A week ago today the battery charge against Tommy Robinson was dismissed by the bench (panel) of the Peterborough Magistrates’ Court. Thanks to the generosity of his supporters all over the world, Tommy walked out of court that afternoon a free man.
The next day, during a proverbial chat beside the stove, Dymphna and I were discussing this marvelous outcome. She wondered out loud about what would happen to Tommy: “They didn’t lock him up. They haven’t been able to kill him. What’s next?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe it’s time for Tommy to trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”*
My sense was (and is) that the wind is beginning to shift. Tommy’s belated escape from “justice” is just one instance of good news in an area that has produced virtually nothing but bad news for more than a decade.
Change is now in the air. Helmut Kohl has met with Viktor Orbán. Geert Wilders is the most popular politician in the Netherlands. The Sweden Democrats prevailed in a court case about asylum housing for “refugees”. Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieved major gains during recent regional elections in Germany, and its “Islamophobic” platform now makes daily headlines in the German media.
And Tommy Robinson is still alive. He isn’t even in prison.
The deck is stacked against us. Yet we seem to be on a roll. How can that be?
Twelve years ago, before Theo Van Gogh was murdered by a mujahid, we thought we could say what we liked. Now we know better. Anyone who has been paying attention knows they can get dead with no warning if they say bad things about Islam.
It’s called “self-censorship”. It only takes a couple of jihad operatives with carefully targeted lethal violence, and PRESTO! Infidels enforce sharia anti-blasphemy laws on themselves. A low-cost victory for the jihad; very effective.
The treatment of Tommy Robinson by law enforcement and the “justice” system achieves a similar end. Yes, Tommy prevailed in the end. But he spent months in solitary, lost his teeth, and nearly lost his life. How many people will be willing to go through that just to be able to say, “Islam is not just a religion; it’s a totalitarian political ideology”?
No, thanks. I want to keep my teeth and my life. I’ll pass.
The treatment of Geert Wilders accomplished the same purpose. He’s the leader of the most popular party in the Netherlands, yet he has to live his life like a hunted fugitive, surrounded 24/7 by armed bodyguards, with no opportunity to live like a free man ever again.
Who wants to endure that, just for the privilege of saying, “Islam is not just a religion; it’s a totalitarian political ideology”?
No, thanks. I’d rather be able to walk down the street and sit in a sidewalk café drinking a beer, without worrying about being ventilated.
And yet…. Tommy and Geert are heroes.
To everyone who is paying attention, and is even slightly sympathetic to our cause, Tommy Robinson and Geert Wilders are understood to be heroes.
A hero is willing to make great sacrifices for the cause he believes in. He is even willing to sacrifice his own life rather than give up the struggle.
The enemies of Geert Wilders and Tommy Robinson keep trying to paint them as cynical opportunists, as corrupt operators who are out for nothing but their own personal gain. But it’s impossible to make such accusations stick, given what they have gone through for the sake of what they believe in.
No: to anyone who is paying attention, they are HEROES.
They inspire us. They serve as examples for the rest of us. They remind us that there is something more important than the humdrum comforts we have become accustomed to.
Their lives are a lesson. They say, “Look: this is what a real man does for the sake of what he believes in. Don’t be seduced by all the creature comforts and the easy life. This has real meaning.”
We’re privileged to live at a hinge of history. The door can swing either this way, or that. It can be the easy way, or it can be the Tommy and Geert way.
It’s up to you.
| * | For our non-American readers, the reference is to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, an Abolitionist song by Julia Ward Howe that later became a popular patriotic standard. |
Very timely for me personally. We ( I ) must come to terms with the fact that some day I will die. So say we all. Whether it is tomorrow or next week or 50 years hence I WILL DIE. We all will. We must come to terms with that and give up the hope that we might just make it through this mess unscathed. All death is certain and all we can do is to ACT for the highest good in the time we have. In the end our fortune`s, social rank, or even our lives matter. What matters is what we did in our time upon this earth for our families, countries, culture, race and by extension all humanity. Western civilization has been a light unto the world concerning freedom, liberty, engineering, art, philosophy, technological advances, exploration, and the list goes on. Will we allow it to be extinguished on our watch? Will we ( I ) not act to save and preserve it because I “hope” it will work out ok in the end. That kind of hope makes cowards of us all. We are the cavalry. We are the one`s we are waiting on. There is no plan B. God speed to all patriots!
I like and live your attitude….wish I could find some “Crusaders” in Denver who think like you. I need help in my “daily” Crusade to expose Islam…..but if I can’t find people like you….I’LL DO IT ALONE! (BUT I’LL KEEP THE FIGHT GOING)
…In my stars I
am above thee; but be not afraid of greatness: some
are born great, some achieve greatness, and some
have greatness thrust upon ’em.
Twelfth Night
ah William, but who wants to be Malvolio, after all??
It has gotten to the point where I have to verify a reading list before I can engage in a conversation with most people. I’m usually doomed to masking a cringe. Thinned the herd on Facebook, though, and the remainders cannot say they’ve never heard of Geert, or Tommy, or CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. Or ‘Something completely different.’
We would all “rather be able to walk down the street and sit in a sidewalk café drinking a beer, without worrying…”
Not any more. Islam’s war on the West has seen to that. When the mujahideen hit Paris, on 13 November 2015, that hope ended:
“Suddenly you did not know if the person next to you was going to shoot you”, said a witness who was yards away.
We are in a slow-motion war, but our inadequate leaders persist in their denial and cover-ups.
“Maybe it’s time for Tommy to trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”*
*For our non-American readers, the reference is to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, an Abolitionist song by Julia Ward Howe that later became a popular patriotic standard.
This American reader knows the reference, but I’d rather know what it means to “trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored”. It must be some kind of metaphor, but why are these grapes angry, and why does one wait several years for grapes to reach a certain vintage before you put them into a vat and crush them into grape juice (and thence wine) with your bare feet? I thought winemaking involves crushing fresh grapes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath
says that the reference is ultimately biblical:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_in_the_winepress
(before just now, I had never heard of this “Christ in the winepress” idea).
The grapes aren’t angry. Something or someone else is. Notice that there is an implied genitive in “grapes of wrath” — if English routinely used the genitive case, we would have seen it there. That is, the grapes belong to the wrath. They’re the wrath’s grapes.
As for whose wrath it is, I’ll leave it for you to figure that out.
Baron – I suggest we in the anti-Jihad have been trampling out that vintage since joining the anti-Jihad… Tommy Robinson’s arrest, like Pym and Leo’s slaughter, are exactly what it looks like.
So Tommy Robinson is the bearer of the wrath (at how he is being treated by the state), and by trampling out the grapes of wrath, he crushes his wrath and becomes more conciliatory. But I still don’t understand how the meaning is enhanced by use of the word “vintage”. Maybe it means that wrath and resentment is made more exquisite by the passage of time. Am I close?
Here’s a suggestion: State the meaning of “Maybe it’s time for Tommy to trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored” in a way that doesn’t use any metaphors.
A wine may be called a “vintage”.
The reference is from Revelation and Isaiah. “Who is this marching from Bosra in his strength with His raiment stained red? ” Jesus replies, “I have trodden the wine press of my wrath, I trod it alone and was surprised there was no one with me.”
In revelation it states that the Jordan valley was filed under to a depth of 5.5 feet (horses bridles).
The vintage in the song could be man’s (humans) rebellion against God’s will and Law.
Thanks, acuara, for your attempt to explain this, but I still don’t understand this winemaking imagery. When you tread the wine press of your own wrath (wrath about what?), what happens to your wrath? Does it disappear, having been crushed underfoot, or does it become gradually more intense and intoxicating, represented by its higher alcohol content? I hope someone can translate this “Maybe it’s time for Tommy to trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored” poetry into straightforward, metaphor-free prose.
Biblical wrath refers to God’s wrath at the sins of the world. “Trampling out the vintage” means He ( God in the lyrics) is preparing more wine to add to the stock where the grapes of wrath are stored. The Great Winepress will yield blood up to the bridges of the horses at Armageddon.
I think Baron is saying in a literary way, that Tommy Robinson is preparing the way, the ground, for a flood of resistance that may become bloody, as our own Civil War (which these magnificent lyrics reference).
“bridles” not “bridges”
What silly talk. Linguistics…famous novelists, etc. Go ahead – go on and on with the word parsing while the barbarians seek to cut your throat. Get a grip. We are at war. Lock and load.
Okay let us look at the grapes of wrath Mark.Consider that,in the bible (in the book of Isaiah)Israel is referred to as a vine in God’s vineyard.
Also consider that in the bible(in the book of Mathew) we are advised
“Ye shall know them by their fruits.Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs or thistles?”.The discussion in Mathews revolves around the difficulties of establishing whether a man is genuine in what he says or not.For a man may be a dangerous fraud determined to work on the credulity of his fellow man to bring his willing dupes to destruction.
(This is the concept of the false prophet.For instance in today’s context the Muslim who says “Islam is the religion of peace” whilst he plots the death destruction ,torture and submission of all infidels .)Look upon the works of Islam in practice today for a man’s works or fruits are the tongue of his heart and tell you if he is corrupt or pure
Now let’s put this together with the reference to the “grapes of wrath ” that God is “tramping” to make wine( in the battle hymn of the Republic )and also with the quote from acura.
Acura in his reply quotes the bible
“Who is this marching from Bosra in his strength with his garments stained red?And Jesus replies “I have trodden the wine press of my wrath,I trod it alone and was surprised when no-one joined me”
Here is Jesus who has been hard at work all day.No-one helped him.He was disappointed.
Tramping out the vintage is symbolic .Those grapes of wrath are the righteous vengeance of a devout people.They are( as only right )enraged by the evil actions(fruits /thistles) perpetrated by evil men against the innocent.
Jesus is also enraged by the evil actions perpetrated by evil men.He had thought his followers would harvest their anger with him and follow him into battle to extract vengeance for the suffering of the innocent .He thought that in doing so they would put an end to the suffering of the innocent. This is the concept of a just war.(In the context of the Republic the abolition of slavery.In today’s context it would be the abolition of and fight against Islam.)
But his followers did not want to put themselves in harm’s way.His followers did not want the inconvenience or the bother .they did not want to risk their reputation , or their livelihood , or their popularity , or their social standing , or their liberty , or their continued existence.
You could call them today’s silent majority.Too afraid to speak out and fight the good fight ,but happy for Trump to speakout for them
Thank you, Shelagh, for this biblical exegesis, which is more than I wanted or deserve. To use a different metaphor, your explanation is pearls before swine (猫に小判, neko ni koban = coins to cats (who don’t appreciate their value)). So from your explanation, to tramp grapes of wrath means to take some anger-motivated action (rather than to stamp out one’s anger). Okay.
Can I prevail upon you for one more little task? Please express “Maybe it’s time for Tommy to trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored” as a single declarative sentence that contains no metaphors.
Okay Mark I’ll try ,but brevity while the soul of wit is not my forte’.
It’s time for Tommy to lead a just war against the Islamification of the non-Muslim world.
And when I use the term war I do not mean it purely in a metaphorical sense.
I mean it in the sense it is used by the green berets.
I’m not sure if you are familiar with the song of the Green berets.
The non-Muslim world is oppressed by Islam everywhere. Christians and Yazidis face genocide at the hands of Muslims in the Middle East.
While non-Muslims in Europe and Britain are persecuted and terrorized by Muslims living on welfare benefits at taxpayer expense.
“Back at home a young wife waits
Her green beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed
Leaving her his last request.
Let silver wings on my son’s chest
Make him one of America’s best.
He’ll be a man
He’ll fight some day
Let him wear a green beret”
We can’t all take up arms and serve in the military.But in the U.S it is still possible for the ordinary citizen to arm himself and get some practice at target shooting.
And if you and your family are over the age of 18 you should do just that.Protecting your country starts with protecting your family and yourself.
Secondly speak out against anyone who tries to rob you of your first and second amendment rights.
Thirdly vote only for those prepared to support your second and first amendment rights.
Sorry bad punctuation it should read
” Her Green Beret has met his fate”
Also think of how the U.S treated Japaneses citizens in the Second World war .We can’t take a chance we must halt Muslim immigration .We must deport or intern any Muslims living in America to either a Muslim country of their chocie or their country of origin.
I left out the rather gruesome reference in the scripture passage. The Jordan Valley, which is think is about 1600 Stadia (Roman measurement) was filled with blood from the winepress Jesus had trodden out of the people who had surrounded Jerusalem and Petra with the intention of wiping Jews off of the face of the planet once and for all.
God entered into an eternal covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people have been the ‘apple of his eye’ ever since. YA has sworn by Himself that the universe will implode before the Jews are wiped out. Also, Jesus said that they (the Jews) would not see him until they cried out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
The Jews haven’t cried out as a people yet, and Satan is busy wiping them out so that they won’t be able to and he will have this planet all to himself after all. It won’t turn out that way but it won’t be for a lack of Satan’s effort.
For the record, Bosra is in Edom (southern Jordan) and the home of Jacob’s older brother Esau. That family feud still continues today. Herod was an Edomite (Ideumean) as was Judas-ish Kerioth (Iscariot). So, Jesus, upon His return, will take care of biz in Bosra (where the winepress is) rescue His brethren (the Jews, Jesus was one) and then bring everybody to the Valley of Jezreel to hold court and pass judgment. In other words, you do not go after the Jew as YA has their back. Ask Bush senior about Kennebunkport and bush junior about New Orleans. I think O’Bama knows better despite how badly he would like to take Netanyahu down.
Thank-you Acura for your scholarly analysis and valuable insights .
The Jews are indeed the chosen people -a treasured vine in the vineyard of God.
As Geert Wilders points out ,Israel is the only liberal Western democracy in the Middle East.It is a beacon of light surrounded by barbaric intolerant ,backward and bloodthirsty theocratic Islamic regimes.
And those regimes constantly seek to wipe Israel off the map.
It is our bulwark against a relentless ,pitiless and entirely irrational Islamofascism .Plucky little Israel puts it’s fingers in the dyke to stopper up the leak and hold the flood waters of Islamic totalitarianism back .
And while it does so those forces are divided and diverted and the floodwaters that threaten the rest of us all over the non-Muslim world are thus divided and lessened.
We owe our plucky ally Israel our gratitude and our support .
And also Christianity rests upon the great traditions of Jewish law.We are the heirs of a Judo -Christian civilization resting firmly on the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome.
I believe that Julia Ward Howe’s reference is to Revelation 14:19 and to Isaiah 63:2.
“And the angle thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles…” (Rev. 14:19-20).
“[prophet] Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed Garments of Bozrah? this that is glorious in apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? [the LORD or Messiah] I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. [prophet] Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth the winefat? [The LORD or Messiah] I have trodden the winepress alone; and of all the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury…” (Is. 63:1-3)
These are pictures of judgment against an unbelieving world (in Isaiah’s case, against Edom, which had apparently done a bit of looting and enslaving in Judah of its own following the Assyrian invasions). In Christian theology, these images have been used of the Messiah as judge, who breaks nations with a rod of iron (Psalm 2). Isaiah, who wrote in the time of Mesopotamian invasions of Israel and Judah, sees divine judgment in the wars and violence of his times; his theme is picked up by John in his vision of the risen and glorified Jesus wreaking vengeance on his enemies (whether at the eschaton or temporally I will remain uncommitted).
Christian theology has always accepted that the risen and glorified Jesus Christ is the Lord of Heaven and Earth, including history–got the whole world in his hands, as the song says. This is the real theme of the book of Revelation; and this theme impressed itself on Mrs. Howe as she contemplated the approach of our War of North and South (1861-65).
Similar thoughts have occurred to me as I see the looming clash between an Islam that makes an utter travesty of divine revelation and a Western world proud of its apostasy from Christ.
While there is still time, “Kiss the Son, lest ye perish in the way” (Psalm 2).
Many thanks Kepha for your in depth and most informative explanation.
There is clearly an element of God’s judgement in Julia’s references
to trampling out the vineyard .
We are called upon therefore to choose either the side of the righteous or the side of the fools ,the knaves ,the willfully ignorant , and the downright sociopaths.
On the side of the righteous and under God’s banner stand many Eastern European countries.
Even the Dutch people would vote Geert Wilders in were an election held tomorrow.
So we can hope for a Western European country to join the good fight when the Dutch go to elections in 2017.
And also two idiotic Muslims bombed a Sikh temple in Germany this week ,killing three worshipers.The Sikh world took note and we can expect the support of the Sikh’s in our struggle.
Further the Buddhists of Burma having suffered at the hands of their minority Muslim community have already passed laws preventing the marriage of Muslims and non-Muslims.We can expect their support too.
Go to Breitbart news website and you will find the flamboyant and vociferous homosexual Milo Youannoplis, who supports the West against Islam.He does not wish to be thrown off tall buildings by a bunch of Islamic executioners.
There is support for the fight against Islam in Hindu communities in Australia.The Hindu communities in Australia greatly admire of Israel and her stand against Islamic terrorism.
So the West however flawed( and believe me I too am greatly distressed by the cynicism and moral decay of the West)does not stand alone.
It’s an imperfect world .But I think the good Lord would expect us to unite against, the implacable Islamic foe.
For a moment we can put doctrinal differences and lapses of faith
aside for the armies of Islam have come down like a wolf on the fold .
Let us stand shoulder to shoulder before more sheep are needlessly savaged.
Sorry should read “the Hindu communities of Australia greatly admire Israel ” – the ‘of “is superfluous.
All this is good news, and yet I wonder, why it is that politicians like Geert Wilders are able to be protected by the state that openly opposes him. Is there something else at play here that is determining the mood of the people?
Geert Wilders gets protection from the state because of Pim Fortuyn, a previous politician in The Netherlands who was also outspoken about multiculturalism and Islamisation and received death threats. He requested, and was denied protection from the state and was assassinated the day before the Dutch general elections – as it was too late to change the name on the ballot paper, he won the election posthumously.
The state were held responsible for Pim Fortuyn’s death due to having denied him state protection and so when Geert Wilders followed in Fortuyn’s footsteps being critical of multiculturalism and Islam and started getting death threats the state had to step up and give him the protection they had previously denied Fortuyn.
This is something that the Dutch population have felt very strongly about since Fortuyn’s assassination. Recently another politician, PvdA leader in Katwijk Willem den Hertog tweeted,
“We all hope that Wilders dies of a heart attack in bed (if not between the legs of a left-wing parliamentarian)”, followed by. “But if there is a bullet on the way, then it is big enough to engrave ‘From the grateful Dutch people’ on it”. He concluded: “How many PVV’ers are now carving ‘PvdA’ on their bullets?”
This caused outrage and the tweets were withdrawn followed by him being forced to resign.
State protection in The Netherlands is now available to all politicians – but only appears necessary for those such as Geert Wilders who dare to openly criticise Islam.
Yes, they are heroes! Amy Carmichael was a missionary in India in the early 1900’s. She wrote a most beautiful prayer – part of which I shall reproduce here, with your indulgence. The sentiments expressed in it remind me of Tommy and Geert and all the
courageous people fighting for freedom and right in Europe and world-wide. May Almighty God strengthen them all. (This includes all bloggers who strive to expose and share the Truth!).
“From subtle love of softening things, from easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified, not this way went the Crucified),
From all that dims thy Calvary, O Lamb of God, deliver me!
“Give me the Love that leads the Way, the Faith that nothing can dismay,
The Hope no disappointments tire, the Passion that will burn like Fire,
Let me not sink to be a clod – make me Thy Fuel, O Flame of God!”
Yes, Eirene … that IS a beautiful prayer.
I’m sure that, if the whole prayer isn’t _too_ long, the Baron’s indulgence would extend to having you reproduce the whole thing here … or perhaps just include a link where we might find the whole thing on-line?
Carmichael’s prayer certainly makes the point that there is no path to the Resurrection except through the Cross. Not by trying to avoid suffering, by going around the cross. Our Lord said ‘Take up thy cross and follow me’ for a reason.
This is one of the reasons Catholics insist upon retaining the ‘corpus’ – the body of Christ – on the crucifix, unlike the plain cross more popular with many other Christian groups.
The plain cross is de-natured, de-personalized. As a symbol it is more abstract. The crucifix, with the body of the suffering Christ in plain view, is very personal, and should arouse in us sorrow for our sins, which put Him on that cross. That should lead to the next step, repentance, and a desire to amend our lives, and ‘Go, and sin no more.’
In modern(ist) Catholic circles a crucifix sometimes called the ‘Risen Christ’ became popular … an image of the Ascended Christ, post-Resurrection, superimposed on a cross. That sort of depiction had been specifically warned against by one of the popes precisely because it is an effort to avoid all the ‘tough bits’ about being a Christian – to avoid suffering.
Pope Pius XII, in the 1947 encyclical ‘Mediator Dei,’ para. 62 :
‘ … neither wise nor laudable … straying from the straight path … were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer’s body shows no trace of His cruel sufferings … ‘
( The pope also included ‘… were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive tableform …)
I’m a Protestant myself, and will loudly confess the necessity of Christ’s death on the cross to atone for our sins (the whole meaning of his being the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, as confessed by John the Baptist in John 1); and I’ll do it in the face of all the Rousseau-ites in the world who think man is basically good and all the Muslims who think sin isn’t quite so serious. I’ve faced a bit of opposition for loving Christ in my life, and know the plight of brothers and sisters in China, so I get the “suffering” part (it also helps to read the Bible).
But, since we had a reference to the Book of Revelation in this post, I also think that it’s important to note that this Lamb of God sacrificed on the altar of the cross is also the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah–and death itself is what he conquered on the third day after his crucifixion. We Christians should be very, very careful about leaving Christ on the cross or in the tomb, for Paul wrote that if Christ is not risen, then our faith is in vain (I Cor. 15).
BTW, one reason why we of the Reformed Tradition do not display the corpus is because we confess that Jesus Christ is not only a man of the tribe of Judah and lineage of David made as we are except without sin, but also the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Thus, a purported image of him, at least if it is made to be bowed down to, violates the 2d Commandment (the part about images–2d part of 1st commandment in RC reckoning). We also have no physical representation of Christ given us in the Scriptures, so purported images of Christ may actually mislead and misrepresent (see how many such images are made to support various ethnic chauvinisms!). We are to know him through his word, not images.
Dear Frank – The prayer is slightly longer than what I quoted, which were the second and third “bits” (the third being THE END).
Here is the first “bit” for our delight. Google should have some
info on intrepid missionary Amy Carmichael. Here goes:
“From Prayer that asks that I may be sheltered from winds
that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire, from faltering when I
should climb higher,
From silken self, O Captain, free Thy soldier who would
follow Thee.”
Just put them all together and you have an inspirational prayer
for every day use if you so wish!
God bless you and God bless this blog. Eirene.
I am content to be the humble peon that I am, knowing there are great people like Wilders, Robinson, the Baron and Dymphna. Not to mention great American heroes like Lincoln and so many others. . . the list is really long.
And I see a fairly passionate comment above, by Nick. “We are the ones we are waiting for?” That is certainly food for thought.
I see my job as supporting them as best I can, since I cannot be them.
And then there’s John 15:13 (American King James version):
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
I know that they do what they do for their own private reasons – for themselves, for their children, for their families and for their countries … but I can’t help thinking (or more correctly, feeling) that they also do it for me – even though they’ve never met me and never will. And I have little to offer in return but my profound respect, admiration and gratitude.
the essence of Christianity.
That is one of the main reasons for me, in recognizing so many other people.
Where you can, to say “thank you”
In other ways, to publicly support in word, and deed.
It is one of the dilemmas, to understand, just what is “democracy” and would you die for it.
Yet there is no greater love, for family, friends.
It can be stretched to all humans, but some one where that changes, to being part of an agenda, purpose.
Australia and New Zealand this coming Monday, is building up to ANZAC day, in remembrance of all who went and served in the military.
Dawn parades, and memorial services through out that morning.
Quietly I will also be reflecting on the many that are risking their lives, looking to safeguard our western civilization.
Thank you
I will be going to the Anzac parade in our local community.The veterans march from the R.S.L to the war memorial.We are a tiny little hamlet but last year about 2000 attended the dawn service outside the municipal offices.Also 5000 attended the march .We had a fly past and a very emotional service at the war memorial.
The pipers always bring a tear to my eye as I remember the sacrifices of my grandfather and great uncles in world war 1 and of my father and uncles in world war 2.
A Jubilant Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfB4p1kYGzo
When I said supporting them, I meant monetarily (if that is a word) aka with money. We who can’t fight in a physical way should at least provide monetary support, if we can afford it.
Anybody know Geert Wilder’s address?
He is on twitter.Take the time to send him a tweet .Give him some moral support.Ask him on twitter if he has an account the public can donate to.
Geert has a website with a donate button.
http://geertwilders.nl/
Thank-you.I follow Geert on twitter but did not know about the account>
The thing is, most people, deep down, know that we’re right. It’s not even that hard to find Muslims who will acknowledge it. Indeed, I find the average Muslim easier to be honest with than the average Politically Correct Person, and that *also* says a whole lot.
The long it takes before we’re listened to, the more extreme the reaction will be.
The average reader on here might have a problem with Islam, but doesn’t have a problem with Muslims as people. That kind of distinction gets lost when the chips are down and the physical fighting starts.
And here’s the thing: political Islam may succeed in taking over parts of Western Europe, even without too much of a fight. But I can 100% guarantee that it won’t be the same in Eastern Europe or in the USA.
I concur, only if unabated immigration into the US is curbed.
A great hymn and one that should be sung more often, not just in church. We should sing it whenever we feel a strong desire to: reclaim our heritage ,our patriotism, our national pride, our self-respect ,our identity as the heirs of Western enlightenment and of classical Greece and Rome..
It may be heresy to say this on this website and under this topic, but…
“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” has always struck me as what it truly is–an anti-Southern (not anti-slavery) anthem. Having roots in Texas, Florida, and Georgia, I instinctively disliked the anthem when I heard it as a child in church (maybe in Wyoming? or California?) and only later, when I found all the stanzas written down, did I confirm for myself that it was indeed anti-Southern.
None of my family would ever have had enough money to own slaves. Indeed, back in England one of my great-great-X-aunts was listed in a census as “servant, lives with family.” Approx. 1870.
But the metaphor “Grapes of Wrath” certainly struck John Steinbeck as strong enough to carry his story of the Dust Bowlers who came to California looking for work in the ’30s.
It’s definitely anti-Southern. It was adapted from “John Brown’s Body”, which celebrated a man who killed innocent people in a righteous cause, i.e. for abolitionism.
I like it for certain portions of its lyrics, which are very stirring. But I have no illusions about its original political context.
Calvinist and grateful for both the preservation of the Union and the end of slavery though I be, I am also aware that the first Sothron John Brown’s people killed was a free man of color working as a baggage master in the Harpers Ferry train station–in addition to Brown’s being unstable and violent.
Yes, the Battle Hymn is stirring, but I have to admit it is very anti-Southern. Further, Ward was a Unitarian.
As for myself, I’m dusting off an old Scots metrical version of Psalm 68 for a new hymn of battle.
If it’s in your hymnal (can’t remember the view of Calvinists on sacred music) then it’s likely been performed and is on You Tube.
Thank you for your confirmation of my belief, Baron.
I truly feel sad for the South and their suffering in the civil war. In any war the atrocities suffered by the civilian population leave scars that will never heal.Many a man from the South fought only in an attempt to guard his family from the coming atrocities which he knew would flourish in the total breakdown of law and order that is inevitable in a conflict. Also those atrocities by their very nature are always inflicted disproportionately on the vanquished side.
And the triumphalism of the song is on that level deeply disturbing.
Perhaps for that reason”Onward Christian soldiers” is a more appropriate tune.
We used to sing it quite often in church in my childhood.
Nowadays the congregation(anywhere in the U.K) who dared sing it ,would doubtless be charged with hate crime.
But you will doubtless be surprised to know that ,that we(living outside America) thought the hymn was just one in a series about “fighting the good fight” hymns.For we were never taught the history of the American civil war and finding the hymn in both the Anglican and Presbyterian hymn books we saw it as a hymn like any other.As did I am sure the Anglican and Presbyterian congregations in all Commonwealth countries.
When my son pointed out that it was the battle hymn of the Republic I thought merely that it was a hymn adapted by Anglican and Presbyterian congregations in the U.S to an American purpose.
This article of Baron’s however alerted me to the fact that far from being adapted by the Republic for it’s own purposes ,it was written for the Republic.
Tommy attacked again today in Luton: VIDEO: PEGIDA’s Tommy Robinson Attacked In Street By Muslim Man: ‘Are You Racist!?’ http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/04/22/video-pegidas-tommy-robinson-attacked-street-muslim-man-racist/
I just luurvve the way they have co-opted the the term “racist” – ostensible high moral ground. I find myself stating “Islam is not a race” every second day these days.
Ain’t a religion, either. Be sure to stick that in. “…an ideology, much like Marxism”, she says.
Anjem Choudary confirms it. Islam, he says, is,
“an ideological political movement”.
Breaking news:Tommy Robinson attacked in street by a Muslim in Luton today.
Some of it is captured on his Periscope feed.
He may need more help from the legal fund.
at least the last judge awarded costs against the prosecution.
“My sense was (and is) that the wind is beginning to shift. Tommy’s belated escape from “justice” is just one instance of good news in an area that has produced virtually nothing but bad news for more than a decade.”
You may be right. It could turn out that the “Syrian migrant crisis” and the alarming uncontrolled invasion of muslims into Europe was the single event that woke up Europe. Slow creeping stealth jihad and the high muslim birth rate never attracted the attention of Europeans and the biased media. But hundreds of rapes on one night by refugees sure did. Follow that quickly with several terror attacks and privately many on the Continent must now be doubting that Islam and a secular Western society can ever be compatible. The reputation of the religion of Islam has taken a trashing in the last six months, that an army of PR consultants wouldn’t be able to repair.
Baucent, re your last sentence, islam seems to be doing pretty well in of all places–Australia, where according to an Email from my brother who lives there, almost 80% of everything on supermarket shelves is halal certified, or contains some ingredients that are.
My question: what’s the situation in NZ? I’m aware red meat is. (sort of, as you said!)
Sorry to go off topic Baron, but I’m interested, and we need to keep abreast of what’s happening re. the halal scam.
There is a difference between what the political elites and media do to pander to Islam, and what the common masses actually think. So at one level you might see halal labels on shelves but that doesn’t mean the shoppers themselves aren’t worried about Islam and it’s growing influence. A recent opinion piece in the NZ Herald news site on “the migrant crisis” had over 100 comments from ordinary NZ’ers. Most that I read were of the opinion that the muslim migrants shouldn’t be brought to NZ.
Glad to hear that, though of course they are there.
A young woman in Dunedin had a run in with a muslima bag-head in a supermarket a year or two back, and most of the customers sided with the bag-head.
Shockingly, many people in the western world still aren’t aware of who moslems are; our enemy of over 1400 years.
This is certainly good news for all counter Jihadist, but I’m afraid it’s not over. For now we have the First Amendment protection. With Islamic groups like CAIR , the OIC, the UN, and the radical Left we could lose First Amendment protection. Could I one day be arrested for telling the truth about political Islam on Gatesofvienna? Could the Baron be hauled into jail for this wonderful and informative blog? Freedom is fragile!
I fear that we in the USA will lose both 1st and 2d Amendment protections once President [redacted] Hillary Clinton is elected (the numbers favor her) and can appoint a bunch of rotten leftists to the federal bench.
The picture that adorns this article is a mural by John Stewart Curry. It is located, I believe, in the Kansas Statehouse in Wichita, Kansas. It is an extraordinarily powerful painting. And for an American, deeply moving. The oversized figure is John Brown and the scene over which he presides is “Bleeding Kansas,” a forerunner of America’s terrible but necessary Civil War.
Yes, it’s in the statehouse in KS, dated 1937. And it caused some controversy there — the legislators who commissioned it were not all happy with the result. Curry never signed it as a result.
The civil war was the result of allowing a problem that should have been dealt with 80 years earlier in the Constitution. Lincoln knew that the north would pay for that compromise with the blood of its sons and it grieved him terribly.
IIt is a wonder that we even survived as a nation with Europe having so much to lose with the loss of cheap cotton and fabrics. They intervened and the result was the naval blockade of the south.
One wonders what history would have been like if Wilberforce had been listened to instead of being ignored.
Much as Wilberforce is one of my heroes, I also have to admit that the 300,000 Yankees dead in Southern dust and an equally appalling number of Sothrons killed in the Civil War may be reasons why the US needed the late 19th century immigration that brought my own family to America.
Tommy is still insisting on walking the streets of Luton like any ordinary guy. It’s very brave of him, but it’s also foolhardy. His friends should persuade him that he’s now an internationally important figure, and one that the counter-jihad can’t afford to lose. His courage, toughness and street smarts have somehow carried him through till now, but he mustn’t be allowed to be hurt, possibly killed, by any random local thug who comes across him in the street. At least make them work for their prize. If necessary, keep up the fundraising to pay for his protection, and try to make him accept it!
It’s called “self-censorship”. It only takes a couple of jihad operatives with carefully targeted lethal violence, and PRESTO! Infidels enforce sharia anti-blasphemy laws on themselves.
That’s only half of why PC MC self-censorship occurs; the other half is an irrational fear of being “bigoted” and “racist”. This occurs most often among Leftists, broadly among PC MCs (a larger and more diverse demographic than Leftists, including many conservatives and Christians), and even trickles into the Counter-Jihad, where I’ve seen it among Counter-Jihad luminaries and among the civilians at Jihad Watch, Front Page.mag, and even here at Gates of Vienna.
More good news for the happy feet. I thank Keelie/22Apr16/radioactive post for reminding us of Belmont Club/Richard Fernandez; 18 Apr 16, the global world hits a snag. Saudis, Russians and Venezuela all in low oil price straits.
I do not wish ill on the Russians, or not yet anyway, but the Saudi export of jihadis and wahabis make them everyones enemy.
And yet there is that 1971 treaty to defend their territory if they will price oil in dollars. The treaty that enabled the U.S. to get off the gold standard that we could not sustain after the LBJ years and on to limitless borrowing. Time to tighten our belts, but it may be very good news, with complications.
Well, no one worth listening to ever said everything was going to be easy. We have already tried the easiest ways for years.
The Western European natives openly cutting and mutilating themselves and injecting with dirty needless Muslims makes a joke of it all the time. Curry sympathy or curry flavour. Why even bother? Beards, hijabs, Koran, and old style occupstion collaborating with their saved settler Islamist Christian haters. A few years ago it would have been unimaginable what we are now in the beginning, middle and end of will be horrible blood and guts. A Dhimmi snowball’s chance in Hell. Merkel must get hot flashes sometimes. Oh my god! I’m Gadaffi!
what? Gadaffi Duck and Bugs Punny?
Gadaffi Duck and Bugs Punny. Haha.
Thank you, Shelagh, Kepha, and acuara (did I forget anyone?), for your extensive efforts to explain one English sentence I did not understand: “Maybe it’s time for Tommy to trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”
The take-away lesson I get is that “trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored” means to be wrathful (rather than stomp away one’s wrath) and to take anger-motivated action.
(Acuara, I don’t know who this YA is or why he would think that Jews will survive the implosion of the universe. That sounds interesting, but let’s not prolong the discussion.)
YA = the divinity usually referred to in the West as “God,” “Yahweh,” or “Jehovah.”
The word “alleluia” contains “YA” at the end, and it means to praise YA, or God.
Does that help? The God who Chose the Jews? (Note: being Chosen isn’t always easy or fun or even positive.)