Friends Of Israel and AIPAC Envision "Israel's Final Holocaust" and "Jew Toast"
Bruce Wilson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Mar 14, 2007 at 11:38:12 AM EST
In previous installments of an ongoing series, I've examined the beliefs of Pastor John Hagee, founder of "Christians United For Israel", an ostensibly pro-Israel lobby whose members seek to trigger a Mideast conflict they hope will spiral into a devastating world war that will cause Global mass death and the death of 2/3 of Jews in Israel. Hagee, who calls for a preemptive nuclear strike on Iran and also states that will trigger the apocalyptic war he craves, has warned in his sermons about a conspiracy of "Illuminati" and international bankers seeking to create a "New World Order". John Hagee spoke, before many US Senators and Congress members, to a cheering crowd, at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual convention last Sunday evening :

That leading US politicians now happily appear at public events with, cheer on, and consent to share the stage with a man who advocates a fringe conspiracy theory some would call anti-Semitic and urges a "preemptive" use of nuclear weapons in order to cause widespread nuclear war indicates the extent to which US political and religious culture has lurched far right, towards what some call an "apocalyptic death cult", over the past four decades since the era in which Lyndon Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign devastated Barry Goldwater's presidential hopes by airing just one time a 30 second TV commercial,  the "Daisy" ad, that effectively tarred Goldwater as eager for nuclear war. Now, for Republican politicians wooing a key bloc of evangelical GOP voters, public expressions of nuclear blood lust are no longer stigmatized or politically toxic ; they are an asset.

Pastor John Hagee's warmly received AIPAC speech illustrates the extent to which political leaders who espouse ideology that in the 1960's was considered to be scandalously close the  extreme end of the political spectrum can now expect to broadcast their views from a national stage.

Once upon as time a single 30 second TV ad, run only once, effectively destroyed the presidential chances of Barry Goldwater by alleging that Goldwater itched for nuclear war. But since the 1960's Christian apocalyptic religious ideology has spread so extensively in American popular culture that now, in 2007, direct advocacy for widespread nuclear war is no longer considered beyond the pale and, indeed, American enthusiasm for nuclear destruction is sufficient to support a national lobbying group.  And, Republican politicians, but some Democratic ones as well, are willing to appear at  "apocalypse lobby" public events, to share the stage with religious activists who are no longer content to merely predict the end-times but now actively work to make an apocalyptic nuclear inferno really happen.

What's also striking is the willingness of AIPAC partisans to embrace the political support of the Christian "Apocalypse lobby" while dismissing statement from CUFI's board members and from other Christian Zionists, that the hoped for catastrophic conflict will kill most Jews in Israel and that Jews who survive will have convert to Christianity or die. American fundamentalist leaders such as John Hagee have been saying that quite loudly for decades and now, more than ever perhaps, the attainment of such bloody and ultimately anti-Semitic goals seems within the bounds of possibility but Jews who are grateful for the political support CUFI and its predecessor organizations have given Israel seem almost schizophrenic in their willingness to dismiss the underlying ideology of totalistic religious warfare that's lurking under the cuddly philosemitic face, to Christian Zionism, which John Hagee has so zealously constructed.

But, Jews might do well to consider the implications of the fact that apocalyptic thinking has penetrated the United States military, to unknown effect, or the possibility that Christian Zionist thought is popular in the White House. Claims, by Jack Van Impe and Paul Rosenberg, of having been consulted by the White House on end-times prophecy, might by self serving hype but it's worth noting that back in 1998, with the gearing up of George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, that John Hagee made of gift to Bush of one of Hagee's books, "Final Dawn Over Jerusalem".

In the end, even neoconservative boosters such as Michael Ledeen who have promoted the idea of turning the entire Mideast into a "cauldron" should have pause at this ; the oldest apostasy in the Judeo-Christian and Abramic theological traditions is the human presumption to divinity and that's what in effect the CUFI lobby presumes : to influence divinely appointed fate.

Even the most hard bitten of neo-conservatives might do well to dwell on the possibility that recent theological mutations in some streams of American Christianity might have led to a situation where, quite literally, key national decision makers both in the White House, The Pentagon, and the US Armed Forces, with control over nearly godlike destructive powers, might also think of themselves as quasi-divine and hold end-times views in which Israel is reduced to smoking rubble in a future conflagration that some Christian Zionists have described as "worse than Auschwitz". In light of such statements, the bargain AIPAC has made with John Hagee and his fellow Christian Zionist raises the question ; how lucky does Israel feel ?

In a June 22, 2006 Los Angeles Times story entitled " 'End Times' Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon" journalist Louis Sahagun relates an interview with Bill McCartney, co-founder of the Promise Keepers, in which McCartney talked about the goals "The Road To Israel", an apocalyptic organization he has founded since the Promise Keepers movement waned :

' "Our whole purpose is to hasten the end times", he said, "The Bible says Jews will be brought to jealousy when they see Christians and Jewish believers together as one -- they'll want to be a part of that. That's going to signal Jesus' return." '

Jews and others who don't accept Jesus, he added matter-of-factly, "are toast."

A number of leaders in the Promise Keepers movement have been attributed as religious influences on President George W. Bush.  

Such views are anything but unusual within Christian Zionism : McCarney's sputtering apocalypse booster organization has since been far outsripped by the meteoric rise of Texas megachurch Pastor John Hagee's "Christians United For Israel", and CUFI's name should be taken at exact face value. CUFI supports Israel, as Christian Zionists define Israel per their religious eschatology, but they envision a different fate for Israel Jews.

CUFI board member Jerry Falwell has written of the battle of Armageddon Christian Zionists long for as a "final holocaust" while CUFI board member pastor George Morrison appears to expect merely "another holocaust":

Millions of Jews will be slaughtered at this time but a remnant will escape and God will supernaturally hide them for Himself for the last  three and a half years of the Tribulation, some feel in the rose-red city of Petra.  I don't know how, but God will keep them because the Jews and the Chosen People of God." ( CUFI Executive Board Member Jerry Falwell, in a December 2, 1984 sermon)

As recounted by Terje Langeland, reporting for the Colorado Springs Independent in 2003, one of Pastor John Hagee's CUFI board members, George Morrison, expresses his sense of how Israeli and Israeli Jews will fare in the apocalytpic scenario Hagee and others long for:

"Morrison, whose casual, folksy manner belies his apocalyptic beliefs, already sees signs that the End is approaching. The European Union, he says, might be the alliance of nations that according to prophecy will join the Arabs to wage war against Israel during the final days.

"Great wars will begin to take place" Morrison says in a matter-of-fact voice. "Those wars are going to involve nukes."

The extent of the destruction will prompt Jesus to return in order to stop it, Morrison believes. Unfortunately, he says, many Jews will be killed.

"It's another Holocaust, if you will" Morrison says. "

Christian Zionist analogies about the bloodbath they expect (and hope) will be visited on Israelis go beyond "holocaust" talk and extend to comparisons to Auschwitz.  As Gershom Gorenberg, expert on Christian Zionism and author of End Of days: Fundamentalism and The Struggle For The Temple Mount relates, "Chuck Missler, another popularizer of dispensationalism, says in a cassette lecture that Auschwitz and Dachau were "just a prelude" to the Tribulation. Missler sees no contradiction between looking forward to that horror and backing Israel; in an interview, he told me that "there is more support for the State of Israel from fundamentalist Christians in America than from ethnic Jews.""

As the Christian Zionist author and popularizer, evangelist Kay Arthur
also, according to Stan Goodenough, has used "holocaust" and "Auschwitz" comparisons:

Kay Arthur appears on the dais at all major pro-Israel events in the United States, and was recently nominated to co-chair a new women's association of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus. She has stated publicly that what lies ahead for Israel will make Hitler's Holocaust look like "a Sunday school picnic."

In her novel, "Israel My Beloved," Arthur has the heroine standing in a massively destroyed Jerusalem, dead and dying Jews littering the ground around her as she whispers in horror, "Auschwitz was never like this."

As stated in an October 6, 2002 CBS "60 Minutes" segment entitled "Zion's Christian Solidiers", Arthur blamed God for the destruction of Jews she envisioned:

Ms. KAY ARTHUR (Precept Ministries): The Jews need conversion. They need to know that Messiah is coming. And the Bible tells us what's going to happen.

(Footage of service)

Ms. ARTHUR: You're going to have to take the Word of God and get to know God so that a fellowship...

(Footage of "Precepts For Life With Kay Arthur")

SIMON: (Voiceover) Kay Arthur heads an organization called Precept Ministries in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She brings thousands of pilgrims to the Holy Land and has an answer for every question.

This is what confuses me. Here you are, a great friend of Israel...

Ms. ARTHUR: Yes.

SIMON: ...great friend of the Jews.

Ms. ARTHUR: Yes, and they would tell you.

SIMON: But what you're saying is that some of them are going to be destroyed and some of them are going to be converted.

Ms. ARTHUR: But see, I'm not saying it; God's saying it.

Such unbabashed predictions of another "holocaust" that will be "worse than Auschwitz", far from uncommon, are industry standard in Christian Zionist literaturem, with titles  such as "The Next Holocaust & the Refuge in Edom (Prophetic Updates)" by Chuck Missler, Israel's Final Holocaust" by Jack Van Impe, and The Road To Holocaust by Hal Lindsey.

Thomas Ice, who works closely with Rev. Tim LaHaye, lays out the stock theological view inherent to most of Christian Zionist apocalyptic thought:

What one believes about the future of Israel is of utmost importance to one's understanding of the Bible. I believe, without a shadow of doubt, that Old Testament promises made to national Israel will literally be fulfilled in the future. This means the Bible teaches that God will return the Jews to their land before the tribulation begins (Isa. 11:11-12:6; Ezek. 20:33-44; 22:17-22; Zeph. 2:1-3). This has been accomplished and the stage is set as a result of the current existence of the modern state of Israel. The Bible also indicates that before Israel enters into her time of national blessing she must first pass through the fire of the tribulation (Deut. 4:30; Jer. 30:5-9; Dan. 12:1; Zeph. 1:14-18). Even though the horrors of the Holocaust under Hitler were of an unimaginable magnitude, the Bible teaches that a time of even greater trial awaits Israel during the tribulation. Anti-Semitism will reach new heights, this time global in scope, in which two-thirds of world Jewry will be killed (Zech. 13:7-9; Rev. 12). Through this time God will protect His remnant so that before His second advent "all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:36). In fact, the second coming will include the purpose of God's physical rescue of Israel from world persecution during Armageddon (Dan. 12:1; Zech. 12-14; Matt. 24:29-31; Rev. 19:11-21).

"Blow The Trumpet In Zion" (Richard Booker (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers), actually makes explicit predictions about how many million Jews worldwide will die:

( pp. 112-118 )
"    The Jews' Final Holocaust

    What is this terrible tribulation that awaits the Jews? Moses said it would take place in the "latter days". It is the last seven years of this age just prior to the coming of Messiah Jesus to earth. The Bible says this will be a time of suffering such as the world has never known.

    The Antichrist

    The tribulation period begins when Israel signs a peace treaty with the one we know as the Antichrist. The word Antichrist not only means one who is against Christ but also one who takes the place of Christ. The Antichrist will deceive the world into believing that he is the Christ who can solve the world's problems and bring peace among the nations, particularly the Middle East.

    By this time hundreds of thousands of Jews will have come to accept Jesus as their Messiah. This will come about through the preaching ministry of 144,000 Jewish evangelists whom God will call especially for the purpose of preaching the gospel during the tribulation period. These followers of Jesus will know the Antichrist is not the Messiah.

    The Great Tribulation

    The Antichrist will march his troops into Israel and for a short period of time will occupy Jerusalem. Every nation will support his retaliation against Israel for their disturbing world peace. The Antichrist will kill two-thirds of all the Jews. THIS COULD MEAN THAT UP TO TEN MILLION JEWS WILL BE KILLED [Rawson: emphasis ours]. The Antichrist will plunder the beloved city of Jerusalem, and one-half of the citizens will be forced into exile."

TTA contributor Chip Berlet, Senior Analyst for Political Research Associates, provides some background on the recent history of "New World Order" conspiracism among John Hagee's fellow Christian Zionists such as Tim LaHaye and Pat Robertson in The Age Old Conspiracy

Previous installments in an ongoing series, by several authors, on John Hagee and Christian Zionism:

AIPAC Event Helps Mainstream Allegations Of "Satanic Liberal Jewish Conspiracy"

Donohue Softpeddles Hagee's Catholic Bashing



"Be Jewish In Five Easy Days", The Twelve Tribes Of Hagee

Holocaust For Zion : CUFI's Christian Zionism Made Simple

GOP House Minority Whip Roy Blunt To Help Nuclear War Advocate

What Secret "Other Matters" Did McCain Discuss With "Apocalypse Now" Hagee ?

recent stories from other authors:

Max Blumenthal : AIPAC Cheers an Anti-Semitic Holocaust Revisionist (and Abe Foxman Approves)

Sarah Posner: The Goy Who Cried Wolf: The Israel lobby gives America's leading Christian right warmonger a warm welcome




Display:
I read Blumenthal's blog and Sarah Posner at the Daily Prospect, thanks to your links.  Blumenthal links to Michelle Goldberg at Huffington on it.  Bruce, you probably noticed Blumenthal also linked to your series here.  All good.
I thought the Posner article was the best

Have you cited the December 6, 2006, meeting of the Pew Forum?  http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=137"
"Israel and the Future of Zionism."

if you scroll down about half way on the PEW transcript, Mark Pinsky of the Orlando Sentinel refers to

"what some evangelicals say about the End of Days. That [in-gathering] is a pre-requisite to the second coming of Jesus, with the result being the same -- either Jews converting to Christianity or Jews being annihilated. In any event, no more Jews.

Now this is a roomful of people with strong sympathies for Israel. Pinsky continues:

Which raises the issue of the rise of Christian Zionism. I've been chronicling, in the Sun Belt at least, an interesting development. After 200 years of hostility between Protestants and the Jews in the South -- based on two separations, one, that the Jews did not accept Jesus as their savior, and two, less explicit, that they didn't share racial attitudes with their hosts -- there's been this 180-degree turnaround with the rise of Christian Zionism. If you hear Rev. John Hagee speak, it's like Netanyahu was speaking in terms of what Israel's policy should be.

But within the Jewish community I've found a real separation among Jews. For some American Jews, often referred to as single-issue Jews, it's all about support for the state of Israel, and nothing else matters. Another segment of Jews, and I don't know where the split is, are uncomfortable with the rise of Christian Zionism. They welcome the allies, they welcome the support, but they're troubled because of the baggage this alliance brings with it, particularly on issues where they don't share assumptions with evangelical Christians. The role of women, fixation with homosexuality, abortion, reproductive rights, stem cell research, religion in the public square, evolution versus creationism ... But they are in a tactical alliance with them on the issue of support for Israel.

Then Pinsky asked avowed zionist Ari Shavit about the reception of the phenomenon in Israel: "Do they recognize the impact evangelical Christians have on White House policy in their support for Israel and how critical that may be?"

Shavit:

The professionals do, but the professionals are few, and this is not a topic of discussion. I was present at a gathering in Washington, like AIPAC, and I saw discomfort, but it was mainly among American Jews. The Israelis were watching it. It doesn't really penetrate the minds and hearts of most Israelis. It might in the future, but not so far.

God bless the whole world - - No Exceptions
by John Anngeister on Thu Mar 15, 2007 at 01:35:11 AM EST
That's very important material.

by Bruce Wilson on Thu Mar 15, 2007 at 08:56:04 AM EST
Parent

I think this comparison (or contrast) with the days of Goldwater's Presidential campaign is a very good idea, but it might bear some smoothing out.

Is it time yet to characterize the current phenomenon as an indication of a change in US "religious culture" as a whole?  You write:

indicates the extent to which US political and religious culture has lurched far right, towards what some call an "apocalyptic death cult", over the past four decades

I think such a comment can be valid only if you make sure to target the whole religious mainstream for NOT publically renouncing Hagee.

For reasons I have tried to explain, I think it is not fair to harangue the Jews alone for their acquiescence in this immoral nonsense.  The Catholics and any of the genuinely Christian Protestant churches are also to blame for not stepping forward and renouncing Hagee's position (now that he has, through CUFI, attained national status).  The Christians who have removed the "inerrant Bible" blinders from their eyes ought to be able to see Hagee's spiritual folly - and they have less of a fatherland issue than the Jews.  Have any of them come forward?

Your reference to the "daisy" ad is a little strained.  You write:

Once upon a time a single 30 second TV ad, run only once, effectively destroyed the presidential chances of Barry Goldwater by alleging that Goldwater itched for nuclear war.

Admittedly, I remember thinking Goldwater was pro-nuclear war, even though I was only a pre-teen, but I don't remember the daisy ad.  That's not to say it didn't play a causal role in my youthful perception.

You write:

Christian apocalyptic religious ideology has spread so extensively in American popular culture that now, in 2007, ... political leaders who espouse ideology that in the 1960's was considered to be scandalously close the extreme end of the political spectrum can expect to broadcast their views from a national stage.

Well, I'm not sure that Goldwater was publically renounced - until election day.  So you have to leave room for a fair amount of private revulsion to be building up against Hagee.

I'll wager that over 90% of today's radical right over age 63 voted for Senator Goldwater.  I remember reading a book about the rise of the "new right" by an insider who spoke wistfully about the Senator's campaign as halcyon days when he first saw the light.  Shudder.  Still with us, then, is the current band of winger eminence gris who will be oddly in sync with your story (though wondering what all the fuss is about).  Which is to say the nukes didn't bother them then either.

God bless the whole world - - No Exceptions
by John Anngeister on Fri Mar 16, 2007 at 03:42:30 PM EST
Parent

Here's the Wikipedia writeup ( the Wikipedia isn't always authoritative but this is a start :

Though aired only once, during a September 7, 1964 telecast of David and Bathsheba on The NBC Monday Movie, it was a factor in Lyndon B. Johnson's defeat of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election and an important turning point in political and advertising history. Its creator was Tony Schwartz of Doyle Dane Bernbach. It is quite possibly one of the scariest and most controversial campaign ads ever made.

The advertisement begins with a little girl standing in a meadow with chirping birds, picking the petals of a daisy while counting each petal slowly. (Because she does not know her numbers perfectly, she repeats some and says others in the wrong order, all of which adds to her childish appeal.) When she reaches "9", an ominous-sounding male voice is then heard counting down a missile launch, and as the girl's eyes turn toward something she sees in the sky, the camera zooms in until her pupil fills the screen, blacking it out. When the countdown reaches zero, the blackness is replaced by the flash and mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion.


As the firestorm rages, a voiceover from Johnson states, "These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." Another voiceover then says, "Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home."


As soon as the ad aired, Johnson's campaign was widely criticized for using the prospect of nuclear war, as well as the implication that Goldwater would start one, to frighten voters. The ad was immediately pulled, but the point was made, appearing on the nightly news and on conversation programs in its entirety.


Johnson's line "We must either love each other, or we must die" echoes W. H. Auden's poem "September 1, 1939" in which line 88 reads "We must love one another or die". The words "children" and "the dark" also occur in Auden's poem.



by Bruce Wilson on Fri Mar 16, 2007 at 07:11:32 PM EST
Parent

and thanks for the expansion.

As I said, I like the idea of bringing the 64 Presidential campaign into juxtaposition with the current nuclear trash-talking that is going on without public outcry.

And it is quite likely that my general awareness of Goldwater's nuclear itch was as a result of "fallout" from my parents viewing of that daisy ad - especially as I now understand it was replayed in full by the TV news and late shows in the days following its "single airing."


God bless the whole world - - No Exceptions
by John Anngeister on Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 03:46:59 PM EST
Parent

These issues can become very abstracted from the realities of nuclear warfare.

The following illustration was drawn by an immediate survivor of the Hiroshima bombing.



by Bruce Wilson on Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 10:58:01 PM EST
Parent







Visibility has increased. But only slightly.

by Bruce Wilson on Thu Mar 15, 2007 at 09:21:04 AM EST

(1) Since Hagee's sick dream is unthinkable for Jews (for obvious reasons), significant numbers are content to look past it, glad to use CUFI to broaden the base of their US support.

(2) Only a minority of very orthodox Jews have any sympathy with the anti-social values of the American religious right, and the vast majority find association with Hagee at least a little distasteful - but (see #1).

(3) The ridiculous Hagee has nevertheless found an international playing card, and an international forum, and his sick dream (thinkable or not) has a broader avenue to enter into more sick heads.

On the very remote chance that Hagee has any role in some catastrophe even vaguely resembling his tragic on-the-ground scenario, I think we can at least be sure that his comically misinterpreted in-the-air scenario will not transpire - with Christ instead sure to remain a tasteful no-show, having determined on the cross never to have a part in butt-sprung orgies of neo-Realpolitik fantasy.

Given current alternatives, I think the Jews will take their chances.  So maybe there's no story here after all except that?  Where nobody's fooling anybody?  And where the hypocrisy doesn't even register?

What remains to be factored in, I think, is the possibility of exaggerated reaction to this open alliance between Christians and Jews in the Muslim world.


God bless the whole world - - No Exceptions
by John Anngeister on Thu Mar 15, 2007 at 07:08:18 PM EST
Parent

Humans, based on their theological views, have been starting wars throughout known history.

Are you prepared to challenge many thousands of years of the recorded human record  ?

by Bruce Wilson on Thu Mar 15, 2007 at 11:19:40 PM EST
Parent


Believing as I do that separation of church and state is an unassailable truth of good government and good religion, I hold every war fought without benefit of "the wall" to be a product of their evil admixture, and therefore to be off the table.

For this reason the secular and atheist war records are much more daunting (especially since about 1790 - with the advent of structures of sovereignty which began to separate religious from political authority).

In the matter of big-league bloodshed and ruthless metaphysical swagger, one is obliged by the sheer numbers of the dead to work first and hardest at preventing the re-occurrence of such wars as were waged under secular salvationists like Napoleon, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler.

Oh yes, and in the meantime, we must man the Wall of Separation as if the life of the world itself depended upon it.


God bless the whole world - - No Exceptions
by John Anngeister on Fri Mar 16, 2007 at 06:23:25 PM EST
Parent





As neo-cons are NOT true conservatives, any Christian who does NOT follow the philosophy, ethics and morals of Jesus; Are NOT Christians; They are neo-Christians. The heretical theology of Hagee conveniently neglects to comprehend the history of Genesis 12:3 which they quote adnauseum: "I will make you a great nation and I will bless you. I will bless those who bless you, and who ever curse you I will curse." This promise from God to Abraham, was issued BEFORE the birth of Abraham's first son; Ishmael, the father of the Arab nation. These neo-Christians also ignore the fact that the first mention of Israel in the Hebrew scriptures/Old Testament was when Jacob was renamed Israel for having wrestled, struggled and then clinged to The Divine Being. So, my understanding of Israel is anyone and everyone who struggles, wrestles and clings to God is Israel, thus, Israel is NOT just a geographical location. These neo-Christian's worldview is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. The gospel Jesus preached was of Gods love and mercy for all; NOT just for some! Neo-Christians consistently oppose any moves towards a solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict which would validate the political aspirations of both sides. The popularity of the putrid escapist fiction of the LEFT BEHIND series which is being accepted as literal fact by good but very ignorant Christians coupled with an Israel-fixated media, that stereotypes Palestinians pursuit of freedom from occupation as blanket terrorism and spins with Orwellian logic that the illegal colonies/settlements are neighborhoods, neglect JC's promise that THE PEACEMAKERS ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD!

by eileen fleming on Sun Mar 18, 2007 at 01:39:09 PM EST


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Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

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