The Problem with Christian Nihilism

Aug 13, 2023

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Timestamps, Links, and Resources

0:00- Intro
2:45- Christian Nihilism vs Christian Nationalism

Nihilism – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism

The Meaning of Life
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life-meaning/

Christian Classics Ethereal Library
https://ccel.org

 

Discussion on Devoted by Dean Koontz

10:22 The hope of the Gospel

Ephesians 1:18 NIV

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,

The Good End: Isaiah 65:17-25

“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.

20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!
21 In those days people will live in the houses they build
and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
22 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
23 They will not work in vain,
and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
and their children, too, will be blessed.
24 I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs,
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”

15:09- Christian Nationalism – coopting the church for an agenda

August 10, 2023: Christianity Today Editor: Evangelicals Call Jesus “Liberal” and “Weak”
A former evangelical leader is sounding the alarm about the direction his religion is headed in.
https://newrepublic.com/post/174950/christianity-today-editor-evangelicals-call-jesus-liberal-weak

“History of the Martyrs in Palestine by Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea
https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_martyrs.htm

What’s behind Boom of Christianity in China?
Theology scholars and a global network of researchers are using big data to map religion’s history in China and explain its rapid growth

What’s behind Boom of Christianity in China?

September 16, 2015: 3 Surprising Places Christianity Is Exploding In The World Today

3 Surprising Places Christianity Is Exploding In The World Today

March 15, 2027: Why Christianity Is Exploding in Unlikely Muslim Nation
https://www.charismanews.com/world/63592-why-christianity-is-exploding-in-unlikely-muslim-nation

June 28, 2017: The Explosive Growth of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity in the Global South, and Its Implications for Catholic Evangelization

The Explosive Growth of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity in the Global South, and Its Implications for Catholic Evangelization

21:18- Challenges to education and Christian discipleship – COVID brain damage

March 1, 2023: Does COVID-19 damage the brain?
Ask the doctor
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/does-covid-19-damage-the-brain

Long COVID: Brain fog
https://www.nhsinform.scot/long-term-effects-of-covid-19-long-covid/signs-and-symptoms/long-covid-brain-fog

April 26, 2022: How Effects on the Brain Can Produce Long COVID
https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/how-effects-on-the-brain-can-produce-long-covid/

March 7, 2022: SARS-CoV-2 is associated with changes in brain structure in UK Biobank
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04569-5

June 4, 2020: How Does Coronavirus Affect the Brain?
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/how-does-coronavirus-affect-the-brain

April 17, 2023: Long Covid smell loss linked to changes in the brain
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/apr/long-covid-smell-loss-linked-changes-brain

January 27, 2022: Olfactory loss and brain connectivity after COVID-19
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35083823/

December 20, 2022: COVID-19 and Traffic Accidents: Is a COVID-19 Personality Disorder Caused by Viral Damage to the Prefrontal Cortex?
https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-traffic-accidents-covid-19-personality-disorder-caused-viral-damage-prefrontal-cortex-

October 22, 2021: COVID-19-induced surge in the severity of gender-based violence might increase the risk for acquired brain injuries
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8543566/

Can COVID-19 alter your personality? Here’s what brain research shows.
Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and traumatic brain injury can cause changes in behavior by altering brain anatomy. Now it seems the coronavirus can too.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/can-covid-19-alter-your-personality-heres-what-brain-research-shows

April 22, 2022: COVID raises risk of long-term brain injury, large U.S. study finds
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/covid-raises-risk-of-long-term-brain-injury-large-u-s-study-finds-1.6081775

Olfactory Cortex: Vital for the processing and perception of odor. Is a component of the limbic system. This system is involved in the processing of our emotions, survival instincts, and memory formation and connects senses, such as odors, to our memories and emotions.
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Olfactory_Cortex

January 2011: Olfactory system and emotion: Common substrates
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879729610001237

September 25, 2013: When the Sense of Smell Meets Emotion: Anxiety-State-Dependent Olfactory Processing and Neural Circuitry Adaptation
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3782615/

February 27, 2020: What the nose knows: Experts discuss the science of smell and how scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined — and exploited

What the nose knows

August 23, 2017: Preprocessing of emotional visual information in the human piriform cortex
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-09295-x

Hugh Ross, astrophysicist

Hugh Ross

24:33- Coopting the pulpit for a political agenda

Ret. Lt, @GenFlynn, to a roomful of religious leaders, paraphrased:
“You should believe me because I’m a semi-famous retired general and I’m telling you WE ARE AT WAR WAR WAR YOU ARE GOING TO DIE WAR WAR WAR.”

26:27- Judgment Day: the answer to nihilism

Matthew 25:41-46

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[g] 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

29:35- Texas torturing and killing migrants

Spending 300 pages to explain why it’s okay that
@GregAbbott_TX sets traps in an international waterway to murder people (yes kill without cause) when investigator positions have been vacant for months 👌Gotcha. Support murder & let fraud go unchecked

32:53- Afghanistan News

Taliban confiscate TVs

@natiqmalikzada Responding to Zalmai Khalilzad’s statement, in which he said that Afghanistan political leaders should return and not oppose the Taliban because the USA would not help them overthrow the Taliban regime, the National Resistance Front leader said, “God granted mastery to that nation which wrote its destiny with its own hands.”

35:45- Overview of why the U.S. was in Afghanistan

Women line up to vote in Afghanistan’s first presidential election. USAID Photo

U.S. Commitment to Afghanistan
https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/afghanistan/us-commitment.html

November 23, 2004: Afghanistan: From Presidential to Parliamentary Elections
The October 2004 presidential election went well, and Afghanistan now has its first ever popularly elected president. But the parliamentary, provincial and district elections now scheduled for April 2005 will be considerably more complicated, and preparations are going too slowly.
https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/afghanistan-presidential-parliamentary-elections

October 12, 2004: AFGHANISTAN’S FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION NOT PERFECT, BUT SETS STAGE FOR JOURNEY TOWARDS VIGOROUS DEMOCRACY, SECURITY COUNCIL TOLD
https://press.un.org/en/2004/sc8216.doc.htm

October 8, 2004: Afghans vote in historic election
Election set amid heavy security
https://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/10/08/afghanistan.elections/

@natiqmalikzada “Brother, I remained at my post until the very end, ready to be killed but never to surrender. Yet the corrupt leaders fled, leaving the country to the terrorist Taliban. Today, all those leaders live in comfort, while my family and thousands of others don’t have a piece of bread to give our children.”

@StephanAJensen 🇦🇫 If the Taliban’s propaganda was true and most Afghans really did support them, they would have had no reason to mount a 20-year campaign of terror to gain power.

They could have just stopped killing people and run for election.

But they knew they’d never win one.

November 20, 2022: GROUND ZERO
The Evacuation of the CIA’s Afghan Proxies Has Opened One of the War’s Blackest Boxes

The Evacuation of the CIA’s Afghan Proxies Has Opened One of the War’s Blackest Boxes

The Doha Agreement
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/02.29.20-US-Afghanistan-Joint-Declaration.pdf

Generation Jihad podcast
https://www.fdd.org/category/analysis/podcasts/generation-jihad/

Secret Annexes to the Doha Agreement

February 15, 2020: Secret Annexes, Backroom Deals: Can Zalmay Khalilzad Deliver Afghan Peace for Trump?
https://time.com/5784103/secret-annexes-backroom-deals-can-zalmay-khalilzad-deliver-afghan-peace-for-trump/

To get past that roadblock, Khalilzad has come up with a rickety workaround. The deal contains secret annexes, according to three people familiar with details of the current draft. The first is an agreement for U.S. counterterrorism forces to stay in the country. The second is a Taliban denouncement of terrorism and violent extremism. The third annex contains a mechanism to monitor whether all sides are honoring the semi-truce while talks between warring Afghan parties proceed, according to two of the sources, and the last addresses how the CIA will operate in future in Taliban-controlled areas.

Details of the secret annexes were provided in writing to TIME by one of the sources, who insisted on anonymity to disclose details of the confidential talks. A U.S. lawmaker and two Afghan officials confirmed that a long-term counterterrorism force numbering 8,600 U.S. troops, down from the current 13,000, is part of the deal. The State Department and Khalilzad’s office declined to comment, as did the CIA. Khalilzad declined to be interviewed for this article. A Taliban official insisted Thursday that the deal requires a full U.S. troop withdrawal and said that talk of secret annexes were just rumors.

March 8, 2020: A Secret Accord With the Taliban: When and How the U.S. Would Leave Afghanistan
The Taliban have read the secret annexes of the recently signed peace deal. But most Americans haven’t, nor have many of their elected representatives.

In a secure facility underneath the Capitol, members of Congress stopped by all last week to review two classified annexes to the Afghan peace accord with the Taliban that set the criteria for a critical element of the agreement: What constitutes enough “peace” for the United States to withdraw its forces?

The Taliban have read the annexes. Nonetheless, the Trump administration insists that the secret documents must remain secret, though officials have struggled to explain why to skeptical lawmakers.

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, in congressional testimony, appeared unaware of — or seemed unwilling to discuss — the secret annexes just days before the agreement was signed. And lawmakers who have paid the most attention to the peace plan also openly express frustration with the lack of a mechanism for verifying compliance that they believe Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had promised.

At the core of the two documents, according to people familiar with their contents, is a timeline for what should happen over the next 18 months, what kinds of attacks are prohibited by both sides and, most important, how the United States will share information about its troop locations with the Taliban.

August 25, 2021: In the US-Taliban peace deal, the mystery of the secret annexes
https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/in-the-us-taliban-peace-deal-the-mystery-of-the-secret-annexes-101629868569003.html

@billroggio “Leaders” such as @stavridisj helped lead America to defeat in Afghanistan and capitulation to the Taliban. Now they want us to further submit to the Taliban in order to get nothing in return. Just as the last negotiations (Doha agreement) with the Taliban yielded.

@timuridtimurid The current pro-Taliban policy in US was put together by @realZalmayMK , who surrendered the US to the Taliban in the Doha Accords. This same person, was a paid lobbyist for the Taliban prior to 9/11. Current Afghan policy team in State Dept are his team, like @US4AfghanPeace

@timuridtimurid He’s Afghan. No shortage of clues about Zal’s divided loyalties all these years. Just watch, in a couple of years, someone else will appoint him envoy to Afghanistan. It’s just amazing.

@timuridtimurid He was an official Taliban lobbyist in 90’s, and is now a lobbyist for Taliban through Qatar. His wife (Cheryl Benard) has a lobbying group called “Unfreeze Afghanistan “ again paid for by Qatar, intent on releasing the $9B frozen Afghan Central bank assets to Taliban.

Episode 45: Generation Jihad

August 20, 2023: Afghan refugees who aided the U.S. stuck in legal limbo, two years after Kabul’s fall

Afghan refugees who aided the U.S. stuck in legal limbo, two years after Kabul’s fall

August 15, 2023: An act of Congress could grant legal status to thousands of Afghan allies. What’s the holdup?
Two years after Kabul fell, tens of thousands of Afghans are still stuck in limbo in the US.
https://www.vox.com/2023/8/15/23833209/afghanistan-kabul-anniversary-afghan-adjustment-act-parole-siv

March 16, 2023: Agency Failures Make Obtaining Humanitarian Parole Almost Impossible for Afghans
USCIS records show how the agency’s response to the high volume of humanitarian parole applications contributed to the massive delays faced by Afghans
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/foia/uscis-failures-afghans-parole

@AngelaGhayour_ 12th A12th August 2021.
Every morning at 4:30am my alarm clock was the sound of bombs. Boom Boom Boom.
We were in the middle of our midterm school exams and the first thing I would do when I woke up was turn on my sim internet and check the news.

@AngelaGhayour_ 12th AOn the eve of the fall of Afghanistan to the hand of Taliban, @AngelaGhayour_ created an online platform where 100s of teachers from around the world volunteered to teach in online classes to Afghan girls.

@AngelaGhayour_ 12th AAugust 12 is a black day for me;

Last year, on this day, I was arrested and tortured by the Taliban due to the coverage of women’s demonstrations in Kabul.

The Tb torture in a terrible way,including whipping & electric shocks in men’s private parts,which I find difficult to..
https://twitter.com/Voicefp/status/1690250197224361984

@AngelaGhayour_ 12th A 🇦🇫 🇺🇦 If the West had not demonstrated a complete lack of resolve by abandoning Afghanistan, Putin would not have dared invade Ukraine.

You reap what you sow.

Or rather – Afghans and Ukrainians reap what presidents Trump and Biden sowed.

@Just_Kate_K This is the reason why volunteers remain so angry, two years after the withdrawal.

Because selfless and courageous Afghans like Mahnaz protected countless American lives during this conflict – yet in return, we’ve given them uncertain futures.

43:12- News Highlights from Afghanistan

@natiqmalikzada “Brother, I remained at my post until the very end, ready to be killed but never to surrender. Yet the corrupt leaders fled, leaving the country to the terrorist Taliban. Today, all those leaders live in comfort, while my family and thousands of others don’t have a piece of bread to give our children.”

@Qaisalamdar Aug 10 Let’s set the record straight: The Taliban is not bringing security to Afghanistan. Opinion piece by @NasimiShabnam & @pforzheimera

@SIGARHQ According to analysis from #USIP, the Taliban are comfortable accepting foreign support insofar as they can closely monitor the organizations, including restricting and controlling them, and claim some credit for the provision of the benefits

@natiqmalikzada This video is being circulated on social media showing a Taliban fighter captured by the National Resistance Front (#NRF) forces. The Resistance forces tell him, “Because you have children and you’ve been captured, we won’t kill you. Go back to your home.”

We Are NRF @WeAreNRF Inside Afg secret schools, defiance triumphs over despair. Women & girls refuse to be silenced, creating secret sanctuaries for learning. Hear more about this hidden world, where the pursuit of education is an act of profound resilience.

@SarahAh998 At least 40 Afghanistan’s former prosecutors killed and wounded in the past two years

@Punk319 Bamiyan bazaar hairdressers say that the Taliban have “beaten them, detained them, tortured them, and fined them”.

One of these women says that they had taken pictures of the torture and beatings, but the Taliban “deleted” all their pictures.

@Punk319 A number of women in Herat city protested against the Taliban on Wednesday.

They are the residents of “Ghand 11 families” of Herat and they say that the Taliban evicted them from their homes without giving them shelter.

@MahmoudSaikal Afghanistan’s central bank lacks independence from the Taliban administration and adequate safeguards against money laundering and terrorism financing, a US watchdog has told the US Congress.

@SIGARHQ Aug 9 #USIP reported, “According to multiple UN officials across different agencies, the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programming”

This quarter, an analysis prepared by #USIP for #USAID found that Taliban are “pushing for ever-increasing degrees of credit and control over the delivery of aid,” particularly aid from the UN, since most donor funding is routed through the UN system

@KabulNow The Taliban publicly flogged nine individuals, including a woman, in Faryab, Jowzjan, and Nangarhar provinces on charges of moral corruption

August 12, 2023: Taliban publicly flogs nine individuals in three provinces of Afghanistan

Taliban publicly flogs nine individuals in three provinces of Afghanistan

@SarahAh998 Taliban intelligence agents detain three journalists on claims they reported for exiled media – Committee to Protect Journalists

August 11, 2023: Taliban intelligence agents detain three journalists on claims they reported for exiled media

Taliban intelligence agents detain three journalists on claims they reported for exiled media

@natiqmalikzada The terror of the Taliban continues!

Sakhiuddin Rahman, a former military commander of the previous government in Balkh province, was arrested by Taliban members in the market of Kushinda district two weeks ago. He remained missing until last Thursday when his body was found buried in the dirt at the center of the district. #Afghanistan

@SarahAh998 The second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is fast approaching. Since then, Afghan women have been denied the most basic human rights in what can only be described as gender apartheid.

August 11, 2023: The Taliban’s War on Women in Afghanistan must be formally recognized as Gender Apartheid
https://www.juancole.com/2023/08/afghanistan-recognized-apartheid.html

August 8, 2023: The world must unite now to halt the Taliban’s repression of Afghan women and girls
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/08/halt-taliban-repression-afghan-women-girls-education

@skotrds As noted, food programs defunded or not receiving donations (materially the same thing). We paying attention yet?
==
Despite high level of need, #WFP cut emergency food assistance to 8 million people since April due to severe funding shortfalls. To sustain operations through winter 2023, #WFP says it must raise $1.2 billion in funding through Humanitarian Response Plan

@SIGARHQ (1/3) Despite Taliban promises made since gaining power in Aug 2021 to be more inclusive, counter terrorism, respect human rights, and not pose security threat to region, UN says Taliban “shows no signs of bending to pressure for reform or compromise…”

@HabibKhanT 2 days after the fall, Taliban pledged amnesty for ex-ANDSF, promised to respect women’s rights, & press freedom. Yet, 2 years on, they’ve reneged, opting for a brutal repression drive, breaking all vows. Read more in our report.

August 11, 2023: Two Years Of Repression: Mapping Taliban Violence Targeting Civilians in Afghanistan
A Joint ACLED and APW Report

Two Years of Repression: Mapping Taliban Violence Targeting Civilians in Afghanistan

August 1, 2023: Claims of Taliban killings of former ANDSF and family members continue to surface, including female officer
While cases are difficult to fully verify, there has been a steady stream of claims since the Taliban’s return to power.
https://www.afghanwitness.org/reports/claims-of-taliban-killings-of-former-andsf-and-family-members-continue-to-surface%2C-including-female-officer-

@Punk319 As a reminder, the Taliban closed down secondary schools to girls because they claim there was a lack of female teachers to teach girls. I ask, how can this be fixed when girls are denied education?

Denying girls an education does not fix the teacher and doctor shortage.

@Stevens18Clint ‼️❤️‼️Tweeps, Zarmina knows first hand about Taliban torture in the prisons in Afghanistan … follow her‼️🙏‼️ She is an 🇦🇫Afghan🇦🇫 hero‼️

@SIGARHQ According to analysis from #USIP, the Taliban are comfortable accepting foreign support insofar as they can closely monitor the organizations, including restricting and controlling them, and claim some credit for the provision of the benefits

Inside Afghanistan’s secret schools The Documentary Sana Safi finds out how teenage girls are getting around the Taliban ban on education
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5j1t

August 9, 2023: At least 40 Afghanistan’s former prosecutors killed and wounded in the past two years

At least 40 Afghanistan’s former prosecutors killed and wounded in the past two years

@StephanAJensen The Taliban no more represent “authentic Afghanistan” than the Nazis represented “authentic Germany.”

And extremist movements born of chaos whose only real claim to power comes from violence and terror are bound to be transient.
🇦🇫 🇩🇪

@Punk319 Bamiyan bazaar hairdressers say that the Taliban have “beaten them, detained them, tortured them, and fined them”.

One of these women says that they had taken pictures of the torture and beatings, but the Taliban “deleted” all their pictures.

August 8, 2023: Afghan central bank lacks independence from Taliban: US watchdog
It lacked independence from the Taliban, had deficiencies in anti-money laundering and countering ‘terrorism’ financing.
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/8/8/afghan-central-bank-lacks-independence-from-taliban-us-watchdog

@HWahriz The unfortunate reality is that we’re constrained from openly discussing the locations where unspeakable atrocities’ve taken place against Daricha’s female-educators. Brave female educators face unspeakable atrocities under Taliban oppression, yet courageously teach gls at home.

@SIGARHQ #USIP reported, “According to multiple UN officials across different agencies, the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programming”

@NRC_Egeland 15.3 million Afghans face acute food insecurity.
Acute malnutrition is above emergency thresholds in 25 out of 34 provinces, & expected to worsen.
Already, severe underfunding has led to a massive reduction in the number of people targeted for food assistance

#truth and for the millionth time. Most of the people coming this way are ASYLUM seekers & it is a basic human right (as well as Biblical) to seek asylum. Every civilized country provides for asylum. It is third-world dumpster fires that do not 🧵1/12

@SIGARHQ This quarter, an analysis prepared by #USIP for #USAID found that Taliban are “pushing for ever-increasing degrees of credit and control over the delivery of aid,” particularly aid from the UN, since most donor funding is routed through the UN system

@josephazam As predicted and expected. The funds in question absolutely belong to the Afghan people. The Taliban — a criminal syndicate who took over Afghanistan in the most heinous and violent way — know what they need to do to enable Afghans to have access to these funds. And yet…

===Taliban-controlled central bank has failed a US-funded audit meant for release of billions of dollars in Afghanistan’s frozen funds. Da Afghanistan Bank has fallen short in meeting conditions for accessing $3.5 billion assets held in a Swiss trust fund. A US Treasury official in a report said the paramount conditions for release of the funds is DAB’s political neutrality and replacement of sanctioned Taliban officials overseeing DAB. There are also concerns regarding money laundering and independent monitoring.

@knazary Listening to this 13 year old girl, I hear the silenced dreams of a generation. A plea for the life that was promised & now withheld. Education forbidden & toys replaced with adult expectations. Where once there was light, now only darkness remains. #EveryHomeASchool


·
@natiqmalikzada Slapping the shopkeeper for allowing women in the shop!

In this video, the Taliban’s vice and virtue agents slapping a shopkeeper for allowing women to enter his shop. 👇

@Stevens18Clint ‼️🙏‼️Please tweeps, follow this courageous young 🇦🇫Afghan🇦🇫, who has spent time in a Taliban prison, and seen and heard the torture … she is fighting for Afghan freedom … I admire her SO MUCH … ❤️🙏❤️Zarmina❤️🙏❤️‼️‼️‼️

@jason_c_howk Fixing headline

Terrorist complains about humanitarian crisis and refugee problems his terror network created

@jason_c_howk Fixing headline

Terrorists who regularly murdered professionals, academics, and

@Octuposo0 The Taliban opposes jihad within Pakistan, yt condones it against the Afg population. They engage in the distressing practices of targeting women activists n former soldiers from the previous government, turning these grim realities into daily life experiences across Afghanistan.

@afghan_witness #Afghanistan | Morwarid’s Story

👉A young entrepreneur struggles to keep her business afloat amid Taliban restrictions.

Read her story: 🔗https://afghanwitness.org/stories/morwarid

@nigroeneveld Big shame. Afghan guards risked their lives for $210 a month for The Netherlands, now they’re on the Taliban’s death list.

@AbdullahAzada Breaking: Ambassador Dr. Mutlaq Al-Qahtani has been dismissed from the Afghanistan case (moved to Norway as the Qatar’s Ambassador) by the Amir of Qatar. He was one of the masterminds behind the restoration of the Taliban’s emirate in Afghanistan and served as a liaison between Afghan and Western parties.
The motive behind this significant decision in Qatar’s foreign policy remains unclear. However, it appears that he developed an unnecessary bias – became corrupted that ultimately proved counterproductive in the long term. Meanwhile, he also failed to deliver on the grand aspirations of the “Taliban 2.0.”
Overall, the Taliban project is encountering challenges on various fronts, including in Islamabad and Doha now.

@NatImmForum It’s been nearly two years since Kabul fell to the Taliban and American forces withdrew. Congress has still not passed a permanent pathway to citizenship for our Afghan allies.

$2.35 billion dollars to find the terrorists and thugs while the people starve and live in fear

@natiqmalikzada Taliban Prepare Suicide Bombers in Water Dispute With Ira

August 6, 2023: Taliban Prepare Suicide Bombers in Water Dispute With Iran
Two sides fight over water supply pact as drought strikes
Fallout with Iran further damages stability of the region
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-07/taliban-prepare-suicide-bombers-in-water-dispute-with-iran?in_source=embedded-checkout-banner#xj4y7vzkg

@TajudenSoroush The person meeting with Western diplomats in Doha is Mullah Torabi, deputy of Taliban Red Crescent. He was justice minister in previous Taliban regime and a serious violator of human rights. In the 1990s, dozens men and women hands were cut off and stoned to death by his orders

U.S. and Afghanistan

August 10, 2023: Two years on, what has happened to Afghan evacuees?
Hundreds of thousands have been left in limbo, either on short-term visas or in third countries awaiting resettlement.
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2023/08/10/two-years-what-has-happened-afghan-evacuees

@StephanAJensen He’s right.
=== Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has said that the US-Taliban deal under former US president Donald Trump’s administration was “a disastrous mistake” for Washington’s “national security in the world.”

@HaroonHakimi1 “Mahmood has lost an entire year of his life. His detention has not only devastated me and Mahmood’s mother, his brothers, his wife, and his little daughter, but it will also negatively affect Afghanistan and its people.” Habibi’s father writes

August 10, 2023: My son is an American citizen held in Afghanistan for one year as of today

My son is an American citizen held in Afghanistan for one year as of today

@MHottak The US government is funding terrorism and Pakistan indirectly.

We want an audit trail of the $40 million each week that is paid to the Taliban in AFG.

Spending 300 pages to explain why it’s okay that  @GregAbbott_TX sets traps in an international waterway to murder people (yes kill without cause) when investigator positions have been vacant for months 👌Gotcha. Support murder & let fraud go unchecked

@christy_staats Good news: the increase in refugee resettlement seems to be sticking around. For the fifth consecutive month, the U.S. resettled more than 6,000 refugees — monthly numbers we haven’t seen in years.

@CarlosHappyNPO “I was a stranger and you … drowned me.”

– Jesus
===
Texas Gov Abbott has installed circular saws between the Rio Grande border buoys to maim or kill anyone who attempts to climb over. Two bodies have already been found trapped in the floating barrier.

He wants more migrants to die.

@CChristineFair For those so-called Christians

@RaisedtoWalk #TrueStory, I have a friend who has been waiting almost this long for citizenship after coming here from 🇨🇦 as a teen. His parents have citizenship now, he does not as he “aged out” before their application was approved
===
📣37 years is far too long to be waiting for immigration reform. It’s time for Congress to act.

@timuridtimurid The current pro-Taliban policy in US was put together by @realZalmayMK , who surrendered the US to the Taliban in the Doha Accords. This same person, was a paid lobbyist for the Taliban prior to 9/11. Current Afghan policy team in State Dept are his team, like
@US4AfghanPeace

@alexplitsas “I’m in a legal limbo,” she says. That’s because, almost two years after the United States withdrew its last forces from Afghanistan, Congress has failed to deliver on the promises made to our allies in America’s longest war.”

August 8, 2023: She was lucky to escape Afghanistan. Two years later, she’s stuck in limbo.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/08/afghanistan-withdrawal-allies-afghan-adjustment-act/

@josephazam I can’t believe this needs to be said. The US engaged w/the Taliban throughout the Trump presidency. Doha Agreement was btwn the US and the Taliban — Afghan govt, civ society, and Afghan women were not included in the process. Afghans are living w/the outcome of that engagement.

@SIGARHQ NEW🚨 SIGAR releases its 60th Quarterly Report to Congress with updates on the current situation in #Afghanistan. Read here:

@SIGARHQ (1/2) As of June, SIGAR calculates approx. $1.7 billion of nearly $112.4 billion, the amount appropriated to the six largest active reconstruction accounts, remained available for possible disbursement


·
@SIGARHQ (1/3) Question for Policymakers: While more oversight of these processes is necessary, U.S. agencies are likely to hit a ceiling in the speed at which they can review SIV, P1, and P2 applications; vet applicants for security; and evacuate & resettle U.S. allies in United States

@SIGARHQ In response to problems with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program’s P2 process, Congress required #StateDept to draft reports on processing times & staffing shortages. However, these reports are not public, and problems persist

The way things have been going lately, I’m waiting for a similar story to come out of @GregAbbott_TX ‘s Texas.

Oh wait, does the law preventing municipalities from banning fracking count?

48:58- Kabul Hope update

On our shady school board – Cheap Talk and Faith without Works

1:02:59- Wrapup

 

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<a href="https://raisedtowalk.org/author/carla/" target="_self">Carla M. Sallee Alvarez</a>

Carla M. Sallee Alvarez

Carla Alvarez is the founder of Raised to Walk and a founding board member of An Unexpected Journal, a Communications Director at Legacy Marketing Services where she uses her BS in Marketing to create communication strategies for business, and an unlikely case manager and Bible Study teacher for the Afghan Christians of Kabul Hope Latest Series: Hacked: the Saga How an oily politician and a band of intellectual property and identity thieves conspired to erase a third-grade Sunday school teacher, Read more of her work on Google Scholar and Substack or contact her to write for you.

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