The Patriot Spring
Geert Wilders
Breitbart News
“A revolution,” Wikipedia says, “is a fundamental change in political power or organizational structures that take place in a relatively short period of time when the population rises up in revolt against the current authorities.”
In Europe and America, revolutions are brewing. They are peaceful and democratic, but they are going to send the elites home that are running our nations into the ground.
I have just reread Ronald Reagan’s 1982 Westminster speech, in which he predicted that freedom and democracy would soon send the communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe and Russia to “the ash heap of history.”
Reagan spoke of “Poland’s struggle to be Poland.” And today, three decades later, history is about to repeat itself in the United States and in several West European countries.
Thursday, 11 February 2016
Daily Devotional
Eleventh-hour Breakthroughs
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42)
You look back and think: What’s the use? Even if I could experience a breakthrough, there would be so little time left to live in my new way that it wouldn’t make much difference compared to so many decades of failure.
The former robber (the thief on the cross next to Jesus) lived for another hour or so before he died. He was changed. He lived on the cross as a new man with new attitudes and actions (no more reviling). But 99.99% of his life was wasted. Did the last couple hours of newness matter?
They mattered infinitely. This former robber, like all of us, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of his life. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). How will his life witness in that day to his new birth and his union with Christ?
The last hours will tell the story. This man was new. His faith was real. He is truly united to Christ. Christ’s righteousness is his. His sins are forgiven. That is what the final hours will proclaim at the last judgment. His change mattered. It was, and it will be, a beautiful testimony to the power of God’s grace and the reality of his faith and his union with Christ.
Now back to our struggle with change. I am not saying that struggling believers are unsaved like the robber was. I am simply saying that the last years and the last hours of life matter.
If in the last 1% of our lives, we can get a victory over some longstanding sinful habit or hurtful defect in our personality, it will be a beautiful testimony now to the power of grace; and it will be an added witness (not the only one) at the last judgment of our faith in Christ and our union with him.
Take heart, struggler. Keep asking, seeking, knocking. Keep looking to Christ. If God gets glory by saving robbers in the eleventh hour, he surely has his purposes why he has waited till now to give you the breakthrough you have sought for decades.
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42)
John Piper
One of the greatest hope-killers is that you have tried for so long to change and have not succeeded.You look back and think: What’s the use? Even if I could experience a breakthrough, there would be so little time left to live in my new way that it wouldn’t make much difference compared to so many decades of failure.
The former robber (the thief on the cross next to Jesus) lived for another hour or so before he died. He was changed. He lived on the cross as a new man with new attitudes and actions (no more reviling). But 99.99% of his life was wasted. Did the last couple hours of newness matter?
They mattered infinitely. This former robber, like all of us, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of his life. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). How will his life witness in that day to his new birth and his union with Christ?
The last hours will tell the story. This man was new. His faith was real. He is truly united to Christ. Christ’s righteousness is his. His sins are forgiven. That is what the final hours will proclaim at the last judgment. His change mattered. It was, and it will be, a beautiful testimony to the power of God’s grace and the reality of his faith and his union with Christ.
Now back to our struggle with change. I am not saying that struggling believers are unsaved like the robber was. I am simply saying that the last years and the last hours of life matter.
If in the last 1% of our lives, we can get a victory over some longstanding sinful habit or hurtful defect in our personality, it will be a beautiful testimony now to the power of grace; and it will be an added witness (not the only one) at the last judgment of our faith in Christ and our union with him.
Take heart, struggler. Keep asking, seeking, knocking. Keep looking to Christ. If God gets glory by saving robbers in the eleventh hour, he surely has his purposes why he has waited till now to give you the breakthrough you have sought for decades.
Immigration Will Crush European Equal-Treatment Rights
Europe's Nutcracker Problem
Stopping the flood of migrants into Europe is a relatively easy matter. What is far more difficult is the lack of political will throughout Europe to do it. In addition there are some complicating factors which mean that permitting migration to Europe is fraught with much, much higher costs, disruption, and negative outcomes than what used to be the case.
These "complicating factors" are philosophical and ideological in nature. But they make an enormous difference. The explanations are not hard to find. It has to do with radical, novel beliefs about intolerance, and a recently manufactured "human right" to be treated equally in the market place.
A window into what is wrong can be found in a published report entitled, Europe: The Problem of Intolerant Equality Laws. In it, we read the following:
Stopping the flood of migrants into Europe is a relatively easy matter. What is far more difficult is the lack of political will throughout Europe to do it. In addition there are some complicating factors which mean that permitting migration to Europe is fraught with much, much higher costs, disruption, and negative outcomes than what used to be the case.
These "complicating factors" are philosophical and ideological in nature. But they make an enormous difference. The explanations are not hard to find. It has to do with radical, novel beliefs about intolerance, and a recently manufactured "human right" to be treated equally in the market place.
A window into what is wrong can be found in a published report entitled, Europe: The Problem of Intolerant Equality Laws. In it, we read the following:
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Letter From New Zealand (About Free Trade)
Trans Pacific Partnership is too Important for New Zealand
Labour Leader's Plays Partisan Political Football From Unionist Playbook
Fran O'Sullivan
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is too important to New Zealand's economic future for Andrew Little to turn it into a partisan political football.
Little has attempted to somersault on the proverbial pin by giving former Labour leader and trade minister Phil Goff a dispensation to take his own position on the agreement - ostensibly because of "his involvement in negotiating its predecessor the P4 agreement" . Yet at the same time, stamping on former leader David Shearer for vocalising support for TPP because he wants his MPs to fall into line with the nebulous notion of caucus "collective responsibility".
It is difficult to understand why Little prefers the judgment of NGO activists over that of a former NZ Trade Minister who not only negotiated the ground-breaking bilateral China free trade deal but also finalised the Asean deal with New Zealand and Australia. Frankly there is nothing responsible in Little's positioning.
Daily Devotional
The Pathway to a Better Country
"Arise, and depart."
Micah 2:10
And what know we of the journey? And what know we of the country to which we are bound? A little we have read thereof, and somewhat has been revealed to us by the Spirit; but how little do we know of the realms of the future! We know that there is a black and stormy river called "Death." God bids us cross it, promising to be with us. And, after death, what cometh? What wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight? What scene of glory will be unfolded to our view? No traveller has ever returned to tell. But we know enough of the heavenly land to make us welcome our summons thither with joy and gladness.
The journey of death may be dark, but we may go forth on it fearlessly, knowing that God is with us as we walk through the gloomy valley, and therefore we need fear no evil. We shall be departing from all we have known and loved here, but we shall be going to our Father's house--to our Father's home, where Jesus is--to that royal "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." This shall be our last removal, to dwell forever with him we love, in the midst of his people, in the presence of God. Christian, meditate much on heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to forget the toil of the way.
This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a world of bliss.
"Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise, and join
The chorus of the sky."
"Arise, and depart."
Micah 2:10
Charles H. Spurgeon
The hour is approaching when the message will come to us, as it comes to all--"Arise, and go forth from the home in which thou hast dwelt, from the city in which thou hast done thy business, from thy family, from thy friends. Arise, and take thy last journey."And what know we of the journey? And what know we of the country to which we are bound? A little we have read thereof, and somewhat has been revealed to us by the Spirit; but how little do we know of the realms of the future! We know that there is a black and stormy river called "Death." God bids us cross it, promising to be with us. And, after death, what cometh? What wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight? What scene of glory will be unfolded to our view? No traveller has ever returned to tell. But we know enough of the heavenly land to make us welcome our summons thither with joy and gladness.
The journey of death may be dark, but we may go forth on it fearlessly, knowing that God is with us as we walk through the gloomy valley, and therefore we need fear no evil. We shall be departing from all we have known and loved here, but we shall be going to our Father's house--to our Father's home, where Jesus is--to that royal "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." This shall be our last removal, to dwell forever with him we love, in the midst of his people, in the presence of God. Christian, meditate much on heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to forget the toil of the way.
This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a world of bliss.
"Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise, and join
The chorus of the sky."
European Fundamentalism
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
One of the most disturbing consequences of large numbers of (mainly Islamic) migrants into the UK and Europe has been the willing complicity of authorities in covering up migrant crime. We have seen, for example, the Rotherham Syndrome in the UK, where civil authorities (police, health authorities, and city council employees and officials) turned a blind eye to the systematic sexual exploitation of young girls by gangs of immigrant (mainly Pakistani) men.
If you are unaware of this travesty, a quick Google search on "Rotherham" will bring you up to speed, as will Wikipedia.
The apologia offered for ignoring the criminal activity was to plead fear--fear that committing police and community resources to identifying, detecting, punishing, and stamping out these horrific crimes would lead to charges of racism being made against the authorities. The stifling effect of PC censorship meant that whilst plenty of officials knew what was going on, they turned Nelson's patched eye toward it.
It has now come out that this problem was not isolated to a rogue city in the UK. In fact, authorities across the European Union have been systematically covering up migrant crime, particularly sexual crime. Islamic men have been preying upon European women and the authorities have been keeping it quiet.
This has produced some bizarre, unexpected outcomes.
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Not a Laughing Matter
Political Correctness Shuts Down Comedy
Veteran British comedian and actor John Cleese is disturbed by modern society’s rampant hypersensitivity and thus avoids visiting college campuses due to political correctness, he said in a recent video.
In a video for Big Think, the Monty Python star said he, too, is often offended by things, but added: “I’m not going to expect someone to stop that from happening, I should simply speak out about it.”
“Sometimes when people are offended they want someone to come in and say ‘stop that’ to whoever is offending them,” he said. “There are some people I would wish to offend… The idea that you have to be protected from any kind of uncomfortable emotion is one I absolutely do not subscribe to.”
Cleese continued, “If people can't control their own emotions, then they have to start trying to control other people’s behaviors. When you’re around super-sensitive people you cannot relax or be spontaneous because you have no idea what’s going to upset them next.”
Veteran British comedian and actor John Cleese is disturbed by modern society’s rampant hypersensitivity and thus avoids visiting college campuses due to political correctness, he said in a recent video.
In a video for Big Think, the Monty Python star said he, too, is often offended by things, but added: “I’m not going to expect someone to stop that from happening, I should simply speak out about it.”
“Sometimes when people are offended they want someone to come in and say ‘stop that’ to whoever is offending them,” he said. “There are some people I would wish to offend… The idea that you have to be protected from any kind of uncomfortable emotion is one I absolutely do not subscribe to.”
Cleese continued, “If people can't control their own emotions, then they have to start trying to control other people’s behaviors. When you’re around super-sensitive people you cannot relax or be spontaneous because you have no idea what’s going to upset them next.”
Daily Devotional
On the Christian Life
If you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed.
From Mere Christianity
Compiled in Words to Live By
Mere Christianity. Copyright © 1952, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright renewed © 1980, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Words to Live By: A Guide for the Merely Christian. Copyright © 2007 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
C. S. Lewis
There are three things that spread the Christ life to us: baptism, belief, and that mysterious action which different Christians call by different names—Holy Communion, the Mass, the Lord’s Supper.If you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed.
From Mere Christianity
Compiled in Words to Live By
Mere Christianity. Copyright © 1952, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright renewed © 1980, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Words to Live By: A Guide for the Merely Christian. Copyright © 2007 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Propaganda In All But Name
Speaking the Powers' Truth
It's official. Sort of. German state media are really propaganda fronts for the German government.
In the European tradition, along with the US and the vestiges of the British Empire, state run media have long existed. In virtually all cases they have become mouthpieces for various left-wing causes, consistently framed as what "reasonably minded people believe". The presumption of rectitude and the assertion that one represents the voice of reasonable men carries great weight and authority. At least in the minds of those who so presume and assert.
The tight fraternal bonds that exist between left-wing ideology and state media are not difficult to explain. After all, state owned and state run media (whether print or broadcasting) rely upon public funding. Their life blood runs along state-funded arteries. They exist by virtue of presuming the rectitude and necessity of state ownership and state funding. They are the working organs of left-wing, socialist ideology. Never bite the hand that feeds.
Recently a state media "elder statesman" in Germany did the unthinkable.
It's official. Sort of. German state media are really propaganda fronts for the German government.
In the European tradition, along with the US and the vestiges of the British Empire, state run media have long existed. In virtually all cases they have become mouthpieces for various left-wing causes, consistently framed as what "reasonably minded people believe". The presumption of rectitude and the assertion that one represents the voice of reasonable men carries great weight and authority. At least in the minds of those who so presume and assert.
The tight fraternal bonds that exist between left-wing ideology and state media are not difficult to explain. After all, state owned and state run media (whether print or broadcasting) rely upon public funding. Their life blood runs along state-funded arteries. They exist by virtue of presuming the rectitude and necessity of state ownership and state funding. They are the working organs of left-wing, socialist ideology. Never bite the hand that feeds.
Recently a state media "elder statesman" in Germany did the unthinkable.
Monday, 8 February 2016
Letter From the UK (About Not Baking A Cake)
'Gay cake' couple: 'We don't hate anyone.
Daniel and Amy McArthur say they have no regrets about refusing to bake cake with pro-gay marriage message on it. An evangelical Christian couple at the centre of the “gay cake” court case have insisted they never meant to discriminate against anyone and do not hate gay people. [They] also said the case against them last year had strengthened their marriage.
Ashers Baking Company was found guilty last year by a county court in Northern Ireland of breaking the province’s strict laws on political and sexual discrimination. The case centred on the McArthurs’ refusal to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage message on it. They were taken to court by the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland and the couple were fined £500.
It's done out of love for God'
The GuardianDaniel and Amy McArthur say they have no regrets about refusing to bake cake with pro-gay marriage message on it. An evangelical Christian couple at the centre of the “gay cake” court case have insisted they never meant to discriminate against anyone and do not hate gay people. [They] also said the case against them last year had strengthened their marriage.
Ashers Baking Company was found guilty last year by a county court in Northern Ireland of breaking the province’s strict laws on political and sexual discrimination. The case centred on the McArthurs’ refusal to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage message on it. They were taken to court by the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland and the couple were fined £500.
Daily Devotional
The Greatest Love
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. (1 John 2:12)
1) Because the Bible does.
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake! (Psalm 79:9)
Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you. (Jeremiah 14:7)
We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne. (Jeremiah 14:20–21)
God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25–26)
Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)
2) Because it makes clear that God loves us with the greatest love.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory. (John 17:24)
God loves us not in a way that makes us supreme, but makes himself supreme. Heaven will not be a hall of mirrors but an increasing vision of infinite greatness. Getting to heaven and finding that we are supreme would be the ultimate let down.
The greatest love makes sure that God does everything in such a way as to uphold and magnify his own supremacy so that when we get there we have something to increase our joy forever — God’s glory. The greatest love is God’s giving himself to us for our eternal enjoyment forever, at the cost of his Son’s life (Romans 8:32).
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. (1 John 2:12)
John Piper
Why should we emphasize that God loves, forgives, and saves for his own glory? Here are two reasons (among many).1) Because the Bible does.
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake! (Psalm 79:9)
Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you. (Jeremiah 14:7)
We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne. (Jeremiah 14:20–21)
God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25–26)
Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)
2) Because it makes clear that God loves us with the greatest love.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory. (John 17:24)
God loves us not in a way that makes us supreme, but makes himself supreme. Heaven will not be a hall of mirrors but an increasing vision of infinite greatness. Getting to heaven and finding that we are supreme would be the ultimate let down.
The greatest love makes sure that God does everything in such a way as to uphold and magnify his own supremacy so that when we get there we have something to increase our joy forever — God’s glory. The greatest love is God’s giving himself to us for our eternal enjoyment forever, at the cost of his Son’s life (Romans 8:32).
Mass Murder and the Totalitarian Embrace
Why Atheism Has Produced Mass Murder
The celebs amongst the secular atheist crowd are known for drawing long bows between the monsters of the twentieth century (Mao Tse Tung, Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, and the Nazis) and religion. The intent is to portray as many as possible of the monsters as having religious belief of one kind or another. After all, the object is to prosecute a Donald Trumpian type of argument whereby religion is evil, evil, evil and does all kinds of evil things.
The bow gets pretty long, but you have to admire a trier. Did not Stalin train in a Russian Orthodox seminary? Did not Hitler reflect in certain ways his Catholic upbringing? Sure, it's hard to find a religious connection in the case of Mao Tse Tung. But Pol Pot--well, Cambodia was a French colony, so we should assume the Jesuits had some influence over PP.
But one thing we can be definitive about, we are told, is that the atheism they all shared in common to one degree or another was in no way connected with their mass murders of multitudes of human beings. As David Berlinski writes:
The celebs amongst the secular atheist crowd are known for drawing long bows between the monsters of the twentieth century (Mao Tse Tung, Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, and the Nazis) and religion. The intent is to portray as many as possible of the monsters as having religious belief of one kind or another. After all, the object is to prosecute a Donald Trumpian type of argument whereby religion is evil, evil, evil and does all kinds of evil things.
The bow gets pretty long, but you have to admire a trier. Did not Stalin train in a Russian Orthodox seminary? Did not Hitler reflect in certain ways his Catholic upbringing? Sure, it's hard to find a religious connection in the case of Mao Tse Tung. But Pol Pot--well, Cambodia was a French colony, so we should assume the Jesuits had some influence over PP.
But one thing we can be definitive about, we are told, is that the atheism they all shared in common to one degree or another was in no way connected with their mass murders of multitudes of human beings. As David Berlinski writes:
Saturday, 6 February 2016
The Real Deal
Ted Cruz in Action One-On-One
Here's a revealing video. Patterico drew our attention to it. He wrote:
Here's a revealing video. Patterico drew our attention to it. He wrote:
The Remarkable Persuasive Ability of Ted Cruz
We’ve seen this before: Ted Cruz takes on a hostile questioner in one-to-one conversation, and communicates with remarkable effectiveness. But in previous cases the questioners have been leftist shills, like a Code Pink activist or Ellen Page — people whom Cruz has simply bested in a debate.
This clip allows us to see a different scenario: an angry voter who isn’t a lefty hack but just somebody honestly concerned about his livelihood.
In this case, the voter is farmer in Iowa who is incensed by the fact that Cruz does not support ethanol subsidies. Cruz sets a tone of mutual respect, explains how his free-market policies could actually benefit the farmer — and ends up turning an angry guy into somebody who tells Cruz he hopes the votes come in for him.
Remarkable.
By the way: are there any snippets of Donald Trump having one on one conversations with hostile voters, having a civil and respectful discussion, and turning them around like this?
Yes, that is a rhetorical question.
Daily Devotional
Hard Days
TO ARTHUR GREEVES: On the meaning of interruptions and real life; on the difficulty of being patient; and on expiating through embracing one’s own sufferings.
Things are pretty bad here. Minto’s varicose ulcer gets worse and worse, domestic help harder and harder to come by. Sometimes I am very unhappy, but less so than I have often been in what were (by external standards) better times.
The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own’, or ‘real’ life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls one’s ‘real life’ is a phantom of one’s own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it’s hard to remember it all the time—I know your problems must be much the same as mine (with the important difference that mine are of my own making, a very appropriate punishment and, like all God’s punishments, a chance for expiation.)
Isn’t it hard to go on being patient, to go on supplying sympathy? One’s stock of love turns out, when the testing time comes, to be so very inadequate: I suppose it is well that one should be forced to discover the fact!
I find too (do you?) that hard days drive one back on Nature. I don’t mean walks . . . but little sights and sounds seen at windows in odd moments.
I had a most vivid, tranquil dream about you the other night, just chatting in the old way. Let’s hope it will happen sometime. For the rest, I’ve no news.
From The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume II
Compiled in Yours, Jack
The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume II: Family Letters 1905-1931. Copyright © 2004 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C. S. Lewis. Copyright © 2008 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
TO ARTHUR GREEVES: On the meaning of interruptions and real life; on the difficulty of being patient; and on expiating through embracing one’s own sufferings.
C. S. Lewis
20 December 1943Things are pretty bad here. Minto’s varicose ulcer gets worse and worse, domestic help harder and harder to come by. Sometimes I am very unhappy, but less so than I have often been in what were (by external standards) better times.
The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own’, or ‘real’ life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls one’s ‘real life’ is a phantom of one’s own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it’s hard to remember it all the time—I know your problems must be much the same as mine (with the important difference that mine are of my own making, a very appropriate punishment and, like all God’s punishments, a chance for expiation.)
Isn’t it hard to go on being patient, to go on supplying sympathy? One’s stock of love turns out, when the testing time comes, to be so very inadequate: I suppose it is well that one should be forced to discover the fact!
I find too (do you?) that hard days drive one back on Nature. I don’t mean walks . . . but little sights and sounds seen at windows in odd moments.
I had a most vivid, tranquil dream about you the other night, just chatting in the old way. Let’s hope it will happen sometime. For the rest, I’ve no news.
From The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume II
Compiled in Yours, Jack
The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume II: Family Letters 1905-1931. Copyright © 2004 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C. S. Lewis. Copyright © 2008 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Embarrassing
Time For All Good Men To Come to the Aid of the Party
Sadly once again Maori have been tarred with ignominy, shame, and a loss of mana. The few have shamed the entire race. Waitangi Day is supposed to be a holiday celebrating the beginning of the New Zealand nation. Traditionally, Waitangi plays host to the Prime Minister and a bevy of politicians. In recent years it has become the pretext for airing of Maori grievances--of which there appear to be no end.
Waitangi and the Treaty Grounds fall within the tribal area of Ngapuhi tribe. It has traditionally played the role of host for guests and visitors to the Treaty Grounds on Waitangi day. Ngapuhi is a deeply divided group, bedevilled with internecine bickering and animosity. At present it appears that the extremists and the radicals are in charge.
One blogger wrote, urging Key not to attend:
Sadly once again Maori have been tarred with ignominy, shame, and a loss of mana. The few have shamed the entire race. Waitangi Day is supposed to be a holiday celebrating the beginning of the New Zealand nation. Traditionally, Waitangi plays host to the Prime Minister and a bevy of politicians. In recent years it has become the pretext for airing of Maori grievances--of which there appear to be no end.
Waitangi and the Treaty Grounds fall within the tribal area of Ngapuhi tribe. It has traditionally played the role of host for guests and visitors to the Treaty Grounds on Waitangi day. Ngapuhi is a deeply divided group, bedevilled with internecine bickering and animosity. At present it appears that the extremists and the radicals are in charge.
One blogger wrote, urging Key not to attend:
John, don't go to the Ti Ti (sic) Marae at Waitangi. The lunatics have taken control of the asylum. The debate in Maoridom over the TPPA has become irrational egged on by the lies pedaled by opponents of the agreement. I doubt whether anyone at Ti Ti has bothered to do the hard yards and read the agreement. If they had then the sort of canard being pedaled around the unwashed that the agreement could see Maori prisoners sent off-shore to serve their time in US and Aust prisons would be seen for what it is ... loony tunes stuff.
What has happened on the Marae is mirrored in the discord among Ngapuhi as to who has the mandate to negotiate their treaty claim(s) and you can see why. Their leadership has been highjacked by the likes of Kingi Tauroa, Sonny Tau, Hone Harawira, Margaret Mutu and the Popata brothers. And so it is with the TPPA debate ... rationality has gone out the window.
Friday, 5 February 2016
Doug Wilson's Letter From Moscow
Presidential Pardon in a World Gone Mad
Douglas Wilson
So let us begin with the “world gone mad” part. David Daleiden, the man behind the Planned Parenthood sting videos, has been indicted by a grand jury in Texas. He made the mistake of gathering secret footage of Planned Parenthood doing appalling things with the bodies of little boys and girls. If he had only had the good sense to run a sting operation on the executives of Tyson Foods, demonstrating abusive treatment of chickens, he could be writing his acceptance speech for the Pulitzer now.World Gone Mad
This last August, when the videos were first dropping, I argued that every presidential candidate needed to be asked whether or not he or she would commit to awarding David Daleiden the Medal of Freedom. Sometime after that I had the opportunity to ask Mike Huckabee if he would be willing to do that, and he said it was a good idea. That question is still a good one, is obviously necessary, and needs to be renewed.
But now the stakes are raised — because Planned Parenthood has opted for the bang instead of the whimper — and so we have the perfect opportunity to call and raise them a couple hundred.
Daily Devotional
Deep In Debt
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors."
Romans 8:12
I am a debtor to God's grace and forgiving mercy; but I am no debtor to his justice, for he will never accuse me of a debt already paid. Christ said, "It is finished!" and by that he meant, that whatever his people owed was wiped away forever from the book of remembrance. Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled; the handwriting is nailed to the cross; the receipt is given, and we are debtors to God's justice no longer. But then, because we are not debtors to our Lord in that sense, we become ten times more debtors to God than we should have been otherwise.
Christian, pause and ponder for a moment. What a debtor thou art to divine sovereignty! How much thou owest to his disinterested love, for he gave his own Son that he might die for thee. Consider how much you owe to his forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts he loves you as infinitely as ever. Consider what you owe to his power; how he has raised you from your death in sin; how he has preserved your spiritual life; how he has kept you from falling; and how, though a thousand enemies have beset your path, you have been able to hold on your way. Consider what you owe to his immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, he has not changed once.
Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be to every attribute of God. To God thou owest thyself, and all thou hast--yield thyself as a living sacrifice, it is but thy reasonable service.
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors."
Romans 8:12
Charles H. Spurgeon
As God's creatures, we are all debtors to him: to obey him with all our body, and soul, and strength. Having broken his commandments, as we all have, we are debtors to his justice, and we owe to him a vast amount which we are not able to pay. But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God's justice anything, for Christ has paid the debt his people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love.I am a debtor to God's grace and forgiving mercy; but I am no debtor to his justice, for he will never accuse me of a debt already paid. Christ said, "It is finished!" and by that he meant, that whatever his people owed was wiped away forever from the book of remembrance. Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled; the handwriting is nailed to the cross; the receipt is given, and we are debtors to God's justice no longer. But then, because we are not debtors to our Lord in that sense, we become ten times more debtors to God than we should have been otherwise.
Christian, pause and ponder for a moment. What a debtor thou art to divine sovereignty! How much thou owest to his disinterested love, for he gave his own Son that he might die for thee. Consider how much you owe to his forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts he loves you as infinitely as ever. Consider what you owe to his power; how he has raised you from your death in sin; how he has preserved your spiritual life; how he has kept you from falling; and how, though a thousand enemies have beset your path, you have been able to hold on your way. Consider what you owe to his immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, he has not changed once.
Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be to every attribute of God. To God thou owest thyself, and all thou hast--yield thyself as a living sacrifice, it is but thy reasonable service.
What Could Go Wrong?
Hidebound Socialists Moving Left
Plates are shifting in the NZ political landscape. Or, a better image would be to make reference to deck chairs on the Titanic. The Labour Party is moving radically to the left.
We abhor socialism in all its facets. It always represents "legalised" theft on a grand scale. It's end is death, economic death--long term poverty and degradation for the most vulnerable. But modern politicians are not the sharpest pins in the cushion. Give them half a sniff at political power and the control of billions of tax revenue and their spending plans swarm forth like new-born blowflies from a maggot infested carcass. Many such politicians know they are causing problems for future generations. But who cares? Some other rubes will inherit the problem. The negative and destructive consequences of socialism are often slow in the maturation. The consequences will always be inherited by someone else. It's known as "kicking the can down the road".
In New Zealand we have a peculiar rort called tertiary education.
Plates are shifting in the NZ political landscape. Or, a better image would be to make reference to deck chairs on the Titanic. The Labour Party is moving radically to the left.
We abhor socialism in all its facets. It always represents "legalised" theft on a grand scale. It's end is death, economic death--long term poverty and degradation for the most vulnerable. But modern politicians are not the sharpest pins in the cushion. Give them half a sniff at political power and the control of billions of tax revenue and their spending plans swarm forth like new-born blowflies from a maggot infested carcass. Many such politicians know they are causing problems for future generations. But who cares? Some other rubes will inherit the problem. The negative and destructive consequences of socialism are often slow in the maturation. The consequences will always be inherited by someone else. It's known as "kicking the can down the road".
In New Zealand we have a peculiar rort called tertiary education.
Thursday, 4 February 2016
A Good Day At the Office
We'll Take the Win
Yesterday the New Zealand cricket team did not just beat Australia, it trounced Australia. These things do not happen that often, so we thought we would take a moment to note it for posterity.
The dumbed down NZ Herald tried to make out that the Aussie media were all over their team for its incompetence and damned NZ with faint praise. In fact that was not the case. Sure the Aussie scribes were sharply critical of their own team's performance, but they knew that "up" was "up" and opined accordingly.
Here is a smattering of the commentary:
Daily Devotional
He Knows Your Need
Do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (Matthew 6:31–32).
Jesus must mean that God’s knowing is accompanied by his desiring to meet our need. He is emphasizing we have a Father. And this Father is better than an earthly father.
I have five children. I love to meet their needs. But my knowing falls short of God’s in at least three ways.
First, right now I don’t know where any of them is. I could guess. They’re in their homes or at work or school, healthy and safe. But they might be lying on a sidewalk with a heart attack.
Second, I don’t know what is in their heart at any given moment. I can guess from time to time. But they may be feeling some fear or hurt or anger or lust or greed or joy or hope. I can’t see their hearts.
Third, I don’t know their future. Right now they may seem well and steady. But tomorrow some great sorrow may befall them.
This means I can’t be for them a very strong reason for not worrying. There are things that may be happening to them now or may happen tomorrow that I do not even know about. But it is totally different with their Father in heaven. He knows everything about them now and tomorrow, inside and out. He sees every need.
Add to that, his huge eagerness to meet their needs (the “much more” of Matthew 6:30).
Add to that his complete ability to do what he is eager to do (he feeds billions of birds hourly, Matthew 6:26).
So join me in trusting the promise of Jesus to meet our needs. That’s what Jesus is calling for when he says, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”
Do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (Matthew 6:31–32).
John Piper
Jesus wants his followers to be free from worry. In Matthew 6:25–34, he gives at least seven arguments designed to take away our anxiety. One of them lists food and drink and clothing, and then says, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matthew 6:32).Jesus must mean that God’s knowing is accompanied by his desiring to meet our need. He is emphasizing we have a Father. And this Father is better than an earthly father.
I have five children. I love to meet their needs. But my knowing falls short of God’s in at least three ways.
First, right now I don’t know where any of them is. I could guess. They’re in their homes or at work or school, healthy and safe. But they might be lying on a sidewalk with a heart attack.
Second, I don’t know what is in their heart at any given moment. I can guess from time to time. But they may be feeling some fear or hurt or anger or lust or greed or joy or hope. I can’t see their hearts.
Third, I don’t know their future. Right now they may seem well and steady. But tomorrow some great sorrow may befall them.
This means I can’t be for them a very strong reason for not worrying. There are things that may be happening to them now or may happen tomorrow that I do not even know about. But it is totally different with their Father in heaven. He knows everything about them now and tomorrow, inside and out. He sees every need.
Add to that, his huge eagerness to meet their needs (the “much more” of Matthew 6:30).
Add to that his complete ability to do what he is eager to do (he feeds billions of birds hourly, Matthew 6:26).
So join me in trusting the promise of Jesus to meet our needs. That’s what Jesus is calling for when he says, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”
Letter From America (On A Plutocracy of the Right)
Palin's Endorsement of Donald Trump
For reasons which one day we ought to explain to our regular readers, we at this blog are attentive to and interested in US politics. We think that we probably owe our readers an explanation at some time, an apologia or justification for our position. But we will hold that for the future. For the moment we will observe that our interest in the United States is due to a stronger Christian vestige in that country than remains in New Zealand.
At the same time we abhor the doctrine of American Exceptionalism which we regard as a perverse idolatry, offending and provoking the Lord of the heavens and the earth to a consuming wrath. To cut to the chase, America should know better. To whom much has been given, much is expected. The practice of American Exceptionalism is like Israel, whilst enjoying the land of milk and honey, deciding they had better do obeisance to Baal to thank him for "his" wonderful provision.
Therefore, we confess that we appreciate the kind of criticism and analysis below. Yes, it is caustic. Yes, it is devastating. Yes, it is directed at those who ought to know better. Because they, and their camp followers, ought to know better, it is worthwhile mounting the argument.
For reasons which one day we ought to explain to our regular readers, we at this blog are attentive to and interested in US politics. We think that we probably owe our readers an explanation at some time, an apologia or justification for our position. But we will hold that for the future. For the moment we will observe that our interest in the United States is due to a stronger Christian vestige in that country than remains in New Zealand.
At the same time we abhor the doctrine of American Exceptionalism which we regard as a perverse idolatry, offending and provoking the Lord of the heavens and the earth to a consuming wrath. To cut to the chase, America should know better. To whom much has been given, much is expected. The practice of American Exceptionalism is like Israel, whilst enjoying the land of milk and honey, deciding they had better do obeisance to Baal to thank him for "his" wonderful provision.
Therefore, we confess that we appreciate the kind of criticism and analysis below. Yes, it is caustic. Yes, it is devastating. Yes, it is directed at those who ought to know better. Because they, and their camp followers, ought to know better, it is worthwhile mounting the argument.
Wednesday, 3 February 2016
NZ Labour Party Goes Retrogressive
TPP or Die -- Why We Need It
Duncan Garner
Newshub
The political consensus on free trade is over. Stand by for thousands of protesters to target the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement on Thursday.
After decades of supporting free trade, Labour has chosen to veer left into the bosom of New Zealand First and the Greens and oppose the TPP. It's short-sighted and totally hypocritical, in my view. It looks like the party has had its strings pulled by anti-TPP academic Jane Kelsey.
This is a serious and controversial departure for Labour, and it may yet hurt the party among middle New Zealand voters. Do these politicians know that our bottled wine can be sold tariff-free in Canada, Japan and the US on day one of the TPP being implemented? Why would you oppose that after we as a country have fought for this for so long? Most fruit and other produce can be exported tariff-free too, as a result of the TPP.
I travelled the world with Labour and National Party ministers for years, watching them fight bloody hard for market access for our exporters. I have seen a block of New Zealand butter selling for $25 in Japan; the same with cheese. Some of these tariffs are so high our exporters are locked out.
Duncan Garner
Newshub
The political consensus on free trade is over. Stand by for thousands of protesters to target the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement on Thursday.
After decades of supporting free trade, Labour has chosen to veer left into the bosom of New Zealand First and the Greens and oppose the TPP. It's short-sighted and totally hypocritical, in my view. It looks like the party has had its strings pulled by anti-TPP academic Jane Kelsey.
This is a serious and controversial departure for Labour, and it may yet hurt the party among middle New Zealand voters. Do these politicians know that our bottled wine can be sold tariff-free in Canada, Japan and the US on day one of the TPP being implemented? Why would you oppose that after we as a country have fought for this for so long? Most fruit and other produce can be exported tariff-free too, as a result of the TPP.
I travelled the world with Labour and National Party ministers for years, watching them fight bloody hard for market access for our exporters. I have seen a block of New Zealand butter selling for $25 in Japan; the same with cheese. Some of these tariffs are so high our exporters are locked out.
Daily Devotional
Insider Knowledge
From Mere Christianity
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity. Copyright © 1952, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright renewed © 1980, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. A Year With C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works. Copyright © 2003 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
C. S. Lewis
We have two bits of evidence about the Somebody [behind the Moral Law]. One is the universe He has made. If we used that as our only clue, then I think we should have to conclude that He was a great artist (for the universe is a very beautiful place), but also that He is quite merciless and no friend to man (for the universe is a very dangerous and terrifying place). The other bit of evidence is that Moral Law which He has put into our minds. And this is a better bit of evidence than the other, because it is inside information. You find out more about God from the Moral Law than from the universe in general just as you find out more about a man by listening to his conversation than by looking at a house he has built.From Mere Christianity
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity. Copyright © 1952, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright renewed © 1980, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. A Year With C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works. Copyright © 2003 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Man's Inhumanity to Man, Part II
Satan's Emissaries
The history of Burma (Myanmar) provides a case study in cruelty and man's inhumanity to man. Part I canvassed British colonial inhumanity to the native Burmese tribes. Ironically, British "civilised" cruelty was little different to the capricious personality cults of many Burmese kings in previous centuries.
The twentieth century witnessed a global explosion of repressive, totalitarian regimes. Millions upon millions lost their lives, sacrificed upon the altar of secularist ideologies (Mao, Hitler, Lenin/Stalin, Pol Pot). The Killing Fields were liberally irrigated by the blood of millions of sacrificial victims to cult of Man as God. Burma has been one of the longest running totalitarian regimes. Now, it appears, even its dark times may be coming to an end. Its repressive military regime is one of the last to survive--along with North Korea.
This is not to imagine, of course, that there are no repressive regimes left upon earth. One only has to glance at Islamic authoritarian states (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Palestinian Authority, ISIS) to see brutal injustice continuing its work. But the size and scale of the repression in Burma and North Korea have taken human deification to another level entirely.
Emma Larkin describes the tender embraces of Insein Prison in Yangon, a place of fearsome repression, torture, and human suffering.
Tuesday, 2 February 2016
Politicized Legal Systems
Manifest Corruption of Justice
The United States sometimes resembles a Monty Python script. Never has this been more the case than a recent Grand Jury decision in Texas indicting the heroes who exposed Planned Parenthood's perfidy.
JANUARY 25, 2016
By The Federalist Staff
Months after the release of undercover videos detailing Planned Parenthood’s scheme to traffic aborted baby body parts, a grand jury has finally brought brought criminal charges. Not against Planned Parenthood, but against David Daleiden, the pro-life activist behind the undercover sting videos.
The United States sometimes resembles a Monty Python script. Never has this been more the case than a recent Grand Jury decision in Texas indicting the heroes who exposed Planned Parenthood's perfidy.
Houston Grand Jury Indicts David Daleiden For Organ Trafficking, Issues No Charges Against Planned Parenthood
Lauren Reeder, a Harris County prosecutor, has been a board member for Planned Parenthood since 2013 and a fundraiser since 2009.
By The Federalist Staff
Months after the release of undercover videos detailing Planned Parenthood’s scheme to traffic aborted baby body parts, a grand jury has finally brought brought criminal charges. Not against Planned Parenthood, but against David Daleiden, the pro-life activist behind the undercover sting videos.
Daily Devotional
An Inexhaustible Supply For All Our Needs
"And of his fulness have all we received."
John 1:16
There is a fulness of victory in his death, for through death he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. There is a fulness of efficacy in his resurrection from the dead, for by it "we are begotten again unto a lively hope." There is a fulness of triumph in his ascension, for "when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men." There is a fulness of blessings of every sort and shape; a fulness of grace to pardon, of grace to regenerate, of grace to sanctify, of grace to preserve, and of grace to perfect. There is a fulness at all times; a fulness of comfort in affliction; a fulness of guidance in prosperity. A fulness of every divine attribute, of wisdom, of power, of love; a fulness which it were impossible to survey, much less to explore. "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." Oh, what a fulness must this be of which all receive!
Fulness, indeed, must there be when the stream is always flowing, and yet the well springs up as free, as rich, as full as ever. Come, believer, and get all thy need supplied; ask largely, and thou shalt receive largely, for this "fulness" is inexhaustible, and is treasured up where all the needy may reach it, even in Jesus, Immanuel--God with us.
"And of his fulness have all we received."
John 1:16
Charles H. Spurgeon
These words tell us that there is a fulness in Christ. There is a fulness of essential Deity, for "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead." There is a fulness of perfect manhood, for in him, bodily, that Godhead was revealed. There is a fulness of atoning efficacy in his blood, for "the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." There is a fulness of justifying righteousness in his life, for "there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." There is a fulness of divine prevalence in his plea, for "He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him; seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."There is a fulness of victory in his death, for through death he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. There is a fulness of efficacy in his resurrection from the dead, for by it "we are begotten again unto a lively hope." There is a fulness of triumph in his ascension, for "when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men." There is a fulness of blessings of every sort and shape; a fulness of grace to pardon, of grace to regenerate, of grace to sanctify, of grace to preserve, and of grace to perfect. There is a fulness at all times; a fulness of comfort in affliction; a fulness of guidance in prosperity. A fulness of every divine attribute, of wisdom, of power, of love; a fulness which it were impossible to survey, much less to explore. "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." Oh, what a fulness must this be of which all receive!
Fulness, indeed, must there be when the stream is always flowing, and yet the well springs up as free, as rich, as full as ever. Come, believer, and get all thy need supplied; ask largely, and thou shalt receive largely, for this "fulness" is inexhaustible, and is treasured up where all the needy may reach it, even in Jesus, Immanuel--God with us.
Man's Inhumanity to Man, Part I
Blaming the Mongolian Race
In Emma Larkin's wonderful volume [Finding George Orwell in Burma (New York: The Penguin Group, 2011)] she describes the long history of tyranny which has afflicted that nation for many centuries. Sadly, the British--as colonial masters--were little better. By the time Burma became a colony the doctrines of evolutionism were becoming more and more embedded in the colonial mind. This led to a "natural" conclusion that primitive native people were not sub-human.
In Emma Larkin's wonderful volume [Finding George Orwell in Burma (New York: The Penguin Group, 2011)] she describes the long history of tyranny which has afflicted that nation for many centuries. Sadly, the British--as colonial masters--were little better. By the time Burma became a colony the doctrines of evolutionism were becoming more and more embedded in the colonial mind. This led to a "natural" conclusion that primitive native people were not sub-human.
She cites a government report at the time:
In Burma we are dealing with a Mongolian race . . . and Mongolian races appear to have always found an element of cruelty in their punishments necessary. [Op cit., p. 146.]In other words, "we need to treat them in the only way these brutes understand". George Orwell served as a policeman in Burma for a time. During his time there in the early 1920's some 20,000 criminals were being locked up every year. He describes the horror of British run jails in Burma in The Road to Wigan Pier:
The wretched prisoners squatting in the reeking cages of the lock-ups, the grey cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos, the women and children howling when their menfolk were led away--things like these are beyond bearing when you are in any way directly responsible for them. [Ibid., p.46]This is not to say, of course, that the British were any worse than the authoritarian rulers that preceded them. Rather, it is to say they were as bad.
Monday, 1 February 2016
On the Brink of Collapse?
Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
There was a time when Europe smugly regarded itself as the acme of human civilisation. The European Union was the avatar of a glorious humanitarian future for the human race. The EU was a microcosm of what the United Nations would one day become.
Now, it's future is in doubt. This, from The Guardian:
Refugee crisis: Schengen scheme on the brink after Amsterdam talks
Passport-free area faces being suspended for two years, as senior diplomat says of refugee influx: ‘This cannot continue’ EU governments have placed a large question mark over the future of Europe’s passport-free travel zone, signalling an extension of national border controls within the 26-country Schengen area in response to the immigration crisis.
As Europe scrambled to put together a coherent answer to the biggest challenge the union has faced, EU interior ministers meeting in Amsterdam on Monday compounded a sense of gloom and confusion in the face of ever rising numbers of people heading into Greece from Turkey. Klaas Dijkhoff, the Dutch migration minister, said the governments were to ask the European commission for permission to extend and prolong the border controls from May because the numbers of refugees reaching Europe were not diminishing.
Under the rules governing the open travel area, governments could suspend the Schengen system for two years, dealing a potentially terminal blow to a scheme that has been in place for more than 20 years. “These measures are inevitable at this point in time,” said Dijkhoff of the likely suspension. Following eight hours of talks in the Dutch capital, the Austrian interior minister, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, said: “Schengen is on the brink of collapse.”
In the past week, national leaders and senior EU officials have made increasingly alarmist pronouncements on Schengen’s future, warning that the travel zone could crumble within weeks and bring with it the risk of union dissolution.
The countries bearing the brunt of the mass influx of more than 1 million asylum seekers in the past year rounded on Athens, with Austria bluntly dismissing Greek arguments and warning that it could be kicked out, at least temporarily, of the Schengen area. Germany and Sweden echoed the criticism. Between them, the three countries have taken in about 90% of asylum seekers over the past year, but are reining in their liberal admissions policies.
Vienna last week triggered a chain reaction of curbs on refugee movement by announcing plans to cap the numbers allowed in over the next four years. Sweden has already imposed stringent national border controls and Germany is mulling whether to suspend Schengen for two years.
Mikl-Leitner rejected Greek arguments about the difficulties of patrolling its maritime borders with Turkey and explicitly warned Athens about a Schengen expulsion. “Greece has one of the biggest navies in Europe,” she said. “It’s a myth that the Greek-Turkish border cannot be protected.” The Swedish home affairs minister, Anders Ygeman, said of Greece: “If a country doesn’t live up to its obligations, we will have to restrict its connections to the Schengen area.”
EU governments have been seized by a rising sense of panic, desperate for the numbers of arrivals to slow down while all the evidence points in the opposite direction. About 35,000 have made the sea crossing from Turkey to Greece since the beginning of the year, a 20-fold increase on the same period last year.
“We don’t have any good options, only bad options on the table,” said a senior diplomat in Brussels. “This simply can’t continue. There’s agreement among the member states on that.” Meanwhile, as the numbers arriving via Turkey have shown little let-up, three EU commissioners were in Ankara in what has turned into quasi-permanent negotiations with the Turkish government aimed at getting them to stem the flow.
The EU-Turkey pact shows little sign of delivering and the EU also cannot agree on how to fund the €3bn (£2.3bn) price tag promised to the Turks, although Germany wants to pay Turkey more. A joint statement from the German and Turkish governments following Berlin negotiations last Friday referred to the €3bn bill as merely a “first” payment.
Pressure on Greece also highlighted further divisions in an EU riven several ways over the refugee crisis. Italy, Luxembourg and the European commission all talked down the prospects of punishing Greece or expelling it from the Schengen system. “There is no plan to exclude Greece from anything,” said Natasha Bertaud, the commission spokeswoman on immigration. She confirmed, however, that an EU mission was in Macedonia last week exploring how to strengthen the vulnerable country’s border with northern Greece.
Following Austria’s announcement of immigration curbs, countries on the Balkan route between Greece and Austria have followed suit, meaning that hundreds of thousands could end being kettled up in Greece unless there is an EU policy breakthrough.
Although the EU’s border agency Frontex has no mandate to operate in Macedonia, member governments have sent a total of 57 police and immigration officers to the country. Athens responded angrily to the pressure. The migration minister, Yiannis Mouzalas, said Greece was being scapegoated in an EU “blame game”. “The European crisis will be a humanitarian crisis in Greece with thousands of trapped refugees and migrants,” he warned.
Greek officials pointed out that they have so far spent €2bn managing the migration wave. “That’s money we really don’t have,” said one. “Tell me: where’s the European solidarity?”
The Syriza-led government says that ringfencing the eurozone’s weakest link would be tantamount to turning it into a huge refugee camp at a time of acute social hardship. Echoing those fears, analysts said suspension from the border-free zone could easily reignite scenarios of ejection from the single currency, which Athens only narrowly averted last summer. “It’s a symbolic act,” said economics professor Theodore Pelagidis, a fellow at the Brookings thinktank. “It would be interpreted by investors that Greece could face the danger of being ejected from the eurozone in the not so distant future.”
Regional experts said next month’s EU summit between heads of state would be critical. By then, officials deployed by Brussels will have completed a Schengen evaluation report expected to play a decisive role in determining whether Greece should remain in the zone. “The February meeting will give us a better sense of whether the EU-Turkey deal is delivering,” said Mujtaba Rahman, head of European analysis at Eurasia group, a risk consultancy. “The real power lies in Germany. For Merkel, it is really important to deliver a substantial reduction in refugee numbers by the time of local state elections in mid-March,” he said.
There was a widespread perception, he said, that Greece had not done enough to process migrants properly, including setting up camps or hot spots where refugees could reside before their relocation. “Germany and others have become very frustrated with the lack of progress,” he said. “Now they are at risk of having a solution imposed upon them.”
Daily Devotional
Delayed Deliverances
In this age, God rescues his people from some harm. Not all harm. That’s comforting to know, because otherwise we might conclude from our harm that he has forgotten us or rejected us.
So be encouraged by the simple reminder that in Acts 16:19–24, Paul and Silas were not delivered, but in verses 25–26, they were.
First, no deliverance:
But then deliverance:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God . . . and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. (verses 25–26)
God could have stepped in sooner. He didn’t. He has his reasons. He loves Paul and Silas.
Question for you: If you plot your life along this continuum, where are you? Are you in the stripped-and-beaten stage, or the unshackled, door-flung-open stage?
Both are God’s stages of care for you.
If you are in the fettered stage, don’t despair. Sing. Freedom is on the way. It is only a matter of time. Even if it comes through death.
John Piper
Immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. (Acts 16:25)In this age, God rescues his people from some harm. Not all harm. That’s comforting to know, because otherwise we might conclude from our harm that he has forgotten us or rejected us.
So be encouraged by the simple reminder that in Acts 16:19–24, Paul and Silas were not delivered, but in verses 25–26, they were.
First, no deliverance:
- “They seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace.” (v. 19)
- “The magistrates tore the garments off them.” (v. 22)
- They “inflicted many blows upon them.” (v. 23)
- The jailer “fastened their feet in the stocks.” (v. 24)
But then deliverance:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God . . . and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. (verses 25–26)
God could have stepped in sooner. He didn’t. He has his reasons. He loves Paul and Silas.
Question for you: If you plot your life along this continuum, where are you? Are you in the stripped-and-beaten stage, or the unshackled, door-flung-open stage?
Both are God’s stages of care for you.
If you are in the fettered stage, don’t despair. Sing. Freedom is on the way. It is only a matter of time. Even if it comes through death.
Snake-Oilers Extraordinaire
Deceived and Deceiving
Watching Al Jazeera news the other day, we were treated to a doomster (er . . . spokeswoman) from Oxfam telling us that more and more wealth is being concentrated into the hands of fewer and fewer plutocrats, whilst the poor are getting poorer. The terms of description were profoundly apocalyptic.
One is left wondering what on earth is going on the minds and hearts of these doomsters. Surely they know better. Surely their thinking and reasoning cannot be that purblind and stupid. Surely they are pulling a confidence trick--and doing so self-consciously. If that were the case it would be more understandable and (in a perverse way) more respectable than the only other option--which is, that Oxfam personnel really believe their own propaganda. If the latter were to be the case, it makes them pitiable.
One thing is clear: there is a great confusion involved when spokespeople conflate two quite distinct and separate things together, as if they were the same. On the one hand, there is the issue of poverty in the world--absolute poverty, no less--and on the other, there is the issue of the discrepancy in wealth between the most wealthy and the least wealthy. A growing discrepancy or gap between the two tells us precisely nothing about the incidence of poverty in the world.
The Oxfam spokeswoman, taken in the full flight of apocalyptic dooming, assumed that these two things are the same. Why, it's so obvious, it need not be debated. Another grand suppressed premise is that the world's wealth is fixed, finite, and unchangeable, such that the more wealth plutocrat A holds in his Scrooge McDuck-vault, the less wealth is available for the poor.
Oxfam's nonsense was too much for The Telegraph editorial writers. Their headline cut to the chase:
Watching Al Jazeera news the other day, we were treated to a doomster (er . . . spokeswoman) from Oxfam telling us that more and more wealth is being concentrated into the hands of fewer and fewer plutocrats, whilst the poor are getting poorer. The terms of description were profoundly apocalyptic.
One is left wondering what on earth is going on the minds and hearts of these doomsters. Surely they know better. Surely their thinking and reasoning cannot be that purblind and stupid. Surely they are pulling a confidence trick--and doing so self-consciously. If that were the case it would be more understandable and (in a perverse way) more respectable than the only other option--which is, that Oxfam personnel really believe their own propaganda. If the latter were to be the case, it makes them pitiable.
One thing is clear: there is a great confusion involved when spokespeople conflate two quite distinct and separate things together, as if they were the same. On the one hand, there is the issue of poverty in the world--absolute poverty, no less--and on the other, there is the issue of the discrepancy in wealth between the most wealthy and the least wealthy. A growing discrepancy or gap between the two tells us precisely nothing about the incidence of poverty in the world.
The Oxfam spokeswoman, taken in the full flight of apocalyptic dooming, assumed that these two things are the same. Why, it's so obvious, it need not be debated. Another grand suppressed premise is that the world's wealth is fixed, finite, and unchangeable, such that the more wealth plutocrat A holds in his Scrooge McDuck-vault, the less wealth is available for the poor.
Oxfam's nonsense was too much for The Telegraph editorial writers. Their headline cut to the chase:
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