Is President Obama A Muslim?

That's a question that most people, particularly those in the public arena of television, radio and newspapers, don't want to honestly address. They pretend that it's preposterous to even speculate about it since Obama professes to be a Christian. But it doesn't take a Biblical scholar or even a college degree to watch Obama's actions and wonder what he truly believes.

Let's take a quick look at what President Obama has done since he's been in office.

The promotion of Islam and Muslim nations in the world has been Obama's top priority. Soon after his initial inauguration he went to the Middle East and told them America had been mistreating Muslim nations (and others) for far too long. Here at home he destroyed the space program by shelving future shuttle missions (We now depend on Russia to get us into space) and charged the administrator of the agency with promoting Islam and making Muslims feel better about themselves.

"When I became the NASA administrator -- or before I became the NASA administrator -- he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering," then administrator Charles Bolden said in the interview.

What kind of U.S. President charges our nation's space agency with making Muslims feel better about themselves -  unless he has a specific agenda?

President Obama has alienated many of our best friends in the world and all but destroyed our alliance with our best friend in the Middle East, Israel, all while making nice with some of our enemies. He is currently in talks with Iran, an enemy of the United States for a long time, over their nuclear programs and, according to many sources, is in the process of allowing them to attain a nuclear weapon, even at the peril of our long time ally, Israel. 

For years Iran has lived by the mantra "Death to Israel. Death to America," yet Obama is attempting to negotiate with them in a completely misguided (or subversive) mission to make peace and basically allow them to do what they want regardless of world opinion. What part of "Death to America" does he not understand? Does he truly believe that Iran will live up to any agreement they sign with us? Or is he quietly and deliberately helping Iran for the cause of Islam? 

Obama hates Bibi Netanyahu and Israel. It's obvious in the way Obama treats Israel, in the way he attempted to overthrow Netanyahu in the recent election, and in his recent statement that the US will have to "reassess our relationship with Israel" after Netanyahu said that there can be no two-state solution with the Palestinians at this time. Radio talk show host Mark Levin has been so bold as to call Obama an anti-Semite. Is he wrong? I don't think so.

For whatever reason, Obama believes he has the authority to tell Israel what to do. He has demanded that Israel change its borders and give territory back to the Palestinians to the pre-1967 borders, completely disregarding the territory Israel justifiably conquered in the six-day war when they defeated Palestinian groups based in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan following repeated attacks on Israel. He now has threatened to end our big brother relationship with Israel if Bibi doesn't do what Obama wants with the two state solution. 

President Obama also demands that Israel not defend itself against attacks today that come from Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. He criticizes Israel for launching offensive strikes even as they are under rocket attack from those groups. 

The Palestinian government in Gaza has affiliated itself with Hamas. Hamas attacks Israel on a regular basis. Yet President Obama wants Bibi to make nice with the Palestinians and give them back the territory they lost in the 1967 conflict. Bibi says no. Go figure.

No one in their right mind, or at least no one without sinister intent, would expect Israel to give up land to a government that refuses to even acknowledge their existence. The Palestinian Authority, in partnership with Hamas, and many other Islamic nations and terrorist organizations, refuses to acknowledge the right of Israel to exist. Iran wants to "remove Israel from the face of the Earth." And who does our President support? Islam and the Palestinians.

If President Obama ends a friendship/alliance of nearly 60 years because Israel refuses to yield to his (in my opinion) unreasonable demands he will be going against the will of the majority of Americans. But hey - that's nothing new for Obama. Can you say Obamacare?

Personally, I think Prime Minister Netanyahu should tell Obama to take a hike, whether or not Obama severs the relationship. A conservative President in 2017 would immediately restore the friendship and if Obama continues to give Iran the freedom to attain a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu is going to have to act unilaterally to eliminate the threat anyway. 

It has been rumored (and denied by the White House) that Obama threatened to shoot down any Israeli planes that might attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Such a threat wouldn't surprise me given the fact that Obama has instructed our own Congress not to attempt to levy sanctions against Iran while he (Obama) is negotiating with the enemy. For all intents and purposes Obama believes he is the only authority in the U.S. government. 

One of the definitions of tyranny is "the arbitrary use of power or control." President Obama's actions since his re-election border on tyrannical. Executive amnesty is a perfect example. His repeated statements that he will act unilaterally if Congress fails to do his bidding can only lead to one conclusion - Obama would be king if he could get away with it. And so far, with a gutless Republican Congress, he seems to be doing just that.

Benjamin Netanyahu and both houses of the U.S. Congress should form a partnership that excludes Obama. The House and Senate need to pass legislation that supports Netanyahu's right to defend Israel against Iran and any Islamic extremism at all costs. They should also assert sanctions against Iran that severely cripple their economy until they stop processing uranium and dismantle their centrifuges. And if Obama refuses to sign the bills it will finally be obvious to all that he favors Islam over the United States and Israel. Let's force him to show his true allegiance. Let every American see first hand that Obama does not have the best interest of the United States at heart.

But what am I saying? Today's Congress won't even prevent executive amnesty. 

I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked - Part 9

I forgot to mention one important detail about our Monday excursion to the churches - important to us, at least. As we boarded the bus that morning we discovered that our guide, Yair, had been activated by the Israeli Defense Forces for a one day training exercise. Being in the active reserves he had no choice but to go. He was replaced by another guide from the same company named Rafael. He called himself Rafi. He was very knowledgeable even if he didn't have the outgoing, humorous personality of Yair.

From the Church of the Holy Sepulcher we walked specific streets to a shop recommended by Dr. Tolar. Some in the group wanted to do some more shopping. Arden and I wanted coffee.

We entered the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, where traditional Jews and orthodox Jews live and worship. There are approximately 3000 Jewish residents and 1500 students currently in the Jewish Quarter.

Our pathway took us through an ancient part of the marketplace where part of historic old streets and buildings have been uncovered by archaeologists.

Eventually it led to a courtyard from the days of the First Temple. A painting on the wall depicts it as it would have appeared in those days.

These walls, streets and columns are preserved for all to see.

As you exit this particular tunnel you see the outside of the once buried courtyard that has been left open to the public.

At the top of the stairs was this old wine press.

We wandered across a new, modern courtyard, past a synagogue, and down another side street headed toward the Western Wall.

Note where the new synagogue meets the old building.

When we came out of from the buildings to an open area we could see the Mount of Olives on the horizon.

Just before you descend down to the Western Wall you encounter the Golden Menorah, a recreation of the original, the design of which is said to have been given to Moses by God. The original menorah and the one from the Second Temple both disappeared. This one was made to place into the Third Temple when it is eventually built.

From the top of the stairs you can also see the Dome of the Rock above the Western Wall. Standing in the Northern most corner of the wall's courtyard was as close as we got to the original temple mount.

The view from the top of the stairs was pretty spectacular.

Just above are remains of part of the uncovered Western Wall from the Second Temple period. Most of the walls were destroyed by the Muslim invaders.

On the way down the stairs one encounters this sign, explaining the reverence of the place, and these poppies growing out of the ancient wall of rock.

When we got to the bottom of the stairs, on the level of the Western Wall courtyard, we had to pass through a security checkpoint where they checked our bags and we walked through a metal detector. On the inside we encountered another sign. Rather than go into detail about the Western Wall I will post this.

What a thrill it was to be here. I had seen the Wailing Wall on TV and in movies and documentaries, but here I was  It looked just as I expected, although there was a wall dividing the male side from the female side. I didn't know about that.

Men's heads must be covered to enter the immediate area of the wall. Any kind of head covering will do but they provide yarmulkes for those who need one. 

It wasn't terribly crowded that Monday afternoon. I folded my written prayer tightly and inserted it into a crack between the stones, as is traditional. I murmured my prayer to God and asked for His blessings, with my hand on the ancient wall. It was quite moving.

This beautiful cabinet that held the Torah scrolls stands next to the wall on the male side.

When I was finished I headed back toward the spot where we were to gather. Most of our group went down separately or in smaller groups to offer their prayers. We met about 30 minutes later and walked down to a small archaeological museum, then on to the Western Wall excavations.

These are remains of the wall from the Second Temple era that were toppled by the Muslim conquerors. The stones were left where they fell.

The slanted stone and the base under it in the center of the picture is an original piece from what is now known as Robinson's Arch. 

This is an artist's rendering of what the arch looked like in its day.

An ancient stone stairway that has seen better days.

Finally it was time to say good-bye to the ancient city once again and get back on the bus. Upon exiting through the wall, we encountered this non-native and his handler. There's always someone trying to make a buck.

From the Western Wall we traveled further West to the Israel Museum of National Art and Archaeology to see a scale model of the old city of Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. The model is quite detailed and remarkable.

This museum also houses the Shrine of the Book, where there are authentic and replica copies of  the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran. The roof of the museum is shaped like the top of the pottery containers that housed the scrolls and is temperature controlled by water. You can see the water jets in the picture. That's all well and good unless it's 50 degrees with a 10 mile an hour wind and you get caught in the spray...

There were no photographs allowed inside the Shrine of the Book. The security lady by the front door chastised people if they even looked like they were going to take a picture with their phones. So I couldn't get any pictures inside. But it's done to preserve the scrolls from light so it's understandable. Below is an image published by the museum itself that shows the most complete scroll. It is the book of Ezekiel. 

Naturally, the exit takes you out past the gift shop. Just beyond it was a small cafe. I couldn't resist taking a picture of one of the signs I saw inside.

With that it was time to get back on the bus and return to the hotel. Tomorrow, Tuesday, would be our last full day in Israel. The tour would end earlier than normal but it would be no less full of attractions. We would begin with the ruins of the ancient City of David, go from there to the church built on the site of the house of Caiaphas, then end our pilgrimage at the Garden Tomb, the other place some believe Jesus was buried.

Then it would be off to the airport for a 12 hour, overnight flight home. I'm sleepy just thinking about it.

To be continued...