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These kinds of disclaimers in articles have interested me for years. Here are two from the same piece today:
“A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media.”
“A foreign diplomat, likewise speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media.”
In other words, people blab who are actually not permitted to do so. Yet they spill the beans.
I realize these may not be just loose lips that could sink ships—sure, maybe this person is a maverick, but then again they may in reality be staff who were indeed “authorized” by org superiors to speak, just not as official spokesmen.
Why would an org do this? To test the waters. To gauge reactions. To preserve org plausible deniability. To distance superiors from any backlash. To plant narratives. That said, please note I am sharing this insight on condition of anonymity because I am not authorized to speak by anyone, at least no one in the Biden Admin.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2021 *This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
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I’m not a fan of presidential impeachment.
1868: Andrew Johnson - 1999: Bill Clinton - 2019, 2021: Donald Trump.
1974, in the wake of Watergate, facing impeachment and near-certain conviction, Richard M Nixon announced his resignation. VP Gerald R Ford was sworn in.
If anyone deserved impeachment and a vote removing him from office for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” it was Nixon. But a month later, Ford famously pardoned Nixon. Ford was hammered for this and it likely cost him reelection. But I agreed with him and most others, much later, did as well.
Now in 2021, people are saying Joe Biden should be impeached because the Afghanistan withdrawal was not the “extraordinary success” he called it but an embarrassing, deadly, unnecessary debacle, and still an ongoing threat to American security.
I understand the anger and frustration. But impeachment isn’t the answer, nor is impeachment du jour good for the country.
Impeachments are partisan circuses and conviction is difficult. Just look at history. No impeached pres has been removed from office. More prescient than others, Ford knew a trial, even after Nixon departed, would simply divide the nation.
Impeachment would do that now, resulting in more harm than healing.
If you think Biden did the best he could, then impeachment is an unwarranted distraction. If you think Biden did badly, even immorally, then impeachment is still a deal with the Devil; do you really want VP Kamala Harris as Pres?
Politicians can be held accountable in many ways. Best one, even with debates about voting integrity, is called an election.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2021
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
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1. Afghanistan is a country of 39.8 million people who speak Dari or Pahsto, dialects of Farsi. 97% Muslim. US State Dept estimating Afghan Christian underground Church 500–8,000 Christians. Others say 12,000-15,000. No one knows for sure.
2. 90% of world’s opium comes from Afghanistan, sold into the West, sadly much of it into the US where it’s processed into heroin and other opiates.
3. Afghanistan is #2 behind North Korea for persecution on the Open Doors World Watch List.
4. We’re hearing mixed reports of Taliban killing or violent harassment of Christians. No one is sure what’s happening with Afghan Christians.
5. Some believers have reported needing to flee but are unable to do so. Those who remain are under immense pressure. Some sharing that if their faith is discovered, they expect to be tortured or sentenced to death.
6. Afghan citizens are not legally permitted to convert to Christianity, although there are no explicit laws forbidding evangelizing by non-Muslims.
7. There is only one legally recognized Christian church building in Afghanistan, the Catholic chapel at the Italian Embassy.
8. Estimated 3 M Afghan refugees worldwide, nearly 1 in 10 of all refugees. Pakistan building a fence along its border with Afghanistan. Turkey has become a destination for Afghan refugees (200,000), along with Syrians and Iraqi.
9. With collapse of the government and the expansion of extremism, food and water shortages are occurring and the pandemic continues.
10. Result can be desperate people take desperate measures –people do anything to feed their families = Crime, Violence, Chaos, Family breakdown.
11. Since 2002, SAT-7 has broadcast daily throughout Afghanistan in Farsi, the language of Iran, which Afghan Dari speakers understand, and now also some Dari programs too.
12. SAT-7 is virtually un-censorable – anyone in Afghanistan with a TV, satellite transponder, satellite can access SAT-7.
13. Praise God for on ground Christian and humanitarian organizations trying to meet physical needs.
14. SAT-7 works to meet spiritual needs. For Afghans unable to attend secret, house churches, SAT-7 on TV is a last resort and a lifeline.
15. In the face of adversity, people ask, “Does God even exist?” “Does He care about what’s happening here?” “Why is God allowing this to happen?”
16. Enormous opportunity to speak Christian truth into a society turned upside down and seeking answers that make sense, a God who is there and is not silent.
17. "My sister and I recently turned to Christ. We live here in Afghanistan, and we fear difficulties relating to security – it is very challenging and frightening to attend Christian meetings or try and find other Christians."
18. "I ask that you pray for me, that the love of Jesus Christ will always be found in my heart and that He will never forget me because I am in Afghanistan, and I have no one beside me."
19. “As Christians we are in real danger. Sadly, in the past two to three days, my family and I have received death threats. In this emergency situation, I have no other way but to escape from the country. Please be our voice; please help us to be heard so that we can flee from this hell as soon as possible.”
20. What should we remember?
o God is sovereign. As Os Guinness said, “We don’t know Why, but we know the God who knows Why.”
o While we understandably pray for deliverance, protection, or even flight from Afghanistan…this may not be God’s will and purpose.
o SAT-7 Farsi Bible teacher Tat Stewart observed, “Suffering purifies the Church, and God’s glory will shine through for all to see.”
21. How should we pray?
o Pray for isolated believers and Afghan Church.
o Pray for the security of NGO staff, and American forces and allies, working to help desperate people.
o Pray for an anticipated new wave of internally displaced peoples and refugees.
o Pray for the vulnerable: women and girls, elderly, sick, ethnic and religious minorities.
o Pray Afghanistan will not become a haven for extremists.
o Pray for the Taliban, sinners like us in need of grace.
o Pray for SAT-7’s ongoing ministry in Afghanistan and Iran.
o Pray for peace.
Grace be with you.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2021
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
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Last week’s presentation.
Idea is:
1) Modern-day false prophets are not just preachers but celebrities, intellectuals/professors, politicians, media personalities, activists, online influencers.
2) Greatest existential threat to America is not external, ie., China or international radicalism, but internal, ie., moral relativism, which these false prophets “preach.”
Modern-Day False Prophets from First Baptist Middleville on Vimeo.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2021 *This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
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© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2021
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
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Yesterday during his press conference describing strategy to get Americans and allies out of Afghanistan, President Biden said, “And thank God, so far, knock on wood, we’re in a different position.” Interesting juxtaposition of phrases.
Side-stepping partisan politics or a critique of the Afghanistan debacle, let’s focus on the phrases.
Pres Biden uses the superstitious “knock on wood” phrase a lot, including back into his vice presidency. Pres Trump used the phrase as well. But again, the point here is not politics.
When celebrities are complimented on their success they regularly say, “I was lucky.” Really? Are they saying they have no talent, did not work hard, made no good decisions, are subject only to the "fates"? Somehow, unlike the rest of us unlucky woebegones, they lucked out?
Maybe, but more likely this is their way of being modest and avoiding any reference to religion.
What makes Pres Biden’s comment so interesting is his combination—thank God, knock on wood. To cover the bases, acknowledge some sort of supreme being but, just in case, tap into mythology too.
This is American religious culture in a nutshell.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2021
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.