Why crimes of blasphemy and profane swearing must be immediately punished by the state:
“Crimes of this description are not punishable by the civil arm merely because they are against religion. Bold and presumption must he be who would attempt to wrest the thunder of heaven from the Hand of God and direct the bolts vengeance where to fall. The Supreme Deity is capable of maintaining the dignity of His moral government and avenging the violation of His Holy laws. His omniscient mind estimates every act by the standard perfect truth and His impartial justice inflicts punishments that are accurately proportioned to the crimes.
"But short sighted mortals cannot search the heart and punish according to the intent. They can only judge by overt acts and punish them as they respect the peace and happiness of civil society. This is the rule to estimate all crimes against civil law and is the standard of all human punishments. It is on this ground only that civil tribunals are authorized to punish offences against religion.”
-- Zephaniah Swift, A System of the Laws of the State of Connecticut, 1796
Better a poor and wise youth Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more. Ecclesiastes 4:13
Question:
Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Luke14:31
Answer:
A king who watches too much FOX TV, reads too many Marvel comics, pays attention to the New York Times, and watches too many Hollywood political thrillers.
The narrow strait is the most important chokepoint for the world's oil supply. Some 21 million barrels — or $1.2 billion worth of oil — pass through the strait every day.
Will a closed Strait hurt Iran? In terms of international oil sales, yes, but in terms of daily life, no. Iran pumps 3.5 million barrels of crude oil per day. The situation at this hour: