No, this is not a new video. I just ran across it viewing other things, and as I watched I realized tears were streaming down my cheeks. I remember my Granny, who is now passed on, singing this in church when I was just a little girl. I remember her finding it my hymnal for me, and as I stood there beside her, I held her hand and swayed with her as we both sang this beautiful hymn praising Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Granny, this one’s for you. I know you remember us singing this, too. I also remember you playing it on your piano at home. I miss you so very much.
This weekend, Mike Huckabee sat down with David Silverman of the American Atheist group about the iconic symbol that is the cross that was formed form steel beams in the rubble of the World Trade Center. Seems this atheist group is outraged….outraged, I tell you, that this alleged violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments is being displayed in the Ground Zero Memorial Museum.
What is it the atheists want? They want equal representation because obviously (sarc) the steel beams are a Christian icon which violates the separation of church and state. Never mind the fact that nobody complained about this cross during the entire rescue and recovery operation in the days that followed the attack.
The symbol the atheists want? A pair of hands shaking. Um… okay. The cross is just “rubble” to you, Mr. Silverman, and the attacks prove God doesn’t exist, but you want some goofy hand-shaking statue to represent atheists equally at the museum? Why don’t you take some time-traveling way-back machine, go back into the towers and endure the attacks yourself. Then during the search and rescue (should you survive) mission that follows, please dig deep down into the rubble and see if you can find some semblance of two hands shaking that has somehow miraculously formed by the twisted steel. THEN you can bring your “symbol” to the surface, see if you can find like-minded atheists in the pile who want to include your stupid statue in the museum in the future.
By the way… I doubt you would have found many atheists in “the pile” during that time anyway, so it would have been rough going for you. But hey, at least you can dream, right? In the mean time, STFU.
From the RedState conference in South Carolina today, Texas Gov. Rick Perry finally made it official – he’s running for President of the United States in 2012. Here’s his speech in its entirety.
I’m still up in the air about who my candidate is, but I welcome Perry’s entrance into the race.
Last Sunday on “This Week with Christianne Amanpour,” the title of the show was called “Should the West Fear Islam?” Now, she could have just stopped it at that and spared the audience from a one-hour show of America-bashing Islamopologies. The obvious answer to the show’s questions is a simple “yes,” but there was one nugget in the show that really explained the truth.
Panelists on the show included Rev. Franklin Graham, evangelical leader; Robert Spencer, founder of Jihad Watch and co-founder of Stop the Islamization of America; Ground Zero Mosque co-founder Daisy Khan; Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and other scholars and families of 9/11 victims. Rev. Graham and Spencer were both outspoken about the evils of Islam, as was former Muslim, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, reporting via satellite, probably for her safety’s sake. You see, the wonderful, peace-loving, serene religion of Islam has issued many Fatwas against her, for which she has 24-hour security protection. Remember the Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gogh? When he was killed by an Islamofascist, a knife was plunged into his chest, pinning to it a note to Ali saying she was next. Van Gogh produced a movie Ali starred in called “Submission” about the oppression of women under Islamic Sharia law.
One particularly enlightening exchange came from co-founder of an organization called Islam4UK, Anjem Choudary, who was speaking via satellite from London. It was Choudary who provided the clarity that answered the question en toto. Here are the three segments from the show interspersed in this partial transcript:
AMANPOUR: Let me just say stop you there for a second, because this side is obviously the side that says one shouldn’t fear and that there are moderates and the whole religion should not be painted with the same brush. I want to, though, now go to Anjem Choudary in London. You have said that you think there should be Islamic domination. Why shouldn’t people be afraid of that?
CHOUDARY: Well — well, let me just say that Islam has a solution for all of the problems that mankind faces. If you want to live at peace with Muslims, we are quite willing to live at peace with you. But let us remember that history did not begin on 9/11. Before 9/11, the Americans — the American government bombed Sudan and Afghanistan. They were supporting the pirate state of Israel. So 9/11 was a reaction. You know, I think that we need to get away from the stereotyping. And this idea that you have moderate Muslims and you have radical Muslims, you know, it’s complete nonsense. A Muslim is the one who submits to the command of the creator. If he submits, he is a practicing Muslim. If he is not, then he should be practicing.
DAISY KHAN: I have to disagree with him, because Islam is a religion of pluralism that embraces all religions and it also embraces different interpretations. This is why we have so many schools of thought. What Anjem is talking about is an exclusivist view of Islam, which is my way or the highway. And my interpretation is the only interpretation—
CHOUDARY: It’s very easy for people to justify the fact that they’re not practicing. I mean, this lady in your studio, she should be covering with the hijab. She’s obviously not practicing —
CHOUDARY: There are many people who are justifying — there are many people who are justifying the inability to practice the Sharia, to say, “Well, I have a different form of religion.” You know, people want to claim that they’re vegetarians and they’re eating big beef burgers. You can not be a non-practicing vegetarian. Therefore, similarly, if you’re a Muslim, you submit to the Sharia.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM:He’s telling the truth.
AMANPOUR: You see, Reverend Graham says you’re telling the truth. So, do you agree with Reverend Graham and our panelists on this side that Americans should fear Islam?
CHOUDARY: we do believe, as Muslims, the East and the West will one day be governed by the Sharia. Indeed, we believe that one day, the flag of Islam will fly over the White House. Indeed, there’s even an oration of the Prophet where he said, “The day of judgment will not come until a group of my oma… — ”
DONNA MARSH O’CONNOR: Can I just — ?
CHOUDARY: “Conquer the White House.”
Rev. Graham got it right – Choudary was telling the truth.
Questions: Why did Amanpour seem to recoil at that revelation? And why did she move along away from it without asking more probing followup questions? The answer is very simple, and obvious to those who are familiar with Amanpour’s work. Amanpour is pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel, and is a known apologist for Islam and Jihad. I also think she only had Ali on as a token, because she sure didn’t give her much airtime.
Why this woman was given the “This Week” show is beyond me. I’ve read the ratings have plummeted since she started anchoring the Sunday show, so she probably did this particular one for ratings…and to have another opportunity to shill for Islam on TV. Honestly, they should have just left Jake Tapper in place because “This Week” was really a good show with him at the helm. I and many others have told him so via Twitter and email.
I also think Amanpour (and ABC, by default) missed the best opportunity of all time (or perhaps it was intentional) to have the pre-eminent scholar on Islam to be a guest on the show. Who is that? Nobody knows the history and absolute truths about Islam better than Steve Emerson. Amanapour probably knew better than to invite him because he would have wiped the floor with all of the Islam apologists on the set. Perhaps she invited him and he turned her down? We’ll never know, but it would have been a much more fair show in exposing the unvarnished truths about Islam, and to answer the question “should America fear Islam?” with an absolute, resounding “YES!”
Today on FNC’s America Live, Megyn Kelly had Army Capt. Scotty Smiley and his wife Tiffany on the show to talk about his truly heroic story, from tragedy to triumph. You see, Capt. Smiley is making history – he’s the first ever totally blind Soldier to serve on active duty. If this lovely couple doesn’t give you hope, then you have no feelings.
Captain Scotty Smiley, a Ranger and combat-diver qualified infantryman, was the Army’s first active-duty, blind officer and its first blind company commander. On April 6, 2005, he lost use of both eyes when a suicide car bomber blew himself up thirty meters in front of Scotty’s Stryker vehicle. Since that day, Scotty Smiley has surfed in Hawaii, skied in Vail, skydived, climbed Mount Rainier, completed a triathlon, and graduated from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business with his MBA. The Army Times named Captain Smiley its Soldier of the Year in 2007, and in 2008 he won an ESPY as the world’s Best Outdoor Athlete. Scotty, a recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, recently taught the core course in leadership at West Point and now commands the Warrior Transition Unit at West Point’s Keller Army Medical Center.
I would encourage anyone who is interested in his story to get his book “Hope Unseen.” I can’t wait to get it and read it myself. If Capt. Smiley can, with faith and love, get through all the battles of his life, none of the rest of us has any room to complain. He proves that no matter what, we can all come through the worst life offers, and really make the best of it.
Welcome 
