Who is the Woman Who Rides The Beast in Revelation 17?

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Who is the Woman Who Rides The Beast in Revelation 17?

Virtually all attention these days is focused on the coming Antichrist — but he is only half the story. Many are amazed to discover in Revelation 17 that there is also another mysterious character in the heart of prophecy — a woman who rides the beast." — Dave Hunt

The Bible says she is a city and gives remarkable clues to her identity. Reproduced here by permission is one chapter of one of the greatest books of our time on Bible prophecy, "A Woman Rides The Beast" by prophecy researcher Dave Hunt.

A City on Seven Hills A woman rides the beast, and that woman is a city built on seven hills that reigns over the kings of the earth! Was ever in all of history such a statement made? John immediately equates the readers' acceptance of this revelation with "wisdom." We dare not pass over such a disclosure casually. It merits our careful and prayerful attention. Here is no mystical or allegorical language but an unambiguous statement in plain words: "The woman ... is that great city." There is no justification for seeking some other hidden meaning. Yet books have been written and sermons preached insisting that "Mystery Babylon" is the United States. That is clearly not the case, for the United States is a country, not a city. One might justifiably refer to the United States as Sodom, considering the honor now given to homosexuals, but it is definitely not the Babylon that John sees in this vision. The woman is a city. Furthermore, she is a city built on seven hills. That specification eliminates ancient Babylon. Only one city has for more than 2000 years been known as the city on seven hills. That city is Rome. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: "It is within the city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State proper is now confined."1 There are, of course, other cities, such as Rio de Janeiro, that were also built on seven hills. Therefore, John provides at least seven more characteristics to limit the identification to Rome alone. We will examine each one in detail in subsequent chapters. However, as a preview of where we are going, we will list them now and discuss each one briefly. As we shall see, there is only one city on the earth which, in both historical and contemporary perspectives, passes every test John gives, including its identification as Mystery Babylon. That city is Rome, and more specifically, Vatican City. Even Catholic apologist Karl Keating admits that Rome has long been known as Babylon. Keating claims that Peter's statement "The church here in Babylon ... sends you her greeting" (from I Peter 5:13) proves that Peter was writing from Rome. He explains further: "Babylon is a code word for Rome. It is used that way six times in the last book of the Bible [four of the six are in chapters 17 and 18 and in extrabiblical works such as Sibylling Oracles (5, 159f.), the Apocalypse of Baruch (ii, 1), and 4 Esdras (3:1). Eusebius Pamphilius, writing about 303, noted that "it is said that Peter's first epistle... was composed at Rome itself; and that he himself indicates this, referring to the city figuratively as Babylon."2 As for "Mystery," that name imprinted on the woman's forehead is the perfect designation for Vatican City. Mystery is at the very heart of Roman Catholicism, from the words "Mysterium fide" pronounced at the alleged transformation of the bread and wine into the literal body and blood of Christ to the enigmatic apparitions of Mary around the world. Every sacrament, from baptism to extreme unction, manifests the mysterious power which the faithful must believe the priests wield, but for which there is no visible evidence. Rome's new Catechism explains that liturgy "aims to initiate souls into the mystery of Christ (It is 'mystagogy.')" and that all of the Church's liturgy is "mystery."3 Who Is the Whore? The first thing we are told about the woman is that she is a "whore" (Revelation 17:1), that earthly kings "have committed fornication" with her (verse 2), and that "all the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication" (verse 3). Why would a city be called a whore and be accused of having committed fornication with kings? Such an indictment would never be made of London or Moscow or Paris—or any other ordinary city. It wouldn't make sense. Fornication and adultery are used in the Bible in both the physical and the spiritual sense. Of Jerusalem God said, "How is the faithful city become a harlot!" (Isaiah 1:21). Israel, whom God had set apart from all other peoples to be holy for His purposes, had entered into unholy, adulterous alliances with the idol-worshiping nations about her. She had "committed adultery with stones and with stocks [idols]" (Jeremiah 3:9); "and with their idols have they committed adultery" (Ezekiel 23:37). The entire chapter of Ezekiel 16 explains lsrael's spiritual adultery in detail, both with heathen nations and with their false gods, as do many other passages. There is no way that a city could engage in literal, fleshly fornication. Thus we can only conclude that John, like the prophets in the Old Testament, is using the term in its spiritual sense. The city, therefore, must claim a spiritual relationship with God. Otherwise such an allegation would be meaningless. Though it is built on seven hills, there would be no reason to accuse Rio de Janeiro of spiritual fornication. It makes no claim of having a special relationship with God. And though Jerusalem has that relationship, it cannot be the woman riding on the beast, for it is not built on seven hills. Nor does it meet the other criteria by which this woman is to be identified. Against only one other city in history could a charge of fornication be leveled. That city is Rome, and more specifically Vatican City. She claims to have been the worldwide headquarters of Christianity since its beginning and maintains that claim to this day. Her pope enthroned in Rome claims to be the exclusive representative of God, the vicar of Christ. Rome is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and in that too she is unique. Numerous churches, of course, are headquartered in cities, but only one city is the headquarters of a church. The Mormon Church, for example, is headquartered in Salt Lake City, but there is much more to Salt Lake City than the Mormon Church. Not so with Vatican City. It is the heartbeat of the Roman Catholic Church and nothing else. She is a spiritual entity that could very well be accused of spiritual fornication if she did not remain true to Christ. In Bed with the Rulers Not only does Rome's pope call himself the vicar of Christ, but the Church he heads claims to be the one true Church and the bride of Christ. Christ's bride, whose hope is to join her Bridegroom in heaven, is to have no earthly ambitions. Yet the Vatican is obsessed with earthly enterprise, as history proves; and in furtherance of these goals it has been, exactly as John foresaw in his vision, engaged in adulterous relationships with the kings of the earth. That fact is acknowledged even by Catholic historians. Christ said to His disciples, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). The Catholic Church, however, is very much of this world. Her popes have built an unrivaled worldwide empire of property, wealth, and influence. Nor is empire-building an abandoned feature of the past. We have already seen that Vatican II clearly states that the Roman Catholic Church today still ceaselessly seeks to bring under its control all mankind and all their goods. Popes have long claimed dominion over the world and its peoples. Pope Gregory XIs papal bull of 1372 (In Coena Domini) claimed papal dominion over the entire Christian world, secular and religious, and excommunicated all who failed to obey the popes and to pay them taxes. In Coena was confirmed by subsequent popes and in 1568 Pope Pius V swore that it was to remain an eternal law. Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) claimed that all undiscovered lands belonged to the Roman Pontiff, for him to dispose of as he pleased in the name of Christ as His vicar. King John II of Portugal was convinced that in his Bull Romanus Pontifex the pope had granted all that Columbus discovered exclusively to him and his country. Ferdinand and Isabel of Spain, however, thought the pope had given the same lands to them. In May 1493 the Spanish-born Alexander VI issued three bulls to settle the dispute. In the name of Christ, who had no place on this earth that He called his own, this incredibly evil Borgia pope, claiming to own the world, drew a north-south line down the global map of that day, giving everything on the east to Portugal and on the west to Spain. Thus by papal grant, "out of the plenitude of apostolic power," Africa went to Portugal and the Americas to Spain. When Portugal "succeeded in reaching India and Malaya, they secured the confirmation of these discoveries from the Papacy..." There was a condition, of course: "to the intent to bring the inhabitants ... to profess the Catholic Faith."4 It Was largely Central and South America which, as a consequence of this unholy alliance between church and state, had Roman Catholicism forced upon them by the sword and remain Catholic to this day. North America (with the exception of Quebec and Louisiana) was spared the dominance of Roman Catholicism because it was settled largely by Protestants. Nor have the descendants of Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas forgotten that Roman Catholic priests, backed by the secular sword, gave their ancestors the choice of conversion (which often meant slavery) or death. They made such an outcry when John Paul II in a recent visit to Latin America proposed elevating Junipero Serra (a major eighteenth-century enforcer of Catholicism among the Indians) to sainthood that the pope was forced to hold the ceremony in secret. Christ said, "My kingdom is not of this world; otherwise my servants would fight." The popes, however, have fought with armies and navies in the name of Christ to build a huge kingdom which is very much of this world. And to amass their earthly empire they have repeatedly engaged in spiritual fornication with emperors, kings, and princes. Claiming to be the bride of Christ, the Roman Catholic Church has been in bed with godless rulers down through history, and these adulterous relationships continue to this day. This spiritual fornication will be documented in detail later. Rome Equals Vatican Some may object that it is Rome, and not that small part of it known as Vatican City, which is built on seven hills, and that the Vatican can hardly be called a "great city." Though both objections are true, the words "Vatican" and "Rome" are universally used interchangeably. Just as one would refer to Washington and mean the government that runs the United States, so one refers to Rome and means the hierarchy that rules the Roman Catholic Church. Take for example a placard carried by a demonstrator outside the November 15-18, 1993, meeting in Washington D.C. of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Protesting any deviation from the pope's wishes, it read: "ROME'S WAY OR THE HIGHWAY."5 0bviously by "Rome" it meant the Vatican. Such is the common usage, So closely are Catholicism and Rome linked that the Catholic Church is known as the Roman Catholic Church, or simply the Roman Church. Moreover, for more than a thousand years the Roman Catholic Church exercised both religious and civil control over the entire city of Rome and its surroundings. Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) abolished the secular Roman Senate and placed the administration of Rome directly under his command. The Roman Senate that had governed the city under the Caesars had been known as the Curia Romana (Roman Curia). That name, according to the Pocket Catholic Dictionary, is now the designation of "the whole ensemble of administrative and judicial offices through which the Pope directs the operations of the Catholic Church.6 The popes' authority even extended to large territories outside Rome acquired in the eighth century. At that time, with the help of a deliberately fraudulent document manufactured for the popes known as The Donation of Constantine, Pope Stephen III convinced Pepin, king of the Franks and father of Charlemagne, that territories recently taken by the Lombards from the Byzantines actually had been given to the papacy by the Emperor Constantine. Pepin routed the Lombards and handed to the pope the keys to some 20 cities (Ravenna, Ancona, Bologna, Ferrara, lesi, Gubbio, etc.) and the huge chunk of land joining them along the Adriatic coast. Dated 30 March 315, The Donation declared that Constantine had given these lands, along with Rome and the Lateran Palace, to the popes in perpetuity. In 1440 this document was proven to be a forgery by Lorenzo Valla, a papal aide, and is so recognized by historians today. Yet allegedly infallible popes continued for centuries to assert that The Donation was genuine and on that basis to justify their pomp, power, and possessions. That fraud is still perpetuated by an inscription in the baptistry of Rome's St. John Lateran, which has never been corrected. Thus the Papal States were literally stolen by the popes from their rightful owners. The papacy controlled and taxed these territories and derived great wealth from them until 1848. At that time the pope, along with the rulers of most of the other divided territories of Italy, was forced to grant his rebellious subjects a constitution. In September 1860, over his raging protests, Pius IX lost all of the papal states to the new, finally united Kingdom of Italy, which left him, at the time of the First Vatican Council in 1870, still in control of Rome and its surroundings. The point is that, exactly as John foresaw in his vision, a spiritual entity that claimed a special relationship with Christ and with God became identified with a city that was built on seven hills. That "woman" committed spiritual fornication with earthly rulers and eventually reigned over them. The Roman Catholic Church has been continuously identified with that city. As "The most definitive Catholic encyclopedia since Vatican II" declares: ...hence, one understands the central place of Rome in the life of the Church today and the significance of the title, Roman Catholic Church, the Church that is universal, yet focused upon the ministry of the Bishop of Rome. Since the founding of the Church there by St. Peter, Rome has been the center of all Christendom.7 Wealth from III-Gotten Gain The incredible wealth of this woman caught John's attention next. She was dressed "in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication" (Revelation 17:4). The colors of purple and scarlet once again identify the woman with both pagan and Christian Rome. These were the colors of the Roman caesars with which the soldiers mockingly robed Christ as "King" (see Matthew 27:28 and John 19:2,5), which the Vatican took to itself. The woman's colors are literally still the colors of the Catholic clergy! The same Catholic Encyclopedia quoted above states: Capps Magna A cloak with a long train and a hooded shoulder cape ... [it] was purple wool for bishops; for cardinals, it was scarlet watered silk (for Advent, Lent, Good Friday, and the conclave, purple wool); and rose watered silk for Gaudete and Lactate Sundays; and for the pope, it was red velvet for Christmas Matins, red serge at other times. Cassock (also Soutane) The close-fitting, ankle-length robe worn by the Catholic clergy as their official garb.... The color for bishops and other prelates is purple, for cardinals scarlet .... 8 The "golden cup [chalice] in her hand" again identifies the woman with the Roman Catholic Church. Broderick's edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia declares of the chalice: "[It is] the most important of the sacred vessels.... [It] may be of gold or silver, and if the latter, then the inside must be surfaced with gold."9 The Roman Catholic Church possesses many thousands of solid gold chalices kept in its churches around the world. Even the bloodstained cross of Christ has been turned to gold and studded with gems in reflection of Rome's great wealth. The Catholic Encyclopedia says: "The pectoral cross [suspended by a chain around the neck and worn over the breast by abbots, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and the pope] should be made of gold and ... decorated with gems ...10 Rome has practiced evil to gather her wealth, for the "golden cup" is filled with "abominations and filthiness." Much of the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church was acquired through the confiscation of the property of the pitiful victims of the Inquisitions. Even the dead were exhumed to face trial and property was taken from their heirs by the Church. One historian writes: The punishments of the lnquisition did not cease when the victim was burned to ashes, or immured for life in the Inquisition dungeons. His relatives were reduced to beggary by the law that all his possessions were forfeited. The system offered unlimited opportunities for loot.... This source of gain largely accounts for the revolting practice of what has been called "corpse-trials."... That the practice of confiscating the property of condemned heretics was productive of many acts of extortion, rapacity and corruption will be doubted by no one who has any knowledge either of human nature or of the historical documents.... no man was safe whose wealth might arouse cupidity, or whose independence might provoke revenge. 11 Most of Rome's wealth has been acquired through the sale of salvation. Untold billions of dollars have been paid to her by those who thought they were purchasing heaven on the installment plan for themselves or loved ones. The practice continues to this day — blatantly where Catholicism is in control, less obviously here in the United States. No greater deception or abomination could be perpetrated. When Cardinal Cajetan, sixteenth-century Dominican scholar, complained about the sale of dispensations and indulgences, the Church hierarchy was indignant and accused him of wanting "to turn Rome into an uninhabited desert, to reduce the Papacy to impotence, to deprive the pope... of the pecuniary resources indispensable for the discharge of his office." 12 In addition to such perversions of the gospel which have led hundreds of millions astray, there are the further abominations of corrupt banking practices, laundering of drug money, trading in counterfeit securities, and dealings with the Mafia (fully documented in police and court records), which the Vatican and her representatives around the world have long employed. Nino Lo Bello, former Business Week correspondent in Rome and Rome bureau chief for New York Journal of Commerce, writes that the Vatican is so closely allied with the Mafia in Italy that "many people ... believe that Sicily ... is nothing more than a Vatican holding." 13 The Roman Catholic Church is by far the wealthiest institution on earth. Yes, one hears from Rome periodic pleas for money-persuasive appeals claiming that the Vatican cannot maintain itself on its limited budget and needs monetary assistance. Such pleas are unconscionable ploys. The value of innumerable sculptures by such masters as Michelangelo, paintings by the world's greatest artists, and countless other art treasures and ancient documents which Rome possesses (not only at the Vatican but in cathedrals around the world) is beyond calculation. At the World Synod of Bishops in Rome, England's Cardinal Heenan proposed that the Church sell some of these superfluous treasures and give the proceeds to the poor. His suggestion was not well-received. Christ and His disciples lived in poverty. He told His followers not to lay up treasure on this earth but in heaven. The Roman Catholic Church has disobeyed that command and has accumulated a plethora of riches without equal, of which "the Roman Pontiff is the supreme administrator and steward.... 14 There is no church, no city which is a spiritual entity, no religious institution past or present which even comes close to possessing the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church. A recent newspaper article described only a fraction of that treasure at one location: The fabulous treasure of Lourdes (France], whose existence was kept secret by the Catholic Church for 120 years, has been unveiled.... Rumours have been circulating for decades about a priceless collection of gold chalices, diamond-studded crucifixes [a far cry from the bloodstained cross on which Christ died], silver and precious stones donated by grateful pilgrims. After an indiscreet remark by their press spokesman this week, church authorities agreed to reveal part of the collection ... [some] floor-to-ceiling cases were opened to reveal 59 solid gold chalices alongside rings, crucifixes, statues and heavy gold brooches, many encrusted with precious stones. Almost hidden by the other treasures is the "Crown" of Notre Dame de Lourdes, made by a Paris goldsmith in 1876 and studded with diamonds. Church authorities say they cannot put a value on the collection. "I have no idea," says Father Pierre-Marie Charriez, director of Patrimony and Sanctuaries. "it is of inestimable value."... Across the road is a building housing hundreds of [antique] ecclesiastical garments, robes, mitres and sashes — many in heavy gold thread.... "The Church itself is poor," insists Father Charriez. "The Vatican itself is poor." 15 [The treasure described here is only part of that which is kept in one location, the small town of Lourdes, France!] The Mother of Harlots and Abominations The more deeply one probes into the history of the Roman Catholic Church and its current practices, the more impressed one becomes with the amazing accuracy of the vision John received centuries before it would all be lamentable reality. John's attention is drawn to the inscription boldly emblazoned upon the woman's forehead: "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5). Sadly enough, the Roman Catholic Church fits the description "mother of harlots and abominations" as precisely as she fits the others. Much of the cause can be traced to the unbiblical demand that her priests be celibates. The great apostle Paul was a celibate and recommended that life to others who wanted to devote themselves fully to serving Christ. He did not, however, make it a condition for church leadership as the Catholic Church has done, thereby imposing an unnatural burden upon all clergy that very few could bear. On the contrary, he wrote that a bishop should be "the husband of one wife" (I Timothy 3:2) and set the same requirement for elders (Titus 1:5,6). Peter, whom the Catholics erroneously claim was the first pope, was married. So were at least some of the other apostles. This fact was not the chance result of their having been married before Christ called them, but it was accepted as an ongoing norm. Paul himself argued that he had the right to marry like the rest: "Have we not power [Greek exousia, the right or privilege or authority] to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles and as the brethren [half-brothers, sons of Mary and Joseph] of the Lord, and as Cephas [Peter]?" (I Corinthians 9:5). The Roman Catholic Church, however, has insisted upon celibacy even though many Popes, among them Sergius III (904-11), John X (914-28), John XII (955-63), Benedict V (964), Innocent VIII (1484-92), Urban VIII (1623-44), and Innocent X (1644-55), as well as millions of cardinals, bishops, archbishops, monks, and priests throughout history, have repeatedly violated such vows. Not only has celibacy made sinners of the clergy who engage in fornication, but it makes harlots out of those with whom they secretly cohabit. Rome is indeed "the mother of harlots"! Her identification as such is unmistakable. No other city, church, or institution in the history of the world is her rival in this particular evil. History is replete with sayings that mocked the church's false claim to celibacy and revealed the truth: "The holiest hermit has his whore" and "Rome has more prostitutes than any other city because she has the most celibates" are examples. Pius II declared that Rome was "the only city run by bastards" [sons of popes and cardinals]. Catholic historian and former Jesuit Peter de Rosa writes: Popes had mistresses of fifteen years of age, were guilty of incest and sexual perversions of every sort, had innumerable children, were murdered in the very act of adultery [by jealous husbands who found them in bed with their wives].... In the old Catholic phrase, why be holier than the pope? 16 As for abominations, even Catholic historians admit that among the popes were some of the most degenerate and unconscionable ogres in all of history. Their numerous outrageous crimes, many of which are almost beyond belief, have been recited by many historians from preserved documents that reveal the depths of papal depravity, some of which we will cover in later chapters. To call any of these men "His Holiness, Vicar of Christ" makes a mockery of holiness and of Christ. Yet the name of each one of these unbelievably wicked popes, mass murderers, fornicators, robbers, warmongers, some guilty of the massacre of thousands - is emblazoned in honor on the Church's official list of popes. These abominations that John foresaw not only occurred in the past but continue to this very day, as we shall see. Drunk with the Martyrs' Blood John next notices that the woman is drunk — and not with an alcoholic beverage. She is drunk with "the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus..." (Revelation 17:6). The picture is a horrible one. It is not merely her hands that are red with this blood, but she is drunk with it! The slaughter of innocents who, for conscience' sake, would not yield to her totalitarian demands has so refreshed and exhilarated her that she reels in ecstasy. One thinks immediately of the Inquisitions (Roman, Medieval, and Spanish) which for centuries held Europe in their terrible grip. In his History of the Inquisition, Canon Llorente, who was the Secretary to the Inquisition in Madrid from 1790-92 and had access to the archives of all the tribunals, estimated that in Spain alone the number of condemned exceeded 3 million, with about 300,000 burned at the stake. 17 A Catholic historian comments upon events leading up to the suppression of the Spanish Inquisition in 1809: When Napoleon conquered Spain in 1808, a Polish officer in his army, Colonel Lemanouski, reported that the Dominicans [in charge of the Inquisition] blockaded themselves in their monastery in Madrid. When Lemanouski's troops forced an entry, the inquisitors denied the existence of any torture chambers. The soldiers searched the monastery and discovered them under the floors. The chambers were full of prisoners, all naked, many insane. The French troops, used to cruelty and blood, could not stomach the sight. They emptied the torture-chambers, laid gunpowder to the monastery and blew the place up. 18 To wring out confessions from these poor creatures, the Roman Catholic Church devised ingenious tortures so excruciating and barbarous that one is sickened by their recital. Church historian Bishop William Shaw Kerr writes: The most ghastly abomination of all was the system of torture. The accounts of its cold-blooded operations make one shudder at the capacity of human beings for cruelty. And it was decreed and regulated by the popes who claim to represent Christ on earth.... Careful notes were taken not only of all that was confessed by the victim, but of his shrieks, cries, lamentations, broken interjections and appeals for mercy. The most moving things in the literature of the Inquisition are not the accounts of their sufferings left by the victims but the sober memoranda kept by the officers of the tribunals. We are distressed and horrified just because there is no intention to shock us. 19 The remnants of some of the chambers of horror remain in Europe and may be visited today. They stand as memorials to the zealous outworking of Roman Catholic dogmas which remain in force today, and to a Church which claims to be infallible and to this day justifies such barbarism. They are also memorials to the astonishing accuracy of John's vision in Revelation 17. In a book published in Spain in 1909, Emelio Martinez writes: To these three million victims [documented by Llorente] should be added the thousands upon thousands of Jews and Moors deported from their homeland.... In just one year, 1481, and just in Seville, the Holy Office [of the Inquisition] burned 2000 persons; the bones and effigies of another 2000 ... and another 16,000 were condemned to varying sentences.20 Peter de Rosa acknowledges that his own Catholic Church "was responsible for persecuting Jews, for the Inquisition, for slaughtering heretics by the thousand, for reintroducing torture into Europe as part of the judicial process." Yet the Roman Catholic Church has never officially admitted that these practices were evil, nor has she apologized to the world or to any of the victims or their descendants. Nor could Pope John Paul II apologize today because "the doctrines responsible for those terrible things still underpin his position." 21 Rome has not changed at heart no matter what sweet words she speaks when it serves her purpose. More Blood Than the Pagans Pagan Rome made sport of throwing to the lions, burning and otherwise killing thousands of Christians and not a few Jews. Yet "Christian" Rome slaughtered many times that number of both Christians and Jews. Beside those victims of the Inquisition, there were Huguenots, Albigenses, Waldenses, and other Christians who were massacred, tortured, and burned at the stake by the hundreds of thousands simply because they refused to align themselves with the Roman Catholic Church and its corruption and heretical dogmas and practices. Out of conscience they tried to follow the teachings of Christ and the apostles independent of Rome, and for that crime they were maligned, hunted, imprisoned, tortured, and slain. Why would Rome ever apologize for or even admit this holocaust? No one calls her to account today. Protestants have now forgotten the hundreds of thousands of people burned at the stake for embracing the simple gospel of Christ and refusing to bow to papal authority. Amazingly, Protestants are now embracing Rome as Christian while she insists that the "separated brethren" be reconciled to her on her unchangeable terms! Many evangelical leaders are intent upon working with Roman Catholics to evangelize the world by the year 2000. They don't want to hear any "negative" reminders of the millions of people tortured and slain by the Church to which they now pay homage, or the fact that Rome has a false gospel of sacramental works. "Christian" Rome slaughtered Jews by the thousands —far more than pagan Rome ever did. The land of Israel was seen as belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, not to the Jews. In 1096 Pope Urban II inspired the first crusade to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims. With the cross on their shields and armor, the Crusaders massacred Jews across Europe on their way to the Holy Land. Almost their first act upon taking Jerusalem "for Holy Mother Church" was to herd all of the Jews into the synagogue and set it ablaze. These facts of history cannot be swept under the carpet of ecumenical togetherness as though they never happened. Nor can the Vatican escape considerable responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust, which was thoroughly known to Pius XII in spite of his complete silence throughout the war on that most important of subjects. 22 The involvement of Catholicism in the Holocaust will be examined later. Had the pope protested, as representatives of Jewish organizations and the Allied Powers begged him to do, he would have condemned his own church. The facts are inescapable: In 1936, Bishop Berning of Osnabruch had talked with the Fuehrer for over an hour. Hitler assured his lordship there was no fundamental difference between National Socialism and the Catholic Church. Had not the church, he argued, looked on Jews as parasites and shut them in ghettos? "I am only doing," he boasted, "what the church has done for fifteen hundred years, only more effectively." Being a Catholic himself, he told Berning, he "admired and wanted to promote Christianity." 23 There is, of course, another reason why the Roman Catholic Church has neither apologized for nor repented of these crimes. How could she? The execution of heretics (including Jews) was decreed by "infallible" popes. The Catholic Church herself claims to be infallible, and thus her doctrines could not be wrong. Reigning over the Kings of the Earth Finally, the angel reveals to John that the woman "is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth" (Revelation 17:18). Is there such a city? Yes, and again only one: Vatican City. Popes crowned and deposed kings and emperors, exacting obedience by threatening them with excommunication. At the time of the First Vatican Council in 1869, J.H. Ignaz von Dollinger, Professor of Church History in Munich, warned that Pope Pius IX would force the Council to make an infallible dogma out of "that pet theory of the Popes — that they could force kings and magistrates, by excommunication and its consequences, to carry out their sentences of confiscation, imprisonment, and death...." He reminded his fellow Roman Catholics of some of the evil consequences of papal political authority: When, for instance, [Pope] Martin IV placed King Pedro of Aragon under excommunication and interdict...then promised indulgences for all their sins to these who fought with him and [tyrant] Charles [I of Naples) against Pedro, and finally declared his kingdom forfeit...which cost the two kings of France and Aragon their life, and the French the loss of an army... Pope Clement IV, in 1265, after selling millions of South Italians to Charles of Anjou for a yearly tribute of eight hundred ounces of gold, declared that he would be excommunicated if the first payment was deferred beyond the appointed term, and that for the second neglect the whole nation would incur interdict.... 24 Though John Paul II lacks the power to enforce such brutal claims today, his Church still retains the dogmas which authorize him to do so. And the practical effects of his power are no less than those of his predecessors, though exercised quietly behind the scenes. The Vatican is the only city which exchanges ambassadors with nations, and she does so with every major country on earth. Ambassadors come to the Vatican from every major country, including the United States, not out of mere courtesy but because the pope is the most powerful ruler on earth today. Even President Clinton journeyed to Denver in August 1993 to greet the pope. He addressed him as "Holy Father" and "Your Holiness." Yes, ambassadors of nations come to Washington D.C, to Paris, or to London, but only because the national government has its capital there. Nor does Washington, Paris, London, or any other city send ambassadors to other countries. Only Vatican City does so. Unlike any other city on earth, the Vatican is acknowledged as a sovereign state in its own right, separate and distinct from the nation of Italy surrounding it. There is no other city in history of which this has been true, and such is still the case today. Only of the Vatican could it be said that a city reigns over the kings of the earth. The phrase "the worldwide influence of Washington" means the influence not of that city but of the United States, which has its capital there. When one speaks, however, of the influence of the Vatican around the world, that is exactly what is meant — the city and the worldwide power of Roman Catholicism and its leader the pope. Vatican City is absolutely unique. Forget a Rebuilt Babylon Some suggest that the Vatican will move to Babylon in Iraq when it is rebuilt. But why should it? The Vatican has been fulfilling John's vision from its location in Rome for the past 15 centuries. Moreover, we have shown the connection to ancient Babylon which the Vatican has maintained down through history in the paganized Christianity it has promulgated. As for ancient Babylon itself, it wasn't even in existence during the past 2300 years to "reign over the kings of the earth." Babylon lay in ruins while pagan Rome and later Catholic Rome, the new Babylon, was indeed reigning over kings. One eighteenth-century historian counted 95 popes who claimed to have divine power to depose kings and emperors. Historian Walter James wrote that Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) "held all Europe in his net."25 Gregory IX (1227-41) thundered that the pope was lord and master of everyone and everything. Historian R.W. Southern declared: "During the whole medieval period there was in Rome a single spiritual and temporal authority [the papacy] exercising powers which in the end exceeded those that had ever lain within the grasp of a Roman emperor." 26 That the popes reigned over kings is an undisputed fact of history that we will more fully document later. That in so doing horrible abominations were committed, as John foresaw, is also indisputable. Pope Nicholas I (858-67) declared: "We [popes] alone have the power to bind and to loose, to absolve Nero and to condemn him; and Christians cannot, under penalty of excommunication, execute other judgment than ours, which alone is infallible." In commanding one king to destroy another, Nicholas wrote: We order you, in the name of religion, to invade his states, burn his cities, and massacre his people....27 The qualifying information which John gives us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for identifying this woman, who is a city, is specific, conclusive, and irrefutable. There is no city upon earth, past or present, which meets all of these criteria except Catholic Rome and now Vatican City. That inescapable conclusion will become increasingly clear as we proceed to uncover the facts. Footnotes 1 The Catholic Encyclopedia (Thomas Nelson, 1976), s.v. "Rome." Return to text 2Karl Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on "Romanism" by "Bible Christians" (Ignatius Press, 1988), p. 200. Return to text 3Catechism of the Catholic Church (The Wanderer Press, 1994), p. 279, para. 1075. Return to text 4Sidney Z. Ehler, John B. Morrall, trans. and eds., Church and State Through the Centuries (London, 1954), pp. 153-59; Hakluytus Posthumus (William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, London, 1625) as cited in Avro Manhattan, The Vatican Billions (Chino, CA. 1983), p. 90. Return to text 5Our Sunday Visitor, December 5, 1993, p. 3. Return to text 6John A. Hardon, S.J., Pocket Catholic Dictionary (Image Books [Doubleday], 1985), p. 99. Return to text 7Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia (Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 1991), p. 842. Return to text 8Ibid., pp. 175, 178. Return to text 9Robert Broderick, ed., The Catholic Encyclopedia (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1976), pp. 103-04. Return to text 10Ibid., p. 466 Return to text 11William Shaw Kerr, A Handbook of the Papacy (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott), p. 241. Return to text 12J.H. Ignaz von Dollinger, The Pope and the Council (London, 1869), pp. 307-08. Return to text 13Nino Lo Bello, The Vatican Empire (Trident Press, 1968), p. 167. See also David A. Yallop, In God's Name (Bantam Books, 1984); Richard Hammers, The Vatican Connection (Penguin Books, 1983). Return to text 14James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green, Donald E. Heintschel, eds., The Code of Canon Law (Paulist Press, 1985), Canon 1273. Return to text 15The European, April 9-12, 1992. p. 1. Return to text 16Peter de Rosa, Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy (Crown Publishers, 1988), pp. 396-97. Return to text 17R.W. Thompson, The Papacy and the Civil Power (New York, 1876), p. 82 Return to text 18De Rosa, op. cit., pp. 20-21. Return to text 19Kerr, op. cit., pp. 239-40. Return to text 20Emelio Martinez, Recuerdos [Memoirs] de Antano (CLIE, 1909), pp. 105-06. Return to text 21De Rosa, op. cit., pp. 20-21. Return to text 22E.g. Guenter Lewy, The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany (McGraw-Hill, 1964), pp. 300-04. The same facts have been documented by many other authors and historians as well. Return to text 23De Rosa, op. cit., p. 5; Lewy, op. cit., p. 111. Return to text 24Dollinger, op. cit., pp. 10-12 Return to text 25Walter James, The Christian in Politics (Oxford University Press, 1963), p. 47. Return to text 26R.W. Southern, Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages, vol. 2., Pelican Hisotry of the Church series (Penguin Books, 1970), pp. 24-25. Return to text 27Cormenin, History of the Popes, p. 243, as cited in R.W. Thompson, op. cit., p. 368. Return to text Read more at www.chick.com

 

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A City On Seven Hills

9/11 and the "American Inquisition"

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9/11 and the "American Inquisition"

by Michel Chossudovsky

Today's "Global War on Terrorism" is a modern form of inquisition. It has all the essential ingredients of the French and Spanish inquisitions.  Going after " Islamic terrorists", carrying out a Worldwide preemptive war to " protect the Homeland" are used to justify a military agenda.  "The Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT) is presented as a "Clash of Civilizations", a war between competing values and religions, when in reality it is an outright war of conquest, guided by strategic and economic objectives.   The GWOT is the ideological backbone of the American Empire. It defines US military doctrine, including the preemptive use of nuclear weapons against the "state sponsors" of terrorism.  The preemptive "defensive war" doctrine and the "war on terrorism" against Al Qaeda constitute essential building blocks of America's National Security Strategy as formulated in early 2002. The objective is to present "preemptive military action" --meaning war as an act of "self-defense" against two categories of enemies, "rogue States" and "Islamic terrorists", both of which are said to possess weapons of mass destruction.  The logic of the  "outside enemy" and the evildoer, allegedly responsible for American civilian deaths, prevails over common sense. In the inner consciousness of Americans, the attacks of September 11, 2001 justify acts of war and conquest:  "As was demonstrated by the losses on September 11, 2001, mass civilian casualties is the specific objective of terrorists and these losses would be exponentially more severe if terrorists acquired and used weapons of mass destruction." (National Security Strategy, White House, Washington, 2002) America's Inquisition The legitimacy of the inquisition is not questioned. The "Global War on Terrorism" justifies a mammoth defense budget at the expense of health, education, and virtually every single category of (civilian) public expenditure.  The "Global War on Terrorism" requires "going after" the terrorists, using advanced weapons systems. It upholds a preemptive religious-like crusade against evil, which serves to obscure the real objectives of military action.  The lies underlying 9/11 are known and documented. The American people's acceptance of this crusade against evil is not based on any rational understanding or analysis of the facts.   America's inquisition is used to extend America's sphere of influence and justify military intervention, as part of an international campaign against "Islamic terrorists". Its ultimate objective, which is never mentioned in press reports,  is territorial conquest and control over strategic resources.   The GWOT dogma is enunciated and formulated by Washington's neoconservative think tanks. It is carried out by the military-intelligence establishment. It is embodied in presidential speeches and press conferences: "We've been warned there are evil people in this world. We've been warned so vividly. ... And we'll be alert. Your government is alert. The governors and mayors are alert that evil folks still lurk out there. As I said yesterday, people have declared war on America and they have made a terrible mistake. ... My administration has a job to do and we're going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil-doers," (George W. Bush, CNN, September 16, 2001, emphasis added) An understanding of fundamental social and political events is replaced by a World of sheer fantasy, where "evil folks" are lurking. The objective of the "Global War on Terrorism" launched in September 2001 is to galvanize public support for a Worldwide campaign against heresy. In the eyes of public opinion, possessing a "just cause" for waging war is central. A war is said to be Just if it is waged on moral, religious or ethical grounds.  The Demonization of Muslims and the Battle for Oil The US led war in the broader Middle East Central Asian region consists in gaining control over extensive reserves of oil and natural gas. The Anglo-American oil giants also seek to gain control over oil and gas pipeline routes out of the region. (See table and maps below).  Muslim countries possess 66 percent of total oil reserves. (Michel Chossudovsky, The "Demonization" of Muslims and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, Jannuary 4, 2007). In contrast, the United States of America has barely 2 percent of total oil reserves. Iraq has five times more oil than the United States.  Demonization is applied to an enemy, which possesses more than 60 percent of the world's oil reserves. "Axis of evil", "rogue States", "failed nations", "Islamic terrorists": demonization and vilification are the ideological pillars of America's Inquisition. They serve as a casus belli for waging the battle for oil.   The Battle for Oil requires the demonization of those who possess the oil. The enemy is characterized as evil, with a view to justifying military action including the mass killing of civilians. (Ibid)  Historical Origins of the Inquisition The objective is to sustain the illusion that "America is under attack" by Al Qaeda. Under the American inquisition, Washington has a self-proclaimed holy mandate to extirpate Islamic fundamentalism and "spread democracy" throughout the world.  "Going after Bin Laden" is part of a consensus. Fear and insecurity prevail over common sense. Despite the evidence, the White House, the State Department, the two Party system, cannot, in the minds of Americans, be held responsible for a criminal act (9/11/) resulting in the deaths of American civilians. What we are dealing with is an outright and blind acceptance of the structures of power and political authority. In this regard, the American Inquisition as an ideological construct, is, in many regards, similar to the inquisitorial social order prevailing in France and Spain during the Middle Ages. The inquisition, which started in France in the 12th century, was used as a justification for conquest and military intervention.  Initially it took the form of a campaign in southern France directed against the Cathars and Waldensians, which challenged the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The Cathar movement was a religious sect which was protected by the regional feudal order in southern France, against the dominion of the Catholic Church and the French monarchy in Paris. "The Cathars believed they were the true Christians and the Catholic Church was a false church, founded by the devil."  In the early 13th Century, "Pope Innocent III declared a crusade against the Cathars" at the behest of the French royal family. The crusade was in fact a war of conquest under the disguise of a campaign against heresy.  The Inquisition directed against heresy was intended to consolidate the Monarchy's territorial control. It provided a pretext to intervene militarily in south and southwestern France, using the authority of the Catholic Church as a façade.  The inquisition became part of a political consensus, carried out by the Church's inquisitors, imposed by the ruling feudal order and supported militarily. Its purpose was to maintain and sustain the social and political order, extend the powers of the central State, subjugate regional powers in France, using the campaign against heresy as "a justification to wage war". Sounds familiar?   Today's Inquisitorial Order  Anybody who doubts the legitimacy of the American inquisition (9/11 and the "Global War on Terrorism") is a heretic conspiracy theorist or an accomplice of the terrorists. The American Inquisition is part of a Bipartisan Consensus. Both the Democrats and the Republicans support the American Inquisition.  "Going after Osama bin Laden" is part of the election platform of both political parties. In fact it is the central component of the election campaign:  I [Barack Obama] argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights (Barack Obama, Acceptance Speech, National Democratic Convention, Denver, August 2008) We have dealt a serious blow to al Qaeda in recent years. But they are not defeated, and they’ll strike us again if they can. (John McCain, Acceptance Speech, Republican National Convention, St Paul, September 2008) There is an "outside enemy". The Homeland is under attack. Islamic terrorists "threaten our way of life". "We must defend ourselves" preemptively against Osama and his lieutenants.  US Northern Command (Northcom), with headquarters at the Petersen Air Force base in Colorado was established in early 2002 to protect America against a terrorist attack. It was presented to public opinion as a response to the 9/11 attacks. The real strategic objectives of Northern Command using sophisticated aero defense weapons including nuclear warheads, are not mentioned.    Political Consensus The mouthpiece of America's inquisitorial order is the Western corporate media.  People who question the validity of any of these statements or who have doubts about who is behind the 9/11 attacks, are considered to be accomplices of those who threaten the American Homeland.  In 1232, Pope Gregory IX set up a system of special religious courts called the inquisition. The Dominican friars were sent out to find and question heretics:  "Heresy cannot be destroyed unless heretics are destroyed and ... their defenders and [supporters] are destroyed, and this is effected in two ways: ... they are converted to the true catholic faith, or ... burned. (Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, p. 535, 1887) Those who refused to recant, which means give up their heresy, were burned alive.  Today's Patriot Act, the military courts, the Guantanamo concentration camp, the CIA rendition camps, Abu Ghraib, etc., are part of an advanced inquisitorial system. Terrorist suspects are held incommunicado. They are tortured, tried by military courts and sentenced. They are not given the right to recant.  The objective is not to "make the World safer" by putting the terrorists behind bars. The show trials of the alleged terrorists perform an important social function. They are an integral part of Pentagon's disinformation campaign. Quite concretly, they give a real face to the enemy. They sustain the illusion, in the inner consciousness of Americans, that the "Islamic terrorists" constitute a real threat. The arrests, trials and sentences of "Islamic terrorists" sustain the legitimacy of America's Homeland Security State and its inquisitorial legal and law enforcement apparatus.  The ultimate objective is to instill in the minds of millions of Americans that the enemy is real and the US Adminstration will protect the lives of its citizens. Manufacturing Dissent Washington does not silence its antiwar critics. Quite the opposite. The inquisitorial social order allows certain forms of dissent. It is politically correct under a "democracy" to condemn US foreign policy in the strongest terms.  What is not allowed is to question the inquisition.  Those who oppose the US Administration are not branded as heretics. Many "Progressives", Liberals and Antiwar activists, led by prominent intellectuals, firmly believe that Muslims were behind the 9/11 attacks. "We are against the war, but we support the war on terrorism."   The New World Order builds a political and media consensus (i.e. the GWOT) but at the same time it creates and moulds its own opposition. It establishes the limits of dissent. It "manufactures dissent". The presidential candidates in the bipartisan race are supported by powerful corporate interests including the oil companies, Wall Street and the defense contractors. At the same time, these same corporate interests, through their various foundations (including Ford, Rockefeller, Gates, et al), support and finance a number of Liberal/Progressive organizations and alternative media.   9/11 is the cornerstone of the American Inquisition.  The lies underlying 9/11 are accepted by the mainstream antiwar movement.  US foreign policy is condemned, but the "Global War on Terrorism" is upheld. Wittingly or unwittingly, this endorsement of the GWOT by those who claim to be opposed to the US administration, provides a legitimacy to the inquisitorial order, which underlies the actual practice of US foreign policy.  On the other hand, those who have serious doubts regarding the official 9/11 narrative, including the 9/11 Truth Movement, are branded as heretics and nonbelievers.   The "Just War" theory The "Just War" theory (justum bellum) has a longstanding tradition. It has been used throughout history to uphold the dominant social order and provide a justification for waging war. In the case of Afghanistan, 9/11 played a key role in justifying the invasion. The war on Afghanistan was considered a "Just War", waged on humanitarian grounds. On September 12, 2001, NATO invoked for the first time in its history "Article 5 of the Washington Treaty - its collective defense clause" declaring the 9/11 attacks on  the World Trade Center (WTC) and the Pentagon "to be an attack against all NATO members."  Afghanistan was tagged, without  a shred of evidence and prior to the conduct of an investigation, as the "state sponsor" of the 9/11 attacks. The invasion of Afghanistan in early October 2001 was presented as a counter-terrorism operation directed against the perpetrators of 9/11 and their state sponsors.  Trade unions, NGOs and many "progressive" intellectuals endorsed the US-NATO led invasion. The events of 9/11 played a key role in gaining the support of various sectors of American society including the opponents and critics of the Bush adminstration's foreign policy.   The war on Afghanistan was prepared prior to 9/11. War preparations were already in an advanced stage of readiness. The green light to wage war by the US and NATO on Afghanistan was provided within 24 hours of the 9/11 attacks. The press reports failed to reveal a fact which is known and acknowledged by military analysts: a major theater war cannot, under any circumstances, be planned and carried out in a matter of 4-5 weeks.  9/11 was used as a justification to carry out a "humanitarian war". Known to military analysts, the war on Afghanistan had been planned well in advance of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.  The Spanish Inquisition In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Inquisition spread to other parts of Europe. In Italy, the inquisition went after nationalist movements in regions like Lombardy in the north, Venice, or Sicily. It was used to suppress these political movements. In northern France and Germany, the inquisition used the pretext of small mystical sects, to intervene politically and militarily. Regional powers including local principalities refused to cooperate with the inquisition. In today's world, this form of interventionism is carried out by sending in US special forces to "help governments" to combat terrorism.  Spain, conquered by Muslims and in part reconquered by Christians in the 13th Century, was "religiously heterogeneous, and a tolerance had developed so Muslims, Christians, and Jews could live together in relative peace." Toward the end of the 15th Century, coinciding with a period of political and territorial consolidation, "Spanish tolerance changed abruptly. Spain saw the rise of a form of inquisition more ruthless and disruptive than anywhere else in Europe." (Bill of Rights in Action) The Spanish inquisition was also characterized by a process of building a consensus, of going after the heretics and nonbelievers. The inquisition was used to support the process of territorial consolidation in the Iberian peninsula. The objective was to reinforce the absolute monarchy and the powers of the landed aristocracy against the Muslim and Jewish merchant classes. The Spanish Inquisition was executed at the behest of Queen Isabel, Reina Catolica. In 1483, The Reyes Catolicos, Isabel de Castilla and Ferdinando de Aragon, established a Council to direct the Inquisition. Tomas de Torquemada, an advisor to Isabel become the first General Inquisitor. Torquemado had previously preached against the Jewish and Muslim Converts (Conversos). The objective was to repress the upcoming merchant classes. "One country, one ruler, one faith" became the mandate of the General Inquisitor.   Goya's Inquisition The pope upheld the inquisition, the hidden agenda was the feudal order and the Spanish led colonial wars. The Spanish inquisition lasted for 300 years.  Today in America, the General inquisitor is the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The Legal Apparatus The inquisition in the Middle Ages would collect accusations:  "If two witnesses under oath accused someone of heresy, the accused person would be summoned to appear. opinions, prejudices, rumors, and gossip were all accepted as evidence. the accused was never told the names of the accusers, nor even the exact charges. Inquisitors examined the accused in secret. Anyone who refused to confess immediately was assumed to be guilty. Inquisitors were trained only in religion, and they would try to trap the accused with religious questions. For example, an inquisitor might ask, "Do you believe what the holy church believes?" "I am a faithful Christian," the fearful suspect might reply. "So!" the inquisitor might shout. "We already know you believe in heresies! You're saying your beliefs are the true Christianity and the church is false!" (Bill of Rights in Action) No lawyers were allowed, because it was considered heresy to defend a heretic:  "They would torture those who refused to recant. During torture, the religious inquisitors would stand by as witnesses to record confessions or take down the names of other heretics. The government also carried out the final sentence of imprisonment or death. Those who recanted immediately might receive a fairly light sentence -- saying prayers, fasting, being whipped in public, or making a pilgrimage. Some who recanted were forced to wear a yellow cross of felt sewn on all their clothing. The cross marked them as a former heretic, and many people would stay away from them in fear. Many who refused to recant right away were sentenced to prison for life. If they refused to recant at all, the Inquisition turned them over to government authorities to be burned alive. Some inquisitors were so thorough that they went after the dead. If a dead person was accused of heresy, his or her bones could be dug up and burned. For most accused heretics, there was no appeal. A few rich or powerful people might beg the pope to change a sentence, but for most of the condemned, the sentence was final. The families of those sent to prison or to the stake lost their property.  (Bill of Rights in Action, see also History of the inquisition) Today's legal system in America has all the essential features of an inquisitorial order. Torture is permitted "under certain circumstances", according to an August 2002 Justice Department "legal opinion": "if a government employee were to torture a suspect in captivity, 'he would be doing so in order to prevent further attacks on the United States by the Al Qaeda terrorist network,' said the memo, from the Justice Department's office of legal counsel, written in response to a CIA request for legal guidance. It added that arguments centering on "necessity and self-defense could provide justifications that would eliminate any criminal liability" later. (See Washington Post, June 7, 2004) "Even if an interrogation method might arguably cross the line drawn in Section and application of the stature was not held to be an unconstitutional infringement of the President's Commander in Chief authority, we believe that under current circumstances [the war on terrorism] certain justification defenses might be available that would potentially eliminate criminal liability." (Complete August 2, 2002 Justice Department Memorandum in pdf)  Torture "The Spanish Inquisition was particularly terrifying because of its inherent characteristics. The accused never knew who their accusers were. Once arrested, the accused heretic's properties were seized." "These properties were then administered at first by the Crown, and later by the General Inquisitor.... Even if the accused was now a devout Christian, he was tried as severely as possible because of his roots. The accused was also not allowed to have a lawyer or counsel for his defense, and the names of all witnesses were kept secret from him (Jason L. Slade, The Spanish Inquisition August 6, 1996) Torture was the order of the day. The accused were not allowed to have a lawyer.  The torture methods applied by today's CIA inquisitors bear a canny resemblance to the torture techniques used by the Inquisitors in the Middle Ages, including the water torment or aselli, commonly referred to in CIA jargon as "water boarding":   "Because the trials were for spiritual matters, the Church handled them. However, the punishments were usually very much physical, so they were handled by the state. There were many means of this physical torture for confession. The two most famous or infamous were the strappado or pulley, and the aselli or water torment.(Jason L. Slade, The Spanish Inquisition August 6, 1996) Water-boarding then and now  Alfred McCoy reports in the regard that the CIA: "had often added to their no-touch repertoire physical methods reminiscent of the Inquisition's trademark tortures -- strappado, question de l'eau, "crippling stork," and "masks of mockery." At the CIA's center near Kabul in 2002, for instance, American interrogators forced prisoners "to stand with their hands chained to the ceiling and their feet shackled," an effect similar to the strappado. Instead of the Inquisition's iron-framed "crippling stork" to contort the victim's body, CIA interrogators made their victims assume similar "stress positions" without any external mechanism, aiming again for the psychological effect of self-induced pain... (Alfred McCoy, The Hidden History of CIA Torture: America's Road to Abu Ghraib, Global Research, December 2004)  In Spain in the 16th Century, the inquisition was accepted. It was a consensus. The population was led to believe that it was a good thing and that torture "served to purify society".  "A bishop came out and shouted out the names of the condemned. then the heretics were led out, wearing black robes decorated with red demons and flames. officials of the government tied them to the stake. "do you give up your heresy against the holy church?" a priest would challenge. anyone who repented would be strangled to death before the fires were lit. most, however, stood silent or defiant. the fires were lit, and the square echoed with the screams of the heretics and cheers from the crowd." (quoted in Bill of Rights in Action, op cit) Anybody who dared to question the validity of this "war on terrorism" was himself branded a terrorist and subjected to the anti-terrorist laws, which at the time, in Spain, was death.   In today's inquisitorial environment, most people are skeptical regarding the official 9/11 narrative, but nobody dares question the validity of the "war on terrorism".  "These are bad people, and we must go after them, take them out." The discourse is almost the same.  The ultimate objective is to subdue the citizens, totally depoliticize social life in America, prevent people from thinking and conceptualizing, from analyzing facts and challenging the legitimacy of the inquisitorial social order which rules America. The Big Lie becomes the Truth. Realities are turned upside down.  War becomes peace, a worthwhile "humanitarian undertaking", Peaceful dissent becomes heresy.  The objective is to create an atmosphere of fear and insecurity, with a view to upholding the New World Order. In the words of Monthy Python:  "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!  Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise....  Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....  Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope....  Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry... are such elements as fear, surprise....  I'll come in again." (Monthy Python, The Spanish Inquisition) How to reverse the tide? Undermine the Inquisition; Reveal the lies behind 9/11; Break the consensus; Reveal the Crimes committed by those in High Office; Unseat the inquisitors:   "Millions of people have been misled regarding the causes and consequences of September 11. Across the land, the image of an "outside enemy" is instilled in the consciousness of Americans. Al Qaeda is threatening America and the world. The repeal of democracy under the Patriot legislation is portrayed as a means to providing "domestic security" and upholding civil liberties. When people across the US and around the World find out that Al Qaeda is not an outside enemy but a creation of US foreign policy and the CIA, the legitimacy of the bipartisan war agenda will tumble like a deck of cards... (Michel Chossudovsky, America's "War on Terrorism", Global Research 2005) Read more at www.globalresearch.ca

 

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MYSTERY BABYLON, MOTHER OF HARLOTS: WHO IS THIS TREACHEROUS WOMAN?

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MYSTERY BABYLON, MOTHER OF HARLOTS

WHO IS THIS TREACHEROUS WOMAN?

In Revelation the 17th and 18th chapters we are given one of the most foreboding and ominous warnings contained in the whole scripture. Herein, we find identified a great WOMAN which is called the “Great Whore, Mystery Babylon, and the Mother of Harlots”.

She is also identified as the Mother of all the abominations of the earth. She stands above all others as a direct enemy to Jesus Christ. Her own seductive spell has swept the whole earth, from the kings to the inhabitants in it. She is Satan’s queen (In Revelation 18:7, she says “I sit as a queen and am no widow”). So alluring and cunning are her enchantments that Revelation 17:8 tells us that the only ones who will not wonder but know her for what she is will be those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world. All the world will eventually bow down and become a part of her and her daughter system.

Below we have listed some verses out of Revelation 17 which will enable the reader to identify the CLUES provided by God to show who this WOMAN is. The fact that we are dealing with a WOMAN who according to Revelation 13 desires to be worshipped reveals that it will be a RELIGIOUS SYSTEM. The Church is typed in the Bible as a virgin, a WOMAN prepared as a Bride for Christ, for Christ is supposed to be our Bridegroom. But this woman we’re dealing with here is not a virgin, but a whore or a prostitute and is also a mother of harlots. In Revelation 17:1-6, 9,15,18, we read THE CLUES: 1 - And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great WHORE that sitteth upon many waters: 2 - With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 - So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a WOMAN sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 - And the WOMAN was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 - And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 - And I saw the WOMAN drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 9 - And here is the MIND which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the WOMAN sitteth. 15 - And he saith unto me, The WATERS which thou sawest, where the WHORE sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 18 - And the WOMAN which thou sawest is that GREAT CITY, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Now, let’s accumulate the CLUES listed in the above Scriptures and ask ourselves a question: WHICH RELIGIOUS SYSTEM--- a. Controls multitudes, nations and tongues? b. Has seduced kings and inhabitants of the earth? c. Is arrayed in purple and scarlet? d. Is decked with silver and gold?, e. Is drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus? f. Sits upon seven mountains? g. Is a great city reigning over kings? Unless the reader is willfully ignorant it becomes obvious that the religious system herein described has to be the great CHURCH of ROME; the so-called “eternal city of seven hills”. Let’s see further how The Vatican in Rome today resembles this Mystery Babylon. a. Rome controls multitudes, nations and tongues. No other authority on earth has ever interacted with the world and it’s political systems more than the Vatican. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in itself is owned and controlled by the Vatican. b. Rome has seduced kings and inhabitants of the earth. None other than the Vatican is involved in the ecumenical movement of compromise known today as religious tolerance and unity. The world has seen Pope John Paul-11 going to Israel in year 2000, meeting with Arafat, and even fellowshipping with communist leaders for world unity. Today the call is for “humanity” and not for Christ. The call is for “Unity” and not separation from other world’s religions. The Catholic Church has even declared that Islam is an Abrahamic faith and Muslims are our brothers. Today the Catholic Church is seen as a friend to Islam. The Pope was even seen kissing the Quran for the whole world to witness. c.d. The Vatican is arrayed in purple and scarlet, and is decked with silver and gold. Who else but the cardinals and the archbishops of the Catholic Church dress-up in purple and scarlet, the colors of so-called “royalty”. The golden cup is exactly what the Pope uses in the celebration of the “mass”. e. Rome Is drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. As recorded in history, from the time of St. Augustine in 300 AD until AD 1850, 68 million Protestants have been killed by the Roman Catholic Church just because of disagreeing with their doctrine. The Great Massacre of Ireland was one of the worst mass murders done by the Roman Church ever recorded in history. Millions of Christians were burnt at stake, fed to the lions, and tortured to death by the Catholic Church, which included Joan of Arc and St. Patrick - a “cup of abominations” indeed that deserves the Biblical verses mentioned in Revelation17:6 “drunken of the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus”. Don’t be confused to start thinking that the Church of Rome has repented of her slaughter of the saints because she is attempting to unite with the Protestants today by making her creeds line-up with Protestant creeds. Not once has she ever apologized of her murders. No matter how sweet and mellow she appears at this particular time, she will yet rise up to kill, for murder lies in her evil and unrepentant heart. Just wait when the One World religion takes place. Those who will not bow down to the Pope will be persecuted, tortured, and killed again. f. Rome sits upon seven mountains. Rome is popularly known to the world as the “City of Seven Hills”. Yes, Rome sits upon literal seven hills. In fact, Rome is an autonomous nation within the nation of Italy and it is being ruled by the Pope as its sovereign president and head of state. g. Rome Is a great city reigning over kings. This WOMAN “Mystery Babylon” is none other than the Catholic Church. “Mystery” simply means it is “hidden” (subtle); “her deception is veiled to the world” but yet for a while. Today, Rome appeals to all nations and religions due to her (false) doctrine of “unity”. The Ecumenical Council, which is the "image" patterned after the system of Rome, is none other than the “Image” erected unto the Beast. A “Beast” means a “power” and it is the power of the Catholic Church. While an “Image” is something like it, which is nothing but the Confederation of Protestant Churches. The whole system of “Beast” and “Image of the Beast” is an exact type of the force unity of the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament. The Tower of Babel was a religious worship of various races but not considered in the Word of God. Because it was by Nimrod, a wicked man who forced all the little countries to come into one place to erect such man-made tower. Remember, that it was Imperial Pagan Rome that fell by the sword. But she was healed of her death stroke when she joined to the nominal Christian church of Rome and incorporated paganism and Christianity, and thereby became the Holy Roman Empire which was to endure until Jesus came and destroys her. REVELATION 18:2-10 speaks of her destruction: “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues... How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong [is] the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.” ROME IS NOT DOING IT ALONE Yet Rome is not doing it alone. Her daughters are right with her and she will take over absolute authority by the World Council of Churches. This may seem far fetched to some but actually it is very plain for all to see because right now the churches are controlling politics and at the opportune time will manifest exactly how great is that control. This ecumenical move will end up with Rome at the head even though the people did not envision it that way. This is so because in Revelation 17:3-6 it states that the whore, Mystery Babylon is seated on the beast. She is controlling the last, or fourth empire. This Roman Church is doing that. With the world church system under her, Rome will be controlling, and this image (church system) will be obedient to Rome because Rome controls the gold of the world. Thus all the people have to belong to the world church system or be at the mercy of the elements for they cannot buy or sell without the MARK of the beast in the hand or head. This “mark in the head” means that they will have to take the doctrine of the world church system which is “trinitarianism”, etc.. And the “mark in the hand” which means to do and follow or implement the will of the world church. With this great power the church systems will persecute the true Bride of Christ. This image will try to keep the Bride from preaching and teaching. Her ministers will be forbidden to give comfort and truth to the people who need it. But before the antichrist (in person) takes over this complete world system of churches, the true church will be taken away from this world to be with the Lord. God will catch away His bride for the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb in the rapture. A MOTHER WITH HARLOT DAUGHTERS (Revelation 17:15) If the Mother is an illegitimate church, so also will be the Daughters. She was pretending to be a Christian church, but was giving out man-made dogmas and creeds. A scant study of all Protestant denominations will reveal that they actually came from the womb of Rome. When Martin Luther was inspired by God to spawn the reformation it was a true revival. However, when Luther left the scene, the followers of Luther instead of being led by the Holy Spirit into further light denominated on Luther’s message and gave birth to another organization. In such a way, the first daughter was born and in the same manner every successive daughter came about the same way, all the way from the Baptists to the Methodists, to the Adventists, to the Pentecostals, and all. Each church mixed their creed with God’s Word and like the mother strayed from God’s direct leadership to become a dead illegitimate organization because of their hybrid teaching. By the time of the Lord’s return, Rome and her adulterous daughters are seen to have formed into a vast system able to control politics, religion and commerce - a one world government system and a one-world religion, which is currently now being intensified under the leadership Pope Benedict XV1 with the cooperation of the member-Protestant churches of the World Council of Churches. From such the true ‘Bride of Jesus Christ will have to separate and heed the call of Revelation 18:4. “Come out of her my people and be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” ARE YOU PART OF THE BODY OF CHRIST OR PART OF THE SYSTEM? If your faith is founded entirely on the Word of God, you are part of God. As Matthew 4:4 states, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” AND WHAT IS THE SYSTEM? INSCRIBED IN THE VATICAN THRONE ARE THE LATIN WORDS “VICARIVS FILII DEI” WHICH when translated MEANS “Instead Of The Son Of God” or “In replacement of the Son of God”. It becomes even more enlightening when one understands the numerical value of this blasphemous title. The value of these Roman numerals in this TITLE totals to 666! It is on this throne that the Anti-Christ will one day reveal himself. 666 then is the number of Rome and as such is the number of any system headed up by Rome. Imagine such blasphemy of a man, whether he be a priest or pope, to claim to stand before the people “instead of the Son of God.” The second chapter of II Thessalonians describes him well: II Thess. 2:4. “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. “ We can now see that this man of sin is truly exposed in Revelation 13:16-18. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a MARK in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or, sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred, threescore and six.” Let us not be blind. It is-not by-chance that the major religious movements of today are leaning more and more to Catholicism. It is n ot by chance that the charismatic movement is becoming an adhesive to cement together Catholicism, Pentecostalism, and liberal Protestantism. It is not by chance that the Anglican church is trying to amalgamate with the Roman Catholic Church. Nor is it by chance that we have World Council of Churches with their one-world church thrust. Though it is all very spiritual and much activity is taking place, remember the scriptures speak of two churches, one very large and illustrious and one very small and humble. Don’t be fooled for there is no such thing as “unity and being one” as far as God is concerned unless it is unity around the Word of God. In this hodge-podge, Catholics are still Catholics and all other respective churches hold to their own creeds with equal tenacity. “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” There is little regard for basic scriptural fundamentals in this gatherings such as holiness, place of women, correct water baptism, error of infant baptism, and many others. In this mock revival the one dispensable element is the Bible itself. Scripture nowhere points to a vast end-time revival nor does it teach that the Living Saints at the time of his second coming will be of any great number. Luke 18:8 STATES,” When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on “the earth?” Just as in Noah’s day (Luke 11:26) God will speak to the Laodicean Church and will call out individuals by his prophet to join Christ, (THE WORD) on the outside of the church. Rev. 3:20 says- “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any MAN hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. “ That faithful minority will represent His lovely but tiny end-time BRIDE today. RELATED LINKS: The Order of the Jesuits America in Prophesy | The Ten Horns of Revelation Read more at www.endtimemessage.info

 

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