AND THE THIRD ANGEL FOLLOWED THEM, SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, IF ANY MAN WORSHIP THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE, AND RECEIVE HIS MARK IN HIS FOREHEAD, OR IN HIS HAND. *** REVELATION 14:9
Thursday, September 20, 2012
DHS Purchases 200 Million More Rounds of Ammunition
America Goes Back to Church En Masse
Fourth National Back to Church Sunday Exceeds All Previous Records
| - Christian Newswire Wednesday, September 19, 2012 |
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., —On Sept. 16, in the largest grassroots movement of its kind, 13,152 congregations of various denominations, styles and theologies united in a single cause to invite an estimated 7.5 million friends, family, neighbors and coworkers to attend church on National Back to Church Sunday. Participating churches saw an estimated 38 percent increase in their attendance.
"I’ve heard from a number of pastors and churches that this was a great tool they used to mobilize their people and reach their community,” said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, a supporting partner of National Back to Church Sunday. “Many are enthusiastic about the focus the fourth annual National Back to Church Sunday has injected into their congregations.”
The movement is based on the simple principle that 82 percent of people will come to church if invited by a friend, according to Thom Rainer’s “The Unchurched Next Door.” Yet, from a recent LifeWay Research study, only 48 percent of church members invited their unchurched friends to church in the last six months.
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The Western Tradition
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The roots and birth of the Protestant Reformation
The roots of the Reformation lie far back in the High Middle Ages with the rise of towns and a money economy. This led to four lines of development that all converged in the Reformation. First of all, a money economy led to the rise of kings who clashed with the popes over control of Church taxes. One of these clashes, that between pope Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France, triggered the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism. Second, the replacement of a land based with a money economy led to growing numbers of abuses by the Church in its desperation for cash. Both of these factors seriously damaged the Church’s reputation and helped lead to the Lollard and Hussite heresies which would heavily influence Luther’s Protestant Reformation.
Another effect of the rise of towns was a more plentiful supply of money with which humanists could patronize Renaissance culture. When the Renaissance reached Northern Europe, the idea of studying the Bible in the original Greek and Hebrew fused with the North’s greater emphasis on religion, thus paving the way for a Biblical scholar such as Martin Luther to challenge the Church.
Finally, towns and trade spread new ideas and technology. Several of these bits of technology, some from as far away as China, helped lead toss which helped the Reformation in two ways.First of all, it made books cheaper, which let Luther have his own copy of the Bible and the chance to find what he saw as flaws in the Church’s thinking. Second, the printing press would spread Luther’s ideas much more quickly and further a field than the Lollards and Hussites ever could have without the printing press.
All of these factors, growing dissatisfaction with corruption and scandal in the Church, the religious emphasis of the Northern Renaissance, and the printing press, combined to create a growing interest in Biblical scholarship. Nowhere was this interest more volatile or dangerous than in Germany. The main reason for this was the fragmentation of Germany into over 300 states, which helped the Reformation in two ways.
For one thing, there was no one power to stop the large number of Church abuses afflicting Germany, thus breeding a great deal of anger in Germany against the Church. For another thing, the lack of central control also made it very difficult to stop the spread of any new ideas. This was especially true in Germany, with over 30 printing presses, few, if any, being under tight centralized control, and each of which was capable of quickly churning out literally thousands of copies of Protestant books and pamphlets. If Germany could be seen as a tinder box just waiting for a spark to set it aflame, Martin Luther was that spark.
Luther, like all great men who shape history, was also a product of his own age. He had a strict religious upbringing, especially from his father who frequently beat his son for the slightest mistakes. School was little better. Young Martin was supposedly beaten fifteen times in one day for misdeclining a noun. All this created a tremendous sense of guilt and sinfulness in him and influenced his view of God as a harsh and terrifying being. Therefore, Luther’s reaction to the above mentioned thunderstorm in 1506 should come as no surprise. He carried out his vow and joined a monastic order.
As a monk, Luther carried his religious sense of guilt to self-destructive extremes, describing how he almost tortured himself to death through praying, reading, and vigils. Indeed, one morning, his fellow monks came into his cell to find him lying senseless on the ground. Given this situation, something had to give: either Luther’s body or his concept of Christianity. His body survived.
Out of concern for Martin, his fellow monks, thanks to the printing press, gave him a copy of the Bible where Luther found two passages that would change his life and history: “ For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) “ Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Romans 3:28) As Luther put it, “ Thereupon I felt as if I had been born again and had entered paradise through wide open gates. Immediately the whole of Scripture took on a new meaning for me. I raced through the Scriptures, so far as my memory went, and found analogies in other expressions.” From this Luther concluded that faith is a “free gift of God” and that no amount of praying, good deeds or self-abuse could affect one’s salvation. Only faith could do that.
The storm breaks
In the following years, Luther’s ideas quietly matured as he pursued a career as a professor, back then a Church position. Then, in 1517, trouble erupted. Pope Leo X, desperate for money to complete the magnificent St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome, authorized the sale of indulgences. These were documents issued by the Church that supposedly relieved their owners of time in purgatory, a place where Catholics believe they must purge themselves of their sins before going to heaven. Originally, indulgences had been granted to crusaders for their efforts for the faith. In time they were sold to any of the faithful who wanted them. The idea was that the money paid was the result of one’s hard work and was sanctified by being donated to the Church. However, it was easily subject to abuse as a convenient way to raise money.Indulgence sales were especially profitable in Germany where there was no strong central government to stop the Church from taking money out of the country. This greatly angered many Germans and made them more ready to listen to criticism of the Church when it came. The Church’s agent for selling indulgences in Brandenburg in Northern Germany, John Tetzel, used some highly questionable methods. He reportedly told local peasants that these indulgences would relive them of the guilt for sins they wished to commit in the future and that, after buying them, the surrounding hills would turn to silver. He even had a little jingle, much like a commercial: “ As soon as coin in coffer rings a soul from Purgatory springs.”
Luther was then a professor in nearby Wittenburg, Saxony, not far from the home of the Hussite heresy in Bohemia. When some local people showed him the indulgences they had bought, he denied they were valid. Tetzel denounced Luther for this, and Luther took up the challenge. On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed a placard to the church door in Wittenburg. On it were the Ninety-five Theses, or statements criticizing various Church practices, some of which are given here.
26. “They preach mad, who say that the soul flies out of purgatory as soon as the money thrown into the chest rattles.Luther’s purpose was not to break away from the Church, but merely to stimulate debate, a time honored academic tradition. The result, however, was a full-scale religious reformation that would destroy Europe’s religious unity forever.
27. “It is certain that, when the money rattles in the chest, avarice and gain may be
increased, but the suffrage of the Church depends on the will of God alone…32. “Those who believe that, through letters of pardon, they are made sure of their own salvation, will be eternally damned along with their teachers.
43.“Christians should be taught that he who gives to a poor man, or lends to a needy man,
does better than if he bought pardons…56. “The treasures of the Church, whence the Pope grants indulgences, are neither sufficiently named nor known among the people of Christ.
65 & 66. “Hence the treasures of the Gospel are nets, wherewith they now fish for the men of riches...The treasures of indulgences are nets, wherewith they now fish for the riches of men…
86. “Again; why does not the Pope, whose riches are at this day more ample than those of the wealthiest of the wealthy, build the one Basilica of St. Peter when his own money, rather than with that of poor believers…?
Soon copies of Luther’s Ninety-five Theses were printed and spread all over Germany where they found a receptive audience. Indulgence sales plummeted and the authorities in Rome were soon concerned about this obscure professor from Wittenburg. Papal legates were sent to talk sense into Luther. At first, he was open to reconciliation with the Church, but, more and more, he found himself defying the Church. Luther’s own rhetoric against the Church was becoming much more radical:
“If Rome thus believes and teaches with the knowledge of popes and cardinals (which I hope is not the case), then in these writings I freely declare that the true Antichrist is sitting in the temple of God and is reigning in Rome—that empurpled Babylon—and that the Roman Church is the Synagogue of Satan…If we strike thieves with the gallows, robbers with the sword, heretics with fire, why do we not much more attack in arms these masters of perdition, these cardinals, these popes, and all this sink of the Roman Sodom which has without end corrupted the Church of God, and wash our hands in their blood?”
“…Oh that God from heaven would soon destroy thy throne and sink it in the abyss of Hell!….Oh Christ my Lord, look down, let the day of they judgment break, and destroy the devil’s nest at Rome.”Luther also realized how to exploit the issue of the Italian church draining money from Germany:
“Some have estimated that every year more than 300,000 gulden find their way from Germany to Italy…We here come to the heart of the matter…How comes it that we Germans must put up with such robbery and such extortion of our property at the hands of the pope?….If we justly hand thieves and behead robbers, why should we let Roman avarice go free? For he is the greatest thief and robber that has come or can come into the world, and all in the holy name of Christ and St. Peter. Who can longer endure it or keep silence?”The papal envoy, Aleander, described the anti-Catholic climate in Germany:
“…All German is up in arms against Rome. All the world is clamoring for a council that shall meet on German soil. Papal bulls of excommunication are laughed at. Numbers of people have ceased to receive the sacrament of penance… Martin (Luther) is pictured with a halo above his head. The people kiss these pictures. Such a quantity has been sold that I am unable to obtain one… I cannot go out in the streets but the Germans put their hands to their swords and gnash their teeth at me…”What had started as a simple debate over Church practices was quickly becoming an open challenge to papal authority. The Hapsburg emperor, Charles V, needing Church support to rule his empire, feared this religious turmoil would spill over into political turmoil. Therefore, although religiously tolerant by the day’s standards, Charles felt he had to deal with this upstart monk. A council of German princes, the Diet of Worms, was called in 1521. At this council, the German princes, opposed to the growth of imperial power at their expense, applauded Luther and his efforts. As a result, Charles had to summon Luther to the diet so he could defend himself.
Luther’s friends, remembering Jan Hus’ fate, feared treachery and urged him not to go. But Luther was determined to go “ though there were as many devils in Wurms as there are tiles on the roofs.” His trip to Worms was like a triumphal parade, as crowds of people came out to see him. Then came the climactic meeting between the emperor and the obscure monk. Luther walked into an assembly packed to the rafters with people sensing history in the making. A papal envoy stood next to a table loaded with Luther’s writings. Asked if he would take back what he had said and written, Luther replied:
“Unless I am convinced by the evidence of Scripture or by plain reason—for I do not accept the authority of the Pope, or the councils alone, since it is established that they have often erred and contradicted themselves—I am bound by the scriptures I have cited and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. God help me. Amen.”Having defied Church and empire, Luther was hurried out of town where he was “ambushed” by his protector, Frederick of Saxony, and hidden in Wartburg castle to keep him out of harm’s way. However, although Luther dropped out of sight for a year, the Reformation did not go away.
Luther’s religion
Because of his criticism of papal authority and Church practices, Luther had been excommunicated from the Church. This along with the dramatic meeting at Worms led him to make a final break with the Catholic Church and form Lutheranism, the first of the Protestant faiths. This was not a new religion. It had basically the same beliefs about God as the Catholic faith. However, there were four main beliefs in the Lutheran faith that differed substantially from Catholicism.- Faith alone can gain salvation. No amount of good works can make any difference because man is so lowly compared to God. In the Catholic faith, penance and good works are important to salvation.
- Religious truth and authority lie only in the word of God revealed in the Bible, not in any visible institutions of the Church. This largely reflects what Wycliffe had said about the many institutions and rituals the Church valued. As a result, Lutheranism tended to be simpler in practice than Catholicism.
- The church is the community of all believers, and there is no real difference between priest and layman in the eyes of God. The Catholic Church gave greater status to the clergy who devoted their lives to God.
- The essence of Christian living lies in serving God in one’s own calling. In other words, all useful occupations, not just the priesthood, are valuable in God’s eyes. This especially appealed to the rising middle class whose concern for money was seen as somewhat unethical by the Medieval Church.
The spread of Lutheranism
When the Church burned 300 copies of Hus’ and Wycliffe’s writings in the early 1400’s, this dealt a heavy blow to the Hussite movement. However, from the start of the Reformation, printed copies of Luther’s writings were spread far and wide in such numbers that the movement could not be contained. By 1524, there were 990 different books in print in Germany. Eighty percent of those were by Luther and his followers, with some 100,000 copies of his German translation of the Bible in circulation by his death. Comparing that number to the 300 copies of Hussite writings underscores the decisive role of the printing press in the Protestant Reformation.When discussing whom in society went Lutheran or stayed Catholic and why, various economic and political factors were important, but the single most important factor in one’s decision was religious conviction. This was still an age of faith, and we today must be careful not to downplay that factor. However, other factors did influence various groups in the faith they adopted.
Many German princes saw adopting Lutheranism as an opportunity to increase their own power by confiscating Church lands and wealth. Many middle class businessmen, as stated above, felt the Lutheran faith justified their activities as more worthwhile in the eyes of God. The lower classes at times adopted one faith as a form of protest against the ruling classes. As a result, nobles tended to be suspicious of the spread of a Protestant faith as a form of social and political rebellion. Many Germans also saw Lutheranism as a reaction againstt the Italian controlled Church that drained so much money from Germany. However, many German people remained Catholic despite any material advantages Lutheranism might bestow. For both Catholics and Protestants, faith was still the primary consideration in the religion they adopted.
Lutheranism did not win over all of Germany, let alone all of Europe. Within Germany, Lutherans were strongest in the north, while the south largely remained Catholic. However, Germany’s central location helped Protestants spread their doctrine from Northern Germany to Scandinavia, England, and the Netherlands.
Luther’s achievement
Although Luther had not originally intended to break with Rome, once it was done he tried to keep religious movement from straying from its true path of righteousness. Therefore he came out of hiding to denounce new more radical preachers. He also made the controversial stand of supporting the German princes against a major peasant revolt in Germany in 1525, since he saw the German princes’ support as vital to the Reformation’s survival. This opened Luther to attacks by more radical Protestants who saw him as too conservative, labeling him the “Witternburg Pope”. However, as the Protestant movement grew and spread, it became increasingly harder for Luther to control.Martin Luther died February 18, 1546 at the age of 63. By this time events had gotten largely out of his control and were taking violent and radical turns that Luther never would have liked. Ironically, Luther, who had started his career with such a tortured soul and unleashed such disruptive forces on Europe, died quite at peace with God and himself. Like so many great men, he was both a part of his times and ahead of those times, thus serving as a bridge to the future. He went to the grave with many old Medieval Christian beliefs. However, his ideas shattered Christian unity in Western Europe, opening the way for new visions and ideas in such areas as capitalism, democracy, and science that shape our civilization today.
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Related:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ReFWuWVPvhsJ:online-history.org/wc1-docs/The-Roots-of-the-Protestant-Reformation.ppt+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi95ch5L1OQal_A59FVaRBtJv_cjci__kRHqEyjSg1fR59SEBzLOHBQi8sOZDANiMuDFAbesCqjIVjcEZs9CYt1aFxuAdX212pm2CuKX9UX5Voenho60bTF0lRzP4roV51Qu_IX&sig=AHIEtbQFXvxMIjdpaQCmoDT2WDYMfuutrQ&pli=1
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The Revolution From Above ~ Paul Craig Roberts
The First 12 Hours of a US Dollar Collapse
Uploaded by freehotmarketingtips on Aug 9, 2011
Learn More: www.FreeHotInvestingTips.com
Jay Carney Gets Amnesia Over His 2008 Column Criticizing Obama [Video]
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney came down with a sudden case of amnesia yesterday when he was asked by a reporter about a column he wrote in 2008 that was critical of comments the candidate made to donors at a private fundraiser.
In 2008 Obama told donors that people in rural, middle America “ they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion.”
Carney said in an interview in 2008 that Obama’s remarks show that he is “urban and urbane” and not particularly well connected to small town America.
But that was 2008, and yesterday after being asked about his column, he claimed that he didn’t remember it, ad declined a reporter’s offer to read it to him.
Carney dismissed any comparison to Obama’s remarks and those of Mitt Romney, who told donors several months ago that he was unlikely to get the support of the 47 percent of Americans who consider themselves victims and rely on the government for support.
I think the president, then candidate, addressed this at the time. This was four years ago. I think the broader point was that his message there and everyone in 2008, and going back to 2004 and every day since has been consistent.
About the only thing that has been consistent about the Obama administration is the 43 consecutive months of 8% plus unemployment. But that, like Carney’s reversal of his opinion of Obama’s 2008 remarks is just another inconvenient truth.
Source: http://www.aim.org/don-irvine-blog/jay-carney-gets-amnesia-over-his-2008-column-criticizing-obama-video/
Albert Pike Plans For Three World Wars
Uploaded by primetimebeatz on Jan 24, 2010
Albert Pike Plans For Three World Wars
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HEAVY RAINS WASH AWAY OBAMA SUPPORTERS AND PROTESTERS AT JAY Z FUNDRAISER
How Much Government Surveillance On The Internet Is There?
Google’s latest Transparency Report unveils how much government surveillance really goes on.
The Transparency Report, is a report from Google detailing how often the search engine supplies the government with private Internet company data.
For around two years, California technology giant, Mountain View, has released the number of requests from the government for Google’s user data, and other information. The numbers are a little scary, and show just how much the government is actually watching.
According to Google, the US government asked for user information 6,321 times for the six-month period ending December of 2011. This data included, IP addresses of user accounts, browsing activity, emails, and other documents such as Google Docs.
One missing piece of the puzzle though is how often data is requested by the government without a probable-cause warrant.
Google has ignored requests for probable-cause warrant information, in its reports.
Although we live in a digital world, and the majority of our information lives on internet company servers, other companies such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. don’t report on any statistics in this area, and perhaps should follow Google’s lead.
Some wonder if these internet companies aren’t being transparent because they have something to hide, and are perhaps in the cahoots with the government.
In Twitter’s defense, it has been effective and forceful at shining a light on government demands for data, and providing users with notice, so they can fight and object to irrational requests.
Users trust these online businesses with data to be able to use its services; however, this trust is based on transparency. Currently, none of the larger companies are properly detailing how much government surveillance is taking place, and how often.
Short URL: http://authorityempire.com/?p=8582
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Hindu Extremists Attack Bible Study in India, Leaving 1 Christian Dead
An unprovoked attack during Bible study in a village in has left one Christian dead and many others wounded.
Local reports indicate the CSI minister was leading a prayer service in the village of Sasthancode, which belongs to the Diocese of Kanyakumari, when word spread to local Hindus that a Hindi woman was invited by a friend to attend the prayer service. The attackers began demonstrations accusing the minister of trying to convert Hindus to Christianity.
Two parishioners were taken to a local hospital and treated, but the demonstration then bubbled over into the neighboring village of Nadaikavu, where a Christian man described by police as Edwin Raj, 29, was allegedly beaten to death by Hindu extremists.
Officials with the local police have reportedly charged seven BJP party members for their role in the attack and are also currently looking to question the Kanyakumari district BJP party chief over his role in demonstration.
The police also issued a curfew and ban on public assembly in an effort to curtail any further violence, according to The Times of India.
Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), condemned the attacks and issued a stern warning that the rise of religious intolerance is due to a lack of enforcement of the country's religious freedom laws.
"The central government and that of Tamil Nadu must do something. Religious freedom is a fundamental human right and the basis of any healthy society. Such hostility and intolerance are a bad omen for India. If the whole population is not guaranteed freedom of worship, Christians could become second class citizens," George explained to CNS.
Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
http://www.artsunlight.com/artist-NR/N-R0001-Peter-Paul-Rubens/N-R0001-493-miraculous-fishing.html
Miraculous Fishing ..............................Peter Paul Rubens
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
Luke 5:1-11.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
East Coast storms cut power to thousands, trigger twister alerts
Julio Cortez / AP
A guard shields himself from the rain at a worksite in Newark, N.J., on Tuesday.
Updated at 5:45 p.m. ET: Tornado watches were issued for much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Tuesday, part of a storm front that brought high winds and heavy rain. Thousands lost power and air travel was disrupted across the region.
Major cities within the tornado watches included New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The watches also cover parts of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
Wind gusts up to 70 mph are possible in those areas, the National Weather Service said in issuing the watches, some of which run through 11 p.m. ET.
In Wildwood, N.J., wind gusts ripped the facade off a store, NBCNewYork.com reported. In Ridgewood, N.J., winds toppled a tree onto the roof of a home. No injuries were reported in either incident.Airport travel was disrupted by winds throughout the day across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, the FAA said on its flight delay website.
Some 4,000 homes and businesses lost power on Long Island, the NBC station added.
In Connecticut, 15,000 customers had lost power, NBCConnecticut.com reported.
Localized flooding is also a danger from parts of the Appalachians into the Northeast, weather.com reported.
Some 28,000 homes and businesses lost power Tuesday afternoon in the Washington and Baltimore areas, NBCWashington.com noted.
In Pennsylvania, some 11,000 customers lost power, NBCPhiladelphia.com reported.
The same system on Monday caused flooding in parts of Tennessee. More than 5 inches of rain fell in Putnam County, where 8 water rescues were reported.
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Free speech, religion clash over anti-Muslim film
CERRITOS, Calif. (AP) — While the man behind an anti-Islam movie that ignited violence across the Middle East would likely face swift punishment in his native Egypt for making the film, in America the government is in the thorny position of protecting his free speech rights and looking out for his safety even while condemning his message.
It's a paradox that makes little sense to those protesting and calling for blood. To them, the movie dialogue denigrating the Prophet Muhammad is all the evidence needed to pursue justice — vigilante or otherwise — against Nakoula Bassely Nakoula, an American citizen originally from Egypt.
In America, there's nothing illegal about making a movie that disparages a religious figure. And that has the Obama administration walking a diplomatic tight rope less than two months before the election — how to express outrage over the movie's treatment of Islam without compromising the most basic American freedom.
"The thing that makes this particularly difficult for the United States is that ... we treat what most of us would refer to as hate speech as constitutionally protected speech and Americans don't appreciate, I think, how unusual this position seems in the rest of the world," said Lawrence Rosenthal, a professor at Chapman University's School of Law in Orange, Calif.
The situation also raises vexing questions about how far the government can and should go to protect someone who exercises their First Amendment right. In the past, for example, police have stood guard to ensure Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan could march without being attacked for their views.
But Nakoula's case invites scrutiny because the free speech he exercised with the film "Innocence of Muslims" has had such far-reaching and violent implications.
If the government were to overtly protect Nakoula, it could be seen by some as tacit approval of the film, and further enflame protests. Leaving him to fend for himself could have deadly consequences. There are examples of violence against others who have written or spoken against Muhammad.
White House spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday stressed that the video was not connected to the United States government and suggested it was being "exploited by groups that have an interest in creating chaos and destabilizing their local government or attacking the west or the United States."
Egypt's general prosecutor on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for seven expat Egyptian Coptic Christians, including Nakoula, and referred them to trial on charges of harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam and spreading false information. The charges carry the death penalty.
So far, the U.S. government has acknowledged offering Nakoula very limited assistance. Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies escorted Nakoula to an interview with federal probation officials. They did so in the dead of night and allowed Nakoula to cover his face. And early Monday, deputies answered his family's request for help leaving the house where they'd been holed up for five days so they could reunite with the 55-year-old filmmaker. All remain in hiding.
Department spokesman Steve Whitmore stressed the agency is not providing protective custody. He referred questions to federal authorities, who have declined to comment.
Jody Armour, a professor at the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law, said it's "not unusual at all for the government to step in and give a citizen in distress or danger special protection, but it can't be unlimited. They're going to have to strike a balance."
A 14-minute trailer for the film posted on YouTube sparked violence in the Middle East, including an attack in Libya in which a U.S. ambassador was killed. Nakoula, a Coptic Christian and American citizen who served federal prison time for check fraud, told The Associated Press in a short interview last week that he was involved in management and logistics for the anti-Islamic film. Federal officials, however, told the AP they have concluded he was behind the movie.
Furor over the film has been widespread. Bahrain protesters used Twitter to organize demonstrations that included burning American flags in the nation that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Pakistan's conservative Islamist parties sent out text messages, mosque announcements and made phone calls to bring out protest crowds, including about 1,000 people in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday and hundreds who rushed the U.S. consulate in Karachi, sparking clashes with police in which one demonstrator was killed.
"Yes, we understand the First Amendment and all of this stuff," wrote Khalid Amayreh, a prominent Islamist commentator and blogger in Hebron on the West Bank. "But you must also understand that the Prophet (for us) is a million times more sacred than the American Constitution."
In America, the government can't even order that the video be removed from YouTube. All it can do is ask. And so far, parent company Google has declined, saying the video was within its guidelines for content. The company did restrict access to the video in certain countries, including Egypt, Libya and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
"This can be a challenge because what's OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere," the company said in a statement.
That's precisely the point about the First Amendment, Armour said.
"The reason it is a constitutionally protected interest is precisely because it may prove unpopular," he said. "Words and images don't just convey information, they are attached to consequences. That's when we really have to ask ourselves, 'What price are we willing to pay for that First Amendment interest?' And these are the times that really test our convictions."
Repressing Nakoula's right to make the video would set the U.S. on a slippery slope that might eventually lead to censorship of such shows such as "South Park," which often pokes fun at Jesus Christ, and other religious parodies that are "woven into the American way," said Armour.
In 1975, former CIA agent Philip Agee published a book detailing agency operations and disclosing the names of a number of CIA agents working undercover overseas, Rosenthal said. Even in that instance, the U.S. government didn't press criminal charges but instead revoked Agee's passport and sued him for the book's profits.
"It's not clear that there is, on the books today, a law that makes what (Nakoula) did a crime," Rosenthal said. "This is an extremely difficult problem."
Indeed, federal officials have said they are looking at Nakoula only in the context of whether he violated his probation for the fraud conviction. Under terms of his sentence, he was banned from using computers or the Internet as part of his sentence.
The probation issue "gives the government a relatively low visibility way of prosecuting him but not technically for what he said and how inflammatory it was," Armour said. "It may be a way of splitting the baby."
___
Associated Press writer Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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