KATHERINE, OUR "RAINBOW GIRL" BISHOP, AND THE SLOW, LINGERING DEATH OF A CHURCH

PRESIDING BISHOP KATHERINE J. SCHORI'
EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES

 As a Boy Scout several decades ago in a troop sponsored by Holy Cross Church in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, I have a strong recollection of being told that Episcopalians in the United States numbered well over 3.5 million.  Fast forward to 2013, during which time the population of the country has grown by 120 million, and the number of Episcopalian communicants has dropped to approximately 1.9 million.

As the so-called "mainline" churches have tended to focus on social issues and have strayed from their mission of sharing the "good news" of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there has been an across the board drop in their membership and a corresponding rapid rise in individuals affiliating with churches which place their emphasis on fundamentalism and evangelicalism.  In no other mainline denomination has the loss of membership been so dramatic as it has in the Episcopal Church in the United States.

AN ALL TOO FREQUENT SIGN OF DECAY

                                                                                                       

                                                                                                 Beginning  in the late 50's and early 60's, Bishop James Pike became a catalyst within the church in questioning basic dogma, such as the Virgin Birth, the Trinity, Heaven and Hell.  Along with that, Pike, before his death in 1969, plunged full speed ahead into the social issues of the day, which included civil and  LGBT rights, racism, and gender discrimination. Although there had been talk of a heresy trial, the church hierarchy never proceeded in that direction, and precedent had been set for a new type of clergy that would bend the church to its will and send traditional Episcopalians down the road to affiliate with various schismatic Anglican groups, or to leave the Anglican Communion altogether.

UNDER BISHOP KATHERINE, NUMBERS OF COMMUNICANTS
CONTINUE TO PLUNGE

Each Sunday from the Book of Common Prayer, Episcopalians recite the Prayers of the People, which include an entreaty for intercession for "Katherine, our Bishop."  Bishop Katherine, in this instance, is none other than Katherine J. Schori, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States.  Bishop Schori, a graduate of Stanford University with a doctoral degree in oceanography from Oregon State and a theological degree from the Divinity School of the  Pacific, became the first woman elected primate in the Anglican Communion and assumed her present position in 2006.

BISHOP KATHERINE IN FULL "RAINBOW" REGALIA

With Bishop Katherine at he helm, controversial church policies have continued to exacerbate the decline of the church.  For example, outspoken Episcopalian conservatives such as Mark Lawrence, bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, have attracted the ire of Bishop Katherine.  And, inconceivably, Bishop Lawrence has undergone official church prosecution, which has resulted in a schismatic diocese in South Carolina.

With unrelenting stands taken on the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of gay clergy, abortion rights and support of government-sanctioned birth control in the new national health care plan, Bishop Katherine is the first presiding bishop of the church to see a mass exodus of dioceses affiliating with the conservative Anglican Church of North America and with conservative dioceses in the Southern Hemisphere.  Retaliating in what would appear to be a truly unchristian-like manner, Bishop Katherine and her hierarchy of supporting clerics in the national church have unleashed several million dollars worth of law suits against departing dioceses and parishes, seeking to retain control of their property and assets. If successful in eventual adjudication of the suits, one wonders what Bishop Katherine and her remaining dioceses will do with fewer and fewer parishoners to fill up vacant and crumbling ecclesiastical properties. Also, in public pronouncements verging on heresy, the presiding bishop has ventured to question whether or not individual Christians may be saved from the consequences of their sins, perhaps reflecting the collectivist nature of her leftist politics.

A long-time Episcopalian layman and former editor of the Dallas Morning News, William Murchison, has written an insightful work on the fate of the Episcopal Church in the United States, MORTAL FOLLIES: EPISCOPALIANS AND THE CRISIS OF MAINLINE CHRISTIANITY.  For a perceptive and farsighted view of what the future might hold for Episcopalians, there is none better than Murchison's.  Certainly, at least for the meantime with Bishop Katherine and her minions in control, the long-term prospects for the Episcopal Church in the United States look none too rosy.

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NON-MUSLIMS PAY THE PRICE OF PERSECUTION IN THE OXYMORONIC "ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN"

Visiting Iran just before the Islamic takeover, I was struck by the widespread societal discontent, aimed chiefly at the Shah and his family.  There were several days when I did not venture far afield, because of large and tumultuous demonstrations.  By December of 1978, after I had taken an academic position in Saudi Arabia, the demonstrations had gotten larger and larger, finally forcing the Shah to leave the country.  Subsequently,  Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran to widespread rejoicing in the streets.  Very quickly, the executions and repression that would be the hallmarks of the new Islamic regime

MASS HANGING OF BAHA'IS IN BRUTAL EVIN PRISON

 were begun, and a virtual reign of terror for non-Muslims was set in motion.  Iran had traded the frying pan of the Shah for the fire of Shia Islam.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN EVIN PRISON

Today, after 35 years of Islamic rule, nothing has changed for non-Muslims.  If one wants a case history of what it would be like for a fundamentalist Islamic regime to come to power, there is no better place to start than with the Islamic Republic of Iran, where human rights violations are a way of life.

ZOROASTRIAN FIRE TEMPLE

One religion in particular in Iran, the Baha'i faith, has been singled out for what would essentially be extermination.  Lacking government recognition and viewed by the mullahs as apostates, Baha'is lack basic access to education, housing, and employment. Even small Baha'i commercial endeavors are shut down; and, since 1978, well over 200 Baha'is have been executed after having charged with undetermined criminal acts. In their typically imperious manner, authorities in Iran think nothing of confiscating Baha'i property, and either imprisoning or turning the former owners out into the streets.

Although Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians are officially recognized by the government, their lot is far from being an agreeable one. Zoroastrianism, Iran's oldest religion, has been singled out as being a "seditious group," and religious police are assigned the duty of constant surveillance of adherents and temples.  Zoroastrian complaints of abuse inevitably result in arrests and imprisonment.

IRANIAN JEWS IN TEHRAN

PASTOR SAEED ABEDINI AND FAMILY

At the end of the 1940's, there were probably 150,000 Jews in Iran.  Today, there are approximately 8,500, most of whom live in Tehran. With a government which is officially anti-Semitic and denies the Holocaust, the lives of Iran's few remaining Jews are severely circumscribed by overt persecution.  After the revolution, charges of Jewish espionage for Israel were commonplace, resulting in several executions of Jews.  As for the future of the Iranian Jewish community, its numbers will likely continue to dwindle until Judaism  is non-existent.

Within the last two years, hundreds of Iranian Christians have been imprisoned, among them Pastor Saeed Abedini, a convert from Islam who has been an American citizen since 2010. After returning to Iran during 2012 to participate in various assistance and service projects and to visit family members, Pastor Abedini was tried and sentenced for 8 years in notorious Evin Prison, where he has undergone torture and
solitary confinement.
                                                                                                       

ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH IN TEHRAN

Earlier in May of this year, word was received that authorities had burst into a service held by an Assembly of God congregation and arrested its pastor, Robert Asserian.  Official government policy is that the congregation must conduct its services in Armenian and not in Farsi, for fear that Farsi services would attract converts from the majority Shia Muslim population.

Since the Islamic regime came to power, executions, kidnappings and

IRANIAN CHRISTIAN BEATEN FOR HER FAITH

murders have been standard fare for Christians.  With recent developments, it would appear that more of the same is in store for the Christian community.

If one defines "Republic" after Mr. Webster, the travesty that masquerades under the name of "Islamic Republic of Iran," is a massive incongruity and contradiction of terms.  However, for Muslim fundamentalists who prefer oppression to freedom and tyranny to liberty, it could be a veritable paradise on earth.  Perhaps, dear readers, those politicians who are purveyors of political correctness and multiculturalism should keep this in mind when they consider the consequences of Muslim immigration into the Western world.

NICOLAI SENNELS, ARNOLD TOYNBEE AND ISLAM

ARNOLD TOYNBEE (1889 - 1975)

NICOLAI SENNELS

MUSLIMS REACT TO DANISH MOHAMED CARTOONS

After further reflection on Nicolai Sennels' work, Among Criminal Muslims: A Psychologist's Experience from the Copenhagen Municipality, I recently began thinking back on my own experience of having lived for six years in a Muslim country, during which my cultural assumptions were tested nearly every day.  Sennels makes a valid point that cultural integration is a challenge of the first order; and, in my case, my host country viewed me as simply a glorified hired-hand, and had no desire for me to  undergo any sort of integration to facilitate
 a permanent stay.  Nevertheless,   the daily  challenges of life were significant.

For poorly educated individuals coming from what are essentially 15th century tribal societies nurtured in Islam, entering a 21st century Western culture where there are expectations of integration and even assimilation, the challenges are well nigh impossible to meet.  As Sennels relates, what has happened in Denmark is that immigrants have tended to seek validation by massing in ghettos with their coreligionists, resisting integration and taking comfort in maintaining their own traditions, while insisting that the way of Islam is advanced far beyond all other faiths and ways of life.  In other words, the host culture  must change to acknowledge the superiority of Islam.

BURNING OF THE DANISH FLAG

Viewing political correctness and multiculturalism as organized forms of leftist cowardice expressive of a desire to totally transform Western culture, Sennels sees continued accommodation of Muslims in the West as suicidal, inasmuch as the contrary nature of Islam does not accept compromise.  Consequently, it follows that the current course will ultimately lead to decreased freedom and the loss of individual rights in the West.

The British Historian Arnold Toynbee was sufficiently discerning in his analysis of societal decline to define the root cause of decay as moral decline.  Indeed, the recurring theme throughout his 10 volume A Study of History is that moral decline precedes the unwillingness or inability to meet new and novel challenges by a civilization's creative minority. The result will be degeneration and fatal weakening, producing eventually an abandonment of commitment by components that formerly had held the civilization together.

Toynbee also referred to an "external proletariat,"  made up of masses of individuals resentful of but  living beyond the pall of a declining civilization, and covetous of the civilization's achievements.  If not checked, these masses will be instrumental in the final process of decay, effectively dismembering the carcass of a dying civilization.

And here we arrive at the 21st century, characterized by politicians in the West who hesitate to even pronounce their societies "exceptional."  Instead, the new leftist leaders of the West, beset by bogus guilt engendered by an academic and intellectual elite dedicated to the destruction of capitalism, liberty, freedom,  and the individual, have taken it upon themselves to unleash an external proletariat into our very midst.  Yes, the microbes of death and collapse are dividing and multiplying, all in the name of multiculturalism and political correctness.  Will those of us who call ourselves Westerners be able to supply from our core values the antidote to the disease of Muslim immigration?

          

NICOLAI SENNELS: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MUSLIMS TO INTEGRATE INTO WESTERN SOCIETY!

If it is true that one can learn from the mistakes of others, then now is the time  to look toward Europe, for increasingly Americans are  treading the  path of accommodation of Muslim immigration so disastrously taken in western Europe.


From 1992 through 2012, 1.7 million Muslim immigrants entered the United States, most of them coming from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.  In 1992, the number of Muslims legally immigrating numbered 50,000, while in 2012 fully 100,000 arrived.  Combined with current totals of Muslims residing in the U.S. and the geometric Muslim birthrate, these numbers suggest that the overall population of U.S. Muslims should double in 17 years to nearly 10 million.

For Americans concerned about the future, a case study could very well be Denmark, a small, prosperous Scandinavian country, with a population of nearly 6,000,000 and boasting a per capita GDP of slightly over $56,000 U.S.  Danes have for long been noted for their liberal socialistic governments, and their sympathy for the world's downtrodden perhaps explains their liberal policies on admitting "political refugees" into their society.

Currently the Danish Muslim population is between 4.5% and 5% of the total population, which means approximately 250,00 Muslims live in Denmark. However, if current demographic projections hold, that population should double in the next 10 years. And that fact alone underlines that there are big economic and budgetary problems in store for the Danish government.

DANISH MUSLIM PRISON PERCENTAGES ARE TOO HIGH

Despite  their relatively small percentage of total population, Danish Muslims account for 40% of welfare expenditures; 50% of convicted rapists; and,70% of all crimes in Copenhagen. A particularly salient point is that 67% of Muslim students who have matriculated in Denmark for 10 years are not even functional in the Danish language.

A SENTIMENT ABOUT WHICH WE HAVE HEARD TOO MUCH

In 2008, a young Danish psychologist/social worker, Nicolai Sennels who had been practicing his profession with youthful Muslim offenders imprisoned in the Copenhagen municipality, lost his job for referring to "criminal Muslims,"  rather than using the politically correct, government- preferred term "criminal foreigners."  Sennels' experience in the Danish prison system became the basis for a book published in 2010, Among Criminal Muslims: A Psychologist's Experience from the Copenhagen Municipality.

Before working in prison, Sennels was totally unaware that 70% of offenders in juvenile prison facilities in Denmark were from Muslim families.  Eventually, his background in psychology allowed him to proceed to decisive conclusions in comparing the Muslim mind to the Western psyche.

Missing in the Muslim experience of socialization is emphasis on free will and motivation, which has traditionally been decisive in expanding individual horizons in the West. Regrettably for young Muslims, this deficiency translates into aggressive behavior and criminal tendencies.

Those who identify strongly with Islam are far more likely to show anger in such a way as being disruptive, in comparison to the Western world view,  which regards outbursts of anger and aggression as negatives in an orderly society. Those Muslims, for example, who do not demonstrate anger and aggression when criticized lose standing in the Muslim world.  Events which have sparked Muslim violence and aggression are widespread in recent experience, such as the Mohamed cartoons, Dutch criticism of genital mutilation, the  Rushdie fatwas, etc. It would be, perhaps, normal for most school children encountering gratuitous aggression and violence to put down such behavior with humor and logic; but, alas; Western politicians do seem to have the courage to so act.  However, at this point, humor and logic would most likely have no effect on the extremism that seems to fuel the world Muslim resurgence.

In Muslim societies, an aggressive response to any development or event causing insecurity is considered "honorable."  While such an interpretation of  honor could possibly  lead to criminal charges in the West, the average European or American is more likely to consider maturity and even social status as coming from the ability to deal with constructive criticism.   Accordingly, self-introspection is virtually missing in Muslim societies, which place overwhelming stress on placating a vengeful Allah and conforming to cultural expectations stemming therefrom.

David Riesman, et. al., utilized the terms inner-directed and other-directed in the seminal work The Lonely Crowd.  Sennels points out that Muslim societies are far more likely to produce "outer-directed" individuals, whose sense of well-being is dependent on approval by external authorities, such as imams, fathers, cultural assumptions and an almighty Allah.  Recognizing this, it is understandable how Muslims are led to perceive threats emanating from non-Muslims espousing self-determination and liberty, and  how viewing a display such values might lead to a paranoia that anti-Muslim conspiracies are forming around every corner.

MUSLIMS DENIGRATE WESTERN VALUES

With surveys showing that only 14% of Danish Muslims fully consider themselves as being Danish, one questions why immigration would be attractive to Muslims in the first place.  After all, if it is cultural cohesiveness that they crave, that would be much more readily attainable in their original homelands.Certainly Western culture, which places a premium upon the individual right to make basic choices having to do with lifestyle, spirituality vocation, avocation, etc., reflects an emphasis on freedom that is almost totally foreign to the Muslim mind.

In summary, Sennels' outstanding work presents a xenophobic picture of Islam and its adherents.  Certainly, readers will understand that, seeking to add to the Western cultural mix elements of a religion which are in total opposition to Western values, European and American politicians (with a consciousness honed on the enslaving tenets of political correctness and multiculturalism), have needlessly exposed their citizens to dangers and vicissitudes which will continue to multiply if Muslim immigration proceeds unabated. WILL WE EVER LEARN?

BUT, BUT, MR. PRESIDENT, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO IBN-KHALDUN, AVINCENNA AND AVERROES?

It was approximately three years ago, when I heard President Barack Hussein Obama intone a plea for a new governmental program, namely a project at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to "...make Muslims feel good about themselves and mathematics and science."

My initial reaction was to wonder about Southern Baptists, Methodists, Hindus, Confucians, Roman Catholics,

AVERROES

 Jains, Buddhists and others.  Shouldn't all those folks feel good about math and science, too?  Then, I asked myself, if a tax-supported governmental entity should engage in making people of a particular religious persuasion feel good about themselves?  Just where was our president wanting to go with all this?

Eventually, I thought about all of those Muslim scholars that I covered a generation ago in civilization courses, when I was "professing" as an associate professor at a state university in Alabama. Indeed, I regaled students with all the particulars on el-Farabi, ibn-Khaldun, Avicenna, Averroes, et. al.  All in all, those Muslim scientists, medical doctors, men of letters and philosophers and theologians were a pretty impressive lot.  Why couldn't Muslims feel good about themselves and science and mathematics with those illustrious figures in their past?

AVICENNA

If one considers the Ummayads at Damascus, the Abbasids at Baghdad and the caliphate of Cordoba, the epoch of Muslim scholarship persisted for more than 500 years, from the 8th century through the middle of the 13th century.  And, indeed, this may very well be the problem, as Muslim learning, by the early 14th century, began a long process into decline

IBN-KHALDUN

In any history of the development of universities, al-Azhar University in Cairo, dating from the late 10th century, is generally given credit, for being first.  As the intellectual jewel of Sunni Islam, it was and is noted for studies in Islamic jurisprudence, religion and culture.Its scholars today are famed throughout the Muslim world for their fatwas pertaining to disputes within the religion and for their various works on right conduct for Muslims.  But, although there are a few secular departments in the university in the 21st century, it is true that al-Azhar has never been distinguished in the "hard sciences."

AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY

If there is, as has been suggested by our president, a Muslim disconnect with math and science, one need only peruse the list of Nobel Prize laureates. Since 1901, there have been 10 Muslim winners, half of them coming in the 21st century.  Of the 10, 6 have been awarded peace prizes.  The world Muslim population is about 1.5 billion

By contrast, although constituting 0.25% of the world population, Jews or  individuals of Jewish descent have garnered 170 Nobel Prizes.  In science, Jews have taken 19% of the world total in chemistry, 28% in medicine and physiology, and 26% in physics.

So, the president's notion began to make more sense; and, at this point, please keep in mind that President Obama is himself a Nobel Prize winner. And, then, there it was: "AHA AND EUREKA!" It came to me! I understood, and it was absolutely brilliant!  All those Muslims throughout the world are are depressed and must feel terrible about themselves and math and science, especially when they think about the hated Jews.  If there were just some way to raise Muslim esteem, what a difference it would make!  Perhaps all of that "Allahhu-Akbaring" and beheading business would cease!  Maybe Muslims would stop calling Jews "monkeys, pigs and apes!"  Suicide bombings would end!  Even honor killings and genital mutilations might stop!  Your local Mullah could join the community Lions or Rotary Club! And, miracle of miracles, the Arab/Israeli conflict could finally come to an end!

PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, YOUR INTELLECT IS NOTHING SHORT OF DAZZLING!

RAGING MUSLIM HORDES TORCH SWEDEN IN FOUR NIGHTS OF EXTREMELY VIOLENT RIOTING!

VIOLENCE BEGINNING IN HUSBY

 Despite little notice in the American media, news is spreading of this week's four nights of riots and pillage in Sweden by Muslim "refugees."  The riots seemingly stemmed from an incident on May 13, when Swedish police were forced to fire on an elderly Muslim wielding a knife. Starting just outside Stockholm in the municipality of Husby, by Tuesday the violence had spread to six areas of the capital.

 The rioters, Muslim "political refugees" from Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Somalia, were tossing Molotov cocktails at police and EMS first-responders, while torching automobiles and buildings.

Recently trimmed welfare benefits, originating from austerity measures by the Swedish government, were also an issue, as large segments of the Muslim immigrant community are almost totally welfare-dependent in Sweden.

More and more Swedes are speaking out against multicultural diversity and the political correctness

MUSLIM THUGS ADD FUEL TO THE FIRE IN STOCKHOLM

 foisted upon them by their government.  Accordingly, the recently formed Sweden Democrat Party, which seeks to enact broad restrictions on open immigration and to call a halt to the insanity of the twin pillars of Swedish socialism - multiculturalism and political correctness - is expected to reap wide support in elections set for 2014.

MAY THE CROSS OF THE SWEDISH FLAG NOT BE SULLIED
BY MUSLIM THUGS!

The time is nigh, dear readers.  Can we not see the folly of Muslim immigration, as more and more tragedies are spawned from ill-begotten policies in Mother Europe?  Do we not recognize the vacuity of thought  in an American president who wishes to declare the war on terror over and done with, while the enemy is making no bones about wanting to kill us?  Do we wish to bury our heads and even refuse to utter the dreaded "M" word, like the limp-minded liberals who purport to lead us?  It is not too late!  Let us take action!  Let us make our will known at the polls!  Yes, dear readers, our precious Western civilization is worth the effort!

         STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION NOW!

DRUMMER LEE RIGBY, RIP

WHERE MUSLIMS STALK THE STREETS, DEATH IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

SAVAGE NIGERIAN MUSLIM WITH BLOODY HANDS, KNIFE AND CLEAVER

 In a savage terrorist attack which took  place on Wednesday in London, an on-duty British soldier was knifed and hacked to death and eventually beheaded in the presence of passersby. Those responsible appear to be two Nigerian Muslims, who brazenly remained at the scene after the completion of their grisly deed to spout Islamic extremist verbiage as a rationalization for their actions.

SCENE OF ATTACK ON BRITISH SOLDIER

London police, arriving some 20 minutes after the attack, opened fire on the two suspects, who were then removed to a local hospital.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, stating his determination for a complete investigation to determine if others were complicit, cautioned the public not to associate the actions of the suspected perpetrators with  the tenets of Islam. Lord Mayor of London Boris Johnson also cautioned against associating the event  with the peaceful religion of Islam.

CHECHEN MUSLIM IBRAGIM TODASHEV

Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, a 27-year-old Chechen Muslim suspected of involvement with the Boston Marathon bombers was shot to death at his condo in Orlando, Florida, by authorities who were interviewing him.  Ibragim Todashev, boasting a record of previous run-ins with the law for road rage and parking disputes, reportedly lunged at an FBI agent, who subsequently opened fire.

It also came out, apparently during the interview, that Todashev had inadvertently implicated himself in a 2011 unsolved triple-murder that took place in Waltham, Massachusetts.  

Why, dear readers, do we continue to host these individuals in our midst? Is it not clear that we  are at war?  Every day, in Muslim majority lands, heinous attacks are suffered by non-Muslims.  And, now, it is virtually a daily occurrence that Muslims have become so bold that senseless attacks in broad daylight on major thoroughfares are carried out in the West.  Far better, dear readers, that the savages remain in their savage lands.  Do we not have major problems in our own societies demanding our attention, to the extent that we need not be distracted by the likes of Muslims from Nigeria, Chechnya, Dagestan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and all the other "stans?"  Should we not at least have a serious discussion about suspending Muslim immigration?

LET US SHOUT IT OUT, DEAR READERS:  THE MERRY-GO-ROUND OF DIVERSITY AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS DOES NOT SERVE OUR BEST INTERESTS, AND WE WANT OFF! AND WE WANT OFF NOW! Perhaps there are some non-pusillanimous public servants out there who will hear our cry.  Barring that, we must find the appropriate monkey-wrench to jam up the gears.  

STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION INTO THE WEST NOW!

WESTERN CIVILIZATION, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND GRADE INFLATION

More than a few of the surveys comparing the academic performance of American children to students in other nations of the industrial world are disappointing, to say the least.  Whether it is mathematics, reading or science, our American students may regularly be found in the second-tier of standings.

Here, in Brownsville, Texas (admittedly, for all practical purposes, a Third World city), where public school buses regularly discharge loads of obese elementary school "honor students" at the local Peter Piper Pizza franchises as a reward for superior academic  performance, I find myself more than little dubious about 1) the nutritional example being set, and 2) whether the students who fill the buses are truly worthy of  scholastic recognition.                                            


 As one who labored in the halls of academe for more than 40 years, I can say without equivocation that the products being turned out by the system in the 21st century seem woefully ill-informed and incredibly short on ability having to do with analysis and rational and empirical thought.  Looking for cause and effect, it becomes more and more apparent that political-correctness, the most brazen system of intellectual and academic censorship seen in the Western world since the 15th century, must bear a major portion of the blame for the Orwellian environment in which present day students must function.

30-SOMETHING LAW STUDENT CANNOT AFFORD
BIRTH-CONTROL 

The hierarchy of nouveaux tribalists who now occupy the highest rungs of the educational elite in America have deprived the young of their magnificent heritage for a pottage of diversity which holds that Hottentot nomads are as "exceptional" as the great thinkers of Western civilization, and that all cultures are equivalent in value and standing.  With no objective standards being imparted,  the end result should not be surprising.

In a recent survey of recent American college graduates, only 48% could identify James Madison as the father of the Constitution, while 98% correctly identified Snoop Doggy-Dog as a rap musician.  And, at an Obama campaign event in late September of 2012 on the campus of Ohio University, students at the rally were unable to place "Benghazi," many of them thinking that "Ben Gazi" was either a Mafia crime boss or a major fund-raiser for the Republican Party.

One of the greatest achievements of Western civilization and the common law has been the concept of  individual rights and, with it, the assumption of individual responsibilities. But, today (sadly), a high regard for rights and responsibilities is  giving way to a statist sense of entitlement, fostered by those who wish to see rights subjugated to governmental authority.  With our Republic predicated on the premise of informed participation, it should not take many more generations of  informationally-challenged citizens to effect a downfall that that could not have been brought about by multitudes of foreign adversaries.

Shockingly, but very true, the most common grade given in American colleges and universities in 2013 is "A."   More than 40% of students matriculating in higher education receive A's in their courses.  In contrast, during the 1960's the most common grade was "C," and the percentage of A's awarded was a mere 7%.

More than 30 years ago, when I was an associate professor of history in a state university, our administration decreed that the foreign language requirement for the B.A. degree should be dispensed with.  Consequently, I and other members of that department waged a successful effort to retain the requirement, while other more feckless departments were giving in.  From my vantage point of the last 40 or more years, there has been a vast and continuing trend toward relinquishing standards in an effort to accommodate  diverse societal elements.  And one consequence for certain has been that of grade inflation.

Virtually every day, the core-values of Western civilization are under attack. What shall we do?  Shall we protect our heritage, letting it be known with no uncertainty that not all cultures are equal and that Western civilization has brought mankind more freedom and well being than any previous system in world history?  Shall we stand for our legacy of reason and individuality? Or, shall we continue to accommodate and relinquish while our foundations of greatness are slowly but surely undermined by the charlatans of opportunism and ignorance?  If there is a cause that is worth "standing tall" for, surely this is the ultimate.

UZBEKISTAN, ANOTHER ISLAMIC HELLHOLE, SENDS U.S. DOWNTRODDEN "POLITICAL REFUGEES"

Last week, in Idaho, a trial date was set for yet another Muslim would-be terrorist, this time an Uzbek.  No doubt, you are asking yourself what an Uzbek terrorist is doing in the USA; and, most likely you are also wondering just what is an Uzbek!

ISLAM KARIMOV

Uzbekistan is an independent nation of some 30 million, a former Soviet republic, located in  Central Asia.  Despite being one of the world's greatest producers of gold, the landlocked country does not enjoy a free economy and, for the 20 or so years since its independence from the old Soviet Union, has remained under the boot of  Islam Karimov, its  president and brutal dictator.  Very quickly, to give you an idea about the Karimov regime, the president is noted for executing political opponents by having them boiled to death.

FAZLIDDIN KURBANOV

Just five days ago in Idaho, a thirty-year-old Uzbek, Fazliddin Kurbanov, was indicted for possessing a series of parts for bombs, including a hand grenade and aluminum powder.  Kurbanov, a former truck driver in his homeland who speaks no English, was also alleged to have conducted "educational sessions," during which he demonstrated "planning methods" for weapons of mass destruction.

Kurbanov, who is a member of the radical Islamic Movement for Uzbekistan, is part of a wider community of Uzbek "political refugees" residing in Idaho. And, as is usually the case, apparently the ICE once again let this country down by failing to perform adequate background checks.

ISLAMIC MOVEMENT FOR UZBEKISTAN JIHADIS

During July of 2012, another Uzbek, Ulugbek Kodirov, was convicted in a federal court in Alabama of conspiring to assassinate President Barack Obama.  During the court proceedings, it was brought out that the Islamic Movement for Uzbekistan had sanctioned the plot.

Any nation unable or unwilling to establish its boundaries and to protect its citizens from interlopers diametrically opposed to its way of life will surely not be a nation for long.  In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "America will never be destroyed from the outside.  If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."  By this time, in 2013, I cannot imagine how it could be any more apparent.  Yes, dear readers, our policy makers MUST rethink immigration policy, and they should begin by considering that many prospective immigrants coming from Islamic environments are simply not good fits for the U.S.A.

And so, dear readers, today I leave you on a somewhat cautionary note:  The next time you find yourself in either Tashkent or Samarkand, please, please, for goodness sake, mind your Ps and your Qs, as I absolutely would not wish to lose any of my fine readers to President Karimov's boiling pot!

HERE WE GO AGAIN: PUSHY SOMALIS AND THE CAIR 5TH COLUMN

RECENTLY CONVICTED SOMALIS

Somalia, you might recall, is that wretched, predominantly Muslim land of 10 million, located on the Horn of Africa, which has been a failed state since the 1990's.  As such, it represented a major setback in President Bill Clinton's stab at "nation building."





If your knowledge about the place is a little on the sparse side, maybe you'll recall a 2001 movie, "Black Hawk Down," which recounted American involvement in a U.N. effort in 1993 to alleviate the conditions of civil war and famine in Somalia that brought on the deaths of 300,000.   The plot revolved around an American force on a failed mission to capture a Somali warlord and his major advisers, which ultimately cost 19 American lives.

With Somalis in Africa living on a per capita annual basis of slightly less than $600.00, it is little wonder that there has been widespread immigration to Europe and America.  Consequently, Somali communities abroad have grown and have lent themselves to the overall growth of Muslim populations.

In the United States, Somali Muslims have been especially assertive in demanding recognition for Islam.  In 2007, approximately 700 Somali taxi-drivers who served the Minneapolis airport refused - on religious grounds, of course - to transport individuals with guide-dogs and anyone carrying alcoholic beverages.  In the following year, 2008, Somali meat-packers in Colorado and Nebraska began demanding that American paid holidays be replaced by Muslim holidays. And, in Tennessee, Eid-al-Fitr became an option to Labor Day in Tyson plants.  Gradually, because of ICE enforcement, Somali meat packing labor began to replace Latinos, who do not enjoy the protected refugee status granted to the east African Muslims.  More recently, Mission Foods, an Hispanic food processing company known for its tortillas, has had its hands full with an EEOC complaint lodged by Somali women employees who consider the Mission dress code an insult to Islam.

Dear readers, this is nothing short of ridiculous!  As one who survived six years working in a Muslim country, I would never have dreamed of throwing my weight around in an attempt to change an Islamic holiday to an American or a Christian holiday!  And, had I been so pushy to do so, I would have immediately been afforded a one-way ticket home. I can only ask, just how long are we going to tolerate these ridiculous situations?  Is our culture now so politically-correct, puny and pathetic that we can no longer expect any sort of assimilation from Muslim immigrants?

AL-SHABAAB LOGO

An now, as Paul Harvey would say,"... for the rest of the story."  Last week, a federal court in Minneapolis sentenced 9 Somalis for their involvement in supporting and financing al-Shabaab, a Somali arm of al-Qaeda. Two of those sentenced were women, Amina Farah Ali  and Hawo Mohamed Hassan.  Ali, who received a 20-year sentence and Hassan who will serve 10 years, claimed that their fund-raising was to benefit the Somali poor and that they merely used al-Shabaab as a conduit for the monies.  The others' convictions, on grounds related to perjury and recruitment of young men to fight for al-Shabaab, saw sentences handed out in a range of from 3 to 20 years.

Almost immediately after the sentences were delivered, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced that it would officially complain about the conduct of presiding Judge Michael Davis, who during the proceedings asked the women if they supported "..jihad, suicide bombings and Shariah law."  In addition, Judge Davis asked counsel for defense, "Does she understand there are some Muslim women who wear dresses or short skirts?"  The questions were posed in an attempt by the judge to ascertain if the women would be prone to engage in more activities supportive of terrorism after their release from prison.  Predictably, of course, CAIR will pursue its complaint based on "inappropriate questions" about religion and a fallacious linking of terrorism to the precepts of Islam. In none of its announcements having to do with the case did CAIR bother to condemn terrorism or activities supporting it.

Americans, have you not had enough?  Why are we allowing "political refugees" into the country who obviously have a strong propensity to engage in activities to undermine our society?  Do these Somalis not know that this country has been at war with al-Qaeda?  Have they never heard of 9/11?  Do they take us for morons?

Please remember, dear readers, that the Muslim mind is essentially a 15th century mind.  Indeed, there have been many Muslims who have responded positively to the challenges of living in a modern world.  Nevertheless, that does not obviate the fact that, for the great Islamic mass that has no knowledge of a Renaissance, a Reformation or an Enlightenment in its past, assimilation into a 21st century Western environment  is a test that they cannot pass.  Until those who shape our immigration law become educated enough to release this, I fear that we are destined for more and more such situations involving Muslims whose ignorance condemns them to throw themselves into a pseudo religious fray against the societies which have sheltered and provided them with opportunities for advancement.

DEAR CHECHENS, PLEASE STAY HOME! AND, DON'T FORGET, FOR YOUR NEXT BIG TRIP THERE IS ALWAYS DAGESTAN!

Immediately after the Boston terrorist bombing, there were many Americans - maybe even most Americans! - who had no idea where a tiny Russian republic called Chechnya was located.  Some, apparently, thought that Chechens came from Czechoslovakia, despite the fact that Czechs and Slovaks split the sheets a few years ago; and, if Czechoslovakia were still in existence, it would be located approximately 2,000 miles from Chechnya. So, for all those who are geographically-challenged, here goes.  Chechnya, with a population of less than 1.5 million persons, is located in the northern Caucasus, just to the northeast of the Republic of Georgia.

CHECHEN BEAUTIES STROLLING IN CAPITAL OF GROZNY

When Chechens were even thought of by Americans prior to Boston, it was likely that they would have been known for kidnapping and killing almost 400 children at a Russian school in Beslan, kidnapping more than 300 theatre-goers in Moscow and waging an ongoing war for independence from Russia.  During the uproar over the Danish Mohamed cartoons, Chechens gained more notoriety when one of their number living in Belgium traveled all the way to Copenhagen on jihad with a bomb recipe.  Fortunately for the Danes, the unlucky Chechen departed prematurely to meet his 72 virgins when his explosive materials were accidentally detonated in his hotel room.

FAMILY TSARNAEV WITH ZUBEIDAT AND BABY TAMERLAN

Chechnya has, for all practical purposes, been convulsed by social, political and religious upheaval since the 15th century. The original Tamerlane (more properly Timur the Lame, who was of Turko-Mongolian extraction) put together an empire stretching from the Caucasus to Punjab in the late 14th century. Chechnya, originally part of the empire, would end up fighting during most of its history for autonomy from Russia.  Its conversion to Sunni Islam was in large part a move to gain support from the Turkish-Ottoman Empire against Russia.  And so, over the centuries, little Chechnya has been a land of embattled warriors.

Just a few days ago while pondering the family Tsarnaev, I happened to come across this 1907 quote from President Theodore Roosevelt:

MODERN DAY CHECHEN PRESERVES HIS CULTURE

In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant comes here in good faith, becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to disciminate against any such man because of creed,  birthplace, or origin.  But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American - and nothing but an American.  There can be no divided allegiance here. 

Every man who says he is an  American, but something

 else also is not an American at all. We have room but for 

one flag, the American flag. We have room but for one 

language here, and that is the English language.

And we have room for but one sole loyalty, and 

that is loyalty to the American people.

CHECHENS WITH FELINE HOUSE PET

Dear readers, do not these words make eminent sense?  Why should we not demand of those wishing to immigrate into this country that they leave all of their old, tired conflicts and political and religious hatreds behind?  This is our country.  We do not want to be drawn into quarrels not of our making. And, most assuredly, we do not want to see our fellow citizens maimed and killed by crazed individuals who should never have been admitted to the United States in the first place!  If, as the present administration would have the world believe, the United States is a politically-correct paradise, with its emphases placed on diversity, toleration and acceptance, why would this country want admit into its confines aliens who have no wish to integrate, much less to assimilate?

CHECHEN GUERRILLA FIGHTERS

Any nation so near-sighted as to lose sight of its own culture and values is surely destined for failure, and history is replete with examples of rotting cultures and  corresponding collapsing societies.  Even if we ignore history - and certainly we do so at our own peril - the warning signs are all around us.  During the last week, in Minnesota, Somali Muslims were called to account for their "charitable" activities in which they openly solicited funds to support our Islamist enemies.  This and other cases in point have become almost daily occurrences.  Let us scream unto the high heavens that enough is enough!  If we shout it to the mountain tops, perhaps our urbane and cosmopolitan Solons in D.C. will finally get the idea that their first obligation is the protection of the United States of America and its citizens!

So I say, Chechens, if you want to carry on your fights, go elsewhere.  Dagestan, with its combustible mix of Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Azeris, Lezgins and Laks, may be more to your liking. And, besides, it is right next door.  I hear that most of those folks are always up for a good fight.  Go for it!