ISIS burned Jordanian Pilot – alive – in a cage

Jordanian_pilotIt seems that ISIS/ISIL put the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbe, in a cage, doused him with some flammable liquid, trailed some out of the cage, and lit him on fire.    HERE

The video is slick, carefully made.  The video cuts to slow motion as the flame goes into the cage as they burned the pilot… alive.

Sts. Nunilo and Alodia, pray for us.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi, pray for us.

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89 Comments

  1. juergensen says:

    Pope Benedict XVI knew exactly what he was doing – and saying – when in his Regensburg lecture he quoted Manuel II Palaiologos:

    “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

    Those were the days.

  2. acardnal says:

    It’s only a matter of time before they murder their female captive.

  3. ad Deum says:

    Maybe there should be a Catholic/Orthodox military group to travel to various places and protect. But how to be in so many places? Saints Michael and Ignatius, pray for us.

  4. Nicholas says:

    Ad Deum,

    Well Cardinal Burke is in charge of the Knights of Malta, so it could work.

  5. Sonshine135 says:

    CAIR sent out a press release just after this event happened. It said the following:

  6. Tony Phillips says:

    It’s horrific, it’s brutal…and I’m sorry to say that it’s the sort of thing that Christians have done in centuries past. Let’s hope the Moslems move beyond this sort of thing too.

    Without excusing ISIS, a lot of the trouble in the Middle East wouldn’t be happening if the West had stayed out of the area. Starting with the establishment of Israel and continuing ever since.

  7. JesusFreak84 says:

    Lord have mercy… If that doesn’t show ISIS to be positively diabolical, I don’t know what would convince people.

  8. Ad Orientem says:

    It’s probably a good thing I’m not the president. If I was, my response could be summed up in four words… “Hostes humani generis,” and the fourth… “napalm.”

  9. mburn16 says:

    “a lot of the trouble in the Middle East wouldn’t be happening if the West had stayed out of the area. Starting with the establishment of Israel”

    Much better to have allowed the Jews to be slaughtered in a wholesale manner? The Nazis, the Islamists, and indeed anti-semitic forces today make a fairly strong case that the only way Jews will ever be safe is to be ruled by Jews.

  10. Polycarp says:

    But according to Fr. Barron (and others) – we can have a hope that all men are saved.

    I’m sorry, but I have a hard time believing that these terrorists will be admitted to the beatific vision….

  11. Gerard Plourde says:

    Sadly, Satan loves nothing more than to tempt us to abandon the way of the Lord and to emulate the barbarism shown here that leads to Hell. It is at times like this that we must recall and strictly adhere to the teachings of the Church regarding the conditions under which a just war is waged, lest we fail the great test in pursuit of vengeance that is not our right.

  12. govmatt says:

    This isn’t just execution, it’s meant to be a statement to the rest of the Muslim world.

    People will debate Jordan’s apparent response: there is a report that the government of Jordan will execute the female Iraqi terrorist ISIS had wanted released.

  13. iamlucky13 says:

    ” Starting with the establishment of Israel and continuing ever since.”

    The establishment of Israel has diddly-squat to do with this.

    “I’m sorry, but I have a hard time believing that these terrorists will be admitted to the beatific vision….”

    Be careful. The injustice of these crimes could shake the faith of just about anyone, but you would be denying the full redemptive power of Christ’s sacrifice if you genuinely believed that He could not redeem them if they repented.

  14. Robbie says:

    For a JV team (Obama’s description of ISIS), these barbarians sure know how to act like an all-star team of Jihadis.

  15. The Cobbler says:

    The other day one of my friends passed around a more interesting than usual article on this issue… an atheist analyzing the historical and theological differences between Christianity and Islam and how they relate to the world and to the use of violence: http://thefederalist.com/2015/01/27/why-islam-is-more-violent-than-christianity-an-atheists-guide/

  16. Suzanne Carl says:

    So the Western media will broadcast the video and images of a Jordanian pilot being burned alive, but will not show the cartoons of Mohammed. The act is unconscionable. The scale of difference between the two violations of humanity and our better sensibilities is unfathomable. We need real men to fight against this evil. Clearly they aren’t to be found in our current administration. Can they be found in our church?

  17. NBW says:

    My prayers go out to Muath al-Kaseasbe. My his soul rest in peace.

  18. albizzi says:

    iamlucky13,
    You are right, but Jesus’ Blood was shed not for all but for many. These monsters may be saved if they REPENT of their crimes before they die.
    Will they? Will God allow them time enough to repent? That’s not so sure if they undergo a sudden and violent death during an air strike, for example.
    Many catholic people say that God bestows a short moment for the soul to repent after death. So far as I know, that’s not a dogma of the Church. Instead of a risky speculation, we ourselves have rather to repent at once of our sins and to pray on behalf of these devils with the hope to trigger their repentance.

  19. frjim4321 says:

    What evil looks like…

  20. YoungLatinMassGuy says:

    Said a prayer for the conversion of the muslims the world over this morning at Mass, along with a prayer for the Christians in the Middle East.

    I’m not surprised at this.

    Anyone who refuses to study sharia law, deserves to live under it.

  21. Supertradmum says:

    When there is conflict between the civilized and uncivilized, choose the civilized.

    And, the pilot was Muslim as well. On European television, France24, today, the “Arab expert” said it was done out of revenge, the fire set by the leader of the village bombed by the coalition. Horrible.

    Religion of Revenge….

  22. Supertradmum says:

    Tony Phillips. never, never blame the West for the Islamic desire to take over the Christian and Jewish world. It has always been thus…always.

  23. jacobi says:

    It is permissable Islamic practise 22: 19!

  24. kimberley jean says:

    Poor man and poor Jordan.

  25. Mike says:

    Ok, I won’t say nuke ’em.

    However, a dozen or so “daisy cutters” would be just.

  26. Andrew D says:

    Dear God may this sick and evil false religion be destroyed and those enslaved by it converted to the Church through the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

  27. Lin says:

    The YoungLatinMassGuy said it best.
    “I’m not surprised at this. Anyone who refuses to study sharia law, deserves to live under it.”

    We need to pray for the conversion and salvation of all. Much prayer and fasting is required. GOD help us all!

  28. Boniface says:

    Tony Philips, I take no position on the 20th century events you reference, but remember that beginning prior to the Crusades (which prompted them) and continuing afterwards, militant Islam invaded and conquered two-thirds of the entire Christian world, and continued to attempt more all the way into the 1700s. During the Crusades popes (for example, Innocent IV) continually affirmed principles of Just War theory, as well as that it was never legitimate to invade a nation, seize land or property, etc. just because another nation was simply not Christian. There is no example of a Christian nation attempting to invade a nation that was originally Islamic in order to take it over.

    Catholics don’t need to admit guilt for things that didn’t happen in history in order to somehow “be fair” to others. Your remark greatly concerned me because I thought it has this tone. If not, apologies. The Church’s historical record is remarkably and consistently positive compared with any other.

  29. Kathleen10 says:

    Tony Phillips, I disagree with so much of your comment I am going to leave it alone. Right this minute I can’t take it on.

    This demonic act is intended to terrorize anyone who is not ISIS, absolutely the West in general. They went to a lot of trouble to find a suitable cage, get some flammable liquid, set up the cameras just so, and so on. The same result could have been had with a bullet but the intention is not to kill, that is incidental, it is to frighten everyone else. These socially savvy creatures know the power of the video and still images, and they are using them to great effect. They commit the act and the media takes care of the publicity. They are daring anyone to take them on, even the Nazi’s hid their evil in ovens, but not these people, they blatantly torture. Here’s the thing, they die just like everyone else, they are not superhuman. They are what Americans call “hot dogs”, using drama for effect. Thus far it has worked. The world has largely done little.
    I will not even question what God will do to them, that is His business, not mine, but if people do not start to show the will to conquer and eliminate this pestilence things will only get exponentially worse.

  30. mburn16 says:

    Was it saint florian who said that if he were burned alive, he would mount to heaven on the embers? Curiously appropriate here, I would say.

    This is what martyrdom looks liks.

  31. Kerry says:

    (Sigh), …if only Thomas Jefferson had finished the job.

  32. jilly4life says:

    I can’t believe that news outlets are not calling this what it is, namely crimes against humanity and genocide.

  33. Tony said:

    Without excusing ISIS, a lot of the trouble in the Middle East wouldn’t be happening if the West had stayed out of the area. Starting with the establishment of Israel and continuing ever since.

    I’m sure you’re a good and decent person, but this statement is appalling.

    The establishment of Israel was entirely understandable in the context, and became a moral imperative after the Second World War, specifically, the Holocaust. Jews lived continuously in Palestine, and the British government promised a Jewish homeland in Palestine during the First World War. That wasn’t unreasonable, but making irreconcilable promises to Arabs in the same area, was. For all that one can fairly criticize in the conduct of the state of Israel, the current situation is predominantly the result of Arab powers choosing to reject opportunities. For understandable, yet tragic reasons.

    As far as “the West” staying out, I’m not sure what that means, as it could mean many things. But if it means the U.S. was somehow “intruding,” that’s like saying someone “intrudes” when he walks of his own property, and onto a public street. And, second, it means that when you look out your window and see someone being brutalized by thugs, the right response is to close the blinds and turn up the TV. That is to say, we’re in that reason both because the world needs open sea lanes and some semblance of international order. That’s our job because no one else can do the job. Our going back inside means a much darker world. How’s a series a nukes exploding all around that area sound as an alternative? It’s not far-fetched.

  34. Cantor says:

    It is hideous, it is inhumane, it is inexcusable. And I pray for the pilot’s soul and for his family. Yet I am troubled.

    In 1712, the newspaper headline would have read Catholics burn heretic – alive – tied to stake.

    Maria Barbara Carillo was the last heretic burned to death for her crime.

    And we teach our children that our all-loving, all-merciful, yet all-just God will sentence us to the same ordeal — from which there is no escape for eternity — for violating rules about which even good and decent people have disagreement.

  35. Traductora says:

    Tony Phillips, without going so far as to say that you’re an idiot, I will say that you should perhaps give a little more thought to those foolish statements.

    Islam has been violent since its inception, and in fact was a syncretist cult literally “dreamed up” by a backwards, violent Arab warlord to justify and solidify his depredations at a time when the Middle East no longer had a main secular power (after the Fall of Rome) and the Eastern and Western Church were having their usual difficult relationship. The East was full of heresies, and Mohammed picked up on those, too, and Islam is sometimes considered a fresh manifestation of Arianism or one of its offshoots.

    There have been violent episodes in Christianity (not just on the side of the Catholic Church, incidentally) but those have all been exceptions and also are supported neither by Scripture nor by doctrine. On the other hand, violence and ruthless conquest and cruelty are part and parcel of Islam, and have been since its beginning.

  36. Bosco says:

    @ Tony Phillips,

    You seem to be a history buff of sorts. Are you familiar with this historical quote?

    “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” – Abraham Lincoln

    Then again, you may not recognize it.

  37. Tantum Ergo says:

    It took Pearl Harbor to bring the sleeping giant into WWII, so maybe, just maybe the world will wake up and destroy the snake. ‘Isssssissssssssssssssssssssss.’

  38. iamlucky13 says:

    “The other day one of my friends passed around a more interesting than usual article on this issue… an atheist analyzing the historical and theological differences between Christianity and Islam and how they relate to the world and to the use of violence: http://thefederalist.com/2015/01/27/why-islam-is-more-violent-than-christianity-an-atheists-guide/

    ^ This is an excellent article. Thank you for sharing.

    “The establishment of Israel was entirely understandable in the context, and became a moral imperative after the Second World War, specifically, the Holocaust.”

    I agree with most of your points, but it wasn’t the Holocaust that legitimized the recognition of Israel. The Holocaust was external and reparation for the crimes of Germany could not be imposed upon the Palestinian Arabs. The Jewish refugees could have been granted better aid to rebuild their lives in Europe, greatly reducing the incentive to try to emigrate to Israel.

    Nor do I find it particularly productive to try to point back to the Jewish people being driven out centuries ago, especially by the Ottomans.

    Just sticking to the history of the 1st half of the 20th century, with the long-established Ottoman rule of Palestine allowing immigration, followed after the Treaty of Versailles by British administration, which although incompetent, was a lot better than the chaos the region was tending towards, provides a sufficient justification. The reality is that by the end of WWII, there was a large number of Jewish residents in Palestine with a lot more legitimacy than much of the US population currently has, there were extremists both among the Arabs and the Zionists with blood on their hands, and the budding civil war made it clear that a single-state solution was unworkable.

  39. Iamlucky said:

    “The Jewish refugees could have been granted better aid to rebuild their lives in Europe, greatly reducing the incentive to try to emigrate to Israel.”

    No, because the Jews very reasonably said, in effect — after that, we’re not staying here.

    “Nor do I find it particularly productive to try to point back to the Jewish people being driven out centuries ago, especially by the Ottomans.”

    Fair enough, but that’s not what I had in mind. My point was that there were Jewish residents in Palestine continuously, up until the Zionist movement. They didn’t just show up all of a sudden.

    Just sticking to the history of the 1st half of the 20th century, with the long-established Ottoman rule of Palestine allowing immigration, followed after the Treaty of Versailles by British administration, which although incompetent, was a lot better than the chaos the region was tending towards, provides a sufficient justification. The reality is that by the end of WWII, there was a large number of Jewish residents in Palestine with a lot more legitimacy than much of the US population currently has, there were extremists both among the Arabs and the Zionists with blood on their hands, and the budding civil war made it clear that a single-state solution was unworkable.

    Agreed.

  40. Priam1184 says:

    The storm is coming from Russia Father, not the Middle East. ISIS is brutal and very slick with Twitter and a flamethrower, but the thing that will burn the West down is coming out of Russia: ISIS is just a distraction.

  41. frjim4321 says:

    “Anyone who refuses to study sharia law, deserves to live under it.” – Latin Mass Guy

    Really?

    Really?

    So, how are you different than practitioners of Sharia Law?

  42. gracie says:

    Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

  43. Gerard,
    There is nothing more just right now than for the world to destroy these animals. Justice. It is time.

  44. Dienekes says:

    Quote: “We need real men to fight against this evil. Clearly they aren’t to be found in our current administration. Can they be found in our church?”

    I suspect the same question arose when Hitler came to power in 1933. Offhand I can’t remember many martyred bishops, cardinals, or popes from that time. Now priests, that was different.

  45. Grumpy Beggar says:

    Suzanne Carl says:
    “So the Western media will broadcast the video and images of a Jordanian pilot being burned alive, but will not show the cartoons of Mohammed. The act is unconscionable. . .”

    So very well put.

    govmatt says:
    “This isn’t just execution, it’s meant to be a statement to the rest of the Muslim world.

    People will debate Jordan’s apparent response: there is a report that the government of Jordan will execute the female Iraqi terrorist ISIS had wanted released.”

    It would appear , according to this MSN News article that response has now been carried out.

    You guys are so right – who say “prayer”, and “prayer and fasting” need to be our response.

  46. ck says:

    After 911 we had a just war to fight, which we started to do in Afghanistan and blew it at Tora Bora. Then we started an unjust war against Iraqis. No Iraqis hit us on 911. Saudis and Egyptians hit us on 911. There were marks of state coordinated terror in 911, just as there are now with ISIS. Fr. Z points out that “The video is slick, carefully made” by ISIS. Where is ISIS getting its financing and expensive weapons material?

    Since 911, we Americans have not sufficiently answered the question, cui bono? The domestic policy theme of this election should once again be “it’s the economy stupid”, and the foreign policy theme of this election should be “it’s the Saudis stupid.”

    It’s the Saudis stupid is the reason why the MSM pulls its punches on Islam, especially Wahhibi (think Calvinists) as opposed to the relatively more sane Shia (who believe in intercessory prayer). It’s the Saudis stupid is the reason why Saudi involvement was redacted from the 911 report. It’s the Saudis stupid is why our government has been called by neocons to invade the Middle East to expand Saudi influence and power throughout the region (i.e., ISIS). It’s the Saudis stupid is the reason that some Marines are dead in Iraq from Saudis going on “hunting safaris” in Iraq during the war. It’s the Saudis stupid is the reason why McCain and Graham have called for us to support terrorists in Syria, leading to the growth of ISIS. It’s the Saudis stupid is the reason why we have to meddle with Russians and Iranians, major crude oil competitors.

    Cui bono? Forgive the emphasis, but It’s the Saudis stupid! It’s the Saudis stupid! It’s the Saudis stupid!

  47. Imrahil says:

    The Holocaust was external and reparation for the crimes of Germany could not be imposed upon the Palestinian Arabs.

    1. Germany, at the time, had fairly enough trouble to accommodate and compensate all own refugees, as well from the countries that were once German (Silesia, etc.) or a little more time ago Austrian (Bohemia), as from other countries never in any way German (there were villages of German ethnicity all over Eastern Europe). Besides, such Jews as didn’t stay at any rate (there were some) didn’t want to live among Germans, understandably. I know some had the ideas to empty some land for them, but I think we can be glad it did not come to yet another expulsion.

    2. I’m no expert, but it seems to me there is no Palestinian nation as distinct from the Jordan nation (both together made up the British Mandate; the West Bank until the end of the 1970s was “parts of Jordan occupied by Israel”; the Jordan king is still protector of the sacred Muslim shrines in Jerusalem). It is, of course, true, that part of Palestine was given to the Jews, but maybe it does make some emotional difference whether we have to speak of depriving the entire Palestinian nation, or merely cutting something off the territory of the Palestino-Jordan nation.

    3. Apart from the obvious fascination of Hitler with Islam*, there is evidence that Muslim leaders from Palestine, such as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, did not hide their allegiance to him. The Nazis, still, I guess, dreaming of peace and even friendship with England, were reluctant to give guarantees (such as that of an entirely Arab Palestine), but did concede, e. g., that in blatant contradiction to their own racial theories, Arabs would not be considered Semites. (The Grand Mufti was only one man among them, not the entire people… but so was Hitler.)

    [*”If only, ad Poitiers, Charles Martell would not have won: now that we’ve burdened upon us the Jewish world – Christianity is so dull… – we’d rather have taken Mohammedanism, this doctrine of reward for heroism: the fighter alone has the seventh heaven! The Germanics would have conquered the world with it; only Christianity has kept us from doing so.” Adolf Hitler, Table Talk. Of course his information on the contents of Islam may quite probably be faulty, at least in detail.]

    4. The Jews wanted to Israel, not anywhere else. This drive was in them since 70 AD. (I personally speculate that the fact that their return was on the invitation of the, at the time, only reigning king in the world anointed according to a Christian ritual – the British one – is not without significance.)

  48. Imrahil says:

    Dear Dinekes,

    I suspect the same question arose when Hitler came to power in 1933. Offhand I can’t remember many martyred bishops, cardinals, or popes from that time. Now priests, that was different.

    That was because Nazism wasn’t fair enough to us to martyrise bishops – and in addition, they knew where the bishops’ weak spot was. So, when they liked to punish a bishop, they left him personally in impunity and carried some of his priests off to a concentration camp. But they dared not raise a hand against a bishop – not, at least, until the “final victory”, when their position would have been secure.

    So, no, we did not have a bishop martyr. But we did have a blessed Clement of Münster, who was elevated a Cardinal in 1946, and in a sermon after the Second World War complained to his flock that (no literal quote) “I am deeply grateful for your affection, but that affection also made me not acquire the crown of martyrdom”.

    As for martyred Popes, Pope Pius XII made sure we would not have one. He had abdicated conditionally for the event of his incapacitation, so even if he had been killed only a Cardinal Pacelli could have been martyrised (and thank God it did not come to it).

  49. Kerry says:

    Tracdutora, Father Fox, Eliz D and others; TPhillips, having tossed the soiled diaper over the fence has long since run away. Your rebuttals are, unfortunately, unseen. Trolls are afraid of light and, especially mirrors.
    I thought about mentioning the Christians in Mosul, there since when, 1000 Anno Domine, and neither western nor Isreali-ish? He would have just reached into his hefty bag for another.

  50. Vincent says:

    I am saddened to see that Jordan have now carried out a killing in revenge. Perhaps it’s just my British sense of fair play, but killing a prisoner? That’s unconscionable…

    The sad thing is, the whole saga is our fault. The British, the US, primarily. When we decided to act as the world’s police in 2001 we lost all sense of just and unjust war. This would be a just war… These people need stopping: without someone stepping in, they’ll just keep on finding more and more barbaric ways of killing people. And we hadn’t responded. so they killed someone from a country that they knew would respond…

    Who is on the right side? As soon as the west goes in, there will be cries of the new crusade, etc. except of course, in Britain, people who weren’t in favour of the Iraq war are now cited by politicians as the reason we shouldn’t deal with these people… “nobody liked the last war, so we won’t actually do the right thing this time!”..

    It’s time to send in the SAS. Every time they kill someone, let’s haul someone out and put them on trial. And for heaven’s sake, let’s stop giving them the PR they want….

  51. frjim4321 says:

    I wish I had not seen the video. I don’t think I’ll ever get it out of my head.

    What kind of animals can do this?

  52. SKAY says:

    ck said–
    ” as opposed to the relatively more sane Shia (who believe in intercessory prayer). ”
    As represented by mostly Shia Iran ? Their pursuit of a nuklear bomb and continuous funding of Islamic terrorism says they are no better. Iran will have no problem using any terrorist tool they have. They are busy now out -maneuvering this US administration to achieve what they want.

  53. Maltese says:

    We have our own acts of unimaginable horror going on in this Country, and sanctioned by the government: partial birth abortion. But it is out of sight, and therefore out of mind.

  54. Muv says:

    Vincent:
    “I am saddened to see that Jordan have now carried out a killing in revenge. Perhaps it’s just my British sense of fair play, but killing a prisoner? That’s unconscionable…”

    Vincent, I’m equally British, but please don’t get all sentimental and crickety about fair play. So far as I can ascertain, the facts are that ISIS were using the captivity of the Jordanian pilot to secure the release of the woman failed suicide bomber. She had been convicted for her part in an atrocity in Amman where her husband had blown himself up, killing others. She was already awaiting execution, so of course she was a prisoner. If you assume that the only motive in expediting her execution was revenge, then you are ignoring the fact that ISIS were saying they would exchange the pilot for the woman, when in fact they had already killed him; by carrying out the sentence on a convicted prisoner, the Jordanians have deprived ISIS of a pawn in their deadly game.

    Another important facet of this horrible and disgusting murder is that ISIS have murdered a fellow Muslim by cremating him alive, thereby loading on even more degradation.

    May Jesus, Infinitely Holy, All-Divine, have mercy on us all.

  55. The Masked Chicken says:

    I don’t think that Tony Phillips is a troll. I think he sees the West’s meddling in the Middle East and this incident, in particular, as akin to a swarm of bees attacking someone stirring up the hive. There may be some truth to this as a contributory factor – Moslems are much likelier to attack than negotiate compared to the West. The main factor, however, is a fundamentally different view of man’s relationship to God and God’s nature compared to not just the West, but most other religions.

    Pope Emeritus Benedict was correct in his Regensburg address about Islam rejecting reason as a one of the operative modes of God’s relationship with man. Gone from the Koran is the Isaiah 1:18 call, “Come, let us reason, together…,” to be replaced by “Do this, or else.” Yet, it was exactly this rejection of the Western philosophical tradition that allowed the West to dominate Islam in the 17th-century. Up until that time, the technology of both sides was, roughly, equivalent, and the West was getting killed. In the late 17th-century, after Issac Newton, when physical laws began to be better understood in the West, technology took off and we easily out-distanced the Moslems in technical superiority, since, because of their religious outlook they were forbidden from developing this technology. We won because reason, rather than will-power won out. Even today, Islam produces little, if any breakthroughs, unless the person is somewhat Westernized (as in the case if the latest Fields Medal recipient in mathematics). They will use Western technology, but not improve on it.

    The solution to stopping Islam is very simple, then: take away their money. Since they are totally dependent on Western technology for their success, starve them out. Cut off all aid, except humanitarian, with the Saudi’s, in particular – the principle financiers of the jihadists. Stop using Arab oil. Period. If everybody in the world did this, the whole problem of Islam would go away. CK is correct about this.

    In a sense, what is going on is the West’s fault, for using ineffective tactics in dealing with the enemy, coupled with a certain two-faced rhetorical stance. If the American people really wanted to stop Islam, they could, but it might involve putting elected officials into office who weren’t simply shills to big business, who, let’s face it, are fueling a lot of this by refusing to cut ties with Arab oil and having refused to accept that Islam can’t be bought by Western trinkets which they hope will make Islam want democracy.

    With the West dwindling fast because of their own rejection of reason in favor of the soft passions of a misguided, “mercy,” they have little time left to deal with Islam, who has rejected reason for the hard passions of conquest. There is still time, but do we have the will to use reason and prove that man is meant to be a little lower than the angels instead of one step up from a cow? Stay tuned to this channel, cause the commercial is a killer.

    The Chicken

  56. LarryW2LJ says:

    frjim4321,

    I think it’s quite apparent that YoungLatinMassGuy was warning of the dangers of Sharia law, and that one should be educated with regard to it. Allowing it to flourish, in a spirit of “welcoming diversity” is a death sentence to any resemblance of democracy (or a representative republic). And THAT should be obvious to just about anyone.

  57. Vincent:

    No, this horror is not “our” fault. That’s not to say one can’t fault decisions our government or other western governments have made. But “we” did not compel these ISIS maniacs to do this. These abominations are the choice and fault of those who do them.

  58. Dennis Martin says:

    Vincent,

    The two prisoners executed by Jordan had been sentenced to death for terrorist acts. They helped to murder dozens. The were not prisoners of war governed by the Geneva Conventions.

    And before anyone else chimes in with John Paul II and capital punishment, don ‘t go there. It’s irrelevant here.

  59. Dennis Martin says:

    “but killing a prisoner” — Vincent, were you referring to the Jordanian pilot? I know you were not but the irony is thick. You are appalled that the Jordanians executed convicted terrorist “prisoners” (the woman had been part of the blowing up a of a wedding party at a hotel in Ammann that killed 37) but that ISIS burned alive a POW, not so much. Of course ISIS would never abide by the Geneva Conventions but your British sense of fair play only extends to the convicted terrorists, not to a captured soldier??

  60. CrimsonCatholic says:

    Masked Chicken- What you wrote is correct, we need to get off of OPEC oil. However this is easier said then done. The US, Canada, and Russia are producing oil and increasing their presence in the market. In response, OPEC has allowed a greater supply of oil into the market thus driving down the prices (That is why gas prices have been falling). Since the US and Canada companies work on contracts and they are not state controlled; they are bleeding money because of the falling prices. So the Saudis are in complete control. Now this country can be energy independent with the construction of the Keystone Pipeline and the removal of EPA restrictions. However, Democrats and the POTUS are never going to allow this to happen.

    So instead of blaming “Big business”, blame the liberals and Democrats in this country.

  61. nzcatholic says:

    Let’s all offer a prayer to Our Lady of Fatima for the conversion of the Middle East

  62. pappy says:

    > What kind of animals can do this?

    Be careful Fr. , this was not an animal act, but an act of fallen men. A merely animal act would have no moral implications on the beings who did it. This is an act deliberately chosen by beings with immortal souls. You are rightly outraged, precisely because this was NOT an animal act.

  63. Imrahil says:

    What pappy said.

    Cf. the great Catholic children’s book The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende…

    “What a mannery”, said Jack Krakle [a raven].
    “Mannery?” asked Maurizio di Mauro [a male cat].
    “Well, yeah, mannery, after all you can’t say piggery, ’cause, the pigs, they don’t do any evil”, said Jack Krakle.

  64. Supertradmum says:

    Ask yourselves these questions: who is selling arms to these people? Why are the so-called moderates in America not speaking out against this loudly and clearly? Why have thousands of Jews left France for Israel and 15,000 more as working on leaving as I write?

    There will be WWIII unless people listen to Our Lady of Akita, who said that she alone could avert the tribulations to come because of God’s justice on all of us. But, WWIII will start in Ukraine, as most Europeans knows, as they are more awake than most Americans.

    God will not ignore the sins of mankind. The scourge of Islam is merely one test. Americans keep lying to themselves that this type of accepted Islamic punishment could not happen here or in the heart of Europe. Think again.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11340173/15000-Jews-to-leave-France-for-Israel-Jewish-Agency-says.html

  65. gsk says:

    I write extensively against Islam, but don’t have the chops to dissect US foreign policy (too complex, so many variables). That said, I see Tony Phillips’ point considering history. I was appalled at the incineration of the Jordanian man, and was horrified at the public nature of it. After the initial shock wore off, all I could think of was Joan of Arc. Her death (and that of many others) was shockingly similar–and at the hand of Catholic clergymen.

    Yes, we’ve moved past such brutality, but we must stop to assess what allowed us to act in that way, given our Creed. Burning books is one thing, but this…?!

  66. Latin Mass Type says:

    I asked a priest for help with extra prayers for the sake of reverent liturgy in our parish and the strengthening of Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the whole church. He suggested I look up Pope St. Pius V because of his involvement with standardizing the Mass that came out of the Council of Trent–the Tridentine Mass.

    I admit, I don’t know a lot about church history. I found that Pope St. Pius V had also formed the Holy League and called on the people to recite the rosary in order to repel the Muslim Turks in the Battle of Lepanto. I realized I wasn’t going to get away with a short prayer for our liturgy. I needed to say an additional rosary every day specifically asking for help for a renewal of reverence in our Holy Mass and strength to deal with the Islamicist problem.

    Pray more rosaries!

  67. richly says:

    Some men want to see the world burn – in this case, want to see all those outside its creed burned alive.

  68. Gus Barbarigo says:

    Iraqi Christians form militia to fight ISIS:

    http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/02/04/iraqi-christians-form-militia-to-fight-isis/

    Here is a link to The Nineveh Plain Protection Units:

    http://www.restoreninevehnow.org/?page_id=153

  69. Uxixu says:

    Too many have been insulated by the Pax Americana to see how dangerous and violent the world is, and in particular the face of militant Islam.

  70. kimberley jean says:

    To be honest, I look at the Middle East and recoil in disgust. I wish that the US were well out of there and that it was all still England’s problem. Heck I’m sure there are Brits who wish they’d left the are to the Turks. I was watching the sons of my neighbor from Lebanon as they watched CNN in the lobby of our building. They were as excited about ISIS as a normal kid would be about a football game. These boys were either born here or came here in their early childhood. This is never going to end.

  71. Dennis Martin says:

    gask

    Two wrongs do not make a right. Joan of Arc was unjustly convicted by a rogue court. The court proceedings were later repudiated and she was exonerated. What was done was wrong. What was done by ISIS was wrong. Why can’t we call it what it is. Wrong. Why do we have to try to excuse it?

    That’s quite apart from the question of what led to ISIS and who bears blame for its rise. There’s blame to go around but surely ISIS bears the main responsibility for its own deeds.

    I’m a tad tired of wholesale denial of responsibility in the modern West: poverty made me do it, Whitey made me do it, the Great Satan of the West made me do it, Patriarchy made me do it, heterosexists made me do it, dyspepsia from eating too much pizza made me do it, my typical white grandmother made me do it, the nun who taught me in the 3rd grade made me do it, David Koch and his brother made me do it, Howdy Doody made me do it, racist white police officers made me do it, that guy that looked at me frowning on the street this morning made me do it, my genes made me do it.

    Let’s focus like a laser on the evil being done deliberately and knowingly by the Islamic State of Iraq, Syria, North Africa and who knows where else.

  72. gsk says:

    @Dennis: if you’ll revisit my comment, I didn’t say two wrongs made it right. I said it was horrific and barbaric. But that only drove home the fact that Christians in the Middle Ages thought that burning people at the stake was a legitimate response to their [perceived] misdeeds.

    This brings us to the Regensberg address, and the question raised by Benedict, which can be addressed to both: what about the respective creeds brings us to this point, in that both thought this sentence was just at one point in time, and now one condemns it out of hand as despicable. I’ve read the Qur’an numerous times and it’s obvious to me why they act this way; what I don’t understand is how we could have ever acted thusly.

  73. Dennis Martin says:

    gsk:

    If you were not seeking to establish moral equivalency and thereby to relativize at least in some way, why bring it up? And if you are going to go there, then you have to get into issues of the distinction between temporal and spiritual jurisdiction and prudential choices regarding punishment for heresy and a whole host of details.

    Which are relevant how?

  74. The Masked Chicken says:

    “what I don’t understand is how we could have ever acted thusly”

    Well, this is a tad complex. First, the Church, technically, never burned anyone at the stake during the Inquisition. Once tried and conviced of heresy, the heretic was commended to civil authority ( this was in Catholic countries), because, since governments were to be based on Christian doctrine and the heretic held a stance contrary to it, they were a danger to the welfare of the state, as well as the Church. Because of the danger of contamination from the unrepentant heretic and because life sentences were virtually unknown at the time, the civil authority felt that the heretic merited death.

    In the Summa Theologica II.II Q 11 Art. 3, we read:

    “On the contrary, The Apostle says (Titus 3:10-11): “A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid: knowing that he, that is such an one, is subverted.”

    I answer that, With regard to heretics two points must be observed: one, on their own side; the other, on the side of the Church. On their own side there is the sin, whereby they deserve not only to be separated from the Church by excommunication, but also to be severed from the world by death. For it is a much graver matter to corrupt the faith which quickens the soul, than to forge money, which supports temporal life. Wherefore if forgers of money and other evil-doers are forthwith condemned to death by the secular authority, much more reason is there for heretics, as soon as they are convicted of heresy, to be not only excommunicated but even put to death.

    On the part of the Church, however, there is mercy which looks to the conversion of the wanderer, wherefore she condemns not at once, but “after the first and second admonition,” as the Apostle directs: after that, if he is yet stubborn, the Church no longer hoping for his conversion, looks to the salvation of others, by excommunicating him and separating him from the Church, and furthermore delivers him to the secular tribunal to be exterminated thereby from the world by death. For Jerome commenting on Galatians 5:9, “A little leaven,” says: “Cut off the decayed flesh, expel the mangy sheep from the fold, lest the whole house, the whole paste, the whole body, the whole flock, burn, perish, rot, die. Arius was but one spark in Alexandria, but as that spark was not at once put out, the whole earth was laid waste by its flame.”

    Aquinas’s argument was that if killing a man rated death and the heretic has the potential to kill the soul, then how much more should a heretic be put to death? Burning at the stake is an horrific form of capital punishment, but, in the old days, when communication was difficult, the horrific nature made the punishment well-known and acted as a deterrent.

    The reason this is more complicated to modern sensibilities is that many moderns do not recognize the right of the Church to insert itself in civil affairs in matters of morals. This notion is, of course false, but it is widely upheld as the notion of separation of Church and State. This is not God’s intent, but the intention of men who will not recognize that there is one true religion, but account all as equal.

    The notion of many chances after the second chance of relapse in a vice is a modern notion, as the Summa illustrates. One need not burn, today, because we have more compassion on those condemned to death, with the idea of cruel and unusual punishment being put forth in English Bill of Rights in 1689 and bring enshrined in the U. S. 8th Ammendment. Still, one cannot compare 1700 England to 15th-century Spain.

    The Chicken

  75. Dennis Martin says:

    Nothing credal undergirded, 500 years ago, the belief that this punishment was justified. It was prudentially believed to be justified 500 years ago. It is prudentially repudiated as justified by Christians today. They have passed judgment on prudential judgments. Christians have erred prudentially in the past, in horrific ways. We repudiate that. Prudentially, most governments in the past believed that very harsh punishments were needed. Prudentially most Western governments today do not. But North Korea still does. And we will see governments in the West who revive that prudential assessment not to long in the future. And it won’t be Christians running those governments. But it’s prudential, not credal. Credally, Christianity condemned heresy as a serious evil. Why? Because they believed in Hell and heresy (pertinacious error) leads others astray, leads the innocent to Hell.

    But how to punish this evil, that was prudential and the responsibility of the temporal power. And bishops and popes did not challenge it, though they on not a few occasions implored the temporal authority for clemency. Bishops and popes may have erred prudentially in tolerating prudentially driven harsh punishments. We can admit that and be remorseful, as Christians for those sins of judgment, without mistakenly ascribing it to creed.

    ISIS prudentially justifies the act today. No Christian justifies that juris-prudence today. The case of Joan of Arc is not relevant. Can we let go of it?

    And that’s the difference. For ISIS (and perhaps also for much of Islam) the prudential is the credal and vice versa. And the distinction between the two we owe, in part, to Ambrose and Augustine, not to Plato or Alexander, Muhammed, Xerxes or Henry VIII.

  76. gsk says:

    Thank you, Monsieur Chicken. Much to ponder. That said, today we marvel at the conversion stories (and reversion stories) in which a soul comes back to the Church 40, 50, or 60 years later–when duly contrite over his chosen sins. Perhaps if Arius had been put to death, it would have saved many souls, hard to tell.

    One major difference between the two faiths is that Christians know that God the Father will forgive and embrace all who turn to Him, no matter how and when. Those who serve “Allah most merciful(sic)” have no such tenderness, but exact justice in his name with no opportunity for repentance. The death in question, though, was a military move backed by a fatwah; different category completely.

  77. gsk says:

    @Dennis: Age-old “prudence” within Islam is indeed creedal now, according to the dictates of shari’a law. Bill Warner has some excellent presentations on the topic. All that they do is justified by their authoritative texts.

  78. SKAY says:

    kimberley jean said-

    ” I was watching the sons of my neighbor from Lebanon as they watched CNN in the lobby of our building. They were as excited about ISIS as a normal kid would be about a football game. These boys were either born here or came here in their early childhood. This is never going to end.”

    Very disturbing. One wonders what they are hearing from their parents and why are they here.

    Brigitte Gabriel lived in Lebanon and was 10 years old when the militant Muslim terrorists poured into her country and declared jihad against the Lebanese Christians. She wrote a book about what she experienced called “Because They Hate”. She has been trying to warn us about this for quite a while.
    Our borders are wide open and not to just illegal Central and South Americans.

  79. SKAY says:

    There are no words left to describe their evil deeds in the name of Islam.

    “(Reuters) – Islamic State militants are selling abducted Iraqi children at markets as sex slaves, and killing other youth, including by crucifixion or burying them alive, a United Nations watchdog said on Wednesday.”
    http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/02/04/mideast-crisis-children-idINKBN0L828E20150204

  80. SKAY says:

    Another atrocity-A priest reported beheaded by the religion of “peace”
    http://www.abna24.com/english/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2015/02/04/669231/story.html

  81. Tony Phillips says:

    That Federalist article is pretty good actually; I’d certainly agree that Mohammedanism is by nature a violent religion. Mohammed’s personality, unlike Joseph Smith’s (the American Mohammed), is lost in the mists of history, but I suspect he wasn’t really a nice guy.

    But we need to be honest here:
    1. Christians have done cruel things to each other in the past, including burning people at the stake, often with the collusion of church officials. Some might suggest that Mohammedanism, being younger by 6 centuries or so, will grow out of this habit just like its older brother has. I wouldn’t suggest this, but some would.
    2. War, I’m told (though I’ve never been near one), is very nasty, and people do horrible things. Some of us are old enough to remember My Lai. Is what ISIS is doing any different to how the Japanese treated their prisoners in the war? But somehow we’re all buddies now.
    3. (And this is the hardest for some of you Yanks to hear…) America is responsible for much of the trouble in the world, especially in the Middle East.
    3a. Political responsibility. I live in the country that shares much of the blame for the establishment of Israel. The same country that is responsible for the Plantation of Ulster, the effects of which still trouble us all these centuries later, issued the Balfour Declaration. You’d think they’d have learned something, but there you are. But the US is second to none in its responsibility for setting up a racist, sectarian nation-state in what had for many many centuries been a multicultural area, and for supporting its continued unjustifiable existence. How would you feel if you were a Palestinian whose house had been knocked down by the Wailing Wall, or whose farmland had been taken for another Jewish settlement? To paraphrase a famous theologian has said, ‘You punch my mama, expect a punch in the nose.’ Someone mentioned 911–I’d never defend an act like that, especially given the innocent civilians involved, but it wasn’t unprovoked.
    3b. Cultural responsibility. America has led the west in its export of decadent pop culture. I suspect many people who read this blog wag their heads over Mylie Cyrus’s latest enormity, or the trash Hollywood cranks out. Don’t you see that other cultures will react to this filth too? Is it any wonder that some see it as a provocation?

    A final note…I think Father Z deserves a word of praise for allowing open and polite debate on his blog. I’m about to wander over to Pray Tell, where it’s even money my wisdom won’t see the light of day.

  82. Vincent says:

    Dennis Skinner – of course I’m horrified that ISIS killed a prisoner of war, but I would expect nothing less of them. in my opinion, the reason they do it is because they know it’s ‘good publicity’.

    My point is that, how is Jordan being better? Thousands of Christians and Muslims have been slaughtered by ISIS, and they need stopping, how worked up have people been about that? Is ISIS going to care that they’re not getting their prisoner back? Apparently not, since they knew they were signing her death warrant anyway.

    So what did it gain, other than changing the arguably just execution of a criminal into an act of revenge?

    Just a question…

  83. CrimsonCatholic says:

    Tony Phillips-The Wailing wall is at the remains of the Temple Mount, you know the one from the Bible. No house was knocked down recently to build it, that is one of the most absurd claims I have ever heard along with Israel having anything to do with 911.

    I do not shed any tears for Palestine or any of the Christians in the area that have supported the terrorists group Hamas. For years they have have used financial aid and supplies to commit acts of terrorism, build tunnels, etc instead of helping the people they are suppose to represent. Also to mention 911, the Palestinians danced in the streets on the day of the event.

    I also have an issue stating that the innocent people who died on 911 provoked such an event, they were innocent civilians. No civilization deserves what happened that ay.

  84. SKAY says:

    Tony Phillips said–
    “Is what ISIS is doing any different to how the Japanese treated their prisoners in the war? But somehow we’re all buddies now.”
    Japan attacked Pearl Harbor— started the war in the Pacific and were soundly defeated. They agreed to peace and did not continue to attack us. We did not want to colonize their country and unlike some, we try not to hold grudges for CENTURIES..

    9/11 and all of those innocent lives lost are still a big deal for most of us in the US, Tony. There is no excuse for that horrible act of evil in the name of Islam. I saw the Palestinians celebrating in the streets. The establishment of Israel? The Holocaust happened.
    “Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 by a 22-year old Muslim named Hassan al-Banna, who admired Adolf Hitler’s hatred of the Jews and persistently wrote to Hitler to express his admiration for Hitler, as well as his desire for collaboration with Hitler’s Nazi Party.”
    This hatred of Jews was happening before the establishment Israel.
    As you said–“Some of us are old enough to remember My Lai.”Yes we are. You also must remember that those involved were brought up on charges and punished–by this country.

  85. Tony Phillips says:

    Good heavens, where does one begin?

    Resp to CrimsonCatholic (5 Feb 9:29):
    (1)Houses that were built as far back as the 1500s next to the Wailing Wall and inhabited by Palestinians were demolished by the Israelis in the 1960s.
    I’m not clear how Palestinian/Arab ‘terrorism’ is any worse than Israeli ‘terrorism’.
    (2) I never said innocent civilians were provacateurs. Western governmental foreign policy, especially American policy, is what has caused the problems in the Middle East.

    Response to SKAY (2 Feb 11:18 am):
    You are right that the Japanese were the instigators of the conflict; that certainly is not true of the Arabs.
    My Lai was punished because it was disclosed by the press. How many atrocities went undetected?
    The Holocaust is not sufficient excuse for the establishment of Israel. Two wrongs don’t make a right. There were people living in Palestine; it was not ‘a land without a people’.
    ‘we try not to hold grudges for CENTURIES’. You should visit the north of Ireland one day.

  86. jflare says:

    “America is responsible for much of the trouble in the world, especially in the Middle East.”

    I see. So, the Jewish and Arabic people got along just fine in the Middle East before we imposed the nation-state of Israel after World War II, among other things. Sure.
    I’ve come across simplistic statements before, but you’ve got a serious problem with recency bias.

    Blaming America for most of the world’s difficulties these last 50 years tends to require ignoring all the various tensions between peoples that’ve been present for centuries.

  87. benedictgal says:

    And now we have the Jordanian king ordering air strikes and possibly participating in them himself. Why could we not have acted so decisively? King Abdullah knows that strong action needs to happen.

  88. SKAY says:

    Tony Phillips said
    “My Lai was punished because it was disclosed by the press. ”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/national/07thompson.html?_r=0

    It was reported by this US military helicopter pilot from Louisiana. There are many good
    soldiers in our military who try to do the right thing under extremely difficult circumstances. I do not remember the North Vietnamese pointing out their particular atrocities and arresting the
    soldiers responsible. You said that you have not been near a war -“War, I’m told (though I’ve never been near one) is very nasty.” That comment says a lot. I wish no one ever had to be in a war–but unfortunately, Tony, evil will not allow that to happen.
    Regarding century long grudges- “You should visit the north of Ireland one day.”
    I was talking about the US and the foreign wars we have been in.
    I agree with jflare’s comment about the rest.

    I agree with your comment benedictgal.
    As we saw, an American, James Foley was beheaded by ISIS and our President rushes off to a golf game.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/national/07thompson.html?_r=0

  89. Tony Phillips says:

    Guys, America isn’t infallible. It makes mistakes. Lots of them. Supporting the establishment of Israel and sustaining it for all these years has been a big one. Don’t be surprised if people don’t like you because of it.
    You’re forgetting Western cultural decadence. Pop songs and Hollywood films that qualify as pornographic, gay “marriage”, rampant promiscuity…do you really wonder at the enmity your country arouses?
    Really, you have to make up your mind: are you Catholic or are you American?

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