Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters com to con

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is an alphabetical listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters com to con. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

The search function will work in non-alphabetic languages as well. Use the web page translate function.

com, come let us reason together, comedy, comedy films, comet, comic book, comic strip, commands, commentary, comments, commerce, commercialism, commercials, commitment, Common English phrases, commoner, communal religious society, communication, communion, Communism, community organizer, comparative religion, competition, competitive sports, complaining, complexity, composer, compulsion, computer, computer generated imagery, computers, concentration cups, conception, conclave, concordance, condolences, Confederate States of America, confession, conformation to Christ, conformity, confusion, Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Congregation, Congregationalism, Connecticut, Conrad Beissel, conscience, conscience exemption, consequences, conservative, consonants, conspiracy theory, Constantine, Constantinople, Constitution Party, contradictions, contemplation, Contemporary Christian Music, contempt, contest, context, contraception, contract killer, controversy, convent, conversion, conviction, convictions.

Zohran Mamdani Elected as the Mayor of New York City

 

First, this is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog. The post which you are now reading is not a political post.

            On today, 4 November, 2025, Zohran Mamdani, a self-identified socialist, won the mayorship of New York City on the Democratic Party ticket. Some critics say that Mamdani is closer in his beliefs to Communism than to Socialism. Some may even see an apocalyptic meaning in his election, seeing Communism as 666, the number of a man. Revelation 13:18.

            No! I am not saying that Zohran Mamdani is the Antichrist! I am saying that some may see the resurgence of Socialist/Marxist/Communist ideas as evidence of the nearness of the coming of the Antichrist. This resurgence seems to fit many of the biblical descriptions of the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness. The following list is not everything said about the Antichrist in the Bible.

1.                          It elevates a political idea, which comes from man, to a position over God. The most extreme versions of the idea are overtly anti-religious. Anti can be understood not just as against, but also as instead of.

2.                          The Antichrist will be very popular with the majority of the populace and will perform miracles, perhaps economic miracles, rather than seemingly magical ones. He will claim that his system can eventually solve all the world’s problems. He will basically be a political Messiah-figure.

3.                          The divinity of man and man's self-transformation, which are New Age ideas, will be stressed.

4.                          Persecution of Christians will become more openly evident. Not all persecution is physical. It can also be denigration as uneducated bigots and may manifest as harsh social disapproval.  

5.                          The Antichrist will become powerful politically, militarily, and financially and will be a globalist in policy. He will create a one-world religion and a one-world government. Revelation 13:16-18.

6.                          After he is killed with a head wound, the Antichrist will be resurrected. Revelation 13:3. Some see this as having happened in the fall of Communism with the Soviet Union and the seeming modern resurrection of quasi-Marxist thought.

7.                      The government of the Antichrist will use economics, social pressure, and outright physical force to suppress any dissent.

 

Again, I am not saying that Zohran Mamdani is the Antichrist! It is a truly stupid exercise to attempt to name the Antichrist. Over the centuries, many have attempted to do so. Here are some of the names which have been put forward.

The Roman Emperor Nero, Oliver Cromwell, Peter the Great, Martin Luther, Adolf Hitler, Greta Thunberg, an as-yet unidentified Jewish person, the Ottoman Empire, Napoleon Bonaparte, Hillary Clinton, Saddam Hussein, Ronald Reagan, Pope Gregory VII, Pope John Paul II, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, King Charles III, Bill Gates, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joe Biden, Mikhail Gorbachev, Prince Harry, Emmanuel Macron, Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Donald Trump, a 6^th century French peasant mentioned by Gregory of Tours, Benito Mussolini, the European Union, John F. Kennedy, Aleister Crowley, and almost unbelievably, Jesus himself.

Do you see the idiocy of this? Not only is it idiotic, we are specifically told by Jesus not to do it. Matthew 24:36. To do it is disobedience to the Lord, an act of sin.

So, is the Antichrist to be a person representing the political systems of either Socialism or Communism? I do not know, and neither do you. 2 Thessalonian 2:1-8.

Keep your eyes open and do not be deceived, but also do not delude yourself into thinking that you do know. It is disobedience to Jesus to set dates and to plan out elaborate timelines of future historical events and to prematurely say names. When the Antichrist emerges it will be obvious to anyone who knows how to look. You will not have to guess.

Instead, enthusiastically live each day as if it is the last day of your life. As Pastor Frances Chan has said, think of what Jesus wants you to do in the next five minutes. Remember that the thing holding back the emergence of the Antichrist is us, the Body of Christ, the Church, the ekklesia, indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

Film Comment: The Wild Dogs

There are several films carrying the title of The Wild Dogs. This is the 2002 film directed by Thom Fitzgerald in Bucharest (Bucuresti), Romania. The film won 4 awards in 2002 from the Atlantic Film Festival and 4 nominations from the Genie Awards and the Taos Talking Picture Festival. It is not of Oscar quality, but it definitely will make you think, and squirm.

Several stories are twined together into a slice of several days in the life of the rich elite and the poor beggars of Bucharest. It takes place during the period of the "cull" of the wild dogs which basically overran the city after the fall of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The characters include, a highly reluctant city-employed dogcatcher; a Canadian pornographer in town to photograph fresh, very young meat; a cynical and corrupt diplomat and his disillusioned lonely wife; bands of abandoned children; hideously deformed "freaks of nature;" gypsies; beggars; and, of course, the dogs.

Unless you are a veteran viewer of hard-edged films I really can't recommend that you watch this. Some of it will make you angry, some of it will make you cry. Some of the language will offend you. You will not believe that Dorutu (a human torso) and "Sour Grapes" (whose knees bend backward as he walks around on all fours like a large crab) are real people, but they are. There were no CGI special effects involved in filming these characters.

The film causes extreme disagreements among its viewers. Some hate it, some say it is an accurate reflection of Bucharest. One Romanian emigrant said online, "Every country they got their poors." Claudita_993, a Romanian who resettled in Canada, said of the dogs, "I felt sorry for them and I despised them at the same time."

The point of the film, from a Christian perspective, is that the people in the film were the actual wild dogs, aimless and hopeless, scrounging each day just to survive, living utterly without purpose. There are no innocent people in the film, not even the children. The only innocents are the dogs. It is a powerful presentation of the sheer lostness of the world living without Jesus Christ.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Kim Il-sung: (b.1912, Japanese Korea –d. 1994; Eternal President of the Republic) Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (1948-1994) Raised as a Presbyterian, became a Communist, then a Socialist.

Kim Hyong-jik: (b. 1884, Korea – d. 1926) Father of Kim Il-sung.  Presbyterian.

Kang Pan-sok: (b. 1892, Korea – d. 1932) Mother of Kim Il-sung.  Presbyterian, then Communist.

Kang Dong-wook (b. Korea; aka: Kang Ton Uk) Maternal grandfather of Kim Il-sung.  Protestant minister.

Kang Ryang-uk: (b. 1904, Korea - 1983; aka: Kang Yang Wook; Kang Lyanguk)  Former Methodist minister, school teacher, non-Communist.  Kim Il-sung made him his Vice President.  Kang was a cousin of Kang Dong-wook.

Film Comment: Ashes and Diamonds

Ashes and Diamonds (1958) is a black and white Polish film about a Resistance fighter who is ordered to kill a Communist leader on the last day of World War II.  Maciek, portrayed by Zbigniew Cybulski (the "Polish James Dean") is a casual assassin who makes the mistake of meeting a woman and falling in love.  He has to choose between abandoning his assignment and possibly living a happy life with the woman, or fulfilling his "duty" whatever the cost.  He chooses to kill his target and ends up dying in hail of bullets in a garbage dump.

There are numerous religious images in the film, the most prominent is a damaged statue of Christ hanging upside down in a destroyed chapel.  The film itself is more political than religious.

The entire film seems to point to the fact of Maciek's impending self-destruction, as if he has no choice. Many people think they have no choice, that "this is just the way I am."  They place their lives and their souls on the garbage dump and, yet, they could have made other choices.

Maciek would have been scorned as a traitor had he failed to carry out his mission but he could have chosen no to do it.  Unbelievers who make a choice for Christ may find that their lives are greatly complicated by their decision.  God never promised anyone an uncomplicated life, but He did say that He would provide strength so that the believer could bear it.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."  1 Corinthians 10:13

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (b. 1870, Russia – d. 1924, aka: Vladimir Lenin) Attorney, Soviet dictator.  Lenin was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church.  As an adult, he promoted the atheism of his Communist political philosophy.  The name “Lenin” was a pseudonym from the Lena River in Siberia.

Lars von Trier: (b. 1956, Denmark) Controversial filmmaker, film director.  Raised as an atheist, he is now a Roman Catholic.

Johanna Maria Lind Goldschmidt: (b. 1820, Sweden – d. 1887, aka: Jenny Lind, “The Swedish Nightingale.”) Operatic soprano.  She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.  Lutheran.

Margrethe I of Denmark, Ruler of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark: (b. 1353, Denmark – d.1412; aka: Margaret I) Lutheran. 

Honore de Balzac (b. 1799, France – d. 1850) Novelist, playwright.  Roman Catholic.  

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr.: (b. 1954, New York, USA) Actor (2 Oscars, 2 Golden Globes, 1 Tony Award). Son of a Pentecostal pastor.  In 1995, Washington donated $2,000,000 to build  the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles (California). Pentecostal.

Prem Singh Gurung: (b. Nepal)  On 18 Oct. 201, Gurung was arrested in Buddhist Bhutan for publicly displaying Christian films in the cities of Gonggaon and Simkharka.  He was sentenced to yjree years imprisonment for the crime of “attempting to promote civil unrest.”

Kang Keke Iew: (b. 1942, Cambodia; aka: Kang kek Iev, Kaing Guek Eav, Comrade Duch, Comrade Deuch, Hang Pin) As a leader in the Khmer Rouge Communist movement, Kang ran the Tuol Sleng prison camp.  In 2010, he was sentenced to thirty-five years in prison.  He is now a lay Evangelical pastor who speaks Thai, French, Khmer, and English.

May Hnin Nu: (b. 1986, Myanmar: aka: Rebecca Win)  Burmese model, actress, pop music singer.  She is fluent in Japanese.

Htee Moo Kee: (b. 1927, Burma – d. 2006; aka: Bo Mya) Karen rebel leader.  Baptist/Seventh-Day Adventist.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian. Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, their religious beliefs, or their actions. This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Maxine A. Phillips: (d. 17 May, 2010, age 92, Alabama.) Immunohematologist (Blood Banking). She was on a team sent by the United States government to China to teach Blood banking techniques to physicians and laboratory personnel. Baptist.

Kenia Tilus: (b. 2004, Haiti – d. 2010) Victim of the massive 2010 Haiti earthquake.

George Richard Tiller: (b. 1941, Kansas – d. 2009; aka: “Tiller the Baby Killer”) Lutheran. Tiller was a provider of late-term abortions and was assassinated in church by anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder.

Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli: (1810, Massachusetts – d. 1850; aka: Margaret Fuller) Unitarian feminist, transcendentalist, journalist. She was the first female full-time book reviewer in journalism. She thought that social reform was more important than individual improvement.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov: (b. 1870, Russia – d. 1924; aka: Vladimir Lenin) Raised in a Russian Orthodox home, Lenin became a Communist politician and the leader of the Russian Revolution.

Film Comment: I Am Curious(Yellow)/I Am Curious (Blue)

     The Swedish films I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) and I Am Curious (Blue) (1968) were originally intended to be a single 3 1/2 hour long film.  The colors in the title refer to the Swedish flag.  If you are familiar with European films you know there will be lots of talking and that is what these films seem to be: a series of questions asked of numerous people by a very inquisitive character named Lena Nyman portrayed by an actress named Lena Nyman.

     These really are masterfully constructed pieces of cinematic art which feature techniques seen in many later films and television programs: audience aware characters, everyone using their real names, intermingling of the twin plots of the actors making the film and the characters being filmed, amateur non-actors, and cameras and sound equipment often being visible within a scene. 

     This may sound strange and it is.  Very little is familiar.  The film may seem plotless, but it's not. The film may seem disjointed, but it's not.  In the end, everything really does tie together and make sense, but not until the very end of Blue.

     The film(s) are always referred to as "our film" and, at their release, were condemned as pornographic for their casual acceptance of nudity and one scene of a sexual nature.  This missed the entire point of the two(one) film(s).  The films are a Marxist assault on almost everything you might recognize: religion, traditional sexuality, capitalism, marriage, the prison system, college education, meritocracy, traditional film making, etc.  The director and actors seem to have basically disappeared after the film(s) were released.

     The film(s) are a window into the Marxist world view.