Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19

by A. Joseph Lynch

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

LET US DREAM: Pope Francis has released a new book entitled Let Us Dream. One book review labels Francis as the holy father of "fraternity" - a topic which seems to be at the heart of both this book as well as his recent encyclical. 

VATICAN UPHOLDS BAN: The bishops of Knoxville's decision to temporarily ban Communion on the tongue has sadly been upheld by the Vatican. Most dioceses permit the practice but ask priests to clean their hands after. Some research, however, suggests that Communion on the tongue properly practiced is safer than in the hand. It is certainly more reverent.

CHURCH-GLOBALIST UNION? Pope Francis has become the moral voice behind the Council for Inclusive Capitalism - a union of some of the world's largest business organizations. More from Francis skeptic, Taylor Marshall.

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

SCOTUS LET DOWN: All three Trump justices sided with Roberts and the liberals to reject the Texas election lawsuit by hiding behind standing. While there are other election-related cases pending, it seems likely the courts will stay out and leave it to Congress to act.

DUELLING ELECTORS: Seven states have sent votes of dueling electors to Congress for the January 6 election certification. It will only take one Representative and one Senator to throw the certification into chaos - but Mitch McConnell has turned his back on the president and asked all senators to refrain from fighting. Of course, VP Pence will run the show that day - and he could very well refuse to certify the results. 

BARR RESIGNS: Bill Barr is out but his replacement is a Barr hire. Barr's reluctance to act on voter fraud, his slow-walking the Durham investigation, and the fact that he kept hidden a years long investigation into Hunter Biden meant he had to go. 

MACHINE ANALYSIS: A judge ordered the release of an independent forensic analysis of the Dominion voting machines used in a Michigan county - machines that brought about a 68% error in the vote. According to the report, there was intentional fraud at play with the Dominion machines. The report concluded: "However, based on the preliminary results, we conclude that the errors are so significant that they call into question the integrity and legitimacy of the results in the Antrim County 2020 election to the point that the results are not certifiable. Because the same machines and software are used in 48 other counties in Michigan, this casts doubt on the integrity of the entire election in the state of Michigan.”

III. ISLAM AND THE MIDDLE EAST

SECOND IRAN ASSASSINATION: Israel is suspected of making it's second drone strike assassination of an Iranian in the span of a week. This time the hit came on the Syria-Iraq border and the target was a senior member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Recall that it was the Revolutionary Guard that led the Islamic fight against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria yet Israel and her allies have worked tirelessly to fight them.

SAUDI DEATH SQUAD: It's being reported that the Saudis requested diplomatic immunity for a Khashoggi-style death squad it planned to send to Norway as it searched for a Saudi critic. Thankfully the Norwegians turned them down - but it shows the ruthlessness of the Saudi regime which fights for itself rather than the Salafism it spreads abroad. The former hides behind international treaty while the later is condemned - yet both are forms of international terrorism.

ISRAEL & THE ARABS: Israel is making further inroads with the Arab world. This week Morocco has joined the growing list of Arab states to enter ties with the Jewish nation. More from Caspian Report about the developing relationships. 

IV. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

HUNGARY DEFINES PARENTS: Hungary boldly revised its constitution to define parents as one man and one woman. More on this as well as other insight on Christian Hungary from Dr. Steve Turley.

LINCOLN EXPELLED: San Francisco plans to remove the name of Abraham Lincoln - the president who freed black slaves - from a city high school because "he did not demonstrate that black lives mattered to him." This week Trump appointed the members of the 1776 Commission, which aims to promote patriotism in our schools.

SOCIAL MEDIA WALK-BACK: With the election behind us social media giants Twitter and Facebook are pulling back changes they made which benefited Biden. Twitter, for example, announced: "We're switching back. You can now choose to Retreat or Quote Tweet the way you did before." They got what they wanted, now they're walking back the changes.

INDIANS NO MORE: Cleveland is giving up it's 105 year old baseball team name after next season. Why "Indians" is so offensive is apparent to no one. Perhaps they'll change it to the Cleveland "Native Americans" for the 2022 season.

Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

by A. Joseph Lynch

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

NEW CARDINALS: Pope Francis has officially named thirteen new cardinals in the latest consistory - including the notorious and crooked Wilton Gregory of Washington D.C. The current number brings the 128 eligible voters in a papal election (eight above the traditional 120 max). At this point Francis has appointed 73 (57%) of the cardinal electors while 39 (30%) were appointed by Benedict XVI and 16 (13%) remain from St. John Paul II. 

SCOTUS SUPPORTS CHURCHES AGAIN: Justice Barrett is making a huge impact in favor of church worship during the pandemic. In a rebuke to the governor of California the Supreme Court has sided with a church that disregarded the governors draconian shut down of churches.

MORE DENVER PRIEST ABUSE: Another nine priests have been added to list of credibly accused sexual abuse in Colorado. This came as Colorado authorities sought their own version of the Pennsylvania grand jury investigation. It is highly likely these priests would have been left unnamed had the state not intervened. One of the abusers preyed on the homeless - and even had a shelter named after him until his abuse became publicly known. We hope more states follow Colorado's footsteps.

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

FLIPPING STATES: It remains to be seen how this election will end. The Trump team has organized public hearings in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia aimed at making their fraud case to state legislators and to the citizens of these particular states. The hope here is to pressure the legislators to decertify their state's election results. It's uncertain if this will work, but as of this weekend it feels like the ball is moving forward on this front. The Trump team has also gone to court in hopes of throwing out enough ballots for Trump to flip three game-changing battleground states. In Wisconsin the Trump team has identified around 221,000 votes that were cast by mail without the necessary legal documents. Throwing out these votes flips the state. In Arizona a court-ordered sampling of ballots revealed a 3% pro-Biden fraud rate that would far exceed Biden's margin of victory. In Georgia new videos have emerged that appear to show the hidden handoff of an election USB device as well as counting hidden ballot boxes in the middle of the night. Meanwhile Pennsylvania appears to be headed to the Supreme Court where it will likely flip the state to Trump. 

LOSE-LOSE IN TWO COURTS: As mentioned above, the Trump team is taking the election to court - but they haven't been successful everywhere. Cases are headed now to the Nevada supreme court and - likely - headed to the US Supreme Court. Both supreme courts in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, however, have ruled against Trump's case - but neither one one on the merits. Both courts have ruled that the cases came too late to be settled in court. Legal scholars have noted, however, that had these lawsuits been filed before the election - as both courts asked - the lawsuits would have been dismissed for failing to show any harm had been done to the president. The setup in these liberal dominated states courts was a lose-lose for the president from the start. Thankfully he doesn't need Minnesota and it appears likely the US Supreme Court will deal with Pennsylvania.

IT DOESN'T ADD UP: Patrick Basham in The Spectator gives some compelling reasons why the 2020 presidential election is so puzzling and why fraud seems to be the only answer to explain it.

DUCEY FLIPFLOP: At a news conference on November 18 Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey made the following statement about when he'd certify the election results: “There are legal claims that are being challenged in court... Once those are adjudicated and the process plays out, I will accept the results of the election.” The McCain supporting, establishment Never Trumper, however, went ahead and certified the results this week as state legislators were holding a committee hearing on the evidence for fraud in the Arizona election. 

III. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

NASDAQ DIVERSITY: G.K. Chesterton feared the union of what he called "Hudge and Gudge" - big business and big government. The two have become increasingly allied in America. NASDAQ - part of Chesterton's "Gudge" - is imposing diversity quotas on its listed companies of face harsh consequences. Conservative voters think they can vote this problem out or eliminate it by a judge's verdict yet there's little to stop businesses from doing the work of "Hudge" on their own. The same will likely be true of the COVID vaccine. "Hudge" (big government) won't force you to get it, but "Gudge" won't let you buy groceries if you don't.

FEMALE FOOTBALL KICKER: Vanderbilt University is being lauded for its "progressive" football team hosting the first Power 5 female football kicker. The move is of course as ludicrous as asking women to fight in combat. Sure Ms. Fuller is likely safe from injury, yet what will happen in the even a return kicker makes it past her special teams companions and she is expected to make the tackle - and if she gets injured will the return receiver be blamed (or should he tackle himself to make the play more fair)? Title IX - which effectively mandated women's sports - helped the majority of young men, whom the nation needs physically fit in case of war, out of college sports and left flimsy and flabby. Is one female kicker worth the potential price our nation might face in a time of war?  

JOHNS HOPKINS CENSORED: A statistician at Johns Hopkins found that that the overall death rate in America has not increased during the pandemic. Dr. Genevieve Briand explains that a decline in cardiovascular-related deaths has offset the deaths from the coronavirus. Of course, her research has been censored. She nevertheless stands behind her work and if you'd like to hear what she has to say, you can watch the presentation on her findings.