I hate communism as much as I despise Satan. Communism seems the very handmaiden of Satan, himself. It encourages covetousness, thrives on deceit, and lusts for power through theft and murder.
What’s not to love?
The individuals who call themselves Communists, Socialists, Marxists – I don’t hate them. Why? One reason to not hate but rather to feel compassion for many of them is that the reason they became communists was that they wanted to do good for those they saw as needing their help. Many of these communists, socialists, Marxists believed they were actually doing honest and good work – they did not know and do not know the dark side of what they follow.
Perhaps the best way to further answer that question is to quote from Masters of Deceit in which former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover writes:
“Always we must keep in mind that communists, even hard-core members, potentially can be converted. To the individual who asserts, “Once a communist, always a communist,” I say: “No. Every communist can be made to see the errors of his way. He must not be despised, belittled, or rejected as hopelessly lost. He can redeem himself by actively taking a stand for freedom. Every patriotic American must do what he can to bring these persons to see the truth. The ex-communist is today one of our most potent weapons against communism.” – pg.117, Masters of Deceit.
May I add to the above explanation that former communists reign supreme in my heart as souls of the utmost courage. They left a world that determined to hunt them down out of revenge, and they dared to walk into the sunlight bringing a torch to show us the dark evil they once embraced.
One such beautiful child of God, whom I wish with all my heart to have been able to call friend, was Bella Dodd (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_Dodd).
Eternal World Television Network produced the most insightful documentary detailing the inner workings and history of communist infiltration into the Catholic Church. Please get the dvd and watch it – study it – spread it!!!!! (Youtube has it for now – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlbSP8Nrhhg) , but please go to EWTN and buy a copy for yourself!
(http://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/shop.axd/Search?x=0&y=0&keywords=a+wolf+in+sheep%27s+clothing)
I learned about Bella Dodd in this remarkable documentary. She bravely testified how she personally recruited communists to go into the priesthood. Not a pretty picture and this harmed the good and honorable men who entered the priesthood. But, fear not, you shall know them by their fruits. And the documentary will answer so many questions for those of us who are Catholic – but non Catholics need to see it too because you will see the signs that has happened in your own churches and synagogues!
Bella started life in an intriguing way. It started with a love story. Her father, an
American, happened to visit the Italian village of her mother. Bella’s dad fell in love with a farmer’s widow who was working her farm all on her own while raising her multiple children.
The father wooed her mother and convinced her to leave the farm, marry him, and move to New York. While in the first year in America, her mother received news that she needed to tend business regarding her beloved property in Italy, so off she went on a ship to her homeland.
While on her trip she found out that she was pregnant and had to stay in Italy until baby Bella was born. Not long after the baby was born the mother had to return to America and felt she could not bring the newborn with her. Through a series of problems, the mother had to wait about five years before being able to finally go back to retrieve her little angel. In the mean time, a loving couple took care of her. She grew up in the heart of a land where the Catholic faith was worshiped with great adoration. So when she had to move, her heart broke. And even sadder in
her saga, her parents, though Catholic, drifted away from the faith and did not teach her. So Bella grew up with no grounding in the ways of God.
Along the way in her life’s journey Bella came in and out of seeing people who believed in God and people who despised God. She went to a public school in the days when the public schools said prayers but her instruction was very small. Yet she grew to love America. When a teenager she had an accident that crushed her foot. She suffered months of painful surgery after surgery. But the doctor that cared for her brought her books to help her study in Latin and enabled her to endure the months of being bed ridden. She went on to graduate, get a law license
and become a teacher. In college she slid slowly into socialism which step by step led her to communism until she became a full fledged communist party member. First she went into it with the desire to help those she saw as down trodden. But slowly, as she began to get more deeply involved, she saw the darker side and though it took decades, finally she saw the light and broke free.
Dear Bishop Sheen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_J._Sheen) brought her back to the Catholic faith. He personally instructed her, baptized her, took her first confession, gave her first communion, and confirmed her.
As part of her penance, Bishop Sheen instructed her to write her story and to expose the truth about communism in America. She wrote the book, School of Darkness, which can be bought in used book venues and is available in kindle. A good part of her book can be read at this website: http://genus.cogia.net/.
I want every American citizen to read her book. I would quote so much more, but my article would never end! So below are just a few excerpts from her book – may these quotes entice you to find a way to read all she wrote.
Bella, if you are reading my article from sitting next to the Holy Trinity, just know, I so admire you and hope one day every high school student will get the chance to read your story!
Quote from Bella Dodd’s book School of Darkness, pg. 97 — note this book was published in 1954 — : “Attending conventions took much of my time. No convention of teachers in the United States ever went unnoticed by the Communist Party. The national office would call the leaders of the teacher Communists and discuss with us the nature of the organization and inquire if we had party members in it. If we had, we would decide which resolutions they were to introduce and which they were to oppose. If we had no members, observers would be sent to make contacts.
Particular attention was given to pushing federal aid to public education program and to the issue of separation of church and state at these conventions.” Quote from Bella Dodd’s book, School of Darkness, pg 165: “Nancy came from a good Boston family. I knew her mother, Ferdinanda Reed, who was one of the three old ladies who technically owned the Daily Worker, the other two being Anita Whitney and my former tenant in the Village, Susan Woodruff. Ferdinanda had come to
communism intellectually and remained because, like Susan, she never saw its ruthless side.”
From Bella Dodd’s book, School of Darkness, pp 199-200“I spoke with the practiced intensity of long habit but no longer with the old faith in the cause,
for I no longer had the same deep conviction about the Party’s championship of the poor and dispossessed. I knew now that its activities were conceived in duplicity and ended in betrayal.
The sessions of the December National Committee were notable for their long-winded, long-spun-out, and fantastic justification of the line of “self-determination of the Negro in the black belt.” Only the intelligence and patience of Negro leaders in America have made possible resistance to this mischievous theory which was contrived by Stalin and was now unleashed by Foster. Briefly told, it is the theory that the Negroes in the South form a nation, a subjugated nation with the desire to become a free one, and that the Communists are to give them all assistance. The Party proposed to develop the national aspirations of the Negro
people so they would rise up and establish themselves as a nation with the right to secede from the United States. It was a theory not for the benefit of the Negroes but to spur strife, and to use the American Negro in the world communist propaganda campaign to win over the colored people of the world. Ultimately, the Communists proposed to use them as instruments in the revolution to come in the United States.”
Bella Dodd’s 1954 book, School of Darkness, pp. 180-181 — Just read and let it sink into what is happening today: “Earl Browder at the convention of 1944 had insisted on the elimination of a sense of difference among the foreign born and had moved to have them treated as part of the American labor movement. To this Professors Berti and Donnini offered strenuous objections. They emphasized the importance of separate national organizations, of encouraging the foreign-born to use their languages, and of circulating foreign-language newspapers. They encouraged the organizing of different national groups almost as if these were foreign colonies. It would strengthen the sense of nationalism among them, they asserted, a necessary
thing for the building of world communism.
These two Party functionaries found themselves on the carpet for their unwelcome views. Plans were on foot to expel them. Then, suddenly, came the amazing news that they were members of the Italian Communist Party! Up to this point, like others, I had regarded them as honest but misguided foreigners with a penchant for disputation. Now I realized that nothing they said had been unpremeditated, and that they were not speaking for themselves. They represented the International Communist movement and it was clear that Browder’s approach to the national problem was in disfavor with some sections of world communism.”
From Bella Dodd’s 1954 book School of Darkness. pp228-229 — the pieces of the puzzle, read and ponder — and get her book!:
“I found I was again able to interpret events. In my time with the Party I had accumulated a large store of information about people and events, and often these had not fitted into the picture presented by the Party to its members. It was as if I held a thousand pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and could not fit them together. It irritated me, but when I thought of the testimony of witnesses before the Congressional Committee, some of whom I had known as Communists,
much of the true picture suddenly came into focus. My store of odd pieces was beginning to develop into a recognizable picture.
There had been many things I had not really understood. I had regarded the Communist Party as a poor man’s party, and thought the presence of certain men of wealth within it accidental.
I now saw this was no accident. I regarded the Party as a monolithic organization with the leadership in the National Committee and the National Board. Now I saw this was only a facade placed there by the movement to create the illusion of the poor man’s party; it was in. reality a device to control the “common man” they so raucously championed.
There were many parts of the puzzle which did not fit into the Party structure. Parallel organizations which I had dimly glimpsed now became more clearly visible, and their connections with the apparatus I knew became apparent. As the war in Korea developed, further illumination came to me.
We in the Party had been told in 1945, after the publication of the Duclos letter, that the Party in the United States would have a difficult role to play. Our country, we were told, would be the last to be taken by the Communists; the Party in the United States would often find itself in opposition not only to the interests of our government, but even against the interests of our own workers.
Now I realized that, with the best motives and a desire to serve the working people of my country, I, and thousands like me, had been led to a betrayal of these very people. I now saw that I had been poised on the side of those who sought the destruction of my own country. I thought of an answer Pop Mindel, of the Party’s Education Bureau, had once given me in reply to the question whether the Party would oppose the entry of our boys into the Army. I had asked this question at a time when the Communists were conducting a violent campaign for peace, and it seemed reasonable to me to draw pacifist conclusions. Pop Mindel sucked on
his pipe and with a knowing look in his eyes said:
“Well, if we keep our members from the Army, then where will our boys learn to use weapons with which to seize power?”
What now became clear to me was the collusion of these two forces: the Communists with their timetable for world control, and certain mercenary forces in the free world bent on making profit from blood.”
The last page (250) of Bella Dodd’s book School of Darkness. Tell me that it does not speak of today. Tell me that you could not see the returning soldiers of today being of the same material of which she wrote back in 1954:
“That evening I had stayed so late in answering questions that Father O’Brien asked three young men to drive me to the train in New London. As we rode through the Connecticut hills it began to snow. I asked the young man who was driving what he was going to do after graduation. “Serve Uncle Sam, I guess,” he replied. In his voice was no bitterness, no resentment — and I thought with sudden sadness of his possible future and that of all our young people. Then one of the boys said quietly, “Why don’t we say the rosary for peace?” He started the Credo and there in the darkness of that country road, with the soft snow falling, we said the rosary for peace.
I was aware as I rode home that night that men such as these can change the world for the better, so much were they filled with love, so selfless was their zeal. I know that even if the Communists were sincere in the glittering promises they make, they would be incapable of fulfilling them for they cannot create the kind of men needed for the task. Whatever apparent good the Communists have achieved has come through human beings who despite the harsh materialism taught them still retained a memory of God and who, even without realizing it,
drew on the eternal standards of truth and justice. But their store of such men is dwindling, and in spite of their apparent victories men schooled in darkness are doomed to defeat.
New armies of men are rising, and these are sustained not by the Communist creed but by the credo of Christianity. And I am keenly conscious that only a generation of men so devoted to God that they will heed his command, “Love one another as I have loved you,” can bring peace to our world.”
Author: Independent Examiner
Where Have All The Good Guys Gone?! Young Thoughts on an Old Problem.
“Where have all the Good Men gone and where are all the gods? Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn’t there a White Knight upon a fiery steed?”
These are the immortal words of Bonnie Tyler. Never have thesewords been more true than as of today. As a teenage girl, I cannot help but wonder where all the good guys are. Where is the chivalry? Where is the persistence men used to have when chasing a girl?
The song “I need a Hero” embodies what has slowly happened in the 20th to 21st centuries. Gradually, the idea of “a white knight” has disappeared. Now, no one (including myself) knows where to look for them. As a girl, I dream about finding Prince Charming and falling in love and living happily ever after. I do not know of a girl who doesn’t (Feminists excluded). As I have grown older, however, it appears that “white knights” are low in stock.
I have not been on my first date yet, so I have had zero experience with guys treating me the way they should. Nonetheless, I do have first-hand accounts. Exhibit A: my sister.
My sister is twenty-one years old and in college and currently does not have a boyfriend. One day while she was at campus a random guy who seemed nice enough asked her out. She agreed. Of course she did not know what to expect, but I can bet she was not prepared for what happened. Mr. New Guy was very nice, polite, etc. . . up to a point. When they reached the theater he had no money to pay for the tickets! Hmmm. . . next he cursed. In front of my sister. And then he had the gall to voice the opinion that he had been a very good gentleman.
Maybe I am a little picky. After all beggars cannot be choosers. But still. Is there no one out there who agrees with me?
If there are any Knights out there in this big world they must be in hiding.
Ok, let’s get a little more serious shall we?
There are honorable men somewhere. I know, because I have witnessed some of them. But, honestly, it is not like we are living in the 1930’s where it was common knowledge that a boy was supposed to open the car door for a girl or that he was supposed to pay for dinner. These sort of ideals have just died out. That does not mean, however, that we have to bury them and sing “Auld Lang Syne.” No. No. No!
Girls and women should not and I repeat SHOULD NOT stand for a man or boy treating them with disrespect.
Again, I am only seventeen. I do not have a lot of life experience, but, I have had a boy open the door for me and I have to say that I really liked it!
Girl’s today seem to think they have something to prove. Like there is weakness in wanting to have some handsome man sweep them off their feet. You can be a strong woman and be a damsel- in- distress at the same time. There is nothing shameful in that. Do not allow Feminists to tell you that you are a victim. Because you are absolutely NOT.
Women are the most privileged of the two sexes. So stop pretending that you are a victim. It is not getting you or us anywhere.
And men . . . you could try a little harder. Just saying.
At any rate, despite this little rant, I will say that somewhere out there, there are good guys. I guess right now they are just keeping a low profile.
Imagine This World, by Bill Colley
Maybe biased journalists should spend a year doing penance on a chain gang. Three-hundred-sixty-five days and through rain, snow and blazing heat. Obviously, there isn’t any discipline in many newsrooms and there appears to be a belief the media wretches need to instruct the brain-addled masses when it comes to candidate selection. After all reporters and editors are building Mars rockets and curing cancer in their spare time. The rest of us just can’t compete when it comes to intelligence quotient. As fellow travelers in league with academia and Hillary Clinton your friendly journalist doesn’t have much use for the Constitution. As President Obama trampled it through regulation-by-fiat a large portion of media repeated “transformational change” and ignored the trashing of a founding document. Media winked at abuses from the Internal Revenue Service as it intimidated political enemies.
Reporters by and large cheered the rape encampments known as Occupy while condemning ranchers camped at a wildlife refuge. A newspaper columnist and television talking head named Fareed Zakaria accused his adopted countrymen of “fetishizing” the Constitution.
Think about his comment for a moment. If you don’t believe in a God active in human affairs then you don’t believe the document offers God-given rights. Which means you believe these rights can be snatched away in what you subjectively believe is the correct path. With the Constitution reduced to some quaint suggestions brought forth by old slave-owning men you can simply ignore it and create your own system of justice and often what we see is clearly revenge. The trouble with this sort of thinking is someday my side is going to mop up in an election. These happen when the economy tanks and the party of the president is banished for a generation. Odds are it’s going to happen to any party if we live long enough to witness these economic disruptions. When your side loses then I guess it’s my turn to play the king.
As a hypothetical let’s say next week I begin ruling by what I proclaim as Divine Right. My first action is to chain all the abortion doctors in a line and have them shovel ditches for 52 weeks. Then they’ll be tried for crimes against humanity. Some of the guilty may pay the ultimate price for slaughtering the innocent. Don’t give me any mumbo jumbo about my church being opposed to hangings. Google the name Avery Cardinal Dulles. Personal opinions of clergy aren’t the official policy of the Roman Church.
Safe spaces on college campuses are now closed. The world is a tough and often cruel habitat and if you haven’t been taught reality by the time you graduate high school you’re in for quite a shock. You’re on campus to learn and you won’t be coddled and you sure as heck aren’t going to make any demands about dismissing members of faculty you don’t like. In a nod to diversity the nation’s universities will be forced to fill quotas by hiring more conservative professors. Kids who misbehave in public schools and disrupt learning will clean toilets and if mom and dad object they’ll join the work detail.
Big-city mayors who allow looters to run wild during riots so they can blow off steam will join the looters and the doctors in the shovel brigade.
Cake bakers, photographers and wedding planners will have their liberties restored and won’t lose their livelihoods for standing on conscience and faith. People who aren’t sure if they’re man, woman or other will be treated with compassion. They’ll receive the psychiatric care they desperately need. Or they’ll be left to their own devices as long as they don’t harm others and try and impose an unscientific view on society. There is no settled science and there isn’t any evidence of people being “born that way!” We simply don’t know. It’s not genetic and we don’t know if it’s chemical. The culture won’t be upended for a lack of evidence and because you want to be nice to the confused young man at the office.
Athletes need not stand for the Star Spangled Banner but it’s my right to encourage your league to prevent you from competing and to pressure advertisers to bail on endorsement deals. Perhaps we can turn Colin Kaepernick into a real hero and send him off to Afghanistan. He can dress in pink camouflage and draw enemy fire and thereby reveal Taliban positions. He’ll forfeit his NFL pay before leaving for war.
Hillary Clinton will be jailed.
A minnow swimming in a stream won’t require the diversion of water resources needed to feed a hungry planet. The departments of Energy, Education, Interior, Environmental Protection and Internal Revenue will be shuttered and locked immediately. The BLM will become a relic of history as states resume sovereign roles. Amtrak will be stopped dead in its tracks and sold as a whole or in regional sections to the private sector.
Plane flights will be provided for actors threatening to leave the country. Their 20,000-square-foot homes will be appropriated to house the homeless created by liberal social and planning policies. Subsidies for ethanol, wind and solar power are finished. Coal, oil and natural gas industries will be blessed by the government. If these traditional firms or other investors believe the alternatives have a future in the marketplace then have your way.
The United Nations will need to find a new home when the United States withdraws and provides no funding. Allies in Europe and Asia will share defense costs and these alliances will be gradually phased out as America becomes self-sufficient on energy and begins paying down debts and taking care of its own people.
There will be a mighty border wall. The United States isn’t responsible for the bad governing policies in Central and South America. Efficient government isn’t a secret. Make the changes and provide for your own people!
When I step aside and retire to a nice home in a small town with a nice view, voting rights and elections will be restored. An honorable military discharge earns you two votes. Combat experience earns you three. A simple literacy test will be applied to all potential voters above the age of 18. Name your governor, one U.S. senator and correctly identify the century when the U.S. Civil War occurred. For good measure who did we bury in Grant’s Tomb and when was the War of 1812?
Now, Lefty, you know how the rest of us feel about your attacks on our liberties, culture and God.
We’ve had 80 years of creeping socialism. The country is a wreck. The federal government is officially $20 trillion in debt and nobody really knows if the figure is accurate. Dozens of states are heavily indebted with unfunded liabilities and struggling with unfunded mandates. Criminals prey upon law enforcement. Cities smolder and those yet to burn are crumbling piles of rubble where wild dogs and sometimes even bears roam block after abandoned block. Traditional families are shunned and government policy for the poor discourages marriage and leaves children alone in jungles of concrete where survival often involves fealty to criminal gangs. The dead vote and often multiple times and the results bolster the status quo.
Then you’ve the temerity to call me racist, bigot and hater when I long for a country governed by the sensible and the God-fearing and a future for my children and yours.
The GREEN TEAM!!!
WOODBINE’S RECYCLING CAN DISTRIBUTION KICK-OFF
A SUCCESS FOR GREEN TEAM
Woodbine—Mayor William Pikolycky is pleased to announce that the Borough of Woodbine’s initial kickoff event for recycling can distribution was a success.
Woodbine’s Sustainable Jersey Green Team distributed recycling containers on December 3, 2016, at the Woodbine Public Works Garage.
The funds for these containers came from a Recycling Tonnage Grant provided to the Borough by the State of New Jersey.
Over 200 of the 600 cans were picked up by residents at that event.
With each can, came a flyer explaining proper recycling methods.
“Residents were excited to receive these dedicated containers to further the Borough’s recycling efforts and are spreading the word so that we get full participation in this program,” added Mayor Pikolycky.
Any residents who did not claim their containers at this event can do so at the Public Works Garage, 401 Madison Avenue, on Wednesdays between 10 am and noon. Proof of residency is required.
Any questions or to make alternate arrangements for pick-up, please contact the Borough Clerk’s Office at 609-861-2153.
Pikolycky is the new and sworn-in Mayor!!!
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Mayor’s Office
861-5301
07 December, 2016
WOODBINE MAYOR PIKOLYCKY SWORN-IN TO EXECUTIVE BOARD OF NEW JERSEY STATE LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALITIES
Woodbine—Mayor William Pikolycky, Mayor of Woodbine was sworn-in as a member of Executive Board of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities at their annual reorganizational meeting on December 1, 2016, at the Princeton Marriott.
Also sworn in at that time by Bridgeton Mayor Albert Kelly, President of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, were two additional new Board members Gayle Brill Mittler, Mayor of Highland Park (Middlesex County), and Daniel Flynn, Councilman, Newton (Sussex County)
As a member of the League’s Executive Board, Mayor Pikolycky will help lead the Association of New Jersey’s 565 municipal governments. Mayor Pikolycky will represent the interests and needs of New Jersey’s local elected officials to county, state, and federal governments.
“I am looking forward to serving with the 25 Executive Board members/Mayors who represent diverse communities throughout the State,” added Mayor Pikolycky.
BOOK CLUB!
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Mayor’s Office
861-5301
1 December, 2016
County Library Hosts 6th–8th Grade Book Club at Woodbine Branch
Mayor William Pikolycky is pleased to announce that the Cape May County Library invites those in grades 6 to 8 to a Book Club that will be held at 2:30 on Tuesday, December 13, at the Woodbine Branch library, 800 Monroe Avenue, Woodbine.
The Teen Department Staff says: Let’s get together and talk about what we like to read! We’ll have lots of books you can check out and you can hear what everyone likes to read. It’s a great way to find out about new, fun books! Open to grades 6-8 only. All teens can visit and use all branches of the Cape May County Library.
Registration is not required for this event. For more information, please contact the Cape May County Library Teen Department at (609) 463-6357 or email us at teen@cmclibrary.org.
“There were 12 attendees at book group in November and we hope the numbers will grow in the school year ahead,” encouraged Mayor Pikolycky.
Woman’s Rights vs Forced Abortions.
Share this:    |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
PO Box 54401 | San Jose, CA 95154 US
|
The CHRISTMAS PARADE be held on 10Dec16!
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Mayor’s Office
861-5301
02 December, 2015
REMINDER: WOODBINE HOLIDAY PARADE SET FOR DECEMBER 10
Woodbine—Mayor William Pikolycky reminds local residents and neighboring municipalities throughout Cape May County:
Please join with the Borough of Woodbine in celebrating the upcoming holiday season when on Saturday, December 10, the Borough hosts its annual holiday parade, sponsored by the Woodbine Volunteer Fire Company.
The parade will begin at 6 p.m. and line up will start at 5 p.m. on Bryant Street east of Washington Avenue.
The parade route will be the same as on previous years, from Bryant south on Washington to Clay Street, east on Clay to Heilprin Avenue, and north on Heilprin to DeHirsch Avenue to the Firehouse.
Santa and the Mayor will light the Christmas Tree on the bikepath and then conclude the evening at the Firehouse where refreshments will be served and trophies awarded. Woodbine Municipal Alliance will provide information about their programs. Santa will also be there to visit with the children.
“And earlier that day, from 2:30 to 2:50 pm, stop by the Woodbine Branch of the Cape May County Library and listen to “Ring in the Holiday Season with the Joyful Ringers” as The Joyful Bell Ringers include us in their tour of holiday performances throughout all of the CMC Libraries,” invited Mayor Pikolycky.
The Mass of Christ and how to promote it. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
CHRISTMAS – beautiful, wonderful part of the year that softens the hearts of hardened soldiers and emboldens the courage of the meek. It is the time when God breathes His spirit through us and reminds us of His son, born in a manger, held by a young, flawlessly humble and pure maiden, and guarded by a carpenter whose loving care sheltered both wife and child.
CHRISTMAS – celebrated and honored in the West for thousands of years – despite efforts to put out its light. When darkness fell – the light defeated the dark.
CHRISTMAS – the advent wreath – five candles – three purple, one pink and the center one white. Each Sunday before Christmas the candles are lit and Bible verses are read, and ancient carols are sung – in the faithful churches – and in the homes of adoring families.
CHRISTMAS – Nativities, the Star of Bethlehem, stable, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, farm animals, camels and Wise Men.
CHRISTMAS – ancient carols sung in the night on the streets in neighborhoods, in
churches and in homes.
CHRISTMAS – the story of the baby born in a manger read from the Bible – complete with Herod’s soldiers murdering babies up to two years old to try to kill the Son of David – but an Angel of the Lord warns Joseph and the dear, courageous father escapes to Egypt to save the Son of God.
CHRISTMAS – Trees and lights and hearts of joy shopping happily for loved ones. Little ones wait for Santa – but the true magic of the soul leaps to the manger – to the Son of God made man through the Holy Spirit.
A wonderful little documentary exists that details the history of Christmas in America.
—The name of it is Christmas Unwrapped.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQYX-OB1Rs)
In this film I learned how the carols sung in Catholic churches in the old days on Christmas Eve inspired Christians of all denominations to do the same – to ring in the joy of Christ’s birth with songs while holding candles – defeating the dark with small, flickering flames. Despite the efforts of tyrants big and small to erase or transform Christmas –sometimes it took centuries – but the Light always defeated the Dark.
And THAT my friends, I want to encourage you as you see a lack of Christmas and
Nativities and all the true meanings of Christmas in our public square today – I want to encourage you NOT TO DESPAIR.
I despaired. I wanted to go to battle and fight the anti-God monsters.
But one day, in mass, I heard a voice behind me. That voice sang an ancient song,
humble, clear, with such love that the tiny voice rose above all the adults packed in the church. I turned to see this little boy who sang a very complicated ancient song in such innocense, such humble adoration, that surely the angels themselves were accompanying him.
This kind of love cements in a young heart the kind of devotion that rises the courage of a warrior in a future grown man. It fills a young girl with the soul of Joan of Arc.
This, my friends, is why tyrants work so hard to squash the teaching of God in the souls of children.
This is why Christmas is airbrushed very carefully out of our country.
Look around this Christmas. How many nativities do you see?
On the other hand – we see blue lights, penguins, snow, holiday trees, and Santas with the message of “Merry” and “Happy” and “Joy” and “Peace” – minus a key word – Christmas.
There are bravehearts out there fighting hard to bring back Christmas to its true meaning. I have a friend who teaches dance and she is trying to introduce her little dancers to “Away in the Manger”, “Silent Night,” and other traditional songs. The little girls never heard of them – yet
they know “Let it Snow!”
A small town in New Mexico is fighting against the Freedom From Religion Foundation to keep their permanent nativity. In fact, the whole town put up nativities on their lawns last year as away of letting the FFRF to take a hike .(http://www.news-bulletin.com/news/believe-in-belen-campaign-begins-with-rally-for-city-s/article_0bffa722-8708-507e-8958-a0aa599f05b8.html)
Texas placed a nativity on its capital grounds and tells the legal bullies to go pound holly.(http://tpr.org/post/first-ever-nativity-scene-goes-state-capitol-little-fuss#stream/0) The Lone Star State also passed the Merry Christmas Law (http://www.merrychristmasbill.com/).
But Christmas is a long fight ahead of us.
I have been battling it out for years. I have felt discouraged so many times – not because of ourn enemies – but because of the apathy of fellow Christians! The shrugs of “Well, what are you going to do?”
That little voice behind me sent a lightning bolt to my soul that day. I realized that the war will be won only with the help of God, Himself. This is a war for the hearts of children young and not yet born. This is a quiet war that will have to be waged with quietly planting seeds.
Before I lay out my ideas for “planting season”, let me give you a quote from a book that I have been reading. Erwin W. Lutzer wrote a book I hope everyone reading this article will buy andread and study – that book is When a Nation Forgets God, 7 Lessons We Must Learn from NaziGermany. You see, that kind of love coming from the tyke in church behind me, born and allowed to grow in a child’s heart, is a love that will not flee at the sight of tyranny, at the threat of torture, at the
bullying of a lawyer. And that, dear friends, is why so many work so hard to destroy all remnants of Christmas – the true, traditional beauty of celebrating Christmas, as a town, as a nation, as a people.
Hitler understood it (which is so well illustrated by Lutzer in his book I mentioned above):
“So, right from the beginning Hitler sought to marginalize the church to guarantee
that no Christian influence would be allowed to inform government policy. Worship would have to be a private matter between a man and his God; at all costs the official state policy would have to be based on humanistic principles to give Hitler the freedom to do what was “best” for Germany. He said that the churches must be “forbidden from interfering with temporal matters.” The state would have to be scrubbed clean of all Christian convictions
and values.”
When a Nation Forgets God, 7 Lessons We Must Learn from Nazi Germany,
by Erwin W. Lutzer, p. 16
The first item on the to do list of Hitler in order to realize his strategy of removing God from Germany was to remove Christmas. He did not start by telling the Germans and Austrians that they had to give up their love for God, Jesus, Joseph and Mary — no, no, no – it was a slow, subtle transformation.
Again, from Lutzer’s book, When a Nation Forgets God:
“Since Germans had for centuries celebrated Christmas and Easter, Hitler had to
reinterpret their meaning. Christmas was turned into a totally pagan festival; in fact, at least for the SS troops, its date was changed to December 21, the date of the winter solstice. School prayers were banned and carols and Nativity plays were forbidden in the schools; and in 1938 even the name Christmas was changed to Yuletide. Crucifixes were eliminated from classrooms. Easter was turned into a holiday that heralded the arrival of spring. If religion was tolerated, it had to be secularized so that it would be compatible with the state’s commitment to the greater good of a revived Germany. Most of the churches bowed to the
cultural currents and endorsed the “Positive Christianity” that was in line with government policies.” p. 16
Lutzer further explains and details how the churches for the most part thought they would be left alone if they just did not bother with going public with their teachings from the Bible. But that only worked until Hitler had full power, then the real tyranny followed.
“These pious Christians thought that if they left Hitler alone, he would leave them
alone. But they discovered that was not possible. Hitler also put pressure on them to have their children indoctrinated in the state schools and, thanks to the cultural pressure, their churches were not equipping members to stand against the abuses that were developing around them. In the end, he wanted to transform the church so thoroughly that every vestige of Christianity would be smashed. There was not enough room in the churches for both the cross and the swastika. As he himself mused, ‘One god must dominate another.’ “ (Lutzer, pp. 18 -19)
There is a lie about “Separation of Church and State.” It was never intended to mean churches were to stay out of the public square.
———————————————————————————————————
In his January, 2001 article at his website, Wallbuilders, David Barton picks apart the fraud of “wall of separation” – (http://wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=123)
“Jefferson believed that the government was to be powerless to interfere with religious expressions for a very simple reason: he had long witnessed the unhealthy tendency of government to encroach upon the free exercise of religion. . . . Since this was Jefferson’s view concerning religious expression, in his short and polite reply to the Danbury Baptists on January 1, 1802, he assured them that they need not fear; that the free exercise of religion would never be interfered with by the federal government.” Please, go to the link above to learn more.
———————————————————————————————————–
You see, the “wall of separation” was to forbid the Federal Government from interfering with public religious celebrations – not the other way around!
But back to Germany – here is but one example of tyrannies that tried so hard to erase God – Nazi Germany regulated the churches to death.
“Hitler responded to the opposition of the church in the same way all hostile
governments respond to those who would disagree with them; He created a flurry of new laws and then accused pastors and church leaders of breaking them. In one way or another God had to be separated from government policies and ejected from the public square. The voice of courageous Christians had to be silenced. God had to be removed to make way for the National Socialist policies.” (Lutzer, p. 23)
Let’s return to penguins and blue lights for the “holidays.” Has anyone noticed that
Halloween (a religious holy day celebrating the night before All Saints Day) has morphed into “Fall Celebrations,” Easter is now “Spring Fest,” and Thanksgiving is a holiday to consider what we are thankful FOR not whom we are thankful TO and WHY (GOD)?
Let’s return to Lutzer’s book:
“Hitler always said that the best way to conquer your enemies is to divide them. He
encouraged a movement simply called, “God Believers” (he was willing to use the word God as long as it was emptied of all essential meaning), a policy designed to persuade individuals to withdraw from the churches. The sales pitch was that there was an alternative to the church; the state could have a ceremony to dedicate infants; the state could have its own holidays without the need to celebrate the Christian ones. Marriages, for those who wished, could also be performed by the state. The blessings of Mother Earth and Father Sky were frequently invoked upon the couple until their destiny was fulfilled. In the same way same-sex
marriage proponents say today that marriage can take place without the blessings of a religious body; it can be a purely secular act separate from religious overtones.” – (Lutzer, pp.23-24).
But the problem is not the enemies of God – the problem is within us.
This Christmas, watch the old 1940’s movie, The Bishop’s Wife. The final scene in the movie, the bishop reads the sermon that he thought he had written but was really authored by an angel. The point of the sermon pointed to a fact we must face, everyone is remembered in our Christmas celebrations – but the little baby in the manger. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzRUZYI8XdU)
Another movie – Charlie Brown’s Christmas, Linus turns his blanket into a shepherd’s cover and recite’s from the Bible the Nativity story
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxaG0ZrwJ5k):
Charles Schultz insisted on putting the scene of Linus quoting from the Bible.
Charlie Brown arrives at the rehearsals, but he is unable to control the situation as the uncooperative kids are more interested in modernizing the play with dancing and lively music, mainly Schroeder’s rendition of “Linus and Lucy.” Thinking the play requires “the proper mood,” Charlie Brown decides they need a Christmas tree. Lucy takes over the crowd and dispatches Charlie Brown to get a “big, shiny aluminum tree.” With Linus in tow, Charlie Brown sets off on his quest, as an “O Tannenbaum” instrumental plays in the background.
When they get to the tree market, filled with numerous trees fitting Lucy’s description, Charlie
Brown zeroes in on the only real tree on the lot—a tiny sapling. Linus is reluctant about Charlie Brown’s choice, but Charlie Brown is convinced that after decorating it, it will be just right for the play. They return to the auditorium with the tree, at which point the children (particularly the girls and Snoopy) ridicule, then laugh at Charlie Brown before walking away. In desperation, Charlie Brown loudly asks if anybody really knows what Christmas is all about. Linus, standing alone on the stage, states he can tell him, and recites the annunciation to the shepherds scene from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verses 8 through 14, as translated by the Authorized King James Version: “8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.” “…That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”[2]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Charlie_Brown_Christmas)
——————————————————————————————————–
Wikepedia sheds light on the background of the scene and how it could have been left on the cutting room floor:
———————————————————————————————
Schulz’s main goal for a Peanuts-based Christmas special was to focus on the true meaning of Christmas.[8] He desired to juxtapose this theme with interspersed shots of snow and ice-skating, perhaps inspired by his own childhood growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota.[8] He also created the idea for the school play, and mixing jazz with traditional Christmas carols.[8] Schulz was adamant about Linus’ reading of the Bible, despite Mendelson and Melendez’s concerns that religion was a controversial topic, especially on television.[10] Melendez recalled Schulz turned to him and remarked “If we don’t do it, who will?”.[3] Schulz’s estimation proved accurate, and in the 1960s, less than 9 percent of television Christmas episodes contained a substantive reference to religion, according to university researcher
Stephen Lind.[11] It could also be worth noting that the Linus’s recitation of Scripture was incorporated in such a way that it forms the climax of the film, thus making it impossible to successfully edit out.
Schulz’s faith in the Bible stemmed from his Midwest background and religious and historical studies;[10] as such, aspects of religion would be a topic of study throughout his life.[12] According to a 2015 “spiritual biography”, Schulz’s religion was personal and complex, and would be integrated in a number of his programs. [13] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Charlie_Brown_Christmas)
——————————————————————————————–
So, what are we to do, we who mourn for the warmth of the season in its true light?
Spread seeds! Get together with those who love Christmas and make it your passion to bring it back. You can start a caroling group in and out of church. You can sponsor Christmas pageants in your town. You can offer to read the Christmas stories at shelters, and other places.
You can sponsor Christmas movie showings at your local libraries and town squares. Be sure to include The Little Drummer Boy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRbTrensuiY) and The Nativity Story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqu2r7qj7Fs)!
God gave each of you your individual talents – USE THEM and the Light will Defeat the Dark. Much is already being done on our behalf. For example, Liberty Counsel has a campaing which they will take on any entity that tries to squash open religious expression
(http://www.lc.org/newsroom/details/111616-liberty-counsel-launches-annual-christmas-campaign)
————————————————————————————————————–
Believe it or not, many legal organizations jump at the chance to take on the grinches.
This helpful list is at Wallbuilders (http://wallbuilders.com/links.asp#legal):
Legal Organizations
Back to top
Alliance Defending Freedom
http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/
American Center for Law and Justice
http://www.aclj.org
Christian Law Association
http://www.christianlaw.org
First Liberty
http://firstliberty.org/
Liberty Counsel
http://www.lc.org
The National Legal Foundation
http://www.nlf.net
Pacific Justice Institute
Religious Organization Legal Defense Association
http://www.sharpefirm.com/rolda/index.html
The Rutherford Institute
https://www.rutherford.org/
Thomas More Law Center
Thomas More Law Center | The Sword and Shield for People of Faith
———————————————————————————————
But more can be done and done by you!
1. Start a group of like minded friends in and out of your church to take on
Christmas and the other religious holidays.
2. Seek out states that are making “Merry Christmas” laws and encourage (push)
your legislators in your state to do the same.
3. Gather about you local dance schools, singing instructors, and other organizations that would pool their talents and passion for Christmas and start truly BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS PAGEANTS!
4. Organize Christmas readings at hospitals, youth shelters and the local abuse
shelters as well as schools and pre-schools. Remember the little boy with the angelic voice – the real way to win this war is to find ways to lead the little ones back to Christ.
Thankfulness
Cancer is a horrible disease! Every form of it has a different genetic makeup. Much more investigation in needed and no matter what kind it is labeled, it is killing the person who has it. It affects all ages, all races, and all sexes.
Given these facts, I am thankful for the research that has been done on behalf of all sufferers. What is happening now with these diagnoses is amazingly hopeful but still, everyone who is ill is suffering. It saddens me that it takes so long to find answers. With my cancer, peritoneal omentum, is a very rare cancer indirectly connected to ovarian.
My wishes are for more research into this area looking at the connection between these two malignant diseases. There needs to be more acknowledgment of the connection between these seemingly separate issues. I am thankful for the doctors who do understand and treat cancer with the present protocols. I am also hopeful that as the knowledge base increases the protocols will change to better and more fully combat all forms of this life-changing, and potentially ending disease.
Independent Examiner 