As we merge lanes from pandemic to endemic

From an investment letter: "It is now clear from the data that Sweden, which never shut down other than for the very old and nursing homes, did not do worse than those that did shut down, and their kids got to go to in person school throughout. Florida never fully shut down for long, and reopened quickly relative to the rest of the country. While the mainstream media and the Biden administration blasted DeSantis, reality is, business here reopened fairly quickly for the most part, and recovered quickly, and the health issues, including hospitalization and death, were no worse per capita than CA which shut down completely, and kept kids out of school. It is my view that Fauci and the teachers’ unions did more damage to the country than the pandemic ever did. Many people died of untreated diseases like cancer and heart conditions as a result of the shutdowns. They never counted that. I have a tennis buddy whose prostate cancer spread because he could not get to see a doctor in time to prevent it. The Fauci ordered lockdowns did grave damage to the economy, and led to the $6 trillion of new debt we now have.

Were things left mostly open after the first wave, with certain restrictions and certain rules, and personal choice as to exposure, once the vaccines were available, it is far from clear there would have been a much worse Covid outcome based on the Swedish and Florida experience, when you take all the collateral damage of closure into account. Meantime the increased government spending is a disaster, and has created what many of us long predicted-inflation running out of control. The topper was the Rescue Plan in March 2021 for which there was no need other than for the money to be used to bail out Dem state and city governments which were in massive debt, and to illegally redirect billions to teach CRT. Meantime hundreds of billions are believed to have been stolen through fraud in the unemployment payments and PPP. If there had been a limited PPP, and money strictly for Covid vaccines, we would have saved trillions, and been far better off today. Had there been minimal lockdowns, there would have been no need for the extra unemployment and food stamp payments, and no non-eviction and no extension or canceling of student loans. We would not be experiencing the labor shortage to the extent we are now doing.

Maybe some more people might have become sick or died, but the trade was destruction of an entire generation of kids who were kept out of class, and real destruction of black kids who did not have good access to wireless service. We would not have the inflation which is hurting the lower and middle class and we would likely have had a moderate stock market instead of the huge runups we had."

There's evidence that masks don't work, overview on the disease

There is increasing evidence that the SARS-2 coronavirus is transmitted, at least in indoor settings, not only by droplets but also by smaller aerosols. However, due to their large pore size and poor fit, cloth masks cannot filter out aerosols (see video analysis below): over 90% of aerosols penetrate or bypass the mask and fill a medium-sized room within minutes.

After mandatory mask orders, the cases go up. Are Face Masks Effective? The Evidence. – Swiss Policy Research (swprs.org)

Overview

Lethality: According to the latest immunological studies, the overall infection fatality rate (IFR) of covid-19 in the general population is about 0.1% to 0.5% in most countries, which is comparable to the medium influenza pandemics of 1957 and 1968.

Treatment: For people at high risk or high exposure, early or prophylactic treatment is essential to prevent progression of the disease and avoid hospitalization.

Age profile: The median age of covid deaths is over 80 years in most countries and only about 5% of the deceased had no serious preconditions. In contrast to pandemic influenza, the age and risk profile of covid mortality is thus comparable to normal mortality and increases it proportionally.

Nursing homes: In many Western countries, up to two thirds of all covid deaths have occurred in nursing homes, which require targeted and humane protection. In some cases it is not clear whether the residents really died of covid or of weeks of stress and isolation.

Excess mortality: Up to 30% of all additional deaths may have been caused not by covid, but by the effects of lockdowns, panic and fear. For example, the treatment of heart attacks and strokes decreased by up to 40% because many patients no longer dared to go to hospital.

Antibodies: By summer 2020, global hotspots such as New York City and Bergamo had reached antibody levels of approximately 25%. Capital cities such as Madrid, London and Stockholm were around 15%. Large parts of Europe and the US, however, were still below 5%.

Symptoms: Up to 40% of all infected persons show no symptoms, about 80% show at most mild symptoms, and about 95% show at most moderate symptoms and do not require hospitalization. Mild cases may be due to protective T-cells from earlier common cold coronavirus infections.

Long covid: About 10% of symptomatic people report post-acute or long covid, i.e. symptoms that last for several weeks or months. This also affects younger and previously healthy people with a strong immune response. The post-viral syndrome is known from severe influenza, too.

Transmission: According to current knowledge, the main routes of transmission of the virus are indoor aerosols and droplets produced when speaking or coughing, while outdoor aerosols as well as most object surfaces appear to play a minor role.

Masks: There is still little to no scientific evidence for the effectiveness of cloth face masks in the general population, and the introduction of mandatory masks couldn’t contain or slow the epidemic in most countries. If used improperly, masks may increase the risk of infection.

Children and schools: In contrast to influenza, the risk of disease and transmission in children is very low in the case of covid. There was and is therefore no medical reason for the closure of elementary schools or other measures specifically aimed at children.

Contact tracing: A WHO study of 2019 on measures against influenza pandemics concluded that from a medical perspective, contact tracing is “not recommended in any circumstances”. Contact tracing apps on cell phones have also failed in most countries.

PCR tests: The virus test kits used internationally may in some cases produce false positive and false negative results or react to non-infectious virus fragments from a previous infection. In this regard, the so-called cycle threshold or ct value is an important parameter.

Medical mismanagement: In the US and some other countries, fatal medical mismanagement of some covid patients occurred due to questionable financial incentives and inappropriate protocols. In most countries, covid in-hospital mortality has since decreased significantly.

Lockdowns: The WHO warned that lockdowns have caused a “terrible global catastrophe”. According to the UN, lockdowns may put the livelihood of 1.6 billion people at acute risk and may push an additional 150 million children into poverty. Unemployment, bankruptcies and psychological problems have reached record levels worldwide.

Sweden: In Sweden, total mortality without lockdown has so far been in the range of a strong influenza season. 70% of Swedish deaths occurred in nursing homes that were not protected quickly enough. The median age of the Swedish covid deaths is 84 years.

Media: The reporting of many media has been unprofessional, has maximized fear and panic in the population and has led to a massive overestimation of the lethality and mortality of covid. Some media even used manipulative pictures and videos to dramatize the situation.

Vaccines: Several medical experts warned that express coronavirus vaccines may be risky. Indeed, the vaccine against the so-called swine flu of 2009, for example, led to cases of severe neurological damage and lawsuits in the millions. In the testing of new coronavirus vaccines, too, serious complications and failures have already been reported.

Virus origin: The origin of the new corona virus remains unclear, but the best evidence currently points to a covid-like pneumonia incident in a Chinese mine in 2012, whose virus samples were collected, stored and researched by the Virology Institute in Wuhan (WIV).

Surveillance: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden warned that the covid pandemic may be used to permanently expand global surveillance. In several parts of the world, the population is being monitored by drones and facing serious police overreach during lockdowns.

Facts about Covid-19 – Swiss Policy Research (swprs.org)

When you see this symbol, you know your blog is being stalked by Big Tech and they've decided your information is not worth sharing:  

How Sweden did it. Dr. Sebastian Rushworth

"The Swedish Public Health authority has never admitted that the goal of their chosen strategy is to reach herd immunity. However, from an epidemiological stand point, all strategies depend on reaching herd immunity in one way or another. A vaccination based strategy also builds on getting to herd immunity, it just chooses a different way to reach it. At some point in the relatively near future, every country on Earth will have developed herd immunity to covid, either by letting the disease spread until that point is reached, or by vaccinating enough people to reach that point."

https://sebastianrushworth.com/2020/10/31/a-history-of-the-swedish-covid-response/?

"I think it’s becoming pretty clear that SARS-CoV-2 is a seasonal virus, just like the four “common cold” coronaviruses. It would be strange if it wasn’t, considering how similar it is to them biologically. And I think that, just as with all other seasonal respiratory viruses, we saw a drop over the summer months, and we are now seeing an increase over the autumn. The pandemic stage of covid is now over, and we have entered the endemic stage."

Sounds like Dr. Rushworth is worth following. https://sebastianrushworth.com/

"I am not saying that covid is nothing, or that it doesn’t exist. I am saying that it is a virus with a marginal effect on longevity. And yet, public policy in most countries has been driven by doomsday scenarios based on completely unrealistic numbers. To put it simply, we’ve acted like we’re dealing with a global ebola outbreak, when covid is much more like the common cold."

https://sebastianrushworth.com/.../how-deadly-is-covid-19/?

Good article. Interesting information on how dangerous the common cold is for the elderly or people with other health problems. Colds are also caused by coronaviruses.

Watch the Front Line Doctors

Watch in small batches. This is three hours. https://youtu.be/Mk3mu0S-1Ak  

These front line doctors are the ones seeing patients; they are being stalked by Big Tech and their employers. The woman chairing the group, Dr. Gold, and introducing speakers has been fired for going against the Biden Party Line.  The way the pandemic is being handled is insane, according to the first speaker. If you have cancer, you're not told to go home and live in isolation until you get worse.

What we're hearing from CDC/Dr. Fauci is advice from one or two specialties--epidemiology and virology. There are hundreds of other specialties and experts not being heard. The child psychiatrist's presentation (about 1 hour in) is very moving. Even here in idyllic Lakeside, safe and secure Lakeside, I see the terror in the small children who are wearing masks. They see my white hair and think I'll drop over any minute from a terrible disease. Then I see the teens doing what they've always done, ignoring all precautions.

Listen to Dr. Teryn Clark—she’s a neurologist and advocate for her patients. The elderly and frail. The lockdown has really hurt them, many of whom have Alzheimer's, or are memory impaired. Closed day care, closed classes that keep them out of institutions, parks closed, no physical exercise or socializing. We did the opposite of what we know about protecting the elderly.

More positive tests does not mean more sick people. Emotional needs are not being met. Life style is critical for seniors--out side, fresh air, exercise, socializing, reengage with society. This helps the immune system. Vit. D, Vit. C, zinc, Melatonin are good adjuvant treatment.

Front line doctors all over the nation are seeing mild cases who recover quickly, but their patients are avoiding treatment for other more serious problems. People die not from Covid19, but from fear. The media stress "cases," but 98% of those are mild, and that's not what the public hears. This pandemic is the first where healthy people have been quarantined. "Ready for bear and a squirrel shows up."
The academic models were false--more fear. What is the science and data for social distancing and masks? Crickets. For that the economy was destroyed. Flattening the curve sounded good at first--it was to protect hospitals, not people. Now hospitals are dying. Medical staff laid off. Lockdown was successful in increasing physical abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse, delayed medical care, and suicide calls up 600%. Reporting to public health officials is onerous and requires additional staff, but other staff is afraid to come to work. Fear. It's closing our nation.

Sweden had a different approach. Kept the kids in school. No lockdown. But it  didn't protect the elderly in nursing homes. Even so the model was sustainable, and the U.S. model is not. There will still be corona and flu next year. Our method is not sustainable. Covid19 in Sweden is less than its  flu statistics  for 1993. Lockdown didn't flatten the curve or lower the death rate from flu rates. Plus it's killing the hospitals and our people are not building immunity. The president needs to hear from real world doctors, not just government and academic "experts."

Katie Hopkins from UK warning America.

https://youtu.be/ToDsfkwvikw

Do-gooders think they are helping migrants when in fact they are helping traffickers and criminals organized to make money from people's misfortune.  She has interviewed them.  All the old conflicts emigrate with the refugees. Charities aren't always charities. Media mocked Trump for "Sweden has fallen."  But she was in Sweden where she was the only white person.

Bomb attacks are now common in Sweden

If Trump is a racist for calling out immigrant related crime, why is it the highest in Sweden? https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/bomb-attacks-are-now-a-normal-part-of-swedish-life/

In 2019, there were over 230 bombings in Sweden—more than in any other Western country.  Explosions have become normalized.  No other western country is experiencing this. Gang crime is also increasing--nine out of ten perpetrators of Sweden’s gang shootings are either first- or second-generation immigrants. The country has gone from having among the lowest rates of violent crime in western Europe to one of the highest.   Ten years ago this was unheard of.  And sentences for violent crime are very lenient—the kidnapping and violent rape of a child might get a man 4 years.
Swedish leaders are not responding to the crime/assimilation problem.  Patriotism or nationalism are considered dirty words by the leftist governments. Citizens are being told--don't believe your eyes and ears.  Sound familiar?

No go zones are very real in Sweden.  Emergency and transportation and mail services need police escorts before going into certain areas. Sweden is deeply segregated; clan governments predominate in these segregated areas. Governments will not discuss for fear of being called racist.  Sound familiar?

Interview by First Things of Paulina Neuding https://www.firstthings.com/media/sweden-is-on-edge

Socialist Sweden?

Bernie thinks we should be socialists, like Sweden? Not so fast, says this Swede Johan Norberg. Sweden was wealthy before Socialism he assures us, and has fallen in rank, and had to undo much of it. Americans of Swedish heritage are even more successful than the Swedes of Scandinavia. Genes have a lot to do with the success of Sweden. They work hard, and don't like to take hand outs. Let Johan set the record straight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lbRkfsrt1E

 Many of the Swedish services which all enjoy he says are supplied by a fairly brutal system which taxes the poor the most (VAT). The best benefits go to the rich, otherwise they'd leave the country. Late comers (like immigrants) don't have the Swedish values of hard work and trust in government. In the 1980s the tax rates were so high in Sweden, a famous children's author, Astrid Lindgren, owed 102%; the founder of Ikea, billionaire Ingvar Kamprad, left the country due to taxes. So they had to cut taxes and introduce free markets.

Oh, and all have school vouchers so they can choose private or public or religious schools.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/sorry-leftist-americans-your-swedish-utopia-does-not-exist/article/1000785 

"The descendants of Scandinavian migrants in the US combine the high living standards of the US with the high levels of equality of Scandinavian countries. Median incomes of Scandinavian descendants are 20 per cent higher than average US incomes. It is true that poverty rates in Scandinavian countries are lower than in the US. However, the poverty rate among descendants of Nordic immigrants in the US today is half the average poverty rate of Americans – this has been a consistent finding for decades. In fact, Scandinavian Americans have lower poverty rates than Scandinavian citizens who have not emigrated. This suggests that pre-existing cultural norms are responsible for the low levels of poverty among Scandinavians rather than Nordic welfare states. - See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/06/scandinavian-unexceptionalism.html#sthash.ZEBQTBZ0.dpuf

Talat Strokirk, Pakistani-Swede, former Muslim

Of all the segments I’ve watched on Journey Home (EWTN), this is one of the most interesting given the struggles today between Muslims and Christians.  Talat Strokirk has lived all over the world, but now lives in Sweden and is married to a Swede.  She was born in pre-partition India and her Muslim family became citizens of Pakistan.  Although she speaks very lovingly of her devout Muslim parents, they had a number of serious breaks in their relationship—when she became baptized, and when she decided to marry a foreigner.

But it also shows the importance of Christian missionary schools, as she was educated in several countries by Catholic nuns, although with no pressure to participate in Christian activities or worship.  She said her Muslim father approved of the Catholic schools because, “the nuns dressed modestly and followed a good moral code.” She also said that leaving home (around 1960) to take refuge in a convent (after her baptism) was unusual in that day, but today would be almost impossible. Her parents were embarrassed in their community by a Christian daughter, and her mother said she would have preferred she had come home with a child (from England where she had studied) rather than as a baptized Christian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0iXAXXxQvY

Popular Swedish pastor converts to Catholicism

         

Thirty years ago Ulf Ekman left the Swedish Lutheran Church and founded a very successful nondenominational church in Sweden (Pentecostal/charismatic). He has written over 50 books and established a seminary. I watched a video of one of the services (over 2 hours so you have to move in about 60 minutes to hear him) and they are incredibly up to date in everything dealing with church technology and evangelization. I didn't know the words they were singing, but recognized the repetition, swaying and hand clapping style (voiced translation of the sermon into English is just so-so).

http://www.ulfekman.org/default.aspx?idStructure=8768

Word of Life’s local church is located in Uppsala, which is the fourth largest city in Sweden, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of the capital, Stockholm. The church has around 3,000 members and offers a broad variety of activities, services and gatherings for both young and old, a rich music life, educational facilities and different social projects.

Word of Life has 12 pastors, sharing the responsibility for the church’s everyday life and activities, such as ministry of the Word, prayer groups (also called cell groups), the Bible school, missions, children’s and youth ministry, care for the elderly and sick, as well as outreach projects and social activities.

In the last 7 years Ekman has been moving toward a more classical, historical stance, and yesterday in the Sunday service he announced he and his wife have converted to Catholicism. He retired as senior pastor about a year ago.

http://ulfekman.org/default.aspx?idStructure=8766

“Rev. Ekman was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, and in 1970 – a few days before graduating from high school– he had an encounter with Jesus Christ and became a Christian, an incident that left him totally transformed and that radically changed the direction of his life. He enrolled at Uppsala University and acquired degrees in theology, history and ethnography. In 1976, he met and married Birgitta, daughter of a Methodist pastor and his wife and raised in India where her parents were missionaries. In January of 1979, Rev. Ekman was ordained minister of the Swedish Lutheran Church, and for some years he worked as a student chaplain at Uppsala University.

In 1983 Rev. Ekman founded Word of Life Church and Word of Life Bible Centre in Uppsala, Sweden and resigned from the Lutheran Church and his name and face become known all over the nation. Already from start Word of Life has been the biggest church of the faith movement in Sweden and Ulf Ekman is a highly appreciated and often-invited speaker at churches and conferences of various denominations, not only in Scandinavia but also internationally.”

His blog has not been updated for 2 years, but reading through his own page, I see that the Bible school is being phased out, and the Spring seminar ended last year, as did his ministry at the church.

Claire Berlinski on Sweden

Hysterical. The author of There is no alternative; Why Margaret Thatcher matters (2008 Basic Books) explains why socialists will bring up Sweden when justifying socialism:

“In his view [Neil Kinnock who disliked Thatcher], and he is perfectly clear about this, the alternative to Thatcher was a planned economy.

And the evidence he offers that such an economy can create anything other than a human hell is Sweden.  Let me finish the sentence he wouldn’t let me finish [in her interview with him, p. 151-53].  Socialists love analogies to Sweden.  But they are always unconvincing because they are based on some fantasy Sweden, rather than on an actual Nordic country bordered by Norway and Finland.  In this Sweden of lore, every single woman is also eighteen years old, blonde, busty, lonely, naked, and waiting for you in the sauna.  Kinnock is simply mistaken about Swedish unemployment statistics.  In the early 1990s, Swedish unemployment rose to 13 %, higher than ever experienced in Britain after Thatcher came to power.  In the period Kinnock is discussing, Sweden in fact experienced a precipitous slide in the prosperity league—from fourth place in 1970 to sixteenth place in 1998.  In fact the policies Kinnock admires nearly ran Sweden into the ground.  Only when they were abandoned did the Swedish economy begin to recover.  You may as well argue that the command economy has been a splendid success in Narnia.”

Berlinski agrees with her critics that she didn’t plan for Britain’s economic transition—precisely because if the government plans the economy, it is no longer free, and if it isn’t free, the transitions are likely to be in the bread lines.

Swedish security police: Violence was 'an act of terrorism' - CNN.com

It's small comfort, I know, but apparently the Swedes who can't define rape because of Feminism messing with their national intelligence (brain, not spying), can still determine terrorism and link it to Islamic Jihad.

Swedish security police: Violence was 'an act of terrorism' - CNN.com

Anna Ardin, Julian Assange Rape Accuser, May Have Ceased Pursuing Claims

Sweden's Political Landscape: In Muslim Neighborhoods, Firemen and Emergency Workers Refuse to Enter Without Police Protection

We are in the midst of being innundated with political ads by phone, TV, radio and internet. How would you like to live in Sweden which has 7 political parties and governs with alliances that can fall apart quickly. The Sweden Democrats party isn't very old (although I don't know how old any of them are) and appears to be more nationalistic than the others--looks to me like this is their Tea Party. Sweden now has about 1/9 of its population as immigrants, so I'm guessing the politically incorrect nationalists are starting to look a bit better to the liberal Swedes.

"During the last several decades, massive immigration-flows to Sweden have transformed the country to the point where immigrants, many of whom refuse to learn Swedish and integrate into Swedish society, now make up almost 20% of the country's total population. Of the 9.4 million Swedes, roughly 1.5 million are foreign-born. In addition, there are an estimated 1 million children of immigrants, 100,000 illegal immigrants, and 50,000 more asylum-seekers awaiting clearance. Further, about 100,000 additional immigrants enter the country each year.

In Malmö, Sweden's third-largest city, almost 40% of the population is foreign; and some immigrant neighborhoods in the city have unemployment rates exceeding 60%. In Malmö's mostly Muslim Rosengard neighborhood, fire and emergency workers refuse to enter without police protection. An immigrant-fuelled crime wave affects one of every three Malmö families each year, while the number of rapes has tripled in 20 years.

Highlighting the increasing assertiveness of Sweden's Muslim community, the Muslim Council of Sweden recently dispatched letters to each of the major political parties in Sweden demanding special legislation for Muslims in Sweden. The demands included: the right to specific Islamic holidays; special public financing for the building of mosques; a demand that all divorces between Muslim couples be approved by an Imam; and that Imams should be allowed to teach Islam to Muslim children in public schools."

At least in Finland the immigrants learn Swedish, just like the Finns do. I wonder if on her next trip with 40 of her closest friends, Michelle might want to be a guest of Sweden? Might open her eyes. Then she could talk to her husband.

Sweden's Political Landscape: In Muslim Neighborhoods, Firemen and Emergency Workers Refuse to Enter Without Police Protection :: Hudson New York

Unity, social action and the weakened church of Europe

So what was happening to the church in the early 20th century that allowed it to be mowed down like wet grass by the National Socialists? (see previous entry) My grasp of 20th century history is pretty much limited to what I was taught in school or saw in the movies (i.e., FDR was our savior even though he extended the Depression 8 years; we were the good guys in WWII and bad guys in all following wars) and what I lived through. Keep in mind, I was either a humanist or a Democrat most of my adult life, or too busy raising a family, and working toward academic promotion and tenure to pay much attention to anything beyond the campus and home on Abington. Here’s a brief summary of about the first 40 years of the European Lutheran church in the 20th century from History of Lutheranism by Eric W. Gritsch (Fortress, 2002).

1) Ecumenism
2) Doctrine divides, service unites

Now, I realize it was a bit more complicated than that, but the leader of the ecumenical movement and all the cleverly named organizations and conferences that mushroomed (mostly in Europe with some participation of American churches) was a Swedish Lutheran, Nathan Söderblom (January 15, 1866-July 12, 1931). He was a man of deep longing for unity among Christians, a goal to which he devoted his life and studies, while pursuing eastern religions and dabbling in Marxism. Just skipping through the highlights of his life in Chapter 7, "New Ventures, 1918- :

1890 International Student Conference (New Haven)
1901 Young Church Movement, with links to Swedish socialists; studies Persian religion in Paris
1908 Proposal for Christian unity with Anglicans and mission work in India
1912-13 Professor at University of Leipzig, Germany
1914 Appointed archbishop of Sweden; Declaration of Peace and Christian Fellowship
1914 Unity efforts set aside by WWI with focus on helping orphaned German and Austrian children as head of World Alliance of Churches for Promoting International Friendship as a way to unite Christians in social action despite national and doctrinal differences
1917 Manifesto signed by leading clerics of Europe calling for a durable peace;
1917 International Christian conference--hand picked delegates; unity, life in society, international law were the topics
1919 World Alliance International Committee, 60 attendees from 14 countries (Netherlands)
1920 Negotiations for Ecumenical Council/Conference for unity and renewal of society (Geneva)
1925 Universal Conference of the Church of Christ on Life and Work (Stockholm) with six topics: 1) church’s obligation to the world, 2) church and economic and industrial problems, 3) church and social and moral problems, 4) church and the mutual relations of nations, 5) church and Christian education, and 6) methods of practical and organizational cooperation between Christian communions
1927 World Conference on Faith and Order (Lausanne); seven topics many doctrinal on sacraments, gospel, nature of the church--much tension--no vote taken
1930 Received Nobel Prize for peace
1931 Gifford lectures, honoring his work on world religions and the mystical unity of humankind

With his life, the chapter parallels what was happening in Germany to the church (mostly Lutherans, since this is a book about Lutherans) who have been participating all along in these calls for unity, cooperation, and mission to social causes

1932 German Lutherans who support Hitler (Reichskirche) and “heroic piety” call for a revival of inner mission and a platform to fulfill the intentions of the Reformation of the 16th century
1933 Hitler elected during economic crisis with the Jews blamed for all of Europe’s economic woes (i.e., evil, greedy, capitalist CEOs); he promises a new Germany; rise of secularization, churches lose influence; the government coordinates all sectors of public and private life.
1933 The Nazis first affirmed support of religious freedom, except when public security was threatened, and ties with ecumenism in other parts of Europe are halted
1934 German confessing church (bekennende Kirche) putting the gospel first, repudiates the false teachings of the government and many eventually go to prison camps and death.
1937 Second Conference for Faith and Order (Edinburgh)
1937 Conference on Life and Work (Oxford) Hitler barred Germans from attending
1938 German pastors are required to sign a loyalty oath or lose their ministry and salary
1939-1945 (World War II) The rise of German National Socialism (and Italian Fascism) during which the believing churches are suppressed; those who support the government (majority) allowed to continue.
1945 Surviving leaders of the German Confessing church establish Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany

In an effort to save the environment, I think the churches of today could just dust off a few of these documents (if they can find them), especially that one in 1925 with the 6 main topics has a very familiar ring, don't you think? Works for PAJAMA Christians.

3765

Will Sweden disappear? And who's next

"Sweden was presented during the Cold War as a middle way between capitalism and Communism. When this model of a society collapses – and it will collapse, under the combined forces of Islamic Jihad, the European Union, Multiculturalism and ideological overstretch – it is thus not just the Swedish state that will collapse but the symbol of Sweden, the showcase of an entire ideological world view. . . Native Swedes have thus been reduced to just another ethnic group in Sweden, with no more claim to the country than the Kurds or the Somalis who arrived there last Thursday. The political authorities of the country have erased their own people's history and culture." Read here about what's happening in Sweden's third largest city.

HT Mere Comments, which includes a lengthy poem about the requirement that Swedish men sit when urinating. Yes, feminism as come to this. Excerpt from Here sits Sweden:

"Should some Swedish Rip Van Winkle
Wake in Stockholm, all a wrinkle,
Still he'd have to sit to tinkle.

So he sits, obeys our rule or he
Finds how fast we punish foolery --
Confiscate his family jewlery!"