A Swiss Army company was in the Alps installing a radio antenna. A woman mysterious shows up in the cold‚ remote area‚ who is not dressed for the frigid weather‚ though she seems unaffected."This happened while I was doing my army service in Switzerland in the Alps. I am not allowed to talk about what we were doing but I’ll try to keep things clear.My company had installed a huge antenna and it had to be guarded by two soldiers day and night. We were on the top of a hill‚ far away from any city and near a huge forest. It was 18H00 and I had just started my watch of six hours with another soldier. Everything went fine‚ we smoked cigarettes and kept ourselves occupied until our watch ended at midnight. Then‚ we received a call from our superior and he told us that one of the soldiers that was supposed to take the watch couldn’t come and one of us had to stay for another watch of 6 hours. We tossed a coin to know who would stay from midnight to six in the morning with temperatures of -20 Celsius degrees. Of course‚ I lost and I had to wait for the other soldier to come and join me for the night watch. They sent another soldier‚ but not the best because I knew he would sleep all night when I saw him climbing the hill with his sleeping bag. And that’s what he did. He immediately took place in the tent and fell asleep. It was the coldest and longest night of my life‚ but nothing special about it.The weird part happened in the morning. We received another call from our superior and he told us that we had an NBC exercise. It means that we have to wear all day long our anti-chemical suit (I don’t know the English word for it)‚ the one with a gas mask and everything that goes with it. I was really upset and exhausted because I wasn't able to sleep with that thing on and sleep was my only reward for that 12-hour watch. Well‚ I got out of the tent and this is where I saw something that still scares me to this day.There was a woman standing next to the antenna and she wasn’t moving. She was just standing there‚ 5 meters from the tent. I couldn’t see her face because the sun starting to rise behind her. I knew she was a woman because she had really long hair and she had curves. Remember that we were in the middle of nowhere and this lady was standing there‚ not moving like she was frozen. I started to freak out and I called the other guy to show him what I was looking at. I don’t know why but he wasn’t scared at all and he told her to leave because she wasn’t allowed there. But she didn’t make a move. She just stood there looking at us‚ or at least in our direction. I was so confused‚ about how a woman could ignore two soldiers telling her to leave a forbidden area. I mean we are in Switzerland‚ the army is not that impressive I know‚ but people usually don’t do this kind of thing. They would just move away especially when it's 6 in the morning. And what was she doing in the middle of nowhere‚ obviously not dressed for this cold weather? How long was she standing there and how did she end up here? I didn’t hear any footsteps. So many questions went through my mind at that moment. The other soldier didn’t think twice and started walking towards her. When he almost reached her‚ she started running very fast. She ran directly into the forest. I saw her getting deep down in the forest and she disappeared from our sight.I'm really a rational thinker‚ I question everything and think that there is always an explanation. For me‚ the explanation is that she was simply a jogger because of the way she ran to the forest. But‚ almost 3 minutes had passed between the first time I saw her and the moment she started running away. 3 minutes of not moving at all‚ looking at me‚ dressed in something really tight with -20 degrees and in the middle of nowhere. Thank god there was someone with me because nobody would have believed me.” IZNOTE: I have looked into Swiss &; German mythology and legends‚ and believe that if this was a supernatural being‚ the best bet is that this was either an Elf or a Witcher. The description is more indicative of a Witcher according to the legends. These beings‚ male and female‚ have been reported throughout the Alps for centuries. LonBigfoot in Pennsylvania: A History of Wild-Men‚ Gorillas‚ and Other Hairy Monsters in the Keystone StateDon't Look Behind You: Following Ghost Roads Into the UnknownSilent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot CasebookAstonishing Encounters: Pennsylvania's Unknown Creatures‚ Casebook 3A Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts: Encounters with Cryptid CreaturesALIEN DISCLOSURE: EXPERIENCERS EXPOSE REALITY - AudiobookRegister a SNAP EBT CardTHE MEME HUMANOIDS: MODERN MYTHS OR REAL MONSTERS - AudiobookTry Audible PlusPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTFeel Free to Post PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS DIRECT LINKS ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA &; WEBSITE. Thanks For Your Support!Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAccess Phantoms &; Monsters Posts on Twitter 'X'-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS-----CHICAGO/LAKE MICHIGAN MOTHMAN UPDATE W/ TOBIAS WAYLAND - LIVE Chat - JOIN US! Lon Strickler (Host)Welcome to Phantoms &; Monsters Radio. In this episode‚ I welcome my friend &; colleague Tobias Wayland to the show. We will discuss the newly reported Chicago/Lake Michigan Mothman &; winged humanoid sightings and any updates to previous reports.Tobias Wayland is a Fortean investigator investigating the unusual for over a decade. The first several years of his investigative career were spent as a MUFON field investigator and following that he investigated independently before becoming the head writer and editor for The Singular Fortean Society. Tobias is a frequent guest on various podcasts and radio shows‚ has written several books and contributed articles to periodicals on the paranormal‚ has appeared on television and in documentaries‚ and is often invited to speak at paranormal conferences and events. Tobias &; Emily Wayland are members of Phantoms &; Monsters Fortean Research. He was featured in the series premiere of Expedition X‚ and the Small Town Monsters documentaries Terror in the Skies and On the Trail of the Lake Michigan Mothman for his work investigating Mothman sightings around Lake Michigan. He and his wife Emily have been involved with the Lake Michigan Mothman investigation since its advent in the spring of 2017. He published a book chronicling the experience‚ The Lake Michigan Mothman: High Strangeness in the Midwest. His second and third books about unusual phenomena‚ Strange Tales of the Impossible and The Singular Fortean Society’s Yuletide Guide to High Strangeness‚ continue their work in investigating a variety of seemingly impossible events.In the Singular Fortean Society’s Yuletide Guide to High Strangeness. Tobias and Emily Wayland take you on a journey into the darkest part of the year. Winter has always been a time of magic‚ monsters‚ and legendary figures; their stories are told and retold across generations. But what if there was something more? Some authentic human experiences that inspired these stories‚ so often told around fires built as much to drive back the shadows as to provide warmth. In this book‚ the Waylands compare Christmas legends to modern anomalous phenomena to see what similarities exist. From Sheepsquatch to Santa Claus‚ The Singular Fortean Society's Yuletide Guide to High Strangeness covers a wide variety of reported sightings that might represent a startling truth behind our stories.-----ORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONProject Threshold: Team Riker: Division A-----TODAY'S TOP LINKSHow exotic alien life could thrive in the giant molecular clouds of deep spaceRow erupts among US politicians over sinking of UFO disclosure billALIEN HEALERS: SINGULAR‚ OTHERWORLDLY MEDICINE - LIVE Chat - Q &; A - JOIN US! Lon Strickler (Host)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS REPORTS &; CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE‚ LIKE &; SHARE'Designer Shrooms' Could Be Coming as Scientists Unlock Genetics of Magic MushroomsPastor in India Arrested for Bilking Woman Out of $400‚000 for 'Magical Box'PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTCONSIDER ADVERTISING ON PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS RADIOLET'S DISCUSS YOUR OPTIONSClick the link for our Media KitCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on Spotify**********Your financial support of Phantoms &; Monsters and our other pursuits is much appreciated. Please click the banner above. Thanks.Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAlso available with audiobooknarration by Terry Springs‚CBS-TV Las Vegas affiliate.The Dark Arts of MISTER SAM SHEARON - Original Prints &; MerchandiseThis blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler© 2005-2023 Phantoms &; Monsters - All Rights Reserved

After a special task force was created to address a criminal case backlog in Detroit‚ the city is on pace for the lowest homicide rate in 60 years‚ with violent crime in general falling at combined rates of 56%. By the end of the government-enforced lockdowns of the criminal justice system in Wayne County which […] The post Violent Crime and Homicide Falling Across US Major Cities‚ with Detroit on Track for a 60-Year Low appeared first on Good News Network.

Poor Things is a blast. I’m not sure if everyone will like it‚ but everyone should like it. This world would be a better place if this kind of movie could do Barbenheimer numbers. The film is a phantasmagorical bildungsroman‚ which is my fancy way of saying that it happens in a somewhat alternate Europe where their reality is a bit skewed from our own‚ and we follow a young person going on an adventure of self-discovery. Poor Things is based on the novel Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D.‚ Scottish Public Health Officer by Alasdair Gray‚ which I confess I have not read—but I really want to now. From what I know of the novel‚ however‚ screenwriter Tony McNamara and director Yorgos Lanthimos have taken things in a different direction‚ kept the focus entirely on Bella Baxter rather than giving much time to her husband‚ and made it more fantastical and less Scottish. Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter (or‚ rather‚ inhabits the goddamn astonishing creation that is Bella Baxter) Willem Dafoe plays her… I’m going to go with father?… a somewhat mad scientist named Godwin Baxter‚ who ends up being called “God” pretty often‚ which leads to fun theological humor. (My favorite!) Mark Ruffalo is Duncan Wedderburn and Ramy Youssef is Max McCandles‚ wildly opposite suitors of Bella Baxter. They’re both fantastic‚ but I don’t think I’ve ever seen better work from Ruffalo. Kathryn Hunter is amazing as Bella Baxter’s‚ um‚ mentor‚ Madame Swiney‚ and Jerrod Carmichael sweeps in like some Golden Age of Hollywood actor with mannered language and high wire philosophy as Harry Astley. Image: Searchlight Pictures Bella Baxter is kind of a Frankenstein’s Creature riff: for reasons I won’t spoil she starts out childlike‚ but develops rapidly intellectually. Over the course of the film a number of men try to claim her as theirs in one way or another‚ and she resists this in ways that are sometimes hilarious and sometimes poignant. The patriarchal bullshit is usually played for absurdist and/or dark humor. There is a lot of gross-out stuff‚ and the film affords me an opportunity to use the word VISCERA which is always welcome. VISCERA. Quite a lot of it. And it’s gross in the Gargantua and Pantagruel way‚ where it revels in the disgusting things the human body can do. The costume design and sets are beautiful and off-kilter in ways that work without falling into weirdness for its own sake. When there are metaphors and allegories they all land. There’s a dance scene that’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life. Sex is used in really interesting ways instead of the usual boring ones. The movie is happily political cause everything is political. If I had a daughter I would make damn sure she watched this as soon as she was ready. In a lot of ways‚ Poor Things is what I wanted Barbie to be. Don’t get me wrong‚ I enjoyed Barbie for what it was‚ but Poor Things is like if the Weird Barbie that was played with too hard was like‚ “Let’s play even harder” and set off on an adventure full of sex and intellectual trapeze stunts. I’ll say the thing everyone’s said and tell you that Emma Stone’s performance defies my attempts to describe it. People keep saying “unhinged” or “brave”‚ and yes‚ but it isn’t even just that‚ it’s like she found the purest form of “I don’t give a FUCK if you don’t like it” and put that into every second she’s on film. Every muscle spasm‚ every eyebrow cock‚ there wasn’t an instant when she wasn’t Bella Baxter. Image: Searchlight Pictures And about that name‚ Bella Baxter. As the film rolls on‚ and he becomes ever more herself‚ she says her name more and more often. At first‚ she says “Bella” in the third person‚ the way a toddler says their own name. But each time she says it it’s with more strength‚ and at a certain point she add Godwin’s last name‚ “Baxter”. From then on the two names are said as one conjoined twin‚ in one breath. The name becomes a mantra‚ a prayer‚ a cri de cÅ“ur‚ a statement of purpose‚ a brick wall. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie where a woman said her own name so often. I fucking loved hearing it. There’s a lot of sex. A lot. Which is the part where my mind walks down two roads‚ and I have to tell you about both of them. I think movies need more sex. I think this weird backlash of the last few years‚ and the frustrating sexless MCU movies‚ is bad for cinema. I also think it’s a (non-lubricated‚ ill-fitting) Trojan horse striking against woman’s rights‚ queer rights‚ the societal acceptance of bodily autonomy‚ joy‚ freedom‚ and fun for fun’s sake. I think the fact that this happened just as the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements were finally holding abusers accountable‚ and ushering in an era when intimacy consultants could actually foster respectful and safe sex scenes in film‚ is‚ um‚ odd. I think this all coming after decades of regressive forces dismantling all the societal progress we made in this country‚ AND after marriage equality was finally established in what is supposedly a country founded on the idea of separation of church and state‚ and this happening in a climate where women are once again not full citizen of a country in which they are forced to pay taxes‚ is oh‚ I don’t know‚ suspect. (But why listen to me‚ I’ve only studied the rise of the religious right for my entire adult life.) The part of my brain on that path loved every leaking sweating fluid-dripping slutty second of Poor Things. Image: Searchlight Pictures The other path‚ which I also agree with‚ was frustrated that (as in Barbie!) a woman’s autonomy was primarily express through sex. Now‚ Bella Baxter does also develop a lively intellectual life‚ but it gets far less screentime than all the joyous fucking. And I am little tired of seeing that “women’s liberation = having sex a lot” because what of the women who don’t care about sex? And what of the women who want to be defined more by their mental and creative pursuits than what they do with their bodies? Their brains are also part of their bodies‚ yes? But I guess no one ever wrote Our Brains‚ Ourselves‚ so here we are. Now again this is not a knock on the movie. It does make it clear that Bella Baxter values her mind—and eventually forces the men around her to do so as well‚ even when they don’t much want to. But I was left wishing for more scenes of reading and talking‚ especially between Bella Baxter and Suzy Bemba’s fabulous Toinette. But also! This movie contains multitudes‚ and I want to make it clear after my one (infinitesimal) ding that you owe it to yourself to see this movie‚ in the theater if it’s safe for you‚ preferably with people you’ll have vigorous conversations with after the credits roll.

Supernatural fiction abounds with tales of vampires‚ werewolves‚ and other uncanny beings living among us‚ from the paranormally-charged small towns of Charlaine Harris’s fiction to the visceral political thrills of Benjamin Percy’s Red Moon. Cadwell Turnbull’s Convergence Saga—the first book of which was 2021’s No Gods‚ No Monsters—falls somewhat in this category. It is‚ by and large‚ set in a world similar to our own‚ albeit one where the bulk of the humans residing there have recently become aware that some of their friends and neighbors possess uncanny abilities. Werewolves feature prominently in the series‚ though they’re far from the only supernatural beings to do so. Turnbull’s ambitions have taken this series in unexpected directions‚ something the series’s second volume‚ We Are the Crisis‚ makes clear. There’s a political dimension to these novels—something that the title No Gods‚ No Monsters probably made clear. Turnbull also incorporates differing political scales in the proceedings: One subplot involves political intrigue in the U.S. Virgin Islands‚ while another uses the existence of monsters and the backlash they face as a kind of metaphor for historically marginalized groups in society. (As someone who grew up reading Chris Claremont’s run on Uncanny X-Men‚ it’s a construction I know well.) Turnbull doesn’t stop there‚ either. The first chapter of the book opens with a statement of the location‚ noting that the characters covered by that chapter are near Boston. Eight chapters later‚ things get a bit more cosmic when Turnbull reveals that this chapter is set on “Earth 0539.” In other words‚ this isn’t just a politically-charged take on shapeshifters living among us; it’s also a tale of the multiverse. Well‚ kind of. Buy it Now Full disclosure: This is the second book in a saga (which is also‚ as per the author‚ a trilogy)‚ and some of the appeal here comes from Turnbull taking the story in a very unexpected direction. If you’ll pardon a potentially overcomplicated comparison: It’s like watching a magician juggle a series of burning torches‚ only for the magician to reveal that he’s also going to saw his assistant in half while keeping the torches aloft. You’re not necessarily sure how he’s going to pull it off‚ but the bravado involved has an energy all its own. (Some spoilers for We Are the Crisis follow.) The novel opens with three werewolves on the move: Ridley Gibson‚ Laina Calvary‚ and Rebecca Vázquez. And while there are parts of their journey outside of Boston that are tinged with the uncanny—including their ability to “ride their wolves until the morning” to do without sleep—there are also more quotidian elements to their trip. This is‚ in fact‚ a road trip that includes a singalong to the music of Carly Rae Jepsen. They make their way north of the city‚ investigating the disappearance of another werewolf‚ and realize that they’re being followed by a mysterious and potentially sinister woman. Things get more surreal‚ and more violent‚ from there. But one of the most compelling elements of Turnbull’s style here is the sense of detachment that he brings to the narration: Rebecca‚ unlike Ridley and Laina‚ looks perfectly at ease being naked in a meadow with a dead vampire and a strange wolf that only minutes ago was trying to kill them. Also on the agenda for the trio is everything from the mystery of the aforementioned strange wolf‚ their work to defend themselves against an extremist group looking to commit acts of violence against monsters‚ and the presence of powerful forces that suggest an even larger struggle working behind the scenes. And then Turnbull takes us from here to the life of a woman named Marjorie Cameron‚ a resident of a parallel Earth in this novel’s cosmology—and‚ it’s worth mentioning‚ a real occultist who was married to rocket scientist Jack Parsons and had ties to both L. Ron Hubbard and Aleister Crowley. And from there‚ Turnbull takes us to a different earth in a section narrated in the first person and whose narrator has the ability to visit other places and times‚ where he encounters alternate versions of the people he knows. There is a lot going on here‚ from a sense of social upheaval in one world as humanity and monsters ponder whether or not they can coexist to the subplots about mid-20th century occultism and visits to parallel universes. It’s a lot to take in‚ and this very much feels like a fraction of a larger whole rather than a self-contained volume. Then again‚ Turnbull has written of the first volume in this series that “[t]he protagonist is the community‚” and that seems to be the case here as well. So far‚ Turnbull’s plotting keeps the pace moving‚ his characters are interesting‚ and his ambition is vast. It’s a good combination of qualities. We Are the Crisis is published by Blackstone Publishing. Tobias Carroll is the managing editor of Vol.1 Brooklyn. He is the author of the short story collection Transitory (Civil Coping Mechanisms) and the novel Reel (Rare Bird Books).

The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki’s last [???] feature) has received rave reviews. And the movie‚ which is distributed by the company GKIDS in the U.S.‚ has a star-studded voice cast that includes some unexpected choices. GKIDS was in charge of pulling the English-speaking ensemble together to dub the film (check out some of the dub in the trailer above)‚ and doing so was a big endeavor‚ as a new article reveals. IndieWire came out with a piece today that chronicles GKIDS’ journey in pulling together the voice cast for the English dub of the film. The entire piece not only chronicles the art of dubbing in the first place‚ but also reveals the unexpected casting choice for the heron‚ a creature who‚ in the fantasy world in the second half of the movie‚ viciously teases the main character‚ Mahito‚ that his mother is still alive (and has some other secrets as well). GKIDS’ president‚ Dave Jesteadt‚ initially thought of Danny DeVito for the heron‚ but Studio Ghibli had a different type in mind. “[Ghibli] said‚ ‘Oh no‚ in Japan it’s actually going to be played by a young‚ 30-year-old hot singer-actor guy [Masaki Suda]‚’” Jesteadt explained to IndieWire. “I was like‚ ‘What!?’ They said‚ ‘Yeah‚ so for the English dub we want someone who matches that age and would also be unusual in the role.” GKIDS ended up with none other than Robert Pattinson‚ who took to the part with gusto in his first voice acting role. Pattinson was joined by other A-list actors‚ including Florence Pugh who plays another complex role‚ and they also turned to Miyazaki alums for many of the parts as well. “[Ghibli] told us that casting was a really important aspect in regards to how they conceive this movie as being a love letter to the studio‚” Jesteadt said‚ “and as perhaps the final Miyazaki film that there would effectively be cameos from people that audiences might recognize as voice actors from previous films. It was a big deal for them that the actor who played Howl in Howl’s Moving Castle returned as Mahito’s father‚ and they told us it would be great if we were able to do a similar stunt. So we tried to do that as much as possible with people who had appeared in previous dubs.” GKIDS followed through on that goal. Christian Bale‚ who voiced Howl in the dub of Howl’s Moving Castle‚ is in The Boy and the Heron as the main character’s father. Other casting calls include Willem Dafoe as an anguished pelican (his second time in a Miyazaki film‚ having played Lord Cob in Tales from Earthsea)‚ and Mark Hamill as the main character’s grand-uncle. GKIDS clearly put a lot of thought and effort into the dub process‚ and you can read the whole IndieWire article to get more insight into the process. The Boy and the Heron is playing in theaters now.

The Boombox itself is a very useful item in Lethal Company for dealing with monsters or to chill with your friends a bit. The Boombox mod makes the standard Boombox even better‚ giving you a unique Lethal Company experience. What is the Boombox mod in Lethal Company? The Boombox mod can be used to modify the songs that are played using the Boombox. Generally‚ five specific songs are played by the Boombox. However‚ with the mod‚ you can play as many songs as you like and also play whatever song that you want to hear. The Boombox mod comes with a unique feature of playing songs through links. It acts similarly to the Discord music bots. You can enter the link of any song from YouTube or SoundCloud‚ and the Boombox will play these songs in order. Moreover‚ by using this mod‚ the battery of the Boombox runs for an infinite time‚ which means you will not need to recharge it. However‚ to hear the custom songs‚ other players in your crew must also have...

Monopoly GO has another new Christmas-themed tournament event‚ the Jingle Jam tournament. Let’s see what the rewards are. How does Jingle Jam work in Monopoly GO? The Jingle Jam event is another tournament in Monopoly GO. Once you’ve earned five points‚ you’ll be thrown into a group with 49 other players to compete for rankings in the tournament. Your place is determined by your points‚ which will determine your reward when it ends. To earn points in the Jingle Jam Tournament‚ you’ll need to land on a Railway Tile and perform one of the following actions: Blocked Shutdown = 2 points. Successful Shutdown = 4 points. Small Heist = 4 points. Large Heist = 6 points. Bankrupt! = 8 points. The points you earn here will be multiplied by your dice multiplier‚ so you’ll need to be rolling high to get to the top spots. Along the way‚ you’ll earn milestone rewards‚ just like in the milestone...

The Day Before is here and things are not looking so great at the moment. With huge amounts of complaints‚ a wave of angry The Day Before players are already asking for refunds. Continue reading to know why. Massive Backlash After the Day Before Launch Well‚ the day has come‚ and The Day Before as well. If you have followed this game’s steps‚ then you know that probably it wouldn’t have the greatest of all launches in video gaming history. But to get one of the worst? Well‚ that’s exactly what’s happening at this very moment. The number of reports of every single aspect of the game being broken is overwhelming. Image: FNTASTIC From not being able to connect to the game due to absolutely all servers being full‚ the voice acting being extremely suspicious of being AI-generated‚ graphics that appear to come from 10 years ago‚ to the game not being an open-world game at all despite it being marketed as so on its Steam page ̵...

The Day Before has just been released on PC‚ and it is also confirmed to be coming on consoles shortly; but will it have crossplay? With The Day Before releasing on multiple platforms‚ players might certainly wonder if the game will include a crossplay feature or not. Being a MMO title the crossplay feature would certainly make the gameplay experience even more enjoyable and easier for the players. In this article‚ we’ll tell you everything you need to know about crossplay and cross-platform support of The Day Before. Does The Day Before support crossplay? Image: FNTASTIC As of now‚ there is no crossplay feature available in The Day Before. The console version of The Day Before is still in development. The developers at FNTASTIC have yet to confirm any official release date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S. With the PC version already getting rolled out‚ we can certainly hope for updates on the console versions as well. However‚ b...

In a period of great darkness‚ Jews worldwide are preparing to celebrate Hanukkah‚ the eight-day Festival of Lights that begins Thursday night. Yet some are trying to extinguish those lights. In Williamsburg‚ Virginia‚ the organizers of the Second Sundays Art and Music Festival‚ LoveLight Placemaking‚ canceled a scheduled menorah-lighting ceremony‚ citing the Israel-Hamas war. As National Review reported: Shirley Vermillion‚ the festival’s founder‚ cited logistical challenges and sensitivity to the ongoing Israel–Hamas conflict as reasons for the cancellation. ‘The concern is of folks feeling like we are siding with a group over the other …. not a direction we ever decide to head‚’ Vermillion said. She emphasized the festival’s inclusive nature and mentioned scheduling conflicts as well as a reluctance to have the festival engage in religious activities. After an outcry‚ the organizers made matters worse when they suggested “that the lighting could go forward only if they could get an Islamic group to participate‚ or if they could hold it under a banner calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.” This is like telling Irish Catholics that they couldn’t hold a St. Patrick’s Day parade unless they first issued a statement regarding the Irish Republican Army‚ or arranged to have Anglicans participate. No religious group should face a political test before being permitted to publicly celebrate its faith. Nor should the public celebration of one faith be dependent on the participation of practitioners of a different faith. As the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula stated: “We should be very clear: It is antisemitic to hold Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s policies and actions‚ and to require a political litmus test for Jews’ participation in community events that have nothing to do with Israel.” Sadly‚ the incident in Virginia isn’t a one-off occurrence. In Great Britain‚ a London suburb canceled a Hanukkah menorah-lighting ceremony‚ supposedly to avoid “inflaming tensions” related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. A Canadian town decided not to display a menorah for the first time in 20 years. In a town in Maine‚ a Star of David in a holiday display was replaced with a dreidel. Then again‚ maybe those who are uncomfortable with Hanukkah in the context of the Israel-Hamas war have a point. After all‚ the menorah doesn’t celebrate religious liberty only in the abstract—it celebrates a particular military victory in the battle of Israel’s indigenous Jews against the “settler-colonialist” Seleucid Greeks‚ who sought to eradicate Judaism. Hamas denies any Jewish connection to the Jewish homeland. The light of the menorah celebrates Jewish sovereignty in the Promised Land. The First Book of Maccabees records that when the Seleucid King Antiochus VII demanded that the Jews hand over Jerusalem and other cities they had liberated‚ Simon the Hasmonean sent back this apt reply: We have neither taken foreign land nor seized foreign property‚ but only the inheritance of our fathers‚ which at one time had been unjustly taken by our enemies. Now that we have the opportunity‚ we are firmly holding the inheritance of our fathers. (I Maccabees 15:33-34) But more than a military victory‚ Hanukkah celebrates a victory in the war of ideas between the Greeks’ pagan worldview and those who believed in the God of Abraham‚ Isaac‚ and Jacob. The Greeks imagined gods in the image of man‚ whereas the Jews believe God created man in His image‚ meaning that all humans are created equal and that life is sacred. The pagan gods were capricious and generally indifferent to human affairs. The Jews believe that God loves us and loves justice‚ that history has a purpose‚ and that God intervenes in history on the side of justice. The Talmud records that when the Jews drove back the Greek forces and rededicated the Holy Temple that the Greeks had defiled‚ they could find only one pure jar of oil to kindle the menorah‚ enough for only one day. But miraculously‚ the oil provided light for eight days—a sign of God’s providence—and hence Jews annually celebrate an eight-day festival during which they kindle an additional light each night. Originally‚ the menorah was supposed to be kindled outside one’s home‚ to publicize the miracle of the oil. Later‚ after Jews were expelled from their land and often lived among a hostile population‚ the menorah lights were kindled indoors. Fifty years ago‚ after another surprise attack on Israel on a Jewish holy day‚ Yom Kippur‚ the Lubavitcher Rebbe‚ Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson‚ launched a campaign to host public menorah lightings worldwide. The Hanukkah lights “demonstrate at once even to the physical eye … that the light goes on in the Jewish home even when it is dark and gloomy in the outside world‚” the Rebbe wrote. Even‚ and perhaps especially‚ when under attack‚ he added‚ a “Jew must not permit himself to be overawed by the darkness outside‚ but must illuminate his home‚” not resting there but letting “the light shine forth ‘outside.’” As the Rebbe often reminded us‚ even a little light expels a lot of darkness. Since then‚ public menorah lightings at city halls and public monuments—including the White House—have become a regular feature of Hanukkah celebrations in America and worldwide. In a 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport‚ Rhode Island‚ President George Washington famously assured the “Stock of Abraham” that the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction‚ to persecution no assistance.” Washington concluded his letter by beseeching the Father of All Mercies to “scatter light and not darkness in our paths.” Although bigotry again is rearing its ugly head‚ producing cracks in America’s commitment to religious liberty‚ the United States remains a shining city on a hill and a beacon of freedom to other nations. So long as religious liberty in America is protected and cherished‚ Jews will continue to illuminate the streets with the light of the menorah. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. 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