Sharia Law in the U.S.A.??

Destruction of a Quran is a “HATE CRIME”

Do we have Sharia in the United States?

This story is an import from Little Green Footballs. It is worth following the other stories.

This story proves the point I was making a few months back with all the “hoopla” surrounding “hate-crimes.” I wonder what the K-man thinks of this story.

Outrage of the Week: Arrested for Desecrating a Koran

This is completely insane.

It's now officially a mindcrime in the United States to violate Islamic law. At Pace University, a man has been arrested and will face "hate crime" charges for throwing a Koran into a toilet, after the university caved in to demands from Muslim students: Hate-crime arrests in Quran desecrations at Pace University.

NEW YORK (AP) _ A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday on hate-crime charges after he threw a Quran in a toilet at Pace University on two separate occasions, police said.

Stanislav Shmulevich of Brooklyn was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, both hate crimes, police said. It was unclear if he was a student at the school. A message left at the Shmulevich home was not immediately returned.

The Islamic holy book was found in a toilet at Pace's lower Manhattan campus by a teacher on Oct. 13. A student discovered another book in a toilet on Nov. 21, police said.

Muslim activists had called on Pace University to crack down on hate crimes after the incidents. As a result, the university said it would offer sensitivity training to its students.

The school was accused by Muslim students of not taking the incident seriously enough at first. Pace classified the first desecration of the holy book as an act of vandalism, but university officials later reversed themselves and referred the incident to the New York Police Department's hate crimes unit.

CAIR is involved in this: Koran Found in Toilet, CAIR Springs Into Action.

Other LGF articles about Pace University's nauseating dhimmitude:

This Just In: Second Koran Found in Toilet at NY University!

Koran in a Toilet: Now an Official Hate Crime

Pace University Threatens Hillel for Showing 'Obsession'

At This Age You Can Get Away With Anything!...

... I Can't Wait

Kimba, do you drop them on your old-lady? (Ha, Ha)

"A Whale of a Tale"

Cow to Whale Transition

If a teacher is making a claim that land animals evolved into whales, students should ask:

What precisely is involved? How does the fur turn into blubber, how do the nostrils move, how does the tiny tail turn into a great big fluke?'

Cetaceans have many unique features to enable them to live in water. For example:

• Enormous lung capacity with efficient oxygen exchange for long dives.
• A powerful tail with large horizontal flukes enabling very strong swimming.
• Eyes designed to see properly in water with its far higher refractive index, and withstand high pressure.
• Ears designed differently from those of land mammals that pick up airborne sound waves and with the eardrum protected from high pressure.
• Skin lacking hair and sweat glands but incorporating fibrous, fatty blubber.
• Whale fins and tongues have counter-current heat exchangers to minimize heat loss.
• Nostrils on the top of the head (blowholes).
• Specially fitting mouth and nipples so the baby can be breast-fed underwater.
• Baleen whales have sheets of baleen (whalebone) that hang from the roof of the mouth and filter plankton for food.

Many cetaceans find objects by echo-location. They have a sonar system which is so precise that it's the envy of the U.S. Navy. It can detect a fish the size of a golf ball 230 feet (70 m) away. It took an expert in chaos theory to show that the dolphin's ‘click’ pattern is mathematically designed to give the best information.

One amazing adaptation of most echo-locating dolphins and small whales is the ‘melon,’ a fatty protrusion on the forehead. This ‘melon’ is actually a sound lens—a sophisticated structure designed to focus the emitted sound waves into a beam which the dolphin can direct where it likes. This sound lens depends on the fact that different lipids (fatty compounds) bend the ultrasonic sound waves traveling through them in different ways. The different lipids have to be arranged in the right shape and sequence in order to focus the returning sound echoes. Each separate lipid is unique and different from normal blubber lipids, and is made by a complicated chemical process, requiring a number of different enzymes.

For such an organ to have evolved, random mutations must have formed the right enzymes to make the right lipids, and other mutations must have caused the lipids to be deposited in the right place and shape. A gradual step-by-step evolution of the organ is not feasible, because until the lipids were fully formed and at least partly in the right place and shape, they would have been of no use. Therefore, natural selection would not have favored incomplete intermediate forms.

AIG Article

Two Semi-Technical Papers

Over Selling the Whale

A Whale Fantasy from National Geographic

See Where Conversation Leads

Israel Love

Talking Religion and Politics

During conversation the other day with someone I bumped into it was revealed that this person was, is, enamored with a “hippie movement” from the late 60’s (some say 68', others 69') that was situated for many years in the Seattle Washington area. The group is commonly called Love Israel, named after its founder… who’s real name is Paul Erdman. But this “organization” has gone by a few names: Jordan Village Farms, Love Is Real Family Inc., Love Family, Church of Jesus Christ at Armageddon, Church of Armageddon.

Love Israel

Is It a Cult Though? (click to see)

Israel Love’s (Paul Erdman) followers renamed themselves in like fashion, for example: Patience Israel, Serious Israel, Charity Israel, Abishai Israel, Honesty Israel, on-and-on. With “love” being the central tenant, this New Age cult – like most others – quickly fell into drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, family’s torn apart, bankruptcy, mind-control tactics, and yes... even death. In fact, Erdman's sexual activities were the subject of much scandal, not to mention the fact that he fathered a dozen or more children with many different women. One dispute after another involved the group in various legal battles, which included zoning and housing violations. All this combined with the many lawsuits from families of cult members led to a mass egression in the mid-eighties of most of its followers. (The lawsuits were mainly to get back savings accounts, property and possessions back after they ere “donated” to Paul Erdmann.)

Love Israel and Larry Israel

Revelations

This movement got its start with revelation Paul Erdman received that indicated that he represented the authentic message of the New Testament. Thus, he and his followers felt they were the “true” Christians as well as the “true” Israelites. Old Testament dietary laws were incorporated into this group’s lifestyle while at the same time Old Testament restrictions on “altered states of consciousness” were ignored. Speaking of which, altered states of consciousness were reached by ritualized inhaling of the vapors from an industrial solvent called toluene. Paul Erdman taught that inhaling these vapors was a religious ritual that his members must follow. Follow, that is, until two members died from it in 1972; at which time this practice was “stopped.” I say “stopped” because the group continued to use hyperventilation, hallucinogens and marijuana as aids to altering consciousness. Reportedly all members of the group had visions, dreams, and revelations that explained their purpose on earth. Duh! You could include most of the “Orange Sunshine” consuming hippies in this “revelational” category. Cocaine, of course, later became the drug of choice for Paul Erdman. Shortly after the egression of about 350-or-so people in 1983, the Church of Armageddon was officially disbanded in 1985. While officially disbanded, a small core of people still follow the religious leader Love Israel. Recently Brotherhood Israel sold ecstasy to two undercover agents reconfirming the addiction to drugs this cult has.

Steve Allen Looking Dapper

Hollywood Connections

As with other cults of the day (Manson Family for instance), the Church of Armageddon had its own connection to Hollywood. The son of the father of talk television, Steve Allen, was part of this group for some time which prompted Steve Allen to write a book on the subject. The book is entitled Beloved Son: A Story of the Jesus Cults, and is currently out of print (I have a copy of course) and should be considered a dated read, however, it is still “chalked full of nuts,” literally!

Alaskan Homestead for the Fishers

The Communal 60’s and 70’s

The hippie movement of the sixties produced a mix of Marxian communal living arrangements with a dash of Christianity and New Age (Eastern) thinking thrown in for authority in edicts and lifestyles. Groups such as At Twin Oaks (Virginia), East Wind (Missouri), Ganas (New York), The Farm, and the like popped up all over the place.

1977 Love Family Passover

Click on photo for full size

Marriage

Similar to these groups the followers do not marry each other with the classical understanding of the monogamous relationship, but considered themselves married to each other in the universal marriage of Jesus Christ and are not bound by “worldly traditions” of matrimony. Love Israel and other leaders had the prerogative (still does, just with fewer people) of permitting couples temporary bonding for the purpose of having children. The humorous question is has thinking spread to the modern left of today? The Church of Armageddon got its name from Revelation 16:16 where Armageddon is mentioned as the gathering place of the end-time.

Positive Aspects?

Of course. Nothing is purely negative. The group farmed and fished and they developed a free restaurant and a 24-hour inn where guests were housed and fed at no charge. Members distributed food from their farms and fishing boats to needy neighbors. But the good is outweighed by the bad theology, brainwashing, and fear tactics.

Love Family Ranch near Arlington, Washington (1981)

Bankrupt!

No longer in the “Queen Ann” area of Seattle, likewise no longer in Arlington, the cult has had to move after declaring chapter 11 bankruptcy. Something ironic since the “Church” rejected worldly laws and governing bodies. The few members (about 30) have moved due to this bankruptcy, selling its spiritual center to a Jewish organization in late 2003. They then moved to the Canadian border and at last report had fewer than 50 members. The Love Israel Family has set up tents along 52 acres near China Bend, a scenic river bench about 10 miles south of the U.S.-Canadian border in Stevens County.

again, Love Family Ranch near Arlington, Washington

Interesting Factoid

Because of the growth of the many cults during this time, there were many kidnappings and deprogramming done. Family members would pay for the cult member to be kidnapped and then have cult-deprogrammers talk these people through what constitutes the movement as a cult and try to deprogram the influence of the movement on this individual. The first taken from the Love Family was Cathy Crampton. Cathy’s parents allowed CBS to film the kidnapping and deprogramming, which was ultimately unsuccessful. Exit counseling got its start in these times, and many great books and insights have come from the study of brainwashing since.

Modern Day Thinking

Of course, in our Politically Correct environment, all opinions and actions are considered equal in weight and judgment. What is true for you may not be for me! Who are you to say I am wrong in my choice? There are no absolute moral laws. Moral choices are decided by the individual or by society and are not subject to intervention by you… if you do you are considered intolerant. This type of thinking will create more cults and more people who will unite and I am sure in the future we will hear of it. We will hear of the punch being drunk to catch a ride on a comet or to leave this horrible life for a better one. The more the West steps away from the Judeo-Christian-Grecian culture, the less rational and logical thinking will be applied to peoples personal lives. Thus, relativism will “seize the day.”

This is the banner art at Israel Love Family’s website… it is very New Agish.

The below is from Steve Hassan’s site:

Description:

Founded by Paul Erdman, aka "Love Israel" in 1968 in Seattle, Washington. Purports to be fulfilling the vision of Jesus Christ on Earth by working toward a vision of a community that is committed to "love" one another and forgive one another.

Reached zenith of membership in the mid-80's with nearly 400 members. Dissolution of the majority of the group came about when families of members sued for return of property turned over to the family and allegations of monetary and property mis-management occurred.

The remaining members moved to a 290 acre ranch near Arlington, Washington. During the 90's the leader and his lead "elder" Serious have formed multiple "corporations", one of which is The Love Is Real Family, Inc., reportedly a non-profit corporation. Additionally, Serious is the registered agent for: The Jordan Village Corp., The Golden Triangle Development, Inc., The Bistro, Inc., and The Love Is Real Family, Inc. The Bistro is a restaurant concern in Arlington, Washington, reportedly owned and operated by the family. Also reported in the Seattle Times is a evening coffee club called the Compassion Cafe. Members confirm that this is a Family concern but at this point I've been unable to obtain documentation to confirm this connection.

I. Behaviors

Great cultural pressure to adhere to group's norms of dress, styles, manner of talking.

Communal living idealism, so food is regulated by the core group. Key members of the group do not go without food or sufficient provisions. Out of favor members tend not to be taken care of as well or poorly.

Early morning meetings are de riguer and the lifestyle encourages late evenings as well, therefore, not much sleep occurs.

Members are encouraged to contribute all to the family upon joining. Households are reportedly self-sufficient, but must contribute (as of 10/00) 1/3 of their income to Love so that the payments on the property may be made.

Leisure activities of the members revolve around the family actitivies. Love Israel frequently takes trips around the world, particularly Europe. Lesser members never, if ever, travel.

Must always ask permission to make major decisions. Marriages must be "sanctioned" Otherwise, less formal couplings are neither discouraged nor encouraged, although couples are encouraged to experiment outside their union.

Morning "prayer" meetings are often used for getting to what people think/feel.

If you are in favor, you get more food, greater benefits, more freedom. Out of favor and you get job assignments that aren't as welcome... punishments, group pressure, etc.

There are many rigid rules and regulations. Dependency is wrought first by financial dependency developing into emotional dependency and "learned helplessness.

Perhaps the only real autonomous people there are Love Israel and Serious Israel.

II. Information

Leaders decide who needs to know what. Likely only Love Israel, Serious and their most trusted companions know key areas of the business dealings of the two men.

III. Thought

Must internalize the group's truth as truth

Loaded language techniques are rampant.

No critical questions about Love, his doctrine or his policies are legitimate. You are a traitor if you question him.

IV. Emotional

Excessive use of fear. Many of the people who have been there for 20 or so years have developed such an indoctrination to the culture that living outside the "family" has become extremely difficult.

References and Sites Used For This Bio

Websites used:

Israel Love’s website is at: http://www.loveisraelfamily.com/

Steve Alan Hassan’s Freedom of Mind Center is a good resource;

So to is Rick Ross’s site;

Wikipedia;

Religion News Blog;

Margaret Singer and others.

Some books I used:

The Encyclopedia of American Religions, vol II. By J. Gordon Melton;

Odd Gods: New Religions & the Cult Controversy, by James R. Lewis;

America’s Alternative Religions, by Timothy Miller;

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults, by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi.

The MOON!!! It's the MOON!!!

Why Did We Save Them Again?

I almost can’t believe this is real… except that it is the French.

Couldn't Ask for a Better Set-Up

I was in a Kinkos getting an unpublished book (601 eight-and-a-half-by-eleven pages) from my seminary bound for easier handling when I saw this and I just couldn’t resist. I think it is soo funny. Some will not know what I am talking about, but the ones who do will get a kick out of it.

Question is, is this a corporate placement, or is there a Christian that works at this Kinko's?

That’s all… cheap thrills for us apologists.

J-Dub 101

1… 2… 3… Punch

A Quick Guide on Refuting J-Dubs

A picture of my 1961 edition of the “New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures,” which is the Jehovah's Witness Bible. This green cover Bible is the one the apologist should be keeping an eye out for at used book stores and garage sales. It still has the unchanged Hebrews 1:6 verse in it that most J-Dubs are not aware was changed.

First of all, “J-Dubs” is my way of saying Jehovah's Witnesses. I have been studying the Watchtower Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) for almost twenty years that this more personalized way of saying Jehovah's Witnesses is similar to the nicknames old friends have for each other.

Definitions aside, let’s study a quick and easy way to make a maximum amount of theological impact in the minimal amount of time. Why do this in the quickest way possible? I will tell you in two scenarios why we should be ready to make a quick impact:

• Usually when you bump into a J-Dub you are walking into a donut shop to pick up some quick snacks for co-workers or a family trip, so your time is precious. Or its 8:30 in the morning and the doorbell rings and you are in a robe and slippers and the kids are bugging you for some Co-Co Puffs that are out of their reach on top of the fridge.

Whatever it is, our lives are normally pretty busy, so here is a great way to use your time wisely. Before that though, you might be asking why it matters. I will tell you. J-Dubs are not just a “theological cult,” a designation that mainly only historical Christianity would place on them, but they are likewise a “killer cult.” A killer cult – as I designate them – is a movement that even non-religious persons should be interested in getting people out of, and so the designation “cult” is something both the secularist and the Christian can apply to J-Dubs.

You see, Jehovah's Witnesses lift a verse from Leviticus (specifically, Leviticus 7:26-27) that makes these sincere people into sincere murderers. This verse is taken from both its theological, logical, and historical context in order to be misapplied to meaning that Jehovah's Witnesses cannot get blood transfusions. So if a daughter or son are in a car wreck and all they need is a few pints of blood to keep them alive, or their newborn infant has an infection that merely requires a simple blood transfusion, they would rather let their closest of kin die than have this very simple procedure given in order to save their lives. So I am sure that many readers of this, whether non-religious or religious could agree that any impact made on these people to make them second guess their misapplied theology would and possibly could save a life! I will give an example of a real life incident that happened in my life:

At the time I was working for a mom-and-pop carpet cleaner, a great guy and fellow believer with a simple faith. One day we were doing a job for an account, an apartment complex, and the apartment complex maintenance guy was over talking to us off and on as we worked. As I often do, I speak about stuff that I enjoy, which is political, religious, and philosophical application of those two. So I mentioned to my boss something about J-Dubs, and the maintenance guy asked me to clarify as he was a J-Dub. So I clarified my statement about Jehovah's Witnesses being a “killer cult” based on their misapplication of Leviticus.

I then asked if he had any kids. He responded in the positive, he had a teenage daughter. I asked him if his daughter was in a car wreck and all the responders had to do was to give the person some plasma to keep them alive from the scene of the accident to the hospital, would he allow them to if he was on scene? He had trouble answering that question. Finally he said “no.” During this encounter that I felt compelled to be in (at the urging of the Holy Spirit I am sure) my boss pulled me aside and asked me to stop the conversation, I politely refused and mentioned that I had a huge urge as well as a responsibility to challenge this person as it may impact a life… literally.

A week later I gave him a book that would challenge this Leviticus interpretation. One-month later I heard through my now ex-boss that his daughter was in a car wreck. It was a minor one, the car was totaled but she was fine. I never saw the maintenance guy again, but I am sure after that wreck he veraciously went through that book and most probably left this “killer cult.” Amen!? Or for the secular reader, Right On!?

(If you see any J-Dubs and have decided to enter the “counter-cult fray,” say a quick prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to be involved in this encounter, this is the most important step for the believer.)

Enough with the intro, now to the meat of the subject. When you bump into these folks, wherever it may be, you do not have to have your Bible on you, merely ask for theirs. You can do this a few different ways, you could say, “Oh, hey guys (or gals), I have a cousin who is a Jehovah's Witness and he (she, or in California, he-she) just showed me a couple of great verses, do you mind if I share them with you… oh, I don’t have my Bible, can I borrow yours?” Or, “Hey, I have a question about a verse and I have heard that you guys… you are Jehovah's Witnesses right?” (Wait for the response) “… Great. Maybe you guys have a Bible so I can find the verse and ask you for your input.” Practice some techniques with the wife or kids so you can become comfortable with a routing. All you are trying to do is actually have their Bible in your hands. Your Bible will not work as well… as they have changed theirs to fit their particular theology/ideology.

Once you have it in your hands you want to turn to John 17:3, which is below (click on it to enlarge):

Now I am going to post the notes I have in my copy of their Bible:

Did you get it? Ask them “what is everlasting life” in the hopes of getting the response “knowing the one true God.” If you do not get this clear response, maybe just mention what you think it is…/ but usually they are well-versed in the meaning of this verse. Next, go to Isaiah 45:5-6:

Here are my notes on this verse:

Again, get them to say there isn’t any other God but Jehovah. Ask them if, “then all other god’s are false in light of John 17:3 and these two verses,” always the answer is in the affirmative. You may also add to this conversation the fact that this is called “mono-theism,” and compliment these J-Dubs for holding to such an important doctrine such as mono-theism. (For the secular person, “mono-theism” is not a communicable virus passed in a kissing session, it is defined as such: the doctrine or belief that there is only one God. Random House Webster’s College Dictionary.)

Now comes the meat of the “1,2,3 Punch” aspect of this short process. Keep in mind that if you are truly in a rush you can drop the Isaiah passage and make it a “1,3 Punch” session. Okay, next turn to John 1:1:

All you have to do after reading this verse is simply ask, “is Jesus a true God or a false God?” They will now writhe in theological pain as they contort and try to explain why Jesus is a true God as well, even though they just confirmed to you that Jehovah is the only true God (John 17:3 and Isaiah 45:5-6) and that this is part of everlasting life, e.g., salvation (John 17:3).

You could ask them if they are truly monotheists or if they are polytheists (which is a belief in more than one God… a more technical theological term is henotheism, which is a belief in many gods but the worship of one. Both of these options are in stark contrast to the Jehovah's Witnesses statement that they are monotheists.). All you have to do now is go back and forth between these three or two verses and make your points over again if need be. Even if you walk away from this encounter feeling like you didn’t “convert them on the spot” the job has been done. You have planted a theological seed of doubt that will be used – prayerfully – by the Holy Spirit to cause the Jehovah's Witness to question his or her religion.

You have walked away from a very short encounter and caused the maximum amount of doubt in these [often] two sincere people.

I hope this has helped, and is used by you to literally “save a life.”

Family Love – Islam Style

Garroted to Death

garrote, -rot·ed, -rot·ing.

1. a method of capital punishment of Spanish origin in which an iron collar is tightened around a condemned person's neck until death occurs by strangulation or by injury to the spinal column at the base of the brain.

2. the collarlike instrument used for this method of execution.

3. strangulation or throttling, esp. in the course of a robbery.

4. an instrument, usually a cord or wire with handles attached at the ends, used for strangling a victim.

–v.t.

5. to execute by the garrote.

6. to strangle or throttle, esp. in the course of a robbery.

A beautiful life snuffed out because of religion. Honor killings are becoming common place in Muslim ghettos in France, Indonesia and the like. They are starting to pick up as well in Britain as the Muslim population increases. This is just one example of how the Muslim family deals with weighty issues such as dating the wrong man… horrible!

LONDON (Reuters) - A Kurdish woman was brutally raped, stamped on and strangled by members of her family and their friends in an "honor killing" carried out at her London home because she had fallen in love with the wrong man.

Banaz Mahmod, 20, was subjected to the 2-1/2 hour ordeal before she was garroted with a bootlace. Her body was stuffed into a suitcase and taken about 100 miles to Birmingham where it was buried in the back garden of a house.

Her badly decomposed body was found in April 2006, three months after the killing.

Last month a jury found her father Mahmod Mahmod, 52, and his brother Ari Mahmod, 51, guilty of murder after a three-month trial. Their associate Mohamad Hama, 30, had earlier admitted killing her.

On Thursday at a pre-sentence hearing for Hama, the Old Bailey heard details about Banaz's last moments.

Prosecutors said the three convicted men, along with two other suspects who are still at large, had carried out the killing fearing that the authorities were closing in on them.

They believed Banaz had brought shame on the family by leaving her husband, an Iraqi Kurd she had been forced to marry at 17, and falling in love with Rahmat Suleimani, an Iranian Kurd.

Her former unnamed partner had raped her as well as repeatedly beating her, the court heard.

Hama, who prosecutors said had been a ringleader in the murder, was caught by listening devices talking to a friend in prison about the murder.

In the recordings, transcripts of which were relayed to the court, Hama and his friend are hearing laughing as he described how she was killed with Banaz's uncle "supervising".

"I was kicking and stamping on her neck to get the soul out. I saw her stark naked, only wearing pants or underwear," Hama is recorded as saying.

Little Green Footballs – sad props

I just wanted to show what happens behind closed doors to make sure the woman of this religion are compliant to the “laws.” This woman was probably trying to make a statement about her not being subject to these laws, but got the raw end of the stick for trying to stand up for her rights. Keep in mind it isn’t two civilizations clashing. It is barbarians at the gate of civilization.