DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250501 & Fear Not


Welcome.
Please visit this post for our long-standing site rules.
### Kindly identify all AI products, per warning in the header ###


2024 Presidential Election Map by County. (an uncertain credit)
Let us Never Forget: our VOTES gave the Trump Administration a Mandate to FIX IT ALL.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1


We got our miracle.
America is back.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the cleansing, healing, and rebuilding of our beautiful nation.

God will guide us.
Prayers & thanks to God for our President, Donald J. Trump.


Fear Not.

In the biblical record of heavenly encounters, often the first thing spoken to a person (who has already fallen face down in awe) is, “Fear Not.”

Revelation 1 (KJB), John’s Vision on Patmos

9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, FEAR NOT; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.


Reasonable Fear.

It is the human condition to face fears in our lives that are truly reasonable fears. But, when we have done all we can to prepare and protect, we still find our power is not sufficient to remove all sources of threat.

Psalms 127

1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
            They labor in vain who build it;
            Unless the LORD guards the city,
            The watchman keeps awake in vain.

  2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
            To retire late,
            To eat the bread of painful labors;
            For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

May the truth of God’s provision and protection calm the fears of those who belong to him.

Psalms 91 (TPT)

1 When you abide under the shadow of Shaddai, 
you are hidden in the strength of God Most High.*

2 He’s the hope that holds me and the stronghold to shelter me,
the only God for me, and my great confidence.

3 He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy, 
and he will protect you from false accusation
and any deadly curse. 

4 His massive arms  are wrapped around you, protecting you.
You can run under his covering of majesty and hide.
His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm.

5 You will never worry about an attack of demonic forces at night
nor have to fear a spirit of darkness coming against you.

6 Don’t fear a thing!
Whether by night or by day, demonic danger will not trouble you, 
nor will the powers of evil be launched against you.

7 Even in a time of disaster, with thousands and thousands being killed, you will remain unscathed and unharmed.

8 You will be a spectator as the wicked perish in judgment,
for they will be paid back for what they have done!

9-10 When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High,
our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm.
How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us?

11 God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go, defending you from all harm.

12 If you walk into a trap, they’ll be there for you
and keep you from stumbling.

13 You’ll even walk unharmed among the fiercest powers of darkness, trampling every one of them beneath your feet!

14 For here is what the Lord has spoken to me:
“Because you loved me, delighted in me, and have been loyal to my name, I will greatly protect you.

15 I will answer your cry for help every time you pray,
and you will feel my presence
in your time of trouble.
I will deliver you and bring you honor.

16 I will satisfy you with a full life and with all that I do for you.
For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!”

*boxed notes, above, are from The Passion Translation footnotes.

The Guardian Angel by Von Kaulbach

Our Turn.

We can make a difference.
And we must make a difference.

May God bless and guide you
as you pray and take action for our nation.


Twitterati, etc.

May I recommend to you @DowdEdward. Edward Dowd is the founder Phinance Technologies and author of Cause Unknown: The Epidemic of Sudden Death in 2021 & 2022.


Prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.


DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250424 & Exodus Jubilation


Welcome.
Please visit this post for our long-standing site rules.
### Kindly identify all AI products, per warning in the header ###


2024 Presidential Election Map by County. (an uncertain credit)
Let us Never Forget: our VOTES gave the Trump Administration a Mandate to FIX IT ALL.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1


We got our miracle.
America is back.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the cleansing, healing, and rebuilding of our beautiful nation.

God will guide us.
Prayers & thanks to God for President Donald J. Trump.


Exodus Jubilation.

This is the first week of the Eastertide season.

Eastertide (also known as Eastertime or the Easter season) or Paschaltide (also known as Paschaltime or the Paschal season) is a festal season in the liturgical year of Christianity that focuses on celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The church refers to this period of time after the resurrection as the Paschal Season. What are they referring to?

It’s all about the Passover.

…the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus comes clothed to us in the imagery, symbolism, and language of the Jewish Passover. In fact, the name these early Christians give to their Easter festival is the Greek word paschaPascha is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Pesach, which is the Hebrew name for Passover. The Latin church picks up this usage and calls Easter in Latin as pascha as well. And from that Latin origin, modern European romance languages get their name for Easter: French: Paques, Spanish: Pascua, Italian: Pasqua. — Gordon Lindsey, The Bible is in My Blood

Drawing parallels between the exodus and the resurrection, Christians see the Exodus as a type, a foreshadowing of the massive jailbreak when Christ frees the righteous dead from the shadow-lands of the underworld, leading them in triumph from darkness into His light. And Christ’s defeat of sin and death is indeed, Good News.

This parallel is highlighted not only within the Gospel accounts themselves, but throughout the New Testament.

For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 
1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Rejoice!

Easter’s message rings out in the traditional greeting; one says, “Christ is risen!” and to which the response is, “He is risen indeed, Alleluia!” There is joy in the air. An exuberance, a jubilation, as believers celebrate the defeat of their enemy, and the triumph of their Savior.

Christ is risen from the dead,
trampling down death by death,
and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life!
Paschal troparion, Christos anesti

In the book of Exodus, after witnessing the Egyptians absolute defeat by the hand of God, the people of Israel, led by Moses, break into song–not only singing–but dancing in celebration. Finally, they are beginning to believe that they have been freed from their oppressors.

We see a people filled with exuberant jubilation rejoicing over the utter defeat of their enemy, and the stunning triumph of their saving God.

And we are right there with them in this Eastertide season. God has mightily delivered us. Let us rejoice!

The Song of Moses

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:
(Exodus 15:1-21)

I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.

My strength and my refuge is the LORD,
and he has become my savior.
This is my God, I praise him;
the God of my father, I extol him.

The LORD is a warrior,
LORD is his name!

Pharaoh’s chariots and army he hurled into the sea;
the elite of his officers were drowned in the Red Sea.

The flood waters covered them,
they sank into the depths like a stone.

Your right hand, O LORD, magnificent in power,
your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy.

In your great majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
you loosed your wrath to consume them like stubble.

At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up,
the flowing waters stood like a mound,
the flood waters foamed in the midst of the sea.

The enemy boasted, “I will pursue and overtake them;
I will divide the spoils and have my fill of them;
I will draw my sword; my hand will despoil them!”

When you blew with your breath, the sea covered them;
like lead they sank in the mighty waters.

Who is like you among the gods, O LORD?
Who is like you, magnificent among the holy ones?
Awe-inspiring in deeds of renown, worker of wonders,
when you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them!

In your love you led the people you redeemed;
in your strength you guided them to your holy dwelling.

The peoples heard and quaked;
anguish gripped the dwellers in Philistia.

Then were the chieftains of Edom dismayed,
the nobles of Moab seized by trembling;

All the inhabitants of Canaan melted away;
terror and dread fell upon them.

By the might of your arm they became silent like stone,
while your people, LORD, passed over,
while the people whom you created passed over.

You brought them in, you planted them
on the mountain that is your own—

The place you made the base of your throne, LORD,
the sanctuary, LORD, your hands established.

May the LORD reign forever and ever!

When Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen entered the sea, the LORD made the waters of the sea flow back upon them, though the Israelites walked on dry land through the midst of the sea.

Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, while all the women went out after her with tambourines, dancing; and she responded to them:

Sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.

God Wins.

photo credit: Pixabay, AI generated

Prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.


DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250417 & Sovereignty


Welcome.
Please visit this post for our long-standing site rules.
### Kindly identify all AI products, per warning in the header ###


2024 Presidential Election Map by County. (an uncertain credit)
Let us Never Forget: our VOTES gave the Trump Administration a Mandate to FIX IT ALL.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1


We got our miracle.
America is back.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the cleansing, healing, and rebuilding of our beautiful nation.

God will guide us.
Prayers & thanks to God for President Donald J. Trump.


Sovereignty

Sovereignty. Souveraineté.
What does this word, sovereignty, mean?
It seems to mean different things to different people.

This Kind of Sovereign?

Judging by a paper called, “A QUICK GUIDE TO SOVEREIGN CITIZENS,” by the UNC School of Government, there are some people that think they can become free by resisting the governmental structures currently in place in our nation. In brief, the paper tells us:

“Sovereign citizen” is a catchall phrase referring to a variety of anti-government individuals and groups who share some common beliefs and behaviors. The organizations to which many sovereign citizens belong have a variety of names… In one way or another, though, all sovereign citizens, whether tied to an organization or not, adhere to a view that the existing American governmental structure, including the courts and law enforcement, is illegitimate and that they, the sovereign citizens, retain an individual common law identity exempting them from the authority of those fraudulent government institutions.

Hmmmm.
Maybe this isn’t the kind of sovereign we were looking for.

A Different Take on Sovereignty.

We’ve already had some discussion recently on this essay, but you might not have read far enough down to reach this fantastic claim:

… Still, their eyes were always looking forward, toward a moment when the government wouldn’t just digitize its services but its sovereignty. Enter DOGE. The Department of Government Efficiency didn’t materialize in a vacuum. It was seeded during the Obama years, whispered into existence by those who knew that the real power would come not from Congress, but from a system nimble enough to move faster than legislation, and quiet enough to reshape infrastructure without fanfare. It began as the United States Digital Service—a small team of technocrats who fixed websites, sure, but more importantly, mapped the internal circuitry of American bureaucracy. They weren’t patching holes. They were creating access points. And then, just as quietly as they arrived, they left the back door open.

Sounds interesting. But I’m not sure exactly how to respond. The author provides three hypothetical outcomes of the end of Act III. The second outcome, narrative fracture, doesn’t look good. The first outcome, sovereign reset, is just about what most people seem to want. But that third outcome—if it is even possible—the revelation state, I think people with a heart to be free might want an outcome like this:

It’s not just about controlling the machine—it’s about purifying it.
The Sovereign Reset without accountability is stable, but cold.
The Narrative Fracture without vision is chaotic and likely irreparable.
But the Revelation State?
That’s the rarest kind of government:
One that awakens, without collapsing.
One that confesses, without capitulating.
One that still serves, even after seizing control.

However, does this path return us to the intentions of the Founding Fathers of our nation?
I wonder.

Popular Sovereignty.

The Bill of Rights Institute offers some bracing clarity regarding those intentions:

Popular Sovereignty: “We the People”

The Declaration of Independence affirmed the republican principle of popular government. The people were the source of all sovereignty, or authority, in the representative government. They gave their consent to their elected representatives to govern them. The document stated, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving [receiving] their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The Preamble to the Constitution outlined that the new constitutional government was also to be based on this principle of popular sovereignty. It stated, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union.” This meant that the people of the United States, through their representatives, established this new government. The previous government under the Articles of Confederation (1781–1789) did not have sufficient power to govern the nation because the states were sovereign.

The core purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to establish a just political order that recognized human equality in natural rights for all persons. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable [impossible to take away] Rights.” This meant that the equality of all people would be the basis of any American system of government. This promise, though not fully realized, has guided American political debates ever since.

This was recognized in the Preamble, which stated simply that one of its main goals was to “establish Justice.” Justice meant that all were equal under the law and equal in their rights. Individuals would be able to pursue their own happiness and have equal opportunity to work hard and keep the fruits of their labor. James Madison noted the importance of justice in Federalist No. 51 when he wrote, “Justice is the end [purpose] of government. It is the end of civil society.”


God as Sovereign.

On this Maundy Thursday of the Christian Holy Week, it seems fitting to reflect on how Jesus the Christ, and our Lord, presented his sovereignty in the last hours before laying down his life for those he came to redeem.

From the Gospel of John 18:33-19:22 (AMPC):

So Pilate went back again into the judgment hall and called Jesus and asked Him, Are You the King of the Jews? Jesus replied, Are you saying this of yourself [on your own initiative], or have others told you about Me?

Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your [own] people and nation and their chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done? Jesus answered, My kingdom (kingship, royal power) belongs not to this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My followers would have been fighting to keep Me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not from here (this world); [it has no such origin or source].

Pilate said to Him, Then You are a King? Jesus answered, You say it! [You speak correctly!] For I am a King. [Certainly I am a King!] This is why I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the Truth. Everyone who is of the Truth [who is a friend of the Truth, who belongs to the Truth] hears and listens to My voice.

Pilate said to Him, What is Truth? On saying this he went out to the Jews again and told them, I find no fault in Him. But it is your custom that I release one [prisoner] for you at the Passover. So shall I release for you the King of the Jews?

Then they all shouted back again, Not Him [not this Man], but Barabbas! Now Barabbas was a robber. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged (flogged, whipped) Him. And the soldiers, having twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and threw a purple cloak around Him. And they kept coming to Him and saying, Hail, King of the Jews! [Good health to you! Peace to you! Long life to you, King of the Jews!] And they struck Him with the palms of their hands.

Then Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I bring Him out to you, so that you may know that I find no fault (crime, cause for accusation) in Him. So Jesus came out wearing the thorny crown and purple cloak, and Pilate said to them, See, [here is] the Man!

When the chief priests and attendants (guards) saw Him, they cried out, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no fault (crime) in Him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to that law He should die, because He has claimed and made Himself out to be the Son of God.

So, when Pilate heard this said, he was more alarmed and awestricken and afraid than before. He went into the judgment hall again and said to Jesus, Where are You from? [To what world do You belong?] But Jesus did not answer him.

So Pilate said to Him, Will You not speak [even] to me? Do You not know that I have power (authority) to release You and I have power to crucify You? Jesus answered, You would not have any power or authority whatsoever against (over) Me if it were not given you from above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the one who delivered Me over to you is greater.

Upon this, Pilate wanted (sought, was anxious) to release Him, but the Jews kept shrieking, If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar! Anybody who makes himself [out to be] a king sets himself up against Caesar [is a rebel against the emperor]!

Hearing this, Pilate brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Pavement [the Mosaic Pavement, the Stone Platform]—in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about the sixth hour (about twelve o’clock noon). He said to the Jews, See, [here is] your King! But they shouted, Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar!

Then he delivered Him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led [Him] away; so He went out, bearing His own cross, to the spot called The Place of the Skull—in Hebrew it is called Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two others—one on either side and Jesus between them.

And Pilate also wrote a title (an inscription on a placard) and put it on the cross. And the writing was: Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. And many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, [and] in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write, The King of the Jews, but, He said, I am King of the Jews.

Pilate replied, What I have written, I have written.


Prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.


DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250410 & Vigilance


Welcome.
Please visit this post for our long-standing site rules.
### Kindly identify all AI products, per warning in the header ###


2024 Presidential Election Map by County. (an uncertain credit)
Let us Never Forget: our VOTES gave the Trump Administration a Mandate to FIX IT ALL.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1


We got our miracle.
America is back.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the cleansing, healing, and rebuilding of our beautiful nation.

God will guide us.
Prayers & thanks to God for President Donald J. Trump.


Vigilance.

Here we are. We are living through some of the most amazing days in the history of our country. And yet we can sense an uneasiness. An awareness that we need to remain vigilant. A feeling that the enemies of what is good and right are still hard at work trying to interfere, disrupt, overthrow, yes and even murder those building a better future for our nation.

Being Warned in a Dream.

It has been rare, but there have been times in my life when I needed to be warned about something, and it seemed that a dream was given. A dream that would shake me deeply. And then I would ponder, pray, seek insight, and face whatever the warning seemed to be about. Then I would try to respond appropriately in the circumstances.

Two days ago I awakened out of a dream with a grave sense of imminent danger. It was so disturbing, but I couldn’t really make out the full meaning. I will try and tell the details here as I remember them:

I am looking out over a freeway which is just below me in a canyon. At the edge of the canyon there are couple of people sitting at a table, maybe sharing a meal and talking. Beyond them, off in the distance, I can see a large silver airplane flying low over the city. It is apparently having mechanical trouble. I sensed great cry of prayer going up to God for the plane. The plane steadies, there is a sigh of relief. But then there is a distraction. I am still watching the plane. Suddenly it upends and then goes down hard, crashing. I run from where I witnessed the crash over to the airport. The wreckage is on the runway, but there is no fire, no emergency response crews, no activity at all at the crash site. I look around and see that there are people working in other parts of the airfield. They are focused on their work. Work that seems to be related to organizing or preparing to create chaos, not just protests, but also other kinds of disruptions and destruction. In the dream I picked up the sense that these are the kind of people that intend to harm our country—and it’s people—in any way they can.

Needless to say, reading Gail’s post yesterday did not do anything to calm my heightened sense of needing to be on alert. Alert in prayer. Alert in the world around me.

Nehemiah the Builder.

One of my early Bible teachers taught us to face difficult situations by praying and asking, “Where am I in the Bible now?” Perhaps the example of Nehemiah—rebuilding a nearly destroyed people and nation while facing danger and threats from those who hated and opposed his success—might just be a good fit for today. May pondering this story strengthen us to work at the tasks set before us with wisdom, humility, strength and courage.

For those that might appreciate a quick video overview:

An Inquiring Heart.

The story begins with Nehemiah in captivity, serving the king of another nation. But his heart is back home with his people. He questions his brothers that had just returned from Judah about of the state of his homeland. They reply, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” (Ne 1:3, KJV)

A Broken & Contrite Heart.

The response of Nehemiah reveals his tenderness and compassion for his people. “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” (1:4) Nehemiah doesn’t stand in judgment over others, he sits among them in his prayer:

“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

“They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” (He was cupbearer to the king.)

Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem

Nehemiah succeeds in his plan to get King Artaxerxes’ support in returning to Judah to help rebuild. He gets the authority from the king to do this work. The king authorizes materials and military protection as well. However, some of the local officials are “very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.”

Nehemiah quietly checks out the situation after he arrives and then goes to the leadership of Jerusalem with his plan and the good news concerning the king’s support. They agree to begin rebuilding.

The Opposition’s Response #1

Their first response is to not only mock and ridicule the Israelites, but to also accuse them of rebellion against the king. Nehemiah answers them by (1) identifying God as their hope for success, (2) noting their submission to God as his servants, (3) declaring their undeterred decision to keep rebuilding, (4) pointing out the opposition’s lack of claim or historical right to their city.

The Opposition’s Response #2

As the work begins, the opposition becomes more incensed. The opposition leader airs his ridicule in front of his associates and the army of Samaria. “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” Then his sidekick piles on, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

At this point Nehemiah has nothing left to say to their enemies. He goes straight to God with his appeal. “Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.”

The Opposition’s Response #3

The work continues to make good progress, and when the opposition hears about it, their anger grew to the point that “They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.”

Nehemiah’s response again was to pray “to our God” and this time he “posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.”

Internal Discouragement

The workers start to report that their discouragement, and their fear of attacks by their enemies. Nehemiah’s listened to their reports. He takes direct action to fortify the protection for the families working on the wall. Again, he personally looks over the situation and speaks to the people directly.

I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.

Remaining Vigilant

Nehemiah then reports on the new level of vigilance provided to protect those working:

From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!

So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. At that time I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and as workers by day.” Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

Correcting Internal Exploitation

At this time there is a famine and the people are being (illegally) charged interest and are having their crops and lands siezed by the wealthy. When Nehemiah learns of this he beomes very angry for this injustice. He calls a public meeting and speaks directly to these wealthy leaders:

So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.” “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!” At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

The Opposition’s Response #4

When the opposition hears that the wall has been completely rebuilt (but without doors in the gates yet). They try a new tactic. Four times they send letters to Nehemiah, attempting to persuade him to come out of the city and meet them in an outlying village. But their plan was to ambush him and cause the work to stop. Nehemiah refused.

The Opposition’s Response #5

A fifth time the opposition sends an unsealed letter (so others would know what was written) with lying accusations saying the Israelites were planning to revolt against the king. Nehemiah says about this latest attack:

I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.” They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.

Intrigue Within the Community

Nehemiah then elaborates on an incredible amount of intrigue where people inside of his own community try and trap or entangle him, are collaborating with their enemies due to alliances via intermarriage, are leaking information back to them and are lobbying to influence Nehemiah to see their enemies in a good light. Sounds familiar.

A Great Awakening

Chapters 8 through 12 of the book of Nehemiah recount a profound return to God by the people. Starting with fasting and confessing their sins, listening to Ezra read from the scriptures, repentance, and crying out to the Lord their God. The people then agree to obey the Lord by correcting wrongs, agreeing to obey the Lord’s instructions for offerings, worship, and consecrating the new wall in a large festival-like event. Things are going well for as long as their leader, Nehemiah was there to keep watch over the community.

However, in the final chapter of the book we learn that as soon as Nehemiah left to go back into service with the king, some of the people went back on their promises to God. When Nehemiah returns he again brings correction, helping the people to remain faithful to their God.

Keep Us Faithful, O Lord

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
— Jude 24-25 (KJV)


Our Turn.

We can’t leave this to others.
We can make a difference.
And we must make a difference.

May God bless and guide you
as you pray and take action for our nation.


Twitterati, etc.

May I recommend to you toresays.com. A worthy follow.

Her latest post: You didn’t think there’d be an Act IV (thanks Wolf). Much to ponder in this one.


Prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.


DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250403 & Hearts of Courage


Welcome.
Please visit this post for our long-standing site rules.
### Kindly identify all AI products, per warning in the header ###


2024 Presidential Election Map by County. (an uncertain credit)
Let us Never Forget: our VOTES gave the Trump Administration a Mandate to FIX IT ALL.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1


We got our miracle.
America is back.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the cleansing, healing, and rebuilding of our beautiful nation.

God will guide us.
Prayers & thanks to God for President Donald J. Trump.


Hearts of Courage.

Some grow in courage over time, others find their courage appears in the moment of need.

When is comes to hearts of courage, there are some who truly stand out for me. They have stood by their principles, even when judges let them know that their stand was going to get them thrown in jail. There are likely many more that deserve to be highlighted. But tonight, let us remember Gregg Phillips, Catherine Engelbrecht, and Tina Peters, who have done time for the stand they took.


Free Tina Peters.

And may all good hearts continue to earnestly pray for God’s protection, healing and vindication for Tina who is still locked up while her case is on appeal.

For the latest on Tina Peters, check out this article: “A Day of Reckoning Coming for Those Who Falsely Imprisoned Tina PetersGuest post by Martel Maxim (March 7, 2025).

On Monday, March 3rd, the Deep State Dam began to crack open upon news the DOJ just filed a Statement of Interest in the case of Tina Peters. Read more commentary about that HERE. Accompanying this news was a spectacular throw down by Mike Davis from the Article III Project who revealed the corruption which led to the persecution, prosecution and imprisoning of Tina Peters for 9 years.

Now is the time for everyone to learn the real story about the dystopian abuse of Tina Peters. At the center of that is understanding why they would go to such extremes to frame, persecute, prosecute and imprison a near 70 year age Gold Star Mom who lost her Navy SEAL Son during service to his country. Without as much as a J-Walking ticket, or any ticket for that matter, the judge heartlessly sentenced Tina to what very well could be a death sentence for standing up and doing her sworn duty to preserve her election records. As described by Mike Davis, she was sentenced for “thought crimes”.

Well, it’s safe to say that the Deep State sure didn’t like Clerk Peters preserving those election records under her jurisdiction (all 29,000 of them) that they thought were successfully deleted at the direction of the Colorado Secretary of State. That deletion along with the other vulnerabilities are discussed on her website, https://tinapeters.us/ along with her forensic reports that delve into extreme detail on all the discoveries made by the forensic computer scientists.

Our DOJ, last month, has made a Statement of Interest (read more: The Gateway Pundit):

This review will include an evaluation of the State of Colorado’s prosecution of Ms. Peters and, in particular, whether the case was “oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental objectives.”

Ms. Peters is currently incarcerated while pursuing a direct appeal of her underlying nonviolent convictions and combined nine-year sentence.

The application explains that Ms. Peters suffers from serious health issues and that, while incarcerated, her physical and mental health have deteriorated.  Reasonable concerns have been raised about various aspects of Ms. Peters’ case.

These concerns relate to, among other things, the exceptionally lengthy sentence imposed relative to the conduct at issue, the First Amendment implications of the trial court’s October 2024 assertions related to Ms. Peters, and whether Colorado’s denial of bail pending appeal was arbitrary or unreasonable under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments such that §2254 relief is appropriate.

Accordingly, the United States respectfully submits that the concerns raised in the Application warrant – at the very least – prompt and careful consideration by this Court (and, at the appropriate time, the Colorado appellate courts).

Parallel to these proceedings and Ms. Peters’ direct appeal, the Department of Justice is reviewing cases across the nation for abuses of the criminal justice process


Our Turn.

We can’t leave this to others. We can get informed on what has been found, what is being done about it, and what more needs to be done.

We can make a difference.
And we must make a difference.

May God bless and guide you
as you pray and take action for our nation.


Twitterati, etc.

Speaking of hearts…

May I recommend to you Nicolas Hulscher, MPH, @NicHulscher. Click the posted image to watch the one minute video showing the heart damage. Nicolas is an epidemiologist and administrator at Dr. Peter McCullough’s Foundation (@mcculloughfund).

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH
@NicHulscher
Mar 19
🚨 NEW AUTOPSY STUDY – Cardiac Micro-Scars in Sudden Death Following COVID-19 Vaccination 🚨

🔬 Cardiac micro-scars (MMS) found in 3 patients who died of unexplained cardiac arrest—all had 5-6 COVID-19 booster injections.

Key findings:
🔴 Micro-scars in arrhythmogenic regions (pulmonary vein-left atrium junction) suggest a structural substrate for arrhythmias following COVID-19 vaccination.

🔴 Pre-death arrhythmias (atrial fibrillation & nonsustained ventricular tachycardia) occurred in patients with multiple booster doses.

🔴 Possible mechanisms: Spike protein production in cardiomyocytes, triggering immune activation, inflammation, microvascular injury, and fibrosis—leading to myocardial scarring and electrical instability.

📌 Corroborates our prior research on COVID-19 vaccine-induced cardiac arrest, linking myocardial scarring, arrhythmias, and sudden death.


Prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.


DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250327 & National Security


Welcome.
Please visit this post for our long-standing site rules.
### Kindly identify all AI products, per warning in the header ###


2024 Presidential Election Map by County. (an uncertain credit)
Let us Never Forget: our VOTES gave the Trump Administration a Mandate to FIX IT ALL.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1


We got our miracle.
America is back.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the cleansing, healing, and rebuilding of our beautiful nation.

God will guide us.
Prayers & thanks to God for President Donald J. Trump.


National Security!

It’s “their” very favorite playbook. They want to some how, some way, create another narrative that makes everything related to president, Donald J. Trump, into a “National Security Crisis!”


Well, do you know what a real national security crisis looks like? It looks like the election systems in all 50 states having a total loss of control.

“We identified, inside of the state’s official records about the 2022 and the 2020 elections, millions and millions of examples of what appear to be felony misconduct, according to the United States Department of Justice’s guidelines for prosecution of election offenses.” — Marly Hornick, in this interview

While we may need an Executive Order to act as a stop-gap for the 2026 Elections–which are nearly on top of us at this point–the real work of securing our elections must be done at the state level. And it appears state officials will only be motivated when they see that Federal prosecutions could be in their near future.

I very much appreciate that the E.O. deals with an issue found in some voting systems. A human readable ballot and a true paper trail are essential for a secure elections system.

“Above all, elections much be honest and worthy of the public trust. That requires voting methods that produce a voter-verifiable paper record allowing voters to efficiently check their votes to protect against fraud or mistake. Election-integrity standards much be modified accordingly.”

“… voting systems should not use a ballot in which a vote is contained within a barcode or quick-response code in the vote counting process … [with an exception for accommodating disabilities] … and should provide a voter-verifiable paper record to prevent fraud or mistake.”

The “follow the money” types amongst us are likely to be happy to see the E.O. provide direction for an audit of all Help America Vote Act (HAVA) fund expenditures.

“Following an audit of Help America Vote Act fund expenditures conducted pursuant to 52 U.S.C. 21142, the Election Assistance Commission shall report any discrepancies or issues with an audited State’s certifications of compliance with Federal law to the Department of Justice for appropriate enforcement action.”

And for those of us who were concerned with the word “voluntary” in the Election Assistance Commission’s guidelines, it looks like there might be some teeth in the E.O. here:

“The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, consistent with applicable law, shall in considering the provision of funding for State or local election offices or administrators through the Homeland Security Grant Programs, 6 U.S.C. 603 et seq., heavily prioritize compliance with the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 developed by the Election Assistance Commission and completion of testing through the Voting System Test Labs accreditation process.”

That’s really all nice and everything, but is this going to be another here-today-gone-tomorrow news event? Well, rescinding all previous certifications of voting equipment based on prior standards sounds good.

“Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Election Assistance Commission shall take appropriate action to review and, if appropriate, re-certify voting systems under the new standards established under subsection (b)(i) of this section, and to rescind all previous certifications of voting equipment based on prior standards.”

There are also important sections on not counting votes cast after election day (duh!), validating that voters are citizens, preventing foreign interference and prosecuting election crimes.

The section on improving the security of voting systems reminds us that election infrastructure is designated as “Critical Infrastructure.” Note that non-citizens are not to be involved in the administration of any Federal Election. I wonder how many voting system contractors that you see at the local elections office are non-citizens. Do they even check?

The E.O. goes on to task Homeland Security with assessing the security of electronic elections systems and report on what they find. I suspect this doesn’t go far enough. If there are non-electronic procedures that are not subject to review for Federal Elections that allow for fraud, that should be addressed to. Maybe it’s in existing law and I missed it.

“Sec. 6. Improving Security of Voting Systems. To improve the security of all voting equipment and systems used to cast ballots, tabulate votes, and report results:

“(a) The Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all appropriate actions to the extent permitted by 42 U.S.C. 5195c and all other applicable law, so long as the Department of Homeland Security maintains the designation of election infrastructure as critical infrastructure, as defined by 42 U.S.C. 5195c(e), to prevent all non-citizens from being involved in the administration of any Federal election, including by accessing election equipment, ballots, or any other relevant materials used in the conduct of any Federal election.

“(b) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, in coordination with the Election Assistance Commission and to the maximum extent possible, review and report on the security of all electronic systems used in the voter registration and voting process. The Secretary of Homeland Security, as the head of the designated Sector Risk Management Agency under 6 U.S.C. 652a, in coordination with the Election Assistance Commission, shall assess the security of all such systems to the extent they are connected to, or integrated into, the Internet and report on the risk of such systems being compromised through malicious software and unauthorized intrusions into the system.”

As the introductory text reminds us:

Free, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic. The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election. Under the Constitution, State governments must safeguard American elections in compliance with Federal laws that protect Americans’ voting rights and guard against dilution by illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of malfeasance and error.

You can find the entire text at WhiteHouse.gov.


We have been told that our elections systems are insecure. But what does that really mean? Three weeks ago, Marly Hornik of United Sovereign Americans gave a powerful 15 minute speech on the Stern American podcast, explaining how truly bad America’s situation has become.

My name is Marly Hornick, founder of the national election validity Organization United Sovereign Americans, along with cyber and election security subject matter expert Harry Haury. We came here to warn our fellow Americans that we have a constitutional and legal disaster on our hands.

The current election process nationwide is an uncontrolled, unmonitored catastrophe that is false returns. The last bastion of freedom on earth is at risk of being destroyed as early as 2026. 

Under President Trump’s decisive leadership, we see the proof that our own government has been selling out our kids’ future by stealing trillions of dollars per year from the American people and making us pay for their often twisted agenda.

Nowhere have officials betrayed us as badly as in our elections nationwide. USA is the first organization to measure election misconduct as defined under criminal law, to deeply study Supreme Court precedent and document the scale of defined election fraud nationwide.

After years of law enforcement meetings, official reports, legislative hearings, criminal referrals, and staggering trial-ready evidence, massive election fraud is still being illegally certified as accurate. Asking whether election officials are bad people is irrelevant. Their job is to prevent fraud, and they are legally required to prove it to us. That’s what we pay them for.

Twenty-one chief election officials have been fully briefed, nine have been sued in federal court, and every last one has proven disloyal to the sovereign they serve, the American people, and to the contract we made with our government, the United States Constitution.

USA has tracked tens of millions of individual felonies. We were the first to discover and document the algorithms and central vote manipulation. We filed our detailed data with the states, the FBI, Homeland Security, and the DOJ under the previous administration, and filed nine federal lawsuits demanding that election commissions follow the law.

And what did we prove? Every last federalized state election official believes that they are the sovereign, that they are the one who chooses our representatives. Every last one, they are perfectly content to continue violating our Constitution down to the root. It’s time to make it personal.

This is our land, from sea to shining sea, self-dealing bureaucrats and criminals did not create it, and they cannot have it.

(link to full Rumble video here & link to transcript here)


The top elections official of every one of our 50 states has been certifying elections that are run using equipment and processes that are deeply compromised. The courts, to this point, have refused to touch it. Pray.


Our Turn.

We can make a difference.
And we must make a difference.

May God bless and guide you
as you pray and take action for our nation.


Twitterati, etc.

May I recommend to you @PressSec. Karoline Leavitt is an Assistant to the President and the White House Press Secretary. She is always in top form, even on the day after DS tries to create another “National Security Crisis!” narrative on the thinnest of pretexts.


Prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.


DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250325 ❀ Tuesday Placeholder ❀ Is the Rapture in the New Testament?

early-church-icon

We continue to mourn the untimely passing of our beloved compatriot DePat, known in real life as Susie Sampson, and also as author Patricia Holden.

Until we have a dedicated author for the Tuesday daily open thread, I will be posting “placeholders” like this one, which may or may not be spiced up with additional content.

We now have a dedicated author for Tuesdays – TradeBait! (Or TradeBait2 as he is officially known to the software.) Please welcome him on April 1, 2025, when he begins!

Gudthots will take DePat’s old Thursday daily open thread.

This will be the last Tuesday placeholder – hopefully for a long, long time. Thank you all and God Bless!

W



Is the Rapture in the New Testament?

Aubergine

The more I research the Bible, the more convinced I become that there is some force, entity, or group, embedded even in Christianity itself, that doesn’t want the real truths of the Bible to ever be known.

It started when I found the mistranslation, found in almost every version of the Bible, of Jesus’s clear statements of “I am.” He used the name of God, given to Moses by the Man Himself, more than once; but in translation it has been watered down to “I am He,” or “it is I.”

Here that is in Matthew 14, when Jesus walks on water:

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, [c]“Be of good cheer! [d]It is I; do not be afraid.”

See that little letter ‘d’? If I click on that, it comes up with the reference “Lit. I am.”

LITERALLY I AM.

But translated as “It is I.” WHY? This appears in almost every Bible translation, with a couple of exceptions. Here is one outlier; the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition:

26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.

27 But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!

It happens again in John 18 in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Then Jesus, knowing all that was about to happen to Him, went to them and asked, “Whom do you want?” They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus said, “I am He.” And Judas, who was betraying Him, was also standing with them. When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Again He asked them, “Whom do you want?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you want Me, let these men go on their way.”

All those italicized “He’s” are added. And if you think about it, it doesn’t make any sense with them anyway. They come looking for Jesus, He says “I am He” and they all fell down on the ground? Why? They were looking for the man. BUT, they were all Jews; they knew what “I AM” meant full well, so they fell to the ground before God in terror of what they were doing when Jesus said it.

Changing “I AM” to “I am He” sure waters down down the impact, doesn’t it?

And now I come to the Rapture.

I was challenged recently about the actuality of the Rapture, and whether it appears in the Bible. If you ask Google “is the Rapture in the New Testament,” here is the answer from AI:

The idea of the rapture is described in the New Testament, but the word “rapture” does not appear in the Bible.

This is essentially a lie, and I can prove it.

The concept of the rapture is introduced in the Bible in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, and Matthew 24:40-42.

Thessalonians 4

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen [a]asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who [b]sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are [c]asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15

51 Behold, I tell you a [a]mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Matthew 24

40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what [a]hour your Lord is coming.

My chief point today appears in the verse from Thessalonians, and these words in bold:

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Thessalonians was written in Greek. The Greek Text Analysis of “caught up” reveals ἁρπαγησόμεθα. Well, that’s Greek to me!

https://biblehub.com/text/1_thessalonians/4-17.htm

That Greek word is harpazo (ah, English letters), which means to snatch or take away. Elsewhere in the Bible the same word is used to describe how the Spirit caught up Philip near Gaza and brought him to Caesarea (Acts 8:39) and to describe Paul’s experience of being caught up into the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2-4). So it would seem that the word is being used to describe people being “moved” from the Earth to “the clouds.”

A Greek to Latin translator reveals that the Greek word ἁρπαγησόμεθα in Latin is rapimur. The word “rapimur” for “caught up” in Thessalonians first appears in the Latin Vulgate Bible, translated by Jerome in 382. He was commissioned by Pope Damasus to translate the Four Gospels into Latin from the best available Greek texts, and by the time Damasus died in 384, he was mostly finished. In a letter to Pope Damasus in 383, Jerome wrote:

“You urge me to revise the old Latin version, and, as it were, to sit in judgment on the copies of the Scriptures which are now scattered throughout the whole world; and, inasmuch as they differ from one another, you would have me decide which of them agree with the Greek original. The labour is one of love, but at the same time both perilous and presumptuous; for in judging others I must be content to be judged by all; and how can I dare to change the language of the world in its hoary old age, and carry it back to the early days of its infancy?”

Jerome completed his Vulgate Bible by 404 A.D.

https://vulgate.org

In the English language, we derive many words from Latin roots. The Latin word “rapimur” is the root word of…you guessed it…

RAPTURE.

The Rapture as a concept would not really be pushed to the fore until John Nelson Darby analyzed Bible translations in the 1830s. But the word that is the root of the word “Rapture” appeared in 384 in Jerome’s translation. I don’t think the “Harpazo” would have quite the same ring to it!

So there you have it. The word “Rapture” IS in the New Testament.

I find this prevarication to be as sly as ole Bill Clinton’s “depends on what the meaning of “is” is!” And both of the above examples, found across Christian belief and thought, make me wonder WHY and WHO? Because this isn’t just pagans and non-Christian sources. This is almost everywhere, even in Christianity itself.

FUN FACT

When the Gutenberg Bible was printed in the 1450’s, it was an edition of Jerome’s Latin Vulgate Bible. So the first books ever printed with moveable type contained the word we derive Rapture from.

*******IN FAIRNESS TO GROK AI*******

I thought to head over and ask Grok about the word rapture in the Bible. Lo and behold, it told the truth!

Does the word Rapture appear in the New Testament?

Yes, the word “Rapture” does appear in the New Testament, but not in the way you might think. The English word “Rapture” as commonly understood today—referring to the event where believers are caught up to meet Jesus Christ in the air—doesn’t appear explicitly in modern English translations of the Bible. However, the concept is derived from the Latin word raptura, meaning “a carrying off” or “seizure,” which comes from the verb rapere (“to snatch” or “to seize”). This Latin term was used in the Vulgate, a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible, to translate the Greek word harpazō (ἁρπάζω), which means “to snatch away” or “to catch up.”

The key passage associated with the Rapture is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (New Testament), where Paul writes:
“Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” (ESV)
In the Greek text, “caught up” is harpagēsometha (from harpazō), and in the Latin Vulgate, it’s rendered as rapiemur (from rapere). This is where the term “Rapture” originates.

So, while “Rapture” as an English word isn’t directly in the New Testament, the idea and the root word it’s based on (harpazō) are present, particularly in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The modern use of “Rapture” to describe this event became popularized in English-speaking Christian theology much later, especially through 19th- and 20th-century dispensationalist teachings.

Does that clarify things for you? Let me know if you’d like me to dig deeper!

WELL, HANG ON THERE ABOUT GROK!

So, down in the comments, I told a story about asking Grok about the Rapture. I decided to move it up here, as it adds more to the AI part of the story:

I was telling a friend about the progression I went through in writing today’s post, and during that conversation, she and I stumbled upon a disturbing possibility. It went like this:

After my friend stated she didn’t believe there would be a Rapture, I, who have never studied it in depth, went looking for info. I first asked Google if the Rapture appeared in the New Testament. The answer I got is in the post above.

I went about doing my research, using various online sources, and my Bible (hard copy).

I wrote a draft of the above post in WordPress. It was in drafts, not scheduled for publication yet.

During the AI discussion here on the Tree, para wrote about using AI for research, and mentioned Grok. I hadn’t asked Grok anything about the subject of the Rapture in the Bible, so out of curiosity, I went and asked. I got the answer I put at the end of the post.

Now here’s the possibility my friend and I considered; Grok’s answer to my query is very close to the research I had written into drafts before I asked the question, and is completely different from the answer I got from Google AI. Did Grok “read” my research, not yet “published,” before answering?

This possibility disturbed my friend greatly, and it sure made me wonder.


DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250320 & Rural v. Urban


Welcome.
Please visit this post for our long-standing site rules.
### Kindly identify all AI products, per warning in the header ###


2024 Presidential Election Map by County. (an uncertain credit)
Let us Never Forget: our VOTES gave the Trump Administration a Mandate to FIX IT ALL.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1


We got our miracle.
America is back.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the cleansing, healing, and rebuilding of our beautiful nation.

God will guide us.
Prayers & thanks to God for President Donald J. Trump.


Rural v. Urban.

Last week’s discussion of separatist movements was thin on the details regarding the motivations of those wanting to redraw the lines for their state. But the most common issue mentioned seems to be that nearly all of the time, the urban areas of a state are running the state without much consideration of the people living in the more rural areas.


Fourteen States – or more.

Will Trump will sew a 51st star on our flag?

From the article referenced last week, there are active separatist movements in at least 14 states: California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

The goals aren’t the same in each place — and some movements are far more serious than others. Dozens of counties in Illinois and Oregon, for example, have already voted in favor of some form of separation from their current states.

The rural v. urban dynamic is called out in an essay from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Law (2018), “Splitsylvania: State Secession and What to Do About It

[Intrastate] secession is the true secession fever: Not the perennial postelection calls of losing parties to secede from a nation controlled by the opposition, but a growing movement for secession from states, with the parts of states (sometimes geographically very large parts of states) wanting to separate from the population-dense urban areas that essentially control state decisionmaking. Feeling ignored, put-upon, and mistreated, secessionists want to take their fate into their own hands. These movements are common, but not likely to succeed on their own, as intrastate secession is, though not entirely unknown (see, e.g., West Virginia) very difficult to pull off.

But these movements do indicate a widespread sense of dissatisfaction among (mostly rural) populations who feel that they are governed by people in distant urban centers who know little, and care less, about their way of life. Such sentiments, which in a way resemble those regarding Britain in the lead-up to the American Revolution, have probably worsened since the Supreme Court’s decisions in the line of cases beginning with Baker v. Carr weakened rural areas’ political position in favor of urban areas. This problem was, to a degree, foreseen by contemporary critics of those decisions.

In conclusion the author proposes:

In this short Essay, I have argued that allowing different standards for urban and rural areas in key subjectmatter areas, something that can be done by both state and federal governments without any constitutional changes, is likely to accomplish that goal. I believe that little of value would be lost by this approach, and much, potentially, might be saved.


An Example.

“Leave Illinois Without Moving – Demand a New State”

In Illinois, the proposal is for all but one county to leave the state of Illinois with essentially only Chicago (about 1/2 of the state population) remaining under the current state government of Illinois. The New Illinois organization will be holding their 7th Constitutional Convention in a little over two weeks from now.

The History of New Illinois

Not long ago, those of us who founded New Illinois were talking about moving away. Just like more than half the state’s residents, we found that in Illinois the taxes were too high, the opportunities limited, and the government corruption outrageous. Then one day the thought struck – Why should WE have to leave? Our families and our roots are here, going back to 1870. Why not stay and fight for our home? In June 2018, we formed New Illinois, a nonprofit organization with the mission of educating Illinoisans about their RIGHT, under the U.S. Constitution, to pursue the formation of a new state. Rather than moving away, we wanted to leave Illinois without moving.

Their vision is compelling for many others living in rural areas who feel out of step with the urban-centered governments running their states.

OUR VISION
New Illinois envisions a NEW State free from a tyrannical form of government, where residents will be able to experience a government representing their Constitutional Rights.


Our Turn.

We can’t leave this to others. We can get informed on what has been found, what is being done about it, and what more needs to be done.

We can make a difference.
And we must make a difference.

May God bless and guide you
as you pray and take action for our nation.


Twitterati, etc.

May I recommend to you @40daysforlife. Each year during Lent, all around the world, a 40 Days for Life prayer vigil is observed to pray for the protection of the unborn.

These prayers and outreach have made a difference. Since the start of 40 Days For Life to now, they have recorded 25,386 babies saved, 162 abortion centers closed, and (perhaps the most stunning) 268 abortion workers have quit, often being assisted in finding a new career through help from 40 Days For Life volunteers.


Prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.


DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250318 ❀ Tuesday Placeholder ❀ Cholesterol and Statins

We continue to mourn the untimely passing of our beloved compatriot DePat, known in real life as Susie Sampson, and also as author Patricia Holden.

Until we have a dedicated author for the Tuesday daily open thread, I will be posting “placeholders” like this one, which may or may not be spiced up with additional content.

Gudthots will take DePat’s old Thursday daily open thread.

Please notify me in advance if you would like to post anything in lieu of the Tuesday placeholder. We welcome all content – the topic doesn’t matter.

W



Cholesterol and Statins


by Gail Combs

Since many of us on the Qtree are older I wanted to document my adventures with the medical establishment. Hopefully my digging will help others avoid harmful drugs by providing the information you need to make an informed decision.

My Labs came back:

LDL = 114(H)

HDL = 98(H)

The Doc wanted to put me on STATINS and my answer was HELL NO!

What I found incredible is the lack of knowledge of the three doctors I have encountered so far. The first, despite my telling her I had a major problem with losing potassium, put me on a high level of Prednisone WITHOUT mentioning the fact I might have to take addition potassium (K) to offset the additional loss of K from the drug. This is well documented in the literature.

In the follow-up visit, not only was a statin recommended but the connection between chronic inflammation (my asthma) and higher cholesterol levels was completely ignored.

Don’t Worry About Cholesterol; Inflammation Is Your Biggest Problem — The Liver Doctor

As I mentioned, the vast majority of cholesterol in your body was made in your liver.  Cholesterol production increases when the body is under stress: emotional stress can cause elevated cholesterol because the stress hormone cortisol is made out of cholesterol. Physical stress on the body can also elevate cholesterol. Because cholesterol helps to repair and heal your body, you will produce more if there is a great deal of inflammation occurring in your body. So all those factors above that raise inflammation, can raise your cholesterol too.

Therefore the cure for elevated cholesterol can be quite simple –lower the inflammation and you’ll also lower the cholesterol.


Seems the research community is FINALLY looking into Cholesterol, inflammation and immunity.

Manuscript Submission Deadline 29 April 2025. This Research Topic is still accepting articles.

Background

Cholesterol metabolism and immune response are closely linked. Cholesterol is critical for the synthesis of lipid rafts, which activate receptors involved in antigen recognition, influences the production of NET and modulates the activation and polarization of macrophages. Oxysterols in turn regulate macrophage activation, migration, and cytokine production. While the immune response modulates the expression of genes involved in the synthesis, absorption and efflux of cholesterol. Cholesterol accumulation in immune cells promotes proinflammatory immune responses creating a vicious cycle that sustains immune inflammation. High-density lipoproteins (HDL) are typically reduced during inflammation, when reverse cholesterol transport is impaired, thus promoting hyperactivation of TLR2 and TLR4 by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and other microbial products, resulting in inhibition of stress-induced activating transcription (ATF) 3 and enhanced production of cytokines by macrophages. Further endangering an already delicate balance, HDL proinflammatory subfractions with lower content of apoA-1, antioxidant enzymes, and L-CAT, are produced, and further fuel inflammation.

Alterations in the biochemical network between cholesterol, inflammation and immunity are emerging as a pathogenetic mechanism of numerous human disorders, among which atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases and their complications, metabolic diseases and diabetes, infectious diseases and sepsis, autoimmune and auto-multiinflammatory disorders, acquired and congenital hypo-immune diseases, and cancer….

So the Cabal’s bio-weapon, SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, is likely to raise cholesterol levels given the body’s response to the spike protein is inflammation and in many cases chronic inflammation known as Long Covid.


Be aware of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein: There is more than meets the eye

Abstract

….other papers showed that the spike protein by itself (without being part of the corona virus) can damage endothelial cells and disrupt the blood-brain barrier. These findings may be even more relevant to the pathogenesis of long-COVID syndrome that may affect as many as 50% of those infected with SARS-CoV-2. In COVID-19, a response to oxidative stress is required by increasing anti-oxidant enzymes. In this regard, it is known that polyphenols are natural anti-oxidants with multiple health effects. Hence, there are even more reasons to intervene with the use of anti-oxidant compounds, such as luteolin, in addition to available vaccines and anti-inflammatory drugs to prevent the harmful actions of the spike protein.


As a side note:

Luteolin, a flavonoid with potentials for cancer prevention and therapy

Abstract

Luteolin, 3′,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone, is a common flavonoid that exists in many types of plants including fruits, vegetables, and medicinal herbs. Plants rich in luteolin have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for treating various diseases such as hypertension, inflammatory disorders, and cancer. Having multiple biological effects such as anti-inflammation, anti-allergy and anticancer, luteolin functions as either an antioxidant or a pro-oxidant biochemically…. Vegetables and fruits such as celery, parsley, broccoli, onion leaves, carrots, peppers, cabbages, apple skins, and chrysanthemum flowers are luteolin rich….


Next I want to get into the vilification of cholesterol and it’s history. The following is a great article and well worth reading. This is just a sample.

Is Your Cholesterol Level Really ‘High’? Tearing Down the Cholesterol Myth


The mean would be 224 so my LDL is actually on the very low end of the scale! And even if the chart is actually looking at the combined amount of LDL + HDL, then my 114+98 = 212 is still lower than average.
From the article:

This same range of cholesterol levels has been seen in people who do have heart disease and people who do not have heart disease, as documented by Professor Brisson using data from the Framingham Study – which is one of the largest studies ever done in it.

Since the Framingham Study, other studies have also confirmed that people WITH heart disease have the same cholesterol levels as people WITHOUT heart disease.

For example, in the UK, the typical person who has a heart attack tends to have the same cholesterol level that is seen for healthy middle-aged and older people in the general population.  Something that is not unique to the UK.

A study published in the Lancet, included 5,754 patients from Australia and New Zealand who had already had a heart attack. The average cholesterol level of this group of people was around 220 mg/dl (5.7 mmol/l). Data from the WHO Global Infobase shows that around the same time, the average cholesterol level for the general population was also 220 mg/dl (5.7 mmol/l).

So people who suffered a heart attack had the same average cholesterol level as the general healthy population. 


How Ancel Keys Brainwashed the Masses Into Fearing Meat (He’s Wrong)

How Ancel Keys FAKED IT!

CORRUPTION

Reducing meat intake and cholesterol hurts sex hormone production. This is why we have the least masculine men in history today.

This is a direct and explicit consequence of the shift to eating garbage.

Processed food is INHUMANE. It’s the fastest way to kill off our population, which it looks like these people are trying to do.

The Real Research Has Been Buried

One of the most comprehensive studies on heart disease was COMPLETELY buried.

Data from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment was unearthed in 2017 after 40 years of sitting dormant.

Ancel Keys, the progenitor of the diet-heart hypothesis, was the lead on the study. It was one of the most comprehensive to date: randomized, controlled and 9,400 participants.

Subjects were in mental health institutions or nursing homes, which helped to ensure the dietary guidelines were followed to a tee for 56 months.

The control group continued to eat a diet high in saturated fats and animal fats. The intervention group ate a serum cholesterol lowering diet that replaced saturated fat with vegetable oils (from corn oil and corn oil polyunsaturated margarine).

Results:

  • The intervention group had a 14% reduction in cholesterol
  • But this didn’t reduce death rate. There was a 22% HIGHER risk of death for each 30 mg/dL reduction in cholesterol….


A Sharyl Attkisson clip of 9 minutes, giving some history. In 2004, recommended cholesterol levels were lowered based on a study by doctors connected to the drug manufacturers. When this conflict of interest was pointed out the FDA ignored it. And then the recommended levels were lowered even further in 2013. Half of the ‘advisors’ recommending the levels were compensated by the Drug manufacturers. And then there is the American Heart Association who develops the standards and its relationship to the drug manufacturers.

What is worse, is not only are statins a money waster, they are also very bad for you.

The Truth about Statin Drugs

Since their introduction in the 1980s, statin drugs have been almost universally hailed as “wonder drugs” by medical authorities around the world. The global market for statins was $16 billion in 2016, and approximately 40 million Americans (that’s one in every five adults!) takes a statin….


Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular Cholesterol-Lowering Medicines


Why Statins are Bad for You…Really Bad

As you know, we have seen statin cholesterol drugs do really bad things to stem cells in culture. On the other end of that spectrum, we’ve also seen high triglycerides due to metabolic syndrome hurt stem cells. One of our patients who was instructed to get off statin drugs before her stem cell procedure recently sent this article by MIT professor Dr. Stefanie Seneff, which is so well done and does such a great job of explaining why statins are bad for you, I had to share. It is also so scientifically dense; I thought a quick summary would be helpful for my readers.  Here goes:

  • Statins have tiny health benefits that are way over played. My comments-Basically, you get about the same cardiac protective effect from a square or two of dark chocolate a day. 
  • Statins decrease cholesterol by blocking an important enzyme pathway, yet cholesterol is needed for the normal health functioning of all cells. In particular, cholesterol is a key component of all healthy cell membranes.
  • Cholesterol is also needed to make vitamin D3, sex hormones, and steroid hormones.
  • The brain is only 2% of the body’s total weight, but houses 25% of the body’s cholesterol.
  • LDL cholesterol is what we have been trained to believe is “bad” cholesterol, when in fact it’s an important transport container for many key items.
  • The outer shell of the LDL transport container is vulnerable to attack by high blood sugars, so in patients with poor blood sugar control (metabolic syndrome) these important transport containers for key nutrients get gummed up by these extra sugars in the blood.
  • These “gummed up” LDL containers get attacked by cells of the body in the walls of blood vessels which lead to “plaques” that clog arteries.
  • Artificially lowering cholesterol by statin drugs causes the LDL transport containers to have too little protection. The function of these containers would normally be to transport excess blood sugars from the liver as fat and get rid of this throughout the body. However, these cholesterol deficient containers can’t perform this important function, magnifying the bad effects of excess sugar consumption. This is what makes high fructose corn syrup so dangerous, as fructose as a sugar is ten times more efficient in gumming up the LDL transport system.
  • This damaged sugar to fat transport system due to a lowered cholesterol level also results in too much fructose in the blood stream (which would normally be converted to fat in the liver and transported by the LDL transport system). This excess blood sugar causes damage to the proteins in the blood.
  • Co-enzyme Q10 synthesis is hampered by the blockage of the cholesterol enzyme pathway and this is needed to run cells and muscles. This can result in problems in the batteries of the cells and muscles (mitochondria).
  • Since the muscles can’t use CoQ10, they decide instead to use all of that extra fructose in the blood serum, which is now in plentiful (and damaging) supply because statins block it’s conversion into fat by the liver and it’s transport out of the liver by the LDL containers. When they do this, it’s without oxygen, so it’s anaerobic and lactic acid builds up, causing painful muscles.
  • The muscles do process the fructose, but they do so in a really inefficient way, requiring 19 times more energy to get the same muscle output-causing a sense of fatigue.
  • This alternative fuel system for the muscles leads to damaged muscle cells. After several years of lactic acid build-up due to statin use (the equivalent of being forced to run a constant marathon), the muscles “give out”. This author believes that this leads to a higher rate of severe muscle disorders like rhambdomyolysis as well as kidney failure (due to the renal system processing all of these muscle break down products). The author also believes that these muscle breakdown products can lead to nerve damage. She believes that this nerve damage can lead to a higher incidence of severe diseases such as ALS. My comments: These claims will take intensive study to see if they hold up.
  • The lack of cholesterol in the system eventually results in the heart and other tissues becoming dependent on an alternate fuel supply-sugar. There is also impaired uptake of glucose by the cells, which leads to the higher prevalence of diabetes that shows up in statin studies.
  • Cholesterol is critical for normal brain function. As mentioned already, the brain contains a lot of cholesterol as it makes up the important covering of the nerves (myelin sheath). Think of this as like the plastic covering of a wire, which insulates the wire and allows it to conduct electricity. This would explain the common reports of memory loss in patients taking statin drugs. A recent study that involved careful manual labeling of statin side effects from large studies showed a higher degree of neurological disorders in patients taking statins. These include neuropathy, parasthesia and neuralgia, and debilitating neurological diseases, ALS and Parkinson’s disease.
  • Longer life in one study that followed patients for 17 years was associated with higher cholesterol levels and full function of the enzymes that statin drugs inhibit. The author concludes that statins are a great way to fast track aging.
  • This author belives that eating foods rich in cholesterol and sulfur (like eggs) and sun exposure are ways to increase your cholesterol sulfate levels which can help clear arteries, not block them.

The upshot? Dr. Seneff believes that these statin side effects will eventually cause the recall of the drug class. Is she right? All I can say is that much of the science she explains makes sense and that we’ve seen what statin drugs can do to cells in culture and it isn’t pretty!

From: Cuppa Covfefe(@guest_1428881)  March 7, 2025 21:01

Statins can cause issues with the mitochondrial respiratory chain… lots of conflicts, interactions, and contra-indications when mito issues exist or are suspected…

-Gail

GC/wm

DEAR MAGA: Open Thread 20250313 & Rogue States


Welcome.
Please visit this January 1st daily thread for the rules of the road,
which are few but important.


2024 Presidential Election Map by County. (an uncertain credit)
Let us Never Forget: our VOTES gave the Trump Administration a Mandate to FIX IT ALL.

Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1


We got our miracle.
America is back.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the cleansing, healing, and rebuilding of our beautiful nation.

God will guide us.
Prayers & thanks to God for President Donald J. Trump.


Rogue States.

Picking up from last week’s presentation, United Sovereign Americans (USA) states that they have the evidence for declaring 5 states as having “gone rogue,” as being out of compliance with the U.S. Constitution, as provably illegitimate:

18/ Illinois, New York, California, Pennsylvania and Michigan are rogue states. No one in those governments knows if their congressional representatives are legitimate. I don’t know, you don’t know, and neither do they. Certifying elections for Congress with millions of fictitious voters and votes is an act of defiance against the United States Constitution, and USA has gathered the proof, from the states’ own official records, that this is exactly what happened. – @UnitedSAmerican

Not only is all of the above true, but there are many other ways in which many of the states are failed. Bankrupt. Corrupt. And worse. The levels of dissatisfaction of the people in all of the states are sky high.


Secessionists.

credit: screen capture from video, “West Virginia: the Road to Statehood

At this point in the conversation, it’s important to note that any discussions of states leaving the Union will need to overcome this ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. “Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1868)” which is summarized here:

The secession of the Southern states in 1861 sparked the Civil War. The Confederacy was defeated on the battlefield rather than in the courts. However, subsequent legal issues created by attempts at independence led the courts to express an opinion on the legality of secession. In Texas v. White, a dispute over a bond sale by the Confederate States, the Supreme Court ruled in 1869 that Texas’ secession had not been legal. According to the majority opinion, entry into the Union formed “an indissoluble relation”; it was “final,” “perpetual,” and left “no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through the consent of the States.”

As of this writing there are groups in Texas, California, Louisiana, Alaska, and New Hampshire that have as their stated goal to get their state to secede from the Union. However, it seems, without armed conflict, the only path for success involves a Constitutional amendment (which would require getting approval by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and being ratified by 38 states). This doesn’t seem very likely.


A New State.

What does the U.S. Constitution say about creating a new state? Article IV Section 3 of the United States Constitution says: “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”

Reading this in the context of those groups wanting to form a new state from territory currently part of another state it would require: (1) consent of the old state, (2) consent of the new state, and (3) consent of Congress.

The history of the creation of West Virginia’s statehood should be instructive (ref: National Archives, WVencyclopedia.org). I’m going to try and create the “Cliff Notes” version of the difficult and contentious history of the creation of the new state of West Virginia.*

  1. Virginia joins confederacy, seceding from Union.
  2. Western part of Virginia doesn’t agree with leaving the Union, but there is no longer a legitimate old state government to get consent from.
  3. Western Virginia deliberates and develops a “reorganized” government of Virginia made up of representatives from non-secessionist areas in the state of Virginia (from June of 1861 to May of 1862).
  4. On May 13, 1862, the state legislature of the reorganized government approves the formation of the new state from the non-secessionist areas of Virginia and a government of the new state of West Virginia is formed. (This new state of West Virginia obviously “consents” to the formation of the new state.)
  5. An application for admission to the Union is then made to Congress. On July 14, 1862, the US Congress adopts a statehood bill for West Virginia, which includes the condition of gradually freeing all blacks under the age of 21 on July 4, 1863. 
  6. President Lincoln signs the enabling act on December 31, 1862. 
  7. The revised constitution for West Virginia, which meets the demand for gradual emancipation, is adopted on March 26, 1863. 
  8. On April 20, 1863, President Lincoln issues a proclamation admitting West Virginia to the Union at the end of 60 days, on June 20, 1863.
  • *Please respond in the comments if there are errors in the above summary, I make no claims to know much at all of what I am writing about here.
  • Dear Wolf and kind readers: some of the above was built from text given to me from Brave AI’s summarizer. I have now gone to the referenced sources to check Brave’s work and updated the text where necessary for clarity and to give credit to sources.

Separatist Movements.

Will Trump will sew a 51st star on our flag?

Time will not permit going into much detail on the various separatist movements active today (for creating new states or redrawing of state lines), but a pretty detailed article “Splitsville: separatist movements are gaining steam in blue states” written by Dave Seminara (published in “The Spectator” in January of this year) covers some of it (reprint here). Dave muddies up some of the details, but it’s still a great place to start reading. From the article:

According to Grant Dahl, co-host of the Secession Speakeasy podcast, there are separatist … movements in Oregon, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Louisiana, California, Washington, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.

The goals aren’t the same in each place — and some movements are far more serious than others. Dozens of counties in Illinois and Oregon, for example, have already voted in favor of some form of separation from their current states.

Apparently there are also movements in Michigan and Maryland, which are not in Dahl’s list.


Interesting Times.


Our Turn.

We can’t leave this to others. We can get informed on what has been found, what is being done about it, and what more needs to be done.

We can make a difference.
And we must make a difference.

May God bless and guide you
as you pray and take action for our nation.


Twitterati, etc.

And now for something completely different. @BretWeinstein might be an outlier in terms of your usual “trapline” on X (to borrow a term from another denizen of our tree, MarieUrsula), but he brings good insights to the table from time to time.


Prayer.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.