The Elephant In The Room

 

 

The Elephant In The Room

 

Why is organized religion hell-bent on sending people to an 'eternal torture chamber' when God is loving and merciful? ~ Psalm 106:1

The English language can be very deceptive. Take for example the word "hell." The correct definition of the word hell in the Bible is the place of the dead or grave, not an ever burning torture chamber reserved for the "unsaved."

Is Our Heavenly Father a god of Punishment or The God of Purpose? (Click to Open)

If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being human, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! ~ Luke 11:11-13

 

Jesus never promised His followers a "mansion in heaven", He promised the Kingdom of God on earth. One reason people have a hard time believing the Gospel (Good News) is because it seems too good to be true. A man named Jesus/Yahshua claims to be the Son of God, comes down from heaven and is birthed of a virgin, grows up like any other human, takes all the sins of the world on Himself, dies on a cross, rises from the grave, promises to resurrect all people from the dead, and offers them eternal life in the Kingdom of God!? Yeah, right... that's too good to be true.

So, organized religion created a "reasonable" Jesus. He loves you, but will send you to an ever-burning hell if you mess up. He will not resurrect you, He will "rapture" you. You must belong to the "right" church or you will burn in hell forever. You must go through certain rituals, wear your collar backwards, pray, light candles, give 10% of your income to a Church, celebrate His birthday, and hunt Easter eggs to honor Him. Now that makes sense to the carnal mind. We can handle that "truth."

 

As it is written in Acts 2:17, quoting for Joel 2:28:"And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh." (what part of all is there not to understand?) When you receive God's spirit you receive eternal life. 

 

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~ Philippians 2:9-11

 

For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” ~ Romans 14:11 

Churchanity teaches that God created the hell HE so desperately wants to save us from - let that sink in. Basically, Churchianity teaches the same lie that Satan told Eve: "You will not surely die, you will go to heaven and be like God." All the "bad" people will spend eternity in an ever burning hell. These two doctrines meet will overwhelming approval by many Churchgoers. Jesus said: Broad is the way that leads to destruction.  

The Bible does not teach that people go to a place of eternal punishment (Gehenna or Hell) to suffer. Neither do we go directly to heaven, Instead, scriptures teaches that when we die, we go to the grave (hell) and await our resurrection.

Key Scriptures on the Realm of the Dead

Acts 2:27, 31: Peter quotes Psalm 16:10, stating, "Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead [Hades], you will not let your holy one see decay." Peter explains that this prophesied Christ's death and resurrection, not a punishment in hell. 
1 Peter 3:18-20: States that Christ was "put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison."  People who reject God's message are "in a prison" of unbelief and rebellion.
Luke 23:43: Jesus tells the criminal on the cross beside Him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise," indicating His destination upon death was a place of peace, not torment.
Ephesians 4:9: Mentions that He "descended to the lower, earthly regions" (or "lower parts of the earth"), which many historic Christian teachers view as a reference to the grave or hell.

The word "hell" in both the Hebrew and Greek languages means the place of the dead, or grave, not an ever-burning torture chamber. God only gives us two choices: eternal life or eternal death. Acts 17:30 tells us that God "winked at" (overlooked or disregarded) times of ignorance in the past. Today, man is without excuse because the Bible is available everywhere and we have Bible concordances to help us get the correct definition of the words God inspired to be written.

 

In Matthew 25:46 we read the words of Jesus: “And these (the goat people) shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” The word "punishment" means death or destruction which harmonizes with Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but  the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We cannot be alive "in agony" and dead at the same time. The wages of sin is death... not alive jumping from one hot rock to another. In verse 41, the translators chose the word "fire" instead of destruction. 

 

Let's Examine This "Hell" that is one of the most Popular Doctrines of Denominational Christianity

The doctrine of an ever-burning "hell" is False.

Truth: The word hell means "the place of the dead or grave." People only have two choices - eternal life or eternal death. You cannot be alive and dead at the same time. The dead know nothing and feel nothing. ~ Ecclesiastes 9:5 

 

The grave/hell and the "lake of fire" are two different things.

 

Truth: Notice carefully, Revelation 21:8  "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” 

 

Death!... not alive and suffering forever. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 6:23  

 

It is, in fact, because of the way that the word “hell” is understood today that it is such an unsatisfactory translation of these original Bible words. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, unabridged, under “Hell” says: “fr[om] . . . helan to conceal.” The word “hell” thus originally conveyed no thought of heat or torment but simply of a ‘covered over or concealed place.’ In the old English dialect the expression “helling potatoes” meant, not to roast them, but simply to place the potatoes in the ground or in a cellar.

 

The meaning given today to the word “hell” is that portrayed in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s Paradise Lost, which meaning is completely foreign to the original definition of the word. The idea of a “hell” of fiery torment, however, dates back long before Dante or Milton.

The Grolier Universal Encyclopedia (1971, Vol. 9, p. 205) under “Hell” says: “Hindus and Buddhists regard hell as a place of spiritual cleansing and final restoration. Islamic tradition considers it as a place of everlasting punishment.” The idea of suffering after death is found among the pagan religious teachings of ancient peoples in Babylon and Egypt. Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs depicted the “nether world . . . as a place full of horrors, . . . presided over by gods and demons of great strength and fierceness.” 

Although ancient Egyptian religious texts do not teach that the burning of any individual victim would go on forever, they do portray the “Other World” as featuring “pits of fire” for “the damned.”—The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Morris Jastrow, Jr., 1898, p. 581; The Book of the Dead, with introduction by E. Wallis Budge, 1960, pp. 135, 144, 149, 151, 153, 161, 200

“Hellfire” and "Damnation" has been basic teachings in Chrurchanity for many centuries. It is understandable why The Encyclopedia Americana (1956, Vol. XIV, p. 81) said: “Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (the original text omits and fire) ~ Matthew 3:11

 

Matthew 13:42 says: And shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 

Jesus always used parables to illustrate a point.  In Matthew 13, the phrase "furnace of fire" (found in the Parable of the Tares and the Parable of the Dragnet) represents the place of final divine judgment, separation, and torment for the wicked at the end of the age. 

What about the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:22?... "But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.'' Doesn't that prove hell is a fiery place? Let's examine the two Greek words, gehenna and hades, that the translators chose to call "hell fire or simply "hell."

Gehenna is a physical place in this world—a valley just outside the city of Jerusalem. Here’s the Wikipedia page about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehenna. With a history of child sacrifice in that place, it was thought of as a cursed and eventually became the trash pit for the city, which meant it was constantly burning.

Hades. Ten of the NT occurrences of the word “hell” in the KJV are a translation of the Greek word Hades, which is the name of the Greek god of the underworld. Those ten places are: Matt. 11:23, Matt. 16:18, Luke 10:15, Luke 16:23, Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31, Rev. 1:18, Rev. 6:8, Rev. 20:13, Rev. 20:14. It also shows up translated as simply “grave” in 1 Cor. 15:55.

 

Hades doesn’t contain the idea of either fire or torment. The different outcomes implied by the word Hades are that the wicked die while the righteous have eternal life. No fire involved—upon death of the body, the soul dies (read Ezekiel 18:4)

 

The only passage above where fire comes in is Rev. 20:14 where both death (thanatos—the death of the physical body) and hell (hades—the death of the spirit) are cast into a lake of fire—presumably to cleanse the world of all forms of death so that only life remains.

 

Hell (the grave) and lake of fire are two different things and designed for two different purposes. The phrase "lake of fire" only appears four times in the entire Bible, and only in the book of Revelation, chapters 19 and 20.

The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. ~ Revelation 20:10

This scripture is the fate of only three beings, not the fate of millions of  "unsaved" people. Revelation 20:15 states: And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. However, after the resurrection of the "unsaved" or as the Bible says - unjust, i.e.justified, that number will be very small or non-existent.

 

So what happens to the "wicked" and/or "unsaved" people? What did Jesus reveal to the Apostle John?  

Revelation 1:1-3 - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,  who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. 

The word translated “hell” in Mark 9:43 is the Greek word Gehenna, which comes from the Hebrew name for a place called the “Valley of Hinnom.” Jesus uses this place to paint a vivid image of what death without salvation is like. The people in Jesus day often associated the Valley of Hinnom with spiritual/second death. 

Mark 9:43, part of a larger passage about avoiding sin, uses strong, hyperbolic language to emphasize the seriousness of sin and the need to take drastic measures to avoid it. Jesus is not advocating for literal self-mutilation, but rather illustrating that one should eliminate anything from their life that leads them to sin, even if it's something deeply ingrained or precious. The core message is that it's better to enter the Kingdom of God with some physical or emotional "disadvantage" than to die with one's sins fully intact. 

• Revelation 2:11
  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” ’

  
  
• Revelation 20:6
  Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

  
  
• Revelation 20:14
  Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

  
  
• Revelation 21:8
  But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Death... not alive in an ever burning fire.

Many people believe that a threat of "hell" induces sinners to repentance and keeps the "saved" in line. However, let's read what the Bible says: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. ~ 2 Peter 3:9

ALL does not leave anyone out of God's will. There are two resurrections. Those "in Christ" are raised first. ~1 Thessalonians 4:16. The second resurrection is for the "unsaved" to learn the truth and come to repentance.

Psalm 136:26 - Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever.

Romans 9:15

For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

As Christ-Followers, it is not our place to condemn or judge other people. We are allowed to condemn sin but not the sinner... God is the righteous judge. It's a 24/7 job minding our own business. As it is written: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ~ Philippians 2:12 

Born Again Revisited

If you belong to a "Hell Raising" church organization, or just plain tired of playing church, You're Invited to Join Renew Your Strength Bible Study Group

 

The purpose of this post is to get people to think about what they believe and why they believe it, not debate who's right or wrong. To learn the revealed truth of God we must know and understand the true meaning of the words God inspired to be written. Use Strong's Concordance to check the original word before it was translated. Do your own research, make up your own mind, rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you. God always gives us a choice. We can choose to believe the Truth of the Bible, or we can choose the lies of the Adversary.

 

 

 

Sin

 

BEING A CHILD OF GOD

ARE WE STILL A SINNER?

Do Christians Sin?

What is sin?

Sin translates from the Hebrew word khata‘ and the Greek word hamartia. The most basic meaning of sin isn’t religious at all. Khata’ simply means “to fail,” or “miss the mark or goal.” What is the goal?

The goal is to always do what is right, not in our eyes but the righteous standard set by God. There are at least three ways to miss the mark, not just miss the bullseye, but the entire target.

1. 1 John 3:4 - sin is the transgression of the law

2. Romans 14:23 - whatever is not from faith is sin

3. James 4:17 - to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin

Why did God set these standards for sin? Answer: Because He is LORD of The Law and wants what's best for us.

 

When we break man's law we're a criminal. When we break God's law we're a sinner. So let's say you violate a traffic law and you pay a fine for transgressing the law. Does that make you a criminal? No, you admitted your guilt and paid the penalty. When Christians sin they repent and try to do better. Jesus pays the penalty for us.

Before exploring whether or not Christians sin, let’s define a couple of terms. Regardless of how tattered the word Christian has become throughout history, the biblical definition of a “Christian” is one who is a Christ-follower, a disciple of Jesus (Acts 11:26). 

 

 

A Christian is not a righteous (or saved) person telling other people they need to "get saved," rather we are one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. A Christian is NOT someone who has ascribed to a particular set of religious beliefs or practices, joined a church, prayed a prayer, or participated in certain sacraments or rituals. 

 

A Christian is a person who has responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 6:44) by putting his or her whole faith in the finished work of Christ for salvation (Ephesians 2:8–9; John 3:15–18). Christians are those who have repented of their sin and have made Jesus Lord of their lives (Romans 10:9–10; Acts 2:38). They go through the process of a new birth by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:6–7).

“Sin” is any thought, word, or action that is contrary to the character or law of God. We all sin (Romans 3:23), and even what we consider good deeds are often tainted by selfish motives or pride (Isaiah 64:6). Left to ourselves, it is impossible to please God or to be completely free from sin (Romans 3:10; Ecclesiastes 7:10).

When we come to Christ by faith and trust Him to forgive and cleanse us of all our sin, we begin the process of a new birth (John 3:3). That new birth of the spirit results in a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). God gives the repentant sinner a new heart that is now turned toward obeying and pleasing Him rather than self (2 Corinthians 5:9; Romans 8:5–6). Whereas we were formerly slaves to sin, we are now “slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:16). Sin’s control has been broken by the power of Jesus (Romans 6:6; Titus 2:14)

 

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the donkey thought it was all about him. The people were cheering, they laid down palm branches so he would not get his hoofs dirty - it was so exciting! But after Jesus got off the donkey, what happened? We never hear of the donkey ever again.

We all carry Jesus with us when we accept His message of salvation. It is never about us, it's always about Jesus and His finished work at the cross. When we become a new creature in Christ, our old sinful nature is never heard from again. 

 

However, we still live in the flesh, and the flesh is prone to want what it wants. In Romans 7:21–23, Paul admits the battle between flesh and spirit in his own life: “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Each battle with temptation is won or lost based upon how fully we are surrendered to the control of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16–17)

The book of 1 John was written to Christians. The apostle says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8–9). It is clear from this passage that even those who have begun the process of new birth and redeemed by the blood of Jesus will still sin. Through thought, attitude, or action, we will “grieve” (Ephesians 4:30) and “quench” (1 Thessalonians 5:19) the Holy Spirit at times. But this passage also reassures us that God offers continual, ongoing grace whenever we agree with Him about our sin and ask for His cleansing.

However, other passages clarify the boundaries of this ocean of grace. First John 3:6 says, “No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.” Verse 9 says that those who have been “born of God” will not continue to live sinfully. The implication is that this is not a matter of trying harder. Rather, it is the equivalent of saying, “A fish cannot remain on land for long because its nature is to seek water.” A fish could flop onto the shore and survive for a short time. But it was not made for land and cannot continue there. When we obey God, our nature changes, and we cannot continue in sin. Christ not only erases our past sin; He also transforms our hearts so that we no longer desire to sin (Colossians 2:13–14).

Paul asked, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1–2). Although Christians will still sin after being saved, the heart change that the Holy Spirit brings will result in a new attitude toward sin. Sin cannot continue being a lifestyle choice if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus. That’s what it means to say that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9; Colossians 2:6). We have a new boss. We cannot be followers of Christ and followers of sin at the same time. They are going in opposite directions (Luke 9:23; 14:33). Romans 12:2 instructs, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Renewal can take some time, but it is a process that produces a change of behavior.

When a true child of God goes astray, our Father administers discipline to bring him back into obedience. Hebrews 12:7–8 says, “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” If a professing Christian can choose a lifestyle of sin without experiencing enough discipline to bring him to repentance, then according to this Scripture, it is highly unlikely that that person is a child of God.

Do Christians sin? Yes. Do they willfully continue in sin? No. Scripture indicates that, while we will always “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), we have the hope that the power of God is at work in us to “make us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT)

 

 

You are cordially invited to join Renew Your Strength Bible Study Group 

 

America in the 1950's

America in the 1950s had intact families, close communities, disciplined people, penitent churchgoers, innocent children, respect for our elders, and a cohesive national fabric stitched tightly together with hard work, dignity, and pride. That America no longer exists. The past is a foreign nation.

And even in a segregated society in the 1950's, The blessings of Almighty God flowed to the oppressed peoples. After a bloody "uncivil war", America repented of her sin of slavery. But as time passed, America forgot where her blessings were coming from and began to make a series of very bad choices.

How did America lose her way?

America Forgot Her God

Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:~Deuteronomy 28

Read the whole chapter, it lays it out plain as day. Can America ever be restored? Yes, Nationally and Individually, if we do exactly as instructed in 2 Chronicles 7:14

 

You're Invited to Renew Your Strength 

 

We The People

 

The following has been attributed to Lewis Napper, a Jackson, Mississippi computer programmer. He didn't expect his essay -- a tart 10-point list of "rights" Americans don't have -- to become an Internet legend.

 

'We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to  help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of  Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights.'

 

 
ARTICLE I:
You do not  have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth.. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing  anything.
 
ARTICLE II:
You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not  just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of dummies, and probably always will  be.
 
ARTICLE III:
You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect  the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.
 
ARTICLE  IV:
You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who  achieve nothing more than the creation of another  generation of professional couch potatoes.
 
ARTICLE V:
You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.
 
ARTICLE  VI:
You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you get the blue juice.
 
ARTICLE  VII:
You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure..
 
ARTICLE VIII:
You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.  And then respect that job, and the owner who gave it to you and keep your hands off their stuff.
 
ARTICLE IX:
You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are  unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws  created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.
 
ARTICLE X:
This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you came from, English is our language. Learn it!
 
Lastly
 
ARTICLE  XI:
You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, sorry if you are uncomfortable with it. 
 
 
If you agree, share this with a friend. No, you don't have to, and nothing tragic will befall you if you don't. I  just think it's about time common sense is allowed to flourish. Sensible people of the United States must  speak out because if you do not, who will?

 

 

In one sentence, the bad news is that the American Republic has fallen so far from its original intent that the enemies of the Republic have not only been at the gate, but for many decades have been swarming into America to destroy it from within, all done with the help of powerful people who want to bring down the USA to merge us into a global government where all nations are equal at a third world level.

The good news is that more and more citizens are awakening to these facts, and we are influencing our fellow citizens to make our voices heard.

 
“If we must die, we die defending our rights.”

 

 We The People Are Not Your Slave

Final Inspection

 

THE FINAL INSPECTION

 

The Marine stood and faced God,

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining,

Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, Marine,

How shall I deal with you?

 

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To My Church have you been true?'

The Marine squared his shoulders and said,

'no, Lord, I guess I ain't.

 

 Because those of us who carry weapons,

Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sabbath Days,

And at times my talk was tough.

And sometimes I've been violent,

Because the world is awfully rough.

 

But, I never took a penny,

That wasn't mine to keep.

Though I worked a lot of overtime,

When the bills just got too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God, forgive me,

 

I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,

Among the people here.

They never wanted me around,

Except to calm their fears

If you have a place for me here, Lord,

 

It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,

Where the saints had often trod

As the Marine waited quietly,

For the judgment of his God.

 

'Step forward now, you Marine,

You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

You've done your time in Hell.'

 

~Author Unknown~

 

 

Eye Witness Account

 

This story is an incredibly good read. It describes the reality that most people are unthinking lemmings, ignorant of history, and how eagerly and blindly they listen to and follow the Sirens' Song of politicians who promise them everything at no cost.

Expecting something for nothing is the most popular form of hope.

The reality is – When you get something for nothing, you just haven't been billed for it yet. The reason this country continues its drift toward socialism and big nanny government is because too many people vote in the expectation of getting something for nothing, not because they have a concern for what is good for the country. Too many politicians will promise whatever they think will get them the greatest number of votes -- and that is to promise the American Sheeple "something for nothing".

Story by Kitty Werthmann

I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. If you remember the plot of the Sound of Music, the Von Trapp family escaped over the Alps rather than submit to the Nazis. Kitty wasn’t so lucky. Her family chose to stay in her native Austria. She was 10 years old, but bright and aware. And she was watching.

We elected Hitler by a landslide – 98 percent of the vote,” she recalls. She wasn’t old enough to vote in 1938 – approaching her 11th birthday. But she remembers. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.

Not so. Hitler is welcomed to Austria

In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates. Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn’t want to work; there simply weren’t any jobs.

My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people – about 30 daily.

We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933.” she recalls. “We had been told that they didn’t have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.

 

Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group – Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone in Germany was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back.

Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler. We were overjoyed, remembers Kitty, and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.

After the election, German officials were appointed, and, like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.

Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn’t support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.

Then we lost religious education for kids

Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn’t pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang "Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles," and had physical education.

Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail.

And then things got worse.

The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free.

We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had. My mother was very unhappy, remembers Kitty. When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn’t do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun – no sports, and no political indoctrination.

I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing. Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time, unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler.

It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn’t exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.

In 1939, the war started, and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn’t work, you didn’t get a ration card, and, if you didn’t have a card, you starved to death. Women who stayed home to raise their families didn’t have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.

Soon after this, the draft was implemented.

It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps, remembers Kitty. During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys. They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines.

When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat. Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service. When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers.

You could take your children ages four weeks old to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, seven days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.

Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna. After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full. If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.

As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80 percent of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing. We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables.

Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn’t meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.

We had consumer protection, too. We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the livestock, and then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.

In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated. So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work. I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van.

I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months.

They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness. As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.

Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law-abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long afterwards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.

No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up. 

 

Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little, eroded our freedom.

This is my eyewitness account.

It’s true. Those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity. America truly is (or used to be) the greatest country in the world. Don’t let freedom slip away. After America, there is no place to go.

Kitty Werthmann

 

CSPOA

 

There are 3,143 counties and county-equivalents in the 50 states and District of Columbia sorted by U.S. state, plus an additional 100 county-equivalents in the U.S. territories sorted by territory.

The Sheriffs are the highest elected officials in the County and the closest to We The People. They have the authority to arrest Mayors, City and County Officials, and Judges.

YES! You Can Join The Posse!