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dasozelotvonnebenan · 4 years ago

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The Demicentaur

For @tyrias-library‘s Halloween event, unter the Cryptids prompt.

“Why exactly are we here boss? I know you like secrecy, but usually I know at least the basic reason for our travels” Lugard nervously scratched his wrist, the scraping of metal on metal only adding a shiver to the phantom pain.

Gekk, wearing peacemaker armor as usually, looked up at him. “Makin’ you uneasy, eh? Not knowin’ what the deal is?” Lugard knew Gekk well enough to suspect a grin under the helmet.

“Enough to make my hands hurt.” Lugard looked awkwardly at the metal prosthetics. “I did do some digging. The next speaker, a certain Frigg, he’s named as a Cryptozoologist, whatever that means, you’re paying him a respectable amount of money to fund his research.”

“See, you have all you need to know. Sometimes you are as dumbwitted as your nickname suggests Skrittlike. And now shush, his talk begins!” The Asura shifted his view to the stage.

The last few stragglers returned from their break to reclaim their seats as Lugard brooded in silence. Why had Gekk left Lion's Arch, during the Mad King’s Reign of all times!, to visit a convention of crackheads talking about creatures from children's books?

The host of the event, an asura whose most prominent feature was a concerning lack of any defining features, waddled up once again to announce the next talk. Seven Truths about the Demicentaur, by Frigg.

The Asura that now took the stage fit the descriptor Cryptozoologist quite well. Clad in ragged, earthy brown leather, decorated with what looked like roots from afar, or maybe some animal tails, he could’ve appeared as the cryptid in any of the other talks. Additionally he had brought at least the beginning of zoo with him, as there was a devourer following at his heel.

“The Demicentaur-,” Frigg started, then interrupted himself almost immediately, “Good evening everyone of course. The Demicentaur, or Horse, as it is colloquially known, is one of my favourite cryptids. For one it is a very old one for one of non-Asuran origin, I will get back to that in a bit, and it is intricately connected to my favourite extratyrestrial lifeform. Humans.”

A few chuckles echoed through the hall. Lugard was grateful for his mask as he felt Gekks gaze judging his reaction. To be fair it had taken him a few moments to remember that the Six had brought humans with them to Tyria. It’s not something that comes up in everyday life.

“Now there is a widely used joke about us Cryptologists that says there is only one thing we can agree on, and that is that we can’t agree on anything.” Many heads nodded. “That is why I have spent the last six months with chasing the few solid truths I could find. Now I’ve had the great luck to have a sponsor that allowed me to divert more of my time towards this topic, but as many of you know me, I could and would have done this research alongside my usual work, and there is nothing stopping anyone here from going out and double checking my findings.”

Again a large part of the audience nodded in approval. Lugard leaned over to Gekk, “So you are paying for this guys hobby so he can tell you something about horses?”

“Shh!” Gekk rudely answered, “Just listen”

“Now for the facts: To begin with, first mentions of Demicentaurs in the Grand Archives are from around 1100 AE, where they are mentioned as mighty warbeasts of past ages. The quality of the translations has been subject of many debates. Of note however is that horses appear in human literature from that time, however not in that of the charr.”

Lugard again leaned over to Gekk. “The Grand Archive? Is he talking about the Durmand Priory?”

“‘Course not. Too many bookahs had their hands on those books,” Gekk chuckled, “ But chances are they’d have the books he’s referencing. Just ain’t proper etiquette to cite from outside sources.”

“So it’s a formality thing? Non Asuran sources aren’t scientifically sound so you have to cite only Asura?” Lugard inquired.

“Aye.” Gekk answered nonchalantly.

“Next Truth,” Frigg had begun to walk up and down the stage, “The contemporary depiction of horses by humans, often as so called jousting knights, a carnival attraction, is similar to Cavalry employed by desert dwelling civilisations of today’s tyria. Both humans in Elona as well as hylek tribes in and around the maguuma wastes have mounted troops armed with long spears.”

“Factoid number four: And I know some of you,” Frigg pointed at a person in the front row, “Some of you will be quite disappointed in me for including oral sources. And to you I say: GET LOST!”

Frigg took a short pause, then continued like he never got loud, “Centaurs tell stories of a monster, the name gets mangled in translation, but the closest I could come up with is dread mount. It is a story about a centaur who makes a pact with a mysterious foreigner, or sometimes a demon, described with very human characteristics. The specifics vary widely, however in the end the centaur is a slave of the foreigner, deprived of their humanity and turned into nothing more than an animal.”

“The centaurs themself claim that the story is ancient, mostly citing names of characters that sound different for those they use. In one particular telling I heard the elder later explained that the mentioned centaur tribe had fled Elona.”

Two new Asura appeared on the stage, pulling several metal frames holding painted animal skins. Frigg turned towards it, “Next truth: We have graphic depictions of the dread mount. These look similar in stature to the jousting knights, and don’t appear to possess any signs that they would be a predatory animal. No claws like the elonian raptor mounts or chitin platin like hylek warbeetles. From my, albeit limited, understanding they are almost useless in combat, apart from their ability to carry a rider.”

“That was the amount of knowledge we had until very recently. The ability to travel to and from Elona, as well as the defeat of Palawa Joko, however lead to a great many discoveries. Including further information on horses, indicating that they were brought to elona with settlers from Cantha.”

“This is revolutionary!” Frigg gesticulated widely, “The fossil record clearly shows that centaurs originate from the tyrian continent. If horses did indeed come from Cantha to Elona it eliminates the possibility of them being descendants from one another. Convergent evolution seems to be the only remaining explanation for their similarities.”

“Finally, as we now know that horses came to Elona from Cantha, we have a rough time frame when they disappeared, with the human settlement of Elona around 200 years before their gods’ exodus, and the conquest of Ascalon around 100 years later. It is of course unsure whether horses disappeared entirely in this time, or were simply not brought to Ascalon for whatever reason.”

“My personal theory, and with this we depart from the hard truths,” “is that horses came through the mists, brought along by humans from wherever they and their gods originate from.”

“This concludes my talk,” Frigg finished, though almost unhearable through the noise that filled the hall now. In an effort to still be heard, he shouted; “I will not be taking questions right now, I thank you for lending me your ears.”

Lugard looked again to Gekk, who had now removed his helmet, a risk he rarely took. The Asura was smiling most contently while his ears were raised up like sails, twitching every time someone new shouted into the now loudly discussing mass of listeners.

Lugard too had to raise his voice quite a bit when he asked Gekk: “You like seeing them argue over trivial things, right? Your sponsorship is the breadcrumb thrown into the henhouse.”

“Finally you figured it out! Though I did find this talk at least somewhat interesting.” Gekk patted Lugard’s shoulder, then put his helmet back on. “Go and get our package from councillor Dann while I have some fun, will you?”

Lugard nodded silently and left the lecture hall, dodging two brawling Asura. In the background he heard a familiar, though somewhat muffled, voice. “And what about the Hippianic Bone Shift?!”

#horse time #tyriaslibrary #tyriaslibrary event #cryptids #I told y'all I have hc (horse canon)

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darkestwolfx · 5 years ago

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Fight or Flight - Re-Review #38

The perfect scenery for an episode which is taking it’s title from an old saying relating to the natural instincts of animals and humans - the fight or fight instinct; whether you stay and hold your ground (a little like Kayo), or whether you try and run in fear of your life (I can imagine Gordon having to do this quite often when he is caught pranking his brothers). Oh, but did we mention, it’s actually in the air? Yeah, it took two minutes to get to that point!

So, because this episode darts around all over the place, I’m doing this review (again) in sections according to character and storyline, because I like everything to be all neat and tidy, okay? I’m thinking of all of you here by giving you ease of access to a complicated and jam packed episode - you should be thanking me.

Also, I will apologise in advance now for the fact that this review is mostly picture based - literally I think this section here is the wordiest of all.

So, moving away from the ominous cargo hold, which is no doubt bound to be full of idiots - because let’s face it, that is just the way that things work in TAG - let’s start with the fact that we are opening in space again! Yay, John’s domain. And the scenery is pretty damn right on this one. I love how if you look really carefully you can make out the different shapes of the continents below.

And here we have a space spider - someone call Gordon and Alan, it’s an alien! Oh wait, no, hang up, it’s only Brains. A rather nervous Brains - obviously the ‘flight’ part behind the title of this episode. It’s nice to see him up in (or on) Thunderbird Five again. It happened in TOS in ‘The Cham-Cham’.

“I’m just having a little trouble adjusting to being weightless.”

“It was the same for me when I started. You get used to it.”

But of course, they can’t even manage to do repairs and maintenance without something coming there way!

“Your databases are offline because I started a systems check. It’s ok, I backed everything up onto MAX.”

“Atta boy, MAX.”

Thank goodness for MAX, ey?

And here’s the situation;

“A cargo carrier experienced a missives systems failure. The ship is on a crash course for Anderbad City.”

Anderbad City first appeared in the TOS episode ‘Perils of Penelope’, with Anderbad being a play on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s surname. It was given notable features such as the Anderbad Tunnel and the Anderbad Express, but it was never shown in full. TAG have added a Flight Control Tower, so we can assume that Anderbad is a big city with travel at the centre.

So, here we go, I thought I’d go back to the cargo hold first which is a little backwards I know, but I’m doing it because... just because okay? Reviewers choice.

Run for your lives! The machinery is striking back!

Scott nearly getting hit and then running back for the flight deck is absolutely hilarious.

“We have a new problem.”

And I won’t deal with that part, I’ll choose to fly the zeppelin, is probably what Scott was thinking. Because, yes, that option seems so much better!

“Looks like we’ll need that back up, Kayo.”

It was probably a good thing that she was ready and waiting in this instance, because Scott couldn’t have done that much multitasking, great though he is.

“How are you guys doing in there?”

“Oh you know, just playing hide and seek with a giant bone crushing claw. You know, no big deal.”

Yeah, you’re right, the bigger deal is that you might die anyway, so playing hide and seek is probably the least of your worries right about now. In fact, that might be preferable depending on your viewpoint. At least that might be marginally more entertaining than sitting and waiting for death to come.

“How does a giant, mechanical loading claw take it’s tea?”

“I don’t know.”

“With a pinch of sugar.”

“That’s the worst joke I’ve ever heard.”

I have to admit, I’m with her on that one. Who even thought that joke up! And who heard that joke and then thought ‘hey, that’s a good one to go in the script!’ I didn’t even laugh, I will be perfectly honest.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get them out.”

“Why would I worry?”

Hmm, maybe because it’s a life threatening situation? Just hazarding a guess here.

Kayo should be happy anyway - she got to show off her bad-guy chasing gymnastic skills, even if it was only against machinery.

“International Rescue. Time to go. Follow me!”

“You’re kidding right?”

“No, I’m pretty serious.”

“We can’t jump and flip around like you just did!”

No, I don’t imagine you can.

“I’ll distract the claw so you can make a run for it.”

Literally the point of this episode, isn’t it? Running for it?

I have a theme song for it - look up ‘Run for It’ by (you won’t regret it).

“Where does that lead?”

“Emergency exit.”

“This definitely qualifies as an emergency.”

Hell yes, I would think it does!

“Kayo, you need to get out.”

“Great idea, Scott, thanks for the suggestion!”

No need to be sarcastic - he’s just looking out for you, remember?

As a side note, look at the robot! I want one... I bet its more environmentally friendly than my car.

“The ship’s loosing altitude faster than my projections. But why?”

“It looks like the liquid hydrogen fuel cells have cracked open.”

“And I’m guessing that’s bad?”

Yes, Scott, that’s bad.

“The tanks keep the fuel isolated. but if an electrical fire starts on impact, you’ll get what we scientists call a big ka-boom. Which is also what my insides feel like.”

“What’s the time frame?”

“John says I’ll feel better once I get used to zero gravity.”

“I think he means before the zeppelin crashes.”

“Oh right. Factoring in altitude, wind speed, ship weight, adjusting for cargo, and letting x equal the rate of fuel loss, we get... oh my!”

“Scott, you’re gonna’ need to move. Fast.”

“FAB. And Brains, that means feel better soon.”

Yeah... that conversation gets me every time. They never said how fast Scott needed to move, but hey, it’s okay, because he listened. Considering the zeppelin appeared seconds later.

“Thunderbird two could nudge the ship and change course that way.”

Of course that is the first suggestion that Scott comes up with. Just shove it out the way and be done with it. Good plan.

“I would strongly caution against that. Those leaking fuel cells could easily rupture.”

Or not.

“Ka-boom, got it. Ok, I’m gonna’ need to get on board. Maybe I can regain some control of this thing.”

Yay, we get to see Scott pilot a zeppelin! That’s a change.

“Hey, Virgil, just taking a little air!”

“I’ve got Thunderbird One slaved to my controls.”

Yeah... because a line like that always means good things are coming. I love how Virgil at least knew what it meant - take Thunderbird One.

“All systems critical. We’re on auxiliary power with almost no altitude control or steering. I can’t risk landing with that fuel leak. I’m gonna’ point her down and bail out. She’ll crash safely into the lake before reaching the city.”

You can’t say something like that without expecting trouble.

“Crash course set, ready to bail out.”

“Hello? Anyone there? We’re stuck! We can’t get out! Trapped!”

“Hello? Can you hear me? John, did you get that? I thought everyone was off this ship?”

“Me too. Hang on. The numbers don’t match. They messed up their count.”

Great! And so we revert to the cargo hold, which I’ve already covered.

“Do we have time to get the crew out before we reach the city?”

“Negative. You’re gonna’ have to fly over the city, and bring it down in the open countryside on the other side.”

“We’ll never make it. We’re still losing height.”

“If you offload 90% of the fuel, there’s a chance you’ll be light enough to make it over the city.”

A chance? I suppose we have to take it because there’s no other option really.

“Ok, I’ll keep flying. Virgil, you start pumping out that fuel.”

Yeah, because that will buy us lots of non-existent time! At least it’s better than nothing.

“Oh, it’s going to be tight.”

“Tight, but we should make it tight? Or John’s space suit tight?”

“I don’t know if I know how to answer that question in a way that’s reassuring.”

“Space suit tight.”

Scott’s doing a really good job of flying under pressure here, I would just like to say.

“I think it should be enough.”

“You think or you know?”

“I think I know.”

Very reassuring Brains. I feel very non-reassured.

“That should do it, Scott.”

“Got to be sure.”

“Now, Scott, get out!”

Listen to John, for goodness sake, Scott.

Fly for your lives! There’s an explosion!

You know, Wolfie definitely understands the reason for this episode title now. They were being really clever - well done Dan Berlinka.

In my opinion, this is one of the closest calls that they’ve showed us, and I really appreciated that. TOS did it a few times in ‘City of Fire’ and ‘Danger at Ocean Deep’ (I’m talking proper close calls here, because I know there are many near misses), and TAG have done it quite often with Gordon, but this one was a really nice show of skill and panic, and absolute expertise at the end of it all.

“Yes! He made it!”

Hooray! We’ve succeeded! Let’s all go home!

After a hug... but maybe remember to not hug John... he looks like he’s feeling a little awkward there, Brains.

“Nice work everyone. We limited the damage at Anderbad city to one billboard.”

That poor billboard. But yes, successful.

And look what’s waiting at home!

I was wondering where Gordon and Alan had got to... “on a supply run”... yeah right, who’s great idea was that. They only have themselves to blame for what the boys bring back. Interestingly, they never said where Scott and Alan were at the end of the last episode (and I was waiting for that), so it was nice to actually see the pair pop up right at the end.

“Hey guys!”

“How was the supply run?”

“Routine. But wait till you see what me and Alan picked up at an antiques store on the way back.”

“It’s the same game John used to play all the time.”

A nice little reference back to ‘Skyhook’ here. Continuity at it’s best.

“You grab prizes with the claw!”

Yes, we do have eyes, thank you, Alan.

“Who wants to go first?”

Cue mass exodus of the lounge... And a tumbleweed to roll through in the wake of it all. (Actually, could some one get me a tumbleweed please? I feel like my cat would appreciate it. Shes called Munchies, by the way.)

“What did I say?”

“We should have brought some prizes.”

This is funny, because Alan probably said that, and Gordon probably ‘ignored’ him.

“Oh, claw machine needs prizes!”

“No wonder they didn’t want to play!”

I don’t think that was quite it, but hey, let’s not disappoint them anymore. Look at Gordon’s face.

P.S. This ended up more wordy and longer than I had expected! I’ve outdone myself for midnight pieces of work (and a very dodgy internet connection).

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militant-holy-knight · 5 years ago

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What Made the Almohad Caliphate So Bad?

Why the North African caliphate was the medieval equivalent to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

A common misconception about the Crusades, and particularly of the Reconquista, is that all Islamic states were essentially the same and united under the same banner when in reality, they had their own peculiar differences and were just as divided as the Christians were. Nothing exemplifies this better than the Almohad Caliphate, a 12th century Berber empire that emerged as a rebellious movement in the rapidly decaying Almoravid Empire and rose high enough in under a century to threaten Christendom before being beaten by the Crusaders.

“But Gaius”, I hear some of you saying: “ISIL is already an medieval minded organization. How they could be any different than the ones who lived in medieval times?”. Ah, my friends, there is more to ISIL than mere brutality and cruelty that conventional views tend to underestimate. One of the things that distinguished ISIL were that wanted to “purify Islam” by killing anyone they perceived as “apostates” or “infidels”. That is where the Almohads or al-Muwaḥḥidūn in Arabic (meaning “monotheists” or “unifiers”) come in.

Let’s start with their founder Ibn Tumart, a fiery Berber mullah notorious for being ultra-conservative and opposing art, songs, mixing of sexes in public and the selling of pork and alcohol, which were a common sight in the Mahgreb at the time, and blamed this on the laxness of the Maliki authority. While the Maliki school of thought is one of the most rigid ones in Sunni Islam, Tumart’s problem was that they tended to rely more on jurist consensus rather than following the Sunnah and the hadith to it’s letter.

His entire life reads like a comedic sketch: his fiery preachings lead to him getting expelled by the local authority until he moves to the next town and the exact same thing happens. It’s said this even happened in Mecca when he performed the hajj being thrown out because of his screeching. On the way back, he sailed on a ship and began throwing out boxes of wine and lecturing the sailors to pray at the correct time, leading them to be fed up and throwing him overboard (they fished him back later).

When Ibn Tumart made his way back to the Maghreb, he stopped by the Almoravid capital in Marrakesh and assaulted an emir’s sister for going out unveiled. He was brought before the local authorities and defended himself saying that he was merely a voice of reform and lectured the local emir and his jurists like he has been doing from town to town. When countered that at least on points of doctrine, there was little difference between them, Ibn Tumart brought out more emphasis on his own peculiar doctrines. After a lengthy examination, the Almoravid jurists of Marrakesh concluded Ibn Tumart, however learned, was blasphemous and dangerous, insinuating he was probably a agitator, and recommended he should be executed or imprisoned. The Almoravid emir, however, decided to merely expel him from the city, after a flogging of fourteen lashes.

That was an extremely poor decision, because Tumart proceeded to retreat to a cave in Igiliz, which was an conscious effort to emulate Muhammad when he entered the cave of Hira, where he adopted an ascetic life. That is when he began to attract followers gaining the fame of an holy man and miracle worker. In 1121, Ibn Tumart lamented his failure to persuade the Almoravids to reform by argument and after a particularly moving sermon, he suddenly “revealed” himself as the true Mahdi, the redeemer of Islam expected to return towards the end times. This was effectively a declaration of war on the Almoravid state - for to reject or resist the Mahdi's interpretations was equivalent to resisting God, and thus punishable with death as apostasy.

Though they began armed rebellion in the very next year, they didn’t exactly manage to have a successful track record against the Almoravids despite their weakened state. In fact, the Almohads were nearly annihilated during the Battle of al-Buhayra where several top generals were killed and Tumart himself died not too long afterwards. The death of their spiritual leader should have marked the end of their movement, but it was his successor Abd al-Mu’min who picked up the slack and proved to be far more competent in warring. He managed to conquer Marrakesh, overthrow the Almoravids and formally establishing the Almohad state which extended over Northern Africa as far Mamluk-held Egypt and managed to lead a Islamic resurgence into Iberia (or Al-Andalus as it was known by Muslims) retaking some territories lost to the Christian states in the north.

One of the things that distinguished the Almohads is that they rejected the doctrine of dhimmitude given to Christians and Jews living under their domain, allowing them to practice their religion on condition of submission to Muslim rule and payment of jizya. Sounds good right? No. The Almohads instead gave a choice to their non-Muslim subjects: convert to Islam or die. Except even those who converted were still forced to wear identifying clothing as they were not regarded as genuine Muslims. So imagine this scenario, dhimmitude is already a humiliating status, but now being forced to accept a religion they don’t want while having the same status as before is even more unbearable. Needless to say, this led to the mass martyrdom or exodus of many Christians and Jews.

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra, who himself fled the Almohad persecutions, composed an elegy mourning the destruction of many Jewish communities throughout Spain and the Maghreb under the Almohads. Among the notable Christian victims are the Franciscan friars John of Perugia and Peter of Sassoferrato, Saint Daniel and his companions Agnello, Samuel, Donulus, Leo, Ugolino and Nicholas, and the Mercedarian saint and priest Serapion of Algiers was persecuted when trying to free Christian captives. Non-Muslims were not the only victims of Almohad’s fanaticism: the famous Islamic philosopher Averroes who is held in high regard by Westerners today was accused of blasphemy for among many things, criticizing Muhammad’s treatment of women, and as such was exiled. It’s also perfectly plausible that many of the things deemed acceptable by the Almoravids (women uncovered, music, art, etc) were forbidden by the Almohads.

The darkest moment for Christendom came with the Battle of Alarcos, when an Almohad host led by Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur decisively defeated the Kingdom of Castille and the knightly Orders of Santiago and Evora, killing over 30,000 into battle and leaving several castles deserted and many areas open to Islamic raidings. The Almohads were threatening to push north as far as possible and threatened to "march all the way to Rome and sweep the Basilica of Saint Peter with the Sword of Muhammad". This alarmed Pope Innocent III who called the European knights to crusade and served as basis for this song as by bard Gaudavan as rallying cry to help the Iberian Christians.

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This ultimately culminated in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa where King Alfonso VIII of Castille - the same one beaten in Alarcos - led the Christian host of 14,000 men (Portuguese, Castillans, Templars, Germans, French and others) against the Almohad caliph Muhammad al-Nasir, who had more than twice with 30,000 men in his command. Despite the impossible odds, the Christians managed to win (check this video for the details).

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This defeat was a decisive point in the Reconquista, as the Almohad power was broken and they would never recover, with their territories breaking up into petty kingdoms (or taifas). It also marked the downfall of Islamic rule, since from now on Christians - more specifically Spaniards - would retake almost all their lands. Just before their end, the Almohads would ditch their doctrines in favor of more traditional ones and repudiate Ibn Tumart as the Mahdi, but their end came when their final pretender Idris al-Wathiq was killed by a slave and his possessions were later taken by the Marinid Sultanate who would try to take Iberia again, but they were soundly beaten in the Battle of Rio Salgado by the now much stronger Portuguese and Spaniards (though them taking the sultan’s entire harem and putting them to the sword may have done the trick).

So now you might be asking me now: why is this all relevant to the Islamic State? You see, their founder Abu Musaib al-Zarqawi was sorta kinda like Ibn Tumart, except he Zarqawi was a petty thief and a pimp rather than a scholar. His views were radical even by Salafi jihadists’ standards, urging the death of Shia Muslims more than the Christians and Jews. Osama bin Laden himself, at least thought as such and never particularly liked Zarqawi whether for personal reasons (Bin Laden’s own mother being Shia herself) or pragmatic ones (Zarqawi’s actions could divide Muslims more than unite them). And just like Ibn Tumart, he never lived to see the Islamic State (or Al-Qaeda in Iraq as it was known in his lifetime) become the nightmarish menace to everyone.

There are of course many obvious differences: ISIL apparently made a point to adhere to the dhimmi contract as far as the Assyrian Christians were concerned while the Almohads ditched it altogether. Or that Zarqawi never claimed to be the Mahdi, nor did his successor Abu-Bakr al-Baghadadi to legitimize themselves. Though there are many important parallels: ISIL was in essence an apocalyptic group just like the Almohads followed the Mahdi, whose presence marked the end times. They viewed the events in Syria and Iraq as the fulfillment of the prophecies about the end times and heavily derived their narrative from it. Their initial propaganda magazine Dabiq was named after an town where a hadith claims a great battle will occur between the Muslims and the Romans where the apocalypse will take place and Muslims will emerge victorious. The “Romans” in this case represent the West, which is why they carried out incessant attacks to provoke Americans and Europeans to fulfill this prophecy.

The Almohads emerged during a period here they perceived Islam had decayed and needed reform or rejuvenation which is an rhetoric used by ISIL, but not necessarily exclusive to them. It’s somewhat reasonable to understand the Almohad Caliphate is not as well-known or prominent as other empires like the Umayyads or the Ottomans, since they are more important to local history, but I think we’d benefit more if we paid attention more.

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smokeybrand · 3 years ago

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Exodus

Listening to church people talk about why so many people are leaving the church is kind of amazing. I can only speak from my experience as to why i bailed, but I've spoken to other people who decided to walk away and there's no one answer. Losing one's faith is as personal as finding it but there is a common thruway among all of our journeys away from Christ; The answers weren't there. No one just wakes up and decides "F*ck Jesus from now on." Like with anything you devote yourself to, there is a period of extreme crisis when face with it's end. If you leave a job after twenty years, there's apprehension of what comes next. Now, imagine what that's like for someone who is questioning a core piece of themselves which they use a defining aspect. People interchange who they are with their faith all the time. It's as automatic as breathing in a lot of cases. But then, all of a sudden, you are aware of your breath and you have no idea if you're doing it right or if you're doing it at all. That's what it's like to have a spiritual crisis. You don't want to question these things that literally give you life but you can't stop once you start. You search for reasons to maintain, to stay. You want, so desperately, for that one thing to flip the switch again but it never comes. This period of searching can last years. For me, it was watching my grandma pass. That took around a year. By the time she breathed her last, i was out. A cat i went to school with started questioning his own faith around the same time i did, probably about eleven or twelve years old, but it took him a decade to actually feel comfortable enough to walk away, all the while doing what i did when i was a teenager; searching for answers that made sense, that made faith, worth.

No one just bails on their faith without a strong period of study, introspection, or inward journey. It's never taken lightly but, once you start down that road, you rarely deviate from the path. Once the scales fall from your eyes, you can't put them back. It's been about twenty-five years since i stopped believing and never once have i wanted to come back to the church or regretted my decision to walk away. In that time, I've learned so much more about my former faith, the context of it's construction, it's historical merit, and the way it's weaponized by bad actors as a means of domination or control. The more i learned, the more problematic faith became. The better i understand the motivations behind the Word, the less i could hear it. The thing that really solidified my defection came in a philosophy book I read my sophomore year of high school. It wasn't something difficult to understand or an unknowable theory. When i was fifteen, i came across the Epicurus God Paradox. You can google that to find out the exact wording but reading those eight simple lines, really put into perspective what i had felt for about three years up to that point. I went from questioning myself, to questioning the religion, itself. I didn't get any answers. The questions weren't hard and the answers given made more sense than anything I read in the Bible, but no one else who championed the Good Book, had a satisfactory rebuttal. No one could give me the answers i needed to sate my curiosity which led me to believe there are no answers to be had. There is no endgame, there is no wisdom to be had, there is nothing but the promise. It's a carrot on the end of a stick. We were being lead around in circles by men two thousand years in the grave.

That didn't make any sense to me so i began to dig deeper. If the faith, itself couldn't answer my query, then maybe the historical evidence they tout as proof, would hold at least some answers. Once again, all I got was ore questions. studied the genesis of Jewish faith, i looked into how the creation myths tied to other, non-Christian, religions. I learned about the apocryphal texts like The Book of Judas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Book of Enoch, and The Book of Thomas. The Dead Sea scrolls are apocryphal texts, too, so why are those accepted and these others denied? Who chose to canonize these books and why? That led me to the Council of Nicaea which immediately, in my mind, invalidated every interpretation of the Word from that moment on. The Council convened in 325 AD, two hundred and ninety-two years after Christ died. Everything in that bible was decided upon, by a bunch of rich, learned, white dudes, headed by Constantine I, three hundred years a after Jesus died as a tool to consolidate his power. The Bible is a propaganda tool created to pacify the ignorant masses. That really wasn't the answer I was looking for and definitely something no one taught when I was in the Church. More than any that, i saw the building blocks of the Jesus figure, going as far back as the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians. Those civilizations are thousands of years older than Jesus so how could he exists back then? If you're messiah is a facsimile, an amalgamation of other Chosen, what does that make his Word? All of these things, coincidences or not, informed my understanding that it's all just kind of made up. It's an interpretation of sh*t that came long before. It's all a game of telephone so who's to say what we're hearing at the end of that millennia upon millennia long line of whispers, is what was actually said in the first place?

How do we know the Word is actually the Word? The only answer i ever got was faith. You can't understand the word if you don't have faith. You need faith to paste over the glaring inaccuracy or logical fallacies that riddle the holy tenets. That's not enough for me, not when there is this overwhelming evidence otherwise. I can read about The Tower of Babel and cross check that information with historical fact, which repudiates the Biblical narrative. I can read the story of Noah's Flood and then point out the similarities between that and the Babylonian myth of The Great Deluge, which was written centuries before. I can even go a step further and note that, at the time time the Deluge myth was being told in Babylon, that the people who would become the Jews as we know them today, were a serf class among the Babylonians. Who's to say that Noah's Flood wasn't simply an appropriation from the higher social caste? There's even evidence that the Deluge myth was being told long before Babylon. I learned all of this after stumbling across Epicurus' paradox so long ago. How can you stay faithful to a religion that can be dismantled so simply by four questions asked by a man who lived thousands of years ago? How do you have no rebuttal for the tangible and factual evidence that can deconstruct the fulcrum of your entire belief system, and expect people to just ignore that? That's why people leave the church. The catalyst is always different but the resolution is always the same. It's not that we want to sin or that youth programs are too fun or that college leads the way to secularism, or whatever else. No, it's that faith isn't enough to cover those glaring holes in religious narrative. We are not afraid of the dark or eclipses or sacrificing maidens to sate the rage of a f*cking volcano anymore. We understand why those things are. We know that an earthquake isn’t a giant catfish throwing a tantrum or that the Oracles in Delphi weren’t having visions but were probably just really f*cking high. We got the answers we needed. Religion doesn't have tangible, rational, answers. It's all faith and belief, smoke and mirrors. It's all a big game of telephone and we all know how those games ended, right?

That said, I do find it hilarious that church folk think college is a primary issue for the exodus of faith among the youth. Like, you get to college, get around other opinions or perspectives, have a dialogue with people from completely different backgrounds or experiences, have access to a plethora of information you'd never had before and, all of a sudden, you question your faith? Really? That's the line of logic we really want to follow because it gets real problematic, bud. Kind of sounds a little bit like education is the antithesis to faith. Kind of makes it sound like you have to be ignorant and gullible to be buy into the Word. Kind of sounds like God wants to keep you barefoot and naked in the kitchen, so to speak which, interestingly enough, is kind of the the theme to Genesis? I don't know, man. It's said we got kicked out of Paradise for eating the Fruit of Knowledge, not for f*cking so... I'm not saying I believe that, I know folks who are super-religious and are incredibly intelligent, I'm saying that other church people seem to imply that with their aggressive biases toward higher education. “Keep your faith by not asking questions or learning yourself good” isn't the best pitch for people grasping at straws for a reason to continue believing. Like, it's really f*cking weird to me that Christians refer to themselves as sheep when, in any other context, that sh*t is not something in which to be proud.

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smokeybrandcompositions · 3 years ago

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Exodus

That said, I do find it hilarious that church folk think college is a primary issue for the exodus of faith among the youth. Like, you get to college, get around other opinions or perspectives, have a dialogue with people from completely different backgrounds or experiences, have access to a plethora of information you'd never had before and, all of a sudden, you question your faith? Really? That's the line of logic we really want to follow because it gets real problematic, bud. Kind of sounds a little bit like education is the antithesis to faith. Kind of makes it sound like you have to be ignorant and gullible to buy into the Word. Kind of sounds like God wants to keep you barefoot and naked in the kitchen, so to speak which, interestingly enough, is kind of the the theme to Genesis? I don't know, man. It's said we got kicked out of Paradise for eating the Fruit of Knowledge, not for f*cking so... I'm not saying I believe that, I know folks who are super-religious and are incredibly intelligent, I'm saying that other church people seem to imply that with their aggressive biases toward higher education. “Keep your faith by not asking questions or learning yourself good” isn't the best pitch for people grasping at straws for a reason to continue believing. Like, it's really f*cking weird to me that Christians refer to themselves as sheep when, in any other context, that sh*t is not something in which to be proud.

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jasonfields · 4 years ago

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Poem: A 2020 Thanksgiving in the NEW AMERICA - jasonfields

Cheers to California Governor Newsom who gave us BACK Thanksgiving without FEAR. Cheers to the Turkey of “Americas Small Business” CARVED UP for this YEAR!

2020 Burdens now lifted. The Air is almost Clear!

Thank you for the news from our new executive TEAM, who met with governors this week about their new vaccine. Public classes on covid. Health Passports, the new green. He said National guardsman are the key to rolling out this Mandatory Vaccine.

Maybe next year FREE STATE Governors will see it our way. You know they’ll want some of that federal rebuild money HEY.

I hope they didn’t show that dinner table picture to the locals. Whew. Your citizens are going to fire sale that California land soon….. to the CCP, better get you some. More room for the NEW homeless. More good things to come.

A FULL RESET, I hope Colorado is still fully onboard, since they own all of your southern drinking water lord. Power grab NOW, surely you just earned a billion or two selling OUT….your whole STATE.

So long California. We loved you so. If you make it through, you will be our heroes.

————————————————————————————-

THE GREAT WEALTH TRANSFER , Introducing THE NEW RULING CLASS

Billionaires have increased their war-chests 25% since March, almost gobbling up the entire Middle Class ….while we march… toward each other, manipulated by opposing media narratives owned by Globalist GIANTS who benefit from the CHAOS : Bezos types. Who wins? Meanwhile top Doctors and leading Scientist are dining with Governor Newsom to synchronize their narratives.

Today we commemorate all of these Governors for bleeding entire STATES of their self reliance and strength. In a world where a Billion dollar bill can buy off entire nations to shut down their economies in exchange for a personal invitation to play in the Global Chess board of Population Control and MEDIA IMMUNITY and partake in the SPOILS of SOFT WAR.

State and foreign Globalists are hyping and weaponizing the COVID crisis to divide up the spoils of dead business, LAND, and control of markets and territories for the new infrastructure for the FULL RESET of America and Globally as #TheGreatReset. This is not a covid Argument. It’s a loosely aligned effort to create a “reset moment” in order to “save” the whole PLANET from capitalism. This narrative will be denied as Unrelated to the #GreatReset. Even the publicly available GreatReset agenda 2030 will soon change its name. BUT KNOW this, the coming hidden bloodshed struggles will make covid look like a paper cut. Because control will NOT be handed over by Americans without great FEAR, media control, division, & hunger first.

BUT that’s ONLY if we take the bait and DIVIDE. Otherwise they have NO POWER. They have “little man” syndrome. It’s all a SHOW. “We the people” are both the weapon, and the spoil.

They must divide us first. STAY TOGETHER AMERICA. BUT Brace yourself for random things like induced HYPER INFLATION, and then HUNGER and even geographic separation, before all awaken and expose those wizards behind the media curtain of Oz. You have many little enemies spinning both sides.. It’s NOT each other, not political sides. This melting pot of America is NOT the enemy. We are going to have to convince the blind masses that. This thing that divides us is of FOREIGN Origin! AND THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA HAS BEEN SOLD and Controlled.

HUNGER FIRST then ACCELERATED CONTOL

Hunger speeds up the game. The Middle class and small business must first die, it is the only buffer keeping America FREE, by keeping it FED. YOU must Kill this FIRST in order to RESET ALL THINGS and “Save the Planet”. HUNGER is REQUIRED for STATE CONTROL. They want to feed you.

America's small businesses were far too powerful for the elites to control. Our sense of freedom

was too strong to give up. Our middle class was too independent. Chaos and hunger and fear must strike first, in order to break our spirit and consolidate power; at least some, as much as they can get. “They" being the loosely aligned global bandit power brokers. They are The Disruptors and the COMING RULING CLASS, They are the recipients of the great WEALTH /POWER Transfer during COVID. Not the upperclass! not even close. Way higher up. Unlimited foreign Budgets target us now during this vulnerable window while America is sleeping and mad and manipulated.

Without HUNGER there is no “STATE SAVIOR” to restablish the “new way”. First you have to get 99% of the population hungry and afraid. Then you can launch a FULL reset and SAVING of local systems. Order from Chaos. Establishing CONTROL. The “organic forest” of American life must be cut down before the “programatic forest” can be planted and stewarded. Emissions controlled.

STILL a problem…The AMERICAN does not like CONTROL! But neither did pre-FASCIST GERMANY. Control can happen faster with ACCELERANT but usually sloooow. But its all a facade.

Next, THE WEAPONIZATION OF MEN - accelerant

They must Weaponize the People to split into factions against each other. Get them to think such things as DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN STOLEN by fraud OR a COUP of the Sore Loser! “ORANGE MAN BAD”. Or get any one group to think ANY grave INJUSTICE done. Even better make it RACIAL by pitting 2 groups. Any groups! Synchronize the Media Narrative. GET THEM TO SQUAB. One little group at a time. If we can get them to flee entire cities, then we can give them Hyper inflation, and geographic separation.

It can happen FAST: Say as soon as being PROVOKED FEDERALLY with Mandatory Vaccinations, FREE STATE Governors and the masses of citizens will choose the easy route of STATE SUCCESSION by populist demand. Certain corrupt cities will experience mass exodus from pure chaos and saving them will be futile. These will be the first places to Replace the Police with POLITICAL POLICE. The sleeping public will become refugees of sorts making their way to “The Other Side” gentrifying the entire free world, but seriously, real estate will triple again, then again, in the land already has. Blood Pawns and Heroes will have been strewn about on both sides. Quiet news of this BLOOD will not reach your news narratives. Internet intermittent. And for no reason at all but Population Control instead of the original bright idea of “saving the planet”.

Once STATE control is achieved, whether Fascist or Communist control, historically, and 100% of the time, it is never given back. Not without blood. Free thinking lost forever. Early thug enforcers will be later discarded as nuisances and no longer necessary to the “new normal”.

Regular hidden STRUGGLES are NECESSARY for establishing STATE CONTROL.

Struggle will need to be manufactured, Enemies Created, BUT! The American Spirit will be hard to break. The longer the coming struggle, the more Patriots and Freedom lovers will be identified and wack a moled . And the stronger the CONTROLLED narrative of the STATE will be until freedom is subdued. Renaming all things, the Fascist tacticians of CHAOS will be re-labeled the ANTI FASCISTS. Every descriptor will swap change it’s meaning, The Patriots will be labeled Terrorists. And the Terrorists, Heroes. Entire opposing Bias NEWS OULETS BANNED. Internet sparse. And hall monitors made to keep eyes on your block door to door. Health Passports. Mandatory Vaccinations, Etc.

Acceleration is HAPPENING NOW. AWAKEN! Today’s bloodthirsty DUELING MEDIA NARRATIVES are deep feeding half of the country piles of evidence of massive scale vote vulnerability to political activists who are trained for electronically adjudicating votes behind closed doors at hundreds of precincts. Deep explanations and demonstrations of various voting machine “end user activist vulnerabilities” with the ability to delete votes on thumb drives. Double blind spots… lack of check and balances, and widespread lack of transparency during key data handoffs. Alarming large scale phone samples found of non voters lost in mail for one party only but not the other, Vote Dump Ratios statistically impossible. Etc. THEN Big TECH deleting the YOUTUBE videos and suppressing the links over and over anew. NOW America must prove Democracy isn’t already GONE! unless the media is provoking the people….then what?

While Mainstream Media is simultaneously feeding the other Half a coordinated narrative of FAKE NEWS, DEBUNKED, SAFEST EVER VOTE. NOT WORTH LOOKING INTO. Look at Giuliani’s Hair Dye! and My Cousin Vinny. Look at all those (unrelated) dismissed cases. MEDIA WARCRIMES!!

TO REMAKE AMERICA! (insert synchronized new global slogan)

The first boots on the ground repairing the economic devastation of COVID will be a large scale Government funded and STATE directed AID Orgs, some will be international. This will be followed by centralized planning and sustainable net zero development to “SAVE” us and fully reset our economy, reseting our food systems, energy, and all of production, and finally equity and re-ownership to SAVE the Planet. A Grand campaign to “heal and unify”. They will recruit millions of hungry unemployed people to help rebuild locally essentially restructuring all power and centralizing it. NOT Like in the great depression solving unemployment with the CCC put americans to work helped building our national parks….like Everything. Positive, right? Maybe… Unless the FB algorithms have already sorted us into employability groups. Open or Closed Minded, regardless of politics. Who can keep the narrative safe? : The sleepers and the believers. Equitablity will be just one of the catch phrases. BUT CONTROL is the ENDS. Sounds Great. Eyes on every corner.

Local POLICE will be replaced with POLITICAL POLICE and renamed something else. AND the new nazi brown shirts as enforcers (Pro-Tifas) Promoters of STATE CONTROL (FACISM or Communism) will pop up wherever nessesary. THEN comes FEAR and COMPLIANCE. Clubs in the street. But you won’t see it on TV. Control will soon be obtained in each county by a slow and ongoing struggle mixed with FEAR until STATE MEDIA has made it to where the Patriot can no longer lift his pitchfork. No one will speak. Too late to AWAKEN.

Third Domino:

Nothing. Control is already lost. Territories Secured, Governors Named. “The New Normal”. Until you try to do anything different. Then you disappear, maybe to be reeducated. By 2030 all global production STATE RUN and emissions are dialed in and controlled on the earth. STATE Knows Best.

But GOOD NEWS! This battle for the mind of sleeping masses can be EASILY WON during this brief time of vulnerability. IT IS SIMPLE!

Do NOT Divide!! Thats it! We win. THEY HAVE NO POWER over WE THE PEOPLE. Political Parties are not your enemy, your enemy can fully fund both parties campaigns and already does. They wanted a razor close race.

IDEAS requiring Media Control to execute are the ENEMY. Wake up your friends, it’s easy. Just pour a bucket of water on anyone who ONLY listens to a single news bias. Then hand them a $20 bill and buy them lunch. Compare notes. Give them Dignity and gracefulness. Remember Propaganda flies on all sides of the SPACE FORCES. WE THE PEOPLE are not the enemy. not Democrats, not Republicans. ITS AMERICANS vs. foreign interference.

And remember that historically, the Equity movement of Communism has never been tried without eventual massive bloodshed. 150 million people have already died (non combatants) for Communist hopes and ideals, in dozens of countries. And it has NEVER been achieved, only dictatorships. It requires struggle to achieve national land and wealth redistribution. PURE POISON. WHY? Knowing 74 million Chinese people were murdered just decades ago until ONE CLASS EQUITY was achieved, but NOT Communism. Whoops! ALL people brought low and CONTROLLED in the name of EQUITY, then the ELITE STATE CLASS can Rule Invisibly and their children can tell us how great China is in the video game chat rooms. While the rest of the country is firewalled. Even the artists were shot in this EQUITY movement for their unfair natural privilege of talent. Whats a little covid? 60 million dead Chinese for Utopia sake. This is not a covid argument! but it is 10-1 lives lost ratio. Its already 1-1 lost with new suicide spikes in some lockdown countries. This is the “Ends Justify the Means” POISON of the Communism idea. The Idea itself is a foreign enemy to the state. The good meaning youth who possess the communist idea are its pawn. Our Professors know better.

Lets just eat regular turkey together next year,

To Freedom and Democracy! All Americans Together. All 50 States UNITED and self Regulating.

Give me Liberty or Give me Death!

Jason Fields

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 7 years ago

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Deconstructing Extremism in 21st Century America by Allen Tate Wood

Updated April 5, 2018

Prologue The article which follows has grown out of many sources. The chief of these include a thirty-five year history of public speaking and education on the psychology of the cult phenomenon; my four and half years as a follower and then leader in the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon; my friendship with, and dialogue, with many former cult members including former members of The Hare Krishna movement (ISKON), The Way International, The Church of Scientology as well as the Moon organization. Among the academics who have guided me in my research and writing I include Dr. Margaret Singer, Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, Dr. Stanley Milgram and Dr. Silvan Tomkins.

When I began my work as a public speaker, my initial talks were mainly focused on my experiences in the Unification Church (The Moonies) between 1969 and 1973. As it has turned out the initial grid I used to explain the Moon organization to myself and my audiences has proved useful as a template to think about extremism in general…whether it be social, political or religious.

It is my hope that this article may be useful to individuals and families who have been adversely affected by destructive cult groups, to academics and journalists working to shed light on the structure and function of “high demand groups.”

I look on this short article as a work in progress and I welcome all feedback and reflections on what you find here.

Allen Tate Wood

What follows is a phenomenological morphology of extremist religion which, as it turns out, has proved useful in thinking about extremism in general. Here I am referring to psychological extremism in dysfunctional families, social groups, religious organizations, the military and corporate structures.

1. ABSOLUTE LEADER This leader is not like other leaders. This leader is not simply a good person. This leader is not simply an intelligent or well-educated person. This leader is not like your local pastor, rabbi, priest or imam. This leader is not simply the shepherd of a flock who is well endowed with compassion, sympathy and intelligence. This leader is not simply a role model of ethical and moral behavior. This leader, in the minds of the faithful, is seen as absolute and infallible. This leader is not just seen as God’s representative on earth, but as God on earth. This leader is seen as the center of human history. This leader is seen as the fulfillment of the religious aspirations of all the peoples of the world. This leader is beyond challenge, question or reproach. Think of Stalin in Russia, Hitler in Germany, Mao Tse Tung in China or the Pope in Medieval Europe.

2. ABSOLUTE TEACHING This leader brings with him or her an absolute teaching. This teaching is not an interpretation of the Bible or some other existing scripture like the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita or one of the many Buddhist texts. This teaching is viewed, by the faithful, as the final word from God. It is seen as the fulfillment of all the promises of all the scriptures in the world. It is seen not simply as moral exhortation and encouragement but rather as the inexorable formula for creating Heaven on Earth. It offers itself as the solution to the problem of evil. It supersedes and fulfills all previous scripture and religious doctrine. It, like the leader who brings it, is beyond question or debate. This teaching renders all inquiry, speculation and debate meaningless. This teaching sees its purpose fulfilled in the blind obedience of its initiates. For the successfully indoctrinated recruit the repudiation of the conscience, the rejection of the critical faculties and the colonization of the imagination are understood as an experience of God.

In the political and social realms dialectical materialism and historical materialism became the absolute teachings for both China and Russia during their embrace of Communism. Men and women ensnared in these absolutist teachings repudiate the dictates of their own consciences. They celebrate their captivity as they rehearse and practice the repudiation of their consciences, the rejection of their capacity for independent thought and their magical embrace of their imaginary savior.

3. HIERARCHICAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE The structure of these high demand groups is not new. We see it in the history of Japan up to and including World War II, in medieval Europe in which kings ruled by “divine right.” If you violated your relationship with the monarch or his representatives you lost your right to exist. In the 20th century in Germany under Adolph Hitler the NAZI party instituted an un-paralleled hierarchical social structure in which children betrayed their parents to the NAZI party leaders when they heard their parents criticizing Hitler or the Party. We also see this form of rigid social structure in Communist China under Mao Tse Tung and in Soviet Russia under Lenin and Stalin. We see it in terrorist and criminal organizations and in the military and in large corporations. In these organizations obedience replaces all other notions of ethics and morality. The non-disclosure agreement and the loyalty oath become the sign, symbol and sacrament of these social behemoths.

4. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE ADVERSARY The psychology of the adversary is the foundation and the war cry of extremist organizations. “We are the real people…we are the true people…we are the children of God….We are the city on the hill.” “All who stand against us stand with Satan, the devil.” When one examines the history of great demagogues and dictators, one finds them as masters of the use of adversary psychology. They become adept at identifying and defining an enemy. The destruction and annihilation of this enemy then becomes the sacred task of the minions under the sway of the great leader. The world seen through these doctrinal eyes is black and white… good and evil. There is no longer any need to engage in research or inquiry… There is no legitimate authority outside of the leader’s domain. In the brave new world of religious and political extremism obedience to authority is the final fulfillment of moral endeavor. One need no longer engage in moral or intellectual inquiry. Obedience is seen as the highest form of knowledge. Imagination, research and learning are vilified, ostracized and ultimately crushed. Often extremist religious groups are unequivocal in their promises of a final battle between good and evil, an Armageddon in which the faithful will defeat, destroy and annihilate the forces of darkness. The absolute leader uses the identified enemy as a focal point for the projection of all the fear, anxiety, anger, shattered dreams and lost hopes of the masses.

5. THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS AS A MODUS OPERANDI Where we are going is so good that whatever means we use to get there will be justified. Where are we going? To the Kingdom of Heaven, to the classless society, to a place without disease, famine or crime, to a place where the lion and the lamb lie down together, to a place where families remain whole, to a place where all men are honorable and all women are chaste… but before we get there we may have to lie, cheat, steal and murder along the way… but it is ok because where we are going is going to be so good when we get there that all the suffering that we have caused or inflicted or endured will seem as nothing. In the name of a glorious future we will unleash hell on an unsuspecting present… See “Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob” as part of the Unification Church’s rational for “Heavenly Deception.” Sun Myung Moon, the messiah of the Unification church, uses Jacob who stole the birthright from his brother Esau and became the founder of the nation of Israel, as the paradigm for his (Moon’s) path in the world. He said over and over again, “I am the universal Jacob. All those who stand with me stand in the position of Jacob. What is our job. It is to steal the birthright from Esau. Who is Esau? Esau is everyone outside our group: all individuals, groups, churches, religions and nations.” Here religious language and religious metaphor are used to justify what I like to describe as moral and political titanism. This is the kind of psychological superiority which grants exemption from any notions of compassion, mercy and honesty. A cursory examination of the history of the Unification Church sees Moon’s word made flesh in: charities fraud, currency and banking fraud, violation of immigration and naturalization law, collusion with Latin American dictators, arms manufacture and sales worldwide – all this in the name of creating heaven on earth.

6. CRISIS PSYCHOLOGY Extremist organizations tirelessly work to rigidly control all information coming in. The leader and his or her doctrine provide the grid for judging what is acceptable information and what is not. This information control may include blocking all radio, tv, internet and newspapers. This places the leader and his cohorts in the position of precipitating a crisis whenever they wish…Witness Jim Jones People’s Temple Mass exodus to Guyana followed by the mass suicide/execution of 900 of his followers. This also brings to mind the mass suicide of 39 followers of the Heaven’s Gate movement in the late 90’s in California. The last one hundred years of world history has provided numerous examples of leaders manipulating and controlling information in order to win the allegiance and support of entire populations for going to war. Witness Vietnam, Iraq and most recently Libya. In their path to hegemony demagogues and dictators attack the free press, undermine government institutions which might place a check on their power and do all they can to silence and eliminate any criticism. In the United States we see crisis psychology used by the intelligence agencies and the military as moral justification for overthrowing nations. Witness our role in overthrowing the democratically elected governments in Iran and Chile and our role in training the military and police agencies in authoritarian regimes in Latin America. In the name of fighting Godless Communism we have supported regimes which routinely use torture.

7. THE INNER CIRCLE The maintenance of secrecy is a sine qua non of modern life. Whether it is the military, government or corporate entities secrecy is highly valued and aggressively fought for. Criminal organizations routinely murder those who violate the workings of their inner circles. Government whistle blowers are branded as traitors and often sentenced to prison. Secrets maintained by religious extremists are keeping pace. Think of the Roman Catholic Church hiding the sex abuse of children by priests world wide. Think of the Jehovah’s Witnesses doing the same thing. Think of the Unification Church advertising their leader and messiah Sun Myung Moon as a pure virgin until he was 40 years old. In fact, he had been married at least once before he was 40 and had had numerous children out of wedlock. In extremist religious organizations the guarding of secrets is seen as an honor and a sacred duty not to be undertaken lightly. The dark histories of extremist organizations are often hidden from the rank and file members. The initiation into these histories is seen as a kind of rite of passage. The more dirt you carry, and cover for, the more you are trusted. The more of the dark history you protect the closer you come to the “great leader.” It turns out that the road to Heaven is paved with treachery and deceit.

Postscript:

Psychological extremism is visible and manifest in a wide spectrum of human social systems from individuals and families to clubs, gangs and churches to police forces, intelligence agencies, the military and political organizations, not to mention destructive cult groups. Much of the future history of mankind will revolve around our response to extremism in its many forms. Will we allow it to shape and control our perceptions of ourselves and our world, or will we find a way to see it for what it is – a psychological deformation which opens the door to a history of cruelty and a history of man’s continuing inhumanity to man.

For me, the outstanding fact of extremist organizations is their ability to control behavior and thought by controlling language. A return to balance and health for the victims of thought reform will include an in-depth exposition of the techniques which were used to capture them as well as a return to the world in which language is metaphorical and suggestive rather than absolute and fixed.

Allen Tate Wood

Bibliography:

Thought Reform and The Psychology of Totalism by Robert J. Lifton, Norton and Co. New York, 1961

Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View by Stanley Milgram, London: Tavistock Publications, 1974

Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan, Inner Traditions International, Limited, 1988

www.atwood7.com

My Four and a Half Years with The Lord of the Flies

Mis Cuatro Años y Medio con el Señor de las Moscas

Moon’s strategies for grabbing power clearly explained: VIDEO

Allen Tate Wood answers Walter Evans’ questions about the Unification Church (now rebranded as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification). He talks about Moon’s plans to penetrate the religious, political and economic worlds to further his own aims to grab power. Strategies for gaining the allegiance of leaders were / are very concrete.

A brief critical examination of the Divine Principle theory of history A Pilot Study – by Jane E.M. Williams & Allen Tate Wood

Moon’s Ignorance – he “spoke to Buddha,” but thought he was Chinese!

1. Freedom of the Press in Korea – Unification Church style

2. Freedom of the Press in Japan – Unification Church style

“In Korea, one even senses a fear, like one induced by the Mafia, among the opposition, and … outspoken opponents speak of death threats.” Prof. Sontag, 1976

Moon’s followers poured a pot of urine and feces on the head of a Seoul University Professor of Religion.

Abducted and beaten up by the Unification Church in Korea

Moonie “Dirty Tricks” against Donald Fraser

#Allen Tate Wood

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mrdougmaga-blog · 7 years ago

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Las Vegas

Friday, October 6, 2017

Have Tennessee Police Arrest Paddock's Associate?

Watchman

Adding the rumors together, we get ...

(1) Chick checks into the hotel, gives room keys to perps, and leaves the country. (Not suspicious ... AT ALL.)

(2) Paddock is FBI, running illegal guns, and is told they will be doing a gun buy at the hotel. He loads up guns into the room, and waits.

(3) Perps come into the hotel room, as gun buyers. They kill Paddock and carry out the operation. Then, they wait in the room.

(4) FBI locks down the building and the floor. They "bust" into the room, make it sound good for any neighbors listening, then the perps walk out the front door, wearing FBI jackets.

(5) They jump into an FBI van, and head off to McCarron airport, just a few blocks away. They jump onto a private jet, and are out of the country before the press conference begins............J

WARNING: there is a graphic photo at the end of this article.

The information below is raw intelligence from a foreign intelligence service (SVR) and is not "finished intelligence information.

An new Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report details more facts about what the Russians are calling the “Pyramid Sacrifice” massacre in Las Vegas and states that an accomplice to the CIA arms smuggler Stephen Paddock, Scott Edmisten, pictured above, had been arrested in the State of Tennessee while driving a vehicle containing identical “bump stock” equipped weapons used to kill and wound hundreds of people during the Las Vegas mass shooting. Edmisten also had over 900 rounds of ammunition in his vehicle also. Below is what Tennessee police found in Edmisten's vehicle.

Edmisten was caught carrying numerous weapons including two submachine guns and 900 rounds of ammunition had lost custody of his children and written hostile letters to local judges, authorities said Wednesday.

Washington County Sheriff Ed Graybeal said Scott Edmisten won’t talk, so officials are still trying to determine why he had the weapons, as well as a mask and black fatigues, when he was pulled over for speeding before dawn Monday.

Graybeal said guns and ammunition are common in Tennessee, but that it was “odd” for all the guns and clips to be loaded, and for Edmisten to have 900 more rounds and survival gear. In addition, he said, when people have survival gear with them, they are usually going hunting, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Graybeal said he has asked state and federal agencies to assist in the case since the automatic weapons aren’t registered and lack serial numbers.

The confiscated weapons included the following:

.357 magnum .45 semi auto One full auto AR rifle in .223 caliber One full auto AR rifle in .308 caliber More than 900 rounds of ammunition

“Whatever he had planned for that morning, that little traffic stop that one of my guys made made all the difference in the world to someone, I believe,” Graybeal said. “It’s just one of those situations where nothing seemed right and we wanted to make sure that everyone was OK, especially since he’d been sending letters to the courts.”

Edmisten, 43, has been jailed without bond on charges of possessing prohibited weapons, speeding, and felony evading arrest. An attorney listed in court records as representing Edmisten didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. A bond hearing was set for Oct. 11.

In addition to the guns in the car, authorities found another four rifles in Edmisten’s home Tuesday while executing a search warrant. Graybeal said one had been altered to make it fully automatic. Investigators also found about $6,000 worth of ammunition that hadn’t been opened.

Graybeal said he didn’t know why Edmisten lost custody of his children, butEdmisten made it clear he did not like the Department of Children’s Services or law enforcement.

Michael Knight, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has confirmed that the agency is investigating Edmisten and said authorities “don’t see a connection” to recent mass shootings.

Edmisten’s arrest came a day after Stephen Paddock opened fire on a music festival from a high-rise hotel suite in Las Vegas.

Further, the Pyramid Sacrifice is now being linked to the 7 June 2017 arrest of Russian Mafioso Razhden Shulaya and may explain why a panicked Stephen Paddock, on 21 June, rushed to Henderson, Nevada, physician Dr. Steven Winkler to get a prescription for a powerful anti-anxiety drug.

Las Vegas is one of the major control centers of the international criminal organization known as the Russian Mafia—and who had fled to this desert gambling mecca in mass following Russia’s banning of all gambling in 2009.

Joining this exodus of Russia Mafia criminal operatives to Las Vegas was one of its most feared leaders named Razhden Shulaya, pictured above, who, on 7 June 2017, was arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas, and who shattered his US nationwide criminal organization with its “Shulaya Indictment.

The FBI removed Razhden Shulaya from Las Vegas and placed him under their highest security in New York City.

Historically the CIA has long known ties with international criminal organizations like the Russian mafia. In April (2017) Wikileaks Vault 7 revealed that the CIA was using Russian Mafia malware in one of its spyware programs named “Grasshopper”.

Razhden Shulaya has for years, controlled a vast gun smuggling ring that reportedly included Stephen Paddock. Paddock had been employed as an arms smuggling pilot in the CIA’s “Operation Cyclone” program to arm and finance the Jihadi warriors (mujahedeen) in Afghanistan with flights based from Pakistan during the late 1980’s.

The 40-year-old Razhden Shulaya aka Razhden Pitersky, Roma and Brat, can be sentenced to 65 years in the United States, the US Department of Justice said.

Other members of the criminal group, who were charged by the Prosecutor's Office of the Southern District of New York, are threatened with various terms of imprisonment - from 25 to life imprisonment. In particular, the members of the Razhden Pitersky gang Nikoloz Dzhikia and Bakai Marat-Uulu can be sentenced to life imprisonment for contract killings.

33 representatives of the Russian mafia, led by Razhden Shulaya were charged. 27 of them were detained, five more are still on the wanted list.

When the names of the arrested were published, 15 of them were Georgian citizens, including two world-famous athletes - World Boxing Champion Avtandil Khurtsidze and MMA fighter Levan Makashvili, who competed in UFC championships.

Members of the Shulaya gang are accused of various crimes - from smuggling cigarettes, storing drugs, racketeering, selling stolen goods and giving bribes, to with theft of large loads, organizing illegal gambling, storing and selling weapons, robberies, drug trafficking and contract killings.

Razhden Shulaya, 40, was crowned a "mafia don" at the age of 36 at a Cyprus meeting in May 2013. Other criminals that got their crowns that day are Dato Krasnodarsky (later discrowned), Bondo Kazakhstansky, Goga Kutaissky, Ilo Kaliningradsky and Artem Saratovsky. Those who approved the "coronation" were Antik, Koka, Matevich, Givi Tbilissky, Merab Sukhumsky, Tsripa Kutaissky, Robinson, Takhi, Osetrina and some others.

According to the US law enforcement agencies, Razhden Shulaya was the person that created the criminal enterprise accused of a number of crimes. Shulaya has been living in New Jersey lately, and the other mobsters resided mainly in New York's Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

The district attorney also mentioned the extensive ties Shulaya had in the underworld that contributed to establishing strong links with the criminals of post-Soviet countries like Georgia, Ukraine and Russia and Israel.

Most of the gang members were born in the Soviet Union, traveled regularly to its former states and contacted individuals associated with criminal activity of the gang, the US Justice Department said.

Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo has stated that Stephen Paddock “did not act alone”. SVR surveillance intercepts confirmed that a known CIA arms smuggler held a meeting with one of his “associates/accomplices” on 27 September. That meeting was verified by a Mandalay Bay Hotel room-service receipt, pictured below, recording that “2 Guests” were served meals in Paddock’s hotel room on that date.

Stephen Paddock’s associate, whom he had met on 27 September in Las Vegas was Scott Edmisten. Edmisten is reportedly a CIA “deep cover” operative who is a highly trained precision machinist with gunsmithing skills. Edmisten reportedy worked for a company named NN Inc., that has many locations around the world. This allowed Edmisten to conduct “non-suspicious/covert” travel.

Four days after his meeting with Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas Scott Edmisten, on 1 October, was stopped by police Washington County, Tennessee. It was discovered that his vehicle contained “bump stock” equipped semi-automatic weapons exactly like those used during the “Pyramid Sacrifice” massacre and 900 rounds of ammunition.

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