The Star-Spangled Banner

Just about every American you meet is familiar with our national anthem - the first verse, that is. Sadly, many people don't know that there are actually four verses in this beautiful song! And note that in the last verse, the writer gives glory and trust to God.

The Star-Spangled Banner

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:

Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion

A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

My Favorite Words :)

Just for fun, I have created a short list of several of my favorite words :). If you manage to use these intelligently in conversation, you will sound super smart! :D

1) Transubstantiation - This is an old Roman Catholic doctrine. Basically, it taught that when the priest prayed over the bread and wine of Communion, it was substantially translated into the actual body and blood of Christ. This made it holy. If there was leftover bread and wine afterward, the bread could be saved, but the priest would have to drink the rest of the wine! Since it was holy, it could NOT go to waste!

2) Consubstantiation - This is a Protestant doctrine championed by Luther in response to transubstantiation. Basically, it taught that the bread and wine of Communion are not transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ. However, God is still physically present when the Eucharist is taken, making this sacrament a holy, important blessing given to Christians by God.

3) Nonsubstantiation - This is another Protestant doctrine championed by Ulrich Zwingli. He taught that God was spiritually present during the Eucharist, but he believed it was nothing more than a remembrance ceremony of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. He disagreed with Luther and claimed that the Lord's Supper was not a life-changing gift from God. Luther and Zwingli argued vehemently over this issue! They could not agree to accept one or the other: consubstantiation or nonsubstantiation!

4) Interpositionalism - In the Bible, it is made clear that kings are given their authority of God. As such, they are required to be Christ-like in their conduct. A king's purpose is to be a servant to his people and guard them from tyranny. This is interpositionalism - standing between the people and tyranny. This is a good word because it is big, it makes you sound smart, and it represents an excellent concept!

And now, last but not least, my personal favorite!

5) Defenestration - just a fancy word for being thrown out of a window :)

People are People

I'm not going to mince words here. Human nature just hit me in the face.

I just finished watching the movie Gladiator for the first time. I don't have the stomach for blood and gore so I always look away during the fight scenes, but I heard a part where the Emperor Commodus laughed as one of the gladiators was slaughtered. I remember thinking, What kind of a person would laugh at something like this?! How could anyone find that entertaining?! And then, as the protagonist killed one of the bad guys, my companion laughed. I confronted him, and he shrugged it off, justifying it by saying that it was just special effects and wasn't real.

As moderns, we think we are somehow better than the people of the past. We scoff and condemn them, thinking they were much more brutal and graphic than we are now. But what is the difference here? Why are the Romans so much more terrible and gruesome than us? What is the difference between watching someone actually be killed and watching a very realistic recreation of someone being killed? The principle is the same! In both scenarios, people are being entertained at the horrible expense of someone else. Why is this even entertaining in the first place? Why do people enjoy watching others being slaughtered and tortured? What is it people find appealing in this?

I don't think I will ever understand it. But this just goes to say that there is nothing new under the sun. People are people, no matter what time period they live in. No matter how hard we try to justify ourselves, we are still no better than the people of long ago. We have different means than they did, but we are still just as flawed and sinful as they were.

The Importance of Words

The other day I got a new pocket thesaurus. I happened to glance at the bottom of the cover, and I saw a little slogan. It read: We define your world. I realized what an incredibly profound statement this is, which brings to mind something Americans don't think about very much: their words.

Last year I read the book 1984 by George Orwell. For those who don't know, this book portrays a distopian society in which the tyrannical government controls every aspect of society and life. One of the means by which the government achieved this control was through language. They manipulated language to make people believe their circumstances were being improved. For example, the dictator, Big Brother, told the people he was increasing their chocolate ration from 20 grams down to 10 grams. See the problem here? But the biggest manipulation of language in this society occurred when Big Brother established a new language for the country. This new language was created by deleting words from the people's vocabulary. This included words like freedom, liberty, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, etc. The idea was that in a couple generations, people would no longer know what those words were. They would be wiped out of existence.

This brings me to my point. People think in terms of the words they know. When they no longer have words like freedom or liberty, they lose the capability of understanding those concepts. The importance of the words you know and use is absolutely astonishing! People don't realize the power words hold. It has been shown that civilizations with large vocabularies more often produced freedom than those with small vocabularies. This is why it is important to be articulate, something most people are not in this generation. And I am no exception. I am not nearly as articulate as I would like to be, and my vocabulary is too small for comfort.

One last point: words definitely define your world. The words you use affect other people and the way you look at the world and understand history. For this reason I am extremely persnickety about the words I use. For this reason I do not use the term Civil War because it was far from civil. Instead, I prefer to call it the War Between the States. Likewise, I do not call it the Revolutionary War or the American Revolution because it did not share the characteristics of a great revolution at all. Instead, I call it the American War for Independence. You see, the words you use change your outlook on life and can affect your relationships with people. So you see, the importance of words is incredible, and it is imperative to understand this. Webster's Pocket Thesaurus's catchy little slogan is actually a powerful insight into human nature, an insight we never think about but must be aware of.

What is Ji'had?

Ji'had is probably the most controversial subject of Islam. It is also the subject the media has manipulated the most. In our society of tolerance, the media likes to portray Ji'had as harmless and misunderstood. In this post I am going to explain how the media is both right and wrong.

There are many different kinds of Ji'had, and I am only going to briefly discuss four of them. My goal is not to brainwash you or "convert" you to my opinion. It is simply to set out facts you may not have known before in order to make you think. This post on Ji'had should give enough information to help you formulate your own thoughts and opinions.

1. The Razziah or the Riddah: this form of Ji'had takes place within the Muslim. This is the Muslim's internal struggle against apostasy in order to maintain faithfulness to Islam. The media likes this kind of Ji'had because it does not involve terrorism or violence. So in this respect the media is right. To non-Muslims, this is a harmless form of Ji'had. However, it is not the only kind of Ji'had, as the media would have you think.

2. The Aza'sin: this form of Ji'had is the one we like to forget about. This is the cleansing of infidelity. Muslims are honor bound to cleanse the infidelity and kill non-Muslims. This is especially true with Muslims who convert to Christianity or other religions. Their family members are required to hunt them out and force them to convert back to Islam, or else they must be killed. This does not mean all Muslims do this, but it is a very real part of Ji'had that must not be ignored.

3. The Fidah'is: this is the type of Ji'had the terrorists engage in. This is martyrdom, which is the very pinnacle of service to Allah. Terrorists believe that if they commit suicide and become martyrs for Islam, Allah will allow them to spend eternity in paradise with 72 beautiful virgins. Thus, this is the motivation behind the Islamic terror attacks.

4. The Dhimma: this is a submission tax imposed on Christians, Jews and other infidels living under sharia law. It can be up to two thirds of a person's income. The idea of this submission tax is to wear down the infidels and disinherit them so that eventually they will convert to Islam.

There are many, many other forms of Ji'had, such as the Khar'aj, the Ji'zya, the Fad'lak, and the Sult'ah. I have only barely scratched the surface of this complicated subject, but you can see it is a very real threat. Yes, there are milder forms of it (such as the Razziah and the Dhimma), but it is a threat nonetheless. Islam is a religion that demands conquest! It is true not all Muslims actually do this, but it is a growing threat to America. Already, Muslims have silently and stealthily crept their way into Europe without us even knowing. Muslims have great power and influence there, largely outnumbering Christians. The continent that once reaped the benefits of a glorious Christian heritage is now falling to Muslim control and almost completely under the radar! And once Europe is dominated, we are next. People must be informed! We cannot sit back and watch the world fall to Muslim conquest. We must be prepared!

For more on Ji'had, check out this link:
http://http://sheepdogfiles.blogspot.com/2010/01/jihad.html

This is too important to just sit back and do nothing! We MUST be prepared!

Islam

We all remember September 11, 2001. It was a day that changed America. It was a day that enshrouded our nation with suspicion. It was a day we realized the threat of Islam. But the mainstream media promotes many misconceptions about Islam, causing us to disregard the religion and shrug it off as if it weren't a threat at all. I hope to dispel these misconceptions, but I will do so in a later post about Ji'had. Here, I am going to relate the basic doctrines and teachings of Islam to provide some background.

Islam is a relatively simple faith. Like all religions, there are complex aspects to it, but for the most part it is a very simple, believable form of works righteousness. A Muslim's life goal is to please Allah so that they can enter paradise. Allah, however, is a distant, impersonal, warlike deity that must be appeased. Muslims do this by keeping the Five Pillars of Islam and by engaging in Ji'had. There are also five tenets and five social teachings of Islam, which I will also relate.

The Five Pillars of Islam:

1) A faithful Muslim must make a profession of faith. This profession is: There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. This profession embodies the whole of the Muslim faith. There are no complex creeds or doctrines, which makes this faith believable and appealing.

2) A faithful Muslim must pray five times a day. This prayer is simply the profession of faith. And once a week on Fridays Muslims gather at the mosque for a special prayer and some teaching from the imam.

3) A faithful Muslim is expected to be generous. As such they are required to give to the poor. An amount is not specified; they are supposed to have generous hearts.

4) A faithful Muslim must keep Ramadan. Ramadan is a month-long fast from food and drink during the daylight hours.

5) A faithful Muslim must endeavor at least once in their life to make a pilgrimage to the holy city Mecca and pray at the Ka'aba, a temple to Allah. If, however, they are physically unable to do so, they can pay someone else to go for them.

These pillars form the basis of a Muslim's life.

The Five Tenets:

1) Muslims serve Allah, whom they claim to be a just, compassionate, merciful god, creator of the universe and punisher of the infidels. However, Allah shows no grace or mercy and his wrath cannot be appeased. In order to be faithful, Muslims must obey his will completely. The word Islam actually means "submission."

2) Mohammed is the greatest prophet, and there are no other great prophets after him. Islam has varied views on Jesus Christ. Sometimes He is referred to as one of the great prophets, but He is often despised for manipulating the "true doctrine" in claiming the be the Son of God.

3) Muslims believe there are many sacred books, those including the Torah, the Psalms, and the Gospels, but the Qu'ran (also spelled Koran) is the last and greatest of the sacred texts. It is the perfect revelation, and it "corrects" errors in the other texts. However, classical Arabic is the official language of the Qu'ran, and since its integrity must be preserved, it may not be translated. Unfortunately, most Muslims today do not understand classical Arabic, so they do not have access to their sacred book.

4) Muslims believe that life on earth is just a test. It is just preparation of the eternal life to come. Those that are faithful adore Allah, praise Mohammed, and keep the five pillars. Apart from this, life has no meaning.

5) Muslims believe that in the final judgment, the faithful will go to eternal paradise, and the infidels will go to eternal hell. There is no grace. There is no mercy. Islam is simply works righteousness.

The Five Social Teachings:

1) I do not have time to relate the history of Islam (I will probably do this in another post), but Islam grew up in a trading environment. Mecca was a crossroads. It was a little oasis out in the desert, and it was a kind of Middle Eastern truckstop for the caravanners and traders. This is the environment Islam grew out of, so it is only natural that Islam should bless trade and commerce.

2) Islam holds to an idea of a chain of being. This means that every living thing is a part of a hierarchy. Unfortunately, women are just below dogs. However, family is of vital importance. Muslims are responsible for populating the earth with warriors for Islam. Muslims are commended for having big families. The Qu'ran allows for polygamy up to four wives, except noblemen can have more. Islam promotes strict segregation of the sexes. Orthodox Islam treats women as property.

3) Every Muslim will be judged. Justice is based on retribution. Every man is judged by his labors, and if someone does not follow the pillars of Islam, retribution will be against him.

4) Muslims are brothers. They are the Umma, the faithful, and they stand together against the infidels, the unbelievers.

5) The last social teaching is probably the most controversial subject of Islam: Ji'had. This I will deal with separately in another post.

The Manzikert Route

‘Twas ill the fate
Beset that day
When Byzantine force did stand
With might and main
To break their foe
And cease their conquest grand.

And though they had
A mighty force
Trained for victory,
They could not drive
The Muslim hordes
Away from Manzikert.

The battle was gruesome,
Bloody and brutal.
The casualties were great.
With valor, and courage
Immense they fought;
Their defeat they could not escape.

The brave, courageous,
Chivalrous knights
Their weakness quickly met.
They soon discovered
They hadn’t the stomach
For what they were about to get.

The Muslims charged
In human waves
Heedless of their peril.
Naught did they care
For loss of their lives
These to Allah they looked to spare.

Higher and higher
The dead did pile
‘Til Byzantine force unnerved
Grew steadily ill
And ill still more,
The warriors greatly disturbed.

For such disregard
Of life so dear
Saddened that Christian force,
And destroyed their former
Courage and might
‘Til none had the will to war.

The Muslims charged on
To victory claim
And hasten Byzantium’s defeat.
‘Twas the bodies that lay
Amassed in heaps
That defeated the proud Byzantines.

Bodies, bodies everywhere
Strewn about the ground;
Bodies, bodies piled high
Their last defense to route.