In Europe, the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) and bubonic plague reduced the population more than 50 percent! France lost half its population during the Hundred Years’ War and Paris lost two-thirds of its population. The population of England was reduced by up to 33 percent due to plague during the same period. The war seemed to be incessant as France and England (each aided by various nations) fought for control of France. It became the most notable conflict of the Middle Ages.

The French used the crossbow that required little training but was slow to reload and prone to damage. The long bow required strength and skill and the English had been training their troops to fight using a new approach: during a battle, the English would dismount, find protection, and kill the advancing heavily armored French before they could get close enough to do harm to the English. The English longbows could penetrate French armor and kill their horses before the French could get close enough to harm the English troops. Later, firearms and cannons were introduced that changed the way all future wars were fought.

Europe was forced to make major changes in warfare and in everyday life because of the long war. Feudalism, which was the exchange of land for military and other services, was coming to an end. Peasants acquired more power since their labor was worth more because of the decline in the labor pool. Serfs moved to the growing towns and acquired skills in production of goods. The Pope lost his grip on the English as King Henry booted him off the island in the 1500s. Yes, life was changing for everyone and life is changing for you as Islam continues its invasion.

Europe was changed quickly in response to the war and the plague. Europeans knew that they had to look at life as it was, not as they wished it to be. They rejected what was not working; adjusted their thinking; started reading the new English Bibles of Wycliffe, Hus, and Tyndale (that transformed their lives); rearranged their economy; then moved into the Reformation and Renaissance. Nothing would ever be the same.

America and the free world are in a Hundred Years’ War but many officials refuse to admit it! Some leaders can’t even pronounce the name of our enemy that all sane people know! Some even allege that some major world leaders are even in collusion with the enemy for ideological reasons! Other leaders are simply spineless, in need of a spinal transplant! Whatever, the fact is we are at war with koranic Islamists because they declared war against the world in the seventh century. However, those of us who firmly believe that fact are said to be guilty of Islamophobia.

The U.N. has defined Islamophobia as a “deep misunderstanding of Islam [that] is fueling anger, hatred, and fear about one of the world’s great religions.” I think I can help the U.N. and it won’t require a U.N. conference or large consulting fees paid to me. Islamophobia is a non-word that was contrived to suggest that anyone concerned with the Muslim threat is somehow unreasonable, unfair, and maybe unstable. The U.S. media assumes that all sensitive, sane, and sensible people would recoil from Islamophobia similar to a mythical vampire recoiling from sunlight. However, that is political correctness run amok.

We are urged not to judge all Muslims by the acts of a few extremists who target civilians. The U.N. rejects “widely held views that Islam is incompatible with democracy or irrevocably hostile to modernity and women’s rights.”

Of course, everyone knows that Islam has always been incompatible with democracy. Muslims will cooperate and use any and all democracy to further their cause of a world caliphate; but their minds are closed tighter than a miser’s wallet where freedom is concerned.

As to women’s rights, is there any doubt where koranic Muslims stand? You will note that American Muslims are not demanding a change in the treatment of women in Muslim nations. Female circumcision (read: sexual mutilation often performed on little girls with a dull blade and no anesthesia!) is common even in Germany, Austria, England, and Netherlands. Women can’t vote where Muslims rule. Then you have disparity in inheritance laws, discrimination in courts, and degrading wife beating, etc. Islam is not female friendly.

The mistreatment of women comes directly from Mohammed’s life and teachings: there are more women in hell than men; prayers are interrupted by a black dog, an ass, or a woman; if a wife is difficult, withhold sex from her and then beat her if needed; Mohammed took his female slave to bed; he took his son’s wife as his own; he had a nine-year-old wife; etc.

Sounds as if Mohammed was in fact “irrevocably hostile to modernity and women’s rights.” And if U.S. and U.N. officials were informed or honest they would know that Muslims worldwide are obligated to emulate the lifestyle of Mohammad as well as obey the Koran.

Egyptian judge Kamal Aboulmagd is quoted as saying: “In Islam and in Islamic literature there is no such thing as ‘a holy war.’” The confused judge added, “This is [a] Western invention that was attributed to us, I don’t know how and why and when.” Well, let’s check out whether that is an accurate statement. Anyone who reads the papers or watches television knows that Muslim clerics in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, etc., are convinced that “holy war” is a reality. Jihad was not “attributed” to Muslims by wicked, hateful Americans. It is a core teaching of the Koran and Hadith and no matter if Muslim leaders say otherwise, that wouldn’t make it so. U.S. media people who declare that jihad is benign are little more than pathetic prostitutes.

You might ask the people in Paris and Brussels and Orlando if they think holy war is a reality.

My Koran was published in Medina so it is as authoritative as you can get and it clearly teaches “holy war” or Jihad in sura 2:190 and many other places. To be sure that the dullest of Muslims understand the meaning of that verse, Muslim theologians added a footnote on page 39 that hammers home the truth: “Al-Jihad (holy fighting) in Allah’s Cause (with full force of numbers and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars (on which it stands). By Jihad Islam is established….Jihad is an obligatory duty in Islam on every Muslim….” End of Jihad discussion!

John Esposito, a major cheerleader for Islam, said. “The message at the end of the day is clear, the message is simple–Islam is not the enemy, religious extremism is.” John is wrong. At the beginning of the day, at the end of the day, Islam is the enemy! No, all Muslims do not follow the Koran so they are decent, law abiding Americans; but koranic Islam is the enemy.

The U.S. is not at war with terror, but with a religion/culture that has promoted terror from its beginning. We are involved with a clash of civilizations that may not end for a hundred years! In other words, we are involved with a Hundred Years’ War that will probably result in the destruction of some nations.

The AP reported Osama bin Laden as saying, “In essence, this war is a religious war.” Osama was right and right is right no matter who says it and wrong is wrong if the U.N. and every media person in the world say it. Our “War on Terror” is a Religious War that may last a hundred years. Our future is not between war and no war but intermittent war and continual war. Plan on it!

Many will be disturbed by that statement but it is better to be disturbed by facts than deceived by falsehoods. The free world will live with terror from now on, even more than a hundred years!

Boys’ new book, Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! will be published next month by Barbwire Books.

Teach the children that they will have to assume more responsibilities around the house. (You should have been training them from earliest days.) Discuss some of the things they can do to help in surviving and thriving after such an attack on America. Let them know that children all over the world will have to grow up a little quicker than in the past. They should learn to take care of their own rooms, clean out the garage so you can store some food there, learn to care for the garden, to butcher rabbits, turkeys, and clean fish. Let them know that they are an important part of the family unit. (Again, I hope they already know that.)

Teach them to respect, understand, and care for guns. They should know how to hunt and clean game before they need to do so for survival. Children are children, so plan for long nights without much to do. Purchase books, games, puzzles, and videos although televisions and VCRs may not work in some areas, so wean them away from television now. Get involved in some of their games and read to the very young.

Purchase school materials for them while they are still available. The public school system and many Christian schools will probably fold in some disaster areas. Prepare for such possibilities, and be sure to purchase Teacher’s Editions or answer keys.

When hard times come, do not wear gold jewelry or expensive clothes or drive large cars. Such people will be targets in an age of envy (generated by non thinking liberals for fifty years). Even decent people will be jealous of your apparent “good fortune.” Translation: you prepared and they did not!

Go to discount stores today, yes today, and purchase toilet paper, honey, salt, pepper, ammunition, seeds, packaged and canned food, various spices, nails/screws, small tools, tape, knives and batteries. Then you should buy some silver and gold. A few boxes of potassium iodide anti-radiation tablets will be more valuable than gold if you are in a contaminated area. Get a supply today.

Following are some items that should be in your home: Extra pair of eye glasses or contact lenses, needles and thread, plastic sheeting, medicine dropper, matches, flashlight and batteries, aluminum foil, disposable baby bottle liners, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, insect repellent, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shampoo, candles, lamp oil, battery operated smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detectors. You also need paper cups, plates, and plastic utensils, baby needs, diapers (cloth), household bleach, Lysol, large and small plastic trash bags, deodorant, good shovel, garden rake, good hoe, hatchet, hack saw and extra blades, ammunition (can be used for bartering as well as protection), dishwashing soap, bath soap, laundry soap, contraceptives, tools for repairs, kits to repair flat tires on various vehicles (also an air pump), assorted nails and screws, solder, lead, oil for autos and tractors, portable AM-FM radio, flashlights with plenty of batteries, duct tape, mouse traps, lime, shoe laces, rubber gloves, W-D 40 or similar product, extra set of tires and sparkplugs, and computer paper and ink (in event we have power).

You may not have drinking water for a while so plan to treat your water from the roof or from a lake or pond. You can boil water for ten minutes and while it will kill the bugs, it will not help the taste much. However, you can add Kool Aide, Tang, or other mix to improve the taste. It will also help the taste if you pour the water (after it has cooled) back and forth from different containers.

You could always use household bleach to treat your water if the bleach contains a 5.25% solution of the chlorine compound sodium hypochlorite. It may warn, “Not for personal use,” but that can be disregarded (according to FEMA) if sodium hypochlorite is the only active ingredient. Purchase the brand that has no additives such as perfumes, soaps, etc. It takes 8 drops of bleach per gallon of clear water; 16 drops per gallon of cloudy water; 1/2 teaspoon per 5 gallons of clear water and 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons of cloudy water to make water drinkable.

After adding the bleach to water, thoroughly mix by stirring then let stand for at least 30 minutes. Remember that iodine and bleach do not purify water but do make it safer by neutralizing harmful bacteria.

You can collect water at your downspout, your swimming pool, waterbed, back of commode, lake, ditch, river, etc. You can even drag towels across the grass early in the morning and collect enough water to keep you alive!

You can purchase products that will treat drinkable water and keep it drinkable for about 5 years without using any other chemicals. It is tasteless and can be purchased through various outlets. Don’t use milk jugs to store water since they will not withstand longtime storage; however, plastic soda bottles can be safely used after a thorough cleaning with very hot water. Metal cans are not the best storage containers for water since the metal affects the taste. They may also rust.

Politicians always end a speech by saying, “God bless America,” but God has blessed America but America has not blessed God by reacting in a proper way. Hence, the coming judgment brought to you by the followers of that “peaceful religion” of Islam. Be prepared!

Is it possible for us to repent and return to greatness, or must we ride the toboggan slide to the garbage heap of history? We will soon know the answer to that question.

(Boys’ new book, The God Haters was published by Barbwire Books; to get your copy of The God Haters click here. An eBook edition is also available.)

If you awaken tomorrow morning and discover that a major U.S. city has been bombed and millions are dead with millions more exposed to radiation, you will understand that you have witnessed the demise of a once-great nation. Those with an understanding of history will also realize that we are surely in a Hundred Years’ War between koranic Muslims and the rest of the world. Muslims have known this was coming for decades.

If U.S. intelligence officials are wrong and there is no danger from terrorists and Islam is a peaceful religion hijacked by a few terrorists then breathe a sigh of relief, thank God for His mercy, and continue with your life. However, if U.S. spooks are right, you and your family will be cold, hungry, and dependent on others to provide for your basic needs. Is it wise to take such an unnecessary risk?

Some people do not want to recognize the problem because they are dreamers, others are delusional, and still others are deniers! The dreamer does not want his life to be totally upset (who does?), so he blithely walks through life without looking at reality. Dreamers are so much happier in their dream world. After all, in dreamland they don’t have any problems, don’t have to make difficult decisions, and always feel warm and fuzzy. There is no confrontation, conflict, or combat. So why wake up? I would like this column to be a fire bell in the night to awaken them from their slumber.

The delusional cannot be helped. They will not even consider the possibility that the world is going to undergo an incredible change very soon. They think by not wanting something to happen, it will not happen. They are wrong. Furthermore, handwringing won’t do any good either!

Then there are the deniers. These people have made up their minds that God would never permit America to go down. We are so special, so strong, and so supreme. So stupid.

So I have some practical suggestions for the approaching disaster. The power may be off for long periods of time so you may not have lights, heat, or refrigeration. Water may not be pumped into your home, and phones may not work, even cell phones since the towers may be destroyed. Elevators may not work; same with trains, subways, and traffic lights. Banks will fold as will insurance companies and major corporations. Don’t count on your job being there or your investments, even guaranteed investments. When governments teeter on the cusp of collapse, there are no guarantees. Well, you get the idea that you won’t have a nice day!

While no one on the face of the earth can say for sure how bad it is going to be, it will be bad, and Proverbs tells us that the prudent man looks ahead, sees the danger, and plans for it. The fool goes on and must suffer for his folly. So pray and hope for the best and prepare for the worst. After all, you don’t have to believe the worst is going to happen to prepare for it! Your fire insurance policy is an example of that. You don’t really expect a fire but you have insurance, don’t you?

I don’t want to be melodramatic but knowing that politicians have a tendency to over-react I see ominous days ahead. If our cities are in flames, jobs are gone, people are hungry, hospitals are full, funeral homes are open 24 hours, banks are closed, major corporations are bankrupt, government checks are no longer being mailed, citizens are angry, hungry, and scared then we can expect officials to continue to do stupid things, only quicker. Martial law may be the norm in disaster areas. We have never heard the chilling march of highly polished jackboots on deserted and darken streets; moreover, the Constitution may be put in a velvet box for the duration, and America may only be a goose-step away from goon squads.

You are not responsible for what government does but you are responsible for what you do. Moreover, you have control over your money. Make decisions today based upon what officials tell us will happen tomorrow. When cities are burning each person will try to cash in his chips, and you will have to stand in line, a very long line. When everyone wants out of the market at the same time, most people are crushed. That is what happens when a crowd of people runs for the exit at the same time. Only the first few usually make it without being crushed in the stampede, and that stampede will be worldwide. If the U.S. market plummets with the destruction of our major cities then the tsunami will swamp the markets of the world. That means worldwide depression.

Young stockbrokers who have never worked at any other job tell you that the market is not vulnerable as it was in the early 1930s. “We now have government controls in place. Don’t worry. Keep investing. The old rule has been repealed: what goes up does not have to come down. Just make out your check to the XYZ Investing Co. and we’ll take care of you.” The average investment counselor is like a small boy standing waist deep in gasoline flicking a cigarette lighter. Most people do not know how volatile the world markets are and how they respond to U.S. markets.

As for getting ready for bad times a good rule to follow is that it is better to be a year early than a day late. Pay off your house and car and purchase “things” that will be useful such as tools, guns, ammunition, food, etc. Think of what you might need if society closes down. You should purchase non-electric tools and make sure they are quality goods since they may have to last.

You should start putting aside small bills for the crash. While no one knows how long the money will be good, all societies must have a medium of exchange. U.S. money will probably be good but do not count on ATMs, banks, or credit cards.

Look for other ways to do things. Be innovative and inventive. Get rid of unimportant and nonessentials from your life. Have a massive yard sale and sell things you have not used in years. Keep in mind those things that could be used for barter, but non essentials will not have much demand. Now is the time to sell your baseball cards, beanie babies, cabbage patch dolls, and other collectibles.

The waters may be calm today but that does not mean there are no crocodiles in the water! Get out of the water now and prepare for a difficult tomorrow! The fuse is burning and the clock is ticking!

(Boys’ new book, The God Haters was published by Barbwire Books; to get your copy of The God Haters click here. An eBook edition is also available.)

ISIS, ISIL, or IS (different terms for the same butchers) are monstrous Muslim maniacs with a mission–and without a conscience. Muslim terrorists take credit for the demise of the Soviet Union (rightly in my opinion) and have similar plans to destroy America. The humiliated Russians drove their tanks out of Afghanistan in 1989, and within two years, the Soviet Empire was history! That historic success in humiliating the powerful Soviet Empire encouraged Muslim terrorists in their plan to destroy America, the “Great Satan.”

It is said that Muslim terrorists have deployed nuclear weapons into the U.S. and are ready to explode them any day! Many major U.S. cities could be in rubble and in flames any day with a Muslim terrorist shouting into a cell phone: “Yes, America is burning. America is burning. Praise Allah!”

The network news program “60 Minutes” on September 7, 1997 reported an alarming story about claims made by the former Russian National Security Advisor, General Aleksander Labed. Labed revealed that the former Soviet Union had produced–then lost–about 100 “suitcase” nuclear bombs! Each bomb could be carried by one man and detonated by one person with 30 minutes notice yielding a blast equivalent to a thousand tons of TNT! General Labed was killed while riding in a Russian helicopter in 2002. Was it payback time?

Will Muslim terrorists explode bombs simultaneously in various major cities or hit one city, then threaten to explode other bombs unless the American government surrenders to Islam and accepts Islamic rule? If Americans see a major city in rubble with thousands of charred bodies lying in the streets, would there be demands for surrender or revenge? I suggest that every Muslim in America would have a target on his back and some Americans would consider any Middle Eastern person as fair game to be “taken out.”

I suggest that U.S. politicians get serious about terror today and be honest about what is ahead of us. They should be telling us to prepare for disaster: food, water, bomb shelters, escape routes, etc. Peaceful Muslims must also get serious today, and report known terrorists to the Feds, vigorously condemn the killers, and wave the American flag as they sing, “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

But frankly, it is too late to close the barn door since the horses are galloping down the road. We have been soft rather than sensible; weak rather than wise; mild rather than militant; and relaxed rather than resolute. When the bombs explode, all bets are off. A reign of terror may ensue, and the America we know will be gone forever.

Talk show hosts have asked me if my message causes people to panic, and I always reply that I am trying to make people be awake and aware without being alarmed. However, at this time in the crisis, maybe it is time to be alarmed! No, not irresponsible, out of control panic. Just the everyday kind of alarm that makes your blood run hot, your adrenaline flow, your hands sweat profusely and your mouth as dry as an oil well I invested in.

In a few days or weeks, or months everyone who has not prepared for disaster will panic. I would like for you to realize that you may have already waited too long to properly prepare, and if you wait much longer, it will be too late to buy gold, guns, and groceries. Everyone will rush for the doors at the same time, and you and your family will be crushed. The name of the game will be survival, only survival. Forget the job since it will be gone. Your Social Security or pension check? Don’t count on it. Protection from local authorities? Probably not. You will be on your own.

The fuses are lit and America and the world are holding their breath thinking, “Paris today, Washington tomorrow?”

(Boys’ new book, The God Haters was recently published by Barbwire Books; to get your copy of The God Haters click here . An eBook edition is also available.)

The President of France and the President of the U.S.A. each has one major job—to keep their nation safe. In the last 50 years, many nations have developed nuclear weapons. During the cold war (1945 to 1991) with the Soviet Union, the citizens lived in a strained but fairly safe world with both countries’ huge inventories of nuclear bombs. We lived under the M.A.D. doctrine which stood for Mutually Assured Destruction. The reasoning was simple, even primitive: You bomb us and we will bomb you. You bomb us even more and we step up our next bombing of you—until the world is a wasteland. It worked. There were battles from time to time in Korea, Vietnam, etc., but neither side was stupid enough to use nuclear weapons.

It was the deterrence principle that a well-armed nation, determined to live safely, would ensure peace. The thinking was that no sane national leader would jeopardize their own security, even existence, by launching an attack on a power that could and would destroy them.

But that is now passé. Maniacal Muslim monsters don’t care if they live or die nor do they feel any concern for their people. In fact, the possibility of being blasted into eternity with a nuclear bomb is somewhat intriguing to them, enhanced at the thought of being welcomed in Paradise by 72 green-eyed virgins. I think their “welcome” will be the surprise of eternity for them.

If we are going to have any sense of security in a world dominated by fools, fanatics, and fascists then we must crawl into the minds of Muslim fanatics and try to “work their system.” I think I have succeeded in doing that and might be able to suggest a kind of M.A.D. program that would guarantee an unsteady but mutual peace. We should issue a threat to the Muslim world that Mecca and Medina will be bombed with pig poop, pig’s entrails, bacon grease, etc., if radical Muslims attack us again. That may not be the most intellectual or genteel suggestion; however, it may be a more practical, profound, and productive proposal than what has come from the Pentagon or prissy politicians.

The President (and all major foreign leaders) should speak to the whole world before the United Nations and declare:

“We Americans want to live in peace; however, there are some who teach that they will someday rule the world whether through personal conversion, civil political activity or military control. We will not permit that to occur. We are rather satisfied with our nation as it is. Therefore, from this date, supported by my Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. Congress, the U.S. has made the following decision:

“If and when any Muslim nation or Muslim group attacks the U.S.. (excepting obvious small, independent, maverick attacks), U.S. bombers will immediately fly, at my command, to Saudi Arabia and bomb the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. However, our payload will be pig’s entrails, discarded hog meat, and tons of pig dung (provided enthusiastically by pig farmers in Iowa) that will saturate both cities from city limit to city limit. The land, buildings, and any people there will be totally contaminated.

“Muslims will not permit any non-Muslim to enter Mecca or Medina; however, after an attack upon America, Porky Pig, Miss Piggy, and their friends are coming to town. You can count on it. That is one promise I promise to keep.

“We don’t desire any deaths or injuries; however, researchers in U.S., Denmark, Netherlands, and Canada have discovered that the ‘nostrils of 49% of pigs and 45% of pig farmers,’ contain traces of the superbug MRSA that is devastating people worldwide. ‘Piglets had the highest rates of infection and in fact, every single pig under the age of 12 weeks harboured MRSA colonies.’ Therefore, there will be potential injury to citizens who do not flee the cities although MRSA infection is not as permanent and deadly as nuclear weapons.

“After thoroughly bombing both cities with pig entrails, one of our planes, carrying a piggybacked block-buster bomb, will put it down on top of the “holy” Ka’ba leaving, if I may quote Jesus Christ, not one stone left standing upon another. This is not desirable but it is better than bombing the two cities back to the Stone Age killing a million people.

“We have no desire to kill or injure any person, however, this is a commitment the American people have made through their representatives and we will not back off. There will be no further delay, discussion, or debate. After an attack upon us and we have confirmed that the perpetrators are Muslims, the pig poop will plummet.

“In kindness, we have made this decision hoping that no Muslim leader would want to stand before Allah and be held accountable for the total destruction of the Ka’ba and the contamination of the two holy cities of Islam.

“Our desire is to provide some assurance of a peaceful existence for American citizens— Muslims and non-Muslims. We expect all Muslim leaders to broadcast this promise to every Muslim on earth to assure mutual peace.
“Thank you and may God bless the United States of America.”

Now, I am a very simple person. If I lived in Mecca or Medina and America were attacked, I would head for the hills, or rather the desert. After the “bombing,” the Muslim religion would not permit citizens of the two holy cities to clean up the pig poop but I know some Baptists who would do it for $100.00 per shovelful, plus expenses. Yes, it would be costly and it would take many years to decontaminate the cities but oil at $40.00 per barrel would finance the cleanup.

As I started this column I placed my tongue firmly in check but as I progressed, I realized that my recommendation is original, innovative, inexpensive, and workable and after all, it makes more sense than what is coming out of the think tanks and the Pentagon. So I released my tongue to the norm. Let’s try it. It sure can’t hurt.

As world famous philosopher Porky Pig, a childhood friend of mine used to say, “Tha, tha, that’s all folks.”

(Boys’ new book, The God Haters was recently published by Barbwire Books; to get your copy of The God Haters click here . An eBook edition is also available.)

From the dawn of history, mankind has experienced times of sickness, sorrow, and suffering. Disease was often deadly and left as quickly and mysteriously as it appeared. Sometime, it stayed for months. Now, we face a more deadly possibility: modern terrorists with the ability, equipment, funds, and commitment to wreak destruction, disease, and death on a massive scale.

Throughout history people often reacted out of fear and ignorance, and that only compounded the problem, extending the pestilence. They ran from the towns, but found that when they arrived in a “safe haven” they were met by the same pestilence! Of course, the pestilence had been a traveling companion. Hopefully, I will provide some insight as to the mistakes made in the past so they will not be repeated in the future.

Our present threat could come from a nuclear blast, an EMP device, poisoned water or food supply, an ancient (or modern) exotic plague, or biological agents sprayed over a metropolitan area. Federal authorities declare that terror is in our near future and will be far worse than the September 11 attacks.

In the plague of A.D. 302, the pestilence had a companion–famine. The people resorted to eating grass, and the deaths from famine almost matched those dying from disease. Hungry dogs fought over the bodies of the human dead. Hieronymus tells us that the human race had been “all but destroyed,” and that the earth was returning to a state of desert and forests.

The first instance of a true pandemic (worldwide epidemic) began in A.D. 542 at Pelusium, Egypt during the reign of Emperor Justinian. In sixty years it spread to all parts of the known world. Seibel tells us that the plague was preceded by many earthquakes, volcanic eruptions–Vesuvius, in 513, was one–and famines that dropped a blanket of terror and death over Europe, the Near East, and Asia. The worst natural occurrence was the earthquake and fire that destroyed Antioch in A.D. 526, killing almost 300,000 people.

When the plague arrived in Constantinople in A.D. 542, it stayed for four months killing so many people that it was impossible for the living to bury the dead. The dead lay unburied in the streets with ten thousand persons dying each day at Constantinople. By A.D. 565, half of the citizens of the Byzantine Empire had died! Gibbon suggested that perhaps 100 million people (in Europe alone) died of this plague!

In the early 1300s, the population of Europe had outrun the food supply, and in a few years, the poor were eating cats, dogs, and other animals. Some say they even ate their own children! People were dying, but rather slowly. Bubonic plague (Black Death) would prove to be more efficient and quicker than famine, much quicker.

The poet Petrarch reported about the effects of the plague on Florence: “We go out of doors, walk through street after street and find them full of dead and dying, and when we get home again we find no live thing within the house! All having perished in the brief interval of our absence.”

George Astor wrote that, “Almost half of Europe died from the black death between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries.”

The preceding litany of deaths could be a portent of what the world faces if Muslim terrorists carry out their threats. No sane person thinks they are playing games. It is not demagoguery to suggest that the earth could become a mass graveyard.

When the daily count of the dead reached the breaking point (different in various societies and ages), responsible people became irresponsible, calm people became terrified, and the borderline paranoid became dangerous. As people fled their homes, social and political organizations disappeared, crops were left to rot in the fields, populations were displaced, civil war was fomented, and major shifts in religious thinking occurred.

Many historians have taught that disease has changed the condition of this world more than wars. Ancient Greece might not have fallen into the hands of Rome if it had not been for malaria. Are we not fools if we don’t consider the same or similar results from possible biological terrorism we face today? If we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.

Maybe we can learn from the plague of Saint Cyprian and not make the same mistakes people of that day made. In A.D. 250, the Roman Empire was in turbulence. The Goths had just won a major victory and the barbarians were at the gates of Rome. Then the plague of Saint Cyprian lashed the empire for fifteen years. There were problems in the palace and bickering on the battlefields. The soldiers were often unpaid because the pestilence sapped the wealth and the cash flow slowed. Rebellious soldiers broke rank and fled into the forests, and took what they wanted from those trying to eke out an existence from the land. Military insurrections, civil disorders, and civil wars became common, and the empire continued to crack along its foundations.

Zinsser, among others, believes that the Plague of Justinian (A.D. 541) was partly responsible for the demise of the Roman Empire. He wrote that the plague was “perhaps the most potent single influence–-which gave the coup de grâce to the ancient empire.”

The plague of Justinian finally ended about 590, but by that time most of Italy was controlled by the Lombards. The barbarians were no longer at the gates of Rome but inside the gates. The mighty Empire had crumbled, and when the Muslim armies swarmed out of Arabia in 634, the Roman and Persian forces gave only token resistance.

An indication of the extent of national trouble during times of disease, destruction, and death can be seen in desperate laws passed during Diocletian’s reign (ruled 285-305). Farmers were forbidden to leave the farms to take up other jobs and some occupations were made hereditary. Would Americans support such laws under similar circumstances? We have been told that terrorism justifies unconstitutional laws!

The Black Death raged throughout Europe in the fourteenth century, wiping out from two-thirds to three-fourths of the population! This loss of population impacted the work force, but at first, only the more skilled positions. However, when the second and third wave of pestilence swept across Europe, every job was affected. Farmers, servants, tinkers, and others were in short supply. J.L. Cloudsley-Thompson wrote that, “some 50,000 persons died in London alone, so that all public business was interrupted for two years” and the war with France had to be discontinued.

During this time, inflation skyrocketed. Goods became difficult to obtain and very expensive because so many people had died. Gary North wrote that “overnight in Pistoia [Italy], rents fell from up to half of the harvest to about five percent. So did interest rates. Wages shot upward. All over Europe governments passed wage controls. They made it illegal for people to move to new parishes. And all over Europe this legislation failed.”

In times of terror free people must be careful that we do not forget what made us a great nation, forgetting principles of justice, kindness, generosity, innovation, etc., and become what we detest in the terrorists!

(Boys’ new book, The God Haters was published by Barbwire Books; to get your copy of The God Haters click here . An eBook edition is also available.)