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Violence
Raising questions that universally haunt mankind, Habakkuk cried unto God,
“How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” Habakkuk 1:2-4 (NIV)
Violence began 6,000 years ago with Cain in a revengeful act against his brother. So close to the origin of man, the son of the first couple who talked with God – the immediate heir of those knowing the consequences of even a “small” sin – murdered his next of kin. Revenge, hate, conquer at all cost, have been satanically inspired attributes of degenerate man. Instead of the heartaches from violent loss stifling man’s desire to harm, the trend over the centuries has only worsened, until the crime of all crimes led to Jesus dying on the cross – the ultimate violence. In the ancient account of the flood, God said one great issue that brought earth’s destruction was violence. “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” Genesis 6:11-12. The bloodiest hands of men who justified death on ethnic and religious grounds, brought to an end millions of committed moral people in recent history. Note these amazing trends! In Europe alone in the past four centuries: 3.3 million killed 17th century 5.2 million killed 18th century 5.5 million killed 19th century 28.0 million killed 20th century (to 1970) In despair, Habukkuk wanted to know why destruction of human life had to be tolerated. Yet 2500 years later, the 20th century was the bloodiest in all of history. More people died from violence and warring in the past 100 years than in all of history combined! Niche’ of Germany, whose grandfathers were Christian ministers, popularized the phrase that “God had died” in the 19th century and predicted that the 20th century would be the bloodiest of all because a universal madness would overtake humanity. This godless man was right – and he helped to fulfill his own predictions through his humanistic writings which inspired numerous tyrants that saw life as a commodity. Auzwitchs, alone, saw 12,000 individuals slaughtered each day. Chairman Mao in China’s Cultural Revolution killed upwards of 65 million of his own people. The butchery of Stalin brought additional millions to their graves from starvation and outright murder while the “free” world looked the other way. Even more tragic, ever since the invention of the motion picture and subsequently television, violence, murder and torture became a form of entertainment to the sick minds of a sin-filled world.
In the last decade 500,000 people were slaughtered in ethnic violence in
Rwanda and Uganda (1994-1997). The United Nations and the United States
cowardly turned their heads. Columbia has lost thousands of its citizens from FARC rebels. Over $500 million has been spent of United States dollars to suppress those hate filled renegades with limited success. The continent of Africa is aflame with war and violence. [
Painful memories are drawn upon when thinking of Columbine High School,
Colorado and the These issues began to crescendo into concern in the early 1990’s. Physicians began to notice that an epidemic of hatred was turning into an epidemic of violence. Enough societal concern was expressed among thinking Americans that in June of 1994 a major article was published specifically for physicians to help them address and understand violence.[1] Recently this report was publicized: “Yossi Klein Halevi, columnist for the left leaning Jerusalem Report, wrote the following piece for Canadian newspapers recently: ‘A new hit song on Egyptian radio stations proclaims, “I hate Israel.” State controlled newspapers vie with each other to spread the most astonishing lies, including the medieval notion that Jews use the blood of murdered Gentile children for matzo – the theme of a popular book written by Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Talas that is about to be turned into an Egyptian film that is touted as the Arab response to Schindler’s List. “‘The Arab world has become obsessed with the holocaust, and two camps have emerged. One camp, which includes the government-controlled newspapers of Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority, argues that the Holocaust never happened. “‘The other, which includes at least one government newspaper in Egypt, acknowledges that the Holocaust did happen and is grateful to Hitler for implementing it. Indeed, nowhere except in the Arab world is both Holocaust denial and admiration for the Final Solution mainstream – positions even among intellectuals. “‘Ahmad Ragab, in his daily column in the Egyptian government sponsored newspaper, Al Akhbar, April 20 wrote: “Thanks to Hitler, of blessed memory, who, on behalf of the Palestinians, revenged in advance against the most vile criminals on the face of the earth. Although, we do have a complaint against him for his revenge on them, was not enough.” Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi recently accused Israel and the CIA of infecting Libyan children with AIDS…Emboldened by the unrestrained Jew-hatred, Saddam Hussein ended his speech at the recent Arab summit in Amman, Jordan with the prayer: God, damn the Jews’.... “Instead of using the billions of dollars given to him by Western countries to lift Palestinians out of their misery, the treacherous Yasser Arafat has purposely kept them seething in their filth and squalor, which promotes hate in the refugee camps and boys throwing stones at Israeli soldiers! Recently, hackers have uncovered billions of dollars of assets and properties owned by Arafat – still a terrorist – and his cronies, across Europe! Even the gullible Norwegian media are now writing about ‘Arafat’s long pockets’ and the money trail! “In a revealing Times of London article titled, $4.5B in foreign aid to Palestinians revives concerns about corruption, Christopher Walker unveils the ‘corruption already endemic in Yasser Arafat’s fledgling state.’ ... “Finally, the media is letting Canadians know what I have known for years – the double standard of our politically correct Liberal government! In spite of the many insensitive and ridiculous statements made by Heady Fry, Elinor Caplan and P.M. Jean Chretien, about the scary, hidden agenda of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition and biased, bigoted western Canadians, intelligent Canadians knew- before and after Sept. 11 about Canada’s reputation as being ‘an easy mark’ for unscrupulous refugee claimants, and ‘a haven for terrorists.’ ... “For a number of years, I have read in Norwegian Lutheran newspapers of the hate-filled textbooks used against Jews in Palestinian schools. The Canadian Press has finally blown the whistle on the Canadian Government’s alleged complicity and cover-up of our involvement in this nefarious and evil work! “‘According to 58 new textbooks and two teacher’s guides for grades 1,2,3,6,7 and 11, published in the past two years by the Palestinian Authority, Israel does not exist – nor does the concept of peace, a U.S study has found. Children are encouraged from the earliest school age to hate Israelis, glorify “martyrs” and seek the “liberation” of all of Palestine, including Israel. “‘The analysis of the textbooks, published this week, was carried out by the New York-based Center for Monitoring Impact of Peace, a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging tolerance and mutual respect between peoples and nations. “‘The PA curriculum does not teach the acceptance of Israel’s existence and instead of working to erase hateful stereotypes, it is instilling them into the next generation’s consciousness,’ says Yohanan Manor. ‘Every map in every subject – from grade 2 math to grade 7 geography – marks the West bank and Gaza as Palestine and fails to show any modern Israeli cities such as Tel-Aviv or Hadera. “‘The new textbooks are being used throughout the Palestinian-controlled areas in the West bank and Gaza in some 1300 schools administered by the Palestinian Authority and 261 run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. “‘Since 1993, Canada has contributed $165 million in direct aid to Palestinian development programs, including education, plus $10 million annually to the U.N.’ ... “‘For years, European anti-terror investigators have had evidence that fanatics were preparing new forms of terrorism. In May 1997, an Algerian extremist in London was arrested in possession of a scientific work on botulism. During the 1999 dismantling of a militant Islamic network in Belgium, police found on one of the leaders a document detailing the military applications of botulism toxin in aerosol form. The bin Laden operatives arrested in Brussels after Sept. 11 were known associates of some of those apprehended in the 1998 raid. “‘An Egyptian source close to the bin Laden network says Midhat Mursi (alias Abu Khahab) operatives managed to stash dangerous substances in Asia and perhaps in the US and Europe, as well. Chemical terrorism is also a priority for al-Qaeda. During the Bosnia war, bin Laden agents actively recruited engineers and lab technicians who had worked in a Sarajevo factory producing chemical arms. “‘The intended use of such weapons is made clear in the “Encyclopedia of Jihad.” The book details how to exploit building air conditioning systems in biological and chemical attacks. Operatives are urged to poison “drug and medical supplies” and to use syringes to contaminate food supplies. “‘Food Supply Could Become Target! “James Stevensen writing for the Canadian Press (Nov. 12, 2001) stated: ‘The terrifying possibility of someone poisoning a stockpile of grain or a huge feedlot is reason enough to fast-track a food trace-ability program, says a US agricultural expert.’
“Farm economist David
Kohl says that within a few years, consumers within North America will
demand to know exactly where their food originated.
‘Kohl, a professor at “Kohl says that because modern agricultural production tends to cluster in highly concentrated areas, that makes it an easier target for terrorists! A recent report on CNN (Nov.19, 2001) stated that US government official’s worst fear, is that terrorists could poison the ‘Food Chain’ with botulism, E-coli or other deadly poisons! ... “‘We Are at War with Islam,’ Says Arab Journalist! “‘There is a real resistance on the part of western leaders to call a spade a spade,’ says Joseph Farah, an American of Christian Arab heritage who edits the prominent Internet news service WorldNetDaily. ‘More accurately Islam is at war with us. Islam is an ideology rather than a religion – a scary world-view that advocates world domination. They (Muslim fundamentalists) call U.S. “Great Satan” and Israel “Little Satan.” “These are hardly labels that allow for peaceful co-existence, the journalist suggests. ‘Bin Laden is not a nationalist; he has no country. He is a Muslim who wants to see the world dominated by Islam’, says Farah!
“The Report (Oct.8, 2001) states: ‘Bernard Lewis, a professor emeritus, from
“‘By the Muslim’s own accounts, treacherous ambushes, mass murder and heavily discriminatory taxes were inflicted on the Arabian Jews, whose population vanished.’ ... “As believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have known for a long time that great tragedies would eventually happen, because the Bible – God’s Holy Word – has so diligently and graphically forewarned of them! “Jesus said, ‘And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, by ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginning of sorrows.’ (Mark 13:7,8)
“I believe that Sept. 11 will go down in history as the BEGINNING OF
SORROWS, not only for the USA, but for the entire world! As the “ “My answer: ‘A very definite YES! That is a distinct possibility!’ That these troubled, perilous times are prophetic in nature is no doubt, and that we are inching toward the “Second Coming of Jesus” and the end of the “Dispensation of Grace’ is a certainty!”’”[2] Then the report lists the fallen colleagues, victims of murder in the recent past. There is also a radical Islamic threat in Indonesia, Borneo, the Philippines, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, Israel and now – America. [PICS BUT – wait – there is more to all this than “random” violence as the media would portray. It has become part of the media’s entertainment fare and children’s education to hate by settling differences through force. Even in Europe children in Albanian schools are taught that the highest goal when they “grow up” is to kill Serbs.[3] As Pope John Paul II appeals to the world for peace with an audience of over 1,000,000(!) in Spain in May of 2003, Iraqi and United States soldiers are uncovering the remains of Saddam’s killing fields. [20] The statistics can go on and on to a point of risking callousness. There is another issue of violence we know of, but which has become part of the hard hearts of our social fabric – and even Christians’. The most dangerous place in America today is the mother’s womb! Crusty humanism and a growing theology that denies responsibility is fast becoming the violent tyrants of this hour. Habakkuk cries, “God where are you in all this?” “What is happening to us?” Once conscience protected emotion, now emotion acts devoid of conscience. We are goaded on to model violence from hours each day in a vast menu of murder and retaliation in our living rooms and find not even minutes to be influenced by the Spirit’s wooing. Reality is being developed by images of horror – and – we become changed as we behold. What is God’s answer? Habakkuk 2:18-10. Answer one is not in man but in God – He still is! Even the skeptic knows that there is safety in the concepts of Christianity. Finally, God told this prophet that at the appointed time the end of all things will come. Habakkuk 2:2-3. The tarrying time will then end. The days are here when violence has gripped the world. Life is greatly at the mercy of hardened hearts and emotions no longer under heaven guided consciences. Events around us show that declaration will soon be made when “time will no longer be delayed.” Jesus is coming soon!
References: 1. Gerber, Paul C., American Tapestry: Violence’s Weave through Society, Physician’s Management, June 1994. 2. Solbrekken, Max; World Missions, http://www.mswm.orgterrorist.violence.htm 3. Newsweek, 9/13/1999.
Franklin S. Fowler Jr., M.D.;
EndTime Issues...,
Prophecy Research Initiative |