Germans pushing for less government surveillance, but will end up with more than they bargain for

Germans apparently want less governmental surveillance and more privacy:

Resistance growing to German government’s surveillance measures

Politicians and NGOs say that a spate of security measures go too far and are beginning to impinge on personal liberty. Angela Merkel’s potential next coalition partners are demanding a “general reversal” on the issue.

26 June 2017

Germany’s Free Democrats (FDP) are normally considered the preferred coalition partners of the conservatives, but on Monday they laid into Chancellor Merkel’s current government with the Social Democrats over its record on state surveillance and civil liberties.

“For four years, civil liberties have had no advocate in the grand coalition,” FDP chairman Christian Lindner said at an event in Berlin, where the FDP presented a “poison list” of seventeen recent legislation and policies that it says curtail personal freedom in Germany.

The list includes everything from expanded video surveillance to the collection and retention of telecommunications data and the use of malware to spy on possible criminals to proposed reforms that would enhance the powers of Germany’s intelligence services. Together, say FDP leaders, these measures amount to a pernicious trend.

“We’re sliding into a surveillance state,” criticized 84-year-old former German Interior Minister Gerhart Baum, who added: “In all my days I’ve never experienced such an abundance of measures.”

Lindner said that a “general reversal” on these issues would be a precondition for any partnership with the FDP – a warning leveled directly at Merkel’s conservatives, who according to the latest polls may numerically be able to form a government coalition with the Free Democrats after September’s election.

“We’re not going to tolerate any unconstitutional laws in a coalition,” Lindner said.

Governmental imbalance?

The FDP’s statements add to widespread criticism of what detractors say is the government’s over-prioritization of security.

“The relationship of freedom to security has become imbalanced in the last legislative period,” said Lindner, whose party failed to clear the five-percent hurdle needed for parliamentary representation in the 2013 election – a situation the FDP hopes to rectify in September. “We will insist that basic rights be respected and that laws contrary to those rights be revised and in individual cases be challenged on constitutional grounds.” http://www.dw.com/en/resistance-growing-to-german-governments-surveillance-measures/a-39418178

Yes, Germany has been “sliding into a surveillance state.”

This past Spring, Zero Hedge reported the following:

April 8, 2017

Authored by Judith Bergmann via The Gatestone Institute,

If Facebook insists on the rules of censorship, it should at the very least administer those rules in a fair way. Facebook, however, does not even pretend that it administers its censorship in any way that approximates fairness.

Posts critical of Chancellor Merkel’s migrant policies, for example, can be categorized as “Islamophobia”, and are often found to violate “Community Standards”, while incitement to actual violence and the murder of Jews and Israelis by Palestinian Arabs is generally considered as conforming to Facebook’s “Community Standards”.

Notwithstanding the lawsuits, Facebook’s bias is so strong that it recently restored Palestinian Arab terrorist group Fatah’s Facebook page, which incites hatred and violence against Jews — despite having shut it down only three days earlier. In 2016 alone, this page had a minimum of 130 posts glorifying terror and murder of Jews.

Germany has formally announced its draconian push towards censorship of social media. On March 14, Germany’s Justice Minister Heiko Maas announced the plan to formalize into law the “code of conduct”, which Germany pressed upon Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in late 2015, and which included a pledge to delete “hate speech” from their websites within 24 hours.

“This [draft law] sets out binding standards for the way operators of social networks deal with complaints and obliges them to delete criminal content,” Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement announcing the planned legislation.

“Criminal” content? Statements that are deemed illegal under German law are now being conflated with statements that are merely deemed, subjectively and on the basis of entirely random complaints from social media users — who are free to abuse the code of conduct to their heart’s content — to be “hate speech”. “Hate speech” has included critiques of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s migration policies. To be in disagreement with the government’s policies is now potentially “criminal”. Social media companies, such as Facebook, are supposed to be the German government’s informers and enforcers — qualified by whom and in what way? — working at the speed of light to comply with the 24-hour rule. Rule of law, clearly, as in North Korea, Iran, Russia or any banana-republic, has no place in this system. …

It is only a small step from imposing censorship on social media companies to asking the same of email providers, or ordering postal authorities to screen letters, magazines and brochures in the event that citizens spread supposed “xenophobia” and “fake news”. There is ample precedent for such a course of action on the continent: During the Cold War, people living behind the Iron Curtain had their private letters opened by the communist authorities; those passages deemed to be out of line with the communist orthodoxy, were simply blacked out.

Who would have thought that more than a quarter of a century after the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), Western Europe would be reinventing itself in the image of the Soviet Union? http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-07/europes-out-control-censorship

Actually, Western Europe is reinventing itself as a type of the old ‘Holy Roman Empire’ that will include violence–somewhat reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition.

We are seeing more organized opposition to ideas that the mainstream media does not approve. Notice also the following related to this and Europe:

April 6, 2017

Germany’s cabinet just approved a bill that would levy fines up to €50 million against social media companies that fail to remove “hate speech” or “defamatory fake news.” This comes less than a year after Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft agreed to a Code of Conduct with the European Union, requiring them to review and the majority of “valid notifications” of “illegal hate speech” within 24 hours.

Interestingly, the code did not mention “fake news.” As in the U.S., the concern only arose after the American election. Since then, European politicians and journalists have blamed fake news for Brexit, the Italian constitutional referendum’s defeat, and opposition to increased refugee admissions. By December, Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas Oppermann proposed an Orwellian “Center of Defense Against Disinformation.”

The Associated Press wrote that Germany “poses a particular problem for U.S.-owned social networking sites accustomed to American standards of free speech.” This is an understatement. In addition to the First Amendment, Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act protects social media companies from liability for their users’ content. In contrast, all European countries have hate speech laws and the European equivalent to Section 230, European Commission E-Commerce Directive 2000/31, only grants platforms immunity if they were ignorant of the illegal content and promptly remove it once notified.

The First Amendment does not, however, impose free speech rights on privately owned companies. Thus, they can comply with both European and American laws by expanding censorship. …

Rather than promote America’s legal traditions, the Obama administration encouraged further censorship. It pressured Google to remove the anti-Islam “Innocence of Muslims” film from YouTube after riots erupted across the Muslim world. Ira Forman, the State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, reported that he “spoke at length” with a Facebook executive “about how social network platforms can use ‘terms of service’ to remove anti-Semitic material.”

The U.S. cannot control other developed nations’ internal policies. However, especially as Chancellor Merkel is hailed as the new “leader of the free world,” the Trump administration should speak out against European censorship and consider steps to limit its effects on Americans. http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/media/327629-trump-should-speak-out-against-europes-effort-to-suppress-free

While there is some resistance to monitoring and surveillance in Europe, ultimately expect more.

On October 2, 2016, we put up a video titled Internet Control, Famine of the Word, and 666.

This was partially because the prophet Amos was inspired to record the following:

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)

Notice that the Bible tells of a time that will come when the word of God will not be found. I do not believe that this means that there will be no more Bibles–but that those wanting to better understand it will have trouble finding explanations. We have seen, even in Canada, restrictions on quoting the Bible (watch Canadian censoring of the Bible).

Amos is referring to something as dramatic as having truth being scarce. In the 21st century that logically would point to it being taken off the internet. In the 21st century, the internet is accessed by people in every country, and thus some type of internet restriction/suspension/site removal is coming–more than what we have seen thus far.

We are getting closer to this time. More and more are starting to see that their are plans to censor speech from the internet.

That is part of why we in the Continuing Church of God are preparing for the ‘short work’ (Romans 9:28) and the coming ‘famine of the word.’

Earlier this year, there was also a proposal from a New York Senator to allow the government to remove internet content it feels is “irrelevant” (see NY Senator proposing more censorship: Can this lead to Amos’ prophesied famine of the word?).

This censorship will one day be part of the coming famine of the word that the prophet Amos foretold.

But more than censorship will occur.

Consider the following:

The short path from censorship to violence

April 3, 2017

The news that Ayaan Hirsi Ali has cancelled her speaking tour of Australia due to ‘security concerns’ should concern anyone who believes in freedom. It is a dark day when a woman who fled to the West to escape the Islamist suffocations of Somalia, and precisely so that she might think and speak freely, feels she cannot say certain things in certain places. That even a Western, liberal, democratic nation like Australia cannot guarantee Hirsi Ali the freedom to speak her mind without suffering censorship or harm is deeply worrying. It points to the mainstreaming of intolerance, to the adoption by certain people in the West of the illiberalism that makes up the very Islamist outlook that Hirsi Ali and others have sought to escape. …

Where some want to crush the likes of Hirsi Ali or Charlie Hebdo with laws and bans, others want to crush them with violence. Different means, yes; but these two sections of society, the chin-strokers and the gun-strokers, share the same aim: to silence people whose ideas they dislike. The bookish censor lends moral authority to the violent censor. From the failure to stand up for Salman Rushdie to the No Platforming of the likes of Hirsi Ali today, too many thinkers in the supposedly tolerant West unwittingly give a nod of approval to efforts to shut down ‘dangerous’ people. The signal we should be sending to society is not that some ideas are too dangerous for public life, but that no ideas, even ridicule of Islam, will ever be silenced or punished; that it is unacceptable ever to harm someone simply for what they think and say.

A totalitarian attitude is getting more acceptance by leaders around the world–including the supposedly liberal West. And in a world where sites that disagree with the ‘politically correct’ are called “fake,” it is very dangerous.

While there may be a deal in Germany to ‘push back’ against government surveillance, typically governments will impose more under ’emergency situations.’

More surveillance, more censorship, and more violent persecution will happen in the future–and it will get really bad in the coming Babylonian Europe according to Bible prophecy:

15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:15-18)

As the world uses more digital communications as well as financial transactions, it is getting easier and easier for the above to be fulfilled. Additional persecution will come:

24 The ten horns are ten kings
Who shall arise from this kingdom.
And another shall rise after them;
He shall be different from the first ones,
And shall subdue three kings.
25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
And shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:24-25)

30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage.

“So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. 32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. 33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. 34 Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. 35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time. (Daniel 11:30-35)

A totalitarian state dominated by Germany will rise up (see also Germany in Biblical Prophecy)–and the USA is assisting in this process (see also The Snowden Leaks are Leading to the Destruction of the USA). Plundering is the taking away of possessions, sword and flame are violent. The amount of fines earlier proposed by Germany sound like a plundering scare tactic. Bible prophecy shows that censorship, violence, and persecution will come from a totalitarian state.

Yet, there is good news as the Kingdom of God will come and replace the Beast’s system (Revelation 17:14) that we see being put together today. And yes, Zero Hedge is right to point out that the censorship and fining proposal shows an increasingly out-of-control Europe. One that will become a totalitarian society.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work.
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from lower level leaders? A related sermon is available titled Priority of the Philadelphia Work.
Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There is also a YouTube video sermon you can watch: The Coming Persecution of the Church. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.
The Spanish Inquisition and Early Protestant Persecutions Was the Church of Rome really responsible for this? What happened? A video of related interest is titled: The Past and Future Inquisition.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History Are the Germanic peoples descended from Asshur of the Bible? Have there been real Christians in Germanic history? What about the “Holy Roman Empire”? There is also a You-Tube video sermon on this titled Germany’s Biblical Origins.
Germany in Biblical Prophecy Does Assyria in the Bible equate to an end time power inhabiting the area of the old Roman Empire? What does prophecy say Germany will do and what does it say will happen to most of the German people? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: Alemania en la profecía bíblic. Here are links to two English language sermon videos Germany in Bible Prophecy and The Rise of the Germanic Beast Power of Prophecy.
Are You Being Called by God? Norman Shoaf wrote various points to consider.
Is God Calling You? Alfred E Carrozzo wrote this.
What Did Christ Mean – Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen? This article was by Raymond McNair.
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? A related sermon is also available titled: Real Christian Repentance.
Just What Do You Mean — Repentance? Do you know what repentance is? Have you truly repented? Repented of what? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
When You Sin: Do You Really Repent? This is an article by Charles F. Hunting. A related sermon is Confess to God and truly repent.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2017, 2018, or 2019? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2016 o 2017? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter video is: Will the Great Tribulation Start in 2017?
Are You Being Called by God? Norman Shoaf wrote various points to consider.
Is God Calling You? Alfred E Carrozzo wrote this.
What Did Christ Mean – Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen? This article was by Raymond McNair.
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? A related sermon is also available titled: Real Christian Repentance.
The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now the remnant of that era is basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like who hold to the beliefs and practices of the Continuing Church of God.
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. The Laodiceans are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG or its offshoots. They do not properly understand the work or biblical prophecies and will face the Great Tribulation if they do not repent. One video of related interest is 17 Laodicean Errors in Prophecy.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. A video of possible interest may be Will Will USA Spying Help the Beast Power?
Leading the Final Phase of the Work Matthew 24:14 teaches “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come ” will be fulfilled and RCG is not the group doing this. Who is leading the final phase of the work? What did Herbert Armstrong and the old WCG teach about that and about prophets? Does Bob Thiel meet the criteria that the Bible and the old WCG set? What is the proof? What has the Continuing Church of God been doing? This is a sermonette length video.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Internet Control, Famine of the Word, and 666 On October 1, 2016, the USA officially relinquished control over the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), despite objections from certain political leaders and former military officials. Might this lead to more censorship, imposition on non-biblical ‘community standards,’ and loss of first amendment rights? Could this transfer of control have any prophetic ramifications? Will the internet be a factor in the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28 and the coming ‘famine of the word’ that the Prophet Amos warned about? Will internet control be something that the 666 power will have? Dr. Thiel addresses these matters and more in this video.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. A related sermon is titled: Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy past Daniel 11:39? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin?
The Final Phase of the Work What is the final phase of the work? Who will lead it? Do you have the courage to support it? Here is a related YouTube video titled The Final Phase of the Work. The written article has been translated into Spanish La Fase Final de la Obra.