Things are escalating. The birth pains are coming faster and stronger. The darkness is coming. Not only physical darkness but spiritual darkness. They may come simultaneously, or in stages… but both are coming. The Bible promises that there is coming a time when it will be night and no man can work, that there will be a famine for the word of God. (Mark 13:24, Amos 8:11, John 9:4, Matt 24:29, Rev 6:13, ) As we move into the end of days and the coming of the AntiChrist we are already seeing our world becoming more and more dark, spiritually. Yet, the worst is yet to come… and it is coming quickly.
Those in power would love nothing more than to return to the Middle Ages when those who were rich ruled over the slave classes with an iron fist. Where they kept the masses ignorant and unlearned. People are much easier to control that way.
Now the physical darkness may come by way of man or by the hand of GOD. Either way, dark is dark. Whether it is total darkness 24/7 or just no artificial light, either way, YOUR LIFE IS GOING TO CHANGE DRASTICALLY!
We don’t when these things will take place. However, GOD spoke these things, so we know they will take place. He said the Sun and the Moon and the Stars will cease to give light. He said there would be a famine for the hearing of the Word of God. That means both physical and spiritual darkness. The Spiritual Darkness to me seems that it is the worst. This world has already become so spiritually dark that it is dangerous to wander through it. There is coming a time when it will not be safe ANYWHERE. And you will not have the comfort of talking about or hearing about the promises of GOD. There will be know studying the Word for answers. You will only have what has been stored or planted in your heart.
With the world leaders all pushing for the adoption of the Kabbalistic Noahide Laws ruled by the Sanhedrin, and the Muslims pushing for the Caliphate and Sharia Law, we know that the time of the famine for the Word of God is just a very short time away.
God inspired the prophet Amos to record: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. Amos 8:11-13
The 21st century began with a global resurgence of religion that surprised secular leaders and scholars. Fundamentalist religious movements are spreading in Africa, China, Russia and South America. The Pope speaks of “re-evangelizing” Europe. In North America, “back to-the-Bible” churches are thriving while liberal “mainstream” churches are losing many members. Proponents of Intelligent Design are challenging evolutionists in classrooms and in the courts. All this excites many Bible-believers today, yet the Bible states that there will be a “famine of the hearing of the word” as we approach the end of this age. How can this happen along with a resurgence of religion? The answer is found in what the Bible reveals about religion at the end of the age—in prophecies that are coming alive today!
END-TIME SPIRITUAL FAMINE
God inspired the prophet Amos to record: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it” (Amos 8:11–12). This prophecy refers to a time when “the end has come upon My people Israel” (Amos 8:2), and it has dual applications to both the ancient nation of Israel and to modern nations descended from ancient Israel. A “famine” of hearing the truth occurs when the nations of Israel are taken over by a foreign power that prohibits the proclamation and practice of the true biblical faith. This happened around 720BC when Assyrians carried the northern 10 tribes of Israel into captivity. It will happen again during the Tribulation, when the modern descendants of ancient Israel are punished for their sins (Matthew 24:9; Hosea 5:5; Jeremiah 22:5–9).
The prophet Daniel explains how this “famine” of hearing the truth will come about in the last days. In a vision, Daniel saw a “little horn” dominating the last seven revivals of the Roman Empire (the fourth beast; see Daniel 7:7–8, 19–20). This little horn will be a prominent religious figure (and his church), teaching blasphemous doctrines that contradict Scripture. This “horn” will work to change the calendar of religious observances, and will persecute those who follow Scripture (Daniel 7:21, 24–25).
History records that the bishops of Rome presided over councils that changed the weekly day of worship from the biblical Sabbath (the day observed by Jesus, His disciples and Christians in the apostolic era; see Luke 4:16; Acts 13:42–44; 16:11–13; 17:2) to Sunday. Pagan sun worshipers already observed Sunday; one rationale for the change was that it would make it easier for pagans to convert to this new form of “Christianity.” In a similar manner, Easter was substituted for the biblical Passover, and winter solstice celebrations were “Christianized” to attract pagans into the fold. Roman law backed these ecclesiastical decisions to accept non-biblical doctrines and practices in the name of “Christianity.” In recent years, the papacy has re-emphasized Sunday as a day of worship, and has urged the adoption of European laws enshrining Sunday as a holiday. Such laws could be used in the future to actively discourage observance of the biblical Sabbath and to promote conformity to Sunday observance.
Daniel saw a vision of another “little horn\ that would cause the daily sacrifices in the temple in Jerusalem to cease and would \cast truth down to the ground” (Daniel 8:8–14). This dual prophecy was initially fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes when he sacked Jerusalem in 168BC, set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple and offered swine blood on the altar—a great offense to the Jewish people. Antiochus pressured Jewish priests to compromise their religious practices and to accept the process of Hellenization. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary states that Antiochus’ actions foreshadow “a determined effort made by a ruthless dictator to completely suppress the biblical faith” at the end of the age, who will attempt to foster religious uniformity (see comments on Daniel 8:11–12).
In yet another vision, Daniel prophesied that a powerful end-time leader, with links to a revived Roman system, will make a seven-year covenant that will at first permit the Jewish people to resume sacrifices, “but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering” (Daniel 9:26–27). This covenant will begin as a token of religious toleration, but after three-and-a-half years “all pretense of religious toleration will be dropped” as this ruler attempts to enforce conformity to a corrupt religion (Expositor’s Bible Commentary). This influential end-time religious leader, and his efforts to stifle and obliterate true biblical religion, are clearly linked to the actions of false teachers at the end of the age (Daniel 12:11; Matthew 24:3, 11, 15; Revelation 17:1–5).
VITAL PROPHECIES
The New Testament provides additional insights about end-time events that will contribute to “a famine… of the hearing of the word of the LORD.” Jesus said that in the years just preceding His return, “many will come in My name… and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:5). False teachers will preach about another Jesus and a different gospel, contradicting the Scriptures (2 Corinthians 11:1–4). Do not be fooled by this false Jesus and different gospel! Remember: Jesus, His apostles and the Church He founded kept a Saturday Sabbath and observed the biblical Holy Days. Historical sources and the biblical record show that Jesus was not born on December 25. The Bible states that no one but Jesus has gone to heaven (Acts 2:29, 34; John 3:13). Human beings were not created to go to heaven, sit on clouds and play harps, but to reign on this earth with Jesus Christ in the coming Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:28; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; Daniel 2:44–45; 7:27). This factual biblical information will be suppressed at the end of the age, because it conflicts with traditional beliefs promoted by the religious system that will dominate the world.
The Bible indicates that as we approach the end of this age, militant religious activity will increase (Revelation 6:1–2). In the last days, people will have “a form of godliness,” but it will not be based solidly on the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:1–5; 4:1–4). An influential religious figure will use supernatural powers to deceive people to believe lies, and will suppress the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:1–12). False teachers will “bring in destructive heresies” and will ridicule biblical doctrines and speak evil of the truth, while they twist Scriptures to support their erroneous ideas (2 Peter 2:1–3; 3:1–18). This climate of public opinion, critical and dismissive of true biblical Christianity, is developing today, and will culminate in an attempt to stamp out true biblical teaching—an attempt led by a powerful religious figure linked with a revived Roman system in Europe. It is vital that we understand where world events are leading today, and that we “seek the LORD while he may be found” (Isaiah 55:6) because a period of darkness is coming (John 9:4)—and with it will come “a famine… of the hearing of the wordof the LORD.”
EMP’s aka Electro Magnetic Pulse, was a byproduct of a nuclear explosion, but now it has been isolated and turned into a weapon itself. Watch the video for more information.
Nuclear bombs trigger a strange effect that can fry your electronics — here’s how it works. Dave Mosher … an effect called electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. … Weapons Nuclear Attack Fallout …
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also sometimes called a transient electromagnetic disturbance, is a short burst of electromagnetic energy. Such a pulse’s origination may be a natural occurrence or man-made and can occur as a radiated , electric , or magnetic field or a conducted electric current , depending on the source.
How E-Bombs Work. by … Most likely, this type of weapon would affect a relatively small area — nothing on the order of a nuclear EMPattack — but it could do some …
An EMP is a blast of electromagnetic energy that can disrupt — if not destroy —
electronic devices within an affected area. ISTOCKPHOTO
Anyone who’s been through a prolonged power outage knows that it’s an extremely trying experience. Within an hour of losing electricity, you develop a healthy appreciation of all the electrical devices you rely on in life. A couple hours later, you start pacing around your house. After a few days without lights, electric heat or TV, your stress level shoots through the roof.
But in the grand scheme of things, that’s nothing. If an outage hits an entire city, and there aren’t adequate emergency resources, people may die from exposure, companies may suffer huge productivity losses and millions of dollars of food may spoil. If a power outage hit on a much larger scale, it could shut down the electronic networks that keep governments and militaries running. We are utterly dependent on power, and when it’s gone, things get very bad, very fast.
An electromagnetic pulse weapon, or EMP, is designed to take advantage of this dependency. But instead of simply cutting off power in an area, a large EMP would actually destroy most machines that use electricity. Generators would be useless, cars wouldn’t run, and there would be no chance of making a phone call. In a matter of seconds, a big enough EMP could thrust an entire city back 200 years or cripple a military unit.
Let’s examine the basic concept behind EMPs, and we’ll take a look at some major bomb technologies.
The Basic Idea
The basic idea of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon is pretty simple. These sorts of weapons are designed to overwhelm electrical circuitry with an intense electromagnetic field.
If you’ve read How Radio Works or How Electromagnets Work, then you know an electromagnetic field in itself is nothing special. The radio signals that transmit AM, FM, television and cell phone calls are all electromagnetic energy, as are ordinary light, microwaves and x-rays.
For our purposes, the most important thing to understand about electromagnetism is that electric current generates magnetic fields and changing magnetic fields can induce electric current. This page from How Radio Works explains that a simple radio transmitter generates a magnetic field by fluctuating electrical current in a circuit. This magnetic field, in turn, can induce an electrical current in another conductor, such as a radio receiver antenna. If the fluctuating electrical signal represents particular information, the receiver can decode it.
A low intensity radio transmission only induces sufficient electrical current to pass on a signal to a receiver. But if you greatly increased the intensity of the signal (the magnetic field), it would induce a much larger electrical current. A big enough current would fry the semiconductor components in the radio, disintegrating it beyond repair.
Picking up a new radio would be the least of your concerns, of course. The intense fluctuating magnetic field could induce a massive current in just about any other electrically conductive object — for example phone lines, power lines and even metal pipes. These unintentional antennas would pass the current spike on to any other electrical components down the line (say, a network of computers hooked up to phone lines). A big enough surge could burn out semiconductor devices, melt wiring, fry batteries and even explode transformers.
There are a number of possible ways of generating and delivering such a magnetic field. In the next section, we’ll look at a few possible EMP weaponry concepts.
The Nuclear EMP Threat
The concept of EMP weaponry has been around for a long time. From the 1960s through the 1980s, the United States was most concerned with the possibility of a nuclear EMP attack.
This idea dates back to nuclear weapons research from the 1950s. In 1958, American tests of hydrogen bombs yielded some surprising results. A test blast over the Pacific Ocean ended up blowing out streetlights in parts of Hawaii, hundreds of miles away. The blast even disrupted radio equipment as far away as Australia.
Researchers concluded that the electrical disturbance was due to the Compton effect, theorized by physicist Arthur Compton in 1925. Compton’s assertion was that photons of electromagnetic energy could knock loose electrons from atoms with low atomic numbers. In the 1958 test, researchers concluded, the photons from the blast’s intense gamma radiation knocked a large number of electrons free from oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere. This flood of electrons interacted with the Earth’s magnetic field to create a fluctuating electric current, which induced a powerful magnetic field. The resulting electromagnetic pulse induced intense electrical currents in conductive materials over a wide area.
During the cold war, U.S. intelligence emphasized the idea that the Soviet Union could launch a nuclear missile and detonate it some 30 miles (50 kilometers) above the United States to achieve the same effect on a larger scale. They asserted that the resulting electromagnetic burst would knock out electrical equipment across the United States.
These days, U.S. intelligence is giving non-nuclear EMPs (NNEMPs) much more attention. These weapons wouldn’t affect as wide an area because they wouldn’t blast photons so high above the Earth. But they could be used to create total blackouts on a more local level.
Non-nuclear EMP Weapons
The United States has NNEMP weapons in its arsenal. Much of the United States’ EMP research has involved high-power microwaves (HPMs) that are like super powerful microwave ovens that can generate a concentrated beam of microwave energy. In 2012, the U.S. Air Force successfully demonstrated a missile equipped with tech from the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP). An improved version of that weapon — the High-Powered Joint Electromagnetic Non-Kinetic Strike Weapon (HiJENKS) — was being tested as of 2022.
Non-nuclear EMPs can also come in the form of flux compression generator bombs (FCGs), which date back to the 1950s. This sort of EMP bomb has a fairly simple design, illustrated below. The bomb consists of a metal cylinder (called the armature), which is surrounded by a coil of wire (the stator winding). The armature cylinder is filled with high explosive, and a sturdy jacket surrounds the entire device. The stator winding and the armature cylinder are separated by empty space. The bomb also has a power source, such as a bank of capacitors, which can be connected to the stator.
Here’s the sequence of events when the bomb goes off:
A switch connects the capacitors to the stator, sending an electrical current through the wires. This generates an intense magnetic field.
A fuze mechanism ignites the explosive material. The explosion travels as a wave through the middle of the armature cylinder.
As the explosion makes its way through the cylinder, the cylinder comes in contact with the stator winding. This creates a short circuit, cutting the stator off from its power supply.
The moving short circuit compresses the magnetic field, generating an intense electromagnetic burst.
Most likely, this type of weapon would affect a relatively small area — nothing on the order of a nuclear EMP attack — but it could do some serious damage.
In the next section, we’ll look at some possible effects of an EMP attack.
EMP Effects
The United States is drawn to EMP technology because it is potentially non-lethal but is still highly destructive. An EMP attack would leave buildings standing and spare lives, but it could destroy a sizable military.
There is a range of possible attack scenarios. Low-level electromagnetic pulses would temporarily jam electronics systems, more intense pulses would corrupt important computer data and very powerful bursts would completely fry electronic equipment.
In modern warfare, the various levels of attack could accomplish a number of important combat missions without racking up many casualties. For example, an EMP could effectively neutralize:
vehicle control systems
targeting systems, on the ground and on missiles and bombs
communications systems
navigation systems
long and short-range sensor systems
A widespread EMP attack in any country would compromise a military’s ability to organize itself. Ground troops might have perfectly functioning non-electric weapons (like machine guns), but they wouldn’t have the equipment to plan an attack or locate the enemy. Effectively, an EMP attack could reduce any military unit into a guerilla-type army.
While EMP weapons are generally considered non-lethal, they could easily kill people if they were directed towards particular targets. If an EMP knocked out a hospital’s electricity, for example, any patient on life support would die immediately. An EMP weapon could also neutralize vehicles, including aircraft, causing catastrophic accidents. A full-scale EMP attack in a developed country would instantly bring modern life to a screeching halt. There would be plenty of survivors, but they would find themselves in a very different world.
For more information about EMP weapons, check out the links below.
A nationwide blackout plunged Sudan in darkness on Sunday, the Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity said. “A failure on the Rabak-Masqar-Sennar-Maranjan-Alhasahisa power line caused the national energy grid to go down,” the ministry said in a statement. Learn More: https://sputniknews.com/africa/201904…
In March, Venezuela has already suffered from several large blackouts caused by what the authorities called US attacks on the Venezuelan power grid. Washington has denied any involvement in the power failures. According to media reports, new power outages hit large parts of Venezuela. Learn More: https://sputniknews.com/latam/2019041…
Do not FEAR, If you believe in GOD there is nothing to fear, Be prepared for anything, stay vigilant, and stay in prayers, God Bless you all and be safe,
Income inequality and rising protest movements mirror the Medieval times.
By Andrew Soergel, Senior Reporter Nov. 19, 2015, at 6:00 a.m.
A man stops and yells at officers as they make their way through the crowd to help a person who needed medical attention near the intersection of West North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue as protestors walk for Freddie Gray on West North Avenue and protest around the city in Baltimore, MD on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. (JABIN BOTSFORD/THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES)
GOP FRONTRUNNER DONALD Trump has built much of his 2016 presidential campaign on speaking his mind, and he’s had quite a lot to say during the current election cycle. At some events, he’s garnered support. During others, he’s sparked backlash.
But with all the theatrics and showmanship that go along with The Donald, it’s easy for non-supporters to dismiss much of what he says as white noise – even when he happens to say something particularly thought-provoking. Such was the case last month when Trump sprinkled a medieval reference into an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning program.
“All I know is this: We’re living in Medieval times,” Trump said. “We’re living in an unbelievably dangerous and horrible world.”
Granted, this was the same show during which Trump speculated that the world would be a better place if ousted leaders Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi were still in charge of Iraq and Libya, respectively. So it was easy to miss the medieval reference. But it was an interesting point nonetheless. Is the violence and economic inequality that pervades the world today analogous to the peasant uprisings and rampant warfare many associate with the Middle Ages?
Gini Graham Scott, an author, Huffington Post columnist, film producer and chief executive of Changemakers Publishing and Writing, explores this question in her recently published book, “The New Middle Ages.” Scott compares today’s widespread economic inequality to what was seen in Europe hundreds of years ago, drawing parallels between 2015’s top 1 percent of earners and medieval aristocracies. She says everything from the Fight for $15 movement to the rise in non-career politicians running for president to the formation of the Islamic State group are movements rooted in unresolved inequality not entirely dissimilar to what was seen during the Middle Ages.
U.S. News recently spoke with Scott to hear more about her book and how her thesis applies to current events. Excerpts:
You’ve drawn parallels between the political and economic polarization of the Middle Ages and what’s going on today. What’s your thesis? How did you end up on this topic?
I had been watching a number of these series on television that dealt with the Middle Ages and the Tudors and the monarchies. And I just started seeing the lifestyles of the very wealthy compared to the peasants, and it occurred to me that there were parallels. It was right around the time the Occupy Wall Street movement was very active, and since then other protests have built up.
But it just inspired me to think about how it was so much like what’s going on today with people who have these very rich lifestyles like the Kardashians. That seemed to be driving the conversation. You look at the news, and the lifestyles of the rich and famous are everywhere.
There were such stark differences in the lifestyles of the very wealthy then, as you see now. Their recreations were different. You had the jousting tournaments for the wealthy, and if the knights died, it didn’t really matter to them. They got really famous when they did well, but otherwise, it was like an animal playing for them.
In what ways are you seeing this play out economically? How does the global marketplace today compare to medieval times?
One of my chapters deals with comparing the fights of the nobles to the software battles, where you had these kings that are just battling for territory, a lot like the battles in the software industry.
It’s a little bit like in feudal times where you had these smaller kingdoms, and the nobles would fight among each other. They’d take on more and more territory, and there would be battles until you end up consolidating these small nations that ended up becoming France, Germany and England.
There are these shakeouts now going on in the startup and the tech community. There are predictions now that in six months or a year there’s going to be a bubble. And you’ve seen that shakiness in the stock market.
But the people who are ending up without the jobs as these companies close down are the low-income people who suddenly can’t find jobs. And if their support is pulled out by government policies, you’ll have more and more people pushed into the peasantry. And a lot of people who are wealthy have these golden parachutes. When Hewlett-Packard was having its problems and Carly Fiorina left, she had this golden parachute.
The gradual erosion of the middle class and the sharp divide between the lifestyles of the rich and the poor have been key platforms for a handful of 2016 presidential hopefuls. They’re also key tenets of your book. What’s your take on wage inequality?
The disparity between what the CEOs get now is much different than it was 10 years ago. You see that increasing disparity. And I see that as equivalent to what was happening in the Middle Ages when you had these kings becoming wealthier and wealthier and fighting these wars and taking over more territory. I just see that as something that’s happening today.
There have always been some people who don’t do as well as others, ever since 10,000 or so years ago when we had the agricultural revolution. But then you had the development of these kingdoms and then wars about kingdoms.
I didn’t go back to Roman times or before that, but you increasingly have these divergences between royalty and the lower classes. You see it in Latin America and the rise of the Inca and with the Aztec. I just happened to pick the Middle Ages, but you could find this same kind of pattern in other societies.
It just seems like more and more you have the wage differentials. The people wanting the $15 dollar an hour wage increase is a little bit like the peasants wanting to have less taxes so they could earn more money.
In your book, you compare the role of the media today to the role religious institutions like the Catholic Church played in medieval times. What connections did you make there?
People believed in what the church was saying, and the church would provide its support to one leader or another in some of these battles. And the church had thousands or millions of followers. So the Inquisitions, which were led by the nobility, would have the support of the church behind them.
And today, you have the media in a sense picking on certain people that they’re going to play up. In a way, the media has given Trump its platform. He’s paid very little for advertising. He’s just started to do some radio ads now. You almost wonder whether some of these outrageous comments were made to get media attention. But it worked, and he has appealed to the anti-immigration campaign, and he’s gotten a lot of followers, though he’s antagonized the Latin American community.
Speaking of Donald Trump, what’s your take on how this historical inequality is playing out in the 2016 presidential race? You have candidates like Bernie Sanders who have vowed to revitalize the middle class. Is he appealing to a desire for equality that’s been around since the Middle Ages?
Sanders does seem to come up from that ‘Let’s help the people.’ On the Republican side, you have some very wealthy people leading this rebellion. It’s almost like choosing which king is going to lead the rebellion of the peasants.
You read about them making really crazy statements or insulting people, and people seem to follow that. You have these non-politicians as the two leading candidates, Trump and [retired neurosurgeon Ben] Carson. People follow them because of some of the principles that they’re espousing. It doesn’t really matter what they say.
It seems politics is just not working. You had these peasant revolts that would throw up a charismatic leader, and the other powers that be would go after whoever that is to try to destroy them.
I think there’s this power struggle going on, which you could also compare to the fights between the royalty for dominance and power in their era.
So how do you see this struggle playing out? Is history repeating itself? Should we expect to see the modern-day equivalent of a full-scale peasant revolt?
It’s hard to predict, and you can evaluate things in hindsight. But I see the rebellions gathering more force. I see more and more things like [the Islamic State group] happening, where people are out of power and are fighting to get power. I see more and more of that happening, and I see us pulling out of some of these places because you can only fight so many wars.
If history repeats itself, you’ll just have these patterns of rebellions and the wealthy starting to consolidate their power. Maybe another wealthy person will take over. Maybe [Syrian President Bashar] Assad will be thrown out of office. But you have these patterns repeating themselves again and again. Andrew Soergel, Senior Reporter
Of all the political and intellectual surprises that come at us every day now, one of the more unusual is the strange resurgence of the Middle Ages as an influence on our times. A number of conservative thinkers have proposed that as modernity and liberalism led humanity to a dead end, we should look to the medieval period for inspiration on how to remake our world. This idea has been expressed through memes and writings of the alt-right and has found its way all the way up to Presidential advisors.
One reason for the appeal of the Middle Ages can be seen in popular memes spread through alt-right online forums. They feature the Crusader battle call “Deus vult!” which basically translates to “God wills it”. It is used as a Christian version of “Allahu akbar” – a call to action for the Western civilization in its supposed war against Islam.
Another way that the Middle Ages fascinate people has been proposed by a number of conservative blogs and thinkers – they are newly seen as a time of traditional values that celebrated god, masculinity, homogeneity instead of diversity, and traditional gender roles.
The “Middle Ages” is generally considered to be the period of history that goes from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West in 476 CE to the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453, when Constantinople was sacked. Another way to mark the end of the medieval period is the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century.
A Deus Vult meme image.
It’s common to regard the Middle Ages as a dark period in human history, without many accomplishments. The historian Edward Gibbon, who wrote the “Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire,” called the period full of “barbarism and religion”. This historical time is also associated with the terrible epidemic of “Black Death” – the bubonic plague that killed 20 million people in Europe, 30% of its population at the time, in the middle of the 14th century.
This negative point of view on the Middle Ages has been challenged of late, with new scholarship pointing out that the era had some achievements, like the majestic Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals that sprang all over Europe, leading to architectural and artistic innovation. The period also saw the eventual transformation of feudalism due to factors such as agricultural inventions, leading to increased population in city centers.
People praying for relief from the bubonic plague, circa 1350. Original Artwork: Designed by E Corbould, lithograph by F Howard. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The Middle Ages were also a period of great growth of Islamic power. Muslim armies conquered the Middle East, with the Islamic world becoming three times as big as the Christian one during the height of its influence. The intellectual life that was missing from Europe was thriving in cities like Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus.
The spread of Islamic control resulted in the Catholic Church launching a series of Crusades – military expeditions to rescue the Holy Land from “infidels”. The Crusades first began in 1095 AD, with Pope Urban II issuing the infamous “Deus Vult!” battle cry for Christians to raise an army and fight Muslims.
The “Deus Vult!” memes that spread through alt-right communities on 4chan, Reddit and other social media harken back to the Crusader story. They are essentially calling for a modern-day Crusade against Islam.
The allure of the Crusader narrative is not only demonstrated by the alt-right Crusader memes but is echoed in conservative intellectual circles.
Having embraced the alt-right while at Breitbart, President Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon has at times expressed apocalyptic rhetoric that seems to be anticipating a coming religious and class war. It is hard to really know all the nuances of what Mr. Bannon thinks as this somewhat reclusive figure rarely weighs in on events and issues publicly. But considering the access and intellectual heft Mr. Bannon is said to bring to the ear of the President, discerning his views is a very telling endeavor.
To that end, Mr. Bannon has spoken of the current period of time as a point of crisis, with capitalism and Judeo-Christian values under attack, especially from radical Islamists.
Trump Crusader meme.
Bannon’s seemingly strong feelings on this subject were on display during his 2014 talk at the Vatican.
“And we’re at the very beginning stages of a very brutal and bloody conflict, of which if … the people in the Church do not bind together and really form what I feel is an aspect of the Church Militant, to really be able to not just stand with our beliefs, but to fight for our beliefs against this new barbarity that’s starting, that will completely eradicate everything that we’ve been bequeathed over the last 2,000, 2,500 years,” said Bannon.
This certainly sounds like Crusader talk. He suggests that the Judeo-Christian idea is facing a grave enemy that can only be fought by armed Christians. Interestingly, in the same speech, he also paints the current age as the Dark Ages, another way the Middle Ages are described.
Bannon also spoke about the appeal of Putin, linking it to the Russian leader’s support of “traditionalist” values, especially as he’s advised by Alexander Dugin, a philosopher who follows the work of the controversial Italian thinker Julius Evola. Bannon’s remarks seemed to indicate that while he does not support Putin’s kind of government, there was some merit in his approach.
“We the Judeo-Christian West really have to look at what he’s [Putin] talking about as far as traditionalism goes — particularly the sense of where it supports the underpinnings of nationalism — and I happen to think that the individual sovereignty of a country is a good thing and a strong thing,” said Bannon.
Julius Evola was considered a leading proponent of Traditionalism, a philosophy that sees the idea of equality-oriented liberalism and “progress” as mistaken, advocates traditional gender roles and seeks a return of hierarchical social structures like castes. Evola saw European feudalism during the Middle Ages as a great example of such a society.
Anti-Semitic and sexist Evola is known for inspiring Italian fascists, including Benito Mussolini himself, modern neo-Nazi and nationalist parties in Europe, as well as the far right movements in the United States.
Mr. Spencer also found it very significant that Mr. Bannon knew who Evola was.
“Even if he hasn’t fully imbibed them and been changed by them, he is at least open to them,” he said. “He at least recognizes that they are there. That is a stark difference to the American conservative movement that either was ignorant of them or attempted to suppress them,” said Spencer.
If you think knowing about Evola is not the same as supporting his ideas, an article by Breitbart from when it was run by Bannon listed Evola as one of the foundational thinkers of the alt-right movement. It was co-written by another alt-right standard bearer – Milo Yiannopoulos.
Alexander Dugin, another philosopher mentioned by Bannon at the Vatican, is called by some “Putin’s Brain.” He is a Russian thinker known for his close associations with the Kremlin. Dugin espouses an Evola-influenced philosophy that also ties into Traditionalist values, seeing the Renaissance and everything that followed, including technological progress, as a debasement of human nature. His goal would be to return to the values of the Middle Ages and restore a Eurasian empire on the basis of the former Soviet Union, with Russia at the head.
“Returning to the Middle Ages or turning to them to look for inspiration, and I am not speaking of merely reproducing – that’s impossible to do. But we have stood on the path of modernity. We’ve stood on the path of modern totalitarianism regardless of whether of the first, second, or third theory. We’ve exhausted all of their possibilities, built all three models. We’ve built liberal civilization, communist civilization as part of such an experiment, and we’ve even built fascism. We can now compare everything before us. And if all of this does not satisfy us, this means that the most important mistake was made not in the 20th century and not even in 1991,” said Dugin in an interview.
While history is always important to study, what does one make of this unexpected brew of racist and sexist ideologies inspired by fascist and radical Russian thinkers combined with American Christian white nationalism? Sounds like an explosive cocktail.
If you don’t have enough Crusader spirit, here’s a video that can get you into just such a state:
Cover image: Circa 1250, A crusader is shot by a Muslim warrior during the Crusades. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
On Holocaust Memorial Day, the chief Rabbi of Moscow pleads for Europe to identify the elements within Islam
Members of the Iraqi paramilitary Popular Mobilisation unit celebrate with an Islamic State flag after retaking the village of Albu Ajil, near the city of Tikrit Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images
By Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt 10:13 AM GMT 27 Jan 2016
If the 20th century could be characterized as a battle between territories, then I believe the 21st century has seen a return to the religious wars of the Middle Ages. The rise of Isil has followed fifteen years since 9/11 where Islamic religious terrorism has become the premier menace to democracy. In fact, the attacks on 9/11 ended the 20th century, in which secular totalitarian ideologies, such as Nazism and Communism challenged the existing world order and world peace.
“Suddenly we all have fully radicalized extremists who have never left their own town”
One of the many challenges this new war poses is that it goes against the tolerant, inclusive society that has developed in the Western World over the last fifty years. For that reason, the first reaction of many is to divorce terrorism from religion. Many feel that the only way to protect religious freedoms is to deny radical elements. We need to understand the fact that there are radicalized aspects within many faiths, in particular, Islam. Its fascist offshoot, Isil, is a strain of Islam and must be treated as such. These interpretations of Islam must be denounced but we must realize that we have now entered a religious war.
Islam, as it is practiced today in some parts of the Middle East, is similar to Christianity in the pre-modern times, it has not yet developed or learnt to integrate into society. Therefore, by definition, it is entirely medieval and contrary to the basic tenets of a liberal state or democracy. But it would be ridiculous to assume that more than one billion Muslims are radical and dangerous. Instead, we need to learn to differentiate between those strains that have developed and those strains that are a genuine danger to the developed world.
Isil provides a unique challenge to world leaders. Their new Islamic ideology appeals to the masses. This ideology crosses borders and, sadly, the Westphalian arrangements where countries do not interfere with the internal affairs of other countries has been rendered obsolete. The onset of the Internet and social media has globalized the security threat emanating from religious terrorism. Suddenly we all have fully radicalized extremists who have never left their own town.
Islamic State (Isil)
What is Isil?
An Islamic extremist group controlling territory in Syria and Iraq
What is it called?
In the West, the group is usually known as Isil (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) or Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). In June, the militants said they wanted to simply be called Islamic State in recognition of the self-declared caliphate
What about ‘Daesh’?
Daesh is an abbreviation Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq wa al-Sham, and is the derogatory name used by many Muslims for Isil. Following the Paris attacks, the French government is now using this term
What are its aims?
A worldwide Islamic caliphate – a religious government – without borders
What terror attacks has it carried out?
Isil has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks of 13 November 2015, the explosion of a plane travelling from Egypt to Russia, and the individual killings of Western hostages, including James Foley and Alan Henning
How is the group funded? Looting, extortion and the possession of oilfields providing an estimated £1.8m in revenue per day
How much territory does Isil control?
An area of the Middle East that is roughly the size of Belgium
Where is it based?
Isil’s HQ is understood to be in the city of Raqqa, Syria
I firmly believe that the only way we can make any progress in this battle is if we clearly define what is and what isn’t radical Islam. This will enable intelligence services to clearly track those that pose a threat to Western values, isolate them and ensure that the threat does not escalate.
A situation where one organization is considered terrorist and extremist for one country and because of political considerations another country labels the same organization moderate only adds to the confusion.
The need for clear definitions is exacerbated within the European Union and the attacks in Paris last year illustrate this point. The claim by the head of the French Secret Services that since the terrorists originated from over the non-existent border with Belgium the attack couldn’t be prevented seems ridiculous. If we are going to have freedom of movement we need to have further integration of intelligence forces who work within clear parameters.
Public feeling is turning from fear of terrorism to a distrust of religion. This is becoming more intense with thousands of refugees making their way from the Middle East. The crisis shows European vulnerability from radical Islam. Although the vast majority are peaceful, there is a tendency that Mosques built by the Emirates and other moderate Muslim countries within Europe are being taken over by radicals. In the past, migrants into Europe were forced to adopt local customs and values and even sometimes convert. In our postmodern secular age, if this wave of migration is to fully integrate, refugees must learn the language and accept local customs. Incidents like those recently seen in Cologne will continue to happen until there is a full integration of all immigrants preventing the creation of parallel societies and ghettos of intolerance.
“The only way we can make any progress in this battle is if we clearly define what is and what isn’t radical Islam”
I believe that the way to accelerate change is by closing mosques of known radicals, preventing their imams from preaching hate and stopping their access to the Internet and to social media. The only way we can move forwards is by cutting them off from fellow radicals and allowing those who are currently being influenced by their propaganda to integrate into Western society. If we allow the status quo to continue, the existing issues will only intensify.
There are no easy answers. But, radical Islam is easy to identify and we must work with the Muslim community to denounce these acts and loudly and proudly declare “not in our name”. Countries who are serious about combating the fascist elements of Islam must come together and take real legislative steps to stop this wave of terror spreading.
Pinchas Goldschmidt is Chief Rabbi of Moscow and President of the Conference of European Rabbis
By Paul Homewood h/t Joe Public https://greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/green-party-environment-manifesto.pdf Election time! From the hints we’ve seen, all parties’ manifestos are pretty depressing when it comes to climate change, with the honourable exception of UKIP.
It is no surprise that America is considered the world’s strongest country.
