Monday, December 19, 2011

Bible solution to U.S. and European debt crisis






Real value gold and silver was the only legal tender for millenniums.
How to resolve the current U.S. and European debt Crisis has been known for centuries.  The simple solution is presented in the Bible.   It is the only logical solution available.

Deuteronomy

Chapter 15
  1. At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
  2. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’s release.
  3. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;
  4. Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:
  5. Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.
  6. For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.
It will not be the end of the World when the Federal Reserve Note or the Euro collapses.  It will simply mean that the fiat debt will be canceled – as it should be.  Fiat money – the Federal Reserve Note and the Euro are both worthless anyway.  The debt isn’t based on real value assets it is solely based on interest bearing payments.  Wipe out the interest bearing fiat money and the debt is only the principal amount owing.
Did Russia cease to exist when the Russian government defaulted on their massive interest bearing debt in 1998?  We all know Russia still exists and is now stronger than ever.  The Federal Reserve and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would have you believe that the World will descend into chaos if their Federal Reserve Note and Euro monopoly fails.  That is simply not true.  The World will be better off once the worthless counterfeit Federal Reserve Note and the Euro are gone.   The Euro has only been around for 9 years (first issued in 2002) and look at what it has done.  Before the Euro European countries were prosperous.  The collapse of the Euro means European countries will once again be sovereign – exercising de factoadministrative control over a country and is not subordinate to any other government in that country.
The end of the Federal Reserve Note and the Euro won’t mean the end of the World.  The Sun won’t stop shining because the Federal Reserve Note and the Euro no longer exists.  Time won’t stop either.  The Earth will still rotate and sunrise and sunsets will continue for millions of years.  Crops in the fields will not stop growing.  Oil will still be available.  People around the World will still get up every morning and go to school or work or play.  Next year farmers will still plant seeds and by the end of next summer they will harvest their crops and feed the World population.  People will still want to buy electronic devices, cars, trucks, motorcycles, appliances, furniture, computers, and clothing and the economy will flourish.  Life will continue long after the Federal Reserve Note and the Euro are gone.
The end of the Federal Reserve Note simply means the United States Congress will once again coin (made of valuable metal) the money of the United States and regulate the value thereof – as per Article 1 Section 8 of the United StatesConstitution.  As John F Kennedy tried to do by printing and circulating interest free United States Notes.
The end of the Euro simply means Greece, Italy, Ireland, England, France, Germany and every European Union member state will once again issue their own interest free currency.
When both the Federal Reserve Note and Euro fail each country will once again issue their own currency.
No country should ever again allow another globalist banking system to take control of their country.  No country should ever accept a World Monetary currency.  A World Monetary currency is just another interest bearing fiat currency.  A World Monetary currency would simply mean replacing one evil with another.  A World Monetary currency would simply mean that you would be giving control of your country back to the very same people who created this mess in the first place.
It doesn’t matter what name they go by; the Federal Reserve, the EU, the IMF, the World Bank, NAFTA or the Financial Stability Board, they are all part of same interest bearing and debt creating monopoly system.  They are all under the control of a handful of unelected gangsters.
In the Torah, or Old Testament, every seventh year is decreed by Mosaic Law as a Sabbatical year wherein the release of all debts that are owed by members of the community is mandated.  The seventh Sabbatical year, or forty-ninth year, is then followed by another Sabbatical year known as the Year of Jubilee wherein the release of all debts is mandated, for fellow community members and foreigners alike, and the release of all debt-slaves is also mandated.  The Year of Jubilee is announced in advance on the Day of Atonement, or the tenth day of the seventh Biblical month, in the forty-ninth year by the blowing of trumpets throughout the land of Israel.
In Islamic teaching, according to the Quran, an insolvent person was deemed to be allowed time to be able to pay out his debt. This is recorded in the Quran’s second chapter (Sura Al-Baqara), Verse 280, which states:
“And if someone is in hardship, then let there be postponement until a time of ease. But if you give from your right as charity, then it is better for you, if you only knew.”
The Bible in regards to interest bearing debt
The Biblical use of the term “usury” corresponds to our modern word “interest”.  The Talmud (Judaism’s holiest book) prohibits the lending of money with interest.
The prohibition of interest is based on God’s covenant with Israel and upon the compassionate treatment of various oppressed groups: the resident alien; the widow; the orphans; and the poor.
Exodus 22:25 states the law in explicit terms: “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.”
Leviticus 25:35, “And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.”
Deuteronomy 23:19, “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury.”
Both Ezekiel 22:12 and Nehemiah 5:0-11 condemn lending money with interest, especially to the poor. And Ezekiel 18:13 list the taking of interest among sins worthy of death.
The consistent teaching of the Old and New Testaments, the Talmud and the Quran is that compassion, mercy and justice are to override purely economic concerns, such as loans. Religious people are to be gracious to all, even debtors.
Bible only recognizes gold and silver as real money
Have you ever noticed that the Bible never mentions paper money.  Gold and silver are the first and oldest form of money, the only money that has not failed, and a source of notable value for over 5000 years!
  • The Hebrew word for money is “keceph”, which when translated means “silver.”
  • The King James Bible mentions gold 417 times, silver 320 times, and money, which is mentioned 140 times, refers only to physical silver and gold. A paper currency is never mentioned.
  • Gold and silver are mentioned all through the bible as real wealth, even through the end of Revelation.
  • From Genesis to Revelation, gold and silver are the only monetary assets that will maintain their purchasing power until judgement day.
Governments, kings, rulers, and charlatans of all types, sizes, and sorts, have used paper “instruments” to hoodwink, steal, and defraud. Be they paper dollars, treasury bills, or worthless bonds and stocks. All such “instruments,” are as good as the issuers of such, and no more. A piece of paper, with scribbling or a beautiful imprimatur, is only as valuable as its issuer. An IOU on a piece of scrap paper, given you by a trustworthy individual, is far more valuable than a million pieces of notes from a bankrupt kingdom or nation.

Source


PM calls on the Church to defend 'values and moral code' of the Bible


Speak up for Christianity, Cameron tells Archbishop: PM calls on the Church to defend 'values and moral code' of the Bible


  •  PM said it's easier to be Jewish or Muslim in Britain than in a secular country like   France
  •  
  • Britons 'treasured' responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, love and pride in working for the common good, says PM

  •  Even admitted he was only a 'vaguely practising' Christian with 'full of doubts' about --theological issues



Last updated at 9:52 PM on 16th December 2011




Taking a moral stand: Prime Minister David Cameron said it was time to teach right from wrong
Taking a moral stand: Prime Minister David Cameron said it was time to teach right from wrong
David Cameron last night called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to lead a return to the ‘moral code’ of the Bible.

In a highly personal speech about faith, the Prime Minister accused Dr Rowan Williams of failing to speak ‘to the whole nation’ when he criticised Government austerity policies and expressed sympathy with the summer rioters.

Mr Cameron declared Britain ‘a Christian country’ and said politicians and churchmen should not be afraid to say so. 

He warned that a failure to ‘stand up and defend’ the values and morals taught by the Bible helped spark the riots and fuelled terrorism.

At Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, where Dr Williams used to teach, Mr Cameron said the time has come for public figures to teach ‘right from wrong’, and questioned whether the Church of England has done enough to defend those values in the face of the ‘moral neutrality’ that pervades modern life. 

And taking aim at the Archbishop, Mr Cameron tackled head-on his public criticisms of the Government over the last 12 months.

The speech was a bold Christmas gamble by Mr Cameron. In making a speech about religion, he did something that Tony Blair always longed to do but was talked out of by spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who flatly told him: ‘We don’t do God.’ 

The clash between the Government and Church is at its most acute since former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Robert Runcie clashed with Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980s.
The Prime Minister appeared emboldened by his opinion poll bounce since his decision to wield the veto during the Eurozone crisis summit in Brussels last week.

Admitting that he had ‘entered the lion’s den’ by addressing an audience of churchmen, Mr Cameron said: ‘I certainly don’t object to the Archbishop of Canterbury expressing his views on politics.

Challenged: The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams should take the lead in promoting Christian teachings, according to the Prime Minister
Challenged: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, should take the lead in promoting Christian teachings, according to the Prime Minister

‘But just as it is legitimate for religious leaders to make political comments, he shouldn’t be surprised when I respond.

‘I believe the Church of England has a unique opportunity to help shape the future of our communities. But to do so it must keep on the agenda that speaks to the whole country.’ 

At an event to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, he said: ‘We are a Christian country and we should not be afraid to say so.

'The Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today. Values and morals we should actively stand up and defend.

‘Whether you look at the riots last summer, the financial crash and the expenses scandal or the on-going terrorist threat from Islamist extremists around the world, one thing is clear, moral neutrality or passive tolerance just isn’t going to cut it any more.
David Cameron said it was 'easier for people to practise other faiths when Britain had confidence in its Christian identity'
David Cameron said it was 'easier for people to practise other faiths when Britain had confidence in its Christian identity'

‘Put simply, for too long we have been unwilling to distinguish right from wrong. “Live and let live” has too often become “do what you please”.
‘Bad choices have too often been defended as just different lifestyles. To be confident in saying something is wrong is not a sign of weakness, it’s a strength.’ 

 Mr Cameron’s demands for a ‘moral code’ were directed at human rights apologists and Left-wing politicians who recoil from promoting Britain’s Christian heritage.

But they also covered the hand-wringing pronouncements of many senior churchmen, who refuse to condemn lawbreaking by rioters and show unwillingness to take on militant Islam for fear of offending Muslims.
The PM said an ‘almost fearful, passive tolerance of religious extremism’ had let Islamic extremism grow unchallenged and called for the promotion of ‘Christian values’ saying it was ‘profoundly wrong’ to believe that promoting Christianity would ‘do down other faiths’.

Rowan on the attack

Note: Bolds and Highlights added.

Sourcehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075205/Speak-Christianity-Cameron-tells-Archbishop-PM-calls-Church-defend-values-moral-code-Bible.html#ixzz1h0AeBjjC



Hollywood Tries to Wash the Web with SOPA


December 15, 2011, 4:30 PM EST

Studios Try to Wash the Web with SOPA

The Stop Online Piracy Act aims to stop illegal streaming. It won’t



In the spring of 1982 a House of Representatives subcommittee decamped to Los Angeles to hold hearings about a new gadget called the VCR. Movie studios believed home viewing of feature films would destroy theaters and, ultimately, their entire industry, and they wanted Congress to do something to stop it. The late Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, warned the committee, “The VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman home alone.” Home video is now Hollywood’s most profitable business.
Nearly 30 years later, movie industry executives flew back East to warn of a new threat: online subscription services that stream movies. Early this month, members of the MPAA met in Washington with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, Vice-President Joe Biden, and members of Congress to promote a bill—now in the House—that will attempt to shut down illegal streaming sites.
The studio heads have grudgingly come to accept free peer-to-peer file sharing. “Yes, you’ll have people who want to camcord the movie, be the hero in their mother’s basement,” says Jim Gianopulos, head of Fox Filmed Entertainment (NWS). “And yes, we live with that.” It’s the infringing for-profit services Gianopulos and his colleagues are after. Hollywood is no longer just worried about theft. It’s worried about competition.
The Stop Online Piracy Act—SOPA—introduced in October by Representative Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) has broad support in both parties. If it becomes law, it would authorize the Justice Dept., with a court order, to direct U.S. companies to stop hosting or providing payment services to foreign sites that illegally stream American content. It could tell search engines to stop listing those sites and instruct domain-name registrars—the companies that ensure when you type in “jeffbridges.com,” you reach The Dude—to direct traffic elsewhere. Studio executives insist the bill targets foreign sites, but it also allows copyright holders to obtain a court injunction that would hit domestic sites in some of the same ways. The studios point to an appeals process, yet offenders would have to fight a court battle to prove their innocence after they’d already been disappeared from the Internet. A similar bill, called the Protect IP Act, is moving through the Senate.
As with many fights about the Internet, this one pits Google (GOOG) and much of Silicon Valley, which have a financial interest in keeping the Web open, against Hollywood, record labels, and software companies, which have an interest in keeping it closed. In a Jan. 12 speech in Washington, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said Smith’s bill would “criminalize the intermediaries” (like Google). Barry Meyer, head of Warner Bros. Entertainment (TWX), claims the studios are being “death-paneled” by the bill’s opponents.
The two sides are having an argument about the bill’s unintended negative effects, but there isn’t much to suggest there will be intended, positive ones. In a 400-page survey of piracy in emerging markets published in January, the Social Science Research Council, a New York think tank, discovered little evidence that enforcement efforts had “any impact whatsoever” on the supply of pirated goods. What worked, it concluded, are “firms that actively compete on price and services for local customers.” At least one studio has recognized this. In June, Warner Bros. announced a deal with You On Demand Holdings (CBBD) to stream movies in China, where piracy has eroded sales.
This may make sense in the American market, too. Joe Karaganis edited the emerging markets study, and now works on digital issues for the American Assembly, a research institute at Columbia University. In an August poll, he found that of the 30 percent of Americans who have illegally downloaded videos, 40 percent say the emergence of legal streaming services has made them less likely to do so. (Google funded the study.) As the studios point out, foreign websites charge Americans $40 for unlimited, illegal streaming of new releases. Hollywood sees these sites as an affront. Eventually—if the history of the VCR is any lesson—it will come to see them as a business model.
The bottom line: Among Americans who have illegally downloaded movies, 40 percent say they now do so less, because of legal streaming services.
Greeley is a staff writer for Bloomberg Businessweek.

Note: Underscores added.

Source


Council of Europe alerts against pressure and attacks on new media,..


[8 December 2011] Council of Europe alerts against pressure and attacks on new media, whistleblowers and human rights defenders websites

The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers alerted its member states about the risks to the rights to freedom of expression and association that may be created by politically motivated pressure on Internet platforms and online service providers. It also expressed concern about the threat to these rights caused by cyber attacks against websites of independent media, whistleblowers, human rightdefenders and dissidents.
In Declaration the Committee of Ministers stressed the need to affirm the roles of these actors as facilitators of the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association. It also stated that human rights standards should be applied in situations were there is interference with Internet content and with access to websites hosting it, as well as with online community interactions.
_________________________________________________________________________________




Source


"Our Internet - Our Rights, Our Freedoms"



 




  
"Our Internet - Our Rights, Our Freedoms"
 
Towards the Council of Europe Strategy on Internet Governance 2012 - 2015
Vienna Diplomatic Academy, 24 and 25 (a.m.) November 2011
The background to and aim of the Conference - which is open to people with a professional interest in the Internet - is the elaboration of a new four-year Council of Europe strategy to advance the protection and respect for human rights, rule of law and democracy on the Internet.

 Hosted and organised by the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria together with the Council of Europe, the themes of the Conference, discussed in panel sessions, include Internet and democracy, privacy standards, is harm to the Internet’s functioning also harming human rights, fighting cybercrime, protecting and empowering children, what are governments’ responsibilities in protecting human rights on the Internet, and developing a charter of Internet rights to empower and enable citizens online.



Meeting venue: Diplomatic Academy of Vienna

© Diplomatic Academy Vienna
Source


Council of Europe Conference in Vienna

Press release - DC 130(2011)


Strasbourg/Vienna, 16.11.2011 – A high level conference organised by the Council of Europe and the Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs of Austria on the theme “Our Internet – Our rights, Our freedoms” will take place in Vienna on 24 and 25 November.


Council of Europe member states, the private sector, parliamentarians, civil society and the Internet community will look for ways to give better protection to human rights, democracy and the rule of law online.


  • What are the legal standards needed to protect privacy online effectively?
  • How can interference or harm to the Internet affect rights such as freedom of expression and information?
  • What are the next steps in fighting cybercrime?
  • How should children be empowered to use the Internet safely?
  • How can users be empowered to exercise their rights


The conference will contribute to defining the Council of Europe strategy on Internet governance for the period 2012-15, currently being prepared. ( Draft Council of Europe Internet governance strategy).

Michael Spindelegger, Austrian Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, Thorbjørn Jagland, Council of Europe Secretary General, and Edward Vaizey, Minister of Culture, Communication and Creative Industries of the United Kingdom, will open the conference at 9.00 on 24 November.

Fergus O´Dowd, Minister of State of the NewEra Project of Ireland, Richard Allan, Director of Policy of Facebook in Europe, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, representing Openleaks, and Simon Hampton, Director of European Public Policy of Google, will speak at an opening session on the role of the Internet as a catalyst of political change. Nik Gowing, international journalist and broadcaster, BBC, will both actively participate in and moderate this Political Panel Session.

Practical information: The meeting, which will be held at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy (Favoritenstraße 15a, 1040 Vienna, Austria), is open to the press. You are requested to submit your accreditation request to pk-anmeldungen@bmeia.gv.at before 23 November. Accreditations will also be possible on the spot.


The conference will be webcast on bmeia-webtv.ots.at/live and at the Conference website.
Programme

Press contacts:
Federal Ministry of European an International Affairs of Austria:
Sonja Linskeseder; sonja.linskeseder@bmeia.gv.at; Tel.: +43 (0) 501150 3315
Stephanie Jakobitsch; stephanie.jakobitsch@bmeia.gv.at; Tel.: +43 (0) 501150 3720
Council of Europe:
Jaime Rodríguez; jaime.rodriguez@coe.int; mob. +33 (0) 6 89 99 50 42
Council of Europe Directorate of CommunicationTel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11

pressunit@coe.int

www.coe.int


Source


Jesuit journal urges measure to make Internet accessible, democratic

CIVILTA-INTERNET Nov-17-2011 (260 words) xxxi


By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Internet is a global public good that should be accessible to all and respectful of the rights of others, said an influential Jesuit magazine.

 With repressive regimes restricting access to information and communications, democratic governments should work to guarantee access to the Internet and adopt general principles to ensure network use respects universal human rights, said an editorial in La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit journal reviewed by the Vatican before publication.

 "What the law permits or prohibits offline must also be the case online," said the editorial released Nov. 17.

 The "only widespread international consensus" on online material to be censored regards child pornography and cyberterrorism, the article said.

 The Jesuit journal said that with individuals abusing the freedom of expression, with companies potentially exploiting computer users for financial gain and repressive regimes blocking information from their citizens, the world needs a "Charter of Human Rights for the Internet."

The Council of Europe is holding a conference Nov. 24-25 on the Internet, human rights and freedom, the journal said. In preparation for the meeting, the European Council of Ministers drafted 10 "Internet Governance Principles" that La Civilta Cattolica said should be "included in an international treaty" protecting the Internet and access to it.

 The 10 principles include protecting democracy and respect for the law on the Internet; promoting greater involvement in Internet governance, including by users; protecting the universal nature of the Internet and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity; and broadening access to the Internet and its content.


END

 Note: Highlights and Underscores  added for emphasis.


Source

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Nemeses | This American Life

Broadcast:
Dec-16-11

Nemeses

This week, stories where a longtime standoff keeps both sides coming back for more. Including a story about the time in Poland's recent history where the country's two political blocks came together and believed, however briefly, they'd be able to set aside their differences. And another story about a college rivalry gone viral, and personal.


Listen:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/play_full.php?play=453&podcast=1

California Gay History Law: Jerry Brown Signs Landmark Bill


California Gay History Law
JUDY LIN 07/14/11 08:22 PM ET AP



SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill making California the first state in the nation to add lessons about gays and lesbians to social studies classes in public schools.

Brown, a Democrat, signed the landmark bill requiring public schools to include the contributions of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender in social studies curriculum. The Democratic-majority Legislature had passed the bill last week on a largely party-line vote.

"History should be honest," the governor said in a statement Thursday. "This bill revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books."

Brown signed the bill Wednesday, but announced on Thursday that he had done so.

The bill has drawn criticism from some churches and conservative groups that argue such instruction would expose students to a subject that some parents find objectionable.

Republican lawmakers who opposed the bill had called it a well-intentioned but ill-conceived bill. Some raised concerns that it would indoctrinate children to accept homosexuality.

State Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat from San Francisco and the bill's author, hailed the bill signing as a step toward teaching tolerance. Supporters say the bill will teach students to be more accepting of gays and lesbians in light of the bullying that happens to gay students.

"Today we are making history in California by ensuring that our textbooks and instructional materials no longer exclude the contributions of LGBT Americans," Leno said in a statement.

California law already requires schools to teach about women, African Americans, Mexican Americans, entrepreneurs, Asian Americans, European Americans, American Indians and labor. The Legislature over the years also has prescribed specific lessons about the Irish potato famine and the Holocaust, among other topics.

The new law, SB48, requires the California Board of Education and local school districts to adopt textbooks and other teaching materials that cover the contributions and roles of sexual minorities, as soon as the 2013-2014 school year.

The legislation leaves it to local school boards to decide how to implement the requirement. It does not specify a grade level for the instruction to begin.

Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, a conservative family group, said under the new law parents will have no choice but to take their children out of public school and homeschool them to avoid what he said was "immoral indoctrination." The new law applies only to public schools, not private schools or families who homeschool.

"Jerry Brown has trampled the parental rights of the overwhelming majority of California fathers and mothers who don't want their children to be sexually brainwashed at school," Thomasson said. "This new law will prohibit textbooks and teachers from telling children the facts that homosexuality is neither healthy nor biological."

The bill was supported by gay rights organizations including Equality California and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. Teacher groups also said the bill would help students prepare for a diverse and evolving society.

"There is no room for discrimination of any kind in our classrooms, our communities or our state," said Dean Vogel, president of the California Teachers Association.
 
 
P.S. My words to Gov. Jerry Brown: Don't it make my brown eyes blue.

Ridiculous KJV Bible Corrections:


Photo (Courtesy) https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hW8OYXEIAL7a7d0wyODS8qchiP18PoZ2IrfYkCNRXLAZlMmHWlIkfmFwzU5pjYocox_CCZ-zDKlfNoypxmkws6HzjMZyOMKeqTI38qd7AzQlHyaIflrMj8F1D3UkQJUHszFN/s1600/2008-White-House-Christmas-Decoration-Preview_1.jpg

by John Hinton, Ph.D.
jhinton@post.harvard.edu



Note: The author realizes that many sincere Bible-believing Christians due to family pressures, or due to being unaware of the truth behind Christmas, observe at least some of the customs of the holiday, such as gift giving, and do so with the intent of keeping Jesus in mind. This is not intended as a critique against Christians who have not abandoned every aspect of Christmas. This is a critique of those who mistranslate the Bible, or use mistranslated Bibles, for the purpose of promoting paganism as expressed in the rituals of Christmas.
Jeremiah 10:2 KJV Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3* For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4* They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
There was a time when the pagan holiday known as Christmas had actual Christian overtones. This is no longer the case. The modern holiday no longer had anything at all to do with Jesus. Today it is a time for racking up large credit card debts, lying to children about Santa Clause, teaching them commercialism and materialism, singing songs about glow-in-the-dark reindeers, and for gouging at one's neighbor while fighting the Christmas crowds and traffic. One can go through a drug store card rack and not find a single Christmas card that even mentions our Lord, and manger scenes are being outlawed. Christmas originated as a way to celebrate a pagan holiday by disguising it as a Christian one. Now Satan Clause, flying reindeer, mistletoe, and Christmas trees are all methods to remove Christ entirely from the holiday and return it to its pure pagan roots. This verse from Jeremiah is one of the most prophetic verses in the Bible in regard to modern times. It is a clear and glaring warning against this pagan holiday and the wicked time of commercialism and materialism that it has become. The Christmas tree is a blatant affront to God, but many, if not most, professed Christians put one up. Most that do not, do not because it is inconvenient, not because they are convicted by the Bible.
The modern perversions hide this warning by perverting this passage by disguising the adorned tree as an ordinary idol. I have seen many Christmas trees through the windows of churches all across America, even Baptist churches. This is as strong a statement that they could make about what kind of church they are, and should be a warning to all with any spiritual discernment at all.
The International Children's Bible does not want poor little Christian children of being involved with the fun of celebrating the pagan holiday like their non-Christian classmates, so they presented it this way:
"The customs of other people are worth nothing. Their idols are nothing but wood from the forest. They are made by a worker with his chisel..."
In order to force this obscuration of the verse they deceive their readers by translating "matsad", meaning axe, as chisel. A wooden idol may be chiseled, but not cut down with an axe as a tree is. What conniving snakes!
NIV: ...they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
This pornographers who own the NIV obscure the verse even worse. Here the tree is cut down and then it is carved as an idol. This requires an axe and a chisel both when there is only one tool in the verse. It is bad enough to lie about the chisel, but to interject both adds a level of incompetence that is mind boggling.
The ever silly Living Bible perverts the verse even more.
"They cut down a tree and carve an idol..."
The Amplified Bible finds a different way to use deceit to obscure the significance of the verse:
"... it is but a tree which one cuts out of the forest [to make for himself a god], the work of the craftsman with the ax or other tool"
Or other tool? Make a god? Where is any of that in the Hebrew?
The NLT has the following display of foolishness:
"... They cut down a tree and carved an idol."
The word that is translated as tree is "ets", which does also mean wood, so scholars falsely so called can linguistically argue the translation of wood, but the Bible is spiritually discerned, which leaves such scholars in the dark. The decision to translate it as wood, while inserting references to idols, was made, undoubtedly, by the apostate translators of the new versions in order to disguise and justify this pagan practice that has become so popular. It should be noted that Christmas trees were not sold commercially in the U.S.A. until 1851 and became popularized gradually. Before that its history in Europe began with the Druids and Vikings and eventually spread to Germany. It is the Germans that brought it to America, not the British. Christmas trees eventually did become popular in England, but not during the Era of the King James Bible. The first Christmas tree at Windsor Castle was not until the time of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in 1841. My point is that the KJV translators did not translate ets as tree that was adorned in this passage in order to make a statement against the practice of erecting Christmas trees, because they had no reason to at that time. They translated it that way because they were divinely guided and God ensured that future generations be warned about Christmas. Of course, they also translated it that way because they were competent translators who knew what the Hebrew says. It should be added that legend attributes the German practice of erecting Christmas trees to Martin Luther. It should be noted that Luther's Bible translates the Jeremiah verse virtually word for word like the KJV, so this legend is highly unlikely. Luther would have not missed the significance of the Jeremiah verse. I will never forget listening to a preacher on the radio defend both Christmas trees and Santa Clause fables. This same preacher, Pete Peters, a member of the New Age cult called "Christian" Identity, had just a few weeks later preached against the KJV while promoting the NIV, NASV, and others (unfortunately, I never recognize his voice and sometimes listen to him for several minutes until he says something really blasphemous). The connection is a common one. The perverted modern churches will still use these counterfeit verses to excuse their anti-Christian paganism, but the use of these Bibles still make for a poor excuse. Even if Jeremiah 10 were completely missing from our Bible it would still be very obvious that these trees are a way to distract people from the Christian elements that have formed around Christmas, in spite of it being a pagan-originated holiday. In other words, such church-goers are without excuse. Also note that the ASV, RSV, and a few other modern versions actually translated it more or less correctly. Those Bible hoppers like Peters who shop around in various versions looking for one that suits their own hearts instead of God's will are still going to be warned against erecting Christmas trees. They will have to hop on over to the NIV or another perversion in order to disregard the warning. If you see a Christmas tree displayed in a church, chances are that that church also promotes false Bibles, immodest dress, rock and roll, entertaining over preaching, and other sins of the modern church. Bible believing Christians who stray into such places should be grateful to be given the warning.
The preceeding is part of a series of examples of KJV verses that arrogant would-be scholars have tried to correct and showed themselves to be fools. These examples are for the benefit of those who would like more ammunition to defend God's Word against the attacks of the arrogant Bible "correcting" modernists. I hope that some of you find them useful.
Your servant in Christ,

      John Hinton, Ph.D.
Bible Restoration Ministry
A ministry seeking the translating and reprinting of KJV equivalent Bibles in all the languages of the world.