Persecution

Pour un cinquième de l’Église mondiale, le leadership s’exerce dans un contexte de persécution. Si la persécution et le leadership suscitent l’un et l’autre un intérêt croissant tant parmi les érudits que chez un public plus profane, il a été jusqu’ici mené peu de recherches au carrefour de ces deux domaines d’études, qui portent sur l’expérience du leadership face à la persécution. Cet article en appelle à une étude consciente et approfondie du leadership chrétien dans ce dernier contexte, qui prenne en compte les défis du témoignage à Jésus-Christ en pareilles circonstances, des perspectives bibliques, de la pertinence des théories du leadership et des profits à en retirer pour l’Église mondiale, notamment pour les communautés persécutées, pour les missionnaires et pour ceux jouissant d’un degré plus important de liberté religieuse. La théorie du leadership de Robert E. Quinn est un exemple de modèle de recherche prometteur, testé dans le cadre de l’étude du leadership de l’église Meserete Kristos, en Éthiopie, entre 1974 et 1991.

CONTENTS

October 17th, 2011 [pages 6-15]
I
Persecution and the Art of Writing or Towards a Hermeneutics of Suspicion
from interpretation of the meaning between lines to explanation of the transcendental effect of forms

1. ‘PERSECUTION’: from the threat of philosophical truth to the subversion of the verisimilitude of fiction

2. ‘THE ART OF WRITING’: protection for the author and selective communication with accomplices

i. The protective output: the censor’s impasse and authority outwitted

ii. The communicational output: separation of readerships and selective training in the subversive knowledge

3. The ‘ART OF READING’: from interpretation of the implicit message to explanation of the transcendental revolution in forms

i. The ‘interpretation’ stage: moving from the explicit sense to the implicit intended meaning—criteria for recognizing and reconstructing the concealed message.
  * First stage: criteria for recognizing anomalies that give grounds to suspect second intentions
  * Second stage: reconstruction criteria allowing the implicit meaning to be established

ii. The stage of ‘explanation’: from the sociology of knowledge to transcendental stylistics

October 18th, 2011 [pages 16-31]
II
The Latin Erotic Elegy and the Case of Propertius
from subversion of the Augustan imperial ethos to the metaphysics of dissimulatio

1. Introduction. From the elegiac paradox (irrepressible passion-love in an interruptive texture) to an art of writing between the lines

2. A historico-literary context of substitution: the Roman erotic elegy between poetic dissimulatio and Augustan auctoritas

i. Literary elements that contribute to ‘recognition’ of the elegiac art of writing: from literature as imitatio to irony as dissimulatio

ii. Political elements that contribute to the ‘reconstruction’ of the implied message: elegiac values versus the values of Augustan auctoritas—Propertius’ authorial situation vis-à-vis the vates, Horace and Virgil.

3. Interpretation: an amatory façade for the subversion of imperial values—progressive dissimulatio in Propertius’ writing

i. Propertius’ independence in the Monobiblos: from amatory etiology to the sphragis of political resistance

ii. Propertius’ precautions in Maecenas’ circle, or the art of writing in Books 2 and 3: from the amatory mask to the mask of literary rivalry
  * The love mask: frontal subversion of Augustan moral reforms and marriage laws sheltered in the imperative of ‘irregular elegiac passion’
  * The mask of literary rivalry in the programmatic elegies: from urban recusatio, the refusal to write epic on national themes, to subversion of the Augustan ideals expressed in the official poetry of Horace and Virgil.
  -Subversion of the imperial ideals in Virgil’s poetry: mocking the claims of the Aeneid. Propertius 2.34.
  -Subversion of Horace’s public stances in the Odes. Propertius 3.1-2.
  * The final mask: the use of hyperbole, bad taste and mythological harmonics to subvert the political values and legitimated triumphs of the imperial authority

iii. Propertius under Augustus’ eye: the final dissimulatio in Book 4—subversion by deliberate bad taste and allusion by mythological harmonics.

4. Explanation: from the counterworld of the elegiac fiction to the metaphysics of dissimulatio

i. The sociology of discourse: the counterworld of the elegiac fiction, or the Dionysiac inversion of Apollonian values

ii. Transcendental poetics: the metaphysics of dissimulatio


October 19th, 2011 [pages 32-56]
III
The Love Poetry of the Provençal Troubadours
from the sensualism of the gai saber to the synthesis of sound against the totalitarianism of vision

1. Introduction. A paradoxical contrast – the monotony of the motives of idealized love versus the originality of the couplings of rhyme – as promotion of the queen in a game of warfare

2. A historico-literary context of substitution. Troubadour joi: from the gai saber of Occitan dispersion to the linguistic joculum of the couplings of rhyme

i. The philosophico-discursive side: the naturalistic sensualism of the gai saber vs. Christian orthodox ontotheology

ii. The poetico-literary aspect: the promotion of musical joculum in the couplings of rhyme

3. Interpretation. The naturalistic sensualism of the gai saber: a provocative defense of ‘sensory passion’ in a ‘world governed by chance’

i. The trobar prim (naturau e cortes) of William of Aquitaine (1071-1126): from the paradox of a ‘double-faced poet’ to the game of con in a world of chance
  * The contradictions of a ‘double-faced poet.’ A reading in context
  * The natural register in the companion songs: a pornographic imaginary behind the explicit defense of natural passion.
  * The invention of the ‘courtly love’ register: a confession of unsatisfied desire and submission to the domna as a parody of the new ideals of monastic asceticism.
  * The pseudo-metaphysical register in Farai un vers de dreit nien: an ‘Enigma about Nothingness’ as a parody of the Hyperessence, or immanent naturalism against negative theology.

* Conclusion regarding the interwoven registers at the origin of the trobar: the promotion of passion-love in the immanence of the world behind the defensive façade of courtly love.

ii. Marcabrú’s trobar brau: the paradox of a moralizing but obscene condemnation of love as a parody of preachers that awakens desire.

iii. The courtly trobar or the classic canso in anamorphosis: from confession of a belligerent confrontation over sensory passion to staging of the experience of joi

iv. Arnaut Daniel’s trobar clus: concealment and final communication of the gai saber in the arts of the miglior fabbro del parlar materno
  * The trobar leu and the arrival of the trobar clus: the case of Arnaut Daniel’s trobar ric.
  * The concealment of meanings in the trobar clus.
  * Lexicon and images: the dir strano e bello or the subversion of the metaphorical order
  * Linguistic Marranism and barbarolexia: the Provençal parody of official Latin
  * Impossible images and dream allegories: subversion of the metaphorical order.
  * Verbal music: from the sensory materialization of the joi of the world to the experience of pleasure in the arts of delay
  * Daniel’s characteristic consonance: the song of nature as an invitation to joi
  * The cobla ‘dissoluta’: the arts of amatory delay, intensification of desire by deferred satisfaction, in the sensory field of rhyme. (Sim fos amors de joi donar tan larga).
  * The last stage of the trobar (Lo ferm voler qu’el cor m’intra): linguistic, sexual and metaphysical dissemination in the ‘sestina.’
-The involution of the sestina as the final stage of experimentation in the arts of delay of the trobar (mot refranh, rims estrams, permutations).
-The linguistic dissemination of the words in the poem: from the banal motifs of courtly love to the martial imagery and sensory experience of the pleasures of delay
-The sexual dissemination of images: the pornographic double meaning behind the mask of courtly love
-Metaphysical dissemination in the formal device: the imperative of a ‘game of chance’

4. Explanation. From the foundation of the space of modern lyrical fiction to the synthesis of sound against the totalitarianism of vision

i. Sociology of discourse: the forms of meaning of the trobar as the foundation for the sphere of modern lyrical fiction – from concealment of enjoyment in form to promotion of independent enjoyment of form

ii. Emancipation of the synthesis of hearing versus the totalitarianism of vision and the diurnal image
  * The oral forms of meaning of the Romance tongues versus the written Latinitas
  * From reversal of the hierarchy between material sound and spiritual light to the synthesis of listening vs. the epistemology of vision
  * The significant detail of the ‘alba’: explicit defense of natural passion in the context of a musical and nocturnal perception that turns away from the diurnal vision of the opponents of joi

* Coda. A detective’s art of reading of selective application

The injunction of ecclesiastical censoring that banded Sogamoso’s liberal community from being ministered their religious rites, this turned out to be a psyco-social pressure used by the catholic church hierarchy as a rendering mechanism. The injunction happened (took
place) at random being know the election results in june 1949 this expelling from the church was a political reprisal and not a religious one.

محققان و عموم به هر دو موضوع جفا و رهبری، گفتگوهای اندکی بین این دو حیطه یا تحقیق روی تجربۀ
رهبران جفادیده صورت گرفته است. هدف این مقاله این است که لزوم مطالعۀ هدفمند و پایدار رهبری
مسیحی تحت جفا را نشان داده و چالشهایی که شاهدان امین عیسی مسیح تحت این شرایط تجربه میکند،
دیدگاههای کتابمقدسی، ربط داشتن نظریۀ رهبری، و مزایای آن برای کلیسای جهانی را در نظر گیرد- از
جمله جوامع جفادیده، و میسیونرها و آنانی که از آزادی مذهبی چشمگیری برخوردارند. نظریۀ رهبری رابرت رهبری برای یکپنجم کلیسای جهانی در بافتها و محیطهای جفا صورت میگیرد. با وجود توجه
ای. کوین یک نمونه از مدلهای تحقیق نویدبخشی است که در رابطه با مورد رهبری کلیسای
در اتیوپی )از ۱۹۷۴ تا ۱۹۹۱ ( آزمایش شده است. Meserete Kristos روزافزون

ABSTRACT
The Jacobean era's infamous witchcraft trials are recalled after reservoir repairs close to Pendle Hill reveal a buried cottage with bricked‐up cat. Interpretations of the building as the site of Malkin Tower, recorded in court records as the venue of a witches coven are critically evaluated in the light of archaeological and historical evidence.

KEYWORDS
WITCH, PENDLE WITCH TRIALS, PENDLE HILL, MALKIN TOWER, FOLK BELIEF, MAGIC, LANCASTER ASSIZES, WISE WOMEN, CUNNING FOLK, ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, SEVENTEENTHCENTURY, ALIZON DEVICE, SALEM WITCHES, THOMAS POTTS, LOWER BLACK MOSS, ELIZABETH SOUTHERNS, DEMDIKE, ELIZABETH DEVICE, JAMES DEVICE, ANNE WHITTLE, CHATTOX, ANNE REDFERNE, JANE BULCOCK, JOHN BULCOCK, ALICE NUTTER, KATHERINE HEWITT, ALICE GRAY, JENNET PRESTON, GUNPOWDER PLOT, CAT

The phenomenon Muselmann was a peculiarity of Nazi concentration camps. In survivor’s testimonies, the term appears frequently enough to assume that it denotes a particular, commonly recognized category of prisoners. It was probably the only category that was not defined by the Nazis’ system of triangle badges and functions. Instead, the prisoner community called specific prisoners Muselmann. In nearly every NS concentration camp, prisoners labeled their weakest fellows with a racist term and located them at the bottom of the hierarchy. My research explores the moral dimension of this label. Introducing Moral Foundations Theory to the topic, I map the domain of morality in NS concentration camps as presented by Auschwitz-Birkenau and Mauthausen survivors when they speak or write about Muselmänner. My analysis deepens the understanding of the relationship between Muselmänner and other prisoners. Engaging in moral history or history of morality, it offers a fresh perspective on the functioning of prisoners’ society in NS concentration camps. Doing so, it contributes to the discourse on stability and change of normative morality in extreme situations.

Accusations of witchcraft throughout early modern England were evidence of a popular imagination which understood sin within frameworks of tainted bodies bound by gender and sexuality. This study examines the increased anxieties and corresponding witch-panics of the English Civil War throughout the early seventeenth century. It is informed by deposition records of 1600-1649 throughout the eastern counties, including Essex, Kent, Suffolk, and Sussex. I argue the gendered body becomes the site of individual and social corruption. Described as teats, the physical marks of “suckling familiars” (Impes) became definitive of English evidentiary practice. Records reveal inspections validated accusations of nighttime copulation with the Devil (sexual) and suckling imps (maternal) with the payment of blood. Drawing from medieval humoral theory, blood and milk are not only one and the same, but more broadly representative of the Witch’s immutable corruption and that of the nurturing Mother. These transgressions occurred predominately in the domestic sphere and were perpetuated therein. The Witch was constructed as a foil to the hegemonic expectations of early modern gender roles and as a tool in policing processes of asserting proper behaviour. I present the early modern woman, designated as producer – of children, of the household, and of the dominant faith – we see inverted in the characterization of the Witch.  I am concerned then not only with the gender and body of a witch itself, but further discourses around this body as a signifier of health in the processes of nation-making. Following Joane Nagel: women served as “biological producers of collectivities [and] as reproducers of the [normative] boundaries of ethnic/national groups [and] ideological reproduction”. It is this reproductive capacity in particular which reveals anxieties around the figure of the Witch. Their corruptive bodies were thus conceived as vehicles of magical violence, heresy, and corruption throughout the body politic.

Leo Strauss's claim that many philosophers of the past wrote exoterically is without a doubt his most fruitful contribution to the study of the history of ideas. However, to this day this claim remains highly controversial. To gain a better understanding of Strauss's position, this essay analyzes his three thematic discussions of exotericism, "Exoteric Teaching" (1939), "Persecution and the Art of Writing" (1941), and "On a Forgotten Kind of Writing" (1954). I show that each of the three essays begins its exploration of the phenomenon from a different starting point in order to emphasize a different reason that led philosophers to practice exoteric communication. Whereas "Persecution and the Art of Writing" highlights the threat of censorship and other forms of oppression, "On a Forgotten Kind of Writing" is almost completely silent on this topic and instead focuses on the tension that exists between philosophy and the political community. "Exoteric Teaching," the least known of the three texts, differs from the other two in its concentration on the reader's experiential response to exoteric writing or, as Strauss puts it, on "the irretrievably 'occasional' character of every worthwhile interpretation."

The series of crises reported daily on local, national and international media on killing and destruction of Christians and properties worth millions of naira is alarming. Christian persecution in today's world has taken a dangerous trend that warrants academic discourse. Persecution has become a serious challenge which has turned to global threat. The church has suffered much security challenges from people of opposing religious faith, who felt threatened by the unique presence of God, convincing miracles, power-oriented and dominating spirituality, unparalleled missionary spirit, and more significantly, her particularistic doctrinal claims. The paper appraisingly evaluates the response of the church in the Bible, especially in the New Testament during the time of Apostles in (Acts 4:23-31). For this reason, this paper adopted historic narrative and exegetical approaches. The paper, postulates re-integrating, internalizing and implementing the importance of prayer, unity, righteous living and boldness in the contemporary church. This paper discusses how Christians should respond during the time of persecution from within and without and proffer recommendations that will reduce to barest minimum the persecution of Christian throughout the world.

The successive bans on Christianity in Early Modern Japan led to several persecution campaignsespecially during the early seventeenth centurywhich resulted in numerous deaths, among both the local converts and the missionaries. These events made a major impact on Europe, including the beatification of the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki, who died in 1597 and were blessed 30 years later. Active missionary efforts ended by the late 1630s, but during the three centuries of the Edo era (mid-seventeenth-mid-nineteenth centuries), Christianity survived within hidden communities. Such communities kept legends of local martyrs, and they were sometimes the subjects of administrative control. A few incidents also saw people killed due to alleged links to Christianity. The martyrs of Japan came back to the forefront of Western discourse during the nineteenth century, with the rediscovery of “hidden Christians”
in 1865 and the persecutions that followed. This process culminated in the
beatifications of the martyrs in Japan and the official recognition of Christianity. In this context, the notions of Christian martyrs/martyrdom and persecution were accepted in Japan for the first time, and these terms became officially translated. After that, Japanese Christians started building a new identity through the construction of narratives on Christian martyrs. They especially tried to locate the alleged locations of the executions of martyrs in the early modern period. Such efforts resulted in the establishment of the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki and the beatification and canonizations of various groups of martyrs (in 1981, 1987, 2007, and 2016), as well as the recognition of relevant locations as World Heritage Sites. After the Second World War, the martyrs of Japan were also linked to the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, a fact which was stressed during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Japan, becoming an important part of the identity of the city.

Gender-related violence is a global pandemic affecting millions of women worldwide. Yet, in many instances, states continue to tolerate and indirectly condone the various forms that it takes. In cases where the gender-related violence amounts to persecution because of its severity and the lack of state protection, victims are left with a drastic solution: to flee and seek refuge in another country. However, international refugee law, as one of the final mechanisms to protect basic human rights, has proved to be inadequate to provide sufficient protection for victims of gender-related persecution.
This dissertation argues that the definition of ‘refugee’ under international refugee law is obsolete and in dire need of reconceptualisation in order to adequately encompass the unique persecution that women face because of their gender. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to establish the reasons behind the inadequate protection of victims of gender-related persecution. To examine this question, the dissertation carries out a detailed analysis of various aspects that have an impact on the interpretation and implementation of the international refugee law framework.
As a result of this analysis, the dissertation demonstrates how the historical events that took place at the time of the drafting of the main international refugee law instruments impacted their substance and resulted in a heavily androcentric focus. Similarly, this dissertation reveals how the patriarchal nature of the international law regime as a whole has had a negative impact on gender-related asylum claims. Moreover, it discloses the asylum adjudicators’ gender-biased construction of ‘persecution’ and analyses the difficult fit between gender-related persecution and the nexus requirement under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Furthermore, this dissertation takes the important step of examining the manners in which the current protection afforded by international refugee law to victims of gender-related persecution can be improved and developed, and it analyses best practices. Ultimately, based on this in-depth analysis, this dissertation’s key contribution to the field of international refugee law is the identification of the emerging recognition of gender as an independent category of persecution to the existing ‘refugee’ definition. This addition will have a fundamental impact on the gender-equal application of international refugee law and, importantly, on the protection of women’s human rights worldwide.

"Exoteric Teaching” is arguably one of the most important finds among the Leo Strauss papers. As his first attempt at an explanation of the controversial concept of “exotericism” in general terms, the fragment enables the reader to cast a unique glance at the genesis of Strauss’s hermeneutics. Its peculiar approach distinguishes the essay, which was written in December 1939, not only from its next of kin, “Persecution and the Art of Writing,” but from most other studies, written and published mainly during the 1940s, in which Strauss applied his thesis of exoteric writing: While the main subjects of these articles are writers from the Jewish and Islamic Middle Ages, “Exoteric Teaching” takes a different route by presenting the issue exclusively from what may loosely be called a Western perspective - focusing especially on Lessing and Schleiermacher.

A structured and partly annotated bibliography of religious non-conformism / dissent / heresy / heterodoxy and its repression in the history of Christianity (now around 750 standard pages) intended to update and supplement, among others, Grundmann, Herbert, Bibliographie zur Ketzergeschichte des Mittelalters (1900-1966), Rome 1967, and Berkhout, Carl T. – Russell, Jeffrey Burton, Medieval Heresies: A Bibliography 1960-1979, Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies 1981. All headings are now also in English; some annotations are in Czech.

This book focuses on the numerous facts of persecution of activists of human rights in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The authors are convinced that the persecution of dissent and human rights defenders are a kind of crime against humanity. Given in the book of facts and conclusions show that the authorities of the Baltic countries are involved in the persecution of human rights defenders. In this regard, it suggested raising the issue of human rights defenders at the supranational level, in particular the International Criminal Court, acting in accordance with the Rome Statute. The theoretical and practical problems concerning prosecution of dissent and defenders of human rights are brought and analyzed. On the basis of the analysis of international covenants and these facts offers on changes of the status of defenders of human rights in the Baltic countries are formulated.

Under persecution during the Ethiopian Revolution (1974-1991), highly committed men and women led the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC) through remarkable transformation and growth. Although persecution has been an enduring reality in the global church, leadership in that context has received scant research attention. Drawing on interviews and other first-person accounts of faithful MKC leaders in the Derg era, this essay explores the dynamics of their experience using the leadership theory of Robert E. Quinn as a conceptual lens. Persecution forced MKC leaders to clarify the priority of their commitment to Jesus and the mission of the church. Prepared to die for the sake of the gospel, they demonstrated leadership marked by a highly effective pursuit of purpose, compelling integrity under pressure, attractive love, and remarkable creativity—leading to extraordinary results. Between 1974 and 1991 the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC)—an Anabaptist Christian renewal movement in Ethiopia—experienced a profound transformation. Under pressure from a Marxist regime bent on eradicating evangelical Christianity from the country, the MKC grew from 800 to 34,000 baptized members, greatly expanded its geographic reach, dramatically increased the pool of people in active ministry, became financially self-supporting, adopted a radically new ministry structure, and nurtured a contagious spiritual vitality among its members. A remarkable group of leaders—both men and women—played an essential role in this transformation, leading the MKC with courageous purpose, integrity, love, and creativity. This essay, based largely on extensive interviews with twenty-four MKC leaders, explores the dynamics of leadership that enabled the MKC not only to survive but also to flourish under circumstances of persecution and extreme hardship. Research participants were selected based on the recommendations of various people with personal knowledge of MKC

Master's thesis in History.

This thesis examines requests for exemption submitted by German citizens, whom the Nazi regime categorized as “Jews” or “Mixed breeds,” between 1933 and 1941. The petitioners’ vocabulary developed alongside Nazi propaganda; they adopted the regime’s definitions of categories, increasingly defining themselves and their fellow German citizens in racial terms. This thesis seeks to understand and explain how the Nazis defined and enforced racial categories; how petitioners responded to the imposed categorization through legal means; how they used the Nazis’ racial categories as tools to assure their survival; and how their use of the state’s rhetoric impacted the Nazis’ system of racial categorization.

Petitioners not only attempted to contest the categories imposed upon them, but they were also able to strategically use the state’s rhetoric to their advantage. Their objectives were not to question or transform the system-over which they had no power-but rather to maneuver within its constraints. However, to engage the state in a dialogue, they had to pretend to adhere to the Nazis’ “Aryan” state and work within its logic. In their attempts to circumvent state-led persecution by resisting and negotiating their status using the state’s rhetoric, the petitioners might have contributed to the crystallization of categories and the system of racial classification, and they might have unintentionally enabled the authorities to redefine the population along certain categorical lines. This sheds light on how categories are created and maintained in an interactive process between “top” and “bottom” and how and why state-imposed categories can gain traction on the ground.

En el capítulo IV La persecución política hacia el Comité Central del Partido Comunista Puertorriqueño de 1953 a 1960 se estableció la relación entre el Comité de Actividades Anti-Americanas y los argumentos que se utilizaron para justificar los interrogatorios contra los comunistas y los nacionalista en cuanto a ejecutar acciones concertadas en 1950 y 1954. En 1959 este comité celebró vistas en Nueva York y Puerto Rico para interrogarlos en conjunto a la evidencia recopilada por los agentes de represión política en clara violación a los señalamientos del Comité de Derechos Civiles. Durante el año 1954 los líderes comunistas alcanzaron el momento más elevado en cuanto a su represión y persecución porque fueron encarcelados por la Policía de Puerto Rico y el FBI. Incluso, hasta mediados de 1955 algunos líderes comunistas estuvieron encarcelados esperando a salir bajo fianza, mientras su caso se dilucidaba en los tribunales. Al fin y al cabo, estos hechos no tenían nada que ver con que el Partido Comunista fuera exitoso en sus propuestas, en la cantidad de afiliados al Partido y en el proceso de reclutamiento a través de la Isla. El crecimiento del Partido recayó en que los líderes comunistas tuvieran la capacidad física para educar individuos con el fin de derrocar electoralmente el gobierno de Puerto Rico luego de una educación científica dirigida a las necesidades de los trabajadores puertorriqueños que fuera conocida alrededor de toda la Isla. Lo cierto fue que los comunistas no representaron una amenaza inminente a los intereses del Congreso de Estados Unidos en Puerto Rico, pero la posesión y el control de Puerto Rico en la región del Caribe por el Congreso durante la Guerra Fría fue crucial para establecer alianzas geográficamente estratégicas para contener el comunismo.
En este sentido, el análisis sobre los arrestos y sus causas, las investigaciones, los interrogatorios y citaciones al tribunal por los hechos realizados por los nacionalistas fueron sólo mecanismos de mantener vigilados a los líderes comunista e intimidar a los puertorriqueños que simpatizaran con los postulados comunistas o este Partido. En la exposición que hice sobre las vistas que el Comité de Actividades Anti-Americanas le celebró a los comunistas en Nueva York y Puerto Rico en noviembre de 1959 quedó claramente establecido cuales fueron los objetivos de los miembros del Comité en sus interrogatorios y como fue la defensa de los comunistas en sus argumentos para no responder directamente las preguntas hasta que se acogían a la Quinta Enmienda de la Constitución de Estados Unidos. La discusión de las manifestaciones y protestas en contra del Comité de Actividades Anti-Americanas en Estados Unidos antes de los interrogatorios de los comunista puertorriqueños en Nueva York y Puerto Rico que analicé en este capítulo hizo que el tema se pudiera presentar ampliamente en conjunto a la contra ofensiva del Comité de Actividades Anti-Americanas y su documental propagandístico Operation Abolition. En los interrogatorios de los comunistas puertorriqueños que se citaron para argumentar sobre el proceso en las vistas publica, estos hicieron una reflexión comparativa del sistema colonial entre la historia de Estados Unidos con la historia de Puerto Rico. Hasta el momento de redactar esta investigación continúa vigente el sistema colonial y las palabras de Patrick Henry pueden ser citadas hoy día para argumentar y comparar la revolución de las 13 colonias por su independencia y la lucha de Puerto Rico por la independencia del imperio estadounidense. Los comunistas fueron cautelosos en los argumentos y sus repuestas a las preguntas de los miembros del Comité que los interrogaron.
Los comunistas puertorriqueños durante el periodo de 1953 a 1960 fueron consistente en sus denuncias contra el sistema colonial político del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico implementado bajo el gobierno de Luis Muñoz Marín y el imperialismo estadounidense. Siempre estuvieron inmersos en los asuntos relacionados al movimiento obrero en Puerto Rico, el Caribe, América Latina, Estados Unidos y el Mundo. Sin embargo, la situación colonial de Puerto Rico hizo que los líderes del Partido se enfocaran en dos objetivos al mismo tiempo incrementando la dificultad para alcanzarlos. La lucha por la autodeterminación de Puerto Rico le restó tiempo y espacio para que los comunistas pudieran desarrollarse y dedicarse de lleno a los asuntos propios establecidos en los objetivos de la Internacional Comunista. El Estado, sus aparatos y el control ideológico de las instituciones sociales fue crucial para que el gobierno de Luis Muñoz Marín lograra legitimar su poder y justificar la violación de los derechos civiles en Puerto Rico a través de la persecución política.

Is Involvement in the Fight Against the Persecution of Christians Solely for the Benefit of Christians? – “But with gentleness and respect”: Why missions should be ruled by ethics – Persecution – May a Christian Go to Court? – Putting Rumors to Rest – Human Rights and Christian Faith – There Has to Be a Social Ethic.

German textDie vorliegende Arbeit setzt sich mit der zentralen Leidensthematik des Ersten Petrusbriefes auseinander. Einer vorläufigen Betrachtung der Entwicklung und des Gebrauchs des zentralen Leidens- Begriffs folgt die ausführliche Untersuchung und Darstellung der Urheber des Leidens und der Ursachen und Gründe für rechtes und falsches Leiden. Es folgt unter Berücksichtigung einiger kulturanthropologischer Einsichten und moderner psychologischer Analysen bezüglich der Wirkung von verbaler Gewalt eine Betrachtung der Arten und Formen des Leidens sowie der Begründungen und Ziele des Leiden. Der zweite Hauptteil untersucht Verhaltensanweisungen, Trost und Anleitung zur Leidensbewältigung, die der Verfasser seinen Empfängern zukommen lässt. Dabei wird zum einen ein Vergleich zwischen den Aussagen des Ersten Petrusbriefs und der antiken Konsolationsliteratur vorgenommen, zum anderen zwischen den vorgeschlagenen Bewältigungsstrategien des Briefes und den Strategien der modernen Sozial...

Though some think that "a lie is a lie" and "we must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" in every situation, this simply is not true according to the Bible. In this chapter, I discuss the biblical definition of truth and lies with a new perspective on some of the most controversial moments in biblical history involving some of the Scriptures greatest saints. Was it wrong for Abraham to tell Pharoah that Sarah was his sister? Was it wicked for Jacob to steal Esau's blessing? Was is a sin for Tamar to disguise herself as a prostitute to raise up offspring to Judah? In three chapters of this book, I examine all the deceptions concerning these people and others including Paul and Jesus Himself. All used a form of deception to protect themselves or others from harm. Is this right or wrong in God's eyes? This excerpt involves only the first chapter of the three but provides the main argument that these were not only righteous acts but great acts of faith! These come from a section of my book which deals with all aspects of the Bible's teaching on persecution and the believer's response to it. The book can be purchased on amazon.com.

Leo Strauss's claim that many philosophers of the past wrote exoterically is without a doubt his most fruitful contribution to the study of the history of ideas. However, to this day this claim remains highly controversial. To gain a better understanding of Strauss's position, this essay analyzes his three thematic discussions of exotericism, "Exoteric Teaching" (1939), "Persecution and the Art of Writing" (1941), and "On a Forgotten Kind of Writing" (1954). I show that each of the three essays begins its exploration of the phenomenon from a different starting point in order to emphasize a different reason that led philosophers to practice exoteric communication. Whereas "Persecution and the Art of Writing" highlights the threat of censorship and other forms of oppression, "On a Forgotten Kind of Writing" is almost completely silent on this topic and instead focuses on the tension that exists between philosophy and the political community. "Exoteric Teaching," the least known of the three texts, differs from the other two in its concentration on the reader's experiential response to exoteric writing or, as Strauss puts it, on "the irretrievably 'occasional' character of every worthwhile interpretation."

Trusting the Holy Spirit for his guidance in persecution does not exclude a proper preparation of global workers. However, more important than any security check list is to check and foster spiritual disciplines so that workers will be able to continue them in rougher times. A strong focus on who we are in Christ can be a protection again ceaseless verbal attacks on the identity of Christians.
God’s perspective on suffering has to be taught to missionary candidates. They need a good biblical theology of persecution to integrate their experiences of persecution in their walk with Christ. Reading and learning about Christian witnesses who went through persecution before us can equip us to find the convenient response when challenged with threats. It will also be helpful to think about the possible changes in church structure before we encounter persecution.
This chapter certainly cannot be exhaustive. However, it is obvious that a proper preparation of global workers for contexts of suffering is indispensable. The number of countries in the world seeing persecution is huge.

Currently this is the most comprehensive and biblically theological analysis of Christian persecution worldwide.

"In this situation I can highly recommend Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher's new book. It gives a clear and logical insight in many of the questions even people who consider themselves non-religious people now ask. It can best be read with an open Bible and some open daily newspaper. It will give a surprisingly new insight into what it means to live in 'a time like this'." (From the preface by the Very Rev. Johan Candelin, Director of the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance) "Suffering comes in many forms, but the one that Scripture tells all Christians to expect is persecution for one's faith. As Thomas Schirrmacher's theological study will demonstrate, the Bible has a tremendous amount to teach us about persecution. Without a Biblical understanding , we are unlikely to fully grasp the nature of the spiritual battle. I am delighted, therefore, that his book puts the Bible's teaching on persecution centre stage." (From the preface by the Very Rev. Johan Candelin, Director of the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance)

“Suffering comes in many forms, but the one that Scripture tells all Christians to expect is persecution for one’s faith. As Thomas Schirrmacher’s theological study will demonstrate, the Bible has a tremendous amount to teach us about persecu- tion. Without a Biblical understanding, we are unlikely to fully grasp the nature of the spiritual battle. I am delighted, therefore, that his book puts the Bible’s teaching on persecution centre stage.” (Preface by Julia Doxat-Purser. Socio-PoliticalRepresentative & Religious Liberty Coordinator for the European Evangelical Alliance)

For one-fifth of the global church, leadership is exercised in contexts of persecution. Despite growing popular and scholarly interest in both persecution and leadership, there has been little dialogue between these fields or investigation into the experience of persecuted leaders. This article calls for intentional, sustained study of Christian leadership under persecution, considering the challenges of faithful witness to Jesus Christ under such conditions, biblical perspectives, the relevance of leadership theory, and benefits for the global church – including persecuted communities, missionaries and those who enjoy significant religious freedom. The leadership theory of Robert E. Quinn is one example of a promising research model tested in relation to the case of Meserete Kristos Church leadership in Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991.

对全球五分之一的教会来说，其领袖是在迫害的环境中带领信徒的。尽管受迫害和领导力在民众和学者中越来越受欢迎，但这两个领域几乎没有任何交叉，也没有看到对受迫害领袖的经历进行任何调查。考虑到在这种情况下为耶稣基督忠心作见证的人所面临的挑战、圣经中的观点、领导力理论的相关性以及对普世教会的益处——包括对受迫害的社区、宣教士和享受很高程度的宗教自由之人的益处，这篇文章呼吁有意地、持续地研究受迫害的基督徒领袖。罗伯特·E·奎恩的领导力理论是1974年至1991年在埃塞俄比亚梅塞雷特赫里斯托斯教会领导力案例中经过检验的一个很有前途的研究模型。

This paper describes René Girard's interpretation of myths and explains the scapegoating mechanism. This interpretation is then applied to the Slavic basic myth of the divine battle between Veles and Perun. The paper demonstrates that the myth of divine battle still holds enough information to identify and analyse the scapegoating mechanism, all the stereotypes of persecution, an innocent victim or the scapegoat and the violence committed against him. The analysis emphasises and decodes the process in which a human victim of persecution was transformed into a mighty god Veles. The paper also critically evaluates and points out the shortcomings of René Girard's interpretation of myths in the context of Slavic religion and mythology.

Povzetek: Članek opisuje interpretacijo mitov pri Renéju Girardu in pojasnjuje me-hanizem grešnega kozla. Ta interpretacija je zatem aplicirana na temeljni slo-vanski mit o božanskem boju med Velesom in Perunom. Članek prikazuje, kako je v mitu o božanskem boju še vedno dovolj informacij za identifikacijo in ana-lizo mehanizma grešnega kozla, pa tudi vseh stereotipov preganjanja nedolžne žrtve oz. grešnega kozla in nasilja, ki se je nad njim izvajalo. Analiza poudarja in razlaga proces, v katerem se je človeška žrtev preganjanja preobrazila v mogoč-nega boga Velesa. Članek tudi izpostavlja in skuša kritično ovrednotiti primanj-kljaje interpretacije mitov pri Renéju Girardu v kontekstu slovanske religije in mitologije.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of human rights violations within the Eritrean Military/National Service Programme (“MNSP”), adjudication of asylum applications made by Eritreans remains a challenge. Narrow interpretations of “slavery” have created obstacles for protection under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (“1951 Refugee Convention”). This article discusses MST and Others, the latest Country Guidance case on Eritrea issued by the UK Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (“UTIAC”), and also the lead case E-5022/2017 of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court (“FAC”), which to a large extent replicated the UTIAC’s approach. The article focuses on how “slavery,” “servitude” and “forced labour” under article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) have been interpreted in the British and Swiss case-law. While both, the British and the Swiss Courts, had recourse to the European Court of Human Rights’ (“ECtHR”) interpretation of article 4(1) ECHR (the right not to be subjected to slavery or servitude), they refused the applicability of international criminal law notions to this provision, and thus to the concept of “persecution” in article 1A(2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention. In doing so, the UTIAC and the FAC set unreasonable requirements to satisfy article 4(1) ECHR. Due to the very limited case-law pertaining to slavery by the ECtHR, the ECHR does not offer an appropriate framework for examining asylum applications of victims of slavery. It is therefore suggested that slavery cases are considered against a wider legal framework, which involves the examination of concepts developed by international criminal law (“ICL”). ICL has indeed developed a significant body of jurisprudence on the interpretation of the international law concept of “slavery” and its application to contemporary situations. The article contrasts the British and Swiss Courts’ position to develop an interpretative approach that connects different areas of international law, including not only international refugee law and international human rights law (“IHRL”), but also ICL. If applied in line with the principle of systemic integration and according to the overall purposes of the 1951 Refugee Convention, this approach would yield consistent results. Ultimately, this article seeks to assist asylum decision-makers and practitioners in the interpretation and application of the refugee definition to asylum applications of persons from Eritrea.

Întreg efortul pe care l-am depus pentru a aduna aceste „«Boabe de tămâie» spre amintirea slujitorului lui Dumnezeu pr. Anton Demeter” nu este altceva decât o tentativă umilă de a cinsti memoria aceluia care a predicat cu viața de pe amvonul propriei infirmități.

John 15.26 has always been understood to be a continuation of the Paraclete’s testimony to the world. In this essay, the readers are urged to rethink the Paraclete’s witness not in relation to the world but in relation to the disciples and Johannine community’s context. By analyzing the literary and historical context, the relationship between testimony and faith, and the receptors of the Paraclete’s ministry in the Fourth Gospel, we will actually deduce that the ones who need the witness of the Paraclete the most are the disciples and Johannine community who are undergoing a trial of faith. The recognition of the Spirit’s role as an inner testifier is also manifested in other sources such as ancient Jewish literature and the New Testament canon.

Der Autor stellte die Genese und das Verlauf des  beatifikationsverfahrens von 108 Martyrer  aus den Zeiten des II. Weltkrieges, darunter denen sich auch zwei Geistlichen aus der Kattowitzer Diözese:  Józef Czempiel und Emil Szramek befanden, dar. Es wurden chronologisch die Etappen des Verfahrens in  der Diözese und dann in der Kongregation für die Heiligsprechung. Es wurden die prophetische Ausmaßen der Opfer von des Pfarrers Emil Szramek, wie auch sein Platz in den Schlesien der Zwischenkriegszeiten  und in der Gegenwart unterzeichnet.

Uno dei primi a parlare apertamente di persecuzione e martirio dei templari è stato MOSES W. REDDING, Persecution and Martyrdom of Knights Templars in England, in ID, Scarlet Book of Free Masonry, New York 1885, pp. 271-286; mi sembra un buon articolo ben documentato ma è stato completamente ignorato dalla storiografia templare, anche quella di matrice anglosassone: le sorprese non finiscono mai!

KASGANJ AND BEFORE: RSS AND CONSPIRACIES ARE SYNONYMOUS

At Kasganj Muslims of the area suffered life threatening violence and wide spread destruction of properties on the Republic Day, January 26, 2018 perpetrated by the organizations affiliated to RSS. The most shocking part  was that large scale violence against local Muslims started when they were waiting to start formally 'Tiranga Yatra' (public march with the National Flag; the Tricolour) to commemorate the Republic Day. A group of Hindutva miscreants arrived on motor-bikes with one Tricolour and dozens of RSS saffron flags and demanded that Muslims should clear the area. They were also raising highly provocative slogans against Muslims despite the fact that Muslims were celebrating the Republic Day. It was clear that despite no provocation from Muslims the RSS organizations conspired to start a communal conflagration at Kasganj. 
The Bareilly District Magistrate, RV Singh as a senior administrator has only restated a fact about Hindutva organizations' conspiratorial method of functioning which people of this country know for decades. Singh on his Facebook page wrote,
“Ajab riwaz [sic] ban gaya hai. Muslim mohallo main julus le jao aur Pakistan murdabad ke nare lagao. Kyun bhai woh Pakistani hain kya? (A strange trend has started of carrying out processions through Muslim localities and raising anti-Pakistan slogans. Why? Are these people from Pakistan?). The same incident happened in Khailam village in Bareilly. Stones were pelted, and complaints were lodged.”
RV Singh later had to delete this post and government initiated inquiry against him because it was a truth which Hindutva rulers could not digest. Rumor mongering and conspiring is in the genes of Hindutva organizations specially RSS. What was this MASTER CONSPIRATOR doing on the eve of Independence was made clear by one of the RSS' own publications.
READ THE WHOLE STORY....

This book is the publication of my doctorate's thesis. I study four main aspects in the book of Wisdom, in all the Old Testament, in the inter testamentary Literature, and in the New Testament: righteousness, persecution of the righteous one, salvation of God after death, and divine sonship. All these points through the righteous man of Wis 2,12-20 and Wis 5,1-5, who is a great "image/typos" of Christ, the Son of God, persecuted, crucified, killed and glorificated by the Father.
Here I am offering the index and presentation of my work. You can find the full text in http://www.verbodivino.es/libro/2440/si-el-justo-es-hijo-de-dios,-le-socorrera-sab-2,18

Карелин В. М. Человек сталинской эпохи: антропология жертвы в свете современных теорий // Грани культуры: актуальные проблемы истории и современности: Материалы VII (2011 г.) и VIII (2012 г.) межрегиональных межвузовских научных конференций. — М.: Калейдос, 2014. — С. 57–62.