THE ENDURING RAGE

 When it comes to history, far too many are far to ignorant of a global, entrenched, irrational, fanatical, and demonic hatred: there's a soft name for this irrationality; antisemetism. That's a euphemism for "Jew hatred." Jew hatred is the most ancient of all hatreds; popes and princes, kings, queens, pharoahs, professors, students, universities and politicians have Jewish blood on their hands. National heroes have promoted the raging; "heroes" like Henry Ford have promoted it. 

Let's take a look back, way back, throughout history and see the specifics and results of this hatred. The picture isn't pretty and, most important, it's way, way worse than you think it is. To start our historical journey, let's go back to Spain in the fifteenth century, that century at whose close Columbus sailed the ocean blue. (This notation is not to suggest that he was a hater of the Jews; he wasn't but two famous people he knew were. He delayed sailing out of the harbor so he could save a few Jews.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE A JEW IN SPAIN BACK THEN?

In 1391, a mob murdered 4,000 Jews in Seville. In the space of 90 days, 5,000 more had een murdered. Tens of thousands more were forced to convert to the Roman Catholic Church. Those horrific numbers didn't quench Spain's thirst for the blood of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The people had come to believe that Jewish blood was so tainted that even a forced conversion couldn't eliminate the problem. Their solution: extermination. 

This triggered the infamous Spanish Inquition during which 32,000 were burned at the stake. Those who weren't were forced to wear clothes with yellow crosses. If they refused, they were branded and burned to death. Other punishments: Jews were banned from being lawyers, notaries, or doctors. They couldn't bear arms, thus rendering them defenseless. Gun control! Jews couldn't receive money, carve stone, own a tavern, ride a horse, travel by cart or carriage, wear gold, silver, or precious stones, silk, or grow a beard.

THE MAGNIFICENT IRONY

The king and queen of Spain were Ferdinand and Isabella. Under their rule an edict went out that all Jews were to be exiled from Spain. In July 1492, the exodus began. When Columbus left on his famous voyage in August, he could not use the port of Cadiz because of the large numbers of Jews waiting to board ships in the harbor. 

How was his trip in which he discovered the new world financed? Ferdinand and Isabella funded Columbus' voyage through a combination of royal treasury funds and contributions from the city of Palos.

And it was in the new world that a nation would be founded to support giving the Jews their homeland in 1948 and provide protection for them.

THE SPANISH ARMADA

And what happened to Spain? What happened to Spain was that they ran into Genesis 12:3b : ". . . those who curse you [the Jews], I [God] will curse."

And this brings us to the mighty Spanish Armada. "The Spanish Armada was a fleet sent by King Philip II of Spain in 1588 to invade England. The Armada faced numerous challenges, including poor weather ["the wind and the waves obey His voice"] and strategic miscalculations, leading to its defeat by the English navy. This defeat marked a significant turning point in history, as it established England's naval supremacy and was celebrated as a great victory for Protestant England over Catholic Spain."  

ONE WORD THE BIBLE STUDENT SHOULD NEVER SAY

 There is one word the Bible student should never say and it's all because of the Roman emperor Hadrian who ruled from 117-138 AD. He had the effrontery to go into Israel and rename it! The name he chose was because he wanted to mock the Jews. He wanted to rename the land to de-Judaize it. 

The new and insulting name he chose was "Palestine" because it's a derivative of "Philistine" who were the ancient enemies of Israel. He chose he name both to mock and to humiliate the Jews. Let's call what he did what it is, a slur. 

The Bible never uses the word "Palestine." Threfore we should not use it of the land of Israel.

Now you know. 

THE OBSESSION

 People can have all kinds of obsessions--heroin, alcohol, the New York Yankees, a celebrity, the royal family, or they diet to the point of anorexia.

But there's one obsession that's worldwide and outstrips all the others. That obsession is Jew hatred. Such a hatred has it's own technical term:antisemitism. Henry Ford had it. So did Bobby Fischer, Charles Lindbergh, Martin Luther, Charles Dickens, and Mel Gibson who ranted,  "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.'" 

We can show that ancient hatred to be irrational by looking at some statistics which show us the percentages of the population of Jews living in various countries:

America: 2.3%

France: 3/4 of 1%

The United Kingdom: 0.5% (Yet people think they control the world and have started every war.)

Another fact: there is only one country in the world in which the Jewish population is the majority (Israel). 

Let's turn our attention to the percentage of Jews in relation to the world's population: 0.2%

Yet, the world is addicted to Jew hatred. Antisemitism has been called "the oldest hatred." Israel faces more criticism and condemnation in the United Nations than any other country. The UN passes more resolutions against Israel than any other country.

University campuses are also addicted to hating 0.2% of the world's population; students riot, take over buildings, lead chants over bullhorns they don't even know what they mean, and attack and harrass Jews on campus to the extent that a rabbi advised Jewish studets of one Ivy League college to go home for their own safety while the administrations of those schools did nothing to protect them. 

All this, while N. Korea, Cuba, China, and Russia have murdered millions of their own people and are ignored.

There is an evil supernatural component at work, promoting this addiction. Only the Bible informs us about it in Revelation 12. 

DRONES IN AUSTIN, TX

 Would it be safe to say that America has rejected God and His Word? I believe that's true. So the question what happens next, that is, it creates a vacuum and, as the saying goes, "Nature abhors a vacuum." Therefore, a vacuum creates, automatically, the necessity to fill it. The question is what has filled it?

I think we could use one word to describe the "filler:" irrationality" The reason for the filler is because, as Proverbs says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." If there is no wisdom, irrationality prevails.

Let's look at some examples of irrationality. 

1. The idea that how I feel determines reality. If a male "feels" that he is not a male, then, he isn't. This irrationality has led to all kinds of collateral damage too evident to mention. 

2. The feeling that marriages and families don't  matter. Vows mean nothing; children don't need a father. A relationship within the bounds of marriage is not sacred. But the family is the place where children learn to be trustworthy, to share, and and to have boundaries. The family is a nation in miniature.  

3. The idea that diversity is strength. Yet, as history has shown, a nation needs a common language, a common body of literature, a common law, and a common enforcement of that law, et al. If it does not, the nation breaks into various tribes, each seeking power over the other.

4. The feeling that each person has his or her own truth. The deduction from this is that everyone else MUST accept the other person's truth. Man has become his own god. 

5. The feeling that man, through government, can build Eden on earth. So when their candiate doesn't win the election, they become hysterical. A correlary of this is that since making the bulding of Eden their goal, they can use political power to force others into their belief because "it's for their own good.

6. Another result of irrationality'filling the vacuum is violence.

And this leads us to the reason for the title of this blog: drones in Austin, Tx. I was on my way to my secular meeting, now on Wednesdays, listening to the car radio. "It's back to school time," the annoucer said and, "A poll has been taken that asked the question, 'What is a parent's biggest concern for the start of schoo?'" My alert mind came up the the answer: the cost of getting a child ready for school--new clothes to stay up with the Joneses; school supplies, things like that but, boy, was I ever wrong. 

The numbe one concern among the polled parents was school shootings. To say it another way, their number one concern was that their child might be gunned down and killed at school!

This is where Austin enters the picture. A local company has developed drones that will fly over some of the Austin schools during the school day and will be able to report to the authorities if it sees a student or anyone else approaching the school with a weapon. Our schools have become places where we have to fly drones over them to protect the students from being murdered.

Now, granted, this is in the experimental stage for the school year but it does show us one thing: there are serious consequences for irrationality that automatically comes from rejecting God and His word. 

The price of rejecting God and His Word is indeed heavy.