"The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind." (Bob Dylan)

I was foolish enough to ask the following question on the site of a well-known left wing politician: “Could you point me to a geographical map of Palestine?”

I got hundreds of ‘likes’, which is flattering, but alas, my head is shrinking again! But the hate comments are of more interest, to the unbiased onlooker at any rate!

For sure, some comments were insightful and thought-provoking. Quite right, I think! But I seem to have unleashed a storm of personal abuse that I have never experienced before. Perhaps I should get in touch with https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/, sell my autograph once I have secured an entry and then, when famous, move to Israel.

As a believer in free speech I will not sue (after all the great assize is yet to be), and neither do I wish to name my opponents, but here is a selection of some wonderful examples in response to my original question, and by no means the worst. They are in no particular order.

I have added a few observations and will leave it to others to decide how one should respond to malice or stupidity.

a. “you embarrassing yourself Schneider”. A comment couched in poor grammar, but as one can see, we are not on first-name terms.

b. “don't be daft...You're just coming over as inadequate. Desperate too”. Must send that person a mirror.

c. “you fecking ignorant”. For sure – I am not omniscient – so disappointing!

d. “you’d have to take your head out of your behind!” I am not a contortionist!

e. “this isn't a question is it”. Is it?

f. “Does Google not work on your phone?” Now why did I never think of that? Google is the answer!

g. “up yours American poodle”. Barking mad! I think that all the poodles of the world need an apology.

h. “Nazism complex?” A simplistic, rather than complex, answer!

i. “Found the Jewish nonce.” Nonsense. How did he know I was Jewish?

j. “you're gross”. German for great! Schneider the Great – that’s a first!

k. "get back to school”. The one you went to?

l. “it’s to the East of Narnia and North of Atlantis.” Is that what head-knowledge looks like?

m. “Hitler knew”. I was born at a young age, but I never knew Hitler!

n. “think its on your bald head..between 1 brain cell and the other one…”. I may be bold, but I am not bald, yet. A brainy quote, I guess?

o. “Paid troll alert”. My contributions are for free, not sure how much longer, though, as the thought police are on their way.

p. “Get a life Adolf!” He will – at the final resurrection!

q. “at least educate yourself before you open that mouth of yourself.” You are confusing me with some politician, perhaps?

r. “ that's an original statement. How did you think of it by yourself?” Pure genius response.

s. “Get lost with your selective bias.” A neutral response?

t. “Moron.” Haha, I don’t get it!

u. “You can't point to your brain, so how can you be expected to read a map.” (sic). Duh!

v. “You fool. Do you research before you ask stupid questions!” Is that a stupid answer?

w. "I could point you to a cliff with a very long fall into the abyss in which you belong. Sick". I was not talking about the Taliban! 

AND THE LESSON FOR TODAY? Learn to listen to learn.

It’s not ‘all about us’, but the victims on both sides.

Viewing the world from below, as D. Bonhoeffer put it rather than from the comfort of one’s living room in front of a television set, is a challenge that few, if any, of us have been able to master.

Those who put their trust in politicians to solve the crisis in the Middle-East are foolish - in the extreme. I shall refrain from naming D. Trump or T. Blair.

Has there ever been a just war? Is Israel the only ‘Suendenbock’? Would the world not be a better place if you and I were not in it?

It seems to me that wisdom and humility are needed to move forward, in the right direction. A left turn could unleash Armageddon.

The answer of course to all the troubles is … never God, or is it?!

The discerning reader should seek to study the unfulfilled prophecies of the Tanakh, not to mention the whole Bible. The future looks gloriously frightful!

Ichabod in two pictures

One is reluctant to comment on anything at all nowadays, and certainly not on ‘The Confirmation Of The Election Of Sarah Mullally To The Office Of Archbishop’ on January 26th, 2026. 

The Zeitgeist of anythingism, tolerance and niceness is now ubiquitous and systemic, and has infiltrated the Church of England. I may yet be cancelled, ostracised and close to committing the unforgivable sin for what I am about to say! But I must – for conscience sake! As S. Freud might have said, ‘thou shalt not repress!’

Having forced myself to watch it all on-line (no one ever thought of inviting me!), the whole event was certainly deliberately pompous, and thus memorable, all carefully choreographed and meticulously orchestrated by the elite. 

Two pictures stick in my mind that sum it all up for me, and the camera never lies!

Here she is, swearing, no, no, as in invoking God, on an upside down Bible. With poignant precision! Sarah Mullally, contrary to what she promised, does not accept the authority of the Bible. Invoking the name of God to bless that for which there is no biblical justification is certainly bizarre, deluded and reprehensible. It simply amounts to perjury, if not deliberate lying. I am too polite to mention the name of the father of all lies! 

And then I note a group of people near the front dressed in black, reminding me of a funeral service in (or, ‘of’) the Church of England. A church of which Christ is no longer the head, is dead, and one can certainly smell the rot. 

Well, live and let live, but also let the dead bury the dead! 

I will finish my humble contribution, served with humble pie, with W. Cowper who plagiarised my thoughts:

“The World grown old her deep discernment shows,

Claps spectacles on her sagacious nose,

Peruses closely the true Christian's face,

And finds it a mere mask of sly grimace;

Usurps God's office, lays his bosom bare.

And finds hypocrisy close lurking there;

And, serving God herself through mere constraint.

Concludes his unfeign'd love of him a feint.

And yet, God knows, look human nature through,

(And in due time the world shall know it too)”

Iacob locutus est, sed causa nondum finita est.

 

Jacob’s bubolic comments are always of interest. Notwithstanding, his remarks are somewhat surprisingly, to some degree, reminiscent of floccinaucinihilipilification. Under the present electoral system, (even) a (tactical) vote for Reform could mean letting Labour in through the backdoor! After all, Jacob himself lost his seat at the last election because of Reform, yet he seems willing, indeed eager, to embrace a coalition government with N. Farage which implies a high degree of personal doubt about an achievable Conservative majority. He attacks, by name, R. Sunak, T. May and D. Cameron only, ignoring B. Johnson and L. Truss altogether who also inflicted a lot of pain both on country and their own party, not to mention 'yours truly!' His center-right tribal loyalty seems to be gravitating to Reform! Jacob agrees with R. J.’s defection speech yet wants to be loyal to K. Badenoch, whose decision to expel R. Jenrick he did not initially trust implicitly, suspending his judgement to begin with. That does not imply full confidence in the present Tory leader! I note that “Jenrick defects - and everyone wins”. How so? The Conservative party lost a man of intellect and integrity, and the Reform party admitted a Judas, depending on one’s perspective. At any rate, at the next election all that has been said will be insignificant. So much for my ramblings! It will teach me humility – which I am still struggling with at the moment!

From a hellion!

It ain't my fault! Don't blame me!!

 

Source - https://www.facebook.com/reel/1592519588412304 

I have been provoked yet again to respond. 

• It would be pathological not to shrink from Starmer's misguided policies and self-inflicted centrifugal egotism that is ripping the heart out of our nation, thus opening the door widely to extremism aimed at the destruction of our society.

• Blaming the discerning electorate is disingenuous, to put it mildly, and does not help the cause.

• The Prime minister is responsible but does not want to be held accountable for being all over the place. I have no idea what he stands for and wonder whether he himself does.

• When government becomes too weak or too strong then civil disobedience will often be the inevitable outcome. But who is interested in the lessons of history nowadays?

Unreal blessings in a clerical disguise!

In response to the remarks of the so-called archbishop of York (https://www.facebook.com/reel/1510814406658790) I feel compelled to respond, in a Schneiderish-sort-of-way. 

It seems audaciously presumptuous to expect (‘bestow’ would be too sacerdotal for my liking) God's blessing from the clergy of an apostate denomination as evidenced by its ongoing departure from Scripture, latterly on human sexuality! And to get paid in order to fleece the flock cannot be done with a good conscience! Those who support the sinking Titanic are either ill-taught or wilfully blind, but let God alone be the judge of everyone’s conscience!

Let the Gospel be preached again which calls all men everywhere to repentance and faith in our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of mankind! It was the message of the apostle Paul, Romans 1:16f., in the context of a decadent society, Romans 1:18ff., now so ‘celebrated’ by large sections of the wider church.

It has been said that ‘when nations perish in their sins, ‘tis in the Church the leprosy begins’. The smell of death has been noticeable for decades, and no amount of incense or pious phraseology can disguise the rot that is offensive to the nostrils of our thrice-holy God!

Scripture warns us of false shepherds / teachers, and perhaps the Church of England could point them out to us, so that we can escape the wrath to come.

Meanwhile, Luke 15:11-32 offers hope to all who want to turn their back on a life of rebellion, and the parable teaches true blessings that God alone can and will, and dare I say it, ‘must’ bestow on all who come to Him when forsaking ‘the dark path of sin’ that leads to everlasting destruction.

Oh yes!