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In a strange and quirky way, some people in this great nation are trying to compel students to study religion in a thorough and realistic manner, (or so the students claim), whilst the great Four-Star Sheriff of Shasta ( A.K.A. Four Star Jim) is denying Christians religious services (on Christmas Day yet!!). Persecution takes many shapes and forms. In the “Dark Ages” the Christian Church implemented the “Holy Inquisition” (actually it started in the 13th Century A.D.), which was a tribunal established purely for the suppression of “heresy” and “heretics”! If anyone had the temerity to even possess a book of any religion other then “Christianity,” then that individual was hauled before the inquisition and questioned (with the aid of torture, starvation, etc.), then either put to death or forced to “recant” his, or her “heresy.” At the University of North Carolina, some students recently protested that they were required to read the “Qur’án” (Koran)—which is the Holy Book of the Muslim faith! Students at Ball State University have accused Professor George Wolfe of being “Anti-American,” for requiring the study of the Koran as an integral part of a course! Now, any true student of religion must study the major religions to form a well grounded opinion of the subject; because only telling half a story is as good as not telling the story at all!!! If, after all, an individual’s faith is too insecure to survive reading, and studying the tenets of another faith, then that individual must look into his or her own soul to find out—why?? On the one hand the United States professes to be a predominately Christian Nation; yet on the other the United States exploits women in an overwhelming pornography and movie industry. Meanwhile banning the Ten Commandments in some places! (And in “Good Old” Shasta Christmas services were limited to 3 inmates!!!) In essence, in parts of the country teachers are being suppressed for trying to teach (while in other parts (like Shasta) Christians are being persecuted!) For to teach religion one must not only teach about a single faith, or creed, but a broad spectrum of faiths and doctrines. In this way a teacher does not fall into the trap of “narrow mindedness.” ((After all, a certain Jewish person, who just happens to be writing this, studied the “Holy Bible” of the Christian Faith (King James Version); the Holy Koran (the sacred Book of Islam); to say nothing of studying Hind(Hindu), Shinto and Buddhist beliefs—all without damaging or undermining his Jewish Beliefs!)) To date, the most repressive society that the author has encountered in his wide travels around the world—has been SHASTA! Which is more repressive than the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, which in turn, is (“Per capita” Sixty times more repressive than the PEOPLES REPUBLIC of CHINA!! The author arrived at this analogy by comparing statistics: — In the People’s Republic of China there is a “permanent” population of 300,000 individuals in detention facilities or “re-education institutions,” while in the U.S.A. with less than one-sixth the population of China, there are three million plus individuals enduring durance vile in “Detention Facilities,” from small children in “Juvenile Halls,” etc. Through “Boot Camps,” “Work Camps,” “Chain Gangs,” County and City Jails, “prisons,” “penitentiaries” and “State Hospitals,” to include the old and geriatric detainees!! Meanwhile, in the P.R.C., with a population of one thousand, five hundred million people, the authorities kill or execute approximately 4000 miscreants annually. While in SHASTA, with a population of approximately 75,000 (but less than 100,000), the “Law Enforcers” kill or execute between five and ten souls (without trial of course!!). Annually. (To maintain a per capita parity the Peoples Republic of China would have to kill/execute between eight thousand seven hundred and fifty, and seventeen thousand five hundred people annually!!)—Not to mention that in the P.R.C., which is predominately Buddhist Nation, Christians are not restricted to three “attendees” at Christmas Day Services. Rather horrendous figures, but graphic, and—unfortunately—true. Further, it would seem that Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Count Vlad the Impaler, Attila the Hun, Ghenkis Khan, Satan and miscellaneous other evil entities would appear to be more honorable than “Good Ol’ Sheriff Jim” — — they were open and honest about their depravities and the general all-around evilness — — Whereas a certain Four Star Sheriff, on Sundays, pretends to be a “Christian Lay Preacher” at the North Valley Baptist Church (at 2960 Hartnell Ave., Redding), whilst “covering up” for the felonious acts committed in his name!!! An interesting word in the Websters New World Dictionary (p. 312) is: HYPOCRITE: One who pretends to be pious, virtuous, etc. without really being so!” (The Author would appreciate feedback, and information about local authorities
everywhere—not only bad reports—preferable with details).
Moshe I. Stein
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