We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
|
Prayer request They are identifying the bodies now. For their relatives, the agony of not knowing is almost over and the different agony of knowing begins. But for some the hellish uncertainty goes on. One of our oldest friends is one of this group. He has family in Israel. One of his female relatives has disappeared without trace. Another, a very old lady, was taken by Hamas.
If you pray, please pray for them.
UPDATE 14th October:
The younger lady is alive and safe. I have no other information except that wonderful fact. Thank God. Please continue to pray for the older lady.
UPDATE 1st December:
I am happy to say that the older lady has also been released.
|
Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
|
I have seen many studies on the effectiveness of prayer, and prayer that works best is for someone you know. Could you provide photos, perhaps?
Nicholas (Unlicensed Joker) Gray,
I know that your suggestion comes from the best of motives, but, unfortunately, I don’t think that would be wise. The reason is this: a lot of people on this site are expressing their outrage at Palestinian / Hamas atrocities very frankly. We know for certain that one of these women, the elderly lady, is in their power, and if the other woman is not dead, she is too. It is becoming clearer by the hour that there are many Hamas supporters in the West, not all of them Muslim. There is a small chance that a Hamas supporter might see the pictures of the hostages on this website and torture and/or murder them because of things said here. I know that the risk of this linkage being made is very small, but it is not zero. They love their social media, and we know they have used it to add even more cruelty to their deeds – witness the way they murdered Brahar Levinson then took the time to upload a livestream of her butchered body to Facebook so that her family would see.
I’m not much of a praying person Natalie, but I do want to offer you and your friends my deepest sympathy and support. In the name of your friends I made a donation to this charity to try to support the victims. Nothing can fully heal them, but surely a little money to provide for their necessities now that they homes and possessions are destroyed will offer them some support and comfort.
As you your friends relatives, I hope that they are among the lucky ones who survive this horrible atrocity.
I also want to say that I feel deeply for the innocent Palestinians who have and are going to die as a result of this. Israel has no option but to act. These innocent Palestinians are just as much victims of Hamas as the residents of the surrounding Kibbutzim.
Nataly: I am not a praying person either, but in times like this I tend to hope for miracles – and I certainly hope for one for your friends.
Incidentally, I am suddenly remined that this blog started soon after 9\11…
Alisa, why not pray? Even if it can’t be at an emotional level (either because you don’t think prayer works, or because you don’t know the victims), you might still get some comfort from it.
By the way, it is good to hear from you, Alisa. Now that I know you have not joined ‘the other side’, I will pray for your happiness.
Great news Nataly. Thanks for updating, and please try to post further updates if any (hopefully positive ones).