Matt 24 watch, 102: Stoking vs putting out the fires of polarising, blinding rage

In perhaps the first ever classic on rhetorical tactics, The Rhetoric, Bk 1 Ch 2, Aristotle writes:

Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker [ethos]; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind [pathos]; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself [logos]. Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible . . . Secondly, persuasion may come through the hearers, when the speech stirs their emotions. Our judgements when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile . . . Thirdly, persuasion is effected through the speech itself when we have proved a truth or an apparent truth by means of the persuasive arguments suitable to the case in question . . .

So, we have long been warned about the blinding power of rage, which congeals into hate. And, if we needed a more current case, Hitler's Mein Kampf and its ultimately murderous scapegoating of Jews should provide a more than adequate illustration. (Now, too, the rhetorically convenient dismissal that pointing to Hitler as an example to avoid is a fallacy is only appropriate where the evil of the Nazi dictator is irrelevant to the case. I am precisely pointing to the potentially murderous -- and sadly, increasingly all too relevant -- dangers of hateful scapegoating, especially in a heated, hysterical, propagandised atmosphere. If one refuses to learn from history, one may well be doomed to repeat it. )

These words have come back to my mind again and again in recent months; as I have watched how all too many topics are being discussed, once Bible-believing Christians, Jews and the Jewish state are connected in some way to the issue. For, there is now a consistently and commonly seen and not only uncivil but plainly potentially deadly rhetorical pattern I have now descriptively termed the trifecta fallacy:

willfully distractive red herrings dragged away from the track of truth and led out to caricatured strawmen soaked in (implicit or explicit) character-assassinating ad hominems and ignited to cloud, confuse, polarise and posion the atmosphere for discussion.

There are two major recent roots of this pattern: (a) the ill-informed, spiteful rants of the so-called New Atheists -- including in several recent unfortunately best selling books, and (b) the turnspeech immoral equivalency agit-prop commonly used by anti-semitic, anti-Israeli propagandists, and increasingly trumpeted or echoed by the internatio0nal media and even heads of state and international bodies. These in turn have been intensified by ongoing geopolitical and climate of opinion battles connected to the ongoing global war with Islamist terrorism.

As a result, there is now a very obvious alignment between left-leaning, Marxism-influenced mostly secularist or neo-pagan advocates within Western Culture [but also including a good slice of a wing of the Christian church deeply affected by the skepticism-influenced modernist theological movements that have spread since the 1700's], and islamist agendas. The former interpret the latter as manifestations of third-world resistance to the evil imperialist agendas of Western Civilisation, viewing -- and often openly denouncing -- Israel as an Apartheid-state, colonialist outpost imposed on the native peoples of the Middle East. For these, "fundamentalist" Christians are a backward, dangerously reactionary and potentially violent right-wing force in our civilisation, seeking to turn the clock back on "progress" by imposing a theocratic tyranny.

Radical Islamists are only too willing to go along with what they probably view as "useful idiots," as they know that a house divided cannot stand and proverbially hold that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. (It bears noting that the real agenda of many radical Islamists is religiously motivated global subjugation under Allah, Allah's prophet, law and warriors, as can be seen by simply reading the Quran, Surah 9: 5, 29 and 30 - 34 in light of an unfortunately major and sadly unfinished thread of religiously motivated conquest in Islamic history. The Muslim Brotherhood global subjugation plan of 1982 will make this plain, as will a reading between the lines of the Iranian Government's 2006 Christmas message to the world. [The very fact that this point has to be specifically underscored is itself telling on our willful denial and refusal to see the manifestly plain but unwelcome.])

The recent case of a claimed humanitarian mission to break the Israeli-Egyptian blockade against weapons smuggling to Gaza that ended in a bloody melee, is a clear demonstration of the pattern. However, the point of this blog post is not to rehash the already told story of that idealistic intended peace mission gone ever so sadly awry at the hands of jihadists exploiting what they plainly consider as naive, useful idiots.

Instead, the issue is how we can work to clear the atmosphere so that we may not only discuss political issues in a calmer, more civil and more reasonable atmosphere, but also, how we can find ways to address the trifecta fallacy pattern of distraction, distortion and demonisation-laced denigration and dismissal that is now increasingly the "standard" rebuttal offered to any attempt to present a biblical or gospel perspective.

That is very hard to do, but since not only policies and sound understanding of our times but souls are at stake, we must try:

1 --> The first point is that we must get Aristotle's point across: while appeals to stirred up emotions are persuasive, and while we are often tempted to simply blindly follow those we deem credible, only the relevant true facts and correct reasoning relative to those facts suffice to properly ground a conclusion.

2 --> In short, we must insist on going to and focussing on the merits of the true facts that represent the truth, and correct reasoning relative to those facts. For, only such grounds are safe ones for well-warranted conclusions and wise action.

3 --> Also, angry, finger-pointing blame games only underscore the well known fact that we are all finite, fallible, morally fallen and too often ill-willed; which means that any significant movement in history will have its fair share of sins, outrages and crimes. (Thus, the issue is not that men, movements, institutions and civilisations are riddled with sins and hypocrisies, but that we need to repent and seek reformation and reconciliation.)

4 --> So, we all need to soberly face some sad truths about ourselves and our world, through listening to the wise counsel of the Sermon on the Mount to would-be reformers, in Matt 7:1 - 5:

Mt 7:1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

5 --> In short, the first step to successfully reforming others is to address our own sinful, desperately wicked hearts. And, then, let us make a bonfire out of the planks we collect from our own eyes, and have a marshmallow roast while we learn to reach out to one another in true compassion and mutually upbuilding concern.

6 --> It is tempting to dismiss this as an impractical counsel of perfection, but instead unless we force ourselves to face such challenging counsel, we will all too predictably end up back in the futile game of rage-fuelled hypocritical finger-pointing. (And, unless this is done first, the work of trying to disentangle the thorny thickets of hostile, rage-soaked accusations and hostility piled up as tinder at the feet of strawmen and waiting for the touch of an angry fire that so often pass for public discussion or even news today, will be futile.)

7 --> So, the first few steps are those of calling us to balance, calmness and civility in light of Aristotle's warning; a warning given with the ghost of Socrates whispering in his ear about what all too easily happens when people sit in judgement in what has become a kangaroo court, having been blinded by artfully stirred up rage.

8 --> In some cases (sadly, increasingly, a minority . . . ), this will serve to calm down the heated atmosphere. So, we can then turn to forming a balanced two-sided (or more . . . ) view of particular issues of the day, or more importantly, the key warranting case that grounds the gospel and the Judaeo-Christian Scriptures. Namely, the resurrection of Jesus in light of the centuries old prophecies and the over five hundred eyewitnesses.

9 --> In that context, I now highly recommend that Christians seeking to bear witness to the gospel learn the minimal facts approach that has emerged in recent years; which has been tested successfully in world-class public debates.

10 --> Beyond that, it may be useful to deal with worldview level questions by using the warranted credible truths approach.

11 --> However, there are those who insistently divert to side-tracks, set up strawman caricatures and indulge in character-assassinating and atmosphere poisoning ad hominems or one-sided litanies of the real and imagined sins of Christendom or of the Jews.

12 --> Those who insistently use such diversionary and polarising tactics are implicitly acknowledging that they do not have a sound case on the merits. Which, we should point out, then focus attention on what they would divert from.

13 --> A sadly apt example of the sort of spite we are talking about here, can be seen from Comedy Central's spitefully disrespectful comedy animation on Jesus and other related themes in the following clip (warning, offensive):



14 --> This disgraceful incivility not only reflects a classic example of the planks in eye problem, but is based on the cynically manipulative Saul Alinsky rules for radicals that counsel subversives thusly:

4. "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."

5. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage." . . . .

13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. In conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as universalities. One is that the opposition must be singled out as the target and 'frozen.'...

"...any target can always say, 'Why do you center on me when there are others to blame as well?' When your 'freeze the target,' you disregard these [rational but distracting] arguments.... Then, as you zero in and freeze your target and carry out your attack, all the 'others' come out of the woodwork very soon. They become visible by their support of the target...'

"One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other."

15 --> Of course, this artfully side-steps the otherwise plainly and painfully obvious fact that ALL of us cannot consistently live up to sound moral principle -- what being morally fallen means -- and that as a result, the great Russian prophetic writer, Solzhenitsyn was apt: the line between good and evil passes not between classes and nations, but right through the individual human heart.

16 --> We are neither angels nor devils, but instead fallen men who may listen to either or both. And who, if we are wise, will seek to repent and reform ourselves in light of the counsel of the angels.

17 --> A deeper problem lurks, the challenge of rampant amorality driven by the is-ought gap of the atheistical or agnostic secular humanist evolutionary materialism that haunts our culture today. For, in his 1739 A Treatise of Human nature, David Hume argued:

In every system of morality, which I have hitherto met with, I have always remark'd, that the author proceeds for some time in the ordinary ways of reasoning, and establishes the being of a God, or makes observations concerning human affairs; when all of a sudden I am surpriz'd to find, that instead of the usual copulations of propositions, is, and is not, I meet with no proposition that is not connected with an ought, or an ought not. This change is imperceptible; but is however, of the last consequence. For as this ought, or ought not, expresses some new relation or affirmation, 'tis necessary that it shou'd be observ'd and explain'd; and at the same time that a reason should be given; for what seems altogether inconceivable, how this new relation can be a deduction from others, which are entirely different from it.

18 --> What Hume has artfully side-stepped [for, sadly, he full well knew or should have known the teachings of the relevant major theologians and the scriptures], is that -- contrary to the dilemma the Greeks faced with their multitude of too-small and quarreling, capricious gods -- the essentially good and wise Creator God is an IS who can ground all oughts. In his unchanging, holy character. So, ought is not arbitrary, nor is it independent of God; indeed, to do the right, loving, just and fair is our reasonable service to God. (Also cf here and the onward linked William Lane Craig podcast on the grounding of objective morality in God)

19 --> Summed up:

Rom 2:2Now we know that God's judgment . . . is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on [others] and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? . . . .

13:8 . . . he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

20 --> By contrast, once we strip away the intimidating aura of scientific pretensions, evolutionary materialism falls apart intellectually and morally. For instance , here is historian of biology, professor William Provine of Cornell, at the University of Tennessee [Shades of the Scopes Monkey trial!] Darwin Day, in 1998:

Naturalistic evolution has clear consequences that Charles Darwin understood perfectly. 1) No gods worth having exist; 2) no life after death exists; 3) no ultimate foundation for ethics exists; 4) no ultimate meaning in life exists; and 5) human free will is nonexistent. . . . . The first 4 implications are so obvious to modern naturalistic evolutionists that I will spend little time defending them . . .

21 --> But, if humans have no true power of choice, we cannot choose to reason correctly or decide to act morally; and so, not only does the foundation for ethics vanish, but also that for reason itself. Manipulation then replaces a sense of duty to think clearly, correctly and ethically soundly. Thus, all too soon, we arrive at the sort of cynically poisonous incivility that we are addressing.

22 --> In rebuttal, we may point out that:

. . . [evolutionary] materialism [a worldview that often likes to wear the mantle of "science"] . . . argues that the cosmos is the product of chance interactions of matter and energy, within the constraint of the laws of nature. Therefore, all phenomena in the universe, without residue, are determined by the working of purposeless laws acting on material objects, under the direct or indirect control of chance.

But human thought, clearly a phenomenon in the universe, must now fit into this picture. Thus, what we subjectively experience as "thoughts" and "conclusions" can only be understood materialistically as unintended by-products of the natural forces which cause and control the electro-chemical events going on in neural networks in our brains. (These forces are viewed as ultimately physical, but are taken to be partly mediated through a complex pattern of genetic inheritance ["nature"] and psycho-social conditioning ["nurture"], within the framework of human culture [i.e. socio-cultural conditioning and resulting/associated relativism].)

Therefore, if materialism is true, the "thoughts" we have and the "conclusions" we reach, without residue, are produced and controlled by forces that are irrelevant to purpose, truth, or validity . . . .

In Law, Government, and Public Policy, the same bitter seed has shot up the idea that "Right" and "Wrong" are simply arbitrary social conventions. This has often led to the adoption of hypocritical, inconsistent, futile and self-destructive public policies.

"Truth is dead," so Education has become a power struggle; the victors have the right to propagandise the next generation as they please. Media power games simply extend this cynical manipulation from the school and the campus to the street, the office, the factory, the church and the home. Further, since family structures and rules of sexual morality are "simply accidents of history," one is free to force society to redefine family values and principles of sexual morality to suit one's preferences.

Finally, life itself is meaningless and valueless . . .

23 --> The resulting chaos brings us full circle to the sobering counsel of Scripture in Romans 1:

Rom 1:¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised . . ..

²⁸Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless . . .

24 --> So, it becomes clear that the root of the breakdown of reasonableness and civility in our day is ingratitude-driven rebellion against our good Creator God, who has given us more than adequate signs within our hearts and minds, and in the world without that would lead us to him, if we would but listen.

25 --> But that's exactly the problem. For, as Jesus warned us in John 3:

^{Jn 3:19}This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

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So, if we are to be effective witnesses to God in today's world, we must understand, then effectively and cogently address some strident challenges. I trust that the above will be of help in that process. END

Matt 24 watch, 101: A Jihadi and media ambush off the coast of Israel

Only a few days after having to address the sad recent events in Jamaica [NB: updated Jun 1, 2010], we now have to look at the bloody battle on board a Turkish flagged merchantman seeking to break the Israeli-Egyptian anti-weapons smuggling blockade of the Gaza coast.

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As the Middle East spins out of control towards a major confrontation between Israel and Iran over the ongoing attempts by the latter to acquire nuclear warheads for the ballistic missiles it has developed with the aid of North Korea [and others], Israel has found itself in several confrontations with Iranian proxies, often over rocket bombardments from Lebanon or Gaza. In recent years, despite the UNIFIL presence in Lebanon, Hezbollah has reportedly moved from the 13,000 rockets and missiles that posed an acknowledged "existential threat" to Israel in 2006, to a claimed 35,000. Early last year, after some 6,000 rockets in four years, Israel invaded Gaza and broke up the rocket infrastructure; to loud international outcry over a "disproportionate" response. Since then, it seems that "only" some 95 rocket and mortar bomb lobbing incidents have been reported.

In recent months as Iran -- which has repeatedly threatened to wipe Israel off the map -- has moved closer and closer to nuclear weapons, Israel and the Obama Administration have had a public falling out, and Iran has moved to cement ties with both Turkey and Brazil. In that situation, the announced sailing of a blockade breaking flotilla from a Turkish port takes on deep significance.

This is multiplied by the significance of the chants that the blockade runners were filmed making:



(The chants refer to Mohammed's troubling relations with three Jewish tribes at Yathrib [apparently originally a Jewish settlement], which was renamed Medina after the early Muslims took refuge there from Mecca. Over time the tribes were stripped of property, exiled, enslaved and in one case the men were massacred by Mohammed's order. Seven to nine hundred men were beheaded in one day and buried in a mass grave.)

{UPDATE, June 23:
David Parsons of ICEJ News therefore exposes the media ambush in the following video report (NB: IDF sources subsequently corrected the timeline to say that their soldiers began to use their pistols in self defence about two minutes after descending to the decks of the ship, in the face of a captured soldier with a gun to the head):



This report allows us to see how the world first heard of the sad events of May 31, from a media report that conspicuously failed to mention the attack on the IDF soldiers as soon as they descended to the deck of the ship, with metal pipes, clubs, knives and captured guns. The delay of many hours before the IDF videotapes were released then allowed this selective report to cement itself in the minds of the public and many policy makers as the material truth, rather than a highly tendentious and deceptive half-truth in violation of all canons of journalistic ethics.}

Against this backdrop, it is significant to observe the request of the Israelis that the flotilla divert to Ashdod where the cargo could be inspected under the observation of the peace activists, and transferred by road to Gaza, similar to normal supply movements. (NB: The banning of cement and pipes came in for particular notice. Apparently the Israelis have restricted and rationed such items to known projects to minimise diversion to bunker building and making of rockets.)

The next video is from the bridge of an intercepting Israeli vessel:



From the refusal it is clear that the real objective was to break an anti-weapons blockade [as, large missiles cannot easily be smuggled though tunnels from Egypt . . . and Israel's main nuclear centre, Dimona, is about 50 miles from Gaza, within reach of large rockets], not to get humanitarian supplies to Gaza, which could easily enough have been accomplished through the request to divert to Ashdod. "Negative, negative . . . "

While the issues of the legitimacy of a blockade and enforcing it at distance in International waters will be debated back and forth -- NB: in both the First and Second World Wars, Britain enforced a long distance blockade of Germany [UPDATE, Jun 2: Cf. a discussion of the relevant 1994 San Remo international treaty clause here(and as well the official legal opinion here)] -- it is clear that the Israelis were dealing with a blockade-running attempt. So, they sent over parties of naval commandos, armed with paintball guns and sidearms they were instructed not to use save in defence of their lives. Apparently they expected some demonstration, but did not expect to meet street fighters armed thusly in the key case, Mavi Marmara [the other five vessels apparently were taken under control with no major violent incidents]:



Pickaxe handles, high power slingshots and stones, hammers, metal pipes, sledgehammers, daggers, knives, ice picks and Molotov Cocktails are not exactly typical peace activist paraphernalia.

UPDATE, Jun 2: The ship's security video shows just such weapons as were shown above being prepared and brandished by the rioters:






In that context it is unsurprising to see that rappelling commandos were ambushed, mobbed, clubbed and stabbed, then in at least one case tossed over the edge of the deck:



Reportedly, once a sidearm had been captured [apparently from the soldier tossed headlong to a deck 30 ft below as can be seen in the above Infra red video], IDF soldiers were then shot, and received permission to fire in self defence. The IDF reports say that they shot at legs, but of course this needs to be checked against the -- sad and regrettable -- fact that at least nine deaths occurred among the rioters, along with a significant number of wounded. (NB: Handguns are notoriously difficult to control under stress.)

UPDATE, Jun 3: An experienced military analyst discusses what happened when Israeli soldiers rappelled down to the deck of the ship, including identifying a soldier with a paintball gun and how the use of life jackets and face masks by the rioters rendered these non-lethal weapons largely ineffective:




This analysis has highly significant implications. For, if the rioters prepared themselves to render paintball gun shots ineffective, they plainly expected that the Israeli soldiers were going to be primarily armed with such guns -- probably on analysis of previous interceptions of blockade running ships. Further, it strongly suggests that the intent was not just to batter or swarm down and maim or kill the soldiers, but probably to seize several soldiers as hostages to force a hostage crisis; thus compelling the Israelis to allow the ships to go to Gaza without inspection or hindrance.

But instead, on seeing their lives were in danger, the soldiers were authorised to shoot; which resulted in the deaths of it seems nine rioters.

{UPDATE, June 11: A smuggled out video provides inadvertent corroboration of the earlier IDF videos and reports from soldiers [cf. Appendix below, June 4]. We see the IDF speedboats, but not the brandishing of clubs, chains etc, nor the use of flash grenades or firebombs and fire-hoses to try to fend them off. We see the hovering helicopter over the edge of the upper deck, and glimpses of descending soldiers. We follow someone into the aid station, and at about the 2 minute mark, hear a fusillade of pistol shots, then a burst of automatic fire and scattered shooting thereafter. Wounded come in, first in the legs, then in the head-throat region. We do not see the battered, disarmed and captured IDF soldiers who were brought to the same station, nor the knives and clubs that appear in the pictures Hurriet published on them. We do not see the IDF soldiers' paintball guns. This is consistent with an attempt to use a soldier with a gun at the head to get the unit to surrender, met with shots to kill the potential shooter, and then leading to a rush at the IDF perimeter, stopped by a fusillade of shots, and onward pursuit of rioters.}



Predictably, once such a violent and bloody outcome occurred [and on live TV and Internet broadcasts due to dozens of media crews being aboard], Israel has been subjected to International censure and there have been demonstrations against Israel around the world. If one looks to the blogosphere, some very ugly remarks are being made too.

{Update, June 11: one of the most serious accusations is that that by stopping the ship on the high seas, the Israelis commited an act of piracy and kidnapping, and it is also suggested that the Israelis are subjecting the Gazans to a humanitarian catastrophe.

On the first, ironically, the same Reuters that seems to have been caught out clipping off knives in activists' hands from the Hurriet photos of captured IDF soldiers, has responded aptly:

CAN ISRAEL IMPOSE A NAVAL BLOCKADE ON GAZA?

Yes it can, according to the law of blockade which was derived from customary international law and codified in the 1909 Declaration of London. It was updated in 1994 in a legally recognised document called the "San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea". Under some of the key rules, a blockade must be declared and notified to all belligerents and neutral states, access to neutral ports cannot be blocked, and an area can only be blockaded which is under enemy control.

"On the basis that Hamas is the ruling entity of Gaza and Israel is in the midst of an armed struggle against that ruling entity, the blockade is legal," said Philip Roche, partner in the shipping disputes and risk management team with law firm Norton Rose . . . .

The Israeli navy said on Monday the Gaza bound flotilla was intercepted 120 km (75 miles) west of Israel. The Turkish captain of one of the vessels told an Istanbul news conference after returning home from Israeli detention they were 68 miles outside Israeli territorial waters.

Under the law of a blockade, intercepting a vessel could apply globally so long as a ship is bound for a "belligerent" territory, legal experts say . . . .

Israeli authorities said marines who boarded the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara opened fire in self-defence after activists clubbed and stabbed them and snatched some of their weapons. Legal experts say proportional force does not mean that guns cannot be used by forces when being attacked with knives. "But there has got to be a relationship between the threat and response," [Commander James Kraska, professor of international law at the U.S. Naval War College] said . . . .

"Whether what Israel did is right or wrong, it is not an act of piracy. Piracy deals with private conduct particularly with a pecuniary or financial interest," Kraska said.

On the wider question, it is now evident that while there is undoubted hardship and poverty in Gaza, in significant part due to the dislocations of an ongoing war with Israel, and there is need to rebuild what was lost during the Cast Lead counter attack to 6,000 rockets fired from Gaza at civilian towns in Israel, over a million tons of humanitarian materials have been transshipped into Gaza through Israel or from Israel since January 2009, and there is no threatening or existing humanitarian catastrophe. One hopes that the proposal by Abbas to go back to the line of discussions on a settlement adjusted from the 1949 - 67 borders, will be fruitful.

As we read in today's Jerusalem Post article, "Nobody denies Jewish history here":

[Abbas] said he was looking for agreement from the Netanyahu government that the basis for borders would be the 1967 lines with agreed land swaps, an arrangement he said was in place during his direct talks with the previous prime minister, Ehud Olmert.

“Everyone around the world talks about the ’67 borders, but with some amendments, some swaps here and there,” he told a Brookings Institution forum the day after he met with US President Barack Obama and other top American officials . . . .

Abbas reaffirmed publicly positions more often heard from Palestinians in private, such as his willingness to have a long-term international presence in Palestinian areas in order “to make the Israeli people feel secure inside their homes.”

He pointed to NATO as one such organization he had discussed with American officials, declaring through a translator, “We have no objections to NATO.”

He rejected out of hand the concept of a one-state solution, but said the popularity of this idea was growing among Palestinians and added to the urgency of resolving the situation so that there would be “no more demands” and an “end of claims.” He also said that the matter of Palestinian refugees would be handled by an “agreed” solution . . . .

On another sensitive issue – the notion that Jerusalem would be a shared capital for both countries – Abbas indicated that he recognized Israeli claims to west Jerusalem as its capital, but not to east Jerusalem. At Wednesday night’s dinner, he stated, “We say that west Jerusalem is the capital of Israel” . . . .

When asked about whether under a final agreement the PA would recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Abbas told the crowd of 30 leaders of major Jewish organizations, former national security advisors and think tank experts that Israel would be free to describe itself however it wanted.

But he also said, “Nobody denies the Jewish history in the Middle East. A third of our holy Koran talks about the Jews in the Middle East, in this area. Nobody from our side at least denies that the Jews were in Palestine.”

While there are obvious points of contention, this is more or less where things stood in September 2000, when Arafat walked away from the peace table and triggered the current wave of conflict. It is also close to what was on the table in 1948 and 1967.

It is sad that so much blood and treasure have had to be needlessly expended to come back to the lines of a compromise that could have been had 60 years ago, simply by being willing to sit down with the Israelis, and again 40 years ago and yet again 10 years ago.

Unfortunately, matters may be spinning further out of Control as Iran is threatening to send in convoys backed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.}

Most menacingly, Turkey is reported to be threatening to exploit its NATO membership and send in a follow up convoy under Turkish naval escort, which could -- in principle at least -- trigger the mutual defence clause of the NATO treaty; against Israel. All, in a situation where Israel has just announced openly that its submarines (which can carry cruise missiles, including potentially nuclear armed ones) are on regular patrol off the coast of Iran.

And so, events are plainly spinning dangerously out of control.

Let us pray that wiser heads will prevail in the Middle East and globally, before things spin completely out of control, triggering a regional nuclear war.

For, that is what is plainly on the table now. END
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PS: For those who need a refresher on the history of modern Israel and the linked question of the legitimacy of Jewish nationalism in their ancestral homeland, I suggest here.

UPDATE, Jun 2: Humanitarian supplies delivered to Gaza overland from Ashdod, Israel:



(In a late-breaking development, IDF's blog announced late on June 2, that twenty truckloads of aid from the flotilla were being blocked from entry into Gaza by the Hamas authorities.)

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APPENDIX, Jun 4: The sergeant who shot six of nine attackers on the MV Mavi Marmara tells his story. Excerpting:

When St.-Sgt. S. fast-roped down from an air force Black Hawk helicopter onto the Mavi Marmara Turkish passenger ship on Monday morning, he did not expect to be landing in what he called “a battlefield” and facing off against a group of “murderous mercenaries.” [NB: Elsewhere in the linked article, it says the attackers showed signs of military training, were coordinated in 20-man squads, had ceramic flak vests, and had thousands of [US?] dollars each in their pockets.]

The 15th and last naval commando from Flotilla 13 (the Shayetet) to rappel down onto the ship from the helicopter, S. said on Thursday that he was immediately attacked by what the IDF has called “the mob of mercenaries” aboard the vessel, just like the soldiers who had boarded just before him.

Looking to his side, he saw three of his commanders lying wounded – one with a gunshot wound to the stomach and another with a gunshot wound to the knee. A third was lying unconscious; his skull was fractured by a devastating blow with a metal bar.

As the next in the chain of command, S., who has been in the Shayetet [the IDF unit involved] for three and a half years, immediately took charge.

He pushed the wounded soldiers up against the wall of the upper deck and created a perimeter of soldiers around them to begin treating their wounds, he said. He then arranged his men to form a second perimeter, and pulled out his 9 mm. Glock pistol [which has a 17-round magazine, standard] to stave off the charging attackers and to protect his wounded comrades.

The attackers had already seized two pistols from the commandos, and fired repeatedly at them. Facing more than a dozen of the mercenaries, and convinced their lives were in danger, he and his colleagues opened fire, he said. S. singlehandedly killed six men. His colleagues killed another three . . . .

“When I hit the deck, I was immediately attacked by people with bats, metal pipes and axes,” S. told the Post. “These were without a doubt terrorists. I could see the murderous rage in their eyes and that they were coming to kill us” . . . .

[CORRECTION:] In contrast to earlier reports, the commandos said that they began using their weapons within a minute and a half after boarding the ship, due to the extreme violence they faced. One of the reasons S. pulled out his gun right after landing on the ship was because one of the mercenaries was pointing a pistol, snatched from one of the commandos, at another commando’s head.

This is the first eyewitness report on the circumstances surrounding the nine deaths, and it fits with the already established picture we can see from the above videos. So, while we of course will want other accounts, including from the other side, it gives some important -- and sadly sobering -- context for our reflections.

Matt 24 watch, 100: Insurrection and Civil War in Jamaica

I have been busy elsewhere for the past several weeks (pardon), but never would have imagined that the above theme would be what I have to speak to next in succession. So, with pain, but a measure of hope, and some prayers:

__________________

For me, the living nightmare of the past week began with a phone call from my Dad, on the declaration of a State of Emergency, with news of several police stations attacked, the Hannah Town Station being torched and looted.

The fort-like Central Station on East Queen Street was also attacked; having to call on the army for rescue. And, a party of police responding to a distress call from motorists, were evidently ambushed and badly shot up, six officers being wounded, two dead.

The upshot of the past week is that over the next day or so, the Jamaican security forces (with possible US backing and technical support: likely, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; just possibly, jet aircraft; and, on description of "bombs" and a passing reference to "heavy artillery" by a Government spokesman, maybe also artillery beyond the known 51 and 81 mm mortars in the JDF inventory . . . ) fought a short siege battle with a druggie warlord enclave, breaking in through a front-line of barricades with Improvised Explosive Devices and entanglements, backed up by small arms.

They reportedly took some 50 – 60 casualties [just one fatality, the two other acknowledged security forces fatalities were on an ambush of police responding to a distress call elsewhere in the city . . . ballistic vests make a big difference] but broke in and through what sounds like a 200 m deep defensive zone after about 3 hours; which is usually decisive in defeating this kind of fortification.

The insurrectionist side suffered serious losses, many of them fatal.

The official "civilian" [including insurrectionist] body count is now 73 and counting. [UPDATE, Jun 1: Government spokesmen have acknowledged that security forces snipers shooting from 300 m or more were responsible for many casualties, which would explain a preponderance of dead among the insurrectionists. It also explains why guns were not easily recovered from the bodies of dead gunmen. It is also to be noted that the Police Commissioner remarked that the advanced state of decomposition of a significant number of bodies suggest that they were killed before the battle, probably to enforce compliance with the wishes of the gangsters then in charge of the community.]

Reportedly, 22 guns [UPDATE: over 40, and 9,000 rounds of ammunition; including weapons recovered from searching the garbage being removed from the community] have been recovered (including four AK 47 assault rifles and apparently one .50 calibre long range anti-vehicle sniper rifle), along with army and police uniforms, and unexploded shrapnel loaded bombs. There are reports of women being sent out to recover guns from fallen insurrectionists, so that security forces were constrained to hold fire.

As an Observer newspaper account on how some of the insurrectionists dressed as women while fighting summarises:

"There were two women among the [73] civilians [NB: including insurrectionists] killed. The rest are all males and some were dressed like females at the time they were killed," Ellington said . . . . Seventy three persons were killed while three members of the security forces were killed and 58, (30 soldiers and 28 cops), injured. The joint police/military team has also seized 22 illegal weapons, 7,000 rounds of assorted ammunition, explosive devices, police and military uniforms and paraphernalia. ["Dudus' cronies wore dresses - Police," by Karyl Walker, Online editor Jamaica Observer, Fri. May 28, 2010. Parenthetical clarifications added. (I find it strange that not only the news media but the security forces' spokesmen are not making a clear distinction between insurrectionists and true civilians caught up in the chaos.)]

As an aftermath to the siege, 700 were initially detained, including dozens of teens. By official report, 200 have gone home on processing, and some youths have been placed in shelter homes. [UPDATE: Almost all detainees were released over the weekend.] At least one detainee seems to have gone suicidal, climbing up onto and threatening to jump off a roof until -- after hours of talking -- he was tackled and taken to hospital.

So far, the warlord at the focus of the conflict is still at large, but the security leadership seem confident they can capture him. Though, already there has been a controversial and tragic two to three hour wee- hours- of- the- morning gun-battle in an upper class neighbourhood that has ended with four wounded JDF soldiers and a well-respected businessman dead.

We shall see how the Dudus manhunt fares.

On a more hopeful note, in response to a call to the public for members of a list of other suspected warlords and gang leaders to come in, most have now presented themselves to the security forces.

Serious recriminations are flying fast and furious over the specifics of what happened, blunders, atrocities and cover-up claims, and the wider trends and circumstances that led to the growing cancer. (NB: One quite worrying sign is the lack of a count of wounded civilians; as it is usual for there to be far more injured than fatalities in a battle, and in an urban environment with a lot of civilians around, we should be seeing significant numbers of civilian injuries. Security force spokesmen should be pressed on the numbers of injured civilians, and how many wounded insurrectionists were taken prisoner. But, the tribunal of inquiry will doubtless look closely into this.)

However, it is plain that Jamaica faces a cancer of druggie gangsterism, and linked drug money and protection racket [de facto taxation?] funded warlordism tied into the political systems especially through depressed communities where in effect the warlords and their retainers have been the de facto government in the society, especially the capital. Multiplied by a breakdown of law and order and much mistrust between the public and especially the police.

(I should note, the incidents have occurred about 50 – 150 miles by road from the resort areas favoured by tourists, on the South coast, not the North. But of course the headlines have doubtless done serious damage to the vital tourist industry. Which Jamaica can ill-afford.)

I hope — and pray — that out of this horror, a serious rethink of where the society has been headed will lead to reformation.

I for one would favour a South Africa style Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Inquiry. That will be painful, and will move the older generation of politicians (those implicated in the era of a low key civil war tied to the culmination of the cold war era’s impacts in Jamaica across the 1970’s and the early 1980’s) off the scene definitively, and perhaps some of the younger ones too, but it will allow the land to build on the truth and a national rededication to the right.

Then, maybe the nation can be rebuilt on a sounder foundation over the next generation.

The announcement of an inquiry into the events of the week past will perhaps be a step towards that.

Let us now turn to the Jamaican National Anthem, as a prayer for a deeply wounded, traumatised and bleeding nation:

Eternal Father bless our land,
Guard us with Thy Mighty Hand,
Keep us free from evil powers,
Be our light through countless hours.
To our Leaders, Great Defender,
Grant true wisdom from above.
Justice, Truth be ours forever,
Jamaica, Land we love.
Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica land we love.

Teach us true respect for all,
Stir response to duty’s call, strengthen us the weak to cherish,
Give us vision lest we perish.
Knowledge send us Heavenly Father,
Grant true wisdom from above.
Justice, Truth be ours forever,
Jamaica, land we love.
Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica land we love.

In the Name of our Lord, Creator, and Saviour. AMEN

Matt 24 watch, 99: Qaneh Bosm, Linda Lovelace and the marketing of addictive, enmeshing, deceptive evil

In his recent path-breaking book, The Marketing of Evil, David Kupelian argues that evil often sells the destructive and enslaving by manipulating our sympathies or desires, while alienating us from corrective information and sources.

Thus, it first induces doubt in traditional views then acceptance of addictive, polarising deception.

This conversion to the perverse is then multiplied by alienation from that which and those who would correct us.

So, we see the three phases of the marketing of evil:

1 --> Desensitising us by making evil seem attractive or at lest plausible or sympathetic enough to be tolerated and entertained

2 --> Jamming out correcvtive information and voices

3 --> Conversion to supporting and/or addiction to the corrupt, perverse and destructive.

I was reminded of this pattern in recent days, while closing out my participation in discussions at an influential regional blog frequented by some of the more rabid anti-Christian voices in our region.

One of the rhetorical tactics used in a thread where the ganja culture was being promoted in the teeth of Bible-based [and medically rooted] objections, was to repeatedly post comments asking the question: "what is qaneh bosm?"

This is of course not a commonplace phrase.

It turns out that the reference is to a hitherto generally obscure discussion of the ingredients of the sacred anointing oil used by the Priests of Israel for anointing the temple and its instruments and priests, etc.:

Exodus 30:22 [NIV] Then the LORD said to Moses, 23 "Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels [about 12 lb] of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane [= bosem kawneh, i.e. "fragrant + cane [or reed]" in most lexicons], 24 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin [about a gallon] of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. 26 Then use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, 27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.

30 "Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, 'This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. 32 Do not pour it on men's bodies [i.e. as a perfume] and do not make any oil with the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. 33 Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from his people.' "

Here we see the stringently protected formula for the holy anointing oil used as part of the dedication of the tabernacle, its instruments and priests. So, why is there an emphasis on asking about the phrase "fragrant cane," or bosem kawneh?

An investigation soon turns up the investigations of Polish born anthropologist Sula Benet, which reportedly led Hebrew University to state in 1980 that the specific "reed" or "cane" most likely in view is hemp (i.e. Cannabis sativa), and to suggest that the specific ingredient is hemp blossoms.

Thus, we see the current NET Bible rendering: "sweet-smelling cane," and the rendering in the 1978 and 1984 NIV or 1977 New American Standard Bible: "fragrant cane," as well as the widely respected recent Roman Catholic translation, the New Jerusalem Bible: "scented reed," as opposed to the older KJV and 1902 American Standard version, "sweet calamus." (In short, we plainly have a more accurate translation in light of onward evidence.)

Revealingly, however, the Wikipedia article on Ms Benet inaccurately states:

. . . the words 'Kaneh bosm' are not in the KJV or the new international version of the bible. [sic] This is because the translators from the original language determined that "Kaneh bosm" should be interpreted as "Calamus" and other similar sounding plants.

This is both plainly false and suggestive that there is an attempt to suppress the truth.

Immediately, a scan of the four references cited in the article shows that -- apart from an initial reference to the Encyclopedia Judaica that tells us how hemp was in common use as a fabric fibre until linen took its place -- the three focal references for the article are from Ms Benet and from a more recent advocate of marijuana decriminalisation.

However, even though it cites a highly relevant reference on the primary use of hemp in the ancient near east, the article fails to bring out the key fact that here are two distinct varieties of hemp that are cultivated: C. sativa sativa -- which has very low THC content and is grown for the fibres -- and the high-THC cultivar C. sativa indica, which is grown for use as a drug. (Given the known context of cultivation for use as a fibre plant in the general time and place, it is inherently likely that the variety referred to in Exodus 30 would be the former, which would indeed have various aromatic compounds in its flowers etc. but would be most likely quite low in THC.)

Worse, the Wiki article on "Religious and spiritual use of cannabis" roundly declares: "Early Christians used cannabis oil for medicinal purposes and as part of the baptismal process to confirm the forgiveness of sins and "right of passage" into the Kingdom of Heaven," again citing an advocacy source.

Nowhere do we see any note that biblically, baptism is in water, and that the anointing with a smear of oil that may have been a part of baptismal services -- it is not a biblical mandate, but would have been symbolic of the descent of the promised Spirit -- would have as likely been with plain olive oil as with the formulated holy anointing oil.

Similarly, the oil used to anoint the sick when they are to be prayed for under James 5:14 - 18 was and is as often plain olive oil [or a substitute], and admixture of herbs according to the Exodus 30 recipe would not have served a significant specific medicinal purpose. (The focus of the prayer is on God's healing in response to the prayer of faith, not he medicative efficacy of perfumed oil.)

The discussion page for the article also adds a revealing corrective on the claimed rendering of bosem kawneh:

The citation of Aryeh Kaplan very inaccurate in it's portrayal of his position on the matter. Here is the original quote from Kaplan:

"fragrant cane Keneh bosem in Hebrew. Ancient sources identify this with the sweet calmus (Septuagint; Rambam on Kerithoth 1:1; Saadia; Ibn Janach). This is the sweetflag or flag-root, Acoras calamus which grows in Europe. It appears that a similar species grew in the Holy Land, in the Hula region in ancient times (Theophrastus, History of Plants 9:7). Other sources apparently indicate that it was the Indian plant, Cympopogan martini, which has the form of red straw (Yad, Kley HaMikdash 1:3). On the basis of cognate pronunciation and Septuagint readings, some identify Keneh bosem with the English and Greek cannabis, the hemp plant. There are, however, some authorities who identify the 'sweet cane' with cinnamon bark (Radak, Sherashim). Some say that kinman is the wood, and keneh bosem is the bark (Abarbanel). "

Kaplan clearly identifies it a one of several possible interpretations, and doesn't endorse the cannabis interpretation in particular, much less state it as the only possible interpretation.

Perhaps that first paragraph should be rewritten something like:

"The herb of interest is most commonly known as kaneh-bosem (קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם [21]) which is mentioned several times in the Old Testament as a bartering material, incense, and an ingredient in Holy anointing oil used by the high priest of the temple. Aryeh Kaplan mentions cannabis as one of a few candidates for the identification of this herb."

(Dorvan (talk) 23:52, 22 October 2009 (UTC))

Thus, we clearly see the three phases Kupelian described in action:

1 --> Since the Bible is a respected religious text, the plausible identification of the use of cannabis in it -- note the other possibilities, which makes the cautious renderings in modern translations very apt -- is used to open a wedge of perceived legitimisation of widespread use and approval that goes far beyond the formulation of a strictly restricted sacred oil of anointing based on flowers of hemp most likely of the fibre producing cultivar.

2 --> By falsely implying or suggesting that willfully inaccurate translations are being used to suppress the implied approval and widespread use of Cannabis sativas indica, there is a subtle attempt to discredit those who would object to the above agenda.

3 --> Thus the doorway is further opened for the addictive and destructive use of high-potency high THC marijuana.

Similarly, even with fairly simple web searches these days (often with no intent to find such), one easily comes across quite explicit and graphic pornographic sites, with words, pictures and video.

The imagery may easily lure in the unwary, and one may then miss key cues like -- and I specifically confirmed this as a fact before making his post -- the wistful or shocked look on the face of a victim "star" as she turns and looks into the camera; even while she is being portrayed in a degrading fashion, shamefully spread apart or spurted upon for keyhole-peeping delectation, as if we have a mere sexual plaything, not a real human being prostituted in front of us.

(Shouldn't we notice instead, what the pleading look tells us: am I not a person with inherent dignity, maybe your daughter, maybe your sister? Will you not have pity on me instead of callously and selfishly fantasising about me?)

Or, as the recent Carrie Prejean case shows, a semi-nude "glamour" photo shoot made on a conveniently windy day, or personal video shared in a moment of ill-advised loneliness with a boyfriend will easily be manipulated, the resulting materials will be circulated as porn, and if necessary used in demeaning attacks.

So, it is again time to bring our attention to the telling testimony of Linda Lovelace; the "star" of the notorious 1970 porn movie that broke out of the sleazy peepshow into the mainstream movie theatres. For, once she escaped the control of the domineering, dangerous Chuck Traynor [who as her legal husband prostituted her and forced her into porn films at gunpoint and under the duress of blows and sexual torture], she exposed the sickening truth behind the movie and others like it; passing lie detector tests in the process.

For instance, before the Meese Commission on pornography in 1986, she stated:

“When you see the movie Deep Throat, you are watching me being raped. It is a crime that movie [which grossed US$ 600 millions in thratres, with Mr Traynor collecting the "fee" of $ 1,250 for the "star"] is still showing; there was a gun to my head the entire time.”

Of course, her claims were stridently disputed and dismissed, and she was tagged by "anti- censorship" activists as in effect a lying turncoat against the "liberation" of free sex and pornographic portrayals of sex and related acts.

So, again, we see the agenda:

1 --> Pornography is sold as being liberating, harmless "adult" entertainment.

2 --> Those who object or who escape and oppose it are smeared and attacked. (Indeed, the Meese Commission's members -- including Dr James Dobson of Focus on the Family -- were sued.)

3 --> And as the camel's nose of social acceptability gets under the tent, every means of widespread distribution from Cable TV to the Internet is used to make an addicting behaviour pattern with a known track record of feeding the twisted imaginations of molesters and serial killers instantly and easily accessible.

Kupelian gives another, perhaps even more revealing example.

As Paula Adamick summarises in her review of his work (which is cited herein under the fair use provision):

. . . homosexuality has been sold to the world as equal to heterosexuality, contravening the natural law and ushering in same-sex "marriage" as "fair" and "good" and a "right" which brooks no opposition and prosecutes it critics.

How were long-held views opposing homosexuality so easily transformed into "enlightened tolerance" and open support?

Easy, Kupelian argues: "The debate will be won by whoever conjures up the strongest emotions of sympathy in the audience." By skillfully attaching "positive" images and emotions to homosexuality, listeners begin to question their "assumptions" about it.

With doubts entering the mind like a camel's nose under a tent, it isn't long before the kind-hearted person abandons his moral beliefs and says to himself: "Who am I to interfere with a homosexual's happiness?"

We see here a clear pattern.

One that is all too reminiscent of Rom 1:18 - 32:

Rom 1: ¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

²⁸Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

One that is now not only coming into our region from outside, but which is increasingly being used in our streets and opinion fora by advocates who are within the walls of our culture. indeed, in some cases, they are influential voices, or even our opinion and general social leaders.

One, that we must expose and resist, lest evil overwhelms us like a deceptive* but destructive tidal wave. END

_______________

*Footnote: Quite often, the first marked sign of a tidal wave is the rapid withdrawal of the sea (termed a "drawback"), leaving fish and other bottom creatures flopping on the newly exposed sand. If the curious come closer to inspect or collect "free fish," they expose themselves to the overwhelming surge to follow. (Instead, as one simply cannot withstand the destructive force of a full scale tsunami, the wise course of action is to avoid the danger by heading as rapidly as possible for refuge on the highest ground one can reach; as soon as signs of danger emerge or a warning is issued. Then, after the immediate danger has passed, those who have educated, prepared and protected themselves can help victims and the community impacted by the disaster. Applications to the spiritual tidal waves that are now impacting our region are all too plain.)

1 Chron 12:32 Report, 61: Pioneering vehicle technology initiatives for a new Caribbean technological (and economic) order

Last time, we highlighted the potential of our region's Disaster/ Emergency Management Offices to lead the way in the sustainable renewal of our region's technology base.

As a part of that, we suggested that we should look at the resilient Community ideas of Marcin Jakubowski et al, and in particular the Life Trac Skid-loader- cum- Agricultural Tractor:



The Life Trac (cf Make Magazine article here) demonstrates (at initial prototype level currently) an alternative architecture for vehicles, that is potentially transformative:

1 --> The power system is based on first generating a transmissible, controllable power source, hydraulic power. (The engine drives a hydraulic fluid power system.)

2 --> Power is then conveyed through the flowing fluid to application points on a frame: wheels, attachment arms, power takeoff.

3 --> Such power flow is partly operator controlled, partly microprocessor controlled.

4 --> All this is built on a basic, welded rigid framework [4" square steel tubing]; designed to be articulating as well.

5 --> This modular framework allows for simplification of components, and for use of standard parts, thus for inherently low maintenance costs.

In addition, the Life Trac or the like would help rebalance the industrial base of the world, where as Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley classically complained in the 1970's, it took an obscene number of tons of agricultural production -- sugar, coffee, bananas -- to pay for the tractors that were needed for mechanisation to gain efficient cost scales for Caribbean agricultural production.

Such tractors and skid loaders are obviously highly useful machines, including for emergency offices, but other vehicles are also useful/needed. For instance, consider the Kubelwagen -- "bucket" -- military/utility car built around the original design of the VW "bug."

Such a basic design could be re-engineered around a similar controlled power takeoff and independently powered wheels, perhaps using electric drive for the wheels instead of hydraulic power. In addition, such an approach could facilitate the use of portal gear axles that offset the axle upwards, gaining ground clearance. With a standard frame base, various coach bodies could be built, probably with a bias towards fibreglass bodies. Thus, too, we see a lifespan car: once built it can be maintained at reasonable cost across a lifespan; sharply reducing demand on scare, energy intensive metals to purchase car after car. And since the architecture uses standard components and modular assembly, an economically efficient scale of operation will clearly be much, much lower than the typical 250,000 cars per year point that the mass production, assembly line automotive industry traditionally targets.

Similarly, a heavier duty version of the design could use some of the ideas of the Unimog utility truck system, for pickups and trucks generally. Minibuses would be a logical extension of this.

Thus, through collaboration between Disaster Management Offices and Engineering Schools, we have a plausible strategy to create a more modular vehicle industry in our region, first for disaster managmeent fleets, then more generally.

Such collaboration can be extended to the creation of robotic vehicles, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- useful for surveillance of disaster sites, for search and rescue and for security in general.

Beyond the creation of vehicles lies a shift to more sustainable fuels as well: biofuels, hydrogen and the like.

Of course, such vehicles will not be as "sexy" as the current mass produced and custom vehicles. But, they would be first steps towards a more sustainable technical base for vehicles for the job world, on the farm, in industry and in commerce. And as the unsustainability of current patterns becomes ever more evident, more and more private individuals and families will want to make the shift to more sustainable vehicles.

So, again, the bottomline question is whether our Disaster Management Offices are willing to pioneer such a development. END

1 Chron 12:32 report, 60: Towards Industrial Civilisation 2.0 -- the post scarcity, open source, sustainable, resilient village

In recent weeks I have been keeping an eye on the initiatives of Polish Physicist Marcin Jakubowski, of the Open Source Ecology initiative Factor e Farm outside Kansas City. (Blog.)

For, his Global, resilient Community/Village ideas have much to teach us about moving beyond the age of scarcity and mass production to a new, more resilient, light eco-footprint era.

For instance, we may ponder this vimeo video from OSE:

How to Build a Post-Scarcity Village from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.

You will see Jakubowski starts with the Life Trac, which has become somewhat of a symbol of what he is doing.

Namely, pioneering a new industrial era in which open source industrial technologies form a base for small communities to build localised villages that can sustain themselves in the main through internal or easily accessible resources. And, because the core technologies are open source, once a cluster that is self-replicating -- including computerised modular, flexible fabrication machines [cf. here and here] -- is developed, this becomes an alternative to the current dependence on massive manufacturing centres and debt-riddled purchases of high maintenance cost major equipment.

The Life Trac machine you see cost US$ 4,000 to build, largely from junkyard parts and standard metal tubing etc. So far, its annual maintenance cost is US$ 100; and because it is highly modular, using a power plant, hydraulic power and a simple sturdy frame, it can be built in a local community. (They have developed a mini version, are working on a version 2 prototype of the full-sized tractor/ backhoe/ loader/ bulldozer/ earth tiller. They are also developing a similar open source utility vehicle -- UniMOS, modelled on Mercedes Benz's famous UniMOG -- and are looking at the open source car movement.)

The second major machine -- the Liberator compressed, stabilised earth block press -- is an update on the CINVA RAM type compressed earth brick machine. (I think we in the Caribbean should look at marrying that with the Auroville Earth Institute of India’s Auram, which makes a wide variety of bricks, blocks and tiles, including an interlocking range.)

In short, we are seeing the early phases of a potential industrial transformation. And while we may not want to buy into the full-bore Homebrew Industrial Revolution ideology -- I do confess to some heartfelt sympathies! -- we of the Caribbean should certainly look very carefully at clusters of technologies that would transform our region from being primarily consumers of technology to producers. (And of course, on the open source software model, e.g. Linux and Open Office, commercial enterprises would be refocussed on creating real value-added to the generic products coming from open source fabs. No gewgaws and gimcracks, thank you, just honest value added. [BTW, Open office is now my primary office productivity software. I am using the Go OO fork of version 3.2 of Open office.org , and highly recommend it.)

Then there is the potential of bamboo, especially the Guadua “vegetable steel” genus [angustifolia the starring member: up to 100 ft tall, 10 inches across at base, 5 - 7 years to grow, thorns to discourage praedial larceny; I believe 20 x the productivity of a similar acreage of pine forest . . . and the timber is harder than oak when properly processed], to transform the region's timber and construction industries. (Bamboo bahareque and related construction technologies seem to be highly promising. I have also not forgotten Moladi's rapid build foamed, reinforced concrete system and the Hebel type autoclaved aerated concrete modular "tilt-up" building construction system.)

And if you hear an echo of the Celtic Monasteries of the era just past the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, yes, it is there: we have in this historic movement a proven survivable institution that became a cluster of resilient centres for preserving civilisation and upliftment of the local community, which we can then adapt to modern circumstances.

Now, think about integrating this with the work of our region's universities and Disaster/ Emergency Management Offices. The latter need reliable, capable machines, and the former need seed-plots to do pioneering research.

While I am at it, let me plug the astonishing grid beam modular furniture and mechanical prototyping system based on square section wood or metal members with a grid of drilled holes on a pitch equal to the side of the square:, e.g. 1 and a 1/2 inch square timber [officially 2 x 2] will use a 1 1/2 inch spaced hole system.

The latter also need to have off-grid energy systems, rapid build housing solutions, easily packed modular furniture, remotely piloted or semi- autonomous reconnaissance machines. [Think here robotic aircraft -- some of which (as the recent Montserrat Craig Cabey disappearance at sea on a jet ski case reminds me . . . ) need to have long range maritime search capacity; and snaking and/or crawling robots that can go into the sort of pancake collapsed environment we saw on our TVs since January, as well.]

Then we need C21 Schooners capable of both motor and wind driven travel across our region at reasonable cost, for robust regional trade. Nor have I forgotten the need for sealift and airlift that can move containerised modular equipment and people rapidly across our region and for linking regional hub ports to the wider world.

Moreover, we all need good solid ICTs and access to life-long high quality education that can exploit Internet technology and existing infrastructure to build the capacity we will need. Thus, there is an opportunity for a network of schools of hope that use Internet technologies and create lifelong learning opportunities though not only initial primary and secondary offerings, but lifelong learning through a vibrant community college movement.

In short, the recent Haiti Schools of Hope proposal is a step towards a much wider opportunity.

How does this all fit into the Biblical worldview and its central gospel message?

1 –> Ac 17 teaches us that nationhood is the creation of God, who desires per Gal 3:14 to bless us in Christ with the same promise given to Abraham.

2 –> This fits in with the biblical plot line: Creation, fall, restoration: redemption, conversion and transformation through the gospel, blessing, consummation and eternal felicity.

3 –> In this context, God comes to nations in times of kairos — hinges on which the course of history pivots — with his spokesmen [and women!] who bring the counsels of eternal wisdom that we must choose to listen to or reject.

4 –> Here is the wise counsel of king Jehoshaphat on this, as he spoke with 20-20 prophetic vision:

2 Chron 20:20“Listen to me, you people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe! Trust in the message of his prophets and you will win.”

5 –> Those nations and generations that instead reject the wise and loving counsel of God walk in a path of self-chosen self-destruction, as Eph 4 cautions:

Eph 4:17 So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 4:19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

5 --> By utter contrast, those who have come to know God in the face of Christ are called to live sensibly, in ways that will bring the blessing of God into their lives and communities:

Eph 4:20 But you did not learn about Christ like this, 4:21 if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 4:22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 4:23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 4:24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.

In short, a call to godly, wise sustainable nationhood and community life under God in the face of an era of environmental and economic challenges is a part of the overall mandate of the church to disciple, nurture and prophetically counsel the nations to seek God-blessed reformation through the Word of God.

Why not now, why not here, why not us? END