#he's so dogmatic and has been actively cruel for all this time

[muzzleroars]

Hello!

Enoch asker again!

With Enoch haveing brought the council the idea of tearing the light out of angels, could you imagine what it would be like for him to see Michaels failed fall?

I feel he'd be incredibly disappointed, not in the fact Micheal even did it but in the fact Micheal screwed it up so badly.

Enoch considering it a "Mockery of my art form"

How would Micheal react to meeting Enoch and Enoch's disappointment of Michaels failed fall?

ooouughhhhh this really gets me thinking about another dimension michael has with his current state, because i think you're right in how enoch would view his failure and, by extension, all the other angels imbued with this power. while the archangels enjoy high status and a specialized role in the choirs, there is still a hierarchy to be observed, and i find it likely that, in this case, michael would be seen just as a cherub who stepped far out of line. while michael attempts to insist this is god's gift to him, to survive his would-be fall, these other angels would believe the opposite - what he is now is just punishment for disrespecting this ritual and going above his station. he was arrogant enough to think he could complete such a delicate process on his own, an angel that does how have the finesse or the education to do so, and now he bears his shame for it. most of heaven, of course, doesn't know about michael's illness let alone how it came to be, but it would make sense any angels left in heaven that can excise the divine light do because...who else can the archangels approach for help? it's likely raphael's idea, when he admits he doesn't understand michael's condition, but convincing him to go takes a considerable amount of time. no, it's unlikely michael would be fully condemned as gabriel was - the council's slaughter is still weighing on everyone's mind and michael is privileged as the prince of heaven - but he knows, with a deep ache in his chest, that he will face angels with no pity for what he's done to himself.

michael would eventually relent, however, knowing that he must seek answers however he can to have any hope of saving his body and also knowing that what enoch would say, however harsh to him, may be what he needs to hear. because michael knows he's done wrong, he knows he foolishly played with fire and has suffered for it, and he deserves more than the guaranteed sympathy of his brothers (in michael's mind, punishment is never enough if it's not accompanied by admonishment). so he would go, making his case to explain why he did something so desperate and so out of character (he's always been a strict adherent of their hierarchy and enforced it down to its letter) - he left them to find god and only did this after all his other avenues had been exhausted. this was the last thing he could do. it's an emotional appeal, but i doubt it matters, as enoch would argue it clearly wasn't the last thing he could do...as he couldn't do it. if michael failed in finding god, the correct course of action would be to return to his post in heaven and carry out his responsibilities as the rest of them have. instead, he cleaved to his role as the hero and committed terrible blasphemy in the process.

it's a charge michael can't abide as god's most loyal servant, and i think he would become immediately volatile, reactive, indignant. he was the only one that went in search of god, he was the only one willing to sacrifice everything to bring him back, yet enoch will not give way to michael's notions of loyalty and nobility. this was a travesty, it shows all over his decaying body. he has made himself a zombie, and he is to blame for it entirely. god did not save him, he has simply condemned himself to life in death because of how he tore apart his own light, leaving it to limp on without the capacity to sustain his physical form. how base, how bizarre, for an angel to have real physicality, the body left behind when michael ripped up the very fire it was once made of. he did not handle god's work with care, he brutalized the primal source given to him, the one he shared with his brothers, and left behind a rapidly rotting body that never should have been. how is that not blasphemy? and michael has no answer, frozen for the first time in the unrelenting reality that he has sinned. of course, he knew he did....that was always the point, to sin....but he had cloaked himself so much in his own narrative of salvation of his body he is unprepared to view it for what it truly is. unprepared too, to have it seen so plainly by someone else. in this, i think he would retreat into repentance. he would ask what he can do, how can he make up for what he's done? he swears to take to his work, to devote his time in heaven to prayer, to penance, to understanding his offense. he would leave with a heavy sense of shame, and silently slips into several days of seclusion for introspection, the contemplation of his body and the sin it now bears. he would likely come out much worse for it

[penumbra-rp]

Congratulations Akanksha, you have been accepted for the role of Bellatrix Black!

Her gaze flicked towards the interviewer, and the thin veneer of a post wave feminist boss slid over her skin “— I think it’s really important for me to be seen in this position. It’s rather odd that the fashion industry is catered towards women and yet most executives, and even designers, in the top fashion houses are…men.”

Admin Ash: Akanksha, I absolutely adored that Bellatrix was the feminist force of nature that the fashion world wasn’t ready for but she forced them to accept. You said that Bellatrix was a woman better suited to battle, wearing her skin like armor and possessing the keen readiness to obliterate obstacles in her path in whatever form they took. And as you go through the stages of her life, you can see that she’s in a consistent fight, grappling with numerous battles -- with her mother to take on less upper-class societal norms, with her father to be taken seriously as a business woman, with her volatile nature as it needed to be subdued without the proper outlet to put it. But now that the Death Eaters have given her that outlet, I’m beyond ready to see Bellatrix tap into her nastier self. 

Please check out our checklist for joining Penumbra. 

01. Out of Character

NAME: Akanksha

AGE: 23

YOUR BIRTHDAY: 10/31/1995

PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

TIMEZONE: EST

02. In Character

CHARACTER: Bellatrix Black

CHARACTER’S PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

FACECLAIM: Crystal Reed

CHARACTER’S BIRTHDAY: April 14th, 1988

PERSONALITY:

(+) EFFICIENT – Electricity followed the path of least resistance and Bellatrix was the same way; she saw her solutions in straight lines. Obstacles were removed not circumvented. In the business world, this garnered her praise – she had an uncanny ability to cut through bureaucratic paperwork. In the other matters, this trait was especially welcome. Deliveries were made quickly and discreetly. And those who interfered were eliminated at once, with little time spent contemplating the morality of it all.

(+) INTELLIGENT – Perhaps if knowledge wasn’t such a means to an end, she would have spent more time in academia. Nonetheless, Bellatrix actively sought to learn more, to know more. From languages to stocks, she kept an attentive eye on new trends. Developing a vast and in-depth repertoire of skills was what kept her far and ahead from anyone else, and she aimed to keep it that way.

(+) PROTECTIVE – Bellatrix protected what was hers. She’d learned at the foot of her father, strict but unhesitating when crushing those who would do his family harm. Those outside her family must work much harder to be considered one of hers. But once they’ve earned their place in her shadow, she will do whatever necessary to protect them and more often than not, their mistakes.

(-) VOLATILE – Bellatrix has always struggled to hide what she’s felt. This issue is greatly compounded by her mercurial nature. She went from calm to furious in a breath, and settled just as quickly. This made her rather unpredictable; some days she’d let a mistake pass and others she’d use it as an excuse to indulge in her more violent tendencies.

(-) CRUEL — Perhaps the most offensive aspect of Bellatrix was her particular brand of violence. She didn’t simply eliminate her obstacles, she obliterated them. For any perceived slight, her retaliation was ten-fold. She was quite simply mean, and rarely for good reason. Bellatrix enjoyed being cruel; it slaked some tormented creature inside her that she’d never been able to articulate.

(-) DOGMATIC — At the end of the day, you were either with her or against her, and she would interact with you accordingly. No one could truly be neutral in Bellatrix’s eyes. Her black and white worldview fed into her narcissistic notion that only she knew best. The only complicated relationships she had were those with her sisters; the differences between them were obvious, but there were striking similarities as well. Beyond them, Bellatrix didn’t allow herself the murkiness of gray areas.

BRIEF BULLET POINT BIO:

NAME – Bellatrix was born in the middle of a thunderstorm, screaming from birth. They named her for a constellation, as the Blacks had always done. They named her for a warrior, and it meant something when the Black family gave their daughter a title like that. Bellatrix was born with turmoil inside her, one that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Her skin would always feel stretched tight, like armor, and the first time her mother dressed her up for fun, make-up making a little girl seem older, she knew that femininity would only ever be war paint for her.

MIRROR – It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be a girl. She had no problem with her body, the budding curves, the slimmer face. It was all the expectations that came along with it. She fought her mother because she didn’t want to wear dresses. She fought her father because she wanted to be involved in the family business, not married off. She fought her sisters because maybe if Andromeda stopped being so difficult, maybe if Narcissa stopped being so perfect, maybe then her parents would turn their attention away and she could finally breathe. She wanted to shriek so loud her mirror would crack, and maybe then the jagged reflection would look more right to her than the dark haired, red lipped princess who stared back.

ACADEMIA – She somehow scored the highest marks in her class but very nearly didn’t graduate from secondary school due to the sheer number of transgressions. Her father’s lethal charm, both carrot and stick at once, ensured her graduation and there was something in his eye that told her he was proud of her. On the cusp of adulthood, she finally managed to prove to her father that her mind, her hands were worth far more at House of Black than as a negotiating piece. Bellatrix studied the right courses, spent her summers interning at the fashion house, and graduated from the Slytherin School of Social Science poised to take over.

CAREER – The moment she was initiated into the Death Eaters, the clawing, hungry thing inside her settled. Or rather, it was appeased with the promise of danger, with the deadly games and trades, with the scent of blood. Executive Director of House of Black itched less when it was meant to be a cover and not her reality. She did her job well, better even, once she had an outlet for the tendencies that made her blood simmer beneath her skin until she burned from the inside. For that had always been the struggle of a starry warrior – Bellatrix was fearless and bright, but she was at her best in battle.

OPINION – While Bellatrix appreciated the privileges associated with The Sacred 28, the gendered aspects of the culture grated on her. Being raised in that culture allowed her to slip in, seemingly one of them, but her family always knew better. Only the youngest Black had thrived in those spaces. She preferred The Death Eaters mostly because it was the first place she had been able to be her complete self. For the first time, she hadn’t had to shave off the distasteful pieces of herself to be seen as appropriate. The Death Eaters had provided her a true sanctuary, and Bellatrix would be damned before she let some upstart activists ruin that.

INTERVIEW:

i. How do you feel about your current occupation?

— Bellatrix didn’t bother smiling; she hadn’t been pleased about the interview in the first place. In fact, she distinctly remembered telling her youngest sister that as Marketing Director, Bellatrix expected Cissy to head off any and all journalists. She didn’t have the time or, quite frankly, the temperament. “I enjoy my work, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said, dark eyes still focused on the contract she was reviewing. “It’s a very high energy environment, which suits me particularly well. And—“ her gaze flicked towards the interviewer, and the thin veneer of a post wave feminist boss slid over her skin “— I think it’s really important for me to be seen in this position. It’s rather odd that the fashion industry is catered towards women and yet most executives, and even designers, in the top fashion houses are…men.” Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “There’s legacy and family here, yes, but House of Black continues to be trendsetting in more ways than fashion, and for that simple reason I could never consider a position anywhere else. I love this company and my job.” She smiled then, more bared teeth than grin — she’d never been able to truly hide the predator in her — and the unspoken for now became clear.

ii. What song would you say describes yourself?

— Bellatrix tilted her head in consideration. Lips curving into a smile that was relatively softer, more knife edge than blatant fangs, she turned back to her computer. Neatly manicured nails (she never bothered with fancy colors sticking to nude or black) tapped her keyboard with ease and accuracy. A click, and a thrumming beat began to fill the office followed by a rich female voice. We wear red so they don’t see us bleed… “Trouble by Valerie Broussard.” She didn’t offer any further explanation.

iii. Does reputation matter to you?

— She leaned back, chair tilting and arms folded across her torso. There was a quickness to her movements, something a little faster, slicker than Narcissa’s stunning grace or Andromeda’s serene gentleness. “Of course it matters, how could it not – businesses are built on reputations; but deals only come through when you have the knowledge, the skill, the competence to back your reputation.” She observes the interviewer for a moment. “I know I match up to my reputation.” Her quick up-and-down gaze seals her assessment and the interviewer can sense her judgement easily; they don’t even have a reputation, none that she’s heard of, so she doubted they had the competency either.

iv. What is your relationship with your parents like?

— It was the first time in the interview that Bellatrix was caught off guard. Everything in her felt jagged for a moment – being off-tilt was uncomfortable for a woman who prided herself on her preparation. But she was a Black. So Bellatrix straightened her spine, shoulders back, chin up, dark eyes even. “I suspect you’re asking due to the nepotism here.” She didn’t mince words, or care to lie. “Family always comes first; that’s how I was raised. My relationship with my parents is complicated and definitely improved once it became a more adult relationship, like anyone else. But I also know, that they will always have my back, and I will always have theirs.” A more honest answer would have been too nuanced for her to articulate to someone who knew her well, let alone an absolute stranger. Her family had been both cage and sanctuary, and her parents had always held the keys to the lock.

v. What languages can you speak?

— Unlike Andromeda, who only spoke a few languages because she didn’t study them further, unlike Narcissa, who pretended she only knew a couple, Bellatrix boasted her five languages with an arched brow and a smug tilt of her chin. “French, Italian, Russian, Japanese,” she listed, each word emphasized with another pointed finger. She added her thumb and gave a cheeky wave. “And of course, English.” There were a few more she could fumble her way through, strictly for business needs, but Bellatrix wasn’t the sort of woman to advertise in which ways she was mediocre. She was the best because to her, there was no other way to be.

vi. If your home was on fire and you could only save one item, what would you choose?

— The question felt rather silly to Bellatrix. She didn’t feel attachment to items, her loyalty was to her family. And even then, the material objects that mattered to her most was almost always kept close to her. “My work bag,” she answered with an artless shrug, angled to gesture the sleek black leather bag. “I keep my laptop, wallet and phone in it – in this digital age, my most valued possessions are all kept safe in cloud storage.” Besides, family heirlooms were more her sisters’ realm.

vii. Which Hogwarts University faculty did you study at? The Gryffindor School of Applied Science, the Ravenclaw School of Humanities, the Slytherin School of Social Science, or the Hufflepuff School of Art?

– Her patience was beginning to thin, each inane question causing her jaw to set. “I believe this is information you can find with a quick search,” her voice was dangerously saccharine, and the nervous stutter she received in response pleased her. “This time, I’ll save you the work.” Don’t let there be a next time, she said, not through words, but through the hardness of her gaze, the line of her neck the slope of her nose. “I completed an accelerated course of study to graduate with both my undergrad and master’s in International Commerce. From Slytherin.” What a quick search wouldn’t tell the interviewer was that in those five years, she very nearly also completed an Industrial Operations Engineering degree from Gryffindor. She’d liked applied sciences well enough, but not enough to fight her father on it.

vix. What is your social media username?

— “Another thing you can easily search, so this time I’ll let you handle it,” Bellatrix responded dismissively. “If you have any other questions, please email my assistant. Had I known what a waste of time this would be, I would have had you do that in the first place.” Her voice was cool and matter-of-fact, and before the interviewer had even stood, Bellatrix had turned back to her work. Fortunately for the interviewer, her username was easily found on her business card;@BellatrixBlack printed in neat font above icons for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It was clear upon further research that Bellatrix didn’t run her social media – they were highly curated business accounts. And no amount of research would reveal her extremely private personal tag that she only used for Snapchat & FlooNet: @bellatrixie.

[hereticaloracles]

Lillith in Sagittarius: The Wilds

He was no dragon, Dany thought, curiously calm. Fire cannot kill a dragon.”  – George R. R. Martin, Song of Ice and Fire

Effective Date: February 14th-November 10th, 2017

Helios’ Astrological Angle on Lilith in Sagittarius: Can you hear it? That beat, deep within your soul? That call to your true self, who yearns to be free above all else? That pull to reject expectations and obligations and shuck off anything that seeks to drag you down? That, my friends, is Lilith, and she is waiting for you to join her in the dark hollows of your soul.

Okay, so we made it through our dark night of the soul that was her trip through Scorpio, and now it is time to take her lessons on what we cannot abide and put them into action. It’s no good if we are slaves to our emotions all the time, no, we need to actually be able to do something with them. They need to not be stumbling blocks that stand in our way and trip us up, but instead we need to make them our guide to true liberation.

Lilith in Sagittarius is best thought of as Daenerys Targaryen, her Khaleesi aspect- Queen of the wild riders, and wild in her own right. This is the part of the show where she starts truly owning her own power, and stepping into the role that her destiny demands of her, and this transit will act in a similar fashion. We have to be honest about what it is we want, and not just honest but candid about our desires! Denial of our feelings and emotions keeps us chained in service to some other agenda or agency, and Lilith will not abide that any longer. She refuses to suppress her self in order to glorify someone else’s wishes. No, Mutha does NOT play that! Lilith is wild and free, and going into Sagittarius only exacerbates that. Now even though she doesn’t have things like Rulership, I would give her an Exaltation in Sagittarius. It is just such a natural fit for her, and it will be to us as well.

Now, I know we have been talking a lot about the upswell of activism, protests and outrage on the ground level after the U.S. Elections, but the astro keeps feeding it! Lilith is no stranger to protest- in fact if the bible is to be believed, she is the first human to ever do it! She stood up for her rights and literally refused to lay down and take it, being nothing but a vessel for another’s pleasure with no regard to her own. She refused, and was cast from paradise into the wilds. Now, on first glance that may be a cruel punishment, but in actuality, Lilith got exactly what she wanted. In Eden, she was a toy, a trophy, a slave; After she was exiled, she was free.

I must put in a word of caution however- If you seek change hard enough, you will most likely get it, and not in a way you would like. Often this change comes at great cost, after hard-won battles. To fight for your rights almost always means losing your paradise. You must choose what is most important to you- Comfort or Justice. You cannot have both. Choose well.

Artemis’ Tarot Take on Lilith in Sagittarius:

Cards:  Ace of Cups, Strength, The Chariot

It’s time to get up on that horse and lead the charge.  This is Lilith at her wildest, and that is one reckless and devouring beast!  Do you know that little voice inside of you that says, “Sit down, this isn’t your time.  Just wait.”  Welp.  It’s about to go bye bye.  With Lilith in Saggo, you can expect your desires to rebel to become instinctual.  Someone asks you to lay down your basic human rights?  Fuck no.  Someone insults your lover?  Fuck no.  Someone asks you to turn the volume down just a little?  FUCK.  NO.

So, as you can see, this could uh kinda get in the way sometimes.  But it can also be that match the finally lights a fire under your ass (even after you have been begged by planet after planet to TRANSFORM since the goddamn mutable meltdown in June).  This is like a gang of rouges getting ready to stick up a banker and his wagon – pure raw rage and wild abandon.  I suspect a lot more “black box” anarchism may become a thing because of this transit.  All of the planets are gearing up in political activist mode, and Lilith is no exception to this.  She wants to fight for her higher ideals, and in Saggo she is far more dogmatic about this.  Be ye liberal, anarchist, libertarian, alt right, or whatever the fuck, your behavior due to ideological dogma will become amped the fuck up.

This entire reading is pushed forward by the Ace of Cups, meaning that it is very emotionally charged.  You’ve had it.  You’ve had it to the point that your emotions are spewing out like a fountain; bubbling waters so riddled with emotions it has turned black.  What is it exactly that we feel?  Dread? Anger?  Fear?  I would argue it is an interjection.  Yes.  It is that divine spark deep inside of all of us that refuses to be told it is a mere mechanism that is crying out.  We have been told that we have no power – or minimal power that they will grant us after we petition and ask ever so nicely.  FUCK NO.  We have so much power that we have forgotten about because we have been broken.

So here is what Lilith is going to learn; a herd of wild horses is better at fending off an enemy than just one horse.  Think of it like this: our enemies are trying to tame us, make us into playdough so they can mold us to their pleasing.  Lilith is here to liberate us from becoming broken in, harnessed and paraded around like clowns.  It’s time for some maneuvering.  Sometimes we need our ideals to be fired up – become solidified so that we can have the conviction needed to actually fight for what is ours.  When the whole world is melting the fuck down, you either dance in the chaos or you plow through it like a chariot.  This Lilith wants to brandish a spear and take her place on the battle field, and she knows she is stronger with like minded Amazons taking the charge with her.  Take your independence and help your sisters and brothers gain theirs as well – this is what Lilith in Saggo is demanding of us.  ONWARD!  

Lillith in Sagittarius: The Wilds was originally published on Heretical Oracles

[neworoldnews]

In August 2017, James Damore, a Google software engineer, was fired for writing an internal memo that offered views about sex-related differences in interests and emotions.

Damore had suggested that part of the over-representation of men in software engineering at Google might be due to psychological differences between women and men: not intellectual differences, but differences in what activities the sexes find attractive and enjoyable. He argued that Google should focus on equality of opportunity for individuals, without necessarily expecting equality of outcomes across its workforce.

Damore’s firing from Google was an example of an increasing intolerance of inconvenient or controversial ideas within democratic societies. Here, then, is one great moral challenge of our time. Once an issue becomes politically toxic, we may reject inconvenient viewpoints out of hand. We may reject opponents – viewing them as ill-disposed people – without listening to them, and we may even try to punish them for their views.

The memo

Damore’s memo cited a body of mainstream, though often controversial, scientific research. The research suggests that women tend, compared to men, to be more willing to please others, more anxious and susceptible to stress, more oriented to feelings and people (rather than to solving and using impersonal, rule-bound systems), and more attracted to life balance (rather than status).

Read more: Looking for truth in the Facebook age? Seek out views you aren't going to 'like'

Damore explained that these are statistical differences, discernible at the level of populations, and that there is a large overlap in the distribution curves for the respective sexes. For example, many individual men might be more oriented to feelings and people than most women. Thus, he emphasised, these findings should not be used to stereotype or prejudge individuals.

Social psychologists Sean Stevens and Jonathan Haidt have since attempted an assessment of Damore’s specific claims.

Though Damore expressed his ideas thoughtfully and mildly, his memo is often referred to online as a rant or a tirade. Its tone is unemotional, but it evidently stirred passions in others. After the memo was publicly leaked, Damore was shamed on social media platforms, then promptly fired. Throughout these events, his opponents blatantly demonised and misrepresented him.

A compassionate, feminist response

In the aftermath, the high profile psychologist and feminist author Cordelia Fine made some remarks worth taking to heart. Fine has long been a critic of research into sex differences in cognition and emotions. She regards many claims based on this research as scientifically doubtful and socially troublesome, insofar as they can be used to undermine activism for gender equality.

Though she criticised Damore’s knowledge and reasoning, Fine also stated that his summary of the extant research was “more accurate and nuanced than what you sometimes find in the popular literature” and, indeed, that some of his ideas were not especially controversial.

Fine added:

So there was something quite extraordinary about someone losing their job for putting forward a view that is part of the scientific debate. And then to be so publicly shamed as well. I felt pretty sorry for him.

This shows a level of human decency that is often missing from public debate. Fine expressed compassion for an intellectual opponent who was poorly treated.

Moral challenge

We can all be tempted to reject inconvenient ideas, whether or not they turn out to be truths. So we face an urgent moral challenge to overcome this tendency and address ideas on their merits rather than how well they accord with our pre-existing beliefs.

The stakes are high. There is plenty of evidence that our tendency to dismiss ideas with potentially unsettling implications for our worldview is hampering our ability to deal with pressing issues, like climate change.

In their 2016 book, Asymmetric Politics, Matt Grossman and David A. Hopkins argue that the Republican Party has shown a distrust of the scientific consensus on biological evolution and anthropogenic global warming, but that this is not the consequence of an underlying hostility to science itself. Rather, Republicans tend to reject science where its findings are inconvenient.

Read more: We need to become global citizens to rebuild trust in our globalised world

Because they dislike government intervention in economic markets, Republicans baulk at proposed solutions to climate change. They begin here and “work backward” to reject climate science itself.

Often, indeed, the situation is even worse. Once an issue has become intensely politicised, we may interpret others’ views as evidence of their overall ideology, which then sways whether or not we regard them as fundamentally ill-disposed people who are not worth listening to.

In a recent article, Neil Levy presents evidence that this is now the case with global warming. For many American conservatives, acceptance of the scientific consensus has become a marker of untrustworthiness. It’s a cue to stop listening.

Such reactions are not new, nor are they found on only one side of politics. Hostile and dogmatic reactions to ideas can be found across the political spectrum. When combined with social media shaming, they can produce cruel outcomes for well-meaning individuals.

New ideas

All too often, we automatically dismiss ideas with potentially unsettling implications for our worldviews. We may go further in rejecting, and even attempting to harm, the messenger.

It doesn’t have to be this way, but it has become so common that it frustrates good-faith efforts to discuss and solve the large problems confronting humanity in the 21st century. Such rejection of messages and lashing out at messengers blocks useful discussion across moral and political divides.

To make progress, we will need to reboot our thinking. We need to focus on evidence and arguments, and on ordinary fairness and compassion to others, even when we disagree

[delwray-blog]

THE DANGER OF ANTI-SEMITISM

Modern Day Jewry Considers Jesus Christ Anti-Semitic

So that the well-meaning Christian Pastors may form an idea of how dangerous this affair of “Anti-Semitism” is, they must know that the Hebrew at different periods has regarded our Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostles, and all Christianity as hostile to the Jews. It is natural that they have done this, for they regard everything as hostile to the Jews that blames or combats their crimes or their conspiracies against mankind; and our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the Apostles and the other mentioned authorities, censured and fought on different occasions against the blackmail of the Jews.

So that Christians may not have the slightest doubt of the testimonies which are recorded, we translate with special care what the outstanding Zionist writer Joseph Dunner writes in his book “The Republic of Israel”, in which he asserts the following:

“For every sect believing in Christ, Jesus is the symbol of everything that is healthy and worthy of love. For the Jews, he is from the 4th century onward the symbol of „Anti-Semitism‟, of slander, of violence and of violent death.”

If the Israelites regard our Lord Jesus Christ as a symbol of “Anti-Semitism”, or better expressed, of “Anti-Judaism”, then they are completely right; for if they describe as “Anti-Semites” those who blame and combat their disgraceful deeds, then our Divine Redeemer was the first who did this. When our Lord Jesus Christ had a discussion with certain Jews, He began the following dialogue, as the Gospel of John relates:

Chapter 8, Verse 39: “They answered and said unto him, „Abraham is our father.‟ Jesus saith unto them, „If ye were Abraham‟s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God; this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father.‟ Then said they to him, „We be not born of fornication; we have one father, even God.‟ „Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a

murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar and the father of it. He that is of God heareth God's words; ye, therefore, hear them not, because ye are not of God.‟ Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, „Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?‟ Jesus answered, "I have not a devil, but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me.‟

And this passage of the Gospel ended with the following verses: 57 “Then said the Jews unto him, „Thou are not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen, Abraham?‟ Jesus said unto them, „Verily, verily, I say unto you: Before Abraham was, I am.‟ Then took they up stones to cast at him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”

In the preceding passage of the Gospel of John, one sees how Christ, our Lord, upbraids the Jews for their murderous intentions and calls them children of the devil. He likewise proves that the Hebrew‟s of that time were unable to carry on discussions in a calm and honorable form, exactly as today, without bringing in insults, slanders or violent actions, always according to its suiting them. And if with our Divine Redeemer they used lies and insults and attempted to dishonor Him, as He Himself gives evidence in Verse 49, or strove to end the discussion with stone-throwing, what could we poor human creatures then expect?

In Chapter 23 of the Gospel of Matthew, our Lord Jesus, in reference to the Jewish leaders who opposed him so much, describes the latter as hypocrites (V. 13, 14, 15, etc), “full of iniquity” (Verse 28), foolish, blind (Verse 17); clean outside, but within full of extortion and excess (Verse 25); whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full of dead men‟s bones and of all uncleanness (Verse 27); children of them which killed the prophets (Verse 31).

The said chapter of the Gospels ends with this express complaint of our Lord Jesus Christ against the Jews, who denied their Messiah and resisted him; and which, because of its importance, we quote completely here:

Verse 33 “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! How can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men and scribes: some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you: All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

Better than any other, Christ, the Lord, here reveals to us the murderous and cruel instincts of the Jews. This is understandable, because, in the revelation which He made to His favorite disciple, and which the latter has written down in the “Apocalypse”, he called the Jews, who denied their Messiah, the Synagogue of Satan”, an equally appropriate as well as divine description, which, in the ensuing centuries, was often used by Christianity as a description for criminal and conspiratorial Jewry, which since its murder of the Son of God has not ceased to commit every kind of crime against God and mankind. In the present book we used on our side this expression “Synagogue of Satan” in order to frequently identify modern Jewry; for one would with difficulty find a more fitting appellation than this, which was already thought of by Christ, our Lord. Only with difficulty will one find among the leaders who have combated Jewry in the Christian era, someone who has used such hard words against the Jews as Jesus Christ himself. It is therefore not to be wondered at that the Jewish writer Joseph Dunner, in his work mentioned, gives the assurance that the Jews regard Christ as the “Symbol of Anti-Semitism”, all the more as many Christians and Gentiles have been accused of “Anti-Semitism” on account of far milder attacks. It is therefore dangerous that good-willed Christian pastors allow themselves to be torn away by those who are not. Dangerous again for them to let loose general and unclear condemnations of “Anti-Semitism” – which exposes them to the danger of condemning even Christ our Redeemer, His Apostles, the Saints, described by the “Synagogue of Satan” as “Anti-Semites” –, because the Jews afterward attempt to use such condemnations as a new carte blanche

that justifies them in furthering every kind of crime, offense, and conspiracy against mankind and secure freedom from punishment for themselves so that the former cannot even effectively defend themselves against them.

It is necessary to keep before our eyes that in every land or every institution in which Jewry gains sufficient influence, be it through its open activity or be it in secret manner through its “Fifth Column”, it seeks first of all to attain the condemnation of “Anti-Semitism”, which on occasions prevents every attempt at defense. When they have been successful, by means of their cheating, in creating such a situation contrary to order, then any kind of conspiracy, any kind of treachery, any kind of crime or offense can only be punished if it was committed by a Christian or a Gentile, but not if committed by one or more Jews. And should anyone wish to lay punishment upon those responsible, one will at once hear the outcry of the press, of the radio and of letters that are artificially organized, in the form of angry protests against the beginnings of “Anti-Semitism”, which has appeared like a hated plague.

This is in every respect unjust, unbelievable and insane, for the Jews have not the right to demand a special privilege that allows them to commit crimes unpunished, to betray peoples who grant refuge to them, and to instigate conspiracies and unrest, in order to secure domination over the others.

Without discrimination of race or religion, every person or organization that is responsible for the committing of this kind of crime must receive the deserved punishment. This truth cannot be more open or simpler, and, if the Jews do not wish to believe it, the latter is nevertheless fully and completely in force for them also. It very frequently occurs that the Jews, apart from the fact that they use the condemnation of “Anti-Semitism” in the form already elaborated, also use another kind of cunning for the same purpose. This malice is founded upon the sophistry that is spun by the Jews themselves and is supported by Protestant clergy who consciously or unconsciously work together with them, and solemnly assert in dogmatic form: “That it is illegal to fight against the Jews, because they are the people which gave its blood to Jesus.”

Such clumsy quibbling is very easy to refute. One needs only to quote the passage from the Gospels, where Christ, our Redeemer, after He calls the Jews, who fight against Him, once again a “generation of vipers”, clearly and distinctly, rejects the consequence of blood relationship and recognizes only the spiritual. In fact one reads in this passage the following:

Matthew 7: 47 “Then one said unto him, „Behold, thy mother, and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.‟ But He answered and said unto him that told him, „Who is My mother? And who are My brethren? For whosoever shall do the will of My Father, which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.‟ ”

In spite of the fact that Jesus, on His mother‟s side, was blood-related with the ancient Hebrew people of Biblical times, it is evident that for the future He only recognised the spiritual relationship, in that He looked over and beyond the blood-related links with His relatives, and, with even more justice, beyond those with the Jewish people who rejected Him as the Messiah, denied Him, martyred Him and murdered Him after a long and cruel torture, committing the most monstrous crime of all time and transforming itself into God-murdering people.

But if Christ called the Jews, who slandered Him, children of the devil and generation of vipers, He confirmed that He is God‟s Son and allows it to be discerned that no kind of relationship binds Him with Jews, that indeed none can exist between God‟s Son and the children of Satan, nor can a connection exist between good and evil.

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Both parties have failed me, thankfully unaffiliated voters have a voice

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=4098

Both parties have failed me, thankfully unaffiliated voters have a voice

Driven by the constant bickering, gamesmanship, and growing extremism within each party — not to mention the lack of action that characterizes Congress and our state Legislature — thousands of Coloradans are abandoning their political parties. It’s no surprise that unaffiliated voters are now the largest block of voters at 38 percent and growing.

My own political journey is not unlike that of other unaffiliated voters.

I was raised a “Roosevelt and Kennedy Democrat.” My Dad, now 100 years old, is a product of the Great Depression, a decorated veteran of World War II, and an accomplished businessman. He has known struggle and bad times. We have talked endlessly about America’s vision to be a “free and great society.”  Today, however, the Democratic Party continues to push for the growth of an already enormous government through endless regulations and entitlements. The party has become increasingly hostile to businesses, business people and free markets.

Attracted by the commitment to make government smaller, to protect our liberty and freedom, and to demand financial discipline, I left the Democratic Party and registered as a Republican.

However, what I found was a party mired in ultra-conservative social politics, litmus tests, and absolutely no regard for the so-called “big tent” championed by Ronald Reagan. It’s a party where constructive dialogue is pushed aside for dogmatic rhetoric. Republicans unwilling to subscribe to the social platform are labeled “RINOs” — Republicans in Name Only.  In 2016, I experienced this first-hand during my run for the U.S. Senate.

Even more disheartening, neither party has the political will to address our growing debt. They simply cannot resist spending our money. The $4 trillion budget Congress just passed will add at least $1 trillion to our existing $20 trillion national debt. The greatest threat facing America is not North Korea, Iran or global warming; it is a return to normalized interest rates which will drive up the cost to service our debt. This increased cost will consume almost all of our discretionary budget dollars, including money needed for our defense.

Democrats seem determined to raise taxes and spend more money. Republicans seem determined to cut taxes and spend more money.

My personal tipping point came at the unwillingness of both parties in Congress to act on immigration. Lawmakers on both sides won’t stop the partisan bickering long enough to resolve the state of limbo for dreamers, young immigrants hoping to gain legal status. This is more than dysfunctional. It’s cruel.

Sadly, our country is acutely polarized around partisan politics to the point that sociologists describe America as living in tribes. Democrats and Republicans alike draw lines in the sand and are terrified to negotiate or compromise. This intense partisanship comes at the expense of our country and our state. Our legislators are paralyzed.

Yes, unaffiliated voters are dissatisfied with both parties. We want leaders who are committed to solving problems without the limits of partisan politics. We want common sense, pragmatic solutions. We want results. And now we have a voice. For the first time, Colorado unaffiliated voters can vote in primary elections, and we should.

Unaffiliated voters can be catalysts for change and common sense.  But only if we vote.

Historically, only a small number of the most extreme members of both parties vote in primary elections — on average less than 30 percent of eligible voters have cast ballots. In the past, moderates have stayed home and unaffiliated voters have been barred from the voting booth. Voting rules have changed, but things will change only if we vote.

Colorado’s primary election season ends on June 26. Cast your ballot today. Remind candidates that there is a vocal and active middle. Help restore some degree of sanity and rational behavior to Colorado politics.

Jack Graham is the founder of ICAT Holdings, was director of athletics at Colorado State University, and serves on several philanthropic boards in Colorado. He is a registered unaffiliated voter.

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