people what they want to hear — and usually, they end up making a large sum of money off it.

In the last book of the bible (the most difficult one to fully understand), is given a picture of the dangerous evil coming into the time closer to the end of everything. We are told that at the time of the end the evil or the rebellious figure against God (satan) shall become stronger. From that book of revelation, we can learn that in a certain way it shall be those who are against God (the satans) shall have dominion over the earth, and a religious personality will arise and deceive the whole world by means of miraculous signs. This individual is referred to as “another beast” (Revelation 13:11), as well as “the false prophet” (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10).

For some people it may be strange to hear a person could sound like a dragon when he speaks, but that is what we do hear when those fiery preachers raise their voices and try to draw everyone into their story. Their mouths are like the mouths of a Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet the apostle John  could see.

It also might surprise us that the False Prophet is given supernatural power to do things like calling fire down from heaven (Revelation 13:13), and the signs he performs, combined with the demonic words he speaks (Revelation 16:13-14), will cause people to give their allegiance to — and even worship — the Beast. We can find lots of handy word-players and illusionists, using the magic they get from their inner powers in the aim to dupe earth dwellers, getting them to make an image of what they want to believe to be equal with their god and suitable for their way of life and worship. (Revelation 13:14)

From the very beginning the entire world and its cultures came in disobedience to God because of the influence of their own false thinking (evil way of thinking or being the satan). We should know that the world is in deadly antagonism against God, against the way of God, and the people of God because the spirit generated by the unseen prince of this world. It is essential that we stay awake and keep our guard up. Certainly coming closer to the end-times, a time were those who oppose God shall be in the majority, and seemingly stronger. Though we may not be mistaken. The true lovers of God shall recognise their seductive tricks and by keeping to the Biblical Truth shall find enough strength to resist their tempting talk. Even at times that those false preachers or false prophets will wield tremendous religious influence, and will successfully convince most of the world to commit idolatry (Revelation 13:12). Those false preachers shall manage to get enough people to worship the wrong god, also partly because partly people prefer to keep to human doctrines and partly because those preacher can come up with bigger churches and as such seem to be more credible.

The course of this world is combined with the “prince of the power of the air”, and these people who are caught by the attractive words of those false teachers, are seen as being disobedient to God’s Word, though often they think they know some verses and use them as the truth. And so it is gradually, slowly but surely, as we narrow it down, beginning to indicate more and more an evil system that is opposed to God. It is in this sense that it is used in those very famous scriptures there in I John 2:15-17.

“15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1Jo 2:15-17 KJ21)

Those who love God should be joining hands with others who also do not love the world’s ways. They know that love of the world squeezes out love for the Father and that is what we can see all over the world happening. At many places we also see preachers who strongly want to convince people that the Father and the son would be one and the same, so that their followers would worship an other god than the God of Jesus Christ and his pupils, who worshipped the God of Abraham, the God of Israel Who is Only One True God. Practically everything that goes on in the world, what we can see, is that most people are wanting it their own way, wanting everything for themself, wanting to appear important. This way we can see that several evangelist teachers are able to isolate people from God the Father and minimise the acts of Jesus, because they tell people no man would ever be able to do such thing as Christ did.

Too many people do forget that God spoke several times to the world by way of true prophets, who told there was going to come a sent one from God, a saviour out of the seed of David (so still had to be born or had to come into existence when they wrote down the Words from God). From the ancient Scriptures we can read there has also been a time that there were shepherds who deceived the flock of Israel and that God His wrath came upon them and the anger of God was not to return until He has executed the thoughts of His heart.

“1  “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” saith the LORD. 2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed My people: “Ye have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings,” saith the LORD. 3 “And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 And I will set up shepherds over them who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking,” saith the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days come,” saith the LORD, “that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch; and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 “Therefore, behold, the days come,” saith the LORD, “that they shall no more say, ‘The LORD liveth who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘the LORD liveth who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”” (Jer 23:1-8 KJ21)

“The anger of the LORD shall not return, until He has executed, and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart; in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.” (Jer 23:20 KJ21)

We should take that text from the Old Testament serious. It is also something we should remember in these days. Today we can see many preachers who claim to be workers for God, though present to the people another god than the God of the Bible, the One God of Moses, Who is the God of gods. The God of the Scriptures, Israel’s God, also speaks to those so called ‘shepherd-leaders’ who misled and still mislead His creatures. They should know that God not only keeps an eye on His people, but He is keeping His eye also on those who so called speak in His Name. We are told and they are warned, that God keeps track of their criminal behaviour.

For true lovers of God there is the hope and assurance that God shall take over and gather what’s left of His sheep, gather them in from all the lands where God has driven them and He shall bring them back where they belong, and they shall recover and flourish.

The world shall have to come to see that how closer we come to the end times, how more the world shall come to hear real lovers of God telling about the Biblical Truth and the coming Kingdom of God. Though there may be a growing number of false prophets, the Most High Elohim, Jehovah God, shall provide shepherd-leaders to protect His flock and to take good care of them. The world may do a lot for making them afraid, but those who are against such witnesses for Jehovah should know that they won’t live in fear or panic any-more.

God has established a truly righteous David-Branch, a ruler who knows how to rule justly. The followers of that sent one from God, can count on it that their master shall bring justice and keep people united and that in his time Judah will be secure again and Israel will live in safety. And many people shall not fall for those false teachers but dare to tell to the world

“Jehovah our righteousness.  {Or Jehovah is our righteousness } (Jer 23:6 ASV)

Therefore many false prophets will be angry against them, but true lovers of God and true followers of Christ Jesus shall keep telling the world that it is Jehovah

 ‘GOD-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.’

So the world has to watch for this. The time’s coming “GOD’s Decree”. and people shall come to see that God really did not sent those coaxers and prophets of deceit.

“ How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?” (Jer 23:26 ASV)

How fearful it must be to fall in the hands of an angry God and this is what is happening, if God is against you, no one on earth and heaven can save you! therefore we should give heed. We should be very careful that we come to know the Biblical truth and are not carried away by the many false teachings and doctrines this world presents to us, and may look very attractive.

God will bring will bring upon those false teachers and their followers everlasting disgrace – everlasting shame that will not be forgotten. We must know that they even shall not be there to go in the promised Land when the Kingdom shall be restored.

“How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart,” (Jer 23:26 KJ21)

“therefore behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of My presence. And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten.”” (Jer 23:39-40 KJ21)

We must open our eyes and see what is going on in this world and how false prophets are becoming more agitated when they hear biblical truth around them. It even brings them so far they want to attack people (like we could see and feel in Israel).

There are even churches who plays the roll of these prophets and like Jeremiah 23v1-8 will conclude that there are shepherds who destroy the flock of Israel and scatter them. The very same is happening in our day, there are false preachers and churches, missions, and teachers who is destroying the flock of Christ and who deceives the nation and whom is wicked. {False Prophets and their empty words}

If you are in doubt about certain preachers, please look at their way of life and check their words with those of the Bible. You may wonder why so many want to believe the words of man above the words of God

– God is truth man is not, but we reject the word of God and we believe the lying false messengers who proclaim falsely “I have dreamed” or “God came to me and said to me” {False Prophets and their empty words}

Or “I had a vision”. We rather want to believe every person’s vision and not the BIBLE. {False Prophets and their empty words}

What we encounter most in these days is that people do not want to take time to see what is really written in the Bible.

The most common and logical reason for persons to believe any new intriguing message especially if it is a vision etc. is because we do not study the Bible. We do not read it every single day. If we knew God and if we knew what the word of God is saying, we will not be so easily deceived. but our country is and there is one main reason: they do not study the word of God. if they did, they would not be deceived. {False Prophets and their empty words}

There is the big need to study and to listen to the Words of God.

we must observe the scripture and know the content, so we can discern about these things, that we can spot false teachings. That we must repent from our own ways.

We must test the spirit, not just believe anyone but compare them to the word of God. {False Prophets and their empty words}

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1Jo 4:1 KJ21)

The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. (1Jo 2:15-17)

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Preceding

Ideas about Religiosity

Numbers 10:10 Make Your Rejoicing Heard

For Jews wanting to learn more about Jeshua and of other Jews following Jeshua

Need to reject an archaic, racist inspired interpretation of the Bible and animosity against other believers

a Call to stop the growing anti-Semitism

Do those who want to follow Christ to be Jews

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Additional reading

1. Position and power
2. Depression, Anxiety, Pressure and megachurches
3. MegaChurch
4. When there is secrecy involved
5. Engaging the culture without losing the gospel
6. Reasons why you may not miss the opportunity to go to a Small Church
7. Germinating small seeds, pebble-stones, small and mega churches and faith
8. Place for a fifth and sixth house in Christendom
9. Displeasures and Actions of the Almighty God
10. Shariah and child abuse – Is there a connection?
11. Souls and Religions with Nirvana and light
12. Matthew 7:15-20 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The True Disciple #2 False prophets and fruitage
13. Matthew 7:13-23 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: The True Disciple #3 Matthew 7:21-23 The ones Jesus never knew
14. Signs of the Last Days
15. Signs of the the last days when difficult times will come
16. Teachings, prophets, wolves in sheep’s covering and a narrow gate
17. Necessity of a revelation of creation 11 Believing and obeying the gospel of the Kingdom of God
18. The Way of the LORD
19. Memorizing wonderfully 30 False prophets and false teachers

For Jews wanting to learn more about Jeshua and of other Jews following Jeshua

Many Jews prefer to stay in the background or in the shadow. Some Jews become curious in the Nazarene rebbe Jeshua and would love to come to know more about him and his followers.

In Israel, Great-Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands are Jewish brethren and sisters who would not mind to tell about this incredible master teacher. As followers of Jeshua or Jeshuaists, in the Netherlands also some calling themselves Jesjoeaansen or Jesjoeaist (from another Dutch way of writing Jeshua’s name: Jesjoea), are hoping to bring more people to see that Jeshua or Jesus Christ is the way to God and the long awaited promised sent one from God, the anointed or Messiah (the Moshiach = Kristos or Christ).

On the web you may find

From the Flemish part of Belgium and the Brussels region there is published the general website: Jeshuaisten / Jeshuaists Volgers van de Nazarener Joodse rebbe Jeshua – Followers of the Nazarene Jewish rebbe Jeshua

and additional two more personal sites of a Jeshuaist and of Immanuel Verbondskind

From the Walloon site of Belgium you may find: Jeshuaists (from Genvalin mainly in english and some French) and the site discussing Jeshuaism (from Genval in Dutch)

with its blog

with its blog

and both also with a Forum

Naturally both Jews and non-Jews are very welcome to those sites which want to shed a light on the set apart or Holy Scriptures and our way of life, in the prospect of our hope in the Messiah and the coming Kingdom of God.

Need to reject an archaic, racist inspired interpretation of the Bible and animosity against other believers

In Belgium and France we see a growing hatred against lovers of the One and Only One True God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. Several Jews have been attacked physically or were made afraid by all kinds of threats or intimidations. That made many of our brethren and sisters leave for Israel. In France Jehovah’s Witnesses, Bible Students and Christadelphians are prohibited to proclaim the Good News or the Gospel of the Kingdom in public, for example by speaking to people on the street or by billing leaflets. In several regions people look down at Muslims or show their hate, giving the impression that they must be all so terrible or be believers of the faith IS promotes.

The Netherlands for years already had their very conservative Calvinist groups, but the last 30 years they were joined by other radical Christians. Many of those follow the Bible literally and can’t read in between the lines nor showing understanding Hebrew thinking or Hebrew way of talk.

As a college professor, the writer of Help from Heaven looks at this world and sees how we have come to a period people want to have eye-flaps, but also finds that the present youngsters could perhaps be more interested in and learning from stories that illustrated the teachings he was bringing but also about the teaching the Holy Scriptures wants to bring to mankind.

Is it

Archaic, bygone, ancient, passe, primitive, old. {Bonkers away blog: daily-prompt: Archaic}

that makes us not fitting in this world any more, giving us the impression it is becoming less accepting, more limited of views, less free thinking, more prudent, less receptive to other opinions. We clearly feel how youngsters today look more hostile to different thinking people, otherwise believers and to those who belong to a different culture.

Also certain communities are guilty of bringing limitations to free thinking. We even do not have to go far. In our own regions we have very conservative Jews who want to have the children over protected and also want them to believe in literal Biblical interpretation, holding fast on a six day creation and as such with their thought on the same line as the growing group of Christian Creationists. You may call it a response to modern evolutionary theory, which explains the emergence and diversity of life without recourse to the doctrine of God or any other divine power. Mainstream scientists generally rejecting creationism may find several believers in God joining them too, but worse is to see how by the growing pressure of certain religious groups trying to get diversion or war between other religious groups, we can see many more people getting fed up with religion and putting it aside.

Certain people want to to overwrite history and think they can make for it a better picture that covers the archaic marks and portray a new picture. They have the impression the strokes that they shall strike this time shall be much stronger and sharper just like the person they have become in the journey of their life … {“Life is like an Old Sketch”}

The article “The Racist Bible” brings a view of the recent problems our world is facing. There is written:

We live with such an archaic interpretation of the Bible. People interpreted the Bible in different ways 100 years ago, 500 years ago, and 1500 years ago. We need to know why those interpretations came into being. Once we do, we can see how it is hurting us. Only then can we move on to a powerful Biblical interpretation, one that is vibrant and appeals to the modern non-Christian. {The Racist Bible}

In several of the Jeshuaists their articles they try to bring a view how the ancient Hebrews saw the beginning of the world and how the Adonai handled the rebellion of man. We can see how by the years ‘Church‘ made use to bend words or twist interpretations to get people under the spell or in their ban. Several religious groups love to have control over their flock and found it most appropriate to do that with fearmongering and with hard language (sometimes even going so far to use abusive language or enormity). Scaring people or trying to intimidate them has become more popular these days. We can find certain preachers (like Mr. Dave Norris) happy to present all sorts of lies about other religious groups than their own church, (for Mr Norris: the Bible Church), which must be the only one true church every one should have to become a member, because otherwise they shall have to burn in hell for ever. Strangely enough in several articles he attacks groups which say we are saved but still have to do works.  He then claims (like Mr. Cross Roman)  we do not have to do any works any more because we are saved by Christ his blood. Norris also knows about the problems of human tradition and writes

All this is ridiculous and pits Apostolic Authority against scripture. Judaism regards the Torah or the first five books of the Bible highly but not quite as high as the Talmud which is Jewish tradition. Tradition can be classified as a philosophy written by men. Whether you believe it or not the Bible was not written by men per se but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Christadelphians and Bible students also follow their own traditions which supersedes the word of God and each Congregation of those bodies believe differently as there is no uniform Doctrine. Just like in the Book of Judges when everyone did what was right in their own eyes yes. I follow the word of God and place very little impetus on tradition. {Precious Spiritual Children- 2}

He tells others lies about the Belgian Biblestudents and Christadelphians, so called claiming Jesus would return a certain day or year (what they certainly do not)  but he himself writes that the Jewish people will accept a guaranteed peace covenant secured by the countries of the now 80% Islamic Roman Empire.

Norris on return of Christ + Jews+ Islamic world + doctrine of imminence+end-time prophesies

Some preachers, because they believe the world shall come to an end, try to call others false prophets and try their believers to belief that those groups would have prophesied such dates for the end of the world, whilst those groups, like the Belgian Bible Students and the Christadelphians already have spend many articles saying that we should be careful with people claiming that Jesus would return on such or such a day, because even Jesus did not know it and we also can not know the exact day of the return of Jesus. But for sure we may be sure that the world shall not come to an end, not because the Belgian Bible students and the Christadelphians belief so , but because that is just the biblical truth and God’s promise  to our Patriarch Abraham, that we may look forward to a big state of united people under God’s King his reign her on earth and in heaven.

Lots of present teachers attacking Jews, Non-Trinitarian Christians and Muslims do have much self-esteem and though they seem to recognise it as part of the possible signs of the end-times do not see the beam in their own eyes but blame the splinters in someone else’s skin, claiming that at all dates setters fail to do is to rely on the words of the scripture which they only are able to do, them being able to see how fast Satan is working to cause chaos and evil, deceiving this world (like Mr. Norris is doing), because all others are “kindergartners” or “have no brains” (Norris his words).

The kettle blames the pot that it looks black but does not see the beam in its own eyes while it complains about the splinters in someone else’s skin. Mr. Dave Norris blaming others to tell and warn about end-times sings, but giving himself also some recognition to those signs in his series over the The End Times (namely part 4)

It might look honourable when people try to talk about that nice prospect of their Messiah coming back. But then they would have to follow the footsteps of that Nazarene master teacher Jeshua, Jesus Christ, who preached peace and not war, like they are doing. So many preachers may be happy with the contemporary technology making it very easy to bring the Word of God all over the nations. To our regret we also find lots of people finding in it a tool to spit their gal and to do everything to have their poisonous words to obscure all reality and decency.

Internet evangelism is how the nations will have an opportunity to hear and receive the Good News. No longer can one person reach only as many as he knows or comes into contact with. Today one person, right out of the comfort of his home, can reach millions of people in places he has never been and most likely, never will go. One person can invest a little time, without investing thousands of dollars in travel expenses, and can do much more, plant more seeds, and encourage more brethren than if he were to board a plane and go somewhere. {Today’s “Roman Road” – the Internet}

But at the same time we can see how one person can manage to bring all sorts of writings on the different denominations which exist in the world of religion, to break them. He even attacks the people of God and let his readers believe that we give more attention to human teachings and traditions than to the Torah.

Dave Norris of the Bible Church on Jews + Talmud + Rabbinical teaching

Mr Dave Norris of an American bible Church wanting his readers and all people in the world to believe the Jews are using the goyim as their slaves and would find raping women and killing whites ok, clearly wanting to create hatred against the Jewish people (Picture from The Shocking Jewish Talmud Revealed)

Concerning founders Mr. Norris has shown, about other denominations too, he also has a strange view, him believing it were the Hebrews who founded Judaism, though it was the Most Almighty Elohim Who has chosen us as His people and promised us by the seed of Abraham a great nation.

He also seems to forget one of the main points of a monotheist religion, which according to him our ancestors would have created. In Judaism part 101-1 he mentions the essence of a monotheist religion, namely worshipping only One True God above all gods, whilst he is a worshipper not of “One and Unique” God, but of the trinity and as such worships three gods: a God the Father, god the son and god the Holy Spirit, and by doing so should fall under the polytheists. When he considers the Hebrew religion as the mother religion of his religion, we would like to ask him why he went so far away from his mother and betrayed her?

Judaism – Jews chosen by God practising and teaching monotheism

For Mr. Norris it seems to be clear that all those who preach peace between Jews, Christians, Muslims and non believers are oxymorons.

Mr Dave Norris finds all those who want to live in peace together and accept the other religious groups “biblical oxymoron” finding they falter between two opinions following Baal considering that (according to him) God and Baal are oxymorons as is this question of the agreement the temple of God has with idols. (Though he himself belongs to a church with several idols or gods.) (picture of his article: The Coexist Movement- 2)

Like he does not seem to see the many differences between the Bible students he also does not seem to know much about the different forms of Judaism, only mentioning three.

Dave Norris limited vision on Jewish groups

Though people like him are being followed by many as if they are the gurus of truth.

Perhaps he, living in the United States, feels united with the many creationists and conservative and fundamentalist Christians. Him also for the whites, thinking Jews love to kill them, can find  confirmation in the writing of the professor who writes

In fact, it was not until Luther that people started taking the Bible more literally. The Creationist movement, though, including the world-wide flood didn’t really take root until the southerners of 1850+ started promoting it. Thus, we had a racist theology demand that their interpretation was the only one. Many were convinced to write on it, without referring to slavery. Slowly the arguments strengthened, until many who are not racist accept the arguments. This, though has saddled us with a theology that contradicts science. Now, we have to invent miracles that are not mentioned in the Bible to fit this theology. For example, a single flood doesn’t leave layers, it jumbles up everything.  {The Racist Bible}

For the professor it might be clear that certain Western Christians have perhaps taken a too restricted look at the Scriptures and perhaps in their thought that the King James Bible is the only true Bible, many Americans even thinking those Hebrews, like Abraham, Isaiah and Jesus all had English Names and as such find, it can not be that the rebbe his name is Jeshua or that God is called Jehovah.

Perhaps it is getting time that people from the West Northern hemisphere start looking at the Bible with other eyes. They also should start questioning their attitude to Jews, real Christians, Muslims, other and non-believers. If they want to win souls or if they want to convert people, loving to see them as members of their Christian faith, it will certainly come down not to follow the way of preachers like Dave Norris serves his community of the Bible Church, because I think he is at the moment getting more people away from faith and religion than getting them in his group or into becoming a Christian. The way we see many Christians act against other Christians and how there is a growing number of Christians reacting cruel against other faith groups or pushing others not to believe in the existence of dinosaurs or that the earth is flat and that NASA would be fooling us about the round earth, it is understandable why so many Christians are leaving the Christian Faith.

We need to reject the archaic, racist inspired interpretation of the Bible. We need to look at it afresh. The interpretation I suggested is not necessarily right, but is a reasonable alternative. Right now, because we are stuck with the racist inspired creationism, we are losing Christians when they go to High School and college and study science. They see how the two conflict, and are rejecting the Bible in great numbers. If we study the Bible fresh, we will see that there are literal interpretations that do not conflict with science, and we can then focus on talking about Jesus without people saying, “I don’t believe that stuff. It is just an archaic myth that science has shown to be wrong.” {The Racist Bible}

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Preceding

Confrontation by people telling lies to force others to avoid the targetted groups

The written, the spoken, and the audible a part of the soul and a blessing to humanity but also the trigger to those who love Crusades and the Inquisition

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Additional reading

1. Dave Norris and his writings on the Belgian Bible Students
2. Trusting present youngsters who are not necessary evil
3. Overprotection and making youngsters drifting away
4. The way of looking at the Scriptures and the people in this world
5. Knife-trust in democratic sore back
6. Pushing people in a corner danger for indoctrination and loss of democratic values

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Related

1. The Watchtower Belgian Biblestudents
2. Belgian Biblestudent Deception- 1
3. Comfort Zone Gospel
4. Jonah; Wake Up
5. The Missing Piece to Salvation
6. Saved From What?
7. Selling Jesus
8. Think About It…
9. Entering the Trail to True Freedom
10. Main Reason to Share the Gospel
11. Evangelism as a lifestyle
12. How to Overcome Fear of Sharing the Gospel – The Story of the Waldensians
13. Forgetting that the Gospel is Good News, Romans 1:7
14. Salty Agape
15. Communicating the Wondrous Truth of God’s Love and Mercy
16. Eschatology for beginners (part 1)
17. The Return of Yeshua Ben Joseph, also known as Jesus – by New Dimension – 12-23-17
18. Exit Strategy End Times: “Unforgiveness and the Band Aid of agreement.” “
19. This is NOT the Time to be SILENT
20. Eastern Lightning | The Awakening of a Deceived Spirit (Part 2)
21. Keep Racing!
22. How to Teach About the Second Coming
23. Today’s “Roman Road” – the Internet
24. The Antichrist in the Holy Place Church
25. The Historical Lesson Historians Need to Learn
26. Scoffers
27. Why Is Christ’s Return Not Widely Taught?
28. The Beginning and the Ending
29. Seven Reasons For Six Day Creation
30. The Creationism
31. Elmore Fundamentalism, Part 1: Matter
32. More on Evolution: From the Mail Room, by Fred Reed
33. Is There Biological Evidence of Life’s Recent Creation? – Part I
34. Scientists Identify a Key Cognitive Error that Could Explain Why People Believe in Creationism and Conspiracy Theories
35. Why Evolution is True Review
36. Teleogical views predict not just creationism, but conspiracy theories
37. A Creationist Surprise
38. Is Creationism racist?
39. God and Science
40. Eric Hedin, prohibited from teaching intelligent design at Ball State, retires and moves to a Christian university
41. Claim of creationism taught in school linked to National
42. School response on creationism, claims evolution ‘controversies’
43. School response on creationism, claims evolution ‘controversies’ — Your NZ
44. Origin Story: A Big History of Everything
45. There IS Purpose!
46. Your Mythology is not Science
47. Where Were You Radicalized?
48. The Ends of the World
49. Civil Debate? Catcall? Or Creationist Ruse?
50. Faith abates reason at Edmonton’s first Flat-Earth International Conference
51. #1: Inexplicable Species and the Theory of Evolution
52. Evolutionary psychology: The naturalistic and agency fallacies
53. A creationist makes the dumbest criticism of evolution ever
54. Noah’s ark: the most ridiculed story in the Bible
55. Tel Aviv’s new natural history museum (built to look like Noah’s Ark) deliberately omits mentioning evolution
56. Why Do the Fundamentalists Love Tracey Ullman Now?
57. InfightingNon-Physical Fighting 2
58. Sikh Radicalisation in Britain
59. Waitress Denied Tip for ‘not loving Jesus’
60. Christian-hating transgender VT gubernatorial candidate DUPED by satire site: ‘Some evangelists just crazy!’
61. The Nashville Statement (A Plain Language Translation)
62. Love and Hate

Dutch Trumpism defeated

A small European country just struck a bright beautiful blow for hope and unity! Add your voice to the global thank you letter below to join the celebrations — then spread it far and wide:

Geert Wilders on campaign in Zwolle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Dutch Trump, Geert Wilders, who was leading in the Netherlands‘ election race right up to the last moment, was just defeated!

Wilders had promised to close all mosques, pull the Netherlands out of the EU and ban the Koran. After Brexit and Trump, the whole world was watching to see if the far-right would continue its terrifying rise.

But in the end, the Dutch people struck a beautiful blow against Trumpism. The tide just turned against the global spread of fascist politics. And our movement was right in the middle. How?

20,000 marchers, 500km on a bus, 5 million views, 300,000 reached with newspaper ads, and a community united against hate.

Click to say Thank You to the people of the Netherlands:

Just before the election, we helped mobilise 20,000 people onto the streets to march together to celebrate the Netherlands’ long history of openness and tolerance.

On Sunday the Avaaz members took to the streets in The Hague, Paris and Berlin to celebrate and send a strong warning signal to Le Pen in France and the AfD in Germany that we are coming to stop them in elections there.

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Related articles

• Dutch election 2017: Who is Geert Wilders?
• Dutch Prime Minister sees off challenge from anti-Islam Geert Wilders
• Geert Wilders and the Real Story of the Election
• When The Netherlands Had a Muslim-Majority Empire
• GEERT WILDERS: ‘Whatever the outcome of the election today, the genie will not go back into the bottle’
• Dutch voters stem populist tide with re-election of PM Rutte
• DUTCH ELECTIONS: Prime Minister Mark Rutte set to win big victory over far-right leader Geert Wilders
• Geert Wilders is still a force to be reckoned with
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The price of freedom

Those people who say they don’t want to remember the dead, nor celebrate the liberation of their country because “it’s not about them” do forget that it is about their own family , those who existed long before them and they who would come after them. It is because of those battle fought, the talks having taken place, the covenants being made, that we also thanks to the European Union do have a period of already 70 years with out a war in the Netherlands.

Also not wanting to remember all their struggles shows disrespect and proves the egoism which has taken its toll in this capitalist materialist world.

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To remember

paternal grandfather = adventurous + accomplished technical engineer, who traveled the world

WW2 => joined the resistance >> team betrayed => Nazi’s transported him to a concentration camp

By miracle, he lived to see the early days of May 1945 > survived bizarre allied bombing > passed away, only shortly upon his return to his family.

done his duty > fought for freedom

I agree we need to rewrite history + have a critical look at whose dead we commemorate + whose freedom we allow ourselves to celebrate – + at which cost.

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Preceding articles:

May, for many a month for mothers and many celebrations

Religious celebrations in May 2016

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Kirsten van den Hul

I never got to meet my paternal grandfather. From what I’ve been told, he seems to have been quite an amazing man. An adventurous and accomplished technical engineer, who traveled the world (wonder where I got that from ;-)) before settling down with his wife, my grandmother. Life looked good, he had a job, they bought a house, they were starting a family.

Then WW2 started.

Now he could have just done nothing when the Germans invaded his country. He simply could have kept on working as an engineer, trying to make ends meet in those difficult years and raise his two blue-eyed baby boys. But he didn’t. Instead, he joined the resistance.

I would have loved to be able to talk to him and ask him why he did that. If he ever was afraid. If his wife ever tried to dissuade him. If he ever worried about his…

View original post 505 more words

Solstice, Saturnalia and Christmas-stress

Today lots of people tend to treat things such as Christmas trees and holiday gift giving as if they’ve been with us forever. While these are old traditions, they were once far more localized. In this world of media everywhere, we tend to forget that customs were once far more specific to the area. Lots of people also have lost the connection of those festivals and have transposed it to their group of people, believers or non-believers in Jesus Christ or in God.

From the Saxon days there was Yule for mid-winter and in the regions of West Europe the autumn storm brought many ideas alive to think about gods who controlled everything in nature. The days becoming darker demanded for and still demand for some more light bringing into it. In the old times to honour the gods it was custom to put all sorts of things in the trees as an offering to the gods. On December the 25th it was the day of the goddess of light. Time was taken to celebrate her.

Traditional Christmas card with holly and mistletoe. Circa 1880s

Druids, Celts, and even the Romans used evergreen branches made into wreaths in winter solstice celebrations. Because so many things lost colour and seemed to have died people looked up for those elements in nature which could be so strong that they stayed green. Pagan symbols as holly and ivy remained green and were taken as a promise of life to return in dead of winter. Holly – prized for its ability to bear fruit in winter and its healing uses – were the blessings people hoped they could have in the house and share with each other. Healing elements were very important to get through Winter.

While the Romans were holding the feast for the god Saturn — which occurred about the time of the winter solstice — they decked the outsides of their houses with holly. At the same time the Christians were quietly celebrating the birth of Christ, and to avoid detection they outwardly followed the custom of their heathen neighbours and decked their houses with holly as well. In this way holly came to be connected with Christmas customs. The plant was also regarded as a symbol of the Resurrection.

The missionaries coming in these regions quickly understood how the pagan traditions were so strong and how people would not like to give them up. This we still see today happening. As Christians should come to know more about traditions and about usages all over the world, plus having the Holy Scriptures to find what they could or could not do, we see that those who call themselves Christian still do not like to give up those pagan traditions and pagan festivals.

The Roman Catholic Church had already given in to Constantine the Great allowing the false teaching of the trinity be part of the Catholic Faith, so it was a further small step to adapt the Western Celtic and Saxon traditions to the Roman Faith. In 336 CE, during the time of this so called  first Christian Roman Emperor for the first time on December 25th “Christmas” was being celebrated.

A very early Christian tradition said that March 25^th was the day when Mary was told she’d give birth to Jesus (called the Annunciation). And nine months later, of course, would be December 25^th. But the Bible doesn’t mention the exact days of that annunciation, nor of the birth of Jesus, though from all the secular writings we do know when the cencus took place, when the falling star appeared and that it was in October that Mary and Joseph went to fulfil their duties. We can take it was in 4BCE on October the 17th that rabbi Jeshua from the tribe of King David was born. For those who would love to celebrate his birthday it is strange that they than not do this around the period Jesus was rally born.

An image from the necropolis under the Vatican in which Jesus = Mithras (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is true that in many cultures we can find a festival of lights, also the Jews have such a festival of lights. Germans and Scandinavians had their yule festival. Celtic legends connected the solstice with Balder, the Scandinavian sun god or Norse god of light, son of the chief god Odin and his wife Frigg, who was struck down by a mistletoe arrow from the blind god Hödur (or Höd). At the pagan festival of Saturnalia, Romans feasted and gave gifts to the poor. Drinking was closely connected with these pagan feasts.

The Babylonian sun-god and god of agriculture and flocks, Tammuz, lover of Ishtar, born on the winter solstice according to legend was also celebrated on December the 25th and by the Roman Catholic Church his symbol was taken as the symbol for Jesus (the sign of Tammuz or the cross), placing Jesus as the bringer of light and god of light.

The leaders of the instituted organisation of clergy who accepted the trinity, agreed to adopted the saturnalia day of the ‘day of birth’ or ‘day of new life’ as a remembrance day of the new life Jesus has given to all mankind. For them it was easier to get more converts by keeping the folks from indulging in the old pagan festivals as part of the pagan culture, now transformed or redressed in a Roman Catholic dressing.

Branches that had thorns became to be the thorns Christ wore on the crucifix (sign of Tammuz) and the berries were stained red by his drops of blood. From the Norse and the Druids, the Mistletoe you may find growing here everywhere and at that time was considered special because of it found growing on the sacred oaks, was featured in several old myths and held to be sacred and associated with fertility, which led to kissing boughs.

Also today at the Christmas markets we can find the gangway where there is the kissing bough custom one holds that a woman who refuses the kiss shall have bad luck, and that those who kiss underneath it shall be having a blessed and fruitful year.

Not all the following years Christmas was part of Christian life. During Cromwell’s rule, Christmas was even banned. Charles II restored the holiday in England. However, the Parliament of Scotland officially abolished the observance of Christmas in 1640, to purge the church “of all superstitious observation of days”, and it was not restored as a public holiday in Scotland until 1958.

Julbocken, by John Bauer (1912)

From the 4th to the 19th century the tradition of the Northern people their celebration for their chief god and the father of Thor, (Thunor, or Thonar), Balder, and Tiw, Woden or Wotan became more and more also liked by the people from Holland and Belgium and the man with a long white beard who rode a horse through the heavens one evening each Autumn became their Sint Niklaas (Sinterklaas) or Sint Nicholas  (saint Nicholas) and in the Anglo Saxon countries Father Christmas or Santa Claus/Sancta Claus.

1881 illustration by Thomas Nast who, along with Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, helped to create the modern image of Santa Claus

From the 20th century onward that Father Christmas started gaining more popularity and the presents became more and more the focus of the people for that season were the darkness seemed to have darkened their Christian sight. Lots of Christians enjoyed decorating the ‘Christmas tree‘ and telling their children the Saint from Spain had brought presents for all those who had behaved well the previous year. Later in the month it was the Santa who once more brought presents in the house.

History illustrates the awesome outworking of initial events from when the Divine Creator has declared

Zephaniah 1:17-18 The Scriptures 1998+  (17)  “And I shall bring distress on men, and they shall walk like blind men – because they have sinned against יהוה  {Jehovah}, and their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.”  (18)  Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of יהוה  {Jehovah}. And by the fire of His jealousy all the earth shall be consumed, for He makes a sudden end of all those who dwell in the earth.

This comes from the Christadelphian bible reading for December 15 when we started reading this short and somewhat overlooked prophecy of Zephaniah. He would have been one of the prophets Peter referred to, as we read the final chapter of his second letter of the same day-reading, he told them they should remember

2 Peter 3:2 The Scriptures 1998+  (2)  the words previously spoken by the set-apart prophets, and of the command of the Master and Saviour, spoken by your emissaries,

Today we may find lots of people who have stress about the coming days when they have to present nice meals and many presents and have to fulfil many family visits and social obligations. Their eyes are closed for the real issue in life. Not a Santa shall bring salvation and he from the North has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. When we look at the many Christmas markets we even do not see much what reminds us of the Saviour who was sent by God to this earth.

Ages ago holy prophets told about the eyes of people which would become blinded. Today we

“should remember their predictions”

Folk tale depiction of Father Christmas riding on a goat. Perhaps an evolved version of the Swedish Tomte. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We also should remember that they also warned for the time that scoffers were going to come and would lead people following their own sinful desires. About the promised one who was born, lived for a very short time here on earth, died, was resurrected from the dead and showed that he was not a spirit, but the one brought back alive by his heavenly Father, that master teacher is not remembered much these days and many do not think about his return or even do not believe in it.

Yes many laugh at us and say,

“Where is the promise of his coming?”

Many children have to promise their parents that they will be good next year. Then they also will get some present. But not many children learn about that man who died for our sins. Not many take time in this ‘Time of the year’ to read the Bible and to meditate on what God and his son Jesus had to say.

Today lots of people are concentrating on their self and do see all those refugees coming in our regions as a possible threat to what they can enjoy. Many are afraid they shall have to share with those poor people who travelled thousands of miles to find their luck in our Western world where money seems to flow like moulted butter.

Many people do not see what is really going on and how those set apart men of God had warned for certain situations we can see today. Also Jesus told about the signs of those days we have today. That time Jesus spoke about, may be much closer than many think. Many are blinded by the money this world is offering. Lots of people think everything can be said with presents and with the value of money. The real value for life they often do not see. Capitalism has put sand in their eyes.

The ways of godless thinking and living will be seen for all the foolishness they are; and we must never forget, there are only 2 ways: the broad way and the narrow way. Those on the narrow way are

2 Peter 3:12-15 The Scriptures 1998+  (12)  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of Elohim, through which the heavens shall be destroyed, being set on fire, and the elements melt with intense heat!  (13)  But according to His promise we wait for a renewed heavens and a renewed earth in which righteousness dwells.  (14)  So then, beloved ones, looking forward to this, do your utmost to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,  (15)  and reckon the patience of our Master as deliverance, as also our beloved brother Sha’ul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him,

“waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (verses 13,14).

Included in what they (we) are waiting for, is what Job perceived and that we read today. He declared,

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (19:25-27).

He believed in resurrection!

That final comment is most thought provoking. Our hearts will be in danger of fainting within us for multiple reasons, when God “bring(s) distress” – the experience will be awesome for believers! But how imminent then will be the time when they will “see God” through seeing his Son, marvelling in anticipation of the ultimate time when

“God himself will be with them as their God … for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3,4).

Let us anticipate in faith the things that “our eyes shall behold” to carry us through the coming time of “distress”.

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Additional reading

1. Holidays, holy days and traditions
2. Christmas customs – Are They Christian?
3. Christmas, Saturnalia and the birth of Jesus
4. Irminsul, dies natalis solis invicti, birthday of light, Christmas and Saturnalia
5. Focus on outward appearances
6. Jesus begotten Son of God #1 Christmas and Christians
7. Christmas in Ancient Rome (AKA Saturnalia)
8. Christmas trees
9. Actions to be a reflection of openness of heart
10. With child and righteousness greater than the law
11. Objects around the birth and death of Jesus
12. Politics and power first priority #3 Elevation of Mary and the Holy Spirit
13. The imaginational war against Christmas
14. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 1: Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet
15. Manna from Sint Nicholas
16. Traditionalists Vow to Fight Charges of Racism in Netherlands
17. Ignorance of Today’s Youth (and Adults)
18. Sancta Claus is not God
19. Brits believe Santa present at Jesus’ birth, new poll reveals
20. Wishing lanterns and Christmas

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Further reading

1. Winter Solstice and Yule
2. Yule is upon us!
3. Dickens’ Christmas Story as an Intertexteme in Leskov’s Yule Short Story
4. Winter Solstice 2015: Shortest Day Of The Year Celebrated As Pagan Yule
5. Commercialmas
6. Yule 2015 #15 performing magic
7. Yule 2015#16
8. A radiant vision of splendour
9. Yule prep
10. Yule Wreath and Garland
11. 13 Trolls
12. War Against Christmas?
13. Holiday King of the Hill
14. SGC Admin: From our inbox to you from: Patti Wigington: Paganism/Wicca Expert
15. Yule – Wicca subject of the week
16. Happy Yule 2015
17. How to bring some real Christmas spirits into your Yule-tide
18. 10 Ways to Celebrate Yule
19. Santa Claus, Krampus,The Wild Hunt and Me.
20. Vigil
21. Use Yule Bells For Positive Energy
22. Irish Christmas
23. Christmas, the Weridest Holiday of the Year; Part one
24. Holly Tree
25. Holly, Plant of Saturn and Mars
26. Symbol of Yule: Holly Mistletoe and Bayberry Candles
27. Memories of Yuletide
28. A Little history on the holly tree
29. Let It Be Done Unto Me
30. Annunciation
31. Annunciation: a reflection for Advent
32. This Annunciation
33. The Annunciation, according to Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich
34. Tuesday 15th December
35. Wednesday Writings – Annunciation
36. Mary’s Heart
37. Angels & Advent: In His Shadow – a sermon podcast
38. And the virgin’s name was Mary
39. Angels of Advent: Encountering the Annunciation
40. Somersaults /Wednesday, December 9, 2015
41. Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
42. Mary and a “Yes” to God’s Request
43. Joseph’s Pregnant Advent
44. The Overshadowing of Mary –Pentecost
45. Christmas
46. Saturnalia
47. From Sukkot to Saturnalia: The Attack on Christmas in Sixteenth-Century..
48. Togas, Laurels, Chariots and Some Roast Lambs’ Testicles
49. Countdown to Christmas 17: Saturnalia
50. Saturnalia Is a Fleadh by Another Name. Just Don’t Tell Jerry Buttimer
51. By Jove! It’s Christmas: Did the First Christian Roman Emperor Appropriate..
52. War On Christmas Memes: Saturnalia
53. War On Christmas Memes: The Yule Tree
54. Christmas: it’s all about money, not messiahs.
55. Geranium Lake Properties, Saturn and Sol
56. Advent Calendar Day 15: Christmas: The Perfect Excuse For A Fight? by Lucy Brazier
57. Pig Washing 1, “Christmas”
58. Christmas is Pagan!
59. Christmas — Who gives a rip HOW we came up with the date we use?!?
60. Christmas is Tammuz’s Birthday?

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Social media and asylum seekers

For sure we have thousands of people now coming to Europe with the idea they can escape the war in their country and find a heaven on earth in Europe. Lots of them had enough money to escape the war-zones and left those behind who are to poor, to old or not in good health.

When hearing about the reason why so many are going to one or another Western country, like Germany, Sweden, Belgium or the Netherlands, we come to hear that many of them got to know those countries from what they heard and saw on the internet and from the messages they got on their phones or tablets.

Alias Yalensis on his blog Awful Avalanche looks at a writing from Evgeny Chernykh, who writes about the refugee crisis rocking Europe.

May we believe those writers like cyberwar expert, Elena Larina, who is quoted in the piece, that the refugees and we are victims of a “special operation”, organized by the powers-that-be?

It could be that they have not bad reason to believe some superpowers and bad willing groups are using mass media, especially Twitter, to lure the refugees from Syria to Europe.

One must always keep in mind that the American-sponsored “Arab spring” began in Tunisia, and not for nothing was called the “Twitter Revolution”.  Tunisia, and the ensuing “color revolutions” were proof of concept operations.  They proved that large numbers of people (in the tens and even hundreds of thousands) can be politically manipulated, even physically moved around, via social media. {Twitter Feed Lures Hordes to Europe}

A protester holding a placard in Tahrir Square referring to Facebook and Twitter, acknowledging the role played by social media during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is it possible that Chernykh who also quotes PhD philosopher Vladimir Shalak have good reason to belief in Shalak his special analytical computer program against Twitter.

The results show the marketing campaign to attract refugees under the hashtag «Welcome, refugees».   The two countries named most as being receptors, were Germany and Hungary. {Twitter Feed Lures Hordes to Europe}

According to the blogger:

Analysis also shows that social media provided the refugees with maps, routes, transportation info, tipsheets on how to comport themselves with police and speak to the media, etc. {Twitter Feed Lures Hordes to Europe}

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Preceding articles

Poster: Please Help The Refugees

The World Wide Refugee and Migrant Crisis and a possible solution for it

 

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Additional articles of interest:

1. Sharing a common security and a common set of values
2. Cognizance at the doorstep or at the internet socket
3. Faith related boycotts
4. Mocking, Agitation and Religious Persecution
5. Economic crisis danger for the rise of political extremism
6. Americans wrongly informed about situation in Europe
7. Fitting the bill in the North and in the East
8. The Protester named Person of the Year 2011 by Time Magazine
9. Cool Person of the year 2011
10. 2014 Social contacts
11. Continues Syrian conflict needing not only dialogue
12. Can We Pay The Price To Free Humanity?
13. Are people willing to take the responsibility for others
14. If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for
15. State of Europe 2015 – Addressing Europe’s crises
16. Schengen area and Freedom for Europeans being put to the test as never before
17. Europe’s refugees just follow the ancient routes for the peopling of Europe in the Neolithic
18. Why Russia backs Assad: a view from Russia’s anti-imperialist left
19. Meeting to focus on humanitarian issues for Syria
20. Propaganda war and ISIS
21. African misery and women inequality

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