Righteousness, the fulfillment of all legal and moral obligations; not an abstract notion but rather consists in doing what is just and right in all relationships; "…keep justice and do righteousness at all times" (Ps. 106:3). Righteous action results in social stability and ultimately in peace: And the work of righteousness shall be peace (Isa. 32:17).
Much ado about Trump. Seems he has touched a nerve, a big one, so big that he has brought about agreement between the left and the right; against him. The
media came out fighting mad when Trump talked about the illegal immigration through the southern border and his call for a wall and putting a stop, or a temporary stop, to Muslim immigration. Name calling was ubiquitous. And comparison to mad men of the past have been flying. He continues to be compared to the great fascists of our time, and portrayed as a dangerous buffoon, a clown.
But too few stopped to ask themselves why he spoke as he did and why so many embrace him. He didn’t appear out of nowhere, and his numbers don’t climb only because of what he has said. Rather, he’s filling a vacuum in America. Americans are afraid. Whether that fear is real or imagined isn’t important. It’s that it exists and I suggest it exists because of the failures of the Obama administration. Failures in providing justice and righteousness to the American people. It appears that the American psyche has awoken to the possibility that their president is not defending their western values.
We are living in times of fear; not the first time and it certainly won’t be the last. When a large segment of the population feels or believes that the government doesn’t care for them or about them, they drift away, to the other side of the spectrum. It’s psychology 101; a rebalancing. As Americans begin to doubt their government’s ability to respond to terror, real or imagined, they seek solace in one who offers “justice.”
I fear for America and many of us in Canada. I know I have to fight anger on a daily basis; an anger that brings out the beast within, the part of us that wants revenge. This despite the fact that we’ve been raised on the belief that revenge belongs to God, or at least the justice system. But too many Western leaders have forgotten the meaning of justice.
Certainly President Obama has shown a distinct dislike for justice for his citizens. He’s too busy mollifying Muslims who’ve stated clearly without any shame that they want the death of America and, oh, yes, Israel. And rather than stand up for justice, against terror, against the malevolent powers that are destroying western values, this man talks about gun violence, gun control, and the fear of backlash against Muslims rather than addressing the fear of his people for terror from Islamists.
He’s done his best with exceptional mental calisthenics to avoid calling terrorism …terrorism. Think about the number of times this president has refused to name terrorists as terrorists. He does mental and linguistic acrobatics comparable to the actions of Cirque de Soleil in order to avoid stating the obvious. We are at war with a culture that hates ours. That culture is Islamic. That doesn’t mean that all Muslims hate the West but it does speak to the fact that those who are committing the vast majority of terrorist attacks are Muslim who clearly and happily call for “Death to America” while calling for “Death to Israel”, the trial balloon, the stand-in for America.
Obama has shown a tendency to undermine Israel and demean her leaders. Yet Israel is the only Western democracy in the entire Middle East and North Africa. She’s an island of freedom in a wasteland of autocracies, theocracies and despots. Why would the leader of the Free World work against the best interests of this democracy -- especially at this time when Islamic terrorists are running rampant in the Middle East and spreading their terror all over the world -- while at the same time papering over the threat of Islamic terror in America.
This president and his administration have gone out of their way to demean and denigrate Israel, attack her in her time of need when she has been experiencing daily terror attacks from Muslims. They find nothing wrong with
attacking President Netanyahu as “myopic, entitled, untrustworthy…and focused solely on short-term political tactics to keep his right-wing constituency in line.”
Yet Obama and his administration had no problems making a deal with the devil in Iran that will provide billions of dollars to the Ayatollahs who will then sponsor more terror, particularly against Israel, then America. This is an administration that holds its tongue with Muslim countries but has loose lips regarding Israel.
It seems this president is overly concerned about Americans being anti-Muslim rather than Americans being afraid of Islamic terrorists. At the first sign -- or his sign -- that an American may have slighted a Muslim, he is there. He invited
Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old Texas student, to the White House to apologize for his “mistreatment” at school when he brought what appeared to be a bomb to school. It’s Islmophobia! Obama turned him into a pop star without verifying facts. This young boy was feted at the White House and then he moved to Qatar. Hmmm.
The message Americans hear is that they are Islamophobic and shouldn’t be so quick to say something when they see something. Obama referred to the Paris (January) attacks at the Kosher Market as random shootings. He did not go to Paris after the November attacks. Obama runs to the aid of families who have lost loved ones to police shootings, but didn’t run to
San Bernardino.
Perhaps if he hadn’t shamed the authorities last October over “Clock-boy”, the neighbours who suspected something in California would have said something. Their fear of being called racist was greater than their fear of a terror attack. Whose fault is that? And unlike French President Hollande, who declared war on Islamists after the second attack on Paris, Obama was more concerned about the feelings of Muslims in America.
This despite the fact that the response to Trump’s calling for more vetting of Muslims -- yes he said Muslims -- was greeted with derision by Ismail Radwan, a Hamas leader and spokesman in Gaza, who told Breitbart Jerusalem: “We do not estimate that the current U.S. administration, any administration, will implement these racist suggestions. This is a pathetic attempt to attribute terror exclusively to Muslims.” Radwan, whose group’s charter calls for the murder of Jews and the destruction of Israel, lectured Trump: “Islam is a religion of peace, a religion which opposes bloodshed.”
Abu al-Ayna al-Ansari, a senior
Salafi jihadist in the Gaza Strip claimed “the American people are risking more terrorist attacks from our brothers, fighters of the Islamic State” because of statement like Trump’s. “Trump should know that a new generation of Muslims has risen, a generation that is capable of handling people like him and countries like the U.S.”
Should there not have been a strong response by the administration to the threats made by these people who hate the West?
Instead we heard from Attorney General Loretta Lynch, just after the terror attack in San Bernardino, speaking at the Muslim Advocates' 10th anniversary dinner. Her "greatest fear" is the "incredibly disturbing rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric" in America and she vowed to prosecute any guilty of what she deemed violence-inspiring speech. "The fear that you have just mentioned is in fact my greatest fear as a prosecutor, as someone who is sworn to the protection of all of the American people, which is that the rhetoric will be accompanied by acts of violence…Now obviously this is a country that is based on free speech, but when it edges towards violence, when we see the potential for someone lifting that mantle of anti-Muslim rhetoric—or, as we saw after 9/11, violence directed at individuals who may not even be Muslims but perceived to be Muslims, and they will suffer just as much—when we see that we will take action."
She shared the numbers of "investigations into acts of anti-Muslim hatred" and "bigoted actions" against Muslims launched by her DOJ and suggested the Constitution doesn’t protect "actions predicated on violent talk" and pledged to prosecute those responsible for such actions. “I think it’s important that as we again talk about the importance of free speech we make it clear that actions predicated on violent talk are not America…They are not who we are, they are not what we do, and they will be prosecuted."
Assuring the pro-Muslim group that "we stand with you," Lynch said she would use her Justice Department to protect Muslims from "violence" and discrimination. "My message not just to the Muslim community but to all Americans is ‘We cannot give in to the fear that these backlashes are really based on.'"
Later at a press conference she termed the San Bernardino shootings a "wonderful opportunity" to change the nature of police work. "We’re at the point where these issues have come together really like never before in law enforcement thought and in our nation’s history and it gives us a wonderful opportunity and a wonderful moment to really make significant change," she told reporters.
This was the take-away.
So, the people look around and say "who is there for us? Who will speak to our fears? Who will bring justice to those who have attacked us?" Nature abhors a vacuum. And so along came a man named Trump who speaks to those fears.
