Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts

Friday, 22 August 2014

ISIS, Mosul Dam and threatening lives of those who want to live in freedom

Flag of islamic state of iraq (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The day before Yesterday the National Flemish Television (VRT) did not want to show the video of Islamic State (IS) [formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS] with the terrible beheading of the American journalist James Foley. The commercial television programs showed some parts of it, but not the beheading itself.
Hearing the voice of the hangman we could notice his English accent which would not be found by a real Arabic. This could give us the impression that the American white man was killed by an European (white) man. For a second time James Folley had been abducted in 2012, this time by the extremist group ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State. We can imagine which torture he had to endure and may wonder why he agreed to tell the world it is all the fault of the Americans, when he did, not the IS terrorist were going to kill him anyway. The executioner stayed standing straight and wanted to prove it is serious business with IS going for America and its allies. By threatening to do the same to another American journalist in Syria, identified as Steven Sotloff, the 50,000-strong Islamic militant group wants the Obama administration to meet its demands. The extremists want to intimidate the Obama administration into halting U.S. airstrikes on ISIS strongholds in Iraq. These airstrikes seem to be impeding ISIS’ultimate objective: to maintain and expand its self-declared caliphate.

The extremists have already seized large parts of Iraq and Syria, taking control of several of the towns’ main resources, like wheat and oil fields. Having those bases or strongholds of water and fuel provision in their hands will give them enough power to prove to the world they are a real state to be taken serious. Previously having seized the largest dam in Iraq, controlling the water supplies over a very big area, made them a feared competitor for the regional politicians. Already some governments gave already in and did not mid buying water and fuel supplies from IS. But by having the U.S. and Iraqi forces successfully regaining control of the Mosul dam, IS felt weakened again.

Kurdish forces claim they have recaptured the Mosul Dam on Monday. - Reuters

Iraq's largest dam (fourth-largest dam in the Middle East), built in the 1980s not being any more in the hands of IS they can not use it as a weapon to hold back electricity or water, or can not destroy it to flood lots of land and wreaking havoc. According to the BBC the United States recently spent $27 million to shore up the dam.

If ISIS breached the dam, or if it somehow failed, it could send a 65-foot wave of water crashing into Mosul and floodwaters could reach as far as Baghdad. "A catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam would result in flooding along the Tigris River all the way to Baghdad," a 2006 report from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction warns. A failure of the Mosul Dam could kill 500,000 people. {International Business Times: Mosul Dam: Why The US Aided Kurdish Forces To Recapture Strategic Structure From ISIS}

I did not see the video, because I did not watch television companies which do not take notice of 'decency'. There has to be a certain decorum for bringing news. Respectability and 'dignity' should be on the agenda. I also have no urge to be presented with images of grotesque violence on a daily basis. Since the wars in Syria and Gaza this seems to be daily food.
Do the newspapers and television-stations remember that when they bring a portrait in view, the death person or the broken body of a child was someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s friend? Are they aware that in this world of modern technology, were so many people can be easily connected, there can be a high chance some family member may be confronted with a family member, even before he or she got the news from official sources?
Also Foley’s parents saw the latest awful images of their loved one. They were courageous to tell the world about their children, having had more worries about their two sons fighting as a soldier, than fearing for the one who was trying to bring news from both sites so that the world could get to know what really happened.

In a way IS cuts down the possibility to have her voice in the free world, because they themselves cut down the strings of free speech and make it that other journalists would not be eager to come to tell ISIS their story. IS also makes it that more and more they, but also the Islam, comes in a bad footlights.

At last in the UK some imams and the spokesman of the Islamic Woman Rights spoke out yesterday on the Breakfast show, telling the world that IS does everything against Islam and misuses the name of Allah. In many more countries Muslims should come to defend their faith. The imam also asked faithful Muslims to be aware that they could do much more for their faith in their own democratic counties where they also could vote for the right persons and have their voice heard much more than by going to fight in Syria. The IS militants and all Muslims should wonder what good it would do by threatening people with murder and rape to get them converting to the Muslim faith. Are they not aware that doing conversions under threat, like happened already in the past with Catholicism and Islam, got those religions infected with false teachings and pagan actions or heathen rites. In case they would like to have a pure faith they better would live according to their Holy Scriptures and try to convince others by their good example. violence is and always has been the wrong way to get somewhere and had always turn the ball against themselves like the boomerang always returns.

English: The hydroelectric power plant at Mosu...

The hydroelectric power plant at Mosul Dam with four surge tanks in background (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By its actions IS also pushes the west in providing the Kurds with food and water-supplies but also with weapons. These weapons later can be used to make the Kurds stronger in getting their rights and invading Turkey and Syria to get their own state Kurdistan which they already should have had. At the moment the moment the Kurds are one of those people who are still not recognised in their own rights. They still are the largest ethnic group without a country of their own. When IS tries to put them in such corner that they shall have no other way to come out fighting their way to freedom, they shall see in that the opportunity to make an end to them having to live across the borders of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey and parts of the former Soviet Union. Their culture and identity have been oppressed by the regimes of the nations within which they live. Religion, language, culture and perhaps, most importantly, a common history of persecution tie together the more than 20 million Kurds worldwide. Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government says:

"I offer my condolences to Mr Foley’s family and the American people. They have lost a brave son who wanted to document the horrible aspects of war and conflict and shed light on their human costs."

The Prime Minister Barzani told yesterday (21 August 2014) the Christian leaders that international coalition is needed to defeat ISIS and made a plight of internally displaced people.

Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi arrived in the Kurdistan Region to express his country’s support for the KRG and its fight against the terrorists.

The Kurdistan Regional Government would like to express its gratitude, appreciation, and indebtedness to President Barack Obama for taking the timely decision to provide airstrikes against the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group that was killing, hunting, and terrifying innocent people in Kurdistan as well as Iraq's ancient minorities

Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani yesterday welcomed Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, the European Union’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva, and a number of European Union officials to Kurdistan to review the current crisis. On Monday, President Barack Obama said the American operation has helped drive ISIS from strategic cities and infrastructure in northern Iraq, which apparently angered the Muslim militants. Today we see journalists trying to cover conflicts, having to face they being silenced by the ones who create the conflicts. The man in black, wielding a knife, on the video, asked God to cross the “cosmic reach of the universe” and soothe his family. The ISIS militant said:

“Any attempt by you, Obama, to deny Muslims liberty and safety under the Islamic caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people.”

Lots of Islam fundamentalists do not seem to see that in many Western countries lots of freedom is given to Muslims and other religious people, but that in those countries where there is worked on democracy, they try to have all people getting the free choice to have whatever religion they want to keep unto, or if they want to be an atheist to give them that freedom not to worship any god. In the war which is going on around the borders of Syria and Iraq it is clearly not about religion, because even brothers and sisters who have faith in Allah and use the Koran, are often not considered to be of the right faith. Like Obama points out:

“Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, and for what they do every single day.”

At last we can hear some more Muslim voices condemning what IS does. Muslims were among the first to lament Foley’s killing and have repeatedly condemned ISIS’ reign of terror in Iraq and Syria. They are victims, too, of the crimes committed in the name of Islam. Many have worked tirelessly to combat them. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, said in a video released in June:

“Do jihad in the cause of God, incite the believers and be patient in the face of this hardship.”

As Kurdish forces, called Peshmerga, were succeeding in halting ISIL’s advance through Kurdistan as well as in the Diyala province to the south, the ISIL commander Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, from the al-Bu Badri tribe, left his headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul around Aug. 10 and fled from Iraq to neighbouring Syria as Iraq and the United States intensified air strikes on IS positions. This leader indoctrinates the people telling them he is the wali (leader) who presides over them and who will bring the best of things to their life. “Caliph Ibrahim,” the name Baghdadi took when the group declared on June 29 a “caliphate,” a pan-Islamic state last seen in Ottoman times in which the leader is both political and religious, asks the people to let him know when he is doing wrong. But nobody would dare to being afraid to be killed. According to the Guardian, of all the prominent jihadi leaders, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), is among the most mysterious and described by some as "the new Osama bin Laden". And his mystique – for now at least – has only been burnished by his group's capture of the city of Mosul. His words:

“If you see that I am wrong, advise me and put me on the right track, and obey me as long as I obey God.”

are just hollow phrases, because I would think he should have heard already enough from real honest Muslims who tried to show the world the truth of Islam. There is at least no mystery about what Baghdadi wants concerning an Islamic State. the way he wants to get those believes reality are going totally against Koranic believes.

It may be a good idea for many Muslims to be able to live in one state where they are free to do all that their belief demands. He therefore wants to bring the world's Muslims living under one Islamic state ruled by sharia law, the first step of which is establishing a caliphate spanning Syria and Iraq. After Al-Qaeda the western world may see again an Islamic warrior threatening free democratic principles. After the French military delivered heavy weapons, Kurdish Security Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Halgurd Hikmat said:

“We are still waiting for more weapons from our allies.”

As the west shall feel the need to provide such weapons to halt IS, they shall have to be aware they also give the opportunity of the Kurds to go on to fight for getting recognition and having their own state. A danger looming.

For sure the West certainly has to take care that Islamic youngsters may come to see and understand that in the West they also shall find enough chances to liberally fulfil their duties like Allah asks from them. A democratic system may give more equal rights to all sorts of people and all sorts of religions. In case their religion is the right one and other religious people would not be able to live under Allah, they should not fear if they keep to the Laws of Allah, because than they would be able to be safe. But when they are going to do things which endanger their acceptance for Allah they should be more careful, because they could be worse off than the irreligious. The religious leaders of the Islamic world should come out and let the world see their true face. If their will is to follow Allah the world should have nothing to fear and they will recognise the faithful by their words and deeds. But the unfaithful to God shall be unmasked. The imposters hall soon be imposed.

In the meantime the European Union is very clear: In the Statement by the Spokesperson on the murder of US journalist James Foley is said:

"We strongly condemn the outrageous murder of the US journalist James Foley by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. We express our sincere condolences to the family of this distinguished journalist, to his friends and colleagues. This brutal act, like the many other human rights violations which are perpetrated by the Islamic State, denies universally recognized values and rights, including the freedom of press for which Mr Foley had risked his life on several occasions. The EU will continue to promote the safety of journalists in the Middle-East and worldwide. Such forms of terrorism constitute one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. The EU is more committed than ever to support international efforts to fight terrorism, to combat human rights violations and to restore the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria. The EU will use all means at its disposal to contribute to this endeavour."

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The Kurdistan regional government emblems

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Note:The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)—also known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq or AQI—was the Iraqi division of the international Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda. Al-Baghdadi was announced as leader of the ISI on 16 May 2010, following the death of his predecessor Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in a raid the month before.

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Please find also to read:

Other websites to look at:

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Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Problems attracting and maintaining worshippers

The urgency to reach people with the Gospel can,
if the church is not faithful and watchful,
tempt us to subvert the Gospel by redefining its terms.

We are not honest if we do not admit that the current cultural context
raises the cost of declaring the Gospel on its own terms.

Jim Hinch writes:

The exteriors of Crystal Cathedral. Garden Grove, CA, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just 10 years ago, evangelical Christianity appeared to be America’s dominant religious movement. Evangelicals, more theologically diverse and open to the secular world than their fundamentalist brethren, with whom they’re often confused, were on the march toward political power and cultural prominence. They had the largest churches, the most money, influential government lobbyists, and in the person of President George W. Bush, leadership of the free world itself. Indeed, even today most people continue to regard the United States as the great spiritual exception among developed nations: a country where advances in science and technology coexist with stubborn, and stubbornly conservative, religiosity. But the reality, largely unnoticed outside church circles, is that evangelicalism is not only in gradual decline but today stands poised at the edge of a demographic and cultural cliff.

The most recent Pew Research Center survey of the nation’s religious attitudes, taken in 2012, found that just 19 percent of Americans identified themselves as white evangelical Protestants—five years earlier, 21 percent of Americans did so. Slightly more (19.6 percent) self-identified as unaffiliated with any religion at all, the first time that group has surpassed evangelicals. (It should be noted that surveying Americans’ faith lives is notoriously difficult, since answers vary according to how questions are phrased, and respondents often exaggerate their level of religious commitment. Pew is a nonpartisan research organization with a track record of producing reliable, in-depth studies of religion. Other equally respected surveys—Gallup, the General Social Survey—have reached conclusions about Christianity’s status in present-day America that agree with Pew’s in some respects and diverge in others.)

Secularization alone is not to blame for this change in American religiosity. Even half of those Americans who claim no religious affiliation profess belief in God or claim some sort of spiritual orientation. Other faiths, like Islam, perhaps the country’s fastest-growing religion, have had no problem attracting and maintaining worshippers. No, evangelicalism’s dilemma stems more from a change in American Christianity itself, a sense of creeping exhaustion with the popularizing, simplifying impulse evangelical luminaries such as Schuller once rode to success.

California's Crystal Cathedral, now Christ Cathedral (Photo by Wikipedia user Nepenthes)

Continue reading: Where Are the People? -
Evangelical Christianity in America is losing its power—what happened to Orange County’s Crystal Cathedral shows why

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Is the Megachurch the New Liberalism?

Black Christian new writes:

The emergence of the megachurch as a model of metropolitan ministry is one of the defining marks of evangelical Christianity in the United States. Megachurches -- huge congregations that attract thousands of worshipers -- arrived on the scene in the 1970s and quickly became engines of ministry development and energy.

Over the last 40 years, the megachurch has made its presence known, often dominating the Christian landscape within the nation's metropolitan regions. The megachurch came into dominance at the same time that massive shopping malls became the landmarks of suburban consumer life. Sociologists can easily trace the rise of megachurches within the context of America's suburban explosion and the development of the technologies and transportation systems that made both the mall and the megachurch possible.

Continue reading: Is the Megachurch the New Liberalism?

Friday, 28 February 2014

Oscar Weekend 2014

For Belgium the Oscar Weekend is going to be special.

The Belgians are looking forward to the fourth feature-length film by Felix van Groeningen. After Steve+Sky (2004), With Friends Like These (2007)van Groeningen received international recognition after The Misfortunates (2009) was selected in Cannes (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, 2009).

The Broken Circle Breakdown is based on the stage play with the same name by Johan Heldenbergh and Mieke Dobbels, with which they filled all manner of theaters, church halls, public houses and cultural centres.
The film was the indigenous hit movie of the 2009/10 season (465,000 admissions) and won several awards and nominations, both nationally and internationally. The admission figures in France and the Netherlands were particularly noteworthy and the producer Dirk Impens and Menuet may be looking forward not only to much Belgian press ineterest, but also lots of American interest.

Christians in America hope many people will turn up for two totally different films, which they would like to see produced more.

Followers of Christ are asked to make Twentieth Century Fox’s Son of God which opens in the American theatres nationwide this Friday. This movie is about the life of Christ and the American Christians would love to see it having a resounding success, sending the strong message to Hollywood that we want more of this kind of entertainment.

They think Son of God is their best opportunity to date to prove that Christians aren’t a niche market but a full-fledged movement of moviegoers.

The 22nd Annual Movieguide Awards will air on Reelz on Saturday, March 1, at 2pm ET/ 11am PT, with an additional broadcast on Oscar Day, Sunday, March 2 at 2pm ET/ 11am PT. This ceremony, known throughout the industry as “the Christian Oscars,” celebrates the studio executives, producers, directors, actors and writers who make values-affirming movies and television shows. Roma Downey and Mark Burnett are among those who will appear on the show, along with Andy Garcia, James Denton, Ali Landry, Kevin Sorbo, John Ratzenberger and Corbin Bernsen. Richie Sambora and AJ Michalka will perform. Set your DVR and make sure you tune in.

EP 2013 LUX Film Prize winner is Felix van Groeningen’s The Broken Circle Breakdown (Photo credit: European Parliament)

Paramount Pictures will release NOAH, starring Oscar-winner Russell Crowe in the title role on March 28. You may have seen some news stories about the film in recent weeks alleging wild deviations from biblical truth rooted in extreme environmentalism and political statements about overpopulation. These allegations have all come from people who haven’t even seen the film! To help balance the discussion, I thought you’d like to see this recent piece from The Christian Post by John Snowden, NOAH’s biblical adviser.

And he’s not alone in being excited about the opportunities NOAH offers us to have discussions about God in the culture. Ted Baehr, the founder of Movieguide, was interviewed by Yahoo! News about NOAH. Here’s a snippet of that story.

Son Of God | "Prepare" TV Spot

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Welcome

Welcome at this zone created by Marcus Ampe for the Belgian Free Christadelphians, where previous articles from the MSN Groups and Multiply are brought together and made available again to the general public. On 2012 October 26 this site came into development and new articles shall be added next to our main site and to the Christadelphian Ecclesia site: Christadelphian Ecclesia.
You are welcome at that site to find more articles.

All who want to follow Jesus/Jeshua (Yeshua/Yahsua) from Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah and wants to be united with people who sincerely want to keep to those teachings of this masterteacher are welcome to share their love for Christ and their hope for the coming Kingdom.

The names "Christadelphia" and 'Christadelphian' is compounded of two Greek words: 'christos' and 'adelphoi' and means 'brethren in Christ'.

This site is created by a Free Christadelphian only bounded to Jesus Christ. We are open to anybody who wants to share the brotherly love of Christ. Coming together by a common belief in 'the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ' (Acts 8:12).

In the older Multiply messages links to Multiply shall not always work from 2012 December 1, but you shall be able to find them by copying and pasting the title in the search machine. I have worked on re-editing those links from 2005 onwards, so that they could work in the future, but it became a to much time consuming job, so I stopped doing it after a while. (My apologies for certain links not working any more.)

Thanks for visiting us and hope to see you again.

Welkom

Wij wensen allen welkom die hier op deze pagina's terecht komen en hopen dat zij geïnspireerd mogen geraken om verder de Bijbel ter hand te nemen en zelf op onderzoek te gaan wat er in de Heilige Schrift werkelijk staat.

De namen "Christadelphia" en "Christadelphian" is een samentelling van twee Griekse woorden : "Christos" en "adelphoi" en betekent 'broer in Christus'. De Christadelphians zijn een groep van mensen die samen verbonden zijn door hun gemeenschappelijk geloof betreffende de dingen aangaande het Koninkrijk van God en de naam van Jezus Christus (Jeshua, de Messias) (Handelingen van de Apostelen 8v12).
Christadelphian mensen zouden tot een wereldwijde gemeenschap moeten behoren, wiens doel is zo trouw als mogelijke de leerstelling en voorbeeld van Jezus/Jehsua Christus te volgen, zoals het geregistreerd staat in de Bijbel.
In een wereld die vol is van onzekerheden genieten wij van een eenvoudig, rechtstreeks en logisch geloof, dat nu al vrede en voldoening aanbiedt en de belofte van het nog te komen eeuwigdurende vreugderijk: het Koninkijk van God.

Op deze site, gecreëerd door Marcus Ampe voor de Vrije Belgische Christadelphians, of Broeders in Christus, zijn in oktober 2012 de vroegere berichten uit de MSN Groepen en Multiply samen gebracht en terug zichtbaar gemaakt voor het algemeen publiek.

Meerdere linken in de vroegere artikelen zullen vermoedelijk niet werken, maar u kan de titel dan kopiëren en plakken in het "Zoek" venster om zo bij het juiste artikel te komen. Ik maakte er werk van om de artikelen vanaf 2005 terug te editen en daarin de linken te vernieuwen, zodat zij terug zouden werken. Maar dit vroeg zo veel tijd dat ik het heb opgegeven. Daarom verzoek ik mij te verontschuldigen indien u een link tegen komt die niet meer werkt.

Vanaf 26 oktober 2012 is deze website opengesteld naar het publiek en zullen er in de toekomst nog enkele artikelen bij komen. Maar de meerderheid van de teksten zullen nu geplaatst worden op de site van de Vlaamse Broeders in Christus of Christadelphians en op de kerkgemeenschapssite
Christadelphian Ecclesia.

Graag ontmoeten wij u daar voor meerdere artikelen.

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Friday, 22 August 2014