"Suffer not a Witch to Live " Liviticus - Burning Harry Potter at the stake?
Since its Sunday here are a few words for Christians to remember when they make scurrilous attacks on all Muslims and on Islam itself and the Prophet Muhammad.
First they claim Islam is a religion of violence Jihad and then go onto claim Muslims wish for an honorable death to take them sooner than later so they can escape this fallen world and once again be in Paradise with Allah. These detractors of Islam claim that its laws are harsh while those of Christians and Jews are not. Some have written me saying that The Bible does not call for burning people alive or stoning them for breaking God's Laws. These are mainly I presume complaints made by Christians who never actually read the Bible or have a read a more " New Agey " smiley-Faced or Disneyesque censored version of the Bible. If the Bible is true in every word as the word of God as Evangelical Fundamentalists insists than to defy these laws is to turn away from God. So Homosexuals, adulterers, disobedient children, witches, sorcerers , Pagans or having sex during a woman's menstruation etc. are to be put to death-no mercy. According to Leviticus these Laws are to be upheld obeyed by all who dwell in the nation.
So here's a few examples of unforgiving Laws of God from the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament which according to Conservative Evangelical Fundamentalist must be the law of the land.
From Chapter 20, Leviticus
... Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
: And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death:
And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife... the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death
And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man take a wife and her mother: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they
And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness,(menstrating) and shall uncover her nakedness he must be killed
A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones
and from Chapter 24-Leviticus:
16: And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.
17: And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
22: Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.
(above quotes from The King James Version of the Bible online at Old and New Testaments,
with the Apocrypha The Electronic Text Center,University of Virginia)
Islam did not invent antiSemitism- Christians and the Christian Church ( Catholic & Protestant) were quite able on their own to indulge in erroneous stereotypes of the Jews and to invent various outlandish charges against the Jews from Deicide, to poisoning Christian wells, to being disease ridden and greedy and untrustworthy to "the Blood Libel" to desecrating the Host. to being the cause of all the turmoil in Europe over the centuries.
Civilta cattolica a Catholic publication in the 1890s characterizes Jews as :
...Jews thrust for world domination, their hunger for gold, and their belief that Christians are no better than animals. Wherever the Jews live, in the words of these authors, they " form a foreign nation, and sworn enemy of (the people's ) well being." What should good Catholics do about this terrible threat to their to their livelihoods and happiness? The answer offered in the pages of civilta cattolica was clear : The Jews " civil equality " must be immediately revoked , for " they have no right to it ," remaining forever foreigners in every country , enemies of the people of every country that puts up with them ." Civilta cattolica Catholic Journal ( p. 8 Kertzer )
The Christian Church for centuries characterized the Jewish people as working against Christianity and God . The Jews were depicted as agents of the Devil and eventually became associated with the Antichrist . Thus were the Jews demonized . Once demonized it became easier for those who accepted this view to at the least allow the Jews to be unjustly treated . As again Norman Cohn in Warrant For Genocide explains :
" From the time of the first crusade onwards Jews were presented as children of the Devil, agents employed by Satan for the express purpose of combating Christianity and harming Christians . But above all it was said that Jews worshipped the Devil , who rewarded them collectively by making them masters of black magic; so however helpless individuals Jews might seem, Jewry possessed limitless powers for evil. And already then there was talk of a secret Jewish government- a council of rabbis, located in Moslem Spain, which was supposed to be directing an underground war against Christendom and employing sorcery as its principal weapon . " ( Warrant for Genocide , Norman Cohn p. 26 )
"The propagation of such views by the clergy century after century, gradually but decisively influenced the attitude of the laity...Christian teaching and preaching ensured that they ( the Jews ) would be treated not simply as strangers but as most dangerous enemies. During the Middle Ages Jews were almost wholly without legal rights and were frequently massacred by the mob. " ( Warrant , Cohn p. 26 )
"The myth of the Jewish world-conspiracy represents a modern adaptation of this ancient demonological tradition . According to this myth there exists a secret Jewish government which , through a world wide network of camouflaged agencies and organizations , control political parties and governments, the press and public opinion, banks and economic developments .
The secret government is supposed to be doing this in pursuance of an age -old plan and with the single aim of achieving Jewish dominion over the entire world; and it is also supposed to be perilously near to achieving this aim. " ( Warrant, Cohn, p. 27 )
Let's begin with a look at the Conservative Evangelicals & the so called Third Wave Movement which Sarah Palin and others such as Lou Engle of the Call & the Ramp, Ron Luce of Battlecry , and Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, Rick Joyner of MorningStar Ministries who believe in the "Gifts of the spirit"- healings, speaking in tongues, spiritual warfare, the power of prayer to fight off the Devil etc. -Morningstar Ministries, Joel's Army, the Call , Battlecry! etc.
The ultimate reason why you shouldn't vote for Palin.
The radical religious right has succeeded in taking over one of America's great political parties. The country is not yet a theocracy but the Republican Party is, and they are driving American politics, using God as a battering ram on almost every issue: crime and punishment, foreign policy, health care, taxation, energy, regulation, social services and so on." -- Bill Moyers
Sarah Palin's churches are actively involved in a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same 'Spiritual Warfare' movement that was featured in the award winning movie, "Jesus Camp," which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin's churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young "Joel's Army" to take dominion over the United States and the world.
Battle Cry's Ron Luce has created a large cult of young people who are anxiety ridden on the one hand and naive & gullible so Ron Luce can be dismissive of all the bloodshed in Jesus name and paint America as this Holy country which is under attack by "Liberals" "Secular Humanists", "Socialists" and Islam and other false religions and ideologies which are all just a means by which Satan and the Anti-Christ are attacking America.:
Battlecry is not your typical Christian Evangelizing ministry as it is racist sexist anti-Gay anti-liberal anti-Secular Humanism and it is anti-pluralism or diversity and pro-absolute conformity. These "True Believers" would use their political and religious freedom and their engagement with the democratic process as merely a stepping stone to rid the United States of democracy or religious freedom or freedom of speech or the right of privacy..
Like Palin's Pentecostal church these ultraconservative Evangelical Fundamentalists see the whole world caught up in a very real Spiritual War between God and Satan and that this period in history not some distant date is in fact the Endtimes and each must choose sides.
They appear to be somewhat dismissive of their own lives since they believe as the song goes"this world has nothing to offer" so it is only in death that one is finally able to be in the purely spiritual realm and if your faith is grounded in Jesus then you go to Paradise or Heaven.
during a BattleCri!event in a large stadium holding 50,000 young people US Navy Seals appear on the stage shooting blanks into the audience knocking down doors ( installed on the stage) and killing the enemy who are behind the doors ie Arabs, Muslims , Iraqis and Afghanistani and what these Navy Seals are doing is seen in the context of a Holy War of Christians versus Muslims and all non-believers.
"BattleCry: Ron Luce’s Holy War " By Sunsara Taylor at May 23, 2006
BattleCry founder Ron Luce speaks with a man he identified as a U.S. Navy SEAL at the Philadelphia BattleCry rally on May 12.
Do you care more about the pigs around you or God? BattleCry leader Ron Luce roared at the crowd of more than 17,000 youths gathered at Wachovia Spectrum Stadium in Philadelphia on Friday, May 12. No, this wasn't a metaphor: After reading a passage from Luke 15 that mentions pigs, he actually brought several squealing, pink farm animals on stage. Got it? You either get with Luce's hateful, hyper-patriotic, woman-bashing, racist god or … you're a pig.
What's more, it became clear during the rally that all the rhetoric about battles, warriors and war was not just metaphorical, either.
White Man's Burden
Early on the second day of the Christian evangelical rock concert's two-day run, a tribal drumbeat filled the stadium and a voice boomed out from the speakers: "The most violent people in human history."
(it turns out the most violent people in the world are black)
...Graham next told the biblical story of Daniel "taming the Babylonians." After celebrating the U.S. troops who are killing people by the thousands in Iraq right now, he preached that there is "no difference between the Iraqis today and Babylon 1,000 years ago." In the Bible, Babylon is the epitome of evil and decadence. All manner of bloodlust and plunder against it is not just condoned but celebrated. As Psalm 137:9 spells out, even the babies are to be dashed against the rocks.
While calling on the youths present to engage in this "battle for the souls of men," he declared: "No souls can be saved without the shedding of blood. Blood must be shed!"
Shortly thereafter the large screen above the stadium lit up with images of Navy SEALs making their way from backstage. Dressed in camouflage, carrying automatic weapons, kicking down doors and firing blanks into empty rooms along their way, they seemed like the embodiments of the house-to-house raids and indiscriminate killings that have been seen in rare footage that made its way out of Iraq.
Fireworks exploded and flames billowed as Ron Luce greeted the warriors, bragging that all of them had been involved in real battles. They are part of FORCE Ministries, a Christian organization composed of current and retired Navy SEALs, law enforcement members and other military personnel who evangelize at events like these and conduct Bible study sessions at military bases around the world. Among those on stage was a SEAL just back from Afghanistan and a member of a police SWAT team. All of them are trained to kill, and they apparently do so or have done so in the belief that God sanctions their actions.
One of the SEALs recounted how, at boot camp, he had been forced to surrender his entire will to the demands of his instructor. Luce stepped in to tell the audience: "That is your youth pastor. He's going to make you a SEAL for Christ." Of course, the great Commander of this religious army is God, who issues his foot soldiers armor "a shield of faith, a belt of truth, and boots of preparedness," according to Luce
"as well as offensive weapons" like the "sword of the spirit" and the "word of God."
This merging of God's army and the U.S. military echoed the event that opened the day: the reading of a letter of greeting and blessing from George W. Bush. After the reading, a minister led thousands to bow their heads and thank the Lord for giving them George Bush, the commander in chief of America’s military.
also see Republicans and Religious Right & Racism:
"Rush, Race, and the Religious Right" by Randall Balmer at huffington Post March 10, 2009
...that one reason politically conservative evangelicals so adore Limbaugh is that he expresses the racism they feel but cannot allow themselves to articulate. I hasten to add that I don't say this lightly; I have for years, in fact, defended evangelicals against the charge of racism.
But the evidence is beginning to mount. Several years ago I exposed what I call the "abortion myth," the fiction that the Religious Right coalesced as a political movement in response to the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. That emphatically was not the case; many evangelicals at the time, in fact, applauded the decision. The true catalyst was a lower-court ruling, Green v. Connally, that upheld the Internal Revenue Service in its opinion that institutions engaging in racial discrimination were not charitable organizations and therefore had no claims to tax-exempt status. When the IRS enforced that decision in 1976 and rescinded the tax exemption at Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist school in Greenville, South Carolina, evangelicals preachers led by Jerry Falwell, Tim LaHaye and others banded together to form a mighty political coalition.
... But the fact remains that the very people who eventually took extraordinary pains to style themselves as the "new abolitionists" because of their opposition to abortion actually organized as a political movement effectively to defend racial segregation and discrimination at Bob Jones University.
Another bit of evidence for racism among politically conservative evangelicals might be the popularity of home-schooling and their support for school vouchers. Like it or not, evangelicals have yet to come to terms with the legacy of "segregation academies," many of them organized by churches, that sprouted after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954. Not everyone who educates children at home is racist, of course. By no means. But one of the perennial Religious Right complaints about public education is its emphasis on multiculturalism and diversity. And, as I saw when I visited public school and voucher school classrooms in Cleveland several years ago, nothing perpetuates racial (and economic) stratification better than voucher programs.
Perhaps Limbaugh's racial rants help to explain his popularity among politically conservative evangelicals after all. Such lines of affinity are difficult to sort out, of course, especially when any such linkage is vigorously denied -- as I'm sure it will be. But when Limbaugh rails against Colin Powell, or when his program plays a parody called "Barack the Magic Negro," or when he suggests that the president is demanding that Americans "have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president" -- maybe, just maybe, Limbaugh is striking an ugly nerve among politically conservative evangelicals.
And here's a bit of an analysis about why certain personalities are drawn to the more extremist & radical hard right of the Republican Party and that of the Religious Right.
Note not all conservatives or all Evangelical Christians are in agreement with this more extreme manifestation of Conservatism or Evangelical Christianity. But at the moment they are the loudest and have become the most noticeable and appear to be day by day increasing their influence over American politics and public policy making .
Glenn Beck and others are always griping that moderate Muslims do not speak out enough or with a united voice in condemning Muslim Extremists. But this has also become the case for Moderate Evangelicals and other Christians and other people of good will who for whatever reasons do not speak up and tell the nation that these extremist do not speak for them. Their silence is as they say deafening and are surely needed.
Sexual Hypocrisy and the Religious Right - Max Blumenthal Oct. 15, 2009
Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/29/Republican_...
Journalist Max Blumenthal links prominent members of the Religious Right to a number of gay sex scandals. Blumenthal says, "the party of family values is revealed as the largest walk-in 'closet' in America."
Award-winning journalist and documentary videographer Max Blumenthal has become one of the most important journalists writing about how the Religious Right fringe movement became the Republican Party mainstream.
Dobbs supports the Minutemen who engage in summary executions.He distorts the truth to raise his ratings and his income. He claim all Latinos in America are drug dealers & addicts thieves, rapists, murderers that they are lazy & disrespectful & are disease ridden and destroying America from within. Oh and I thought it was the Muslims or the Socialist its difficult to keep up these Merchants of Hate and Fear.
CNN: Lou Dobbs or Latinos in America? Oct. 13, 2009Join me and http://www.BastaDobbs.com in telling CNN they can't have it both ways, Lou Dobbs or Latinos in America?
Visit: http://www.bastadobbs.com/video
Additional Footage by:
http://www.youtube.com/user/nauiocelotl
Mormons believe that Satan is the father of all the non-whites.
Rod Parsley Preaches Mormon Church is Not For Blacks
YoutubellegalPlayer oct.17, 2009
Joseph Smith first president, prophet, and founder of the Mormon Church:
Are the Mormons abolitionists? No, unless delivering the people from priestcraft, and the priests from the power of Satan, should be considered abolition. But we do not believe in setting the negroes free.Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, v.3, p. 29
Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species, and put them on a national equalization" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 270; History of the Church, 5: 218; emphasis added). "Thursday, 8--Held Mayor's court and tried two negroes for attempting to marry two white women: fined one $25, and the other $5" (ibid., 6: 210). and the rebellious niggers in the slave states. . . " (Millennial Star, 22:602; emphasis added).
Hey Glenn beck are all Mormons as racist and as homophobic as you. And are they all ready to sell their souls to the God Mammon.
Keith Olbermann on Mormons-
Mormon Apostle Dallin H Oaks & Harry Reid on Prop 8
From: llegalPlayer | October 15, 2009
LDS apostle Dallin H. Oaks on Tuesday likened the post-Proposition 8 backlash against Mormons to the persecution blacks endured during the civil-rights struggle.
ENDNOTES & Suggested Reading
also see " Arming for Armageddon Militant Joel's Army Followers Seek Theocracy" by Casey Sanchez Photography by Lowell Handler at Southern Poverty Law Center Fall 2008
also see: " Anti-semitism in the Roman Catholic Church Repudiation during the 20th century" at Religious Tolerance.org/
"The Mufti of Berlin: Arab-Nazi collaboration is a taboo topic in the West" by Pam Gellar at Atlas Shrugs Oct.13, 2009
Reckoning or Requiem for Rifqa? Hearing today decides her fate" Pamela Gellar at Atlas Shrugs Oct. 13, 2009
"Joel's Army and The Call"Submitted by Kyle on August 28, 2008 at rightwingwatch People For The Amrtican Way
"Can 5,000 Evangelical Teens Be Wrong? "Chas Bowie's Report on "Acquire the Fire," the New Vanguard of Teen Christian Revivals
by Chas Bowie The Portland Mercury, March 16,2006
Republican Party Bush Cheney & Teen Mania:
Bush-Cheney Campaign Youth Director Highlights Political Impact of Evangelical Teens
Former Bush-Cheney campaign youth organizer Jordan Sekulow, speaking minutes before the Detroit "BattleCry" event on live television, described the political impact and eventual benefit his party gains from evangelical teens like those who participate in Teen Mania's programs. Ron Luce appeared on the same program, live from Detroit, a few minutes after Sekulow made these comments.
"Acquire The Evidence on Ron Luce and Teen Mania Ministries "BattleCry" Redux: How to Respond?" at Apologecicsindex
"Rick Joyner and Morningstar Ministries" An Apologetics Index research resource Prophet or Heretic?
and on the impact of the internet on the growth of ministries:
"The New Evangelism Revolution" June 4, 2008 By: Michelle Diedrich
Internet Evangelism is revolutionizing personal faith sharing
“On a typical day some 70 million American adults log onto the Internet to use email, get news, access government information, check out health and medical information, participate in auctions, book travel reservations, research their genealogy, gamble, seek out romantic partners, and engage in countless other activities. That’s a 37 percent increase from the 51 million Americans who were online on an average day in 2000 when the Pew Internet & American Life Project began its study of online life.” Pew Internet
...Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14). Preaching the gospel to “all the world” has historically been viewed as one person being in front of another person or perhaps a group.
Anti-Semitism: 2000 Years of Christian Love"By Vexen Crabtree 2004 Oct 06
"The Muslims are Coming!"By Dean Obeidallah -- Not only are Muslims coming -- but they want to take over America! At least that's what four Republican Members of Congress alleged today.Oct.15, 2009 "Huffington Post"
"The Gang Rape and the Republicans Behold, 30 U.S. senators who don't give a damn about battered women" by Mark Morford at SanFrancisco Chronicle Oct. 16, 2009
Republicans & Beck choose another target for their McCarty style witch hunt:
"Hatch: MoveOn.Org Is Scurrilous -- And I'm Going To Kick Them In The Teeth Ben Frumin | October 15, 2009,
ACTION ALERT: Obama to Cede US Sovereignty in December Atlas Shrugs Oct.16
The Catholic Church and Antisemitism, Poland, 1933-1939 by Ronald Modras 1994
and recently over the NFL deal the right is depicting Rush Limbaugh as a victim of an unfounded left wing smear campaign.
"A Rush to Ruin
The Left’s Character Assassination Campaign Against Rush Limbaugh" :EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BY TIM GRAHAM MRC DIRECTOR OF MEDIA ANALYSIS PDF file
"Our common inhumanity: anti-semitism and history by RICHARD WEBSTER review of Antisemitism: The Longest Hatred by Robert S. Wistrich, Thames Methuen, 1991
...POSSIBLY,’ WROTE THE THEOLOGIAN, Rosemary Ruether, ‘anti-Judaism is too deeply embedded in the foundations of Christianity to be rooted out entirely without destroying the whole structure.’ It is partly because its implications are so terrifying that we have sometimes been reluctant to face up to the history of anti-semitism. Among Christian scholars one of the earliest and most notable exceptions was James Parkes who did much to draw attention to the relentless anti-Judaism of early Christian literature and to the origins of this anti-Jewish attitude in the bitter conflict between the Church and the Synagogue. In addition to his more specialised books Parkes also wrote a history of anti-semitism in which he traced the disastrous consequences of these early Christian attitudes in medieval and modern European history.
...Wistrich recognises the role which was played by anti-semitism in pagan Antiquity, but he also recognises, as have many Christian scholars, that an even more important, and ultimately more potent source of anti-semitism is to be found in the New Testament – not only in the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John but in the account of the crucifixion given by all four gospels. It was the gospels and not the Church which first cast the Jews in the role of the deicide people. Wistrich succinctly establishes the importance both of this charge and of the demonisation of the Jews which began with John, was continued by the Church Fathers, and which subsequently became the basis of modern anti-semitic fantasies.
...The Holocaust, according to the analysis offered here, grew out of a fatal combination of Christian demonological anti-semitism and a new atheistic ideology which ruthlessly secularised this demonology at the same time that it destroyed the traditional restraints of the Christian conscience. In effect National Socialist leaders ‘subverted Christianity from within’. For ‘by continuing to use a long familiar language about the diabolical Jew, they could guarantee themselves the collaboration of the Christian churches and of millions of ordinary laymen throughout Europe.’ ‘Collaboration’ is not quite the right word here and Wistrich seems to forget about the significant minority of Christians who courageously and actively opposed Hitler’s policies. But there is nevertheless too much truth in this general judgment for it to be easily dismissed.
"Origins of christian Anti-Semitism" by Sandra S. Williams at Judaic Studies Program University of Central Florida
Christian Anti-Semitism at About.com
What about henry Ford and Father Coughlin as anti-semites & promoters of the Protocols
And for a complete distortion of the history of Western and Christian anti-Semitism while distortion the role of anti-Semitism in Islam. Yes anti-Semitism has sprung up in Islam from time to time but was rarely as big as a threat to Jews as was virulent and violent Christian anti-Semitism. Though unfortunately anti-Semitism has been on the rise in Muslim countries since the latter part of the 19th century.
at
"Atlas Shrugs:
the persecution of the Jews is an Islamic constant"
For more on this matter here are some books I would recommend :
Bronner, Stephen Eric : A Rumor about the Jews : Reflections on Antisemitism and the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion , pub. 2000
Bainton,Roland H.: The Horizon History of Christianity, pub.1964.
Carsten, F. L.: The Rise of Fascism , pub.
Carroll, James: Constantine’s Sword: The Church and The Jews-
A History , Pub. 2001.
Cohen- Sherbok, Dan: The Crucified Jew: Twenty Centuries of Anti-Semitism, pub. 1992.
Cohn, Norman : Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, pub. 1996.
Dawidowicz, Lucy S.: The War Against the Jews 1933-1945, Pub. 1986
Gilbert, Martin: Auschwitz and the Allies, pub. 1990
Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah : A Moral Reckoning :The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair, pub. 2002
Kertzer, David I. : The Popes Against The Jews: The Vatican's Role in The Rise of Modern Anti‑Semitism, pub. 2001
Lewy,Guenter The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies , pub. 2000
Rees, Laurence : Auschwitz: A New History ,pub. 2005
Rhodes,Richard: Masters of Death: The SS-Einsatzgruppen And The Invention of the Holocaust by Richard Rhodes, pub. 2002
Wistrich, Robert S. :ANTISEMITISM: THE LONGEST HATRED, pub. 1992
& Waffen SS: Hitler's Blackguard at War ,by Christopher Allsby , pub. 1997 ( NOTE: glorifies the Waffen SS dismissive of their role in wholesale slaughter of Jews , Gypsies, Poles Slavs etc.)
and so it goes,
GORD.
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