argaman01

[argaman01]

Jesus fed the 5,000, but the people of God can't fill the chasm left by USAID

I have a day job that has nothing to do with feeding people. I’m a missionary trauma surgeon, training Christian Malawian doctors to become surgeons. In Malawi, a country of 21 million people, there’s roughly one surgeon for half a million residents, and to my knowledge I’m the only critical-care board certified physician in all of Malawi. Because of my skills, I’m frequently consulted by the U.S. Embassy and on call for U.S. special forces when they visit Malawi. I really need to do my day job.  Last week I did a lot of things besides my day job. After discovering that 20 nursing students at the college that supports our hospital had lost their funding due to the sudden demise of the U.S. Agency for International Development, I spent time trying to find a donor for them, so they and the school might find a way to continue to train the professionals my hospital desperately needs. I spent several hundred dollars of my own money to feed them and paid my language teacher double, since much of his employment is also through USAID and has abruptly disappeared. The USAID shutdown caused the hospital’s HIV clinic to close and access to malaria medicine for our pediatric ward full of patients to be cut off, as well as tuberculosis medications. I made calls, sent texts and emails, stayed up late at night, trying to help. A few, mostly HIV-related programs, have partially restarted after limited waivers were granted, but there’s still mass confusion and fear, and all programs remain under threat. One friend said he had barely slept in three days. Christian aid workers across the world have similar stories. As the crisis unfolds, I’ve seen countless Christians happily proclaim on social media that “God will make a way,” or that “people of God on the ground” should be doing this kind of work, not the U.S. government. I am the “people of God” on the ground. My husband and three kids have barely seen me this week. Sometimes I have to spend hours in line to get gas for my car to go to work. So, no. The people of God cannot just take over.

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https://www.instagram.com/stories/ithacans4israel/3571727321587425714?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=M3lxb2loYW54ejQw

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Amen!

How anyone can happily support and valorise the kind of people who kidnap babies in their pyjamas from their home, hold them hostage, murder them, and then hold their bodies for months while their families and communities continue to hope and pray for them and think for an iota of a fucking second they have the audacity to lecture anyone else about human rights or justice.

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Fuck. Today really is shit.

it is very clear that hamas is doing this not because israel did a single violation, but because the world can see the state of our hostages.

evil fucking bastards.

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These men just stole the personal information of everyone in America AND control the Treasury. Link to article.

Akash Bobba

Edward Coristine

Luke Farritor

Gautier Cole Killian

Gavin Kliger

Ethan Shaotran

Spread their names!

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Pornbots - if you follow me, I will block you.

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Ok so the ICE arrests of US citizens and veterans of Hispanic descent.

Read Between Dignity and Despair by Marion Kaplan. Because this is part of a process called “social death.” We already have high level dehumanizing and quasi-genocidal rhetoric about Latinx Americans. We have internment camps. Now we have the Trump Admin and its just-following-orders ICE enforcers arresting citizens.

“Social death” is the process by which a group of citizens has its identity as lawful and ideological citizens questioned to such an extent that it becomes normalized among the “fits ideological notions of citizenship” group to view them as an inherently foreign Other before anyone starts revoking citizenship.

And we’re already ass deep into that process.

The USA is not a country in which ANYONE should feel as though they have to carry their citizenship/naturalization papers on them. That is not normal, and you cannot let the media normalize it.

Also, read Imagined Communities.

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Don’t comply in advance

An Executive Order is not a law

It’s a wishlist

The United States still has some (flawed and deeply eroded, but still standing) systems of checks and balances in play

Behave as though nothing has changed (if, of course, it’s safe for you to do so) until the Executive Orders go through the courts

Me? I’m going to keep behaving as though I have the Constitutional right to criticize our government until the (corrupt and degraded) SCOTUS retracts the First Amendment.

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she wrote this before the girls arrived safely home today, but it resonated with me deeply and I know others will understand.

(I think we should also clarify that Naama has not shared what happened to her, and it’s her choice whether to do so. thus I will not definitively speak to that, but include tw in the tags because of the triggering nature of what we saw that day.)

all of them, living and dead, will forever be part of us.

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It is so nauseating to see them captured and abused on October 7, and so much joy to see them free. I hope that they are able to recover from their awful experiences.

TW FOR MY JEWS AND ISRAELIS: this has footage of the girls’ kidnapping and abuse.

i am posting this for the inevitable “they were treated well” posts bc hamas held them at gunpoint and made them speak arabic.

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I'm so glad they're back with their families!

After 477 days

Liri albag,naama levy,karina ariev and daniella gilboa are back from captive

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like I don’t know. do Jews have to begin any criticism of the pro-Palestine movement with #notallpropalestinians before people will take us seriously? do we have to explain at length how we understand the injustice against Palestinians? do we have to provide lists of the Palestinian authors we’ve read and films we’ve watched and lectures we’ve been to? do you want copies of law journal articles I’ve published advocating for Palestinian rights? records of my semester abroad studying Palestinian Arabic under Palestinian teachers? photos of me in Nablus with Palestinian friends? what level of performativity do non-Jews need to show until you take our criticisms of the left in good faith

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petition to rename the usa ‘south canada’

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She said,

“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God, for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”

And he replied,

“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!"

This was the most childish thing I've ever heard an adult say. Accusations of hatred and stupidity as a response to a peaceful request and gentle criticism?

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When and how will Congress pass the Enabling Act, and what will the excuse be?