IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM, JOIN ‘EM
If there is one phrase that completely encapsulates the modern understanding of the Roman Emperor Constantine, it is the above saw.
Rome was an empire splintered and scattered when the armies of two rivals Maxentius and Constantine met in 312 AD.
It was just before the Battle of Milvian Bridge that it was reported Constantine had a miraculous intervention by the Christian Messiah, Jesus.
According to Church historian Eusebius (an adoring contemporary of the future world ruler), it began with a vision perceived by Constantine and his entire army proclaiming that in the sign of Christ they would be victorious over the pagan magic of Maxentius.
Lactantius states that the general ordered his men to place that sign (believed to have been the Greek acronym for Christ, the letters chi and rho superimposed on each other) upon their shields.
At the conclusion of the battle, Maxentius had drowned in the Tiber and his army was completely routed.
Constantine now ruled Rome along with Licinius whom he later defeated as a result of treachery against the Edict of Milan and antagonism towards Christianity.
Though a great many scholars dispute the authenticity of Constantine’s vision, few dispute the reforms he instituted upon his ascension to World Ruler.
Constantine stopped pagan sacrifice (particularly infanticide), outlawed abuse of slaves, stopped execution by crucifixion, set the precedent of the free exercise of religion and gave special privileges to Christians, in particular.
Whether intended, or not, it was a brilliant political move.
Is there a modern equivalent, a kindred of Constantine reincarnated or, shall we say “Born Again” in similar savvy statesmanship?
SOLDIERS OF THE SCIMITAR
Around the world, Christians are again under extreme persecution and, shockingly, there may very well be a directed strategy behind it.
Western governments and intelligence agencies (particularly those of the U.S. and U.K.) have been riding radical Islam like a terrible, barbaric beast of conquest toppling governments all over the world. Increasingly, it seems that Washington D.C. takes instruction from Riyadh (or, perhaps more accurately, Mecca).
The Soldiers of the Scimitar are a scourge to peaceful peoples within their reach, particularly Christians.
In Pakistan, muslim gunmen tried to force their way into a Christian boarding school killing 6 but were thwarted by security-minded administrators and praying children.
50 Christian college students in Nigeria weren’t as lucky, they were slaughtered in their sleep.
Pakistani militants continued in their efforts and managed to burn to death a Christian Rawalpindi man.
In Egypt, the Obama/CIA/Muslim Brotherhood confederation is kidnapping and torturing young Christian girls, forcing them into sex slavery.
The systematic abduction and forced Islamization of Coptic minor girls in Egypt is a frequent, dangerous and a rapidly escalating phenomenon. The problem was brought to light by the Coptic Pope Shenouda III as far back as December 17th, 1976, when he protested during a conference held in Alexandria that “there is pressure being practiced to convert Coptic girls to embrace Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands” and demanded that the abducted girls be brought back to their families. ~ Abduction and Forced Islamization of Christian Coptic Girls Continues in Egypt, Assyrian International News Agency
Throughout the world, Christians are hopeless and helpless as the forces of this New Islamic World Order converge upon them. They are without a single champion.
Or are they?
CONSTANTINE RISING
Vladimir Putin’s father was a “model Communist” and “militant atheist” but his mother was a quiet, passionate Orthodox Christian who planted a secret seed of revolt in him that is now emblazoned upon his chest in the form of a small tin cross she gave him, that he now never removes.
Since then, Putin has been a man of destiny, rising in the ranks of the KGB to become one of the most powerful men in the world.
In 1988, Putin was a mid-level agent assigned to harangue then-President Ronald Reagan over his “human rights” record during a visit to Moscow. But, as my friend Rob Hase pointed out (hat/tip to Rob for sending this astounding story to me), the expression on Putin’s face is not one of anger or disdain but perhaps surprised admiration—his hand partially-clenched in inquisitive angst.
Perhaps these were two real men, flawed, but connected by that uncommon bond amongst so few world leaders—integrity.
Though lesser men were unsuccessful in removing Reagan, his legacy was still clouded by their efforts.
Yet, Reagan’s message of self-determination and the Protestant work ethic continues to echo through the ages. Has his former adversary picked up Dutch’s ensign to be a splinter in the All-Seeing Eye?
During his 2012 Presidential Election victory speech, Putin made some strange allusions to triumphing over outside influences. Was this veiled defiance against the New World Order?
Since then he has become somewhat of a cult-hero amongst those yearning for a champion of freedom. While the CIA and MI6 Harlot rides the Beast of jihad, Christian leaders are turning to their new Constantine. The Christian Post noted that, wherever the Bush/Obama Machine has been, Christians suffer:
…Metropolitan Hilarion, foreign relation chief of the Russian Orthodox Church presented evidence and statistics that stated, “Every five minutes one Christian was dying for his or her faith in some part of the word.”
Christians face persecution in many nations; from church demolition in Afghanistan and bombings of churches in Iraq, to the violence against Christians taking place in rebellious towns in Syria.
After delivering the facts, Metropolitan Hilarion asked Putin to make protection and defense of Christianity around the globe a major part of his foreign policy.
And, as reported by Interfax, Putin replied, “You needn’t have any doubt that that’s the way it will be,” assuring Hilarion that Russian foreign policy would defend Christians from persecution abroad.
It is with great confusion that many “Conservative Christians” in America look longingly to Russia and with revulsion at their own messianic magistrate.
While Obama has remained silent on the subject of the ethnic cleansing of Christians going on throughout the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been.
On August 1, 2013, Putin said world leaders must come together to stop the violent persecution of Christians in the Middle East.
Something is wrong when Putin is a greater champion for freedom and liberty than the President of the United States is. ~ While Obama Plays Golf, Putin Defends Liberty, Judson Philips, Washington Times
Putin has a persona of being a man’s man but in the most modern Renaissance sense. The man who trains martial arts with Steven Seagal doesn’t kill wild tigers as Teddy Roosevelt once did, he tranquilizes them.
Although critics called the incident a “set-up”, even they grudgingly admitted their information came from Putin, himself, who (apparently) was trying to stay apolitical in an attempt to draw attention to wildlife conservation.
Regardless of their authenticity, these events are still striking when compared to what the so-called “leader of the free world” gets photographed doing.
As the Surveillance State becomes a dystopian reality for Americans, intelligence defectors like Edward Snowden are seen more and more as heroic whistleblowers than the traitors politicians and media portray them to be.
Putin threw himself squarely on their side when he gave Snowden sanctuary.
A decade of the “War on Terror” has netted Americans, not more freedom, but less. Along with their sons coming home missing arms, legs and faces a frightening new wave of technology is now being aimed at them after it has been perfected on the battlefield.
Americans are looking up in the sky and being shocked to see military drones flying overhead like a scene from a Science Fiction movie.
While Barack Obama was reported to have made the sick, sociopathic statement that drones make him “good at killing”, Vladimir Putin sounded much more presidential with the assertion that “drones are not toys”. President Putin vowed to be more circumspect in use of the valuable platform than his world counterparts (yet showed honest pragmatism in refusing to swear them off entirely):
In America, the homosexual lobby is steamrolling the last vestiges of traditional morality, as is the case everywhere else in the world…except Russia.
Recently, the Duma handed President Putin a law banning “homosexual propaganda” and he signed it, drawing the ire of so-called “Progressives” worldwide.
A MAN KNOWN BY HIS ENEMIES
It seems that Vladimir Putin’s American enemies are of the same two-Party Machine that many in the burgeoning Liberty Movement are also struggling against.
There is no greater example than one found in Damascus.
As the Middle East dominoes continued to fall, ousting stable governments and turning them over to Shariah-instituting radicals, Putin has been credited with stopping the Caliphate from making Syria the next victim. In his signature statesmanship, he reached out to the American people via an opinion editorial in the New York Times.
With surprising uniformity, the reaction from Democrat and Republican insiders was the same. Leftist NJ Senator Robert Menendez claimed with ridiculous hyperbole that Putin’s Op-ed. made him “want to vomit”.
In the same unimaginative vein as saying “I know you are but what am I?”, Arizona Republican Senator John McCain submitted a counter Op-ed. to Pravda.
McCain showed his ineptitude in the effort and Putin won the battle handily.
To be sure, Vladimir Putin is not George Washington. But then again, George Washington isn’t George Washington.
Putin is, however, an expert diplomat. Where others walk through perilous quagmires and make emotional assertions that cost them credibility, Putin is sharp and circumspect.
He will need his statesmanship acumen if he is to proceed further down this path, for there is a minefield that all who enter the Freedom realm must navigate: Zionism.
The nation of Israel is the Achilles Heel of the Liberty Movement in general and Libertarians in specific. When the issue is raised, their arguments of strong logic quickly devolve into ugly racial hatred.
For Biblical scholars, this is no surprise:
The Burden of the Word of the L-rd concerning Israel.
Thus declares the L-rd who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the Earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, “Behold, I Am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. In that day,” declares the L-rd, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the L-rd of Hosts, their G-d.’” ~ Zechariah 12:1-5 (New American Standard, capitalization and abbreviation added out of respect)
Can President Putin unify Right-minded freedom lovers and become the Lafayette of their 2nd American Revolution?
For a man already channeling Constantine, it may be as easy as tranquilizing a tiger.
