Reading Melvin Rhodes' Blog: Part 4

Recently Ambassador Watch mentioned the blog of UCG's Melvin Rhodes. Rhodes originally came from Britain and now resides in the United States. Let's take a look at what Rhodes had said on his blog in September and October of last year.

In my opinion the blog's message can be summed up in the following words, "The Muslims are coming! Restrict immigration of Muslims now." Let us see if he continues that theme.

It is also striking how there seems to be little discussion about why refugees from Syria and elsewhere are trying to move to Europe.

September 7

Here Rhodes inaccurately equates refugees, many of whom are fleeing a cataclysmic war in Syria, with an invading army sent by the Ottoman Empire. One was a military invasion by a well organized, state sponsored army. The other are desperate people searching for peace and safety. How is it that Rhodes sees no difference?

In July 1683, troops of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire attacked Vienna.  The number of troops was estimated to be between 90,000 – 300,000.   Catholic forces from Austria, Poland and other countries fought them and kept Vienna a major city of Christendom. They had stopped the advance of Islam at the very heart of Europe.

Last week, roughly three times as many Muslims entered Austria and Germany, enthusiastically welcomed by the descendants of those Catholic forces over three centuries earlier.

Rhodes cites WorldNetDaily quoting the infamous Islamophobic demagogue Robert Spencer to insinuate that the refugees have arrived with ulterior motives.

From World Net Daily (WND), comes the following:

“To emigrate in the cause of Allah – that is, to move to a new land in order to bring Islam there, is considered in Islam to be a highly meritorious act,” author Robert Spencer wrote...."

Spencer has no professional training about Islam and has been cited by the Center for American Progress as part of what it called the Islamophobia Network. He actually studied Catholic history. 

Rhodes states that the world acted "emotionally" after seeing the photo of Alan Kurdi.

The western world has reacted emotionally to the photographs of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi who drowned, along with his 5-year-old brother and mother when their small boat capsized while trying to flee to Europe from Syria.   Voters have put a lot of pressure on leaders to take in more Syrian refugees.   Little thought has been given to the implications of this. 

So should we be emotionless about his tragic death?

September 9

Here Rhodes complains that the British Empire is no more and that many Indians and Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain.

The fact is that the British Empire has gone and its successor, the Commonwealth (the “British” was dropped 50 years ago) is no more than a shadow of what it was.   It may not even survive the queen’s passing.   The queen remains Head of State of 16 countries and has 138 million subjects.   She is also titular Head of the Commonwealth, an organization of 54 former colonies.   It remains to be seen if Prince Charles will be able to hold it all together after he succeeds his mother. ...

With the empire gone, Britain entered the European Common Market (now the European Union), which has progressively taken away the UK’s independence.   Under the EU’s freedom of movement rules, millions of people from other European countries have been able to move to Britain, changing the composition of the nation’s population.
Added to this has been mass immigration from Commonwealth countries like India and Pakistan.

September 10

Here Rhodes alleges that the murderers of Al Qaeda set the 9/11 terrorist attacks to be on the anniversary of the 1683 siege of Vienna when the forces of the Ottoman Empire were repulsed from Vienna. This assertion seems most unlikely.

Mindful of their defeat, Muslims significantly chose the same day to perpetrate 9/11 exactly fourteen years ago.   This time, they scored a victory and hope to go on to bring about the Islamization of the western world.

He expresses his amazement that Obama was elected President just seven years after 9/11.

Amazingly, after the terror attacks on 9/11, the first new president chosen by the American people was the first one with definite Muslim connections!

What on Earth are these "Muslim connections"? What a terribly vague condemnation. With talk like that it is no wonder why some inaccurately say that Obama is a Muslim.

Ancient Rome suffered many setbacks before it finally fell, but the last blow came from the new religion of Islam, which swept all before it.   We now see history repeating itself.

If Rhodes is referring to the city of Rome this assertion is wrong. Although Rome was once sacked by Saracens in 846 Rome never fell under the rule of Muslims.

Seemingly heedless of the thought that many of the refugees are in a very desperate state he makes the inflammatory accusation that some of them have been sent by ISIL. He also makes a very bad analogy with the situation in 1683.

It’s also possible that many of the refugees are being sent deliberately by ISIS into Europe, giving them a far greater advantage than they ever had in 1683.   In the last hour, Saudi Arabia, which has taken no refugees from Syria, announced it will help those fleeing to Germany – by building 200 mosques in which they can worship.   This will, of course, advance the cause of Islam even further.

No such invasion is coming.

September 16

There are so many things wrong with the patronizing anecdote which follows.

I remember talking to an African minister in Ghana about the lack of facilities.   Although, often, the basic flush toilet was present, all too frequently it was in a terrible condition and was not functional.   I asked him when this problem started.   His response was quite telling:  “As soon as Her Majesty’s representative left!”

In other words, at independence.   Freed from British rule, they no longer considered rudimentary hygiene important.

At the same time, skilled plumbers left the country and maintenance became a thing of the past.
In fact, the same man told me that there is no word for “maintenance” in the local language.   It’s just so much easier to go into the bushes!

This patronizing anecdote does not deserve to be dignified with a response.

September 23

Here Rhodes nonsensically complains that only Catholics and Muslims matter in the United States today.

Whereas the US was 98% Protestant at its founding, today there are arguably only two faiths that matter – Catholicism and Islam.

Certainly, these are the only two that dominate news headlines.

He also complains people condemning the inaccurate claim that Obama is a Muslim seemingly not caring about getting facts correct.

Just a few days ago, the leading Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump was asked a question by a man who believed that President Obama is a Muslim.   Because he did not correct the man, it is assumed he believes the same way and he has been greatly criticized for it.   Of course, if there’s nothing wrong with Islam, why should anybody get upset if described as being Muslim!

Once again he brings up the 1965 Immigration Act and Senator Edward Kennedy.

Fifty years ago, when Senator Edward Kennedy sponsored the bill, which became the new immigration law, he said Americans would not see any noticeable change in the fabric of the country.   Here we are five decades later in a very different religious landscape thanks to that immigration act.

He cites the far right prime minister of Hungary who has often been criticized for his stern nationalism. He is sympathetically portrayed as being "realistic".

Yes, Christianity and Islam are very different.   Only the Hungarian leader, Viktor Orban, seems to be pointing that out, saying his country does not want the migrants.   Hungary suffered for almost two centuries under Islamic rule, so it’s not surprising that they don’t want Muslims back.  Mr. Orban has said that the massive movement of migrants into the country threatens the nation’s Christian heritage.   For this realistic comment, he is being condemned by the emotional majority more influenced by television images of people pushing further into Europe.

He seems to view being "emotional" as a bad thing.

He then says Orban's fears are exaggerated. This is somewhat contradictory to what Rhodes says elsewhere.

Is this the end of western civilization, as Mr. Orban fears?   That’s not likely.   What is more likely is that westerners will change their thinking when they experience the reality of greater numbers of Muslims.   Anti-immigrant parties are likely to come to power, promising to do something to restore their countries to what they were.

Elsewhere Rhodes suggests that the immigration of Muslims to Western countries will produce that exact result.

October 5

Here Rhodes speculates that the fall of the Assad regime would result in the rise of extremism.

What the US president was saying was intended as a warning to President Putin and the Arab dictator he intends to keep in power, President Assad of Syria. The latter is a ruthless dictator (the former is simply a dictator who can be ruthless; there’s a difference). The US position on Syria is that Assad must go. That now seems highly unlikely.   When Mr Obama refers to “ideas” that cannot be suppressed, he is referring to democracy and the “moderate” resistance to Assad. However, recent history shows that democracy is not the winner when dictators in the Middle East are overthrown. Rather, Islamic extremism or chaos, and usually both, result.

He seems to blame President Eisenhower's decision to oppose Britain, France and Israel's intervention against Egypt in 1956 as prompting the fall of the British Empire.

What it will mean for Russia is not clear at this time.   However, it is clear what it means for the United States.   Just as an American president’s decision in 1956 precipitated the fall of the British Empire, so an American president’s inaction over Syria and cozying up to Iran, with the resultant weakening of ties with traditional allies in the region, has directly led to America’s decline in the Middle East.

This is not true. There were many reasons why the British Empire collapsed. Many British people could no longer justify to themselves lording it over all these other peoples, many of whom had never asked to be ruled by the British. Many of those who were ruled by the British came to see that there was no reason why they themselves should not rule their own lands. Many in Britain wondered why their government was spending so much money maintaining this Empire when that money could be used to help the people of Britain instead. The British Empire's time was over. And somehow Rhodes never seemed to understand that.

October 21

Here Rhodes scare mongers that the Trudeau government's decision to allow Syrian refugees will cause terrorist attacks to occur in Canada. He hysterically insists that allowing Syrian refugees to enter the country will lead "to the Death of the West."

The strength of ISIS is in Syria and Iraq.   Mr. Trudeau’s second act is likely to be opening the doors wider for Syrian refugees, ironically a move that almost guarantees further terrorist attacks.  What’s happening in Israel is almost certainly going to become a daily occurrence in Europe, North America and Australia in the months and years to come.

However, it’s all part of a trend throughout Western countries, of compromise with Islam, compromise that is assuredly leading to the Death of the West.

Since he views things in that why why did he chide Orban when it seems Rhodes believes the same thing.

He speculates that only Putin has shown the will to defeat ISIL.

I should add that not all Europeans have lost their vision – Russia’s leader still has his.   The world woke up today to see Syria’s President Bashar Assad in Moscow, visiting his benefactor and protector, Vladimir Putin.   Russian military might is making a big difference in Syria.  This is the first time in four years the Syrian president has felt secure enough to leave the country!   Putin has the will to defeat ISIS –whether he can or not remains to be seen.

October 26

Here Rhodes talks of Putin as the only Western leaders who respects Christianity properly.

Europe certainly does have Christian roots, but there is little evidence of those roots these days, as most people have embraced secular humanism.   Only Russia’s leader seems to hold any serious Christian beliefs.   Fortunately, he seems set on saving Christians in the Middle East from Islamic extremism.

He venomously accuses the Palestinians of yearning for genocide against Israeli Jews. He mentions that some Palestinians have been forbidden to enter the Temple Mount.

By far the worst and most serious religious conflict has flared up again in Jerusalem, where Palestinians have been waging a renewed intifada against Israel.   The first intifada was in 1987.   They are trying to drive the Jews out of the West Bank.   If they succeed, it would be a prelude to driving them into the sea.
Palestinians have been angry over the Israelis not allowing young men on to the Temple Mount, which they call Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary).   It’s also a part of the general frustration they feel after seventy years of the nation of Israel.

He seems to have no thought about how he would feel if the police should forbid him from entering his place of worship.

October 30

Here Rhodes complains about the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem saying Al Aqsa Mosque had always been Muslim.

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem claimed on Sunday that there was never a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount.   He went so far as to claim that the “Al-Aqsa mosque was an Islamic mosque since the world was created . . . It was never anything other than a mosque.”
The Grand Mufti is the senior Islamic cleric in charge of Islamic holy places, including the al-Aqsa mosque. ...
However, it should be pointed out to him that, amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls found shortly after World War II, were fragments of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.   All were dated from the second and first centuries Before Christ.
Islam did not come on the scene until the seventh century After Christ (A.D.)   Arabs took control of Jerusalem in 638 and built the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 705.
The claim that the Al-Aqsa mosque has been there since creation is ridiculous.   It’s also political – the real aim here is to “prove” the Jews have no historical claim to Jerusalem!

Rhodes also asserts that seven of the last eight Speakers of the House have been Catholic.

It’s just been announced that Paul Ryan is to be the next Speaker of the House.   Except for one, all eight of the last speakers have been Catholics.   One, Newt Gingrich, converted to Catholicism after his period in office. 

Anti-Catholicism has long been present within Armstrongism, incited in no small degree because of HWA's teaching that the Roman Catholic Church is the Whore of Revelation 17 and that the final Pope will soon help create a European superpower fated to conquer the United States.

More of Melvin Rhodes' writings are discussed in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.