Is America Becoming a Pagan Kingdom? 3

By Kelly OConnell  Monday, December 17, 2012

H. World Religion Polytheism Versus Monotheism
One of the great battles between ancient paganism and Christianity was the debate over whether a single, versus multiple deities existed. For example, one of the main reasons Christianity was sanctioned so harshly by the Romans was their insistence that God was of one nature. This disagreed with the state religious system which was pluralistic and committed to bringing in any non-novel foreign deities, already established elsewhere. Interestingly, the most important public policy in ancient Rome was Pax Deorum, or the Peace of the Gods—which directed the leaders to do anything humanly possible to avoid upsetting the gods so as to avoid human tragedy.
This battle was decisively settled when Constantine declared Christianity the state religion. After this such leaders as Emperor Theodosius declared pagan worship a capital offense, with offenders possibly executed. Yet, today in America the Christian church is reeling as multiple cases come down against Believers and church expressions of faith. Any statements seen as exclusive of any other religious traditions, including atheism are harshly put down as non-inclusive. So paganism has returned to America.
I. World Government & Tower of Babel
A fixation on a one-world government which would create a single law applied around the globe by a world court system, also delivering taxation and management of resouces and assets is not a new idea but ancient. The Tower of Babel in Genesis was an example of such an attempt to create a one-world society. This was rejected by Yahweh who caused languages to be multiplied to foment confusion to end the project. Therefore, a commitment to world government cannot be claimed biblical or modern, but merely pagan.
J. Education Goals
While the classical Triumvirate was developed by pagan thinkers, the average Roman did not have access to such first-class education. The vast majority of Romans were plebeians, the poorer class. Only upper class males were trained, with some notable middle class children such as Cicero who were able to advance beyond their class via hard work and genius.
The original American education czar, John Dewey, was certainly a progressive, and many feel a Marxist. His goal was to train children through experience, not via rote memory or immersion in classical texts as was the original American pedagogy. It is because of Dewey’s ideas that American education became a study in advanced mediocrity, turning out generations of students simply not equipped to debate, analyze arguments, or study texts with any precision. In other words, perfect pawns for the state, representing the ancient Roman description of a few elites directing the masses. Writes one educator,
A detailed examination of Dewey’s relationship to Marxism can explain a great deal about the form and content of modern schools. Dewey found Marxism useful, if not indispensable, in the formulation of his educational theories…
K. Belief in Universal Law
It is part of leftist modern political theory that there must be a body of world legislators and courts to standardize a global law, which presumes a viable world body of law fully applicable in any scenario or setting. This idea was in fact first declared by the ancient Roman Stoics who declared a law which applied universally, such as demanded now with the United Nations.
Yet the greatest theory of law in modern history, Anglo-American common law, is decidedly not a claim of universal jurisprudence but a regional canon based upon Natural Law & Rights. It proved so powerful its Constitution and Bill of Rights became the model for all universal rights theorists. Yet the problem with universal law regimes is that should they become corrupt, the entire world would become infected and tyrannical, without any potential respite except for armed insurrection.
L. Afterlife
The idea of a heaven and hell were not originally in the minds of the earliest Romans. Instead, a life inside the grave was imagined, explaining inclusion of various everyday implements, according to Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges in The Ancient City. Instead, it was thought corpses still had some level of awareness in the grave. Only later was it conceived that underground spirits joined in a giant cavern where they resided together. But there was no belief that good people went to a heaven, whereas as the evil went to hell.
In modern America, belief in a Christian heaven and hell is increasingly unpopular with many believing just in heaven, whereas many others believe the “soul” is annihilated after death. This is no coincidence, but in an increasingly perverse and irreligious populace where many cling only to the barest outlines of Christianity, it is certain that those who abandon traditional morality also abandon orthodox theology on the afterlife.
M. Property Rights
One of the current fascinations in American society is the idea of wealth redistribution. This well-suits the welfare of ancient Rome and its grain dole. Further, despite the idea of private property, there was no well-established right of such. This is because the city, the most common authority in antiquity, was seen as representing the group, and no individual rights theory existed at this time. Therefore, the city could confiscate private property if it saw need to.
The medieval debate over private property between the Franciscans and the Pope was used by William of Ockham to argue that individuals had a non-negotiable right to property ownership. This became a foundational Natural Law and Rights argument. John Locke famously argued for a complete defense of private property, which along with the rule of law, made America’s prosperity possible. Yet, now we are on the verge of giving up even this fundamental right which will almost certainly lead to America collapsing economically.

Is America Becoming a Pagan Kingdom? 2

By Kelly OConnell  Monday, December 17, 2012

III. Chief Doctrines of Reborn Paganism
A. Family
The modern family is in state of siege, on the verge of total destruction. In its place are various entities and unions, many fleeting in nature. Marriage itself as a sacred Christian union is a bygone concept. More interestingly, the very institutions which supported and fed into marriage by way of courtship and dating are today almost extinct. The practice of “hooking up,” being a preliminary sexual exploration before any level of commitment—has inverted the paradigm. The upshot is the old cornerstone of “True Love” being a fixation on a marriage of incorporeal love and total dedication versus all others—essentially unknown in the ancient world—has disappeared. The ancient world with its commonplace prostitution and use of slaves as unfettered sex objects without any rights—regardless of age, gender and used in any manner has been replaced by promiscuity and pornography.
B. Gay Marriage
While gay “marriage” is seen nowhere in ancient history, the seeds of homosexual unions are firmly planted in classical paganism. First, the Greeks were open to the potential for men to have homosexual relations. For example, in one of the most notorious developments in history, homosexual pedophilia was highly developed in ancient Greece. This cult of pederasty was ostensibly used for instruction. Further, homosexual acts by adults were noted in culture and the arts.
Romans also tolerated homosexuality, yet with a twist. Officially, homosexual acts between Roman citizens merited the death penalty. Yet, any sex acts done with a slave, even children, were totally acceptable. This was because slaves were not technically persons under the law. Yet, no ancient society ever allowed homosexuals the right to marry. Further, the Christian theology placing Christ’s relationship to the Church as an analogy to human marriage certainly meant that no straight reading of the Bible could ever condone such an idea. That America now legislates such actions is a powerful statement on our true pagan faith.
C. State Directed Religion
While the American Constitution famously defends the right for unfettered religious belief and expression, modern society is seriously pruning back free religious expression. What is taking its place is a kind of state-approved religious expression which focuses on certain pagan beliefs, such as the deification of nature, the planet (gaia) and the cosmos. Considered the most grievous crime against the modern mind is the prejudiced claim of an exclusive religion or God, especially one whom proscribes certain “sinful” behaviors. This rejection of the biblical code is an acceptance of the ancient pagan standards that tolerated any religion except an exclusive claim which rejected all others.
D. Command Economy
The ancient world had no comprehension of capitalism, its theories being outlined formally by Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations. But it is true that the elements of informal capitalism have existed from time immemorial without being codified. In the ancient world, land was often owned by the government—such as in Egypt. In Rome, the government contracted for “corn,” or grain from which to feed the people. Often this was contracted in foreign climes like Africa. There was an artificial port named, appropriately enough, Portus built expressly in which to land craft laden with grain. The public policy of amassing grain for public use and setting its price, meant to ameliorate famine, was cura annonae, according to Tacitus. While inventive, the government’s direct control of agriculture on such large scale would neither be efficient, nor sustainable. That America is now creating a command economy of health care is a dire sign for the end of the world’s best private medical system.
E. Irrelevance of Private Morality Behind Public Success
In ancient Rome, citizens were not judged by their private lives as much by their achievement of success in two realms—military and politics. Wealth and great fame were also acknowledged. The concept of an admirable inner life was unknown to Romans, according to Florence Dupont in Daily Life in Ancient Rome, describing how Romans were not in the least introspective, but judged themselves exclusively by how others saw them. The goal in the Roman world was glory and a good name, achieved by battlefield bravery and political achievement in the senate and various magistracies.
What mattered in ancient Rome is similar to what is celebrated in modern America—military success, political achievement, overall renown, riches, and being part of a higher status family. But what used to be a fixation with Americans—being how people achieved success and what kind of person they were, how they treat friends, family, and strangers, let alone overall character—no longer matters.
F. Anti-Science
Scientific undertakings in America have become overly politicized and ends-directed until the outcomes of “independent” studies and experiments are now often wholly predictable and fixed. This is much like how ancient Rome used its collegia of priestly groups. For example, when the Romans had a monstra appear, being some kind of natural anomaly, like the birth of a two-headed calf, the senate investigated this by way of their priests. They might ask the Haruspices to investigate the nature of these phenomenon, who would do so by opening an animal and reading its liver. These would then report back to the senate their findings, but it would be up to the senate to decide what it all meant. So pagan politics dominated every other concern, just like today.
F. Nature Worship
One sees a decided development of worship of nature in the modern cult of Gaia, which portrays the earth as a kind of god. Such sentiments are not foreign to ancient societies, which often associated religion with such items as trees, aka sacred groves. For instance, one writer describes Earth First!
and love of trees and nature worship,
Some of today’s environmental movement is clearly a revival of ancient pagan nature worship, exemplified in this video of Earth First members crying out, speaking not only of but to trees, and referring to the forest as a “tabernacle.”
This attitude is plainly seen in the following passages from Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism With an Essay on Baal Worship, On The Assyrian Sacred “Grove”:
There is a word of the feminine gender occurring in the Hebrew twenty-four times, viz., Asherah or Asharah; plural, Asharth translated in the Septuagint and Latin vulgate, a tree, or “grove,” in which they have been followed by most modern versions, including the English. This supplies the void, for Asharah may be regarded as another name for the goddess Ashtoreth. What, then, was the Asharah? It was of wood, and of large size; the Jews were ordered to cut it down.
G. One-World Religious System
The dream of a one-world pagan religious system symbolized by the European godhead excepted Judaism and Christianity is alive today. The ancient religious system of Rome and Greece had analogs across the globe in various cultures, whether in Europe, the Indian subcontinent, or various other places. This world system is back via commands against exclusivity, or prohibitions against what were once considered sins. Defy this movement and risk jails or fines, just as ancient Roman authorities attempted to stamp out and kill Christianity for rejecting the state pantheon.

Is America Becoming a Pagan Kingdom? 1

 By Kelly OConnell  Monday, December 17, 2012

It must be some kind of joke to suggest the United States of America is turning resolutely towards paganism, the antithesis of Christianity—correct? Sadly, this is exactly what appears to be quickly happening to this most Christian of all nations in terms of origin and practice. We see this in our views of government, family, economics, freedom, law and especially religion. We are now presented with a kind modern homo paganus, a modernized version of ancient man. Paganism is defined as:
1. An adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity, especially when viewed in contrast to an adherent of a monotheistic religion.
2. A Neopagan.
3. Offensive—a. One who has no religion; b. An adherent of a religion other than Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.
4. A hedonist.
Paganism is a set of beliefs and practices essentially tied to the societies of the ancient world outside Judaism and Christianity. In particular, classical paganism was the worldview of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The revival of these ancient cultures during the Renaissance by way of the ancient writers is the foundation for Humanism. Despite the many high points of ancient classical paganism, these cultures’ values were rejected by the Christian West as utterly at odds with the great standards created by the rise of Christian Europe. This article details how these standards, misunderstood and rejected, are being slowly lost and replaced by unenlightened instincts and more primitive beliefs.

I. The Drift of Modern American Public Policy & Societal Mores
When gay marriage bills pass for the first time in state ballots, it is obvious that a new day has dawned in America. As opposed to the mere evolution of ideas and habits which occurs in every culture, the transition in the US represents a sea-change in beliefs and practice. This change represents a fall back into paganism, which could be argued the default thoughts and ideals of unregenerate mankind. Further, one could directly state that there are two essential worldviews of mankind—the biblical versus pagan.
Paganism therefore rejects biblical revelation of the One God, and an objective definition of truth—replacing it with a regime of superstition, earth worship, polytheism, and radical humanism. The latter is the replacement of any traditional Western idea of religion with rank secularism, however that might attain. An example of the latter would be Marxism with its savage embargo of God, which replaced tradition with a comically inept reign of humanistic pseudo-science, totally rejecting constitutionalism, natural law, and human rights.
It is a fundamental conviction of modern mankind that human society is destined to evolve and that all evolution occurs to positive results. This notion is tied into the prevalent belief that humans evolved and therefore evolution is a fixed and positive reality of human life. Instead, this pernicious notion would be harmful, even if humans were products of Darwinian evolution—because it fatalistically blesses every change without bothering to analyze it. Certainly this is one of the causes of the continuing fall in human happiness in our increasingly confused and contradictory society. These reborn pagan practices all help guide our fall.
II. Ancient Roots of Modern Paganism
Foundation of the West’s Argument Against Paganism
The chief and most devastating arguments against paganism were levied by Christian Roman emperors, and by the ancient Church Fathers. These can be boiled down to a few central principles. First, according to the emperors, paganism rejected God’s rule over mankind. Likewise, according to the Patristic Fathers, essential truth can only be known via revelation—by divine gift to mankind, as opposed to the flawed results of humanistic philosophizing.
Second, since only God knows the truth, only He can deliver this through His Word. So to oppose this, whether by pagan or heretic means is one of the most grievous sins imaginable. The emperors, such as Constantine made proposing such pagan falsehoods against the law. Other emperors may have battled back against this mandate, such as Julian the Apostate, but the tide was clear and eventually the Roman Empire became officially Christianized.
The triumph of Christianity against paganism amongst the common people should be seen as the understandable acceptance of a theory of God which was not arbitrary, offering a description of life based upon hope over fear. Also, the Bible gained cachet by presenting a vision of life where all men and women, regardless of status, citizenship, free or slave, all stood on equal footing before God. This powerful idea was the opposite of Roman society. Sadly, rejecting this can only be seen as a lapse from faith back into the abyss of ignorance and certain failure.

Why The World Didn’T End Yesterday : Video Clips From The Coolest One

Why The World Didn'T End Yesterday : Video Clips From The Coolest One.

MY 2 DADS: CHILDHOOD NOT SO ‘HAPPY AND GAY’

By Mike McManus
It is massively wrong according to a new, very large, thorough study published this week by the journal Social Science Research. It was written by Mark Regnerus, a scholar at the University of Texas. The New Family Structures Study, or NFSS, is a breakthrough report.
Regnerus compares how young adult children, aged 18-39, of a parent who has had a same-sex relationship fare on 40 different social, emotional and relational outcomes when compared with traditional and other families.
The biggest differences were between children of women who have had a lesbian relationship – and those raised by still-married biological parents.
Fully 69 percent of those with lesbian mothers were on welfare as children – four times the 17 percent in intact families ever had that experience. In fact, 38 percent of the adult children of lesbian mothers are currently on welfare versus only 10 percent of those with married parents. That’s the same 4-1 ratio.
Only 8 percent of adult children from intact homes were unemployed when interviewed in 2011 versus 28 percent with a lesbian parent.
What’s most shocking is that only two people of those with married parents were ever touched sexually by a parent or an adult – while 23 percent of those with a lesbian mother had that experience! Golly, they are 11 times more apt to be molested!
The design of the NFSS research was brilliant.
Most research on the impact of homosexual parenting has relied on interviews with same-sex parents who are from convenience samples.  For example, the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study conducted last year “recruited entirely from self-selection from announcements posted at lesbian events, in women’s bookstores and in lesbian newspapers in Boston, Washington and San Francisco.”
Such a sample is biased toward including better-educated, wealthier people who visit bookstores. What about the less educated or less likely to be employed? They aren’t interviewed. Of course, the children of these more affluent parents are more apt to do well.
By comparison, NFSS asked 3,000 young adults if either of their parents had a same-sex relationship while they were growing up. Result: 175 reported their mother was in a homosexual relationship, and 73 said the same about their father. That’s about 1.7 percent, a figure comparable to other studies. The sampling was so carefully done that it included both those with listed phone numbers and those who only use cell phones (about half the total).
Only 23 percent said they had spent at least three years in the same household with a romantic partner of their mother; an additional 57 percent did so for at least four months.
Among those with a father in a homosexual relationship, fewer than 2 percent said they had spent at least three years in that household. These relationships are much more volatile and short lived, but neither compares with the stability of married heterosexual parents.
Also, by interviewing young adults of homosexual parents, we can see how the experience shaped their adult lives. This is vastly more useful information than asking volunteer same-sex parents if their kids are doing well.  Of course, they say yes.
More results: Three times as many young adults of lesbians were currently cohabiting as those with married parents (24 percent versus 9 percent). Even more young adults (31 percent) of divorced parents were living together. Twice as many from intact homes were employed full time as those with lesbian mothers.
Only 5 percent of those with married parents had considered suicide in the past year versus 12 percent of those with lesbian parents and 24 percent with homosexual fathers. That’s five times those from intact homes. Similarly, a young adult of married parents is less than half as likely to be in therapy “for a problem connected with anxiety, depression, or relationships” – as those with homosexual parents (8 percent versus 19 percent).
Only 12 percent of young adults with married parents had ever cheated while married or cohabiting, but a big 40 percent of adult children of lesbians had done so.
Just 8 percent of those from intact homes had ever been forced to have sex against their will versus 31 percent with lesbian parents and 25 percent of “gay” parents.
These are huge differences.
They should be cited by those opposed to same-sex marriages.
In the last two weeks, I helped gather signatures for a statewide referendum on whether to reverse a vote by the Maryland Legislature legalizing same-sex marriage.
I hope this information will give fresh ammunition to those trying to protect traditional marriage – and children.

Michael J. McManus is president of Marriage Savers and a syndicated columnist.

Wear radio chip or leave, school tells students

by Jack Minor Email | Archive
Jack Minor is a former Marine who served under President Reagan. He has written hundreds of articles and has been interviewed about his work on multiple television and radio outlets. He is also a former pastor and has been acknowledged for his research ability in several books.
Chip32

Brushing aside privacy concerns by parents and civil rights activists, a Texas school district has gone live with a controversial program requiring all students to wear a locator radio chip that will enable officials to track their every move – or face expulsion.

At the beginning of the school year students at John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School within the Northside Independent School District were told their old student ID badges were no longer valid. During registration they were required to obtain new badges containing a radio frequency identification tracker chip.

Students refusing the chips were reportedly threatened with suspension, fines, or being involuntary transferred. Unlike chips used by retailers to track inventory which activate when scanned by a reader, these chips contain batteries and actively broadcast a continuous signal.

On October 1, the schools went live with a program to use the chips to track the exact locations of students using the badges. The badges would even be able to tell if a student in a classroom is in his seat or somewhere else in the room.

The district’s stated reason is to help obtain funding from the state by documenting the number of students who attend the school.

WOAI television reported district spokesman Pasqual Gonzalez said the two schools have a high rate of truancy, and the district could gain $2 million in state funding by improving attendance.

According to the San Antonio newspaper, the program is expected to cost the district $526,065 to implement with annual cost of $136,005 per year to continue running the program.

However, a counselor at the school told Steve Hernandez, a parent whose daughter Andrea is a sophomore at John Jay, that the district currently does not have any single person assigned to monitor the location of students or track the data.

“That destroys the argument that the purpose to track students for attendance purposes,” Hernandez said. “How are they supposed to safeguard privacy concerns if no one is responsible for its administration?”

The website ChipFreeSchools.com cites health concerns over the chips and includes a position paper from groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Big Brother Watch, Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, Constitutional Alliance, Freedom Force International, Friends of Privacy USA, the Identity Project and Privacy Activism said no students should be subjected to the “chipping” program “unless there is sufficient evidence of its safety and effectiveness.”

“Children should never be used as test subjects for technology, no matter what their socio-economic status. If schools choose to move forward without complete information and are willing to accept the associated liability, they should have provisions in place to adhere to the principles of fair information practices and respect individuals’ rights to opt out based on their conscientious and religious objections,” the statement said.

The paper said RFID tracking is dehumanizing, since it can “monitor how long a student or teacher spends in a bathroom stall.”

The plans also violate free speech and association, since the presence of a tracking device “could dissuade individuals from exercising their rights to freedom of thought, speech and association. For example, students might avoid seeking counsel when they know their RFID tags will document their presence at locations like counselor and School Resource Officer offices.”

Andrea Hernandez has refused to wear the new badge citing religious and privacy concerns. She said that since the policy went into effect several students have engaged in civil disobedience by leaving their badges at home. However, Hernandez has been wearing her old badge to school in an attempt to have some form of ID.

While the district has not yet expelled any students for refusing to wear the badges, Hernandez has already faced consequences for her refusal to take the chip.

“About two weeks ago when I went to cast my vote for homecoming king and queen I had a teacher tell me I would not be allowed to vote because I did not have the proper voter ID,” she explained. “I had my old student ID card which they originally told us would be good for the entire four years we were in school. He said I needed the new ID with the chip in order to vote.”

In an attempt to obtain legal help, Andrea’s father, Steve Hernandez reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union, but was rebuffed because organization officials didn’t feel Andrea’s religious concerns would advance their core mission.

In an email to Hernandez, Rebecca Robertson with the ACLU of Texas told him, “the ACLU of Texas will not be able to represent you or your daughter in this matter.”

In citing its reasons for refusing to take the case Robertson said among the factors they use to decide to take a case are whether it “has the potential to achieve broad and lasting advances in civil liberties” and as such, Andrea’s case does not apparently meet that threshold.

WND requests to the district for comment were not returned.

In an October 2 letter, Deputy Superintendent Ray Galindo said he was willing to let Hernandez wear a badge without the chip, but then goes on to portray the issue as one of her refusing to wear any type of ID.

“We are simply asking your daughter to wear an ID badge as every other student and adult on the Jay campus is asked to do.”

Galindo went on to suggest there would be consequences if she did not agree to wear the new badge.

“I urge you to accept this solution so that your child’s instructional program will not be affected. As we discussed, there will be consequences for refusal to wear an ID card as we begin to move forward with full implementation.”

Steve Hernandez said the so-called accommodation actually came with other strings attached.

“He told me in a meeting that if my daughter would proudly wear her student ID card around her neck so everyone could see, he would be able to quietly remove her chip from her student ID card,” Hernandez explained. “He went on to say as part of the accommodation my daughter and I would have to agree to stop criticizing the program and publicly support … it. I told him that was unacceptable because it would imply an endorsement of the district’s policy and my daughter and I should not have to give up our constitutional rights to speak out against a program that we feel is wrong.”

Andrea Hernandez said that since she has begun taking the stand she has been surprised by how many students agree with her.

“On Monday a group of students came up to me in the lunch room asking me about the chips after they saw me appear on television,” she said. “I got the majority to understand there were legitimate reasons for not wearing the badge. Many of them thanked me, saying they were uncomfortable with wearing them, but were unsure how to explain why they should not have to wear them.”

She went on to say while some students have said they didn’t have a problem wearing the badges, she is not aware of any who enthusiastically support the program.

Heather Fazio, executive director of Texans for Accountable Government, said the district has not been willing to take steps to listen to parent’s concerns over the chips.

“The school board refuses to put it on the agenda or hold a forum where the matter can be debated publicly,” Fazio said. “Parents are allowed to speak to the board on any item not on the agenda, but the board is under no obligation to respond to what is being said. When we mentioned our concerns to them, they looked at us with indifference.”

Highlighting the dangers the chips pose to student privacy issues even while off campus, Fazio said she was able to get list containing the names and addresses of all of the students in the district by filing a Freedom of Information Request.

“After paying a $30 fee with the FOIA request I was able to get every student’s name and address,” Fazio explained. “Using this information along with an RFID reader means a predator could use this information to determine if the student is at home and then track them wherever they go. These chips are always broadcasting so anyone with a reader can track them anywhere.”

Andrea says while the school has not yet taken any retaliatory action, she is concerned that there will come a time when they will decide to retaliate.

“It is just a matter of time before they write me up and expel me. This would put a big black mark on my record if this were to happen, but I don’t feel I should be punished for standing up for my religious rights and privacy issues.”

She said, “In order to get into the Science and Engineering Academy I had to have good grades, great attendance, and be in pre-AP [advanced placement] classes. I had to fill out an application and write an essay about why I would be a good student. Now they want to take the education that I have worked so hard for away from me because I refuse to wear a tracker.”

Student-expelled-for-refusing-location-tracking-rfid-badge

School makes good on threat of ‘consequences’ for refusing to submit to ‘Mark of the Beast’ ID scheme

Aaron Dykes
Infowars.com
November 19, 2012

After months of protesting a policy requiring high school students to wear an RFID-enabled ID badge around their necks at all times, Andrea Hernandez is being involuntarily withdrawn from John Jay High School in San Antonio effective November 26th, according to a letter sent by the district that has now been made public.

The letter, sent on November 13, informs her father that the Smart ID program, which was phased in with the new school year, is now in “full implementation” and requires all students to comply by wearing the location-tracking badges.

Since Andrea Hernandez has refused to wear the badge, she is being withdrawn from the magnet school and her program at the Science and Engineering Academy, and instead will have to attend William Howard Taft HS, which is not currently involved in the ID scheme, unless she changes her position.

Civil liberties lawyers at the Rutherford Institute told Infowars.com that they are in the process of filing a temporary restraining order petition to prevent the school from kicking Hernandez out until further appeals can be made to resolve the matter. Representatives for John Jay did not return calls for comment by the time of publishing.

Andrea, backed by her family, has claimed the policy violates her religious beliefs and unduly infringes on her privacy. The controversial ID badge includes the photo and name of each student, a barcode tied to the student’s social security number, as well as an RFID chip which pinpoints the exact location of the individual student, including after hours and when the student leaves campus.

The battle over the IDs has been an ongoing saga. The Hernandez family has previously attended several school board meetings, organized protests and filed formal grievances with the district over the matter, and has been backed by numerous civil rights advocates.

Infowars reporters covered a protest that took place in early October, following up with appearances by the Hernandez family on the Alex Jones Show and the Infowars Nightly Newsprograms.

Texas Students Treated Like Cattle with Mandatory RFID Tags

In response to public outcry and pressure from rights groups, the school has offered to remove the battery and chip, but wouldn’t budge on mandating the ID. Their offer would also require the Hernandez family to end their criticism and agree to comply with and even tout the policy, something Andrea’s father Steve Hernandez finds unacceptable.

Steve Hernandez stated, “[A]s part of the accommodation my daughter and I would have to agree to stop criticizing the program and publicly support … it. I told [the Deputy Superintendent] that was unacceptable because it would imply an endorsement of the district’s policy and my daughter and I should not have to give up our constitutional rights to speak out against a program that we feel is wrong.”

Andrea has instead agreed to carry her original ID card, which was issued when she began at the school, and was told would be valid for her entire four years there.

But she has already been effectively punished for her non-compliance. She was not allowed to vote for Homecoming King & Queen because she didn’t have the proper identification, and has also been barred from some school functions. The school originally threatened to suspend, fine, or involuntarily transfer students who wouldn’t wear the ID once the program was fully instituted.

Deputy Superintendent Ray Galindo vowed in October that the consequences would be worse if Andrea did not change her mind: “I urge you to accept this solution so that your child’s instructional program will not be affected. As we discussed, there will be consequences for refusal to wear an ID card as we begin to move forward with full implementation,” Galindo wrote.

Hernandez’ case first made news back in August, when the school tried to impose the new technology at the start of the school year. John Jay HS, along with other participating schools, stands to receive $2 million dollars in state funding for a program supposedly instituted to reduce tardiness and truancy. However, Hernandez and other students only qualified for the magnate school by having good attendance, grades and test scores in the first place.

Christian Family Refuses Mandatory RFID Chip at Texas School

For many Christian families, including the Hernandez’, the mandatory policy is eerily close to the predictions of Revelations 13: 16-18, which warns of the Mark of the Beast:

16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[a] the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (New King James Version)

As such, the policy has also been considered a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right to free speech and freedom of religion. Many also consider it to be an unreasonable and unwarranted violation of privacy, protected under the Fourth Amendment.

Gov’t Bribing School Children with Candy to Wear RFID Chip

Atrocities revealed

Rocket Hits Gush Etzion

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

A rocket exploded in an open area near an Arab village in Gush Etzion around 2:15 p.m. as sirens wailed in Jerusalem during another barrage of rockets and missiles unleashed by Hamas.

The missile exploded in an open area, and no one was injured. Minutes before the sirens rang out, an AFP correspondent in Gaza City reported hearing the loud report of an outgoing rocket.

The attack was claimed by Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which said it had fired “an M75 rocket at the occupied city of Jerusalem.”

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who spent the past two days in Egypt, had been scheduled to hold talks in Jerusalem with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman shortly after noon.

At least one missile was aimed at Jerusalem last week and reportedly exploded in an open area next to an Arab village in Gush Etzion, located south of the capital.

Shortly earlier on Tuesday, three rockets hit a kibbutz, critically wounding at least one person. The early warning siren system did not operate, and there are fears that several young people, possibly children, are trapped in debris.

A Grad missile demolished a Be’er Sheva home. A woman in the house took cover in the reinforced shelter in the house and escaped injury.

Wurmser: Iran a Major Factor Behind Gaza/Israel Violence

November 19, 2012

LIGNET Senior Analyst David Wurmser says in a new interview that Iran’s support for Hamas is a major factor behind the hundreds of missiles fired on Israel from Gaza over the last week and that he believes pro-Iran Hamas factions could extend the violence. Intensified Western pressure to end the conflict, he says, could actually accelerate the timeline for an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.

Dr. David Wurmser, a former national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, spoke to LIGNET Managing Editor Fred Fleitz via Skype from Tel Aviv early today. He says he had to duck for cover yesterday when air raid sirens were sounded and that he watched interceptor missiles from Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system destroy two rockets fired at Tel Aviv from Gaza.

Wurmser says he believes the violence between Hamas and Israel began several weeks ago when an unknown party – Wurmser thinks it was Israel – destroyed a factory in Sudan that reportedly was being used by Iran to manufacture medium-range missiles to send to Hamas in Gaza.Wurmser says medium-range missiles fired on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are not easily made and were probably imported.He also notes that the Israeli’s attack on the Sudanese missile factory and the airstrikes on Gaza that began on November 14 are part of a deliberate Israeli strategy to destroy the Iranian base of support for Hamas.

Wurmser says pro-Iranian factions in Hamas are a key factor in determining how soon the violence will end. Wurmser says he believes Hamas wants a cease-fire even though it has so far laid down conditions that Israel will not accept. However, the crucial factor might be whether Hamas is guided by its pro-Egyptian factions that want the conflict to end or whether Hamas’ more radical pro-Iranian factions will prevail in pressing Hamas to continue the rocket attacks and resist a cease-fire.

Wurmser says he sees Egypt publicly playing to the Arab street in its rhetoric against Israel. Under the surface, however, Egypt wants to tamp down and end the violence.Wurmser says he believes recent events in Gaza took Egyptian officials off guard and that Egypt’s government is ill-prepared to deal with this crisis since the government is still consolidating its power.Maintaining U.S. aid and winning a large IMF loan are important factors motivating Egypt to try to end this conflict, according to Wurmser.

Wurmser sees both sides playing to end the current conflict to its advantage.He says he thinks Hamas will fire missiles until the last moment so it can claim victory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Wurmser, cannot afford to allow the violence to end in a way that just kicks the can down the road for violence to resume again in a few months. Wurmser also assesses that Netanyahu wants to avoid an inconclusive outcome like the one seen after the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and needs to end the Hamas rocket threat before he agrees to a cease-fire.

Wurmser says Israel might accelerate its timeline to invade Gaza so it can accomplish its objectives before it is forced by the West to agree to a cease-fire.Wurmser also fears that Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system might run out of missiles, which would require Israeli forces to enter Gaza to take out missiles from the ground. So far, Wurmser says Israel has fired about 300 Iron Dome interceptor missiles.

November 19, 2012 10:00 EDT Update

The Israeli military ordered new widespread air strikes earlier today targeting locations all over Gaza, specifically guerilla sites linked to Hamas militants. Today marks the sixth day of clashes between Israel and Gaza with the death toll in Gaza reportedly reaching 94.

In response to sustained rocket attacks by Hamas yesterday, the Israeli military carried out a series of bombings across Gaza this morning. The missiles targeted around 80 Hamas sites in Gaza and left 18 people killed and over 30 more injured. Two field commanders from the Islamic Jihad faction of Hamas were among the casualties. The targeted sites included homes of Hamas militants, other militant-owned buildings, arms storage locations and police stations.

A Hamas official in Cairo said Israel must make the first move in ending hostilities and claimed Israel has asked for a cease-fire. Israeli officials rejected these statements.

International efforts intensified today to end the violence. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair delivered a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to Hamas leaders offering to end Israeli airstrikes if the rocket attacks cease.

Hamas appears to be complicating peace efforts by demanding that Israel end its blockade of Gaza as a condition for agreeing to a cease-fire, a demand Israeli officials will not agree to.