Frederick R. Smith Speaks: February 2021

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Cancel the Caustic Cancel Culture Pogrom

Frederick R Smith has moved to Frederick R. Smith Speaks (substack.com)

Foreword

The “news” abounds with the detestable canceling of anything not conforming to the “narrative.” Caustic Cancel Culture Pogrom (CCCP) best describes this psychological warfare or mental butchery. The target: the cogent non-woke folk. One particularly horrifying element is the bigoted Critical Race Theory (CRT). Some of our cogent non-woke friends call it a quasi-Marxist ideology. Your author disagrees as it is worse, a lot worse. It is a Maoist/Leninist mass hysteria mental disorder spreading in every organized and unorganized element of society.

Family Rocked and Revoked
The bedrock of society, the family, is hereby canceled. No more support for a nuclear family consisting of a woman with a man and biological children. The psyops lets you know that this family thing is an assault on the gender-confused folk. Just ask BLM, the traditional family is a thing of yesteryear. Canceled: the necessity to feed your child as the babysitter/nanny [1] state supplies breakfast and lunch for the school children. Even during Corona-doom, the woke and half-woke parents take a ride to pick up the bountiful breakfast and luscious lunch. They take this wonderful food home to the children who are fully engaged in virtual training. Cooking for children: canceled. [2]

The world at large has become hyper hetero-phobic. This includes otherwise heterosexual folk who seem to engage in mental masturbation fighting for this bigoted cause to demonize heterosexuals. But think about it, all this also plays well into the evil elite’s plans to reduce the population.

Hereby canceled is God’s creation of two distinct biological entities. To use he or her in documents or in verbal communication offend the people who want to be their own god and “change” or cancel their own gender. The use of something other than male to describe a man offends your author, a male. This is such an offense; it is time to ask Jo-Jo-B for some money to pay for the therapist visits to help me get through this mental anguish.

The sexual orientation thingy is just one element of the CCCP multi-headed hydra monster. Continue reading my non-woke friends, the truth may set you free. Hopefully, you have sufficient fortitude in reserve to accept this suggested reading. The fortitude tank is empty or running on fumes as the CCCP’s super-sucking brain vacuum did its thing to eviscerate determination.

History Heaved Away
The virtual overnight change in society makes history nothing more than a struggle between races. This labeling of individuals as “oppressors” due to their skin color is an evil reversal. Hereby canceled is the age-old notion that two wrongs do not make a right. This process is a reverberation of Marxism’s division of society based on class. Among the canceled are the Mayflower Compact, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers, and the Constitution. These are nothing more than racist constructs in the debased woke Marxist worldview.

Caustic Critical Race Theory
Some forms of bigotry always existed, and it was a work in progress. That progress came to a screeching halt in the year 2020. The one-time-odd elements of society are now useful idiots for the CCCP march to oblivion. This cauldron includes otherwise ordinary folk conditioned as Pavlov’s Dogs to sing along. These are the half-woke folk. This clay-like mold of debased full-woke and half-woke folk is the perfect battering ram.

Under the pretext of racial progress, the leftist-Marxist luminaries created a racially hostile environment. Dare a person hint, even privately, that this is a wicked and insidious pogrom [3]. Free speech was canceled. Individual acts of discrimination and hostility flourish. News abounds with people who have lost their job for daring to say something to point out the utter evil of the CCCP. With lives ruined, the CCCP luminaries and their puppets show no empathy. Compassion canceled. Forgiveness canceled. Understanding canceled. Dialog canceled. Make no bones about it, it is truly an end-times like reality.

CRT is like the invasion of the body snatchers. Your worth as a human being has a new predicate. People with certain higher levels of pigments have the luxury of innumerable gifts. Wrapped in shiny packing, the contents include laser-focused dignity and respect. Hyper pride; “Look at me.” The other non-pigment people shall publicly humiliate themselves and affirm their “fragility.” Any dissent from CRT orthodoxy ignites public humiliation at best and professional retaliation at worst. To survive one must swear allegiance to this neo-religion. More on that later. We live in a Mad Max world.

Caustic CRT has infested all aspects of society and has been spreading at an alarming rate. It started in academia and is seeping into K-12 education, corporations, government agencies, and even religious institutions. The CRT syllabus occurs with “anti-racist” training and implementation of social justice (Communist) policies. It is a breathtaking display of hubris.

The quintessential example of psychological manipulation at best and mental abuse at worse.
We know the former president [4] stopped CRT training at the federal government, grantees, and contractors. In warp speed, Jo-Jo-B reversed the order with an edict that will open the door for instituting CRT more aggressively across the federal government.

While we are at it lest we forget, Joe-Joe-B canceled thousands of good jobs. The putrid woke-goth leaders of this babysitter state tell us these canceled jobs will be rebirthed to make solar panels and windmills (that function part-time). Mother nature cancels green energy at night and periods of no wind. Quietly canceled is the need to prevent damage to the earth caused by the mining of toxic minerals to build solar panels. Canceled is the concern about the disposal of the toxic panels that go to landfills at the end of the service life of these “green” devices. Energy independence, canceled.

Non-woke folk can see that CRT intensifies divisions between people as it taps into our worst instincts. We face the plight of factions, and your author fears this is rapidly leading us to an even more perverted existence. As one example of many, Coke-a-Cola tells its employees to be less white. For sure this applies to all employees (cough cough). In late-breaking news, Coke-a-Cola, that environmentally friendly company that still makes the turtle killing bottle package rings, declared this non-color thing is not a part of their official policy. Now your author feels simply fine, we still live in the USA.

Education Erased
CCCP has been festering for a long time in academia and it is now in warp speed. Without a doubt, virtually no student ever heard of the great man who lived in the Gulags, Alexander Solzhenitsyn. His writings and speeches teach us the horror of a totalitarian government. We know what happens when we ignore history. And it gets worse, from the unnecessary necessity to end racism in mathematics, to the terror of bigotry in acronyms. It is so bizarre that even time-honored masterpieces such as Shakespeare, Huckleberry Fin, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc. are on the chopping block at the cancel guillotine. But wait, there is more, some good news.

We know that omnipresent virtual training is a low-level activity. Therefore, at least we see a muffled Marxist indoctrination syllabus during the Corona-doom. Thank you, teachers, for demanding to not go back to school. Joe-Joe-B has your back. Keep on donating to the Democratic pig trough so more money comes your way.

Equal Treatment Torched
In a bizarre twist of cancellation, many woke folk caught rioting and looting throughout 2020 have had their charges canceled. Meanwhile, the other side faced swift justice by use of facial recognition, credit card transaction analysis, and social media cyber-snooping. This process also applies to the people who were peacefully protesting in DC at a distance from Congress.

The ACLU would previously defend any speech. No more, the ACLU is full woke. So much for equal representation. Free speech and freedom of expression only apply to the debased woke folk. The woke folk simply claim a “threatening” environment for anything outside their dystopian Marxist worldview. The fully woke system showers the debased woke folk with kid-glove treatment. Grow some thick skin, woke folk.

The cancellation of business by burning, looting, and rioting is the quintessential example of the very nature of the CCCP. We see primitive pleasures in the form of smashing, igniting, and destroying. With these actions tied to an ideological purpose, it is an orgasmic-like sensation. The promotion of a woke religion, commie social justice parade as a brick through a window. Videos of the BLMANTIFA “fiery mostly peaceful protesters” tearing down statues illustrate this sex-like euphoric phenomenon. The January 2021 incident might not have occurred if the system had done its job to stop the hundreds of major “fiery but mostly peaceful protests” (riots) throughout the year 2020. The rubber band had stretched too far. For the record, this author deplores any violence, any side.

Power Punch
It is infuriating that certain people will suffer for the past sins of others. It is so biased to even remotely consider why people today must suffer for the transgressions of others from the past. How many can say they have ancestors that took part in these sins?

We can all agree bigotry is bad and such grievances need reconciliation. Sad to say, the CCCP soldiers and their fellow travelers have a power-punch trip complex. Dialog and constructive programs, canceled. Now we have a balkanized society; the woke and the un-woke. In place of construction, we have riots, looting, and mayhem. We are awash in outright propaganda. The anti-fascist mantra is a big lie. That is all about anarchy, a borderless world, and no police. That is exactly what the neo-Marxist MLSM project into your Livingroom day after day. Cancel the TV.

The cancellation of certain Looney Tunes segments because of the violence is indeed a serious thing! Having enjoyed “what’s up doc” all my life, this may result in psychological damage and then counseling sessions. On the other hand, this could be good if it helps to mitigate the BLMANTFA violence. Hereby canceled; quietly minding your own business. Remember, silence equals violence.

Along with the push to end police departments, the list goes on and on. The canceling of our National Anthem by certain sports teams is an infuriating spectacle. Let it be known that Antifa has co-opted certain Major League Soccer teams. [5]

My Body My Choice Canceled
Choice! A rally cry, a dog whistle, for the debased woke folk and their fellow travelers. However, for your author, will he have a choice to take the vaccine or not? Will he have the choice of a specific shot like the traditional J&J or will the “health” overlords force him to take the new (experimental) mRNA injection? My body my choice canned, canceled, ignored, vilified, withdrawn, terminated, and trashed.

Also, while we are in the “health” realm, let us open the southern border. Walk right in, Corona-doom concerns canceled. Meanwhile, try that strut at the airport. Consistent health measures find no home here (canceled).

Afterword

The reason for all the acrimony may indeed be a debased woke religion. With cogent un-woke true religious faith almost gone, the replacement is a philosophy that prides itself on its twisted, evil, and wicked judgment. It turns religion into the worst possible phenomenon, it becomes an atheist theocracy. Can we say Communism?

Notes

The computer application alerts your author that “A gender-neutral term would be more inclusive.” This my non-woke friends is not a joke.
This inane activity occurs at an unnamed school district near your author. So once again, not a joke.
A pogrom is a violent riot aimed at the massacre or expulsion of an ethnic or religious group.
This author has compassion; the name of the former president was intentionally left out. We do not want a debased woke person reading this to have a seizure when seeing that particular name.
Andy Ngo, Unmasked, Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy (New York, Center Street Books, 2021), p. 209.

###

Cogent Author and Publisher, Frederick R. Smith
Cogent Editor, Sean Tinney

Fred Smith’s clipped news items

Recommended Websites (bold is top shelf)

Recommend (serious) Humor

The Peoples Cube

Recommended Videos (all top shelf)

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Cancel Caustic Charities

Frederick R Smith has moved to Frederick R. Smith Speaks (substack.com)

Back in 2003, the Governor of Alabama called for drastic increases in state taxes. The Main Lame Stream Media was silent because the good governor, Bob Riley, invoked the Bible in his quest to take more from the people. He said that it was his “Christian duty” to hike taxes by as much as 22% to help the poor people. Riley further pontificated that “Jesus says one of our missions is to take care of the least among us… We’ve got to take care of the poor.”

Based on the above statements, it is still a mystery why the leftists did not go into orbit. Crickets over the religious statements uttered by the governor. A public official while in his role as an elected servant of the people used religion to push a tax increase. The governor was making these statements around the same time the media harangued Judge Moore of the Alabama State Supreme Court. He was battling to keep the Ten Commandments monument in the courthouse. This further illustrates the duplicity of those who worship the non-existent “wall of separation.” They were in high gear over Moore but silent about Riley. Seems like the commie Woke ideology of today is a religion in disguise.

The Bible does indeed say we should take care of the poor and it is a noble thing to help those who are in need. As a voluntary act, charity gives the donor control and mitigates fraud. Taxes, a forced act, at best include wasteful government costs to administer these programs. At worst, it is fertile ground for corruption. We know what happens when people refuse to pay their “fair share.” It would be interesting to see how many people clamoring for more taxes for the poor have taken tax rebate checks and placed that money into a charity. In a recent conversation, a certain person who will go unnamed said the socialist programs to help the poor people do not make us a socialist nation. What a bunch of inane intellectual sophistry.

As we know, Biblical tithing is 10% but most families already give up close to 40% of their total income because of the copious amount of open and hidden taxes. Today, taxes are a tithe to the Woke religion. It is prudent to ask how much of this taxation, which is four times the Biblical amount, goes to the “poor.” Then, it is also relevant to ask how much of Governor Riley’s tax increase will go to the largesse to administer these programs for the “poor.” The answers are in the wind.

The latest trick is to create unlimited money out of thin air in the form of trillions with some of it going to “charitable” causes. The debt is well above 21 trillion and climbing. Despite what we hear in the Woke schools, media, and academia this fiat currency is the sole cause of inflation. It is a hidden tax. Your author has said it many times and will continue to say it. It is not a matter of if but when you will spend $10.00 or more for a loaf of bread. Oh, it will be Trump’s fault. Dear Woke readers, are you happy now? Also, for sure Biden’s cancellation of Trump’s cancellation of money for abortions is a jubilant affair. Of course, it is all about charity for the children.

Our good friends who worship the wall of separation between church and state are the same folk who believe that a big government is a way to help the poor. This may explain why they were silent about the governor’s Biblical call for more taxation — like Democrat candidates who can go to churches unfettered to get votes. That is another example of the selective application of the wall of separation.

Taxation or other means of taking away from the people make a nation “Christian”? Then we must ask ourselves the status of the more repressive governments. To the disdain of our big government lovers, the people who have lived under Communism can tell us all about the “Christian” status of their nation. The stark reality — the common people in these regimes have most of their income plundered away by the government. These governments always have not and always will not produce more wealth for the poor. They produce more poor people. Socialist nations are close behind. The nanny-state works until it eats up everybody’s money. It also takes away your spending power via the hidden tax called inflation.

It is a known fact that nations with the most freedom and the lowest taxes have produced the least amount of poor people. Except for the Vatican, there are no “Christian” nations today. But those based on Judeo-Christian precepts have the highest living standards on the earth. But we know corona-doom fixed that and of course, it was Trump’s fault.

A free-market system with a limited government can best take care of the poor people. For those who do not subscribe to these facts, it is proper to ask about the well-being of people in the “socialist” nations. “If you think Sweden is socialist, then you know something that just ain’t so.” [1]

Those who do not agree with the concept of a free enterprise system will never realize their ill-conceived notions — just like the Antifa creeps who use tools and supplies made by the capitalist system to do their evil deeds. But alas, “Ben & Jerry’s even set up a truck that passed out free ice cream scoops” at CHAZ. [2] A splendid example of charity.

Many people with this worldview have good intentions and believe that the only way to help the poor is through more social programs. Still, the facts indeed are eternal, history proves the best. This is a decentralized society based on a free-market economy with a representative government. This is the system that will produce the least poor and as such, it is the most humane.

Are there problems with capitalism? There are because people administer all systems, and people are all sinful. It is so important that society self-impose morals, values, and principles. This to mitigate the propensity of people to become corrupt with power. It is also important that the government enforce anti-trust laws to assure competition in the free market system.

May this author suggest that we not throw out the baby with the bathwater when we deal with corporate corruption? We must work to restore our nation to its virtuous state (minus bigotry of ALL types). We need to decentralize government and corporations. This is in line with the concept of the balance of powers that our founders gave us during the birth of our beloved nation. Today in post-USA (USSA) we have the Woke corporations that use the Caustic Cancel Culture Pogrom to fake their way to charity for select uncharitable causes. Nasty stuff.

As seen by what is occurring in our society today, we know in fact that people are becoming increasingly morally degenerate. The typical reaction is for more government controls (bigger government). Rather than fix the root of the problem (morals, values, and principles) many react and clamor for more government. This is nothing more than the personification of our continued slide toward total socialism (Communism lite). It is all a part of the ideological subversion program as explained by KGB defector Yuri Bezmeno’s warning to America. Some non-woke folk may get out of their stupor after watching Yuri. But now with corona-doom and the 2020 riots, this truly is more relevant than ever. As a realist, your author concludes that it is already too late, as few will listen to reason. Never mind, Joe-Joe-B promises all you need, no worries. But wait there is more. We have the dual presidency with Kamala Harris’ Salami Socialism.

But wait, there is even more about co-president Harris. She is an anti-Catholic bigot, as evidenced by her treatment of U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher. [3] It was during the December 5, 2018, confirmation hearing for the Nebraska District Court seat that she displayed her bigotry. In a very nasty and condescending manner, she highlighted his longtime membership in the Knights of Columbus. The Knights, a fraternal Catholic organization, adheres to the tenets of the Catholic faith. Harris and Senator Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii both harangued Buescher. They highlighted the Knights’ (peaceful) opposition to legal abortion. Hirono asked whether Buescher would be able to decide cases such as abortion and same-sex marriage “fairly and impartially.” Of course, we heard no mention by the duo of the innumerable charitable projects that the Knights carry out.

Now for the closing. For something to quench your dry mouth caused by the above readings, how about this newly formulated fructose-free Kool-Aid flavored drink: Wonderful Woke Wild Watermelon Wishniak.

Notes

https://www.aier.org/article/capitalism-saved-sweden/
Andy Ngo, Unmasked — Inside the Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy, p. 35
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/kamala-harris-catholic-newt-gingrich “Harris’s record is perfectly clear. She is openly anti-Catholic in confirming federal judges, wanting to prosecute the Little Sisters of the Poor, closing Catholic Hospitals that don’t join her union allies, and favoring taxpayer-paid abortions up until birth (in fact, she has twice voted against bills that would ensure that babies who lived through abortion procedures get medical care).”

###

Cogent Author and Publisher, Frederick R. Smith
Cogent Editor, Sean Tinney

Fred Smith’s clipped news items

Recommended Websites (bold is top shelf)

Recommend (serious) Humor

The Peoples Cube

Recommended Videos (all top shelf)

Monday, February 15, 2021

Awful Aleister Crowley

Frederick R Smith has moved to Frederick R. Smith Speaks (substack.com)

Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was a person of wealth who pursued demonic greatness. Most notably, he claimed to be the “Great Beast 666” and he was the leader of a very obscure German cult called the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). [1] Crowley owed his fortunes to being born into a religious and wealthy family from England.

Crowley was born in England and named Edward Alexander Crowley. However, he despised and rebelled against his family and he renamed himself “Aleister” because his father had the same first name. Aleister was beyond the typical shenanigans of the boys during that era. For example, he almost killed himself making homemade fireworks and at 17 years of age, he contracted gonorrhea from a prostitute.

Despite his crude behavior, Crowley attended Cambridge University where some writings suggest that he had copious sex trysts with men and women. At age 23, he joined the secret society known as the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.” That group expelled Crowley in just two years, as the order did not approve of his magical methods.

It was in 1904, while in Egypt, that Crowley reported that he had the most important experience of his life. It was while trying to contact his “guardian angel” that Crowley finally encountered an entity he claimed to be known as “Aiwass.” In 1907, he formed the “Order of the Silver Star,” a magical organization.

In 1909, Crowley divorced his first wife because he claimed she was an alcoholic. This made it easy for him to indulge in his passion for drugs, magic, and women. It was at this point that Crowley claimed to be the reincarnation of some of the more notorious occultists from the past. In 1910, OTO contacted Crowley and after some initial disagreement with the "order" he joined. In 1912 he became the head of the English-speaking branch.

Crowley came to the United States sometime between 1912 and 1916 and took up residence near Bristol, New Hampshire. It was here that he promoted himself to the OTO rank of “Magus.” Crowley came to the United States to avoid the First World War and it was here that he wrote Anti-British propaganda. In 1920 he went to Sicily to set up the “Thelema Abbey.” It was here that he also fathered a daughter named “Poupée.” [2]

The Abbey was unsanitary and drug addiction raged out of control. This was was the setting for Crowley’s novel “Diary of a Drug Fiend.” Poupée died in 1920 and then one of Crowley’s “students” perished from drinking impure water. This sealed the Abbey’s fate. The student’s wife went back to England and sold her story, which told the fate of the notorious Abbey. Reports like this came during the same time as the rise of the Mussolini regime and in 1923, Sicily expelled Crowley. In 1925 the OTO chose Crowley to be their “World Head.” In 1929 he published his major work, “Magick: In Theory and in Practice.” Today, reprints of this book are extremely popular.

After expulsion from Italy, Crowley became known as “The Wickedest Man in the World” and he was unable to find a reliable publisher. He also was unable to find a place of residence for obvious reasons and spent the rest of his life as a wanderer. The following tidbits about Crowley send shivers down the spine of cogent non-woke people:

Crowley’s two wives went insane and five mistresses committed suicide.
One of Crowley’s more significant contribution (for lack of a better word) is the notion of putting backward messages into musical recordings. The occultist guitarist for Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, owns an enormous collection of Crowley memorabilia and bought Crowley’s mansion, Boleskine House, near Foyers, Scotland. Supposedly, Page placed backward-satanic messages into recordings such as “Stairway to Heaven.”
Crowley’s face is on the album cover of the Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
Crowley was named “Prophet of a New Aeon” which would end the “Age of Osiris” and usher in the “Age of Horus” (a new era had begun for humanity and the old religions were to be swept aside).

Many writings suggest that Crowley joined many different “Masonic” lodges and rose to high-ranking levels. However, these lodges were Masonic in name only and not a part of the society. As such, the true Masonic orders did not and do not recognize Crowley’s membership.

Although impoverished, disgraced, and a near-skeletal heroin addict, Crowley never lacked followers. He fathered several children, most of them illegitimately, and was still in demand as a medium and a magus to the end, designing a new sequence of tarot cards and commentating on it at some length in his Book of Thoth of 1944. He died, in Hastings, in 1947. [3] The video “Aleister Crowley - The Great Beast 666” provides additional details about him.

The letters O. T. O. stand for Ordo Templi Orientis, the Order of the Oriental Templars, or the Order of the Temple of the East. The O. T. O. claims to be “in sympathy with the traditional ideals of Freemasonry.”
Poupée in French usually means doll.
The Great Beast 666: who was Aleister Crowley? | National Trust

Major printed source for this blog, Hope of the Wicked by Ted Flynn, 2000

###

Cogent Author and Publisher, Frederick R. Smith
Cogent Editor, Sean Tinney

Fred Smith’s clipped news items

Recommended Websites (bold is top shelf)

Recommend (serious) Humor

The Peoples Cube

Recommended Videos (all top shelf)

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Cancelled Crusades and More!

At the 1999 “Prayer Breakfast,” then-President Clinton gushed “Throughout history people have prayed to God to aid them in war. I do believe that even though Adolph Hitler preached a perverted form of Christianity, God did not want him to prevail.” Does Clinton believe this tale about Hitler and Christianity? Perhaps. The Main Lame Stream Media (MLSM) and Marxist academia rarely supply the complete story. The audience has little reference to place things in a proper and full perspective.

The MLSM may have found it convenient to focus on the fact that Hitler had received a Catholic Baptism. The truth — all his adult life Hitler hated Christianity in general.

The myopic vision about Christianity and the pagan/occult Nazi regime is one of many examples. Another is the “horror” of Christianity vs. the downplaying of Communism. See The Black Book of Communism. For example, the Crusades may have claimed about two million lives in three centuries. Pol Pot in Cambodia directed the murder of about the same number of people in three years. To summarize, Communism is the fulfillment of atheism. But of course, your author qualifies this statement because not all atheists are bad.

The mantra used by the debased woke crowd is the notion that Catholicism committed the “vast horrors” of the Crusades and the Inquisition. And our good protestant friends are not immune; the same woke crowd makes sure we all learn about the Salem Witch Trials. Revisionist type of history that is. For the serious student, there are plenty of documents that supply a comprehensive history of each of these points of interest. The gaslighting of this topic compels your author to write a summary of each one.

The Crusades

Despite the debased assertions, four centuries of Muslim aggression and conquest occurred. The Christian world defended itself with the Crusades. As such, it was not about colonialism or unprovoked aggression nor was it an affront by an aggressive pope or even ambitious knights. Rather than surrendering to the Muslim worldview, Christianity as a culture and faith had to defend itself. It is proper to compare the Crusades to western culture’s actions in the two world wars.

In the seventh century, the religion of Mohammed was spreading. Millions of Christians faced the choice to convert or pay the ultimate price. Mohammed was born in Mecca in what is now Saudi Arabia around the year 570 A. D. At the age of 40, he began to preach as God’s prophet of the “true religion.” Mohammed set up a theocratic state at Medina after 622 and began to convert Arabia to Islam.

Following Mohammed’s death in 632, Muslim forces began to direct outward their warlike energies. Previously, the Arabs sparred with each other and the result was a century of conquest. In less than a century, Muslims had seized control of Syria, the Palestine area, and North Africa. Muslims seized control of southern Spain, invaded France, and were threatening to invade Rome. Charles Martel held them at bay at the battle of Thurs (Tours) in France in 732. Also, during this same time, the Muslims took control of Jerusalem, but they allowed Christians to come to the Holy City to worship. In the eleventh century, the Christians were under persecution by a sect of Islam called the Seljuk Turks. This same sect had a fort at Nicaea near Constantinople. In the 820s the Muslims conquered Sicily and Crete.

Byzantium (a part of Christendom), was under the leadership of Emperor Alexius. He tried to expel the Turks from the area. Alexius requested help from the Pope. In response, in 1095 Pope Urban from France was able to mobilize an army of thousands. The warriors and knights expelled the Turks from the Holy City.

Four years after Urban II’s speech in France, some of the frustrated Crusaders made it to Jerusalem. Many of them died on the way and the frustrated warriors arrived in Jerusalem. These aggravated soldiers massacred thousands of inhabitants. They did so in the barbaric manner practiced during warfare at those times. History shows us that they had slaughtered Muslims and many Jews. The conquest of the Turks by the Crusaders paved the way for the Holy City to return to its Christian roots.

After they were checked in their expansion in Western Europe, Muslims later conquered Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of India. The Crusades lasted about two centuries, and the only successful campaign was the retaking of Jerusalem. Fifty years after the battle for Jerusalem, the Muslims captured one of the key outposts Crusaders had created to protect the region (Edessa). This was the spark of the Second Crusade lead by St. Bernard of Clairveaux.

Unfortunately, as in all wars, many of those who were on the “front lines” were not in the fight for pure reasons. Since many were criminals, the people cherish their absence from Europe and many of the Crusaders were Christians in name only. Late in the Crusades, the Venetians used the Crusaders. Covertly, they destroyed one of their main competitors, the city of Constantinople (a part of Christendom). This helped to weaken Istanbul, Turkey, then Constantinople (Byzantine Empire), and caused it to fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, who by 1683 were encroaching as far as Vienna, Austria in 1683.

The capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders was the foundation for the waning popularity of their movement. A terrible military expedition was the Children’s Crusade. Here, the propaganda aroused children resulting in their deaths or capture into slavery.

The Muslims were being consistent with the Koran. This book sanctions the use of force to win converts. Christians were not being consistent with Christianity by this kind of warfare. Many of the Christians would not take up arms.

Many authors claim that the Crusaders were opportunists. They claim the Crusaders took advantage to rob and pillage away from their homeland. Research dispels that urban legend, and it would be dishonest to dispel the truth that elements of the Crusades plundered. While a few did become wealthy from the crusades, the vast majority returned with nothing.

Often, luminaries tout that the principal goal of the Crusades was to force Muslims into Christianity. The truth is Muslims in territories taken by the Crusaders could keep their religion. They also kept their property and livelihood. The only notable attempt at peaceful conversion was by the Franciscans in the 13th century. That was unsuccessful and abandoned.

All the above aside, we never should sweep terrible things committed in the name of “Christianity” under the rug. Nor should we look the other way because of the fear of Caustic Cancel Culture Pogrom (CCCP) using the epitaph of “Crusader.” Remember the Rwandans, as they mourn the 800,000 or so that have lost their lives in recent years. Or how about the plight of the Christians in Sudan? The MLSM has made it politically incorrect to discuss details about a certain religion. To talk about the “M” religion gets one accused by the CCCP of being a bigot. Meanwhile, to debase Christianity in general and Catholicism particular is more than acceptable, it is a sport. For balance, this author knows good people who adhere to the teachings of the Koran. It is a minority that causes the problems.

Brain Holdsworth’s “In Defense of the Crusades” video is an excellent recap of the above, and more.

The Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition was a court set up in 1233 to decide whether a Christian accused of heresy was guilty of holding heretical beliefs. If guilty, the purpose of the court was then to persuade him to abandon his false beliefs and repent. If he remained intractable, the court turned him over to the secular authority. Death by burning at the stake was usually the punishment given to condemned heretics.

The key to understanding the Inquisition lay in the corruption of certain people in the Church at that time. Simony (buying or selling of ecclesiastical pardons and offices) was rampant. In short, there were many bad men throughout various levels of leadership of the Church at the time. This is analogous to the evil that has infiltrated the Church today – the sexual predators. As a side note, in the case of sexual predators, the debased folk enamored with moral relativism seem to have a black and white worldview here.

Wealth and power have charms even for bishop and priest. In the Church, as it grew through the centuries, wealth and power depended upon the obedience of the flock. A hardy disputant who questioned his corrupt ecclesiastical superior was a mutineer of the worst kind. If he succeeded in attracting followers, they became the nucleus of a rebellion that threatened a revolution. The motive, good or evil, prompted the suppression of such sedition at all hazards and by every available method.

In this context, some religious movements arose among the laity. Movements that said that the Church was not necessary for salvation. One of them, the Waldensians, was a precursor to modern evangelicals. But another one, that of the Albigensian (also known as Catharism) rejected the historic Christian faith. Another crusade constrained these new religions. Although many faced death, these heresies continued. What the Crusade was unable to carry out, the Inquisition was set up to complete.

Historians do not know for certain how many thousands faced death in the Inquisition. There are some reasonable approximations. Estimates show the entire number killed has been between 30,000 and 300,000. Any number is bad, but the total is far less than the “millions” the anti-God crew gush forth. New research shows that 1% of the 125,000 people tried in Spain by Church tribunals for heresy ended up dead.

The Catholic Church has every right to disavow the excesses of the Inquisition because oppression forms no part of her Creed; that these atrocities have been grossly exaggerated; that the Inquisition was a political tribunal; Catholic Prelates were amenable to its sentence as well as Moors and Jews; the Popes denounced and labored hard to abolish its sanguinary features. [1]

The Spanish Inquisition was a monstrous epic of brutality and barbarity. According to some historians, it occurred in part to promote national unity. Were these Christians persecuting non-Christians? It was the very opposite. Some writings suggest that the members of the Inquisition Party were not Christians. They lived in the Dark Ages when the gospel of Jesus Christ had been all but forgotten. The faith was so perverted that it bore little resemblance to that given to us by Jesus Christ. The corrupt authorities at the time of the Inquisition were banning the Bible.

The Salem Witchcraft Trials

During the late Middle Ages, the killing of thousands of alleged witches occurred in the name of Christ. The 1486 book by Jacob Spener, Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches’ Hammer), played a significant role in this madness. This hysteria even made a temporary appearance among the otherwise-civil Puritans of New England.

In the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692, judges of Puritan New England followed Deuteronomy 19:15. They accepted the evidence of two “unimpeachable” witnesses. But in 1692, some Salem judges accepted “spectral evidence.” This is testimony by individuals with a ghostly likeness of the accused. They (supposedly) burned houses, sunk ships, etc. Tribunals targeted several hundred of the accused and the lives of twenty ended with hanging. Contrary to popular opinion, no witches faced burning in America.

Hidden from the history books is the fact that the Christians helped to stop this hysteria. Increase Mather and his son Cotton, the leading Puritan ministers of the day, spoke openly against it. Increase wrote a pamphlet “Cases of Conscience,” in which he called for the implementation of the biblical pattern of two witnesses, and the killings stopped.

Sources:

Why Apologize for the Spanish Inquisition? by Rev. Fr. Alphonsus Maria Duran; Publisher, Eric Gladkowski; February 1, 2000

Concise History of the Crusades by Thomas F. Madden; Publisher, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; October 1, 1999

What If Jesus Had Never Been Born by D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe; Publisher, Nelson Reference; April 9, 1997

Note:

James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, cited from his book The Faith of Our Fathers, 1876, Page 212.

###

Cogent Author and Publisher, Frederick R. Smith
Cogent Editor, Sean Tinney

Fred Smith’s clipped news items

Recommended Websites (bold is top shelf)

Recommend (serious) Humor

The Peoples Cube

Recommended Videos (all top shelf)

Monday, February 1, 2021

The Pledge and Flag Under Fire

Frederick R Smith has moved to Frederick R. Smith Speaks (substack.com)

The phrase “the laws of Nature and Nature’s God” contained in the Declaration of Independence is an important founding concept. This is the understanding that our government is subordinate to God. Congress made this point in 1954 by adding the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. Unfortunately, few of our citizens know much about the origins of the Pledge, or why Congress changed it. Most accounts of the 1954 alteration focus on the fact that Congress sought to distinguish the American system as the antithesis of Soviet Communism. The real story — patriotic individuals and groups sought to harmonize the Pledge in 1954 with the synchronization of the fundamental concept expressed in our founding documents. A government is accountable not only to the people but to God.

In 1891, Francis Bellamy introduced the original Pledge of Allegiance. It went this way — “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and [to] the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” According to Dr. John W. Baer, author of The Pledge of Allegiance: A Centennial History 1892-1992, “Bellamy wanted it as an international peace pledge, so he hoped that all the republics [of the world] on their peace day, would put a white border around their flag, and recite it as a pledge.”

Bellamy was a founder of the Society of Christian Socialists (SCS). By 1891 he also helped his cousin Edward Bellamy with the advancement of the worldwide “Nationalist” movement. Edward authored the novel “Looking Backward: 2000-1887.” The main character in this novel awoke from sleep in 2000 to see that America became a part of a world union of socialist republics. According to Dr. Baer, both the SCS and the nationwide network of “Nationalist” clubs were American extensions of the socialist Fabian Society. Founded in 1889, the Fabians are a particular group based in Great Britain. The Fabians want to slowly introduce “total socialism” around the world. See the Nasty New World Order.

Public schools nationwide adopted Bellamy’s Pledge. This occurred to introduce American principles to the children of immigrants. By 1924, the Pledge was under attack from the American Legion and Daughters and of the American Revolution. These patriotic organizations were able to see the hidden socialistic internationalism. They worked to change the phrase “my Flag” (unlinked to the USA) to “the Flag of the United States of America.” Bellamy did not like the revision. Ignoring his protest, Congress codified the revised Pledge in June 1942. Congress approved an official version of the Pledge and it did nothing to force any American citizens to recite it in school or elsewhere. Later the Knights of Columbus (a Catholic lay organization), lobbied Congress in 1954 to insert the words “under God” into the Pledge. Currently, the Pledge now expresses the opposite of what Bellamy desired. The words “under God” recognize that our nation is subservient to the Almighty. Pledging to “one nation under God” is the antithesis of the allegiance to a State that imagines itself without God (as a supreme authority).

The commotion over the word “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is a mastication of the 1947 Supreme Court case — Everson v. Board of Education. This was the first time the system prohibited states from the establishment of religion. The Founders such as Thomas Jefferson indeed wanted government not to interfere in religious matters. The Founders saw religion as prospering the best on its own, like the free market. So, there were plenty of open displays of religion from the beginning to 1947. Then in the early ’60s, the Supreme Court declared that the Bible is a dirty book for school children. Today, there is an aggressive program to make sure the entire population worships anything but Our Lord. A dependence on the state is a form of worship.

Contrary to revisionist history, there are copious historical documents and records that detail our Christian heritage. Section 16 of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, adopted by the Virginia Constitutional Convention on June 12, 1776, is a salient example:

That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.

Our Christian heritage is an important building block of the nation’s culture. Today, we hear about how important it is to show tolerance of others such as respecting the Muslim “culture.” If the worship of Muhammad is a “culture” then some toleration of our Christian heritage would be in order. Our fake overlords blabber on how we must not generalize all the people of a particular religion due to the actions of a few bad actors. These same creeps drop this specific mantra when it comes to 75 million trump voters.

The Caustic Cancel Culture Pogrom (CCCP) now killing our true history in a whirlwind’s manner is an affront to our Nation. In one of many examples, The Lies of the 1619 Project give us insight into the many tools the CCCP has at their disposal. The latest assault against the flag is a symptom of a much bigger problem that goes back in history. It is the same old evil infestation as shown in this blog – socialism and communism, but a new type, with the debased commie loving corporations in partnership with government. Originally the term “Fascism” described the public-private partnerships that occurred in Italy during the Mussolini reign. Take your pick, Fascistism or Commucist to describe the Newtopia of today.

Facing the adversity of the CCCP, the heart-warming true story about Vice Admiral James Stockdale (December 23, 1923 – July 5, 2005) will give us some hope. September 9, 1965, was a life-changing day for Stockdale. It was the day the Vietcong shot down his Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. He ejected to save his own life and the North Vietnamese captured him that day. They detained Stockdale at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” (Hỏa Lò Prison). They would take in a very, very troublesome prisoner. He set up communications among the American prisoners of war, and a code of rules to organize the prisoners and boost their morale.

This famous quote by Stockdale will help us face the CCCP: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

###

“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”

—Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Cogent Author and Publisher, Frederick R. Smith
Cogent Editor, Sean Tinney

Fred Smith’s clipped news items

Recommended Websites (bold is top shelf)

Recommend (serious) Humor

The Peoples Cube

Recommended Videos (all top shelf)