History

Europe’s utopian hangover

Jewish World Review Paul Johnson

The EU is built on fantasy.

One thing history teaches, over and over again, is that there are no shortcuts. Human societies advance the hard way; there is no alternative. Communism promised Utopia on Earth. After three-quarters of a century of unparalleled sufferings, the Soviet Union collapsed in privation and misery, leaving massive Russia with an economy no bigger than tiny Holland’s. We are now watching the spectacle of another experiment in hedonism, the European Union, as it learns the grim facts of life.

[Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

C. S. Lewis

American Minute

His death went unnoticed, as he died the same day John F. Kennedy was shot, but his works are some of the most widely read in English literature.

Originally an agnostic, he served in World War I and became a professor at Oxford and Cambridge.

He credits his Catholic friend and fellow writer, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of “Lord of the Rings,” as being instrumental in bringing him to faith in Christ.

Among his most notable books are: The Screwtape Letters; Miracles; The Problem of Pain; Abolition of Man; and The Chronicles of Narnia, which include The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe.
His name was C.S. Lewis, born this day, November 29, 1898.

Over 200 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide and continue to sell at a rate of a million copies a year, even forty years after his death.

In his book “Mere Christianity,” C.S. Lewis wrote:

“All that we call human history – money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery – is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Mao more lethal than Hitler, Stalin

WorldNetDaily.com Jon Dougherty November 29, 2005

Expert says Chinese leader’s policies led to death of 77 million countrymen

A noted expert in calculating the number of deaths caused by authoritarian regimes says the late Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-tung’s policies and actions led to the deaths of nearly 77 million of his countrymen, surpassing those killed by Nazi Party founder Adolf Hitler and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin.

R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science and a Nobel Peace Prize finalist who has published dozens of books chronicling so-called “democide,” or death by government, said the new Chinese figure – nearly double his previous estimate of about 38 million – was based on what he believes was Mao’s duplicity in China’s great famine of 1958 to 1961.

…more

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Archaeologists Unveil Ancient Church Site

MEGIDDO PRISON, Israel (AP) – Israeli prisoner Ramil Razilo was removing rubble from the planned site of a new prison ward when his shovel uncovered the edge of an elaborate mosaic, unveiling what Israeli archaeologists said Sunday may be the Holy Land’s oldest church.

The discovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, near the biblical Armageddon, was hailed by experts as an important discovery that could reveal details about the development of the early church in the region. Archaeologists said the church dated from the third century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity across the Byzantine Empire.

“What’s clear today is that it’s the oldest archaeological remains of a church in Israel, maybe even in the entire region. Whether in the entire world, it’s still too early to say,” said Yotam Tepper, the excavation’s head archaeologist.
[Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Boston Tea Party

December 16th

The Boston Tea Party took place this day, December 16, 1773, just three years after the Boston Massacre, where the British fired into a crowd, killing five.

The British passed unbearable taxes: 1764 Sugar Act -taxing sugar, coffee, wine; 1765 Stamp Act -taxing newspapers, contracts, letters, playing cards and all printed materials; 1767 Townshend Acts -taxing glass, paints, paper; and 1773 Tea Act.
[Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Gettysburg Address

November 19th

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Thus began the Gettysburg Address, delivered this day, November 19, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln on the field where 50,000 soldiers were killed or wounded in a three day battle.

This ten-sentence speech ends with the words: “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The American Minute

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

On this day: Washington’s Farewell Address

It’s fitting to remember this on election day.

After defeating the British, General George Washington resigned and returned to farming at Mount Vernon.

On this day, November 2, 1783, he issued his Farewell Orders to his troops. “Before the Comdr in Chief takes his final leave,” he wrote, “he wishes…a slight review of the past…. The singular interpositions of Providence in our feeble condition were such, as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving; while the…perseverance of the Armies of the U. States, through almost every possible suffering…for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle.”

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Quote: John Adams on morality, religion, and the US

On October 11, 1798, President John Adams addressed the officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts in a letter:

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

From: TheAmericanMinute

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Independence Day – Liberty at a Price for Declaration Signers

The Declaration of Independence was approved this day, July 4, 1776.

John Hancock, the first to sign, said: “the price on my head has just doubled.”

Benjamin Franklin signed saying “We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately.”

Of the fifty-six signers: 17 lost their fortunes, 12 had their homes destroyed, 9 fought and died, 5 were arrested as traitors, and 2 lost sons in the War.

As Samuel Adams signed, he said: “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.”

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail