Showing posts with label Juarez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Juarez. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Lesson: Dealing With Unemployment

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/ or call 1-888-886-8632. Please follow this site here.

Hello friends! Welcome to this Bible study guide on "Dealing With Unemployment." With today's recession affecting the entire world, many people suddenly find themselves unemployed. What does God want us to do when we lose our job? Does the Bible even address this subject? Join me now as we see what the Bible says about this challenging situation.

Lesson: Dealing With Unemployment

Bible Study - Dealing With UnemploymentThe Bible shows that God Himself works, and He created mankind to work. Since God intends for us to be working, what does He want us to do when we lose our job? What does the Bible say about coping with the growing problem of unemployment?
A Christian from Georgia relates his story:
"Life was good working for a major automobile manufacturer. I found myself suddenly unemployed when I was fired because I kept God's Sabbath.
"I had one small child, and my wife was pregnant with our second. Money was now scarce, but the bills were plentiful. I prayed to God for help.
"The only job I could find was construction work. Pay was sporadic, and I was away from home a lot. More than once there was no food in the house for my expecting wife and young daughter. But God kept watch on us, as many times neighbors would bring food, or invite them over for breakfast or dinner.
"The construction work dried up, so I took a job with a recycling facility making barely above minimum wage. As grateful for the job as I was, the pay would not cover all my bills. I couldn't afford my car anymore. But once again, God came through. My supervisor discovered that I qualified for an apprentice program, which increased my pay by exactly one dollar more than my car payment!
"It was almost two years before I got my job back with the automobile manufacturer. But when I got my job back, I also received all of my back pay! Yes, during this trial God always took care of me and my family."
Share Your Story

What Does the Bible Say About Being Unemployed?

You may have experienced or know someone else who has gone through such difficult times. When some people lose a job, they find another job quickly. But for many, the dry spell between good jobs is long. Even when we pray for God's help, months and sometimes years can go by between jobs. Why does God allow that if He wants us to work?
As you study the Bible, you find that part of God's work is making better people out of us! God knows that trials can build good character in us. When we're unemployed, God can use that time to help us grow. So let's look at some relevant scriptures to show what we should be doing when we find ourselves unemployed.
Where is the first place you should go for help when you become unemployed?
Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
When we find ourselves facing trials, the firstplace we should go for help is God. King David, a man after God's own heart, learned to look to God and depend on Him more than men. And the book of Hebrews encourages us to come boldly to God, even though we can feel beaten down by trials like unemployment.
Why should you turn to God for help?
1 Peter 5:7
…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
God is concerned about all of us. He wants each of us to have an abundant life and enjoy our work. Since God cares for us, we should turn to Him to help us in our time of need.
What attitude should you have while you're unemployed?
James 1:2-4
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Romans 5:3-4
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Although it is totally against our human nature, we should be thankful for the opportunity to build character during this trial. If you approach this time with a positive attitude, you will grow and become a better person.
How did the patriarch Job react after he lost everything?
Job 1:21
And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
Job understood that God is in charge. He knew that all we have ultimately comes from God. Through his trial God made Job a better person, and afterwards blessed Job with twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10, 12)!
What does God expect you to be doing while you're unemployed?
Proverbs 13:4
The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
Proverbs 22:29
Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men.
Proverbs 15:22
Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.
While we're out of work, God expects us to make a full-time job of finding a job. Study and seek advice about current job trends, ways to upgrade your skills and the best job search techniques. We need to be looking on the Internet and at classified ads, personally visiting company managers and networking with our friends and associates. Diligence gives you a huge advantage over those who are waiting for someone to come to them with a job.
What must you be doing to receive God's blessings?
Isaiah 59:1-2
Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
1 John 3:22
And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
We must turn from sin and keep God's commandments to be blessed by Him. We can't expect God to bless us if we don't do what He says to do.
How will God help you find work?
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Much has been said and written about the power of networking to find jobs. God is the ultimate networker. He is more than capable of providing opportunities and opening doors for us. We must do our part and search diligently for work, yet we can trust in God to show us the way. Ask Him to provide the right opportunity.
How will God help you pay your bills while you're unemployed?
Psalm 23:1-6
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 37:18-19
The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
While we work diligently to find a job and wait patiently on God to provide us permanent work, He is faithful to provide our daily needs. Whether there is famine of food or famine of work, God will provide. Even when it seems impossible to get by, God promises to miraculously intervene for those who obey Him. There was a widow who only had enough flour and oil for one more meal, yet God miraculously made that food last for many days—maybe a year or more (1 Kings 17:12-16).
What was King David's observation of those who live God's way and trust in Him?
Psalm 37:3-7, 25
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass...
I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.
From a young child, King David knew God. And as an old man, he looked back and saw that those who did their best to obey God were always taken care of. Just like us, David went through hard times, but God never forsook him and was always there to take care of him. King David learned to trust in God. And if we trust and obey God, He promises to provide food and all our daily needs—in good times and bad (Matthew 6:25-33).

Apply Now

God wants to help you when you're unemployed. Go to Him first in prayer right now. Then make a plan to pray every day for His help in your job search. Diligently look for work and at the same time trust in Him to help provide you a job. You'll see the blessings that will follow!
Next Lesson: See the Bible Study Guides series menu for your choice of future lessons to study.
Questions about this lesson? Feedback about this lesson?
Related Resources:
Jump-Start Your Job Search
Financial Security and Peace of Mind from the booklet Making Life Work
Managing Your Finances
Planning Your Career: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Facing Hard Times With Brutal Optimism
Joy Is the Best Choice
Video: Keeping Your Job in a Bad Economy
Planning for Life: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
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Friday, March 4, 2016

Teen Sex vs. Divine Light

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Teen Sex vs. Divine Light

 by David Cobb Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
In analyzing these questions, Time magazine writer Belinda Luscombe cites a litany of imprudent behavior by famous young ladies.
Girls behaving badly
Examples include recently published photos of a semi-clothed Miley Cyrus and the unwed pregnancies of Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin. Plus there are the “Gloucester Seventeen,” a group of high school girls in Massachusetts who agreed among themselves to get pregnant together.
Adding to real-life cases, the author cites fictitious young female personalities who behave just as badly—and often more explicitly. Characters from the television shows 90210 , Gossip Girl and The O.C. top the list, plus MTV hits like My Super Sweet 16 and Spring Break . Juno may be the most visible in a list of films that negatively influence teen girls.
There's not enough room in this commentary to fully address the ways in which this particular Time magazine article fails to properly handle the subject—but there is room to make two very important points.
Boy accountability
First, remember that Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin did not get pregnant by themselves, nor did the Gloucester Seventeen. Boys must be held accountable for immoral behavior just the same as girls.
Young men need to understand their proper role with young women—to respect their character and protect their purity. If a teenage guy wants to become a real man, he would never make sexual advances toward a girl or accept any advances that she might make toward him. Real men understand the value of saving themselves and their girlfriends for the incredible blessings of marriage.
Underestimating the media
Second, the Time writer fails to grasp the true danger of sexual content in modern media. She states that the link between how teen sexuality is portrayed in the media and the behavior of teen girls is “more complicated than Tracey see, Tracy do” (“The Truth About Teen Girls,” Sept. 22, 2008). That's a word play on “monkey see, monkey do” to describe how some imitate the actions of others without thinking.
While not every teen exposed to sexual content in news or entertainment apes the behavior he or she sees, that's no cause for the cold comfort implied by Ms. Luscombe. The problem with sexually suggestive or explicit material is that it fills the mind with images and sound bites that are incredibly difficult to un-see and un-hear.
Bright thinking vs. wrong sex
Jesus Christ said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness” (Luke 11:34-35).
Of greater concern than “Tracey see, Tracey do ” is the certainty that when Tracey sees, Tracey thinks . When you think about wrong behavior, you suffer a portion of the damaging consequences even if your thoughts never lead to actions. If wrong thoughts do lead to wrong actions, the damage suffered greatly increases.
Asking whether teen girls are becoming sexually active too early in life is the wrong question. Any young person, male or female, who engages in sexual activity before marriage is doing so too early!
The real question for a vertically thinking young person is, “What should I be thinking and how should I be acting so that I can save sex for my marriage?” Successfully answer this question and you'll never regret it! VT
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The Value of Women

In a world that often devalues and dishonors women, where can a woman find...
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Thursday, March 3, 2016

Current Events & Trends Detroit: only one of America's debt-ridden cities

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Current Events & Trends

Detroit: only one of America's debt-ridden cities

 by Jerold Aust, John Ross Schroeder Estimated reading time: 1 minute
At one time America's fourth most populous city hosting automakers General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, the Motor City has lost 63 percent of its population since 1950. Although there are some signs of renewal in its inner city, downward trends have been obvious for decades. Crime, government corruption, financial scandals plus dysfunctional family life have all played their role in Detroit's slide into bankruptcy.
But as The Economist recently pointed out beneath a recent headline: “It's not just Detroit . American cities and states must promise less or face disaster” (“America's Public Finances: The Unsteady States of America,” July 27, 2013).
The Financial Times added, “While Detroit is an extreme example of urban decay, its predicament sheds light on similar problems that afflict a number of US cities” (cover teaser for “Detroit: Descent Into Despair,” July 26).
Time magazine revealed that Birmingham, New Orleans and Philadelphia are among the foremost examples of cities with serious debt obligations in the millions (Aug. 5). Primary blame has been assigned to pensions, but society having gone awry in its fundamental relationships between people must figure heavily in such severe debt problems.
City governments wind up footing the costs of sin —both social and monetary. And ultimately, individual taxpayers and private business pick up the tab. As the Economist article concluded, “America's dynamic private sector is carrying on its back an unreformed Leviathan . Detroit is merely a symptom of that.” (Sources: The Economist, Financial Times, Time. )
News and Prophecy

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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

A Page on the World... Infidel

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A Page on the World... Infidel

by Cecil Maranville Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Infidel is a remarkable book by a remarkable person. It's unusual that someone less than 40 years old would have lived a life worthy of an autobiography, but Ayaan Hirsi Ali certainly has. You might not have heard or remembered her name, but you are likely aware of the brutal murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in November 2004 at the hands of a radical Muslim. Van Gogh produced an 11-minute documentary titled Submission about the inherent abuse of women in the Islamic faith.
We wrote of the murder and its implications in several articles in World News and Prophecy starting in December 2004. After shooting his victim, then cutting his throat nearly to decapitation, the assassin stabbed a note to van Gogh's chest. The note was a fatwa-like assassination order against the woman who wrote the screenplay—Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Ali was, at the time, a member of the Dutch parliament. Little publicized outside of Holland, subsequent events threw the tiny nation into turmoil and eventually led Ali to write her extraordinary autobiography.
She now lives in the United States, but she came to Holland from Kenya, where she lived with her grandmother, mother and sister as refugees from war-torn Somalia. The family also lived for a time in Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia. She provides an insightful perception of the different approaches to Islam in the indigenous cultures and tribes.
Islam's oppression of women
Principally, Infidel is the story of Islam's effect upon women, told from the point of view of Somalis, where female circumcision is still practiced. Living in Saudi Arabia as a young girl in the 1970s, Ali also offers sharp insights into life as a woman under Islam in the Wahhabi tradition. In Kenya, as a teen, she was drawn to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, learning its violent philosophy from imams sponsored by Egypt and Saudi Arabia. She experienced and witnessed the routine beatings of women and children, as well as the facelessness of a female in the Islamic culture.
Yet, she did not rebel against her culture for a long time, not until her father arranged a marriage for her to a man she did not know and did not want to marry. Arranged marriages were—are—the norms in Islam. Her husband-to-be was Canadian, and while she was en route to Canada from Kenya to marry him, she sought asylum in Holland. She assimilated into the Dutch culture, as well as its politics, receiving a university education and eventually being elected to parliament.
Throughout it all, she struggled with her Muslim training, testing its assertions against what she witnessed in the West. She had been brought up to believe that only an Islamic government could produce a harmonious society, but she saw countries in Europe that were arguably better-ordered, cleaner and healthier than any of the Muslim nations in which she had lived. Moreover, the way the women of Europe were able to live was a universe away from Muslim practice.
She struggled with the Islamic mentality toward its women, concluding repeatedly that it did not fit the modern world. Even as a teen, she dared to question her imams, seeking the “why” behind the Koranic rules. As an adult, especially after moving to Holland, she openly debated those willing to address her questions. She could not find the relevancy within Islam that she believed the modern world requires. So she left the faith.
However, she did not leave her passionate desire to see the way of life for Muslim women improved. She grieved over the circumcision of young Somali girls that she knew continued even in the immigrant Somali communities of West. She had firsthand knowledge of it in Holland. (Female circumcision isn't a tenet of Islam, but the imams don't forbid it either. It's the remnant of an ignorant nomadic superstition.)
She describes as common throughout Islam the brutal subjugation of women, including arranged marriages, beatings by their husbands and the expectation that they will forever be quietly in the background of a male-dominated culture.
It is doubtful that she will bring about any change within Islam. Devout Muslims view her as a heretic; even her family cut off all contact with her. Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says Ali is “just another Muslim basher on the lecture circuit” (Neely Tucker, “True Believer,” Washington Post, March 7, 2007, p. C01).
Armed body guards travel with Ali wherever she goes; they have ever since the murder of van Gogh.
Three principal lessons
The book itself is excellent writing, moving quickly along through dynamic and tragic stories. There are three outstanding points to draw from it. The first is the insight into how shockingly different the cultures of Somalia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya are from the West. Ali's grandmother literally lived in the Stone Age, married to a nomad and surviving off the desert; she was forced into an arranged marriage to an older man when she was 10 years old.
The second point springs from the first: That part of the world is still largely conscious of tribes, clans and families. The book opens with Ali's recitation of her ancestors, something that her grandmother had her do repeatedly. Whenever one met a stranger, the first thing they did was recite their family lines, usually to discover some common ancestor. Clans automatically helped fellow clan members with food, shelter or whatever else was needed.
When all else fails—as when Somalia overthrew its communist government—people return to their tribal identity. Sadly, that country exploded into intertribal warfare, propelling hundreds of thousands of refugees over the borders of neighboring countries.
Clearly, any international policies regarding the Middle East must be knowledgeable about tribal configurations, not merely national boundaries. Failing to fully understand and plan around this reality has frustrated the American-led coalition in Iraq.
The third point is the most important. It has to do with Ali's reaction to the 9/11 terror assault on the United States. When she heard of the attacks, her first reaction was, “Please don't let the attackers be Muslims.” Her worst fears were confirmed when she learned that that the terrorists were indeed Muslims. Ali bristled at the ignorance in analyses that claimed the attacks sprang from Islamic frustrations about Palestine, Israel or Western morals.
Terrorist attacks “were about belief”
“It was about belief,” she wrote, bluntly. Articles “about Islam being a religion of peace and tolerance, not the slightest bit violent…were fairy tales, nothing to do with the real world I knew…People theorized about poverty pushing people to terrorism; about colonialism and consumerism, pop culture and Western decadence… None of this pseudointellectualism had anything to do with reality” (p. 270).
Addressing the theory that American support for Israel and Arab frustration over Palestinian issues motivated the attacks, Ali scoffed that the attackers weren't Palestinian men. None left letters about Palestine. “This was belief, I thought. Not frustration, colonialism, or Israel: it was about a religious belief, a one-way ticket to Heaven” (ibid.).
Questions, doubts and challenges she had mentally collected about Islam now flooded Ali's mind. She wrote that she came to realize, “We froze the moral outlook of billions of people into the mind-set of the Arab desert in the seventh century” (p. 272).
She sees Islam as unwilling to bring the faith into the modern world. Equally, she sees the West as unwilling to perceive Islam for what it is. Commenting on a European Social Democrat Parties conference whose attendees “seemed to think it would be easy to set up the institutions for a European Islam in peace and harmony. They seemed clouded by wishful thinking rather than operating with rigorous analysis” (p. 278).
She was commenting on the fact that European Islamic communities are retaining their cultures, with their unacceptable and troublesome components. They are not integrating into Europe's culture, and they are retaining their deeply held religious convictions.
One of the changes she pushed for in Holland was the registration of “honor killings”—murders of Islamic women by family members over acts that they believe dishonored the family. Homicide statistics did not reflect this category until Ali lobbied the justice minister to try a pilot project in just two of the 25 regions in Holland. Monitoring honor killings revealed 11 in only seven months!
Such murders occur by the multiple thousands throughout the Muslim world, as well as within insular immigrant communities in Western countries. “Honor killings occur for a variety of offenses, including allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, refusing an arranged marriage, attempting to obtain a divorce, or simply talking with a man. If a woman brings shame to the family, her male relatives are bound by duty and culture to kill her” (James Emery, “Reputation Is Everything: Honor Killing Among the Palestinians,” www.worldandi.com, 2003).
The most explosive charge she leveled at Islam was in regard to the “marriage” of the prophet Muhammad, then in his 50s, to a 9-year-old girl. Ali pointed out to the Dutch authorities that he would be a pedophile by modern legal standards. Her comparison was a firebomb to devout Muslims.
You can understand why Ayaan Hirsi Ali has become a lightning rod for controversy in today's world. Islam and its internal struggles—Shia vs. Sunni, clan vs. clan, Wahhabism, radical terrorists, etc.—are all part of the daily news. All are part of the considerations of international politics, as well as global business. That reality makes Infidel worth reading.
As we have often observed in World News and Prophecy, the fomenting conflict between Islam and traditional Western nations and cultures is a natural fit to the end-time prophecies of a north-south pitched battle for control of the Middle East. We recommend our booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy for a complete analysis of those prophecies, as well as for an overview of the history of Islam. WNP
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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Immigration How a Foreign Invasion Is Reshaping the West

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Immigration

How a Foreign Invasion Is Reshaping the West

by Melvin Rhodes  
MP3 Audio (12.27 MB)
Immigration: How a Foreign Invasion Is Reshaping the West UCG.org
Immigration: How a Foreign Invasion Is Reshaping the West
Suddenly, immigration is becoming a bigger issue throughout the Western world. Governments around the globe are very concerned about potential problems that massive immigration may bring.
The American state of Arizona, which borders Mexico, recently passed a law authorizing police to inquire of people they've stopped for other legitimate reasons if they are in the United States legally, should there be sufficient reason to suspect otherwise, and to ask for proof of their legal status in such case. Illegal immigrants have contributed to mounting crime, increasing health and educational costs and other problems in the state.
Most of Arizona's citizens support the law, though some organizations outside the state have announced boycotts, which could cost it a great deal. Even the federal government is considering filing lawsuits to prevent the law from being implemented.

Immigration reshaping Western countries

A car bomb placed in New York City's Times Square on May 1, 2010, was the 11th attempted terrorist act in the city of New York since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The bomb—which, thankfully, failed to go off as planned—raised some deeply troubling questions about even legal immigration.
How could a young Pakistani immigrant who lived the American dream possibly want to kill hundreds of his fellow citizens? The United States and other Western democracies, still coming to terms with radical Islam, are finding it hard to fathom. It just doesn't fit into the multicultural ideal!
France, Belgium, Italy and other European countries are passing laws to block Islamic women from wearing full veils in public. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is insisting the country's large Turkish population should assimilate, while the Turkish prime minister insists they should have their own separate schools to protect their Islamic identity.
Meanwhile, a Danish cartoonist whose cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad led to riots in a number of countries was threatened by an ax-wielding intruder, and a Swedish cartoonist was physically attacked by protesters shouting “Allah is great!” as he gave a lecture on free speech. Muslims insist that freedom of speech, long cherished in the West, has its limits.
In Britain, the issue of immigration may have cost Prime Minister Gordon Brown the recent election. When a 65-year-old supporter of his own party approached him during the campaign and expressed concern about all the immigrants from Eastern Europe flowing into her neighborhood, Mr. Brown was overheard in his car describing her as a “bigoted woman.”  Leaders clearly don't like the sensitive issue of immigration being brought up.
But it's not going to go away.

Majorities becoming minorities in their own land

People are feeling increasingly threatened by the changing demographics in their own nations. The ethnic composition of Western countries is rapidly altering due to massive immigration in the last few decades. The United States alone took in 10 million more immigrants in the seven years following Sept. 11, 2001—many of them from countries rife with radical Islamists. To many citizens, this just doesn't make sense.
An increasing number of Americans are aware that these demographic changes will lead to a majority nonwhite population in their own lifetimes. How they handle this will determine the country's future. As Time magazine put it: “How the current majority reacts to its incipient minority status is the most crucial socio-demographic issue facing the country” (Gregory Rodriguez, “The White Anxiety Crisis,” March 22, 2010, international edition).
In an amazing break from tradition, many Western nations changed their immigration policies after World War II and welcomed millions of people from the Third World. Even the United States, often deemed a cultural “melting pot,” had an immigration policy prior to 1965 that favored maintaining the racial status quo.
The late Senator Edward Kennedy's 1965 immigration bill deliberately changed earlier policy, welcoming a big influx of immigrants from the world's poorer nations. At the time, Americans were assured it would not alter the ethnic mix and social fabric of their nation.
Now it's evident this assurance was false. One could easily make the argument that the election of America's first African-American president would not have happened without the reality of changing demographics.

Immigration leading to unrest

The issue of immigration was briefly discussed on NBC's Chris Matthews Show on May 9, 2010.
During the program, John Heilemann of New York magazine observed: “We're going through one of these once-in-a-century transformations that cuts across a lot of different things—cultural change, there's big demographic change, there's big economic change, and technological change, and it makes people really nervous. It's been going on for about 15 years in America—the sense of anxiety, the sense we've lost control of our lives.”
Also on the show was Cynthia Tucker, a columnist with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who offered this perspective: “I've always thought that this great melting pot or salad, however you want to describe this diverse nation, works as long as the economy is good, as long as the pie is growing and every American believes he or she has an opportunity to get a piece of that pie, we're all pretty happy.”
However, now that the economy is not doing so well, the United States could be in for a more stressful time when it comes to assimilating the various ethnic groups that now live in the country.
The same applies elsewhere, of course. Some of the eurozone countries are on the brink of financial collapse due to decades of overspending. Severe government spending cuts are inevitable. The nations have already seen unemployment rise. Without jobs, many are already blaming immigrants for their situation.
In the latest election in Britain, the anti-immigrant British National Party almost tripled the share of the vote it received in the 2005 election. In fact, anti-immigrant parties are seeing growing support in a number of European countries.
The perceived threat applies on several different levels.

Security a growing concern

Besides feeling that their way of life is threatened, both culturally and economically, people are also becoming more concerned about security as radical terror movements increasingly recruit homegrown terrorists. Commenting on the recent attempted bombing in Times Square, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies professor Fouad Ajami wrote the following in the May 10, 2010, Wall Street Journal:
“'A Muslim has no nationality except his belief,' the intellectual godfather of the Islamists, Egyptian Sayyid Qutb, wrote decades ago. Qutb's 'children' are everywhere now; they carry the nationalities of foreign lands and plot against them. The Pakistani-born Faisal Shahzad [who set up the car bomb] is a devotee of Sayyid Qutb's doctrine, and Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, was another.
“Qutb was executed by the secular dictatorship of [Egyptian President] Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1966. But his thoughts and legacy endure. Globalization, the shaking up of continents, the ease of travel, and the doors for immigration flung wide open by Western liberal societies have given Qutb's worldview greater power and relevance. What can we make of a young man like Shahzad working for [the cosmetics company] Elizabeth Arden, receiving that all-American degree, the MBA, jogging in the evening in Bridgeport, then plotting mass mayhem in Times Square?
“The Islamists are now within the gates. They fled the fires and the failures of the Islamic world but brought the ruin with them. They mock national borders and identities. A parliamentary report issued by Britain's House of Commons on the London Underground bombings of July 7, 2005, lays bare this menace and the challenge it poses to a system of open borders and modern citizenship.
“The four men who pulled off those brutal attacks, the report noted, 'were apparently well integrated into British society.' Three of them were second-generation Britons born in West Yorkshire. The oldest, a 30-year-old father of a 14-month-old infant, 'appeared to others as a role model to young people.' One of the four, 22 years of age, was a boy of some privilege; he owned a red Mercedes given to him by his father and was given to fashionable hairstyles and designer clothing…Two of the four, rather like Faisal Shahzad, had spent time in Pakistan before they pulled off their deed.
“A year after the London terror, hitherto tranquil Canada had its own encounter with the new Islamism. A ring of radical Islamists were charged with plotting to attack targets in southern Ontario with fertilizer bombs. A school-bus driver was one of the leaders of these would-be jihadists.
“A report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service unintentionally echoed the British House of Commons findings. 'These individuals are part of Western society, and their “Canadianness” makes detection more difficult. Increasingly, we are learning of more and more extremists that are homegrown. The implications of this shift are profound'” (“Islam's Nowhere Men: Millions Like Faisal Shahzad Are Unsettled by a Modern World They Can Neither Master nor Reject,” emphasis added).

Prophecy warned of consequences for national sins

The modern descendants of the ancient Israelites include many of the nations that make up today's Western world. In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, God promised tremendous physical blessings if they would obey Him, but He also warned them of the dire consequences of disobedience. The promised blessings for obedience are awe-inspiring; the assurances of punishment for sins are deeply troubling.
These chapters make for sobering reading when we consider trends in recent years. In Deuteronomy 32, verse 25 warns of “terror within”—a prophecy clearly being fulfilled now, with an even greater increase in the problem likely still to come.
The apostle Paul spoke of how God created “from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” (Acts 17:26).
Of course, this passage does not mean that correctly controlled immigration is inherently wrong, seeing that when the Israelites left Egypt the door was opened for a certain number of non-Israelites to dwell among them. However, they had to leave their culture behind and abide by the same laws God gave the Israelites. We are now learning the negative consequences of the multicultural society that has been propagated for the last 50 years.
Mixing cultures, and especially religions, can be volatile! We should have known that before the change in immigration laws just by looking at history and at other societies where mixing religions has led to serious tension and conflict.
The people of Europe feel particularly threatened. With higher population densities than the United States and closer proximity to the volatile Middle East, many West European nations have significantly high Muslim populations. Add to this Europe's low birthrate in contrast to the high Islamic birthrate, and the potential for violent conflict only increases.
And as we've seen, it's not just security that is threatened. Economics also play a major role. God Himself warned of serious consequences for the native peoples as a result of immigration: “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail” (Deuteronomy 28:43-44).
In other words, the strangers—those of foreign cultures and religions—will end up on top, in control and in time possibly dictating a way of life foreign to the indigenous population.
This is, of course, exactly what happened when European settlers started arriving in North America, Australia and elsewhere—they ended up on top and in control, displacing the native populations. Now, two or three centuries later, they are the ones losing control to newer arrivals.
Immigration trends and birthrates show that sometime in this century the peoples who currently dominate most of the Western nations will be minorities in their own lands. Whatever you may think of the ethnic mix, the reality is that significant change is underway, and it's threatening no less than the future of Western civilization. GN
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Friday, February 26, 2016

Should You Believe All the News You Hear?

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/ or call 1-888-886-8632. Please follow this site here.


Should You Believe All the News You Hear?

 by Jerold Aust, Scott Ashley Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
The credo of professional journalists is to report facts and events objectively. Yet several recent books document journalists slanting their reporting to favor their biases and further their prejudices, especially left-leaning agendas.
Longtime CBS News reporter Bernard Goldberg realized how deep media bias can run as he reviewed a February 1996 story presented by fellow CBS reporter Eric Engberg. In his best-selling book Bias, Mr. Goldberg expressed his shock at the way Mr. Engberg's report poked fun at presidential candidate and Forbes -magazine publisher Steve Forbes' proposal for a flat tax rate.
“Steve Forbes pitches his flat-tax scheme as an economic elixir good for everything that ails us,”Mr. Engberg began. He then proceeded to interview three supposed tax experts, all of whom opposed Mr. Forbes' proposal to overhaul the massive U.S. tax code. He then referred to the flat-tax idea as “wacky” and a “giant, untested idea” that should be “test[ed] out someplace-like Albania” (2002, pp. 16-18).
As Mr. Goldberg points out, Mr. Engberg could easily have found respected economists who supported Mr. Forbes'flat tax- especially since two Nobel-prize-winning economists and various conservative university economics professors were on record as supporting the idea.
Mr. Goldberg concludes: “From top to bottom the Engberg piece was breathtaking in its lack of fairness. So how could CBS put it on the air? Well, news fans, here's one of those dirty little secrets journalists are never supposed to reveal to the regular folks out there in the audience: a reporter can find an expert to say anything the reporter wants - anything! Just keep calling until one of the experts says what you need him to say and tell him you'll be right down with your camera crew to interview him.
“If you find an expert who says, 'You know, I think that flat tax just might work and here's why …' you thank him, hang up, and find another expert. It's how journalists sneak their own personal views into stories in the guise of objective news reporting. Because the reporter can always say, 'Hey, I didn't say the flat tax stinks- the guy from that Washington think tank did!'” (ibid., p. 20).
Mr. Goldberg also notes that too many reporters, editors and columnists live in their own insular world, isolated from other views and sources of information. He cites the example of New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael, who expressed astonishment when Richard Nixon beat liberal candidate George McGovern in the 1972 U.S. presidential election. “How can that be?” she exclaimed. “Nobody I know voted for Nixon.”Yet Mr. Nixon had carried 49 of the 50 states in a landslide election victory.

Slanted news reporting

William McGowan, former reporter for Newsweek and the BBC and a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal explains in his recent book Coloring the News that the news media's crusade for a favorite liberal cause-diversity- has corrupted American journalism by promoting homosexual rights, feminism, affirmative action, race and immigration over objective debate and honesty.
He recounts that in December 1992 he attended the Diversity Summit Meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Newspaper Association of America. From that point forward, he notes, media coverage underwent a major and lasting change.
“The cause of diversity had become a crusade across the length and breadth of the American media, and would be a defining and dominating force in journalism in the decade to come. Almost every day after that 1992 meeting, one could hear echoes from it in newspaper stories and nightly network broadcasts. Diversity was the new religion, and anybody who wanted to be anybody in the news industry had to rally behind it” (2001, pp. 9-10).

From media darling to pariah

Another revealing book documenting the bias of many in the media was written by Tammy Bruce, longtime advocate of liberal causes. Ms. Bruce, a Los Angeles political figure and talk-show host, was head of the Los Angeles chapter and a national board member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) as well as an avowed lesbian and abortion-rights activist. However, after defending conservative author and talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger and charging NOW with hypocrisy, she found herself a pariah among reporters who had formerly sought her out for interviews.
Based on such experiences, she wrote The New Thought Police: Inside the Left's Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds. In it she explains that “what began so many years ago as a noble cause-ending the scourge of bigotry-has devolved into something far different. It's not bigots that the new Thought Police are after. It's people … who dare to speak their mind and contradict the 'progressive' point of view …
“There is enormous irony in the fact that it is those on the Left-the supposed protectors of all things culturally important-who are imposing severe sanctions on anyone who espouses an idea or expresses an opinion that might be deemed 'offensive' to some favored group” (2001, p. 4).
The result is that “the effects of this new intolerance are felt in the media and in the arts, on college campuses, even in offices and factories. The message is clear: Don't speak up. Or else-you'll be fired [or] sued … Labels such as 'racist,' 'sexist,'and 'homophobe'are routinely used to demonize anyone who utters a word that doesn't support the Left's agenda. Television producers allow their scripts to be edited by groups that purport to represent aggrieved minorities. On college campuses, student newspapers that don't toe the party line are collected and destroyed, and speakers with un-PC views are shouted down” (ibid., pp. 2-3).
Not surprisingly, all three books have been generally ignored in the mainstream media, even though Bias has become a best-seller in the United States.

Bias affects reporting

How do such media biases affect everyday reporting? One notable example involved coverage of the campaigns leading up to a recent national election. The major liberal candidate was consistently portrayed by the mainstream media as a deep thinker and intellectual heavyweight. The leading conservative candidate, on the other hand, was typically portrayed as something of an amiable dunce, a man generally incapable of speaking clearly and presenting ideas coherently.
Seldom compared by the media were details of the academic backgrounds of the two candidates. Both had graduated from Ivy League schools, one from Harvard, the other from Yale. However, from there the “smart” one went to Vanderbilt Divinity School, where, according to a biography and column in The Boston Globe “he received F's in five of the eight classes he took over the course of three semesters” before dropping out. He then enrolled for a brief stint at Vanderbilt Law School before again dropping out and entering a lifetime of politics.
The other candidate, depicted as an intellectual featherweight, went on to earn an M.B.A. from Harvard, no insignificant accomplishment. He flew fighter jets in the National Guard. In spite of an impressive showing since assuming office and the most-sustained high approval ratings of any person occupying that office in history, reporters and columnists still occasionally snipe at President George W. Bush for his supposed lack of intelligence.

Mass-media alienation

Most media firms are, in fact, businesses that promote strong liberal biases. Such leanings reflect a warped worldview and lead them to assume their views are normal while the perspectives of those who disagree with them are abnormal. Significantly, several media corporations have been fast losing audiences, some say because of their profound bias.
Many Americans appear to be increasingly aware of the distorted diet the majority of media outlets feeds them in the name of news reporting. Columnist Jack Kelly's perception of modern mainstream media is telling:
“For people who are convinced we're awfully smart, we journalists can be pretty stupid. We've been driving away customers. In 1980, 75 percent of Americans routinely watched evening newscasts on ABC, NBC, or CBS. Last year only 43 percent did. In 1980, 67 percent of adults customarily read a daily newspaper. In 1999, only 57 percent did.
“Television news has lost 43 percent of its audience, newspapers 15 percent of ours. In other businesses, such losses would trigger massive changes. Heads would roll. If word spread McDonald's was using rat feces as filler in hamburgers, McDonald's market share would drop. Viewers and readers are deserting us in droves because they think our product is shallow and biased” (“Media Is Its Own Worst Enemy,” Jewish World Review Jan. 28, 2002).
But not all journalists remain loyal to liberal biases. Bernard Goldberg, cited above, is perhaps the most popular television journalist who has stood against media bias. Radio-talk-show hosts with countering views, such as Rush Limbaugh, have become nationally popular by riding a wave of dissent against the mainstream media's liberal biases, as have conservative-leaning commentators such as the Fox network's Bill O'Reilly. Fox has been built on mainstream media's abandonment of any vestige of unbiased objectivity. Fox's motto itself is revealing: “We report; you decide.”
Today a sentiment grows that the very media outlets that rose to greatness during World War II through most of the last half of the 20th century have begun to engineer their own demise by failing to fulfill their promise of objectivity in reporting.
There also exists a growing belief that the owners of the vast majority of network news outlets are more interested in promoting entertainment personalities and products, along with issues and views popular in related fields, than in promoting and providing unbiased reporting. As a result,Western society often is informed only of news and issues that harmonize with the opinions of those who control the media. This approach leaves in its wake a distorted view of reality as its most disturbing consequence. GN
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