Thursday, March 24, 2011

Hysterical Blindness

"Who's the Justiciar here?" Theodoric of York consults the Writ of Common Wisdom.



There exists today in our Grand and Holy Homeland a secret party of seditionists who stealthily undermine secular authority by seeking to govern themselves according to religious law. While eagerly exploiting the freedoms and material conveniences of our contemporary culture, they remain wedded to a pre-medieval worldview.  

Shockingly, they have wrested concessions from distracted or intimidated policy-makers. Whether through ignorance or opportunism, those officials are now effectively abetting the establishment of small but expanding theocratic islands inhabited by people who are subject to stern and exacting codes governing every aspect of life -- including diet, recreation, social activities, sex and other marital matters, and mandatory religious worship.

Most insidiously, this tiny but aggressive sect demands that its adherents submit to the authority of religious leaders, rather than civil courts, in dealing with disputes -- and this subversive arrangement has actually been upheld by the Obama administration! Thanks to a very capable lobbying effort on Capitol Hill, an organization rooted in this movement managed to secure a special exemption last year when the Obamacare measure was enacted. 

These official favors were granted despite the fact that the organization is directly tied to a group seeking to bring every element of America's culture into subjection to God's law, as understood by the group's adherents. Statements by prominent figures in the movement make it plain that they consider themselves to be soldiers in a divinely guided "army" with an all-encompassing social mandate.

Obviously this is yet another instance in which the Obama administration is quietly abetting the establishment of Sharia law -- or at least, it might be, were such a campaign actually underway, which it isn't. As it happens, the commendably insular and admirably government-aversive religious group described above the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSM), which was created for the purpose of helping fellow Christians obtain health coverage outside of government-controlled health insurance organizations. 

 HCSM, a project of Samaritan Ministries International, claims as many as 100,000 members who pool resources in a "need sharing" system to help reimburse each other's medical expenses (up to $100,000). Some conditions -- such as those resulting from drug and alcohol abuse -- aren't covered. Nor are abortions or care for unwed mothers (who can find help from other faith-centered crisis pregnancy organizations). 

The group also champions the laudable work of independent physicians such as the heroic Dr. Stansilov Burzynski, who has been persecuted by the Regime-aligned health care establishment for his innovative and promising cancer therapy.

James Lansberry, vice president of Samaritan Ministries, reports that this system has managed to meet the needs of its subscribers, a fact in which he sees the hand of Providence at work.


Samaritan Ministries (SMI), a tax-exempt charity, describes itself as a covenant-defined community of Christian believers dedicated to following the Bible's commandments "to make every effort to live at peace and to resolve disputes with each other or within the church."

"A member who chooses to violate this command of scripture and his covenant with his SMI brethren, and takes a dispute to court, destroys our fellowship and has chosen to be as if he had never been a Samaritan Ministries member and to not have his needs shared with the membership," the organization explains to interested prospects. "Therefore, in becoming a member or reaffirming  your membership, you agree that any claim or dispute you have with, or against SMI, its employees, directors, members and associate members, that is related to SMI and its ministries in any way, shall be settled by Biblically based mediation and, if necessary, legally binding arbitration. And SMI agrees similarly with respect to any matter SMI might have with you."


Sarah Posner of American Prospect points out that arrangements of this kind -- "contractual agreements to submit to dispute resolution outside of the courts, with choice-of-law provisions" -- are "quite common in religious settings." They are used by many Christian educational and charitable groups. Similar arbitration arrangements are used by various Jewish congregations. Yet in recent days the discovery of nearly identical mechanisms for private dispute-settlement among Muslims has triggered another mass convulsion among people who like to pretend that we live in the shadow of an incipient Caliphate. 


In 2002, a leadership dispute in the Islamic Education Center (ICE) in Tampa resulted in the ouster of three of the organization's trustees. The  ICE is governed by a "constitution" drawn up in 1993 by a Muslim scholar known as an A'lim. Under the provisions of that document's "Organizational Framework," the A'lim has veto power over the board of trustees, who agree to accept that scholar's guidance "to insure adherence to Islamic laws." This includes arbitration of disputes involving personnel and financial matters. In this case, the leadership dispute boils down to the question of controlling $2.2 million the ICE received from the Florida state government after it purchased some property from the mosque to use in a road construction project.




Three years ago a lawsuit was filed by the Mosque's former trustees, who wanted to move the dispute into Florida's civil court system.  In January, shortly before the trial was to begin, one of the parties requested an emergency injunction to enforce the arbiter's previous decision. 

This came as a surprise to Tampa Circuit Court Judge Richard Nielsen, who has observed that "Prior to the motion the court was not aware of any arbitration pending between the parties." 


On March 3, Judge Nielsen -- in what should be perceived as that rarest of things, an act of judicial restraint -- ruled that he would not intrude in a dispute that falls within the jurisdiction of an existing, written, contract-based private arbitration agreement. Unfortunately, this meant it was necessary for Nielsen to write the following words: "This case will proceed under Ecclesiastical Islamic law."


That phrase, predictably, caused the fever swamp to boil over.



"To all of the naysayers on the left who say that Sharia can never come to the U.S., here is the latest example of how it is slowly and stealthily creeping into our judicial system--in this case, courtesy of a foolish, non-Muslim judge (known as a useful idiot in Lenin's days)," sneered Erik Stakelbeck of CBN News, a preening blowhard who is no part of a journalist but plays one on cable TV. Variants of this soundbite quickly proliferated like mushrooms that had fed on the stuff Stakelbeck and his ilk have been diligently shoveling for the past several years. 


In fact, rather than opening the door to Sharia, Judge Nielsen was trying to nail it firmly shut. The constitutional religious freedom guarantees are intended to protect religious associations from government control; in this case Nielsen was dealing with an intramural dispute among faithful Muslims  who had freely chosen to submit to the rulings of a Muslim scholar. This doesn't change simply because there's a great deal of money at stake, and one side -- in this case, ironically, the incumbent trustees of the Mosque -- decides it might get a better deal from non-Muslims than it apparently got from the A'lin.


Nielsen knows very little about the Muslim religion and doesn't appear interested to learn much more. However, testimony from Islamic authorities in the pre-trial hearing demonstrated that "under ecclesiastical law, pursuant to the Qur'an, Islamic brothers should attempt to resolve a dispute among themselves," wrote the Judge in a supplemental ruling issued March 22. "If Islamic brothers are unable to do so, they can agree to present the dispute to the greater community of Islamic brothers within the mosque or the Muslim community for resolution. If that is not done or does not result in a resolution of the dispute, the dispute is to be presented to an Islamic judge for determination, and that is or can be an A'lim."


This arrangement shouldn't appear at all peculiar to Christians who are even superficially familiar with the New Testament (see particularly Matthew 18:15-17). Indeed, this is quite probably a procedure Muhammad borrowed directly from Christian teachings when he created his religion.
 
"From the outset of learning of the purported arbitration award, the court's concern has been whether there were ecclesiastical principles for dispute resolution involved that would compel the court to adopt the arbitration decision without consulting state law," explains Judge Nielsen. "Decisional case law both in Florida and the United States Supreme Court tells us that ecclesiastical law controls certain relations between members of a religious organization, whether a church, synagogue, temple or mosque."

Jacobins "Baptize" (drown) Christians who refused to worship the State.















 The likeliest alternative to that position, of course, would be one permitting the State to arbitrate all disputes that arise within religious associations -- including those involving finances, governance, discipline, and standards of conduct. This would create all kinds of opportunities for officious busybodies of the sort who seethe over the impudence of groups like Samaritan Ministries who dare to carve out little pockets of autonomy in defiance of the Leviathan State. 

There is nothing in Judge Nielsen's preliminary decision that would in any way facilitate the establishment of a Caliphate. However, if he were to break ICE to the saddle of the state, his actions would potentially be of great use to social engineers looking to destroy any institutional resistance to State control over all aspects of life.

Every association that settles its disputes through private contract derogates from the power of the State -- which is something to be encouraged and celebrated. Yet this is lost on the kind of people who can't see the facts through the fog of their own hyperventilation. Compulsive mosque-baiting is a difficult habit for some people to overcome. But if people do it long enough, they go blind.

One tragic fact is plain to see: There are too many Americans who simply fear Muslims more than they love or understand freedom.

Thank you so much for your generosity in helping to keep Pro Libertate on-line. If you can help, it will be very much appreciated. God bless!







Dum spiro, pugno!

21 comments:

R. K. Blacksher said...

"One tragic fact is plain to see: There are too many Americans who simply fear Muslims more than they love or understand freedom."

Sad, but true. This is the main reason why, all of the babbling about the Constitution to the contrary, conservatives will never be reliable allies in the struggle for liberty. Conservatives are far too susceptible to being spooked by state-designated bugaboos.

Jerri Lynn Ward said...

Yep. Look at this woman's blog for evidence of a call to Jacobin behavior: http://www.barnhardt.biz/

Anonymous said...

"One tragic fact is plain to see: There are too many Americans who simply fear Muslims more than they love or understand freedom."

Another Will Grigg quote for the files!

@ Jerri, I saw that on another blog. Could not bring myself to read the entire thing. The comments were not encouraging to the freedom minded individual, to say the least.
I dropped the above quote in the comments, it is so fitting.
Mr. Grigg has a way with words that I could never hope to match.

WWalker

Jerri Lynn Ward said...

WWalker,

I know the blog of which you write. I felt the same way.

That blog has a definite "to the lamp post", Jacobin, Marat Sade attitude.

liberranter said...

That blog has a definite "to the lamp post", Jacobin, Marat Sade attitude.

Sadly reflective of the mindset of our dying civilization. If bigotry, ignorance, and stupidity were durable exportable commodities, Amerika would be awash in inexhaustible wealth.

Lemuel Gulliver said...

I hope what I am about to say does not inflame too much emotion. We have far too much of that already, which is just what the power elite intends.

I read Ann Barnhardt's blog, not just The first article, but a couple of others down the page. This is what I concluded:

First, she is a very unhappy person. Anyone who has allowed so much hate and anger into her heart must be suffering. She herself says: "I am indeed a hateful person. I hate evil with every fiber of my being." If she is not careful, she will give herself a heart attack, which is a pity, because my second observation is that she is a devout Christian and very sincere in her belief in the evil of Islam. She feels in her bones that Christianity is under attack, and she is right, but she cannot see who is doing the attacking. Those sly and cunning people - members of the most intelligent race in the world - hide behind a smokescreen of lies and false holiness.

Once again, the words of Jesus should be our guide: "Beware of false prophets, and of wolves in sheep's clothing. BY THEIR FRUITS ye shall know them." The holy, and the good, do not use white phosphorus bombs, flechette tank shells, Apache helicopters and bunker-buster bombs against defenseless schools and hospitals in a cold-blooded attempt to see if this barbarism will drive out those people, so their land can be stolen. The holy, and the good, do not attack aid flotillas on the high seas and murder nine unarmed martyrs, then blame them for INTENDING to enter a war zone. (Question: What fucking "war zone"? War is two sides fighting, not one side massacring a defenseless population.) The holy, and the good, do not destroy Christian churches, hostels and bookstores to teach them not to be friendly to the hated slave peoples. (Bethlehem, 2006 - you never heard that reported in their wholly-owned media, did you? But I heard about it at my Methodist Church. Never made the news.)

(Continued...)

Lemuel Gulliver said...

(Continued...)

Here in Ann Barnhardt we have the perfect, quintessential example of the complete success of the power elite and their wholly-owned media in diverting public anger away from their raping, plundering, bloodsucking greed, and their deliberate, calculated and vicious destruction of our Republic and its moral foundations, and thereby, our various faiths and spiritual beliefs.

Quote from Benjamin Netanyahu, on leaving a prison interview with convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, whose information was passed by Tel Aviv to the Soviet Union in exchange for them letting Jews emigrate, costing the US hundreds of billions of dollars and many lost lives: "Once America has served its purpose for us, we will discard it like a piece of trash." The MSM did not report THAT comment, either. Why not, do you suppose?

Through the false flag operation of 9-11 itself, and through things like "Operation 77" which Mr. Grigg posted here, the power elite has sucked this poor woman, and a couple of hundred millions of other Americans, into their scheme to screw us to the wall and steal every last crust of bread out of our children's mouths. To turn us into a race of hungry, downtrodden, apathetic, helpless, hopeless slaves.

Mr. Grigg: You know, I still see everywhere the New Years' attack on the Coptic Church in Egypt held up as an example of Muslim hatefulness and evil. Nowhere in the mainstream media can we find the truth of the Suleiman documents, revealing the attack to have been "Operation 77" - a police false flag operation. QUESTION TO ALL READERS: Why do you suppose our MSM is so deafeningly silent on this revelation? Do you think they are telling us the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth? - About ANYTHING?

Anna Barnhardt's fault is believing what she has been told by the powers in charge of our lives. She is not an evil woman. She is good, sincere and passionate, but deluded. Rather than fight people like her, we should try to show them how they have been used, so that their passion and fury can be turned against our REAL enemies.

- Lemuel Gulliver.

Anonymous said...

Evil Muslims? The maps tell the story.
http://saladin-avoiceinthewilderness.blogspot.com/2011/03/view-of-nwo-war-room.html

You should be blogging Lemuel, if I can do it so can you.

Thank you Mr. Grigg, another excellent post.

Anonymous said...

“Rather than fight people like her, we should try to show them how they have been used, so that their passion and fury can be turned against our REAL enemies.”

Agree.
I attempt to point out the real problem of government and human nature when the opportunity arises.

Unfortunately the government controlled schools, media, and 501c3 churches have turned a frighteningly large majority of our Christian population into Anna Barnhardt's.
Seldom is it any easier to get these folk to admit or even see that they are being used (and if you do 99% seem to forget by the end of the week) than it is to get a Marxist/Communist/Socialist, to admit that no matter how many times they try for their utopia they will always get the same result.

WWalker

liberranter said...

Lemuel: Your analysis of Ann Barnhardt is spot on. I believe it is the 501c3 corporations, the ones that pompously and blasphemously call themselves "churches," that are largely to blame. The other two agents you mention (government-controlled "schools" and the media) would have no influence whatsoever on genuine Christians of the sort Ann claims to be one of if these corporations were actual churches in the mold of the Gospels that preached Christ's message.

WWalker, you're quite sadly correct. Methinks that nothing short of personally-felt catastrophe, in which the error of their ways manifests itself so clearly that it can't be ignored, will turn these people around and get them to open up their eyes. Some people will just have to experience common sense rather than absorb it intellectually.

Talha Rizvi said...

Let's not forget the standing exemption for the Amish from the Social Security (aka ponzi scheme)on - dare I say it - religious grounds:
http://www.amishnews.com/amisharticles/amishss.htm

Eeek! Bearded, religious, technology-skeptical Mus... I mean Christians!

The funny thing is that anyone who actually looked into what the Shariah states will conclude that it is part of canon to exempt its non-Muslim citizens from the rules of the Muslim majority population and allows them autonomy to draft their own rules without state interference.

Great job again Will!

Anonymous said...

501c3 "status" is nothing more than Leviathans muzzle on the truth. It's a cold conciliatory slavish form of "dhimmitude" within our own borders. And the Church, or at least a vast number, don't seem to mind!!! This, in my mind, is where I'm reminded of how they are neither hot nor cold but will be spat out.

Lemuel Gulliver said...

My take on the "churches":

There are a vast number of priests, ministers, and preachers who are just in it for the power, the glory, and the money. (For sure, it beats a 9-to-5 job - if you can get one, any more, in America.) They are leading millions of people astray, stirring up hatred instead of forbearance, greed instead of compassion, and conceited pride instead of humility.

Their reward awaits them at the last day, when they die and have to answer to Him who sees all and cannot be fooled.

Still, among the millions of good, decent everyday folks, and in spite of corrupt leadership, these churches are doing God's work in turning these folks' thoughts to God. Better that they should be in church than in a brothel or playing poker or getting drunk and beating their wives and children.

The faults are not in the institutions, but in the leaders.

Just like our Government itself - the fault is not in Government, but in the people who are attracted to it by their lust for power, glory, and wealth, in a country as wealthy as this one (or as it used to be.) Not every Government is corrupt and evil. The Government of Switzerland is probably the most democratic and non-corrupt in the world, and has been for 400 years.

When ANYONE shouts, "Follow Me!" I immediately ask myself three questions: "Why?" and, "Where to?" and, "Why YOU?"

Jane Goodall tells us chimpanzees, our closest simian relatives, understand and employ deceit. We humans have been doing it since we descended from the trees. We need to keep that in mind.

- Lemuel Gulliver.

PS: Our technology is, to put it mildly, far superior to that of the chimpanzees. Our technology and skills of deceit are equally advanced and sophisticated. We need to keep that in mind, too. At bottom, deceit is 75% of what Mr. Grigg complains about on this blog.

Lemuel Gulliver said...

Saladin,

Thank you for the comments. I followed your link and explored your blog. I was surprised to hear you are Ms. Saladin and not Mr. Saladin - a natural assumption given your illustrious namesake.

(Note to all: The historical Emperor Saladin, unlike almost every other politician in history, gave away all his money to his poorer subjects. When he died in 1193 he left insufficient money - one gold coin and 47 silver coins - for his funeral, so he was buried in a simple wooden box.)

Your story about the Border Patrol abomination was interesting. I couldn't read all of it - too much - but it's one more manifestation of the cult of "Authoritah" that exists among the shit-packing Schutsstaffel in this country.

Glad to make your acquaintance.

- Lemuel Gulliver.

Jerri Lynn Ward said...

"If she is not careful, she will give herself a heart attack, which is a pity, because my second observation is that she is a devout Christian and very sincere in her belief in the evil of Islam."

A devout Christian should understand God's law and system of justice. She breaks the first Commandment because she fails to trust God and wants to "be as god," just as did Robispierre, Lenin and every other revolutionary who wanted to impose their own justice and order. (And, no, ours was not a revolution, it was a fight AGAINST revolutionaries who wanted to encroach on God-ordained local authority, supplanting it with all-sovereign rule by King and Parliament).

The way to deal with Islam is through the Great Commission and demonstrating our fruits. It worked in murderous, pagan Rome and throughout the world.

Of course, our "fruits" are 30 million dead from abortion, dead civilians throughout our history and other breaches of our covenant with God. God uses His children's enemies to punish and enslave. Is that His Will for our future, to be in captivity to Islam? If so, her methods will be used to hasten that end.

Jerri Lynn Ward said...

"If she is not careful, she will give herself a heart attack, which is a pity, because my second observation is that she is a devout Christian and very sincere in her belief in the evil of Islam."

A devout Christian should understand God's law and system of justice. She breaks the first commandment because she fails to trust God and wants to "be as god," just as did Robispierre, Lenin and every other revolutionary who wanted to impose their own justice and order. (And, no, ours was not a revolution, it was a fight AGAINST revolutionaries who wanted to encroach on God-ordained local authority, supplanting it with all-sovereign rule by King and Parliament).

The way to deal with Islam is through the Great Commission and demonstrating our fruits. It worked in Rome and throughout the world.

Of course, our "fruits" are 30 million dead from abortion, dead civilians throughout our history and other breaches of our covenant with God. God uses His children's enemies to punish and enslave. Is that His Will for our future, to be in captivity to Islam? If so, her methods will be used to hasten that end.

Anonymous said...

Jerri, you've hit the nail on the head. So often I hear people intone "God bless America" as though it were some sort of magical incantation. Use the right words, rhyming even, and out pops da blessins! I say in reply, "Why should He?" For the church in America to have any savor it has to "come out of her" and stand apart from the whore on the Potomac... aka Washington DC. If that means "losing" tax status then so be it!!! Either the truth means something, costly as it will be, or this corrupt relationship poisons everything down to the root.

Lemuel Gulliver said...

Jeri-Lynn,

Thanks for your comments. I found your thread of reasoning a bit hard to follow. First off, I do not subscribe to "A devout Christian should understand God's law and system of justice." The 'Law' of Jesus The Christ is not justice, but forgiveness and redemption following repentance. Justice is the law of Moses - "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" - and Jesus told the Jews, "I do not condemn you, but there IS one who condemns you, even Moses in whom you trust." This enraged them. They tried to seize Him to beat him up, but He slipped away.

Second, I'm not sure what you mean by: "Ours was not a revolution, it was a fight against revolutionaries...." Are you saying local authority in the American Colonies was ordained by God, while the kingship of George III was NOT so ordained? If so, there is no way to prove whether either side in that political fight was favored by God. BOTH sides claimed God's favor and blessing; in fact, George III claimed to be the Defender of the Faith. Go look at any English coin since Henry VIII - you will see "Dei Grat.Fid.Def." inscribed around the monarch's head. It is Latin for: "Dei Gratia Fidei Defensor" - God Bless the Defender of the Faith.

My take on that claim is: Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. This applies also to the inscriptions on American coins and bills.

Your question: "Is that His Will for us, to be in captivity to Islam?" I would answer with: Maybe not. Maybe His Will is for us to be in captivity to foul and bloody Zionism, Freemasonry, and Satanic pseudo-Judaism, so that we may repent and turn away from greed, lust, anger, callous hard-heartedness and hedonism, and back to Him.

As you point out, the fruits of 2,000 years of so-called "Christianity" are not very edifying - hundreds of millions of dead of all ages and nations and creeds. Blame not the institutions, but their leaders. (Didn't I already say that?)

Finally, I DO agree with you when you say, "The way to deal with Islam is through demonstrating our fruits." Examples of holiness are a hundred times more powerful than any sermon or wordy argument. Talk is cheap. And easy. Nobody ever broke out in a sweat while exercising their mouth. (Except Richard Nixon, and we know how THAT turned out.) Anyone can say anything they wish, whether it is true or a lie. But living a life of holiness and compassion takes effort and commitment, and cannot be counterfeited. It makes a powerful statement. Compare the lives of Martin Luther King or Mother Theresa, with those of Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon, or Bibi Netanyahu.

I think Muslims would be far more impressed with the former than the latter. I know I am.

- Lemuel Gulliver.

Jerri Lynn Ward said...

Lemuel,

Law is not to opposite of grace, so I come from a different presupposition as I am not dispensational. I believe that the proposition that God's system of justice-- as laid out in the Old Testament and reaffirmed by the New-- has been discarded is ludicrous.

With regard to "ordained government", government is not only civil government, first of all. Also, any civil government which exceeds the authority given it by God is not legitimate (Read Vindicia Contras Tyrannos) After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Parliament had begun making the same mistake as Charles I by claiming absolute power over all spheres --essentially a denial of the sovereignty of God and His higher authority. The tension between England and the colonies did not just start in the 1770's.

Read the book Mitre and Sceptre regarding the attempt by England to send an invading army of Church of England Bishops to the colonies beginning in the early 1700's. This was seen as an attempt to bring all churches in the colonies under the established Church of England, and an encroachment on the legitimate authority of the governing bodies of the colonies (governing bodies not just meaning civil government). It wasn't just taxes that ignited our secession. There was a strong religious basis to it.

The Bible lays out a blueprint for governance, whether by church, civil authorities, family or self. Exceeding said authority destroys legitimacy. That's what I meant.

Talha Rizvi said...

Just a note, from a Muslim, and fellow American citizen regarding dealing with Islam by 'demonstrating our fruits'.

Any works Christians can do can only reflect positively/negatively on their individual selves - and if looked at as a group behavior - their particular interpretation/sect/practice of Christianity or possibly some other attribute they carry (American, Canadian, young, elderly) in the eyes of a Muslim.

There is a failsafe for the sacrosanct nature of the Son of Mary (peace be upon them both) in Islam. If all the Christians of the world were to grill and eat the babies of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. that would only reflect on Christians or the decrepit state of Christianity, but never in a million years could a Muslim ever lay that blame at the blessed feet our Master Jesus (pbuh) - a perfected and noble man whose blessed tongue could only utter unblemished truth.

In this way I envy the position of Christians vis-a-vis our Master Jesus (pbuh) and wish it were the same for our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) vis-a-vis the actions of his so-called followers.

Lemuel Gulliver said...

Jerri Lynn & Talha Rizvi,
Your comments received and read. Thank you. Nothing more to add just now. Let us be thankful for our lives and all the blessings we receive daily. Let us never forget that ALL of us are children of the One Creator God. And let us keep in our prayers or intentions all those less fortunate than us.
- Lemuel Gulliver.