Fighting Oppression

Oct 9, 2023

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We often think the “good” life is easy and free of trials. But Some Sunday thoughts.

Timestamps, Links, and Resources

0:00- Intro

When I first began teaching the Afghan Bible studies in October of 2022, the government of Pakistan had announced they would be deporting all foreign nationals that did not have current visas to be in Pakistan.

December 15, 2022: End of December 2022, the nightmare of Afghan Refugees in Pakistan

End of December 2022, the nightmare of Afghan Refugees in Pakistan

Some “spontaneous” returns to Afghanistan were due to harassment by Pakistani polic and the threat of being banned from returning to Pakistan if they were deported.

BI-WEEKLY FLOW MONITORING REPORT: SPONTANEOUS RETURN OF UNDOCUMENTED AFGHANS FROM PAKISTAN (17 DEC. TO 31 DEC. 2022)
https://dtm.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1461/files/reports/PAK_FM_Bi-weekly_Dasboard_17%20Dec%20-%2031%20Dec%202022___0.pdf

October 6, 2023 Why is Pakistan planning to deport undocumented Afghans?
The Afghan government has called Pakistan’s decision to expel Afghans living in the country without approval ‘unacceptable’.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/6/why-is-pakistan-deporting-undocumented-afghans

October 6, 2023: Pakistan’s decision to expel illegal Afghan refugees draws backlash
“The repatriation of refugees should be done voluntarily and without any pressure or violence,” UNHCR says.
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-762019

October 4, 2023: Pakistan announces mass deportation of ‘illegal immigrants’ including Afghans
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/04/asia/pakistan-deportation-immigrants-afghans-intl-hnk/index.html

October 4, 2023: Can Pakistan deport 1.7 million Afghan refugees?
For decades, Pakistan has provided a haven for Afghan refugees escaping conflict and upheaval. Now, Afghans in Pakistan are being caught in tensions between Islamabad and Kabul over militant attacks.
https://www.dw.com/en/can-pakistan-deport-17-million-afghan-refugees/a-66995120

03:55- The danger awaiting Afghan allies back in AFghanistan

@submarine_lemon IMPORTANT
Support required urgently – raise awareness of the situation in Pakistan for those from Afghanistan

Tban is planning to put returned children and women with no accompanying male into a camp.

=== When we say the situation in #Pakistan is deteriorating rapidly- we mean it.
“After Pakistan’s caretaker government last week abruptly agreed to deport the 1.7 million Afghans who are estimated to live in the country illegally, the Interior Ministry on Tuesday announced a 28-day deadline for them to leave voluntarily, promising a “reward” to anyone who shares information on their whereabouts starting in November.”

https://washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/05/afghan-refugees-migrants-pakistan-karachi/

We need your help to continue to keep our families in Pakistan safe. Please share and if you are able, donate. Any amount helps. If we all work together, think of how many lives we can change 🙏❤️
https://fundrazr.com/72AbI0?ref=ab_7BQ6P3

December 1, 2022: Afghans Increasingly Marrying Off Young Daughters To Avoid Forced Unions With Taliban
https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-early-marriage-avoid-taliban/32157525.html

August 14, 2022: ‘I’ll be sacrificed’: The lost and sold daughters of Afghanistan
Child marriage, lack of education, financial desperation – a year on from the Taliban takeover, what does the future hold for women and girls?
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/8/14/ill-be-sacrificed-the-lost-and-sold-daughters-of-afghanistan

August 13, 2021: The rape of Afghanistan: Advancing Taliban go door-to-door and forcibly take girls as young as TWELVE to be sex slave ‘wives’ for their fighters as they sweep across country following NATO withdrawal
Taliban has swept across Afghanistan, seizing vast swathes of territory along with nine provincial capitals
Terrified locals say jihadist fighters have been beheading people and forcing women to marry their fighters
Girls as young as 12 have been put on ‘marriage lists’ that village elders have been forced to compile
Taliban are now threatening the city of Maza-i-Sharif, the largest in Afghanistan’s north, as President Ghani flew there on Wednesday to rally the troops and sacked his top general in hopes of reversing Islamist advance
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9883367/Taliban-going-door-door-forcibly-marrying-girls-young-TWELVE.html

November 12, 2021: Girls increasingly at risk of child marriage in Afghanistan
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/girls-increasingly-risk-child-marriage-afghanistan

Girls and women are not only at risk. (The following article implies that the Bacha Bazi perversion was caused by the disruption of the Afghan culture by NATO forces. But the Russian invasion for over 20 years had no impact. The writer also places the blame on the Afghan Republic and claims the Taliban outlawed the practice. The Taliban are perpetrators. There are videos constantly showing up on Twitter of a Talib with their sex slave.)

September 13, 2022: Bacha Bazi – severe child abuse disguised as an Afghani custom

Bacha Bazi – severe child abuse disguised as an Afghani custom

Bacha Bazi or dancing boys (from Persian: bacheh – “boy”, and bazi – “play, game”) is an expression used in certain parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It refers to a practice in Afghanistan engaging generally male children and male adults. This practice has turned into a centuries-long tradition and involves sexual abuse and slavery of young boys by older powerful men, often Pashtuns (New Line Institute, 2021).

These preadolescent boys, called Bacha Bareesh or beardless boys, come from impoverished families and serve as “entertainers” to influential Afghans. Dressed as girls and wearing makeup they dance for their masters who later take them in order to get involved in a sexual relationship. This is how these boys provide for their families.

It is not rare that these children are often taken from their parents with the excuse that they are going to be provided with an education and a promising future. When they reach adolescent age and once their beard starts growing, their service is no longer desired and they are released. This is where their tragic lives continue to worsen due to the psychological damage caused and due to very difficult reintegration into society.

As the perpetrators have always been empowered warlords who have important positions in the Afghan corrupted government, police, and military systems, this practice, going back several centuries into the history of the country, has been a challenge when it comes to its eradication. As a deeply rooted custom, it has been a part of their culture whose archaic aspects are not easily forgotten. We find its antecedents in cultures across central Asia (Human Rights Bright Blue, 2017).

Nevertheless, the horrifying practice that is known today got its form in the 19th century. As women are banned from dancing professionally, these young boys, once taken from their families, are taught how to dance in women’s clothes wearing bells tied to their feet and a scarf over their faces. All they get after being shamelessly used are tokens of money and food (The Diplomat, 2014). During the Taliban government in the ‘90s, this practice was outlawed as it wasn´t considered Islamic and wasn´t aligned with Sharia law. Those who would practice this tradition would be punished by death (Human Rights Bright Blue, 2017).

September 8, 2010: The sexually abused dancing boys of Afghanistan
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11217772

What About the Boys: A Gendered Analysis of the U.S. Withdrawal and Bacha Bazi in Afghanistan
https://newlinesinstitute.org/gender/gender-as-an-analytical-tool-for-foreign-policy/what-about-the-boys-a-gendered-analysis-of-the-u-s-withdrawal-and-bacha-bazi-in-afghanistan/

April 20, 2010: The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dancingboys/etc/synopsis.html

October 28, 2013: Bacha Bazi: An Afghan Tragedy
With the looming withdrawal of NATO troops and a persistent insurgent threat, Afghanistan is in a precarious position. Innumerable tragedies have beleaguered rural Afghans throughout the past decades of conflict — perpetual violence, oppression of women, and crushing poverty have all contributed to the Hobbesian nature of life in the Afghan countryside. While the Afghan …

Bacha Bazi: An Afghan Tragedy

May 26, 2020: Shame and Silence: Bacha Bazi in Afghanistan

Shame and Silence: Bacha Bazi in Afghanistan

7:12- Fighting Opposition

Matrix of Meaning: Five Theses on Christianity and Culture
https://anunexpectedjournal.com/matrix-of-meaning-five-theses-on-christianity-and-culture/

Video with Donald Williams on 95 Theses for a New Reformation

11:00 The cost of not investing in people through education

Greg Abbott is selling the Texas publish school system to his big money donors.

October 8, 2023: Texas at the School-Choice Crossroads
Gov. Greg Abbott is putting his political capital behind ESAs.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-school-choice-education-savings-accounts-greg-abbott-special-session-57ca0901

July 24, 2022: How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state’s far-right shift
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/24/politics/texas-far-right-politics-invs/index.html

March 2023: The Campaign to Sabotage Texas’s Public Schools
What seems like an outbreak of local skirmishes is part of a decades-long push to privatize the education system.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/campaign-to-sabotage-texas-public-schools/

August 8, 2022: Tomlinson: Conservative billionaires seek to destroy Texas public schools with more scare tactics
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Tomlinson-Conservative-billionaires-seek-to-17354027.php

July 27, 2022: ‘They Want To Destroy The Public School System’: CNN Documents Powerful Billionaires’ Influence On Texas Politics

‘They Want To Destroy The Public School System’: CNN Documents Powerful Billionaires’ Influence On Texas Politics

September 11, 2016: Special Report: Touting morality, billionaire Texas brothers top 2016 donor list
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-wilks-specialreport/special-report-touting-morality-billionaire-texas-brothers-top-2016-donor-list-idUSKCN0RB0ZF20150911

May 15, 2018: MEET FARRIS WILKS, KINGMAKER OF THE TEXAS GOP
Wilks is an elder at an idiosyncratic church that reportedly doesn’t allow women to speak during worship. He also pumps millions into Texas Republican politics.

Meet Farris Wilks, Kingmaker of the Texas GOP

September 5, 2023: Texas fracking billionaire brothers fuel rightwing media with millions of dollars
Farris and Dan Wilks’ deep pockets fund climate denialism education, conservative politicians and pro-fossil fuel projects
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/05/texas-fracking-billionaire-brothers-prageru-daily-wire

Just an FYI, Farris Wilks is an actual Trinity denying, cult-leading heretic.

As a heretic steeped in a legalistic Hebraist cult, Wilks has no idea what the actual Gospel is. He is using his billions to exploit and take whatever he can and build his own kingdom on earth, one where things like education for the general population is seen as entirely superflous.

July 19, 2019: Who Gets to Own the West?
A new group of billionaires is shaking up the landscape.

September 13, 2019: Billionaires are buying up America’s ranches
https://www.axios.com/2019/09/13/billionaires-ranches-american-west-farmers-land-ownership

13:55- The difference in culture & regard for women

The Afghanistan Project Project Podcast, Episode #24 with Joe Laude and Aidan Gunderson

Genesis 38: 6-10 NIV

6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death.

8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.

20:43- When Christians don’t know their own rule book

22:10- Reading and Understanding Meaning

Reading Wars: Phonics vs. Whole Language
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/jar/Reading_Wars.html

Getting Hooked On Phonics Activates Parts Of Brain Used By Skilled Readers
https://www.medicaldaily.com/getting-hooked-phonics-activates-parts-brain-used-skilled-readers-336034

The way we teach most children to read sets them up to fail
https://theconversation.com/the-way-we-teach-most-children-to-read-sets-them-up-to-fail-36946

Yes, there’s a right way to teach reading | GreatKids
https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/importance-of-reading-success/

What is the best way to teach children to read?
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/reading/conditioninfo/teach

26:46- The connection between sound and meaning

I hadn’t researched this before I did the update; however, there is a connection between hearing a sound and understanding meeaning.

Are The Sound And Meaning Of Words Connected?
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/sound-and-meaning

The Bouba/Kiki Effect: Understanding the Relationship of Sound and Meaning

The Bouba/Kiki Effect: Understanding the Relationship of Sound and Meaning

Sound–meaning association biases evidenced across thousands of languages
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1605782113

The Relationship Between Sounds and Words in Language
https://www.languagemagazine.com/2015/08/14/the-relationship-between-sounds-and-words-in-language/

Southlake podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/2Tv6EiSkzhzsB7UaTN8cHH?si=a9f49bc88c284cc9

30:30- Fighting Opposition is part of the assignment – on Genesis 1

Job and His Dragon, An Unexpected Journal
https://anunexpectedjournal.com/job-and-his-dragon/

Dragons, Snakes and Demons: A Medieval and Biblical Bestiary for Modern Minds, An Unexpected Journal
https://anunexpectedjournal.com/dragons-snakes-and-demons-a-medieval-and-biblical-bestiary-for-modern-minds/

“Ancient Dragons,” An Unexpected Journal

Job and the Problem of Evil

Genesis 1:1 NIV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Bible study comparing John 1 to Genesis 1

35:50- The Lord over the waters & the storms of life

Bible Study: What did Jesus mean when he said “I AM the living water?”

1 John 1:5 NIV

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

John 14:27 NIV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

38:38- Afghanistan News

Woke up to more Whatsapp messages about this video this morning from Afghans who were hoping the deceptive & manipulative article from
@cis_org
was true. It is heartless & shameless to pile more cruelty on people who are already racing a stone wall in the immigration process
== Phase 2 of @WelcomeCorps was supposed to open “mid 2023,” it didn’t. The initial phase is only open to refugees already in @IOM_USRAP … & Again, Afghans aren’t being given @Refugees certificates. But that @CIS_org is so misleading, a Persian newscast promoted it as a new option

October 2, 2023: The Highest Refugee Admission in Three Decades
The Biden administration is expected to hit FY 2024 ceiling set at 125,000
https://cis.org/Rush/Highest-Refugee-Admission-Three-Decades

42:46- Earthquake in Herat, Afghanistan

@Punk319 The people need help meanwhile, the Taliban is too busy sticking its nose in other people’s business and building mosques and madrassas.
=== “Devastating news: Within hours of the earthquakes, the death toll is alarmingly high, with entire villages reduced to rubble. Hundreds are trapped underneath. While some have stepped up to aid survivors, it’s not enough. We must act now! Please raise awareness about the…

@DTazeh Please join me in supporting victims of yesterday’s devastating M6.3 earthquake in Zinda Jan, Afghanistan, near Herat. @BarakPashtana ’s organization @LEARNAfg is distributing food, medicines, tents and blankets to those displaced by the earthquake.
(Overnight temps in Herat have been 47-53 deg F)

@Jeannie_Hartley As a result of last night’s earthquake, hundreds of people were killed and injured in three governorates of Herat.
And hundreds of others are under the rubble.
The people of these areas need humanitarian aid more than ever in the field of medical supplies, food and clothing. Help Herat.

@OCHAAfg At least 100 people were killed and a further 500 injured in today’s 6.3 magnitude #earthquake in Herat Province. Read more here about ongoing humanitarian response efforts in our latest Flash Update:

@Qaisalamdar #BREAKING | At least 100 people were reported to have died in five consecutive earthquakes in Herat, a western province of #Afghanistan.

@NewsHour Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes killed dozens of people in western Afghanistan on Saturday, the country’s national disaster authority said.

The United Nations gave a preliminary figure of 320 dead, but later said the figure was still being verified.

October 8, 2023: Death toll from western Afghanistan earthquakes soars over 2,000
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/at-least-dozens-killed-in-pair-of-6-3-magnitude-earthquakes-in-western-afghanistan

@Jeannie_Hartley Unfortunately, I have received reports that the Taliban have beaten women after the earthquake because they were out on the streets without Muharram.
Since yesterday, a group of women have been trying to get permission to go to the affected areas and give clothes and first aid to the women who were brought out from under the rubble, but the Taliban did not allow them until today.
Also, a number of white hairs are trying to get permission to allow two or three public baths to be opened for women so that the women who are taken out from under the rubble and dirt, if they are not injured, can bathe and clean from this. to use the bathrooms, and the Taliban have not allowed it until today.

@skotrds The scenes from Herat are heartbreaking and distressing, the people of Afghanistan need some respite from tragedies.
== Official death toll of the earthquake that struck western Afghanistan jumps to horrific high: more than 2,000 people killed.

Herat province is worst hit, with entire villages flattened.

@siv_p2 Hundred of Afghans died and injured in a earthquake disaster in Herat Afghanistan so all Afghans requesting help from Humanitarian Organizations

 

@Punk319 Taliban Arrest Responsible Manager and Two Radio Nasim Journalists in Daikundi:

@TalibLeaks Taking a quick break! Join our Telegram!

Next dump in 36 hours.

A well-paid Taliban employee’s emails, including documents where he is begging for asylum claiming his life is in ‘danger’

@Punk319 But the Taliban says it is on the way to self-sufficiency in the healthcare sector…
== Healthcare Crisis in Ghor Province: Lack of Medicines Leading to Patient Deaths in Pasaband District

October 7, 2023: Healthcare Crisis in Ghor province: Lack of Medicines Leading to Patient Deaths in Pasaband District

Healthcare Crisis in Ghor province: Lack of Medicines Leading to Patient Deaths in Pasaband District

43:40- On the Taliban, Hamas, and Jerusalem

@officejjsmart ❗️ Taliban supported Hamas:

“If the Muslim countries neighboring Israel give us the right of passage, we will conquer Jerusalem.”

Remember: Hamas is a close ally of Iran 🇮🇷 & Russia 🇷🇺:

Enemies of Ukraine 🇺🇦 & the West.

@Punk319 And, with this declaration, the Taliban is on the brink of breaking the Doha Agreement, which states that they will not attack or support attacks on foreign soil or on soil that is allied with the U.S.

@RaisedtoWalk The Taliban broke the Doha “agreement” (also known as Khalizad’s loser surrender) was broken before the Aug 21 withdrawal. @StephanAJensen has documented the Taliban attacks NEVER decreased after Doha. And what do you call the explosion at Abby Gate? It was a direct attack on us.
== And, with this declaration, the Taliban is on the brink of breaking the Doha Agreement, which states that they will not attack or support attacks on foreign soil or on soil that is allied with the U.S.

@Voicefp He is member of the Taliban and from ghor province and killed in Israel.
https://twitter.com/Voicefp/status/1711383732199014709

@officejjsmart ❗️ Taliban supported Hamas:

“If the Muslim countries neighboring Israel give us the right of passage, we will conquer Jerusalem.”

Remember: Hamas is a close ally of Iran 🇮🇷 & Russia 🇷🇺:

Enemies of Ukraine 🇺🇦 & the West.

48:10- Wrap-up

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Info on Afghan immigration to Canada

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Official US agency for Afghanistan oversight

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General Afghanistan news & SIV Processing

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Author & Analyst: Afghanistan & Middle East policy

Kabul Now @KabulNow

Afghanistan News

Beth Braley @BWBailey85

Journalist & co-host of the Afghanistan Project Podcast

Lark Abroad @Larkabroad

General Afghanistan news & Immigration process