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When Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to quell the fears of Americans who were in the throes of the great depression he said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Today’s world is a roaring sea of unpredictability, instability and fearful portents that make Roosevelt’s world seem calm. The news is awash with debate about Imam Rauf’s Ground Zero mosque being built in Lower Manhattan against the wishes of seventy percent of Americans. Few have noticed that half a world away Muslims are ripping up a Christian graveyard against the orders of their government. The orders of Muslim Cleric Mirza Abdul Ghani are being carried out to build additions to the mosque in spite of the orders of local officials to halt construction in Mandi Bhawaldin, Pakistan. Compass News Direct (CND) reported that on August 27, 2010 the mosque continues to be built even as graves are torn up and desecrated. The local government is ignored, national government seems indifferent and the Christians are reported to be too afraid to speak up for fear of their lives, Christian Telegraph Sept. 6, 2010. After nearly 16,000 separate terror attacks worldwide since the attack on New York’s Trade Towers, the news is daily laced with horrific incidents such as the murders of ten Christians in Nigeria in 2007 over a cartoon and more recently the slaying of military personnel at Fort Hood, Texas. Fear seems to be having its day. The United States is among a very few nations so far that has consistently stood up against the spread of terrorist attacks and the fear they produce. That battle front has seriously waned since we elected a President who has been seen to bow before Muslim monarchs and has been heard saying America is indeed a Muslim nation against the clear historical record that says it is not, nor has it ever been. In 1973 bank robbers held employees of bank in Norrmalmstorg, Sweden hostage for five days after which the hostages were found speaking well of their captors and expressing their willingness to defend them in court. When the captors didn’t inflict any serious harm on employees of the bank, it was interpreted as kindness. Psychiatrist Nils Bejerot referred to the behavior of the captives as the “Stockholm Syndrome.” As nations around the globe have taken to walking on eggs so as not to offend the Muslims it seems the world has succumbed to collective “Stockholm Syndrome.” Will the “religion of peace” show us a bit of kindness by not killing cartoonists, burning down churches or knocking down buildings in major cities? How has that been going? Most Americans are content with a smattering of daily news and then it’s off to Jeopardy, the Wheel of Fortune and NBA games, episodes of CSI and a few uproariously funny sitcoms. Who has the time or the inclination to actually categorize the attacks or the threat of attack the religion of peace is laying on a world too comfortable with the business of being daily? Fortunately for them; I do, but thank God I am not alone. Several good online sites provide news about terrorist activity around the globe. Persecution of Christianity is also chronicled in detail by organizations like “The Voice of the Martyrs.” “Political Islam” is an online site that categorizes and describes in detail all terrorist activity around the globe on a monthly basis. Other sites dedicated to uncovering the spread of Muslim terror and intimidation are “Persecution.org” and “Jihad Watch.org.” Be prepared to be stunned on a visit to these sites. They are not using shock tactics or news mongering but are carefully documenting and categorizing the fear producing outrages that are occurring around the world at an ever increasing rate. Perhaps it matters little to Muslims but at least a few people are intent on digging into the truth of the so called, “religion of peace.” Albert Camus said, “Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.” If we are going to respect Muslims as Imam Rauf and others are saying, it won’t be because they are a threat, but so far that’s all that they have been. Rhetoric about the “religion of peace” makes a poor substitute for some actual peace, this is what we in America call “common sense” and it is not subject to yielding to endless words about bridge building being followed by thousands of attacks, enraged protests, flag and effigy burnings and the demolition of churches and graveyards from one end of the globe to the other. We say, make sense, stop the violence or, shut up about bridge building. Highly acclaimed keynote speaker Michael Pritchard said, “Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.” It could also be said that the other little dark room that belligerent and threatening behavior places us in; is a dark and dingy jail cell whose bars, locks and restraints are made of nothing but pure fear. In a revealing discourse on the second coming of Christ, Jesus predicted that just before that time; the entire world would be thrust into a state of unprecedented fear. In the gospel of Luke a description of fearful tumults that would grip the world is given that could only be, along with dozens of other fulfilled pre-millennial prophecies, the world as it is today. “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:25, 26) The Apostle Paul addresses fear in his letter to his young disciple Timothy. He admonishes Timothy to reject fear at the same time he identifies the demonically driven origins of unnecessary fear. To wit: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2Timothy 1:7) It takes no theological Einstein to see that this verse has concluded that the spread of fear does not come from God. In the Old Testament the term “fear not” is recorded 48 times, while in the New Testament it appears 14 times almost always spoken by Christ to those who believed in him. Since 2 out 3 people in America claim to be Christians why should we be so fearful? Perhaps our disdain of fear motivated behavior accounts for the fact that America is still the most active country in the world, standing against terror, intimidation and unbridled fear produced by tyrant, nation or religion. Maybe Roosevelt, Jesus and the Apostle Paul got through to us? http://www.americanprophet.org has since 2005 featured the articles of columnist Rev Michael Bresciani along with news and reviews that have earned this site the title of The Website for Insight Millions have read his timely reports and articles in online journals and print publications across the nation and the globe.
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Roosevelt, Jesus, Apostle Paul, Imam, Imam Rauf, Stockholm Syndrome, Stockholm, Ground Zero, Mirza Abdul Ghani, Compass News, Mandi Bhawaldin, Pakistan, Voice o,
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