A TIME COMES WHEN
SILENCE IS BETRAYAL

INTRODUCTION

I write these words at an alarming time in history. Overwhelming evidence besieges us daily of the crimes of the American New World Order System - crimes without precedent in world history; crimes which anticipate a world permanently at war; crimes meant to strip the poor of the world of what little they have left, not only materially, but spiritually; crimes that destroy the earth; crimes that are inexorably moving the nation in the direction of a police state, a state where one can be jailed without a court proceeding or trial, and where the president can do as he pleases: wiretap, torture, and disappear people.

Taken together, all these crimes augur - as I (together with the editors of Harper's Magazine) indicated in my last article, "An American Coup d'Etat" - for a coming dictatorship in the United States, for it could hardly be supposed that such a nation with so little regard not only for the welfare of the peoples of the world, but the welfare of the great majority of its own people, would be popularly supported.

Certainly, therefore, a dictatorship is coming - a dictatorship where the protests of average people will be shut down completely and the ultra-rich will gain FULL ascendancy in the country; a dictatorship that would answer to the words of Daniel 7:25: a dictatorship that would "CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS;" in other words, a dictatorship that would abrogate the Constitution of the United States.

LAYING THE PLAN FOR AN AMERICAN COUP d'Etat

And it's not just the editors of Harper's Magazine; take Michael Ratner, the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights; speaking concerning the possibilities for such a coup,  Ratner writes:

"There is something I want to bring to your attention [concerning the aims of President Bush], something that shows that the president … is open and notorious about his aims, public if you will; and if you miss what we are being told you have to be an ostrich with your head in the ground. WHAT THE PRESIDENT HAS DONE IS BASICALLY LAY THE PLAN FOR WHAT HAS TO BE CALLED A COUP-d'ETAT IN AMERICA It is a small paragraph, and it's contained in what is called a 'signing statement'. It was signed on December 30 [2005] and it's the signing statement to what is called the McCain amendment. That's the amendment that prohibits cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, or supposedly prohibits it. The president, as you recall, resisted the McCain amendment. But in the end he had to sign it because it was part of a broader military authorization to pay for what we're doing in Iraq. When a president signs legislation, he sometimes and, more recently with President Bush, almost always, issues a signing statement as to what his understanding of the new law is. The president's statement on McCain is only one short paragraph. But it is historic. It is unprecedented. And if you're looking for the grab for power that allows you, permits you, compels you to call this administration a tyranny, it is that paragraph.

"This paragraph makes three points and I'll paraphrase. First, speaking as the president, 'My authority as commander-in-chief allows me to do whatever I think is necessary in the war on terror including the use of torture. Second, the commander-in-chief cannot be checked by Congress. Third, the commander-in-chief cannot be checked by the courts'. There it is. There you have it. That boring stuff I learned as a junior high school student about checks and balances or about limited law or about authority under law - out the window. Gone. IN OTHER WORDS, THE REPUBLIC AND DEMOCRACY ARE OVER. In Germany what did they call that? They called that the Fuhrer's law. Why? Because the Fuhrer was the law. That's what George Bush is saying here. George Bush is the law.

"This assertion of power is so blatant, so open, and so notorious, that it is finally shocking some people like former Vice President Gore to speak up. I'm sure many of you are familiar with what he said in his recent speech on Martin Luther King's birthday: 'The president of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently'."

Breaking the law? The president is breaking the law? - the president is attempting to -

"CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS ..." ? (Daniel 7:25)

That's what Gore charges! That's serious! That's very serious.

A CREEPING COUP-d'ETAT

In speaking here of a coup-d'etat, Ratner has in mind what Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of international relations at Boston University, calls a "CREEPING" coup-d'etat - a coup predicated on the on-going transformations that have occurred in the country as a result of 9/11. He writes:

"The question that arises is whether, in fact, we're not already experiencing what is in essence a creeping coup d'etat … [perpetrated] by militarized civilians, who conceive of the world as such a dangerous place that military power has to predominate, that constitutional constraints on the military need to be loosened. The ideology of national security has become ever more woven into our politics. It has been especially apparent since 9/11, but more broadly it's been going on since the beginning of the Cold War."

Ratner, like Bacevich, cries out for a radical transformation of our society in order to return America to the "people." Both men see the upcoming Congressional elections of 2006 as the beginning of such a transformation.

THE DEMOCRATS ARE AS MUCH INVESTED IN THE
AMERICAN EMPIRE AS THE REPUBLICANS ARE

The problem with this kind of thinking, however, is that the Democrats are no more interested in stopping the expansion of the American New World Order System than are the Republicans. The fact is, GLOBALIZATION - WHICH IS, AS HENRY KISSINGER HAS SAID, JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR THE PROCESS THAT IS LEADING THE WORLD IN THE DIRECTION OF AMERICAN WORLD-HEGEMONY (AND IS ALSO THE PROCESS WHICH HAS LED TO SO MUCH OF THE WORLD'S BLOOD-LETTING AND MISERY) - has proceeded too far down the path to be stopped now.

American corporations (and their lackey corporations in Europe and Japan) are by now far too entangled commercially in the Third World to ever pull out. To do so would spell disaster for them as commercial entities; it would mean the total collapse of the American New World Order System (to which the economies of the E.C. and Japan are irrevocably tied and to which they are utterly subservient) and the melt-down of the world economy. And make no mistake about it, THE DEMOCRATS ARE AS DEEPLY INVESTED IN THIS SYSTEM AS ARE THE REPUBLICANS.

THE LOSS OF CONGRESS TO THE DEMOCRATS
WILL DO LITTLE TO STOP GLOBALIZATION

The fact is, the loss of the House and the Senate to the Democrats will not in the slightest halt the steady march of GLOBALIZATION, which is ENTIRELY dependent on American arms - operating under the guise of the so-called "War on Terror" - to sustain it. This means, in effect, that the blood-letting and misery associated with the expansion of the American New World Order System will not abate should the Democrats gain power in Congress - except, perhaps, around the edges. Anti-war activist Annie Zirin exposes the Democrats with regard to this matter; she writes:

"More than four years after the September 11 attacks and three years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, neither the war in Afghanistan, nor the war in Iraq appears to be drawing to a close. This is despite the fact that hundreds of thousands have protested the war in Iraq and more than 60 percent of Americans support partial or full withdrawal from Iraq. Fewer than four in ten Americans support Bush today.

"In a climate like this, the antiwar movement should be making great strides … [and American troops should be streaming home from the bloody war there. But that's not at all what's happening]. There are many reasons for this state of affairs, but one cannot avoid the most obvious. If the widespread opposition to the war in Iraq has not been galvanized into a stronger antiwar movement … the first place to look is the Democratic party and its liberal acolytes. These liberal forces, which continue to hold sway over broad sections of the antiwar movement and its leaders, have succeeded in disorienting and confusing the opposition to Bush.

"A crucial part of this disorientation is the position that the Democrats and liberals have taken vis-à-vis Bush's central focus: the 'War on Terror'. The liberals criticize the war in Iraq as a costly distraction from the 'real' War on Terror and other pressing interventions abroad [Korea and Venezuela for example]. This was obvious in the proposal late last year of U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) to 'redeploy' forces from Iraq, which was greeted with applause across the liberal spectrum … As Zoltan Grossman wrote on the left-wing web site, Counnterpunch.org, 'Murtha advocated not an end to the war, but a 'redeployment' of troops to neighboring countries and aircraft carriers, from which they could continue to combat the Iraqi insurgency. While the Occupation would end, the air strikes that began in 1991 would not end, nor would armed raids made at the 'request' of the Iraqi government'.

"… While Murtha may be highly critical or even opposed to the war in Iraq right now, HE AND THE REST OF THE DEMOCRATS ARE HARDLY OPPOSED TO THE WAR ON TERROR - AND IN FACT SEE REDEPLOYMENT AS A MEANS TO SAVE THE MILITARY SO IT CAN FIGHT FOR U.S. INTERESTS IN OTHER THEATERS [OF THE WORLD]."

THE DEMOCRATS ARE COGNIZANT THAT THE U.S.
CANNOT PULL BACK FROM ITS DRIVE TOWARD EMPIRE

The Democrats are fully cognizant of the fact that the United States cannot pull back from its drive for empire. Should the Democrats win in the next Congressional election, should they capture control of BOTH the House and the Senate, it might change the direction of the country on certain domestic social issues like "prayer in the schools," abortion, affirmative action, etc., but it would have no effect whatsoever on the process of GLOBALIZATION itself.

And if one doubts that, one should remind himself that it was Clinton that forced NAFTA and the WTO down the throats of an unwilling American public which opposed their implementation by majorities as high as 80 percent.

Moreover, the Democrats are fully conscious of the fact that GLOBALIZATION IS ENTIRELY DEPENDENT UPON THE FORCE OF AMERICAN ARMS. They are more than aware that the American Empire - again, a vast system of American client-states that is governed by toady-like indigenous elites in the employ of U.S. multinational corporations - can be maintained in power only at the point of a gun, an AMERICAN GUN. There is then - as a matter of stark reality - little that the Democrats can do to stop the nation from being transformed into that "BEAST NATION" described in Dan. 7:7 other than to hide its iron fist in a velvet glove. The very real fact of the matter is, whether under the leadership of the Democratic Party or under the leadership of the Republicans the nation will remain what it has become - a "BEAST" that is "... DREADFUL" and "TERRIBLE," and "STRONG EXCEEDINGLY" with "great iron teeth;" one that "DEVOURS" and "BRAKES IN PIECES" the rest of the nations of the world (Daniel 7:7); and one that Isaiah describes as an "OVERFLOWING SCOURGE" (Is. 28:18).

The hope of people like Bacevich and Ratner who would wistfully demur from such an outcome is a vain hope, and when Ratner says, "My hopes for today and for the future are that the truth will arouse resistance and with resistance there will be some change - I mean resistance of every sort, mobilizing, protesting, disobeying, and disobedience …" that is surely nothing more than a defense against his own fear and apprehension concerning the political direction that has been impressed on the American people - something akin to whistling in the dark as one passes through a graveyard late at night.

IT'S NOT THAT WE CARE SO MUCH ABOUT THE
NATION, AS WE CARE ABOUT THE CHURCH

But even if there was some hope in changing the direction of the country in a resort to violence, we in Antipas have no interest in doing so. Jesus said,

"They that take up the sword shall perish with the sword." (Matthew 26:52)

Nor do we have any interest in opposing these wicked forces politically; to do so would be tantamount to standing on the shore of the ocean and trying to sweep back the incoming tide with a broom. The Bible says that -

"… the WHOLE world lieth in wickedness." (1 John 5:19)

Obviously, in such a world,

"… it must needs be that offences [wrongdoings] come …" (Matthew 18:7)

But while we have no interest in involving ourselves politically in an effort aimed at stopping stop the crimes of the American nation, surely we MUST speak out against the participation of the church in these crimes; after all, THE CHURCH IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE INVOLVED IN THE AFFAIRS OF THIS WORLD; Jesus said,

"… ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you OUT of the world ..." (John 15:19)

It is, therefore, incumbent upon us as Christians to speak out against the church's involvement in this world, and - very specifically - to speak out against the partnership of the church in the crimes of the American new World Order System!  It is in this connection that we have a duty to think seriously about the words Dr. King uttered forty years ago at Riverside Church in New York City - and to apply these words to our own lethargy:

"A TIME [FINALLY] COMES WHEN SILENCE IS BETRAYAL."

A time comes when we - as Christians - can no longer hide our heads in the sand and pretend that we just don't see what's happening insofar as the church's involvement with the American New World Order System; OR worse, to say - from the comfort and complacency of our own living rooms - that while we see what's occurring, we are in no position to do anything about it.  If we involve ourselves in such escapism, we BETRAY our own Christianity. We must speak out against what's occurring, and we must begin to do it now. As King said in the same speech at Riverside Church: "We can wait too long to take action; there is such a thing as being too late with regard to God." To which we say, AMEN!

SOME SAY THAT THE 2006 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
MAY CHECK THE PROGRESS OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

Some, of course, will - by their actions if not their words - say that there is still time; after all, the church would surely not continue to partner with the United States under a Democratic regime regardless of whether or not the Democrats are successful in further expanding the American New World Order System or not - and we know that the Prophetic Scriptures anticipate just such a partnership between the BEAST system of Daniel 7:7 and the church (i.e., the APOSTATE church). If the Democrats should gain power in Congress, that would surely mean, therefore, that we have more time to take action.

In such circumstances, we would be fools to ruin ourselves in our haste to take action; that maybe, just maybe, we're not that far down into the "end of days," and that if we act too precipitously we may wreck ourselves financially and damage relationships with loved ones that need not to be damaged - at least not at this particular time. If that happens, we will be left to ponder whether or not we've been acting like idiots - like "Chicken Little" screaming "The sky is falling, the sky is falling" when nothing of the sort is happening. Moreover, it would lend credence to the thought that most Christians - even sincere ones - have in the deeper recesses of their minds: that the Prophetic Scriptures are simply too difficult to understand; we should take them with a "grain of salt" and get on with our lives.

THE BACEVICH AND DUNLAP SCENARIO

The problem with this kind of thinking is that the ascendancy of the Democrats in Congress would answer PRECISELY to the reasoning of Bacevich and Brig. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap: that gridlock between Congress and the presidency is exactly the situation that could precipitate a coup-d'etat. Dunlap writes:

"Let's say a president, exercising his proper and legitimate presidential authority, initiates a military action [which it has done in Iraq and which IT IS SURELY PLANNING TO DO TO IRAN]. Then Congress wakes up and says, 'Wait a minute, this president is berserk; he's starting a war, and we're against it'. But in the meantime, the military force has already been put in a very compromised situation. If things were moving very fast, the military might well take an UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACTION."

An unconstitutional action against Congress? Yes! - an "unconstitutional action" that would be supported by the American evangelical community: A hardcore of 35 percent of the American population, which is a larger share of the population than Hitler enjoyed when he seized dictatorial power in Germany, and a military that would be desperate to avoid a repeat of its ignominious defeat in Vietnam. All this to say nothing of the desperation of the nation's ultra-rich who passionately fear that an anti-Bush Congress could - under the impress of left-wing populists - precipitate the re-emergence of anti-globalist street protests and eventually even rioting in the streets. There is, after all, NOTHING that the elites fear more than that.

Again, all this would surely answer to the words of Daniel 7:25; that there will come a time when the course and character of the United States will irrevocably be changed, and the "BEAST-NATION" of Daniel 7:7 will take on its final form as an "OVERFLOWING SCOURGE" (Is. 28:18) that will ruthlessly and mercilessly subjugate the world - even to the point of unleashing its nuclear arsenal.

GIVEN THESE REALITIES, WHERE IS THERE ANY HOPE?

Given these realities, what hope is there for the peoples of the world - seeing that these things MUST come to pass? Certainly, there can be no hope in any political solutions that anyone might care to dream up.

There is, however, HOPE in Christ, and I speak not only with regard to HOPE on a personal basis, but also on a societal basis. It is the "good news" of the coming "Kingdom of God" (Matt. 4:23) - a kingdom that will entail social justice and equity between and among all men; the "good news" that, according to C.I. Scofield, "GOD PURPOSES TO SET UP ON EARTH THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST ..."

The kingdom being proclaimed here will be a kingdom grounded in social justice for ALL mankind, a world of equity where men are not divided up between the "owners of capital" on the one hand and "labor" on the other hand, and where men and women are not divided up on the basis of their race or even their gender (Gal. 3:28); where the rich do not oppress the poor; where every man has equal access to God; where privileges cannot be bought by the wealthy; where there are no death squads, no poverty, no torture, no hunger, no disease, and no room for oppressors of any kind. Very obviously, such a kingdom would be TOTALLY at variance to the world we now live in and with the American New World Order System that now prevails on the earth.

The HOPE of this coming kingdom is rooted in the Prophetic Scriptures - and it is precisely this HOPE that we have been commissioned as Christians to preach to the world. But how can we preach it if we ourselves are not rooted and grounded in these Scriptures? And make no mistake about, our HOPE here is not grounded in any private vision that we or anyone else might have, but in the WRITTEN WORD of God itself. It is in these Scriptures that we find HOPE and comfort. The Bible says that these Scriptures -

"… were written aforetime … for our learning, that we through patience and comfort OF THE SCRIPTURES might have HOPE." (Romans 15:4)

And the Bible goes on to say that it is this -

"… HOPE [that] maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:5)

Moreover, it is this HOPE that fills us "with all joy and peace in believing;" that through the "KNOWLEDGE" of this HOPE which is ours through the insight we obtain in the Prophetic Scriptures we can begin to understand -

"… what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

 "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

 "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: (Eph. 1:18-21)

The Bible says that we are to "arm" ourselves in this KNOWLEDGE, and if we do so, we will "SANCTIFY" ourselves against the terror of the "end of days" - and so much so that we should not be "afraid of that terror, neither be troubled" (Col. 1:14). Indeed, WE ARE CALLED BY GOD TO COMMUNICATE THIS HOPE TO THE WORLD, and to that end, WE MUST -

"BE READY ALWAYS TO GIVE AN ANSWER TO EVERY MAN THAT ASKETH YOU A REASON OF THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU …" (1 Peter 3:15)

ARE YOU READY TO GIVE AN ANSWER FOR YOUR HOPE?

Are you ready to give an answer for your hope? That's what the world and the unbelievers want to hear: THEY WANT TO HAVE HOPE! It is in this connection that we have an obligation to think seriously about the words Dr. King uttered forty years ago at Riverside Church in New York City - and to apply these words to our own despicable lethargy:

"A TIME [FINALLY] COMES WHEN SILENCE IS BETRAYAL."

Betrayal of whom? - betrayal of ALL those - believers and unbelievers alike - who want to have HOPE in the midst of the trials and great tribulation that is soon to fall on the WHOLE earth. J. Dwight Pentecost has written,

"God, the architect of the ages, has seen fit to take us into His confidence concerning His plan for the future [of mankind and planet earth] and has revealed His purpose in DETAIL in the Word [i.e., the Bible]. A greater body of Scripture is given to prophecy than any other subject, for approximately one-fourth of the Bible was prophetic at the time it was written. That portion is devoted to the unfolding of God's program [in the ages]."

That's what God wants to do - bring us into His confidence, and by doing so, giving us (and the world) HOPE - AND THIS HOPE IS BASED NOT ON SOMETHING THAT I OR ANYONE ELSE HAS RECEIVED PRIVATELY FROM THE LORD, AS IN SOME KIND OF SECRET OR CONFIDENTIAL VISION TO WHICH I OR ANYONE ELSE IS PRIVY. This is NOT the case at all. These things are written in the Prophetic Scriptures for ALL to see.

IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT WE URGE ALL OF YOU - BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS ALIKE - TO INVOLVE YOURSELVES IN OUR TRAINING; TO FIND OUT FOR YOURSELVES WHAT THE BIBLE HAS TO SAY ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD TODAY. WE URGE YOU TO SIGN UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. You can sign up for the training here.

God bless you all,

S.R. Shearer
Antipas Ministries