Eden's Dream

An epidemic of despair...

2010-03-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

If violence is the symptom of despair then the sporadic and systematic violence that characterizes our world betrays an epidemic of dispair. We despair of justice, we despair of reason, we despair of the other person and so we destroy the other person, and we prepare to be destroyed by the other person ourselves. In short, we despair. We are without hope for ourselves, for the other, for our world. -Theodore Jennings’ The Liturgy of Liberation

My daily prayer...

2010-02-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

"Lord I pray for those who kill, are killed and those who suffer because of war." This video reminds me of the trauma, courage and suffering of those who are executing our foreign policy.

Three cups of tea...please

2010-02-24T16:57:00.001-08:00

What an amazing man and mission....one of the best and most hopeful things I have heard about Afghanistan. May his tribe increase. My favorite moment: The Taliban playing on the school playground swing set....violence is truly the fruit of a failed imagination.

http://castroller.com/podcasts/BillMoyersJournal/1415219

The Conscientious Objector review

2010-02-23T08:04:00.001-08:00

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. -Psalm 91:14-16

I'm not a big fan of quoting scripture in war...but, if ever it seemed appropriate, this verse fits the story retold above. I watched this documentary last night and have to say, it was one of the most moving stories of faith and war, I've seen. The story of a courageous Seventh Day Adventist man who chooses to serve his country in WW2 without a gun.

It's an inspiring story that shows the cost and the witness of one man's attempt to reconcile his faith and duty to country. It's full of miracles and moving testimony from WW2 veterans who served together with Desmond Doss. This is a must see film, if the issues of faith, violence, patriotism and duty matter to you.

Constitutional Conservatism...?

2010-02-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

So what do you think of the Mt. Vernon Statement?

Voting ourselves into suicide....

2010-02-22T10:11:00.001-08:00

Perhaps the worst blow to them, the greatest disillusionment, was socialist England; here was their literal dream, a bloodless socialism, where force was not used for murder, only for expropriation, where lives were not taken, only products, the meaning and the future of lives, here was a country that had not been murdered, but had voted itself into suicide...

This, then, is the choice, think it over, consider the subject, check your premises, check past history and find out whether it is true, that men can never be free. It isn't true, because they have been. Find out what made it possible. See for yourself. And then if you are convinced--rationally convinced--then let us save the world together. We still have time. -Ayn Rand

Unsustainable Foreign policy...

2010-02-22T10:02:00.000-08:00

USA Foreign policy:
-A Trillion dollars to fund our world empire, military is in 140 countries, with 700 military bases...simply unsustainable.

Soldiers of Conscience

2010-02-18T10:21:00.001-08:00

I watched this last night. I thought it was one of the best, balanced and brutal dialogues about war and killing, pacifism and patriotism that I have seen. I am thinking about showing it as part of our Christ & Culture nights.

The oldest story....

2010-02-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

"(John) Edwards' fall from grace is the oldest story in America, and probably the world. He was a gorgeous, powerful man willing to torch his family, his career and those who trust him to get laid -- by someone whose name the rest of us can't even pronounce." -Anne Lamott (article in The New York Times)

Not all Heroes carry a gun....

2010-02-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

The Conscientious Objector,,,get the movie: here

Street preachers....

2010-02-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

The path out of here....

2010-02-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

"I believed that God had spared me during the genocide for a reason: to talk to as many people as possible about how he had touched my heart amidst the holocaust and taught me to forgive. I was to bear witness to how this one act can save a soul crippled by hatred and sickened by the desire for revenge." - Rwandan holocaust survivor Immaculee Ilibagiza, Led by Faith

"Without forgiveness, there's no future." - Desmond Tutu

10 minute Government lesson, everyone should know....

2010-02-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

The Truth About Veteran Suicides....

2010-02-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

Eighteen American war veterans kill themselves every day. One thousand former soldiers receiving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs attempt suicide every month. More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat overseas.

"The Pentagon regularly reports on the numbers of American troops "wounded" in Iraq (currently at 31,948) but neglects to mention that it has two other categories "injured" (10,180) and "ill" (28,451). All three of these categories represent soldiers who are so damaged physically they have to be medically evacuated to Germany for treatment, but by splitting the numbers up the sense of casualties down the public consciousness....Here's another number that we don't often hear discussed in the media: 287,790. That's the number of returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who had filed a disability claim with the Veterans Administration as of March 25th

Read more: here

Water-boarding your kid?

2010-02-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

This article: "Soldier father accused of 'waterboarding' daughter, 4, because she can't recite alphabet" is a painful reminder of the potential abuse that arises out of situations that soldiers are forced to go through, endure, process and carry with.

I do not incriminate or point to this act as an attempt to say that the army did this to this man or is solely responsible but...isn't it fair to examine the issue? Do folks have a right to examine religions that produce extremists? Do we have a duty to examine the "input/output issues of violence, media and our cultures effects on the young and old alike? Isn't most of life a testimony of cause and effect? Not in all cases...but probably easily observed. The man was probably simply sick and in need of mental health support...but maybe not?

Just because a Priest sexually abuses a child, it shouldn't incriminate the Catholic church...but it should cause us to examine its' position on "celibate clergy" and ask tough questions as to wether that policy helps create a culture of potentially sexually repressed men and women?

As a pastor, I am concerned about the re-entry issues facing men and women who are in the service or are veterans. PTSD is a hot button in some circles...It's affect on marriages, relationships, parenting, friendships and inner psychology are serious issues to me. We use certain phrases in interpersonal conversations that are unspoken truths...like when someone off handily remarks that their father was in the military. The general assumption is that would mean that certain issues of intimacy, authority, discipline, displacement, attachment challenges for transitory families are or have been experienced. Does this mean all MK's deal with this or all Solider or Vets fall into such classifications or stereotypes...I don't think so...but are they generally accepted distortions, seems so.

"Supporting the Troops"...is taking on a whole lot more meaning in my mind these days.

Cyberdyne here we come

2010-02-09T23:21:00.000-08:00

Pentagon Looks to Breed Immortal ‘Synthetic Organisms'

In the counsels of government

2010-02-09T23:18:00.001-08:00

In the counsels of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplace power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic process.
-President Eisenhower's Farewell Adress, January 1961

The times...they are a changing....

2010-02-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

Everyone will live quietly in their own homes in peace and prosperity, for there will be nothing to fear. The LORD Almighty has promised this! -Micah 4:4

Masters of War....Pearl Jam version

2010-02-09T22:36:00.000-08:00

Not sure I've heard a song sung with such brutal ethos in the delivery; that matched the smoldering indignation of the words. Dylan wrote an apocalyptic doom of a song and Eddie Vedder sings it like a prophet of Old Testament proportions.

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

"Masters of War" startles Dylan himself. "I've never really written anything like that before," he recalls. "I don't sing songs which hope people will die, but I couldn't help it in his one. The song is a sort of striking out, a reaction to the last straw, a feeling of what can you do?" The rage (which is as much anguish as it is anger) is a way of catharsis, a way of getting temporary relief from the heavy feeling of impotence that affects many who cannot understand a civilization which juggles its own means for oblivion and calls that performance an act toward peace.

JESUS AND THE SUICIDE BOMBER...?

2010-02-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

Humam al-Balwai, the suicide bomber who murdered seven CIA employees in Afghanistan was a brilliant Jordanian physician who recorded a “martyrdom video” before his death expressing hatred of America and his own nation. After watching that video on Arab TV, the father of the killer said: “We are not surprised. Fighting the arrogant, unjust, haughty and tyrant American who kills civilians and innocent people makes the whole Islamic world hate America.” He then added, “They say that Jesus gave his life to people. I say that Humam sacrificed his body and soul for the oppressed.” The bereaved father ignores the distinction between the New Testament account of dying to give eternal life to those you love, and dying to deliver death to those you hate. Blinded by fanaticism, jihadist sympathizers deny the difference between Jesus and a suicide bomber.
-Thursday, January 14, 2010 by Michael Medved

John Stewart Vs. Bill O'reilly

2010-02-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

Political toe to toe....pretty good exchange...I think it really gets rolling about half way...I call it a draw.
Watch it: here

Grizzly Adams...the Genesis warrior

2010-02-05T13:30:00.001-08:00

"God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Genesis 1:28

I was asked:
"What is your stance on the idea that men are warriors, that they have an innate need to fight and wrestle?

My response would be that I believe that man is genetically equipped to fulfill the mandate given in the above verse in Genesis. The challenges of mankind rising, creating, producing, taming, fashioning and harnessing the wilds of the world is wrapped up in that word "subduing".

I see "fighting and wrestling" to be a natural God given drive to fulfill the role He has given man to do. If that 'impulse' is held and expressed within the God determined boundaries, it is a powerful force for provision, civilizing and the common good. But, like sexuality, if it is expressed outside the boundaries God determines, it can become a source of pain, suffering and destruction and ultimately even, death.

Human nature isn't pure...it must wrestle with sin...and sin seeks to pervert the creation and express it's nature to kill, steal and destroy.

For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. -Jesus (John 8:44)

But, I don't see the act of killing animals in the same light as killing human beings. Mankind is created in God's image, animals are creation of God but do not bear the image of God...just the breath of life from God. So, even the Lord killed animals and showed the proper use of them, and even directed mankind in the issues of consumption of animals in the OT, especially Leviticus.

And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. Genesis 3:21

That said...the bible also speaks a lot about the care of animals too. I don't espouse an unbridled, unrestrained devouring of the earth in a consumeristic manner. We are called to rule with compassion and justice and to be good stewards of the earth...both in manner of ethics and economy as it relates to consumption.

When violence is turned towards those who are image bearers...the Bible starts getting very serious, even in the OT. Once we get to the NT...the ultimate vision of God's kingdom begins to dawn and dominate in the person and teaching of Christ...who by the way, caught and ate fish too. So a kingdom vision of the lion laying down with the lamb is a unfolding one that starts in the changed human heart and is outworked in wisdom and God given boundaries in this age.

The spilling of blood is very serious to God.

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper? "The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. -Genesis 4:8-11

Ultimately, though I recognize and support the bearing of weapons in relationship to subduing nature and protecting humans from the wild...I find the killing of image bearers to be an act that Jesus forbids. So warriors are needed but the expression of the warring nature can be turned to evil or good. I know many would say that "self-defense" is an expression of that good...each will have to figure out how to outwork that as a principle for life. But for someone to point to the warrior 'impulse' as evidence of God's blessing of war....I would say that's a misuse of that power and responsibility.

For me....the best image I have in my mind...is Grizzly Adams...man in relationship to the wild, living off the land but doing so in a realistic but relational way...both with man and animals.
That's a vision of the my Father's world that was represented in His greatest Image bearer...Jesus Christ; and It's a vision of life, that I pray and work towards.

(Painting by Frank Frazetta)

Why pastors should preach about "War"....

2010-02-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

Why are you talking about all this "war" stuff anyway...?

I am asked this in one way or another fairly frequently of late and understandably so...this blog is a response to that question. I try to answer those sincere questions here. I also am trying to ask the questions that seem to be ignored in the daily life of the church world. When issues that result in the potential death of our loved ones, friends, fellow countrymen, innocents abroad or at home and our enemies...I think we should do some serious work of thinking and talking. It's one of the reasons we have a constitution that puts the deciding work of war on the shoulders of a "debating natured' congress. It should be something we "think through" not just respond to.

Christians and pastors, spend countless hours on trivial life issues, they hear or preach sermons on subjects most folks forget about soon as they chomp into their greasy lunches. We write books that split the atoms of sacramental ecclesiology and the proverbial self centered discussion of "worship wars"...but rarely talk about "war"; a subject that break up homes, infects in a cancerous way many marriages that end up in divorce, push men and women in to coping based addictions, leaves minds and hearts wrecked with PTS and often results in burying our loved ones.

Is this a Jesus issue, a gospel imperative? yes, I believe it is.

For me the issue is simply this, people are lost, they don't know the way to life...they need Jesus.
He is the way, the truth and the life....people need to know about Christ.

How is this accomplished?

Most often, they "SEE" the "WAY" being lived and then they ask questions because of the provocative nature of the life being lived. If you remove the "provocative nature" the "saltiness" as Jesus described it...you lose the distinction that sets you apart and makes your "WAY" ...more distinctive than others.

In today's Church...."HOW" Christians live...has been trumped by "WHAT" Christians "Believe".

My pounding on the issue of war and violence is rooted deeply in the critical issues of the way of living, that many christians espouse. It is no different than the world. We Kill, maim, brutalize and dominate our enemies and then make movies and games that indulge this as "way of life" as entertainment. We "christianize" it all, with a militarized, patriotic drunk church culture, that cares more about the civil religion of "God and Country"...than the way and teaching of Jesus. All of this is, in my mind, extremely critical to "my" walk with Jesus and more importantly...the attraction of the alternative King and His kingdom offered in the gospel message.

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, -1 Peter 3:15

The American Revolution....

2010-01-30T21:28:00.001-08:00

"Republicans don't know how to defend morally an individual's right to achieve wealth and to keep it, and that is why they fail. ... It's part and parcel with their ambivalence over the individualist heritage of the nation. ... One of the things that people have to understand is that the American Revolution was truly an epic revolution in the way individuals were perceived in relation to the rest of the society. Throughout history individuals had always been cogs in some machine; they'd always been something to be sacrified for the king, the tribe, the gang, the chieftain, the society around them, the race, whatever, and the real revolution, in America especially, was a moral revolution. It was a moral revolution in that ... suddenly, with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the individual, his life, his well-being, his property, his happiness became central to our values, and that is what really made America unique. People came here from all over the world to try to escape the kind of oppression they had and experienced in the past. They came here for freedom; they came here for self-expression and self-realization, and America offered them that kind of a place." -- Robert Bidinotto

What is difference between a Republic and a Democracy?

2010-01-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

"The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government..."
- United States Constitution, Article IV, Section 4

So what's the difference between a Republic and a Democracy?

Democracy:
Invloves the government ruling and making laws for the "greater good" of all people, they may abolish personal rights in doing so. Democracy is government by and for the people. They may or may not be republics--that is, government limited by constitution or charter. The tricky part of "democracy" is defining "the people" and then deciding what counts as "by the people" and what counts as "for the people." In a sense, that could be considered the content of democratic practice.

Republic:
Invloves the government using and abiding by the constitution heavily. Personnal rights are respected and cannot be taken away. This helps to avoid tyranny and mobocracy (the majority makes laws and governs by passion, prejudice, or impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences).
Republics are the common and "standard" type of governments found today, not democracies, despite what many people (who may not know the definition of either) think.
Just as democracies may or may not be republics, republics may or may not be democracies.

The difference between Democracy and Republic:
Democracy and Republic are two forms of government which are distinguished by their treatment of the Minority, and the Individual, by the Majority. In a Democracy, the Majority has unlimited power over the Minority. This system of government does not provide a legal safeguard of the rights of the Individual and the Minority. It has been referred to as "Majority over Man".
In a Republic, the Majority is Limited and constrained by a written Constitution which protects the rights of the Individual and the Minority. The purpose of a Republic form of government is to control the Majority and to protect the God-given, inalienable rights and liberty of the Individual.

The United States of America is a Republic.

"Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression. In our Governments the real power lies in the majority of the community, and the invasion of private rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from acts of Government contrary to the sense of its constituents, but from acts in which the Government is the mere instrument of the major number of the Constituents." -- James Madison, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1788

"The unity of a nation's spirit and will are worth far more than the freedom of the spirit and will of an individual; and that the higher interests involved in the life of the whole must here set the limits and lay down the duties of the interests of the individual." -Adolph Hitler

Why not...?

2010-01-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

Great article on the issue "preaching about war"; I particularly loved the comments surrounding how "support the troops" has replaced the issue of Just War reflection. Teaching and preaching about war

Dorothy Day....gusty grannie and christian anarchist

2010-01-30T19:45:00.001-08:00

"And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. -James 3:18

Part One:

Dorothy Day...a New York writer and Catholic anarchist who at the height of the Depression unwittingly created what would become a worldwide peace and social justice movement. The Catholic Worker persists to this day in over 180 houses of hospitality and soup kitchens across the United States, in Europe, Australia, Canada and Mexico. Their tenet is based on doing works of mercy and living in voluntary poverty with no attachments to Church or State.Dorothy Day....she is no ordinary saint. Caught up in the Bohemian whirl of 1917 Greenwich Village, Dorothy wrote for radical papers, associated with known Communists, attempted suicide and had an illegal abortion, a doomed common-law marriage and a child out of wedlock. The birth of her only child led to her religious conversion.
Part Two:
"Peace...begins in thought, word and deed." -Dorothy Day

Nimrod's Return...?

2010-01-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

I've had a number of conversations over the last few months that have been deeply political but what a number of folks don't seem to realize is that underneath political discussions are more profound philosophical discussions. And these philosophical questions have profound theological implications in my mind. When we discuss policies...we must face the fact that there are philosophies that undergird those policies.

For a follower of Jesus, the philosophies of this world and the principalities and powers that animate and propagate those philosophies..are our main combatants. It is these entities and ideologies that we are called to wrestle with.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. -Ephesians 6:12

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. -2 Corinthians 10:4-5

In this ongoing discussion and wrestle, i've mentioned, quoted and referenced material that looks at the issues of government, politics and the human and religious struggle to find one's proper balance in this being in the world and yet, not of it. It's surprised me that many of my fundamentalist christians or right-minded political friends seem to embrace a faith that is comfortably wedded to the state, especially when it revolves around issues of the military and the subjects related to war.

This is a posture that to me, seems to undermine the very revolutionary principles that were at play in the founding of America. I seem to see a unhealthy fraternizing that goes on with the very powers that have grown so monolithic; as to overshadow the very nation that we fought our independence with. The inability to see clearly the beast that is growing, alarms me. And what frightens me more, is the wedded nature of faith and violence that seems to be generally embraced or accepted by most christians.

The idea that power is what is needed in this era, in order to dismantle, protect or achieve victory against our enemies; seems to be a precarious posture to embrace...especially since the machine that is achieving such victory is growing bigger and bigger and more and more in control of the very ones it says it is protecting.

Doesn't that dual accomplishment seem machiavellian to anyone else than my little old self?

"The struggle against terrorism and totalitarianism is ultimately a war of ideas, to be fought in our minds." -Ayn Rand

I read this article today and found some really profound points within it, too many to post...so I will simply link to it...in hopes that more hungry minds will take the time to read and ponder it:

Faith & Force by Ayn Rand

These principles are part and parcel of our political history...you can hear the same content in this short clip from a speech by Ronald Reagan:

You can see all of these ideas being explored in this video from Glen Beck's program; which are still true issues, whether or not you agree with Glen or not...personally I find him annoying most of the time, if not hysterical...but his accuracy in pinpointing many of the cultural battles, is still poignant:

I simply believe that people are giving over their souls, minds, allegiance, money and more and more...their very lives or their children's lives to the state...or to be more biblical...to the kingdoms of men.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." -Romans 12:2

This ailment is an action that has been rooted in first ones giving over their God given mind. We are increasingly being more and more conformed to the patterns of this world. We are being lulled to sleep by convenience, materialism, protectionism and socialism...but not in a purely political manner...but also in a religious one. We are embracing the Americanization of Christianity....in much the same way Middle Easterners have wed faith and state in Islam.

I see hints and shout of this in songs like this: Born Again American and in paintings like this one: One Nation Under God.

Soon one is not free enough to question such Allegiance and the pressure as a pastor to bow to the idol of cultural christianity is becoming more and more profound. I cant seem to find many that seem to serious about the gospel the Jesus preached and the kingdom He told us to pray down to earth and live out ethically and morally. In the end, I have been more challenged on issues of Cultural Christianity than I have ever have on any other topic. This posture towards the state, mingled with good old patriotism has grown into a golden statue that soon will require all to lay prostrate before it.

I sit and ponder the biblical stories of Nimrod and his heaven touching tower and warlike nation capturing triumphalism and wonder if my evangelical, prophesy prone brothers and sisters and their "Anti-Christ" bogey man of apocalyptic literature isn't actually gearing up for a grand unveiling.

If ever there was a desperate need for thinking, gospel rooted believers...it is now.

Jesus, Obama and war....

2010-01-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

This short video has some really poignant juxtapositions between Jesus, Mr. Obama and War....worth wrestling with. The very opening statements by the President on the sermon on the mount are enlightening indeed.

The Declaration of Independence...

2010-01-29T11:58:00.000-08:00

Selections from The DOI...which I found to be painfully relevant as I read it this morning:

"He (King George) has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance."

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

"For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us"

"For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent"

"He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions."

Read it for yourself at http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

Avatar...round two

2010-01-25T10:26:00.000-08:00

"I was a warrior who dreamed he could bring peace. Sooner or later, though, you always have to wake up." - Jake Sully

I think this phrase sums up the bone I have to pick with with Avatar, a movie btw that ranks in my top 10 favorites of all time.
All praise aside...and there is so much to praise about this film...I think the issue of fighting fire with fire was the weakest point for me of the film. Even though there has been much talk about creating these neat little descriptive titles like "Soldiers Vs Warriors" that somehow define away the simple fact in the end...we all will have to kill each other someday.

Now, I am a major proponent of facing the ugliness of our societies past sins and recognizing our culpability in the sins of our fathers. But historical revisionism is running rampant these days, especially in the romanticizing of indigenous people and the first nations. Nobody awakens and manipulates "white guilt' better than Hollywood and they preen their self righteous selves all the way to the bank....while we, sit in awkward inner turmoil over historical realities that we truly don't even comprehend or really know what to do about.

We are often the victims of our educational lopsidedness in regards to political posture and we have a collective cultural memory that is made up of movies and tv shows instead of the actual history that took place. Now a lot of that is good in my opinion...if you look at the tv and movie posture towards our early history in the 40's-70's it's a bleak and barren land of stereotypes, misinformation, bigotry and hyped up sentimentality that misses the mark of truth just as bad as much of today's elitist propaganda that is pumped out of the media outlets.

The savages and civilized were really worse or better than the money making entertainment industry has pictured them.

Here is an article that pretty much dismantles the view that paints early native people as Eden loving, vegi-munching, Adam and Eve like, prancing, red skinned peace niks. It's kind of like going through a mind de-programming course reading it...because some much of our cultural conditioning has been contrary to the actual historical facts...or has left out a big part of the reality of early conflicts and politics.

But...even though I love the romanticizing of a people group that love the earth, each other and living sustainable...the truth is often far from such portrayals.

And the conclusions made in the movie about he necessity of violence becoming the only outcome to our cultural clashings....worries me too.

"Our only security is pre-emptive attack. We will fight terror with terror." - Colonel Miles Quatrich

In the end, I am left with another motivation to pursue the vision of life presented by Christ as the only true vision of the future. Man seems to never see farther than his two hand's and whatever he can find or fashion to fight with...and in this film even God...or Goddess or Animal Spirit or whatever...was reduced to slaughter as the only achievable answer.

Hollywood can keep it's answers...I will turn to the Bible.

Soldiers of Conscience...

2010-01-25T08:16:00.001-08:00

Soldiers of Conscience, PBS Emmy nominated documentary from Luna Productions on Vimeo.

Here is another trailer but with different content.

Kingdom Anarchy....

2010-01-23T07:23:00.000-08:00

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. -Col 3:2

My issue from the start in all of this Peace talk; has been the fact that we in the church "do not" teach the personal Christ taught ethic, regarding peace.

Period.

I'm not and have not been concerned about how or what world powers, princpalities, and high places do. I'm concerned about living and preaching the gospel. An act that, I believe will undermine, overturn, topple, expose, redefine and liberate or strengthen human systems in many ways.

God prevented Babel for a reason. In fact He pretty much instituted a major act of anarchy. I think that is worthy of some major work of thought and biblestudy. Powers work to centralize, control, establish, rule, dominate, dictate, tax and conform. The state ultimately can demand or take your life or....tell you you abandon the teachings of Christ and join it in taking life.
Principalities and powers, the kIngdoms of this world...are as the prophets have always represented them: beasts. The revelation pulls back the eternal curtain on the systems of this world and shows a blood soaked, demon invested, economic worshipping whore.
And the command is to reject her mark in hand and forehead. To be marked not with a beast mark in ones mind or works of hand; but be marked with the name of God.

Come out of her, my people.

We are to ride with the one who judges the world with the sword of his mouth not of his hand. To join the one who's robe is dipped in his own blood not the blood of others.
We are told to worship the lion of Judah who is revealed in heaven as a slain lamb.
The kingdom that has rejected earthly rule represented in man made temples, priesthoods, kings and economic systems.
This is a kingdom that's throne is in the heart.
The implications of all this are profound...but Jesus said it would be like being lambs to the slaughter or lambs among wolves. We would die daily. There would be many souls of martyrs under the altar. We would not love our lives, even unto death.
We would be the little flock. We would be known as the ones who are the "troublers" who turn the world upside down. We offer the world a differnt king and kingdom...that has no Lord, but Jesus.

That's anarchy indeed...but it's not human anarchy...it's kingdom.

Seers, dreaming the dreams of God....

2010-01-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

But if I am casting out demons by the power of God,
then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.
-Jesus (lk 11:20)

What will the human heart, a family, a church, a city, a region or a country look like if 'The Kingdom of God arrives among us"? Is not the resurrection which was supposed to be only at the end of all time; a sign that something has arrived sooner than we had thought? Is not the outpouring of the Spirit, which was a prophesied, eschatological event...a sign that a new kingdom has arrived? If these "end of days" events, have moved into the present...why do we continue to say...this or that...is for then or there?

Really?

Darwinian thought....would say that human evolution is reduced to one simple truth...the survival of the fittest. The strong remain, survive and thrive...the weak will be consumed, destroyed, eclipsed, prevailed over, driven out, experience genocide, become extinct etc.

I believe the Kingdom of God trumps Evolutionary philosophy.

Maybe it appears "utopian" or a "dream"...but I stand in the long line of dreamers...or as the ancients called them "seers" who spoke from dreams...God's dreams. And I think those dreams are the true reality...not the other way around.

Stop the Clash of Civilizations....

2010-01-22T12:27:00.001-08:00

Teasing the wound....

2010-01-22T09:27:00.001-08:00

"Another attitude to war has something tragical in it. There are men who maintain that the love for peace and the inevitability of war form a hideous contradiction, and that such is the fate of man. These are most gifted and sensitive men, who see and realize all the horror and imbecility and cruelty of war, but through some strange perversion of mind neither see, nor seek, to find any way out of this position, and seem to take pleasure in teasing the wound by dwelling on the desperate position of humanity."
-Leo Tolstoy, from his book: The Kingdom of God is within You.

Led into the wilderness....

2010-01-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

I read this paper from Ched Myers this morning. I don't think I have read a more concise article that captures the heart of my own personal journey with the gospel; as it relates to personhood and politics. If I could have everybody that interacts with me, read this...I think they would understand the underlining ministry and mission impulses that burn in my belly. This article helped me frame those Spirit & Word "perceptions" in a clearer way. It was like hearing someone speak my inner turmoil and give it greater light. I know that sounds over the top, but it really resonated and explained myself to myself in some profound ways.

I began this mornings study, compelled by a phrase in the book of Luke, chapter 4:1 about Jesus "Being led into the wilderness by the Spirit." when I watched the above video and reached around the 6 minute mark, the Spirit was doing quite a number on my heart. I just had a conversation yesterday with my friend Jeremy from Kentucky, about feeling this inner impulse towards a wilderness season. I was feeling a compulsion towards wilderness. The message in this paper and this video touched that in a profound way.

As we teach through the book of Luke, I can see that much change is ahead...I both long for and fear, the unfolding of this gospel in fresh and life altering ways.

Military Jesus Guns....???

2010-01-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Words fail me....This is simply unbelievable.

God and Violence...a perfect match?

2010-01-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

Some would kill to have it...I will kill to protect it. -Eli

The Book of Eli...is out today...and the book ELi will kill to protect is the Bible...if you didn't know.

According to one Review the movie has a:
"Very Strong Christian worldview, including themes of sacrifice, where the protagonist constantly prays, shows others how to pray, quotes Scripture, and, though he is not perfect, constantly tries to live what he believes and consistently walks by faith in God, not by what he can see..."

The reviewer than lists some of the content in the movie:
Extreme, brutal violence depicted including man abuses his wife by pulling her hair,
Man is found after having hanged himself
Multiple scenes of blood spurting after people have been shot and limbs have been cut off with a samurai-like sword
Men fire guns and heavy artillery
Men get sliced with sword
Man is shot in private area with an arrow
Man gets shot in the neck with an arrow
Men get shot in the head and all of it is completely shown
Man gets beheaded by sword
Lots of punching, brawl fighting, lots of explosions with hand grenades and grenade launcher
Man uses a derogatory word to encourage his men to fornicate
Men rape a woman but cameras cut out before anything is shown
Young girl tries to seduce older man but he rejects her because it is wrong
One scene of attempted rape where girl is rescued before it actually happens

Carnegie, the protagonist in the film has something to say about that "book":"It's a weapon"

Indeed, I guess it appears to be.

I am being driven over the edge with this cultural fascination with killing and faith...will it never end?

Peace...as it relates to Pneumology & Eschatology

2010-01-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

I found this profoundly thought provoking....

"Something remarkable happened with the advent of Jesus the Messiah. I think of it in terms of two massive events: outpouring of the holy spirit and resurrection.

The spirit is promised to be poured out repeatedly in the Old Testament (Isaiah 32.13-18; 44.1-5; Ezekiel 11.17-20; Ezekiel 36.24-28, 33-35; 37.12-14; 39.25 – 29; Joel 2.28 – 3.2). Each of these mentions of the spirit being poured out is eschatological (it related to the events of the end of time). Furthermore, resurrection was also seen as corporate and eschatological (Daniel 12.2; Ezekiel 37; Isaiah 25). Even when John the Baptist spoke of the baptism of the spirit that Messiah would bring, he was thinking about the end-time judgment (not Pentecost). Furthermore, when Jesus spoke of resurrection he also thought of it as a corporate event and attached to it the phrase, “last day” (John 6.39, 40, 44, 54; Luke 14.14; John 5.28-29; 11.24-25). So the resurrection and the outpouring of the spirit are eschatologically grounded concepts.

But, what if God, in his wisdom, decided to have an early resurrection? What if God, to show the world that his son really is the Messiah, raised him from the dead? What would that mean? Furthermore, when Jesus is about to ascend to the Father he tells them that they will be baptized with the spirit in a few days and to stay in Jerusalem. Where do the disciples’ minds instantly go? They think of the kingdom, to God’s bright future of ruling earth through a restored Israel led by his vice-regent, the Messiah. However, Jesus gently corrects this understanding by saying that the restoration of Israel is yet future (we don’t know the times or seasons) even so, the holy spirit will come soon. Here Jesus reaches into the future and pulls the spirit, an eschatological event, and promises that it will come early.

So what are we to make of an early resurrection and an early outpouring of the holy spirit?
There is a lot that could be said but I will limit it to just a couple of notions. Resurrection means that God has vindicated his servant that the promised judgment/restoration (i.e. the kingdom) is really coming and that Jesus will be the judge/king of the age to come. Furthermore, resurrection teaches us that the power of death has been broken. Satan has been defeated and Christ is the victor. But, how did he win? Through a remarkable defeat—the cross—Jesus emerges the conqueror. Jesus absorbs all the hatred and violence of a world peopled with radically depraved and vengeful creatures and in so doing he ends the cycle. The myth of redemptive violence is squelched and the king conquers without raising the war cry. What an example for us to follow? We are to take up the cross and follow his path of nonviolent, self-sacrificial, outrageous love.

But, what do we make of the spirit? Why is the spirit of the kingdom here early?
It must be so that we can live the lifestyle of the kingdom early, right? We are the future of humanity, the eschatological community, living the lifestyle of the future in the midst of this present evil age. We are those who have already beaten our swords into plowshares as a prophetic sign of the coming kingdom when all swords will likewise be melted down. We no longer study war but seek peace in every sphere of life. The rest of the world can get on board with this or find itself left behind in the ashes of a world that never made sense, never satisfied, never resulted in safety. The Christian community lives the life of the kingdom in the present in the power of the spirit because at one end, Jesus is resurrected, and at the other, he is coming again to establish God’s righteous rule for all.

The Old Testament saints are not guilty for their use of violence, they are just outdated. To go back to that sort of morality is to tacitly insult the cross, ignore the resurrection, and empty yourself of the spirit: three things we dare not do.

Killing on the Sabbath....?

2010-01-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

And He said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent.
-Jesus (Mark 3:4)

Profound question.

Interesting place faith becomes...when violence has even found a comfortable home on the Sabbath.

The Donkey King....

2010-01-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. -Zechariah 9:9-10

Most people have heard or read the first half of this verse...but not the last half.

I get pretty excited about the implications of such a thought.

Sarah Palin

2010-01-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

"Horrible decision, absolutely horrible. It is devastating for so many of us to hear that the Obama Administration decided that the 9/11 terrorist mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be given a criminal trial in New York. This is an atrocious decision....(He) may walk away from this trial without receiving just punishment because of a 'hung jury' or from any variety of court room technicalities. If we are stuck with this terrible Obama Administration decision, I, like most Americans, hope that Mohammed and his co-conspirators are convicted. Hang ‘em high." -Sarah Palin on her Facebook Page

I thought about my post on Clint Eastwood's "Hang 'Em High" after reading this quote.

Healing wounds...through art and story

2010-01-09T09:38:00.001-08:00

The Experiment at Shan Town from Partners Relief & Development on Vimeo.

In November 2008, (Partner's Relief and Development) traveled to a school of 700 students in Shan Town. They asked the children to help them understand their life experiences. Though they only had acrylic paint and paper, the results were incredible. Read more: here.

As an artist and a pastor of a church that values the proclamation and activism of justice, through the medium and witness of the arts; I am thrilled to see this project. I hope we can get it to come to Spokane.

We currently have a team of people from our church in Thailand in the refugee camps along the Thai/Burma border...(Please Pray for them)...I am sure they are going to return forever changed by thier journey. As a church, we are actively involved in refugee work, primarily with the people from Burma. As a church committed to a Head, Heart and Hands gospel of Jesus Christ...we see injustice in the world as a call to compassionate action, in our own communities and around the world.

Why Burma...?
-According to Human Rights Watch, at 70,000 kids, Burma boasts the highest number of child soldiers on Earth.
-The government spends .04% on health care. In contrast to an estimated 70% of government funds expended on the military.
-Rape is used as a weapon of war (an allegation upheld by the US State Department).
-Landmines are widely used, killing more people in Burma in 2002 than any other country in the world.
-Millions of Burmese have been pressed into forced labor. The Int. Labor Organization calls this "a modern form of slavery".
-Burma is the world's 2nd largest producer of opium, only second to Afghanistan. It's SE Asia's largest producer of meth.
-Has razed more than 3,200 villages and displaced over 1.5 million people, mostly farmers.

In 1990, National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was elected Prime Minister under UN sanctioned elections. After winning 85% of the popular vote, she was imprisoned by the ruling military junta. The junta also imprisoned approximately 1,600 political reformers, including 38 elected members of parliament. Aung San Suu Kyi and others remain in custody today.

Information gathered from the following sources:
Partner's
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma
The World Fact Book on Burma
Human Rights Watch

The sins of our Fathers....

2010-01-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

Canadian Imams: "Attack on Canada & U.S.A is an attack on Muslims": Read the article here

Many people forget that...356 Muslims were killed as a result of the 9/11 attacks...that act of radical extremism touched all Americans. Unfortunately the lack of sustained public outcry among Muslims...has many people skeptical about this Fatwa.
But the position such views place Muslims within, seem to me, to be almost impossible to answer:

If the Muslim community remains silent...they are all terrorists and terrorist supporters intent on all Jihad.
or
The Muslim community speaks out against violence, issues a fatwa and speaks for peace....and they are called liars.

The comments section of articles like this, are quick to call all of this, simply: Taqqiya

Which I think is a valid position from a certain perspective; I do believe that Muslims have the responsibility to address the issues that honest people are afraid of. But...I think, every religious person has the responsibility, however unfortunate or uncomfortable; to bring forward an apologetic for the actions and/or sins of thier fathers....Muslim, Buddhist, Jew or....Christian.

To ignore the planks in our eyes while trying to dig out the slivers in other peoples eyes is hypocrisy, as Jesus so wisely pointed out in Matthew 7:5.

We followers of the bible, have some pretty big questions; that fair minded people want answers too. Scriptures and the actions that followed them, like:

Deut. 7:1-2, 16
"When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drive out before you many nations… and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy…You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God gives over to you."

Deut. 2:34-35
"And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took."

Psalm 137:8-9:
“O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock!"

Psalms 58:10:
“The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked”

Yikes...seems like we all have some family tree issues to explain.

We need to remember as Christians, who follow the New Testament: "...It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God..."

I think that judgment, includes the work of cultural restitution, a form of personal or organizational confession that involves:
1. Explaining the past
2. Speaking up in the present
3. Presenting & proclaiming a better vision for the future.

One insightful commenter said:

"Let's see a few courageous Christian leaders step up to the plate and declare with equal humanity..."Attacks against Muslim homelands by western terrorists are attacks against us all".? Right. Western Christian leaders lack the backbone and are too invested in the stuff their churches are made to dare to risk their own comfort and security to speak with righteous moral conviction on this delicate subject. They might alienate the few members of their congregations and then they would have to find work.

I this that accusation and challenge needs an answer.

Jesus vs. Jehovah?

2010-01-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

The last time I referenced Greg Boyd around here...I got a bit of flak and he got tussled around fairly underhandedly in my opinion. Most Pastor's that link to anything from Boyd usually add this little evangelical distancing tool, the "I dont agree with everything" comment, that allows the poster to link or reference but attempts to avoid any negative backlash from heresy hunters or ultra conservative modern Pharisees. I get all that...but my general proclivity to get in the same hot water as Boyd...prevents me from uttering that "butt saving" post prologue. If anyone reading this thinks that to quote something or someone is an endorsement of all that person believes or has written...needs to get a brain, grow up and engage the world of ideas with a maturity above the level of 15.

That said :)

Greg has some really good blog posts centered around the issue of reconciling the violent God of the Old Testament with the image of God found in Jesus in the New Testament. You can find the beginning post here...and then you have to play forward to next post, hunt through a few other posts, until the next one that continues the discussion. It's a bit taxing to have to do that..I wish he would just put them all in one place. But the hassle is worth it. There is some really good stuff in these posts.

Greg also has an upcoming book about all of this Jesus Vs. Jehovah stuff, that should be here in 2010 sometime.

I feel these "principles" are some of the best navigational tools that I can find that help with this particular issue. I love his reduction of the issues down to these points. I find them extremely helpful in my own wrestling and articulation of the subject matter. I can't wait to get my hands on this book.

Below is a summarization of the guiding principles that will be part of the book.

Greg Boyd: "The core of the book is structured around six “principles.” Just to provide a little “heads up” as to the direction I’m going, here’s a short definition of each principle:"

The Christocentric Principle:
All of our thinking about God must be rooted in Christ. Jesus reveals what God has always been like. We thus need to read the Old Testament “through the lens” of Christ.

The Principle of Incarnational Flexibility.
If Jesus reveals what God has always been like, then God didn’t start being “incarnational” with the Incarnation. Rather, God has always been willing to humbly “embody” himself within our fallen humanity and has always “borne our sin.” The portrait of Yahweh as a nationalistic, law-oriented, violent-tending warrior god is the result of God condescending to “embody” himself within our barbaric and deceived views of him in order to work toward freeing us from them. (The reference to “god” rather than “God” in this previous sentence is intentional, since I argue God takes on the semblance of a sub-Christ-like “god” when he condescends to work within our fallen framework). Like Nanny McPhee, God is willing to appear as ugly as he needs to in order to free us from our ugliness and eventually reveal himself as he truly is to us (which is what takes place in Christ).

The Principle of Contrastive Pedagogy.
Though you’d never get this reading the Old Testament itself, Paul tells us that the most fundamental reason God gave the Law was to increase our sin and, by way of negative example, drive us to Christ. I argue that when we read the Old Testament through the lens of Christ, we can say the same thing about the nationalism and violence of God’s program in the Old Testament. It tells us more about what God is not like and how not to build his Kingdom than it tells us what God islike and how we are to build the kingdom. When Jesus shows up, he reveals a God and a Kingdom that invalidates nationalism, is rooted in empowering grace (not law) and is utterly free of violence, for it is centered on loving and serving enemies.

The Principle of Punitive Withdrawal.
When Jesus was crucified, God delivered Jesus up to wicked humans and “the powers.” Moreover, by entering into solidarity with us in our spiritually oppressed and fallen condition, Jesus experienced God-forsakenness. Since all of our understanding about God must be centered on Christ, Jesus’ abandonment and God-forsakenness should form the center of our understanding of how God punishes sin. He does so by withdrawing his protective presence and turning people over to experience the consequences of their decisions — a truth that is confirmed throughout the Old Testament. God’s “wrath” is his withdrawal.

The Principle of Cosmic Conflict.
Jesus’ ministry as well as the whole of the Old and New Testaments reveal that the world is engulfed by cosmic forces of destruction. Like a dam being opened, when God withdraws his protective hand to bring judgment, the powers are allowed to carry out their evil intentions and chaos ensues. Yet, whenever God “pours out his wrath” by withdrawing himself, he does so with a grieving heart and for the ultimate purpose of bringing healing and redemption.

The Principle of Responsible Identification.
Though he was in fact all-holy, on Calvary the Son of God identified with our sin to the point of bearing our guilt. So too, the Father is said to have afflicted his Son (Isa. 53) though in fact he merely allowed wicked powers using wicked people to crucify Jesus. When we read the Old Testament through this lens, we find God frequently identifying himself as the agent of violence, though the context makes it clear that he is merely allowing violent agents to do what they want to do. God is portrayed as doing what he actually merely allows. There are historical and exegetic reasons for this, but the theological reason, I argue, is that God has always been a God who takes responsibility for all that he allows — even though he detests much of what he allows. This is how God bears our sin and why he takes on the semblance of a nationalistic, law-oriented warrior god.

I argue that each of these six principles are rooted in Christ and confirmed throughout Scripture, and they take us a long way in reconciling the crucified God with the violent portrait of God found in the violent strands of the Old Testament.

Are Conservative Commentators good for your Soul?

2010-01-08T17:20:00.001-08:00

I was listening to Ruch yesterday and he was cajoling about how it was so ironic that he was in the hospital with chest pains while President Obama was on vacation in Hawaii too. He was sharing his nervous concern that Obama might possibly come to the hospital and offer his concern and sympathies. He was joking about how the fear of that happening was worse than the fear of his heart problems. As I listened to him...I was once again rolled over with another wave of disgust at the national talk radio, cable tv news animosity based commentary. Rush makes his living by continually keeping his message in a state of antagonism. He doesn't want answers...he wants ratings.

This industry of Madness is primarily consumed by the conservatives. Fox news out-rates all the others...and the majority of listeners that feed upon this source of news and commentary are Christians. Does that fact bother anyone else than myself? How has the leading sources of pissiness become the voice of the conservative Christians in this country?

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malice or evil behavior." -Ephesians 4:31

I guess, verses like these dont apply to our listening or viewing pleasure.

Are we truly getting fair and balanced news? When did these voices get anointed as the golden throated bastions of righteousness and rightness?

I was also watching Bill O'Reilly's program last night and heard this conversation:

Bill O'Reilly: We need to go in there and blow the hell out of them.

Fox Military Analyst: "And you cant over-worry collateral damage."

This comment from Bill, was in the center of a hotheaded blather about how until Bill was angry that Obama calls us at War now...but we are not (according to Bill and the Analyst) acting like we are at war. The context involved Bill going on about how we need to send our troops into Pakistan and take out the enemy there. Then after he huffed and puffed about how we are not doing what is needed...he paused, and then with a editorial back track, said "Well, I dont advocate that, I know that we cant actually do that" or something really close to those words. In that stream of blow them up stuff...the analyst said that in this conflict we need to not -"OVER-worry" the collateral damage issue.

So...if you know we cant approach the conflict in that "drop the bomb" method...why the diatribe?

Give me legitimate thoughts, answers and plans...not hot headed, unrealistic, civilian slaughtering blab.

These types of conversations reinforce my general perception that we dont know what the hell we are talking about most of the time. And, I would add that we dont know half the truth either. In short...so much of our arm chair quarterbacking that is going on is pure msg and filler in our ratings hyped, ego saturated media and lazyboy American culture. The two loudest voices in news casting, are two diametrically opposed news networks...how does that happen? Who are these ex generals, news analysts, military strategists anyway? You drop a intelligent sounding title under some blokes name and Im supposed to take him as some authority figure?

Now, I watch or listen to Rush, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck and Bill regularly...not because I am a die hard fan but he is part of my roundup of talking heads, I listen too...as well, as Rachel Maddow and occasionally Keith Oberman. It's mostly because its the only source of political commentary I can find available....but the more I am subjected to personalities and a way of dialogue being chosen...the more Im getting tired of it.

Being pissed...sells these days.

I hope that some network, news outlet or political voices arise out of the rubble of our cultural brawling that eventually has got to get disillusioning to the intelligent masses...and builds a sane, non-partisan, truly libertarian dialogue that is both accurate and interesting.

But...until Christians start applying the Bible to themselves instead of everyone else...I dont imagine we will see it anytime soon.

Burn yourself alive....out of desperation

2010-01-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

“Self-immolation is being used by increasing numbers of Afghan women to escape their dire circumstances, and women constitute the majority of Afghan suicides,” read the whole article: here

Fox News Military Strategy....

2010-01-07T17:14:00.000-08:00

Bill O'Reilly: We need to go in there and blow the hell out of them.
Military Analyst: "And you cant over-worry collateral damage."

The War Prayer...By Mark Twain

2010-01-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

In 1905, Twain wrote a piece called “The War Prayer” an attack on enthusiasm for war so scathing that it would not be published until after his death.

In it, young troops about to march off to battle gather in a church, where the minister prays for their victory. But then a stranger enters, wearing a white robe, and tells the congregation he has been sent from God to say he has heard their prayer and is willing to grant it…but only after the messenger explains what it really means.

God has actually received two prayers from the group, the stranger says: the one that the preacher spoke, but also a second, silent one that was in their hearts when they asked for victory. Then the messenger puts the unspoken prayer into words:

“O Lord our father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle—be Thou near them! With them—in spirit—we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe.

O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells;
help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead;
help us to drown the thunder of their guns with the wounded, writing in pain;
help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire;
help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief;

Help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended through wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sport of the sun-flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it, for our sakes, who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!

We ask of one who is the Spirit of love & who is the ever-faithful refuge & friend of all that are sore beset, and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Grant our prayer, O, Lord and Thine shall be the praise and honor and glory now and ever, Amen.” (After a pause, “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it speak! The messenger of the Most High waits.”
-From Mark Twain, An Illustrated Biography, G. Ward, D. Duncan & K. Burns

You want a King...here is what you get?

2010-01-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king. “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. Some will be generals and captains in his army,[a] some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle[b] and donkeys for his own use. He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.” But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.” -1 Samuel 8:10-19

The death of our sons and daughters...is nothing to use to manipulate a political position...it's a cold, hard, brutal reality of choosing man's way instead of God's.

Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 1 Samuel 8:6-7

Imagine what world would of been possible if Israel would have rejected the desire to be like the nations of this world?

Our soldiers and their families deserve alternatives to death....the nations won't bring about this kind of peace...only the gospel can turn a terrorist or murderer into a man or woman of peace. The gospel is the hope of the world. Jesus, Prince of Peace is the only way of peace. The church is the light that is supposed to be set on a hill, shinning a way in the darkness.

It is in the bosom of the church that swords are beaten into farming tools and spears into fishing equipment...may she rise up in this hour and proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Children....Puppets & Collateral damage of war

2010-01-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

2009 deadliest year for Afghan children: more than 1,050 children under 18 years of age were killed in suicide attacks, air strikes, improvised explosive device blasts and crossfire between warring parties in 2009: read the whole article

War: Child Soldiers

2010-01-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

Here is an interview with a young girl, who became a soldier by force....this is the logical results of pursuing war....soon, everyone has to kill. Since murdering one another doesn't seem to provoke to much Christian sympathy or moral outrage...maybe, child rape, drug induced brainwashing of our children to fight our battles....will cut through the culture wide religious apathy.

Here is an another interview with a former child soldier and author of his experience. The comments he shares at the end about the only way out is through Forgiveness...is a profound retelling of the power of the gospel that Jesus told His church to take to all the world. Seeing videos like these just enforces my desire to be a "peace maker"...the idea that to do that (according to one perspective on war) is to put another gun in this kids hand when he or she is "of age" sounds maniacal to me.

A Long Way Gone

Most convicting remark....

"You watch Rambo films as a way to just keep you in this madness....."

Woe to the bloody city...

2010-01-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Woe to the bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its victim never departs.
The noise of a whip and the noise of rattling wheels,
of galloping horses, of clattering chariots!
Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.
There is a multitude of slain, a great number of bodies,
countless corpses; they stumble over the corpses;
because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot,
the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations through her harlotries,
and families through her sorceries.
-Nahum 3:1-4

Here are a few of the historical records of Nineveh's violent actions, listed on thier monuments of war:

-“I cut off their heads and formed them into pillars”
-“Bubo, son of Buba, I flayed in the city of Arbela and I spread his skin upon the city wall”
-“I flayed all the chief men who had revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skins”
-“Many within the border of my own land I flayed, and spread their skins upon the walls”
-“I cut off the limbs of the officers, the royal officers who had rebelled”
-“3,000 captives I burned with fire”
-“Their corpses I formed into pillars”
-“From son I cut off their hands and their fingers, and from other I cut off their noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out their eyes”
-“I made one pillar of the living, and another of heads, I bound their heads to posts round about the city”

Woe to the bloody city...I ain't heard that preached much.

Anti-Gay Sex...but not Anti-War

2010-01-05T15:49:00.001-08:00

I find it interesting that Christian pastors will role over in a TV and buffet induced football coma when it comes to issues of war...but mention gay sex and marriage...and we rally huge pastoral conferences and statewide voter initiatives.

They shake the pulpits with anti-gay-agenda-family values messages...but are SILENT...on War. We care more about our tax dollars being spent on condoms and public school potty talks...than about the ghastly war machine, the trillions of dollars it consumes; and the lives of innocents it crushes in it's nation "building" campaigns.

A loaded revolver...

2010-01-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

"True peace is based on mutual confidence, while these huge armaments show open and utter lack of confidence, if not concealed hostility, between states. What should we say of a man who, wanting to show his friendly feelings for his neighbor, should invite him to discuss thier differences with a loaded revolver in his hand?" -Leo Tolstoy, chapter 5, pg. 115 from "The Kingdom of God is Within You"

5 Questions...

2010-01-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

Five Questions Your Pacifist Friends Are Tired of Answering...

Body of War

2010-01-04T16:49:00.001-08:00

Gospel wrestlings in Abu Ghraib

2010-01-04T16:09:00.000-08:00

Watch this video of Iraq veteran Joshua Casteel where he discusses his time as an interrogator for the US military at Abu Ghraib and how it led to him becoming a conscientious objector. It's probably one of the most intriguing video's I've seen from a veteran sharing his personal conflict concerning being a Christian and a Soldier.

Our Presidents and War....

2010-01-03T19:40:00.000-08:00

War made Easy:

To be governed is to be....

2010-01-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

"To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-ridden, regulated, penned up, indoctrinated, preached at, checked, appraised, seized, censured, commanded, by beings who have neither title, nor knowledge, nor virtue. To be governed is to have every operation, every transaction, every movement noted, registered, counted, rated, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, refused, authorized, endorsed, admonished, prevented, reformed, redressed, corrected."
-French political theorist, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. 1849

Mr. Madison...and the 10th Amendment

2010-01-03T18:04:00.000-08:00

In the Virginia Resolution of 1798, James Madison wrote of the principle of interposition:

"That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government, as resulting from the compact, to which the states are parties; as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting the compact; as no further valid that they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, the authorities, rights and liberties appertaining to them.

Leo Tolstoy's classic text of Christian Anarchism....

2010-01-01T11:18:00.001-08:00

"An extremely harmful book that undermines the foundations of social and governmental institutions and wholly destroys the teaching of the church." -Moscow Civil Censorship Committee.

This refers to the Leo Tolstoy book "What I believe".
I am reading Tolstoy's book "The Kingdom of God is within You" which is basically a commentary of his responses to the stir that "What I believe" produced. Needless to say...it's a barn burner.

Here is a quote:
"But Christ could not have founded the Church, that is, what we now understand by that word. For nothing like that idea of the Church as we know it now, with its sacraments, miracles, and above all its claim of infallibility, is to be found either in Christ's words or in the ideas of the men of that time."

Here is a link to the table of contents...read it, you can get the picture as to why it's controversial to say the least.
You can also read it online there as well. (http://www.kingdomnow.org/withinyou.html )

It's a must for anyone looking at the issues of peace, non-resistance and war.

Money talks for Blackwater in Iraq...

2010-01-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Nov. 10: The New York Times reports that the Blackwater security company authorized secret payments to Iraqi officials to silence criticism. Rachel Maddow talks about these new revelations with Jeremy Scahill, reporter for The Nation.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/33846017#33846017

Afghanistan deaths...

2009-12-29T18:04:00.000-08:00

Civilian Deaths...

Military Deaths...

The disparities of civilians vs military is heart breaking.
The disparity between our troops and the worlds....heartbreaking too.

Submitting your will to that of the state...good or bad?

2009-12-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

Millions of citizens are deeply disturbed that the military-industrial complex too often shapes national policy,
but they do not want to be considered unpatriotic. ~Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963

I think it's patriotic to espouse the freedoms that our Constitution establishes as rights to it's citizens.

But all honest debate about policy, get's dicey, because there are fellow citizens, friends and family that have to follow orders related to that policy. If we reject as unjust, some action of our government...we are by association, accusing those who choose to obey those orders. There is no way around that issue.

An attempt is made to distinguish the disparity by saying things like: "I support the troops but not the War." This is an attempt to divide the issue of blame. Good folks don't want to be "against" people...soldier or senator...but in the end, one holds the gavel and another the gun. That fact makes the attempt to separate the act from the actor...extremely complicated.

Ultimately we are all responsible for our own actions. The gravity of that fact needs to be fully comprehended by anyone choosing to submit their will to the state.

If a solidier makes a vow to the government....they are bound by oath.
This is an issue that comes up in the debate about Christians being soldiers: Submitting thier will to that of the state.
Some would say that's an action that Jesus told His followers to avoid.

Matthew 5: 33-37
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

In the end, my wrestlings with these topics are not meant to "be against" someone...but against a system...but I know that in the fray, that isn't always clear.

Converted or Killed...?

2009-12-28T12:17:00.001-08:00

"But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison...Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." -Acts 8:3 & 9:1-5

Imagine if in our day...God raised up another Middle Eastern force of global missionaries; handpicked from a group of fundamentalist, religious extremists...who are also breathing threats and murder.

Saul was such a man...and God changed Him from the inside out...and Saul...became known as Paul. Not a murdering religious zealot who would gladly stand over the infidels as they were stoned to death...but Paul, the self sacrificing missionary who would become the Apostle to the Gentiles. Eventually he would give up his own life for the gospel of Jesus, as a martyr for the faith he once persecuted.

But...for there to be a Paul...there also has to be an...Ananias.

In Acts 9:10-19 we have the story of how God used a disciple named Ananias to embrace and empower Paul through forgiveness, prayer and ministry.

At first Ananias was nervous about God’s call to him to reach out to this well known, violent religious fundamentalist. How could God be calling him to cross paths with one of the most violent religious aggressor against the fledgling church?

How could God be calling Ananias to endanger himself?
Would God require Ananias to risk imprisonment and possible death?

Yes.

As a result...God moved through Ananias obedience and Saul’s vision was restored and he was baptized. Out of those baptismal waters...came the Apostle Paul. A new man...with a new heart and charged with a new mission.

I believe that this world needs less people who think with “Bullet’s & Ballots” and more who embrace a mission minded God. The church is charged with finding her Saul’s who are destined to become Paul’s and more than likely the most influential and misisonminded will come from among the most radical and terrifying opponents of Jesus.

Behold...the mission field of God...who will go?

In the last 25 years, more than 100 times as many American Christians have gone to the Middle East to serve their country in a military capacity than have gone to the Middle East to serve the King of kings by proclaiming the gospel of peace!

In North Africa, there is still roughly one missionary for every two million Muslims.
In northern India, it is roughly one missionary for every five million Muslims.
Globally, it averages out to be one missionary for every one million Muslims.

ABCs of Global Missions
World A
Unreached people -- 24% of the world's population -- receive 1/2 of 1% of dollars given to Christian missions

World B
Unevangelized World -- 43% of the world's population -- receives 5% of dollars given to Christian missions

World C
Christian World -- 33% of the world's population -- receives 94.5% of dollars given to Christian missions

Just maybe...if we would have been as zealous for the mission of God among the least reached peoples of this world...we wouldn’t be where we are today, Geo-politically?
Maybe the blood of the innocents lies not on the hands of the military but on the folded and slumbering hands of God’s inactive soldiers of the cross?

Maybe the hope of the planted isn’t in the hands of the Generals but instead in the pews of our churches?

Saul...where are you?

Ananias...where are you?

--------------------------------------------------
Answers to objections to going into Missions by John Piper: here
Strategic World Missions Map to plan your mission: here

What about the OT War God, the Law and War God of Revelations...?

2009-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Many bring this issue up when debating the issue of Just War, military service and the place a follower of Jesus has in those activities. They are huge issues, and Im not going to give a massive response right here..but here are a few points to chew on...

First and foremost for me, the issue is simply that I am a follower of Jesus...everything He taught comes first.

He interprets the law for me. He is the New Covenant law giver...on like unto Moses. As Moses climbed a mountain and received a law...Jesus climbed a mountain and gave law. He didn't do away with the OT law, He rescued it from the hands of men who were adding to it, nullifying it and misinterpreting it. They were missing the "spirit" of the law.

So He taught on the law...and especially the issues of murder, violence and revenge and adultery. His examples and commentary on how to approach injustice, evil and crimes committed against oneself set the foundation for me.

I do not believe a sincere reading of Matthew 5...makes room for Just War.

Primarily because...a soldier will not only kill, which some say is allowed under an interpretation of the word in the decalogue but they will also "murder". You can not be a soldier and not be forced to murder innocent people. It's impossible, even if you do not want too. A smart bomb war is a murdering war...just as much, as a nuclear war or a frontline war.

Can a Christian murder? I simply can't accept that based on Jesus's own teaching in Matthew 5, let alone countless other examples. In Matt 5, Jesus said that one who calls another a "fool" is guilty of the fires of Hell. And that it's better to saw off your arm or gouge out your eye that to be led to sin with them.

That's some pretty clear teaching in my book.

He also engages in some focused commentary about how the Jews would find ways to navigate out of the clear commands of scripture and come up with ways to reinterpret:

For example, the fifth commandment is clear enough: “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). But the Pharisees had a custom whereby “if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban’—(that is, a gift to God), then [the Pharisees] no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother” (Mark 7:11–12). In fact, if someone had thus pledged his inheritance to God and then used any of his resources to care for his parents in their old age, the Pharisees would deem that act of charity a sacrilege, because it was a violation of the Corban vow. Jesus told them, “[You have made] the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do”

I feel that much of the war, violence responses do this very thing. They have taken clear teachings and said...yah but.

As far as the OT violence and the end of the world comments you made. I have lots of thoughts on that stuff too.

for now...I would say I am sure you wouldn't say that as a Christian you support the position of: Num. 31:7-18; Josh. 6:1-21, 24.

Can you truly imagine a follower of Jesus being ok with such a policy of war?

For me, I am glad that the "Judgement of God" for all man's sin was poured out on the cross. Hebrews 9:26 calls it the consummation of the ages.

"Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

I believe that event...has implications even to the end of the age.

I believe that we need to interpret the book of Revelations through the cross. It is a "revelation" of Jesus Christ.

The Lion that is a a lamb (Rev 5) is the only one worthy to handle the book of judgements.

He is also the One pictured as coming on a white horse with a bloody robe and a sword coming out of His mouth not in His hands. He is coming to a "war" on a White victory Horse, already bloody and without a sword in His hand.

To me that pictures a victorious King, who conquered not by war but by death, and conquers the world not with violence but with salvation and the word of God.

Will God judge mankind...yes, He already has.
Will God liv eout the end like all other conquering Kings....through bloodshed, violence, slaughter, no mercy...

Some say,,,yes.

but..I doubt it.

"You have heard it said...But "I" say... -Jesus

We are going to inherit the earth....

2009-12-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

"We are going to inherit the earth . There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie may blast and burn its own world before it finally leaves the stage of history. We Are not afraid of ruins. We who ploughed the prairies and built the cities can build again, only better next time. We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing this minute."
-Durruti

The Christian anarchist...

2009-12-26T18:22:00.000-08:00

The dictionary definition of a Christian is one who follows Christ; kind, kindly, Christ-like. Anarchism is voluntary cooperation for good, with the right of secession. A Christian anarchist is therefore one who turns the other cheek, overturns the tables of the moneychangers, and does not need a cop to tell him how to behave. A Christian anarchist does not depend upon bullets or ballots to achieve his ideal; he achieves that ideal daily by the One-Man Revolution with which he faces a decadent, confused, and dying world". -Ammon Hennacy

Revelations...as Peace Theology

2009-12-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

This mornings read: 5 sermons on "Revelations as Peace Theology"
Read them: Here

The Martyrdom of Perpetua....

2009-12-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

As I'ved been doing my studies on the early churches predominant position on war and peace...you cannot get very far before the Coliseum becomes a powerful entity in the discussion. Violence in a culture and the love of watching or participating in violence rises to the surface.

As one moves from the furit of war...and follows the limbs, then arrives at the trunk and continues down the tree into the dirt to the roots that lie below...one is confronted with the violence that lies within us. That sinfulness is what always creates the evil that is without us.

It was the transformative issue that the teaching of Christ had upon the early disciples. What He taught changed the way they lived. Their hearts and minds changed. They literally repented of living the "way they had before". They actually got new minds and hearts...and that radically altered they way they treated one another.

The gospel was so real...they even gave up their own lives...as entertainment for the blood thirsty masses. And like Perpetua...took the sword of the soldier...and put it to thier own neck in acts of utter submission to the eternal justice of God.

They didn't even love their own lives....and this faith...turned the world upside down.

Read about Perpetua's last stand in the Roman Coliseum...here: The Martyrdom of Saint Perpetua

The Early Christian View of War and Military Service

2009-12-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

"That the prophecy is fulfilled, you have good reason to believe, for we, who in times past killed one another, do not now fight with our enemies."26 "We, who had been filled with war and mutual slaughter and every wickedness, have each one-all the world over-changed the instruments of war, the swords into plows and the spears into farming implements, and we cultivate piety, righteousness, love for men, faith, (and) the hope which is from Father Himself through the Crucified One." -JUSTIN MARTYR (150 A.D.)

I was astounded at the power of these words and why as a Christian of over 25 years; I was never exposed to the force of thought that the early Church Father's brought to the issue of war, peace and the way of the disciple of Jesus. This quote is just the tip of the iceberg. This article is a must read for a historical argument that has to be made in the debate. Is it every early Christians view...no, was it historically the predominant view of the majority of Christians in the first, second and third centuries before Rome "converted"...hard to make a case that it wasn't.

Read much more here: http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/doctrine/ecvowams.htm

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war...

2009-12-23T15:23:00.000-08:00

"A Pollyannaish Misadventure"....that's what Matthew Hoh, a leading U.S official in Afghanistan called the war. The Washington Post's article is painfully insightful and his resignation letter is extremely sad and from a foreign policy perspective....very troublesome to me.
His words read like pages out of a Malalai Joya book or speech. The question is...is anyone listening?

Read the Washington Post article: Here
Read His letter of resignation: here

Quotes from his resignation letter and the WP article:
"Our support for this kind of government, coupled with a misunderstanding of the insurgency's true nature, reminds me horribly of our involvement with South Vietnam; an unpopular and corrupt government we backed at the expense of our nation's own internal peace, against an insurgency whose nationalism we arrogantly and ignorantly mistook as a rival to our own Cold War ideology." (Letter)

"I'm not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love."

"American families, he said at the end of the letter, "must be reassured their dead have sacrificed for a purpose worthy of futures lost, love vanished, and promised dreams unkept. I have lost confidence such assurances can be made any more...If the United States is to remain in Afghanistan, Hoh said, he would advise a reduction in combat forces"

Patriotism, pacifism and just warriors

2009-12-22T19:53:00.000-08:00

This interview with Stanley Hauerwas was a breath of fresh air to me. Why oh why are such lucid minds so hard to find in the church today?

Here are some great quotes from the article...gold...pure gold, I tell you:

"If you’re a just warrior, you’re going to have to watch the innocent suffer for your convictions – just like the pacifist does."

"The war on terrorism could not possibly be a just war. I don’t even think it’s a war, I mean that’s a metaphorical use of the word “war” that comes from Americans’ views of – you know, the “war on drugs”, the “war on crime” – I mean, it’s just crap."

"You know, I’m not trying to call Christians out of being politically involved; I just want them to be there as Christians. And instead, what they get is they think they have a personal relationship with Jesus, which makes it OK for them to do anything that they damn well please, in the name of what’s important for national defence. Well, Jesus is a political saviour, and that prayer is a political prayer. And that’s the kind of seizing of the imagination I’m trying to help Christians regain in America. Because in America, Christians just cannot distinguish themselves – what it means to be Christian, they assume it goes hand in hand with what it means to be an American. And that’s just a deep mistake. But how to help Christians recover that difference is very difficult indeed."

If you want more Stanley go here.

Is this the only level headed person at the Capital?

2009-12-22T15:07:00.001-08:00

Ron Paul talking common sense about Swine Flu hysteria...which if you've noticed...has passed.

Ron Paul still speaking truth to power....

2009-12-22T14:54:00.001-08:00

Ron Paul - Hearing on Afghanistan 10/15/2009

This Is Where We Take Our Stand....

2009-12-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

"Nobody can hear our stories and still support this shit." -Geoff Millard, Iraq war veteran

This is Where We Take Our Stand - Trailer from Displaced Films on Vimeo.

This is a controversial but powerful look into the Occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan from the witness and voices for those who have been there. You can view episodes 1-4 here and episode 5 & 6 here.

I really don't think I have watched a more moving and in your face report about Iraq and Afghanistan...there were moments in these clips that I cried, got angry, feared and wanted to stand up and salute. It's not a series of clips that will leave you without something to talk about. And in the end isn't that what really should be going on? These soldiers have got something to say...and what's great is that they don't all share the same opinions on the wars...there are really human moments in this that lend credibility to the video to me. It's not simply one-sided perspective...the soldiers are honest in their positions....even if they differ. These are brave folks...I admire their courage, truthfulness and ache for their pain.

The series producers write:

Where’s the debate?

Are we watching passively while Barack Obama carries out the same policies as George W. Bush?

When an American bombing raid this May killed over two hundred civilians in a village in Afghanistan, it was met with a deafening silence. When Obama’s promised “withdrawal” from Iraq leaves 130,000 troops there for at least two more years and 50,000 permanently, it’s hailed as an end to the occupation. And who is demanding to know just what the mission really is when 30,000 more troops are sent to Afghanistan?

Where’s the debate?

In March of 2008, two hundred and fifty veterans and active duty soldiers marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by gathering in Washington, DC, to testify from their own experience about the nature of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. It was chilling, horrifying, and challenging for all who witnessed it. Against tremendous odds, they brought the voices of the veterans themselves into the debate. That was then. This is now. Today, we present to you This is Where We Take Our Stand, the inside story of those three days and the courageous men and women who testified. And we present this story today, told in six episodes, because we believe it is as relevant now as it was one year ago. Maybe more.

Here is our challenge to you: Watch the series; spread it far and wide; and ask yourself is this about the past, or the present and future. Then add your voice. If you are a veteran or active duty, present your own testimony. If you are not, but you are still a living, breathing member of the human race, then do whatever you can to join and fan the flames of debate.
-Displaced Films and Northern Light Productions

pink...ko? Jodie Evans

2009-12-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ~Voltaire
Here is a feisty interview with the sometimes breathless anti-war activist Jodie Evans. I know that she is considered the extreme and is often demonized, vilified and shares countless views and some actions that I wouldn't endorse. But....in light of Jesus's words in Revelation 3:15-16...she is hot!
And I can appricaite Hot or Cold in these 'lukewarm' days.

"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." -Jesus

Jodie is a co-founder of the anti-war group CODEPINK. In October 2009, after returning from a trip to Afghanistan, she hand-delivered a petition to President Obama from Afghan women against the surge. Reviled by conservatives and a thorn in the side of liberals, she is unapologetic in her beliefs and committed to stopping wars fought in the name of the US. She shares her experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, her formative years working for then California governor Jerry Brown and her hopes for the future."I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." ~Voltaire
Yes, here is Jody with her Codepink partner Medea Benjamin stirring up trouble during the Republican convention when Sarah Palin was speaking.

"In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman." -Margaret Thatcher

1 in 3 women in the military are raped

2009-12-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

"The thought of being raped one day and then having to defend the life of the rapist the next is unimaginable. But this is what many women in the military deal with everyday. According to a new study by the Department of Defense, 1 in 3 women in the military are raped....Sgt. Sandra Lee made her first public statement on how she was raped twice while deployed in Iraq. According to Veterans for Peace: “Thirty seven percent of the attempted raped and raped women in the VA study also reported being raped more than once and 14% of them reported being gang raped. This study also discovered that 75% of raped women in the military failed to report it.”

This issue of violence and war and the damage it brings upon women is a horrific topic that gets little attention, especially by those who advocate the occupation and concept of "Just war". I find the topic to be particularly exposing because it gets to the issues of the human heart and the realities of what happens when our most carnal impulses are trained to be used for political ends. We put people into situations that pull upon their most primal natures and then act surprised by the carnage that is unleashed.

Obviously these acts are not perpetrated by all soldiers...but is a stat of 1 in 3...a roll of the dice, you are willing to make with the lives of your daughters?

I've never seen the suicide, PTS or rape statistics in any recruitment material...but I see lots of $$$ used. Does anyone else have a problem with that? Am I somehow unpatriotic because it appears to be dangerously camouflaged? Religion and Violence are both taking a insufferable toll upon the women of this world...in all areas of war. They are the collateral damage...in our march towards power, control, revenge, democracy or whatever other banner is being waived.

Is Sgt. Sandra Lee, a mere pawn of anti-war propaganda...or is she witnessing to the truth...?

It's a dangerous gamble.

New Survey...

2009-12-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

Nearly 60 percent Say President Obama’s Decisions “Bad for America”: Read Here

news flash...

2009-12-22T09:01:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama has the worst poll rating for any American President since Truman at this stage in the presidency. -AP

Let's raise up this kind of army...

2009-12-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.cpt.org/resources/writings/sider

This article is probably one of the most challenging ones on the subject of what should you do now that you believe that God is calling Christians to a Third way in the face of war and violence.

God & Guns....

2009-12-21T18:41:00.000-08:00

“I speak as a Christian- one whose commitment to democracy is very deep but whose Christian convictions are deeper. Democracy is not my faith. And American democracy is not my idol. To see the gospel of Jesus Christ bastardized by imperial Christiansand pulverized by Constantinian believers and then exploited by nihilistic elites of the American empire makes my blood boil. To be a Christian- a follower of Jesus Christ- is to love wisdom, love justice, and love freedom. This is the radical love in Christian freedom and the radical freedom in Christian love that embraces socratic questioning, prophetic witness, and tragicomic hope. If Christians do not exemplify this love and freedom, then we side with the nihilists of the Roman empire (cowardly elite Romans and subjugated Jews) who put Jesus to a humiliating death. Instead of receiving his love in freedom as a life-enhancing gift of grace, we end up believing in the idols of the empire that nailed him to the cross. I do not want to be numbered among those who sold their souls for a mess of pottage- who surrendered their democratic Christian identity for a comfortable place at the table of the American empire while, like Lazarus, the least of these cried out and I was too intoxicated with worldly power and might to hear, beckon, and heed their cries. To be a Christian is to live dangerously, honestly, freely- to step in the name of love as if you may land on nothing, yet to keep on stepping because the something that sustains you no empire can give you and no empire can take away. This is the kind of vision and courage required to enable the renewal of prophetic, democratic Christian identity in the age of the American empire.” -Cornel West, Democracy Matters

I've been wrestling with some bog issues in my mind and heart lately...one of them being the Christian's response, participation and posture towards war, military service and killing, unquestioned subservience to authority, empire and rule.

It began as I started using some praying the daily office material. In those prayers there is a spot to pray for those who face trials, tests and suffering. In light of the recent Fort Hood massacre...I was praying for the families who lost loved ones and friends. As I continued to pray...I began to pray for our enemies as Jesus commands us to do. As I continued praying for those who kill, have killed or suffer because of it...my heart and mind began to get jammed up in some deep ethical and theological cramps.

Then I read this article on the suicide rates taking place in the military and my uneasiness increased.

"As of November 16, 2009, 140 soldiers on active duty have taken their own lives, with 71 soldiers not on active duty whose death has also been identified as a suicide. The suicide rate for 2008 was the worst in three decades, and in January 2009, 24 soldiers killed themselves - more than died in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan combined."

This fact disturbed me even more and my prayers extended into the lives of those struggling with the possibilities, consequences and damage of war.

I've always thought "The God & Guns" crowd is scary when it wears a turban:
"You infidels and despotic, we will continue our jihad (holy war) and never stop until God avails us to chop your necks and raise the fluttering banner of monotheism when God's rule is established governing all people and nations," you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."-Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq.But, then I started wondering if it is any different if we begin to weave an American flag into our image of American Jesus and end up with rhetoric like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell gave us ?
Some folks have some profound and challenging positions on whether Christians should even serve in the military like Greg Boyd's article here.

I was talking to a service woman the other day and listening to her issues of conscience and expressing that she was uneasy with the tendency of Christian Churches that seem to blindly embrace right wing, fundamentalist, pro-military stances...when the "Military" does evil things" as she stated it. That was coming from someone who is still serving within the military.

That conversation pushed me over the edge. I have to find a way to support those who serve but that support has to help them come under the rule of the Kingdom of God...not the kingdoms of this world. That process involves extending a healing ministry to those who are separated because of war, be it family, kids or relatives. It has to involve inner healing and presence to those who are walking out the devastation's of war and death. It has to mean we gather, love and support those who have been chewed up and spit out of the war machines, systems and programs that often leave men and women homeless, divorced, mentally unhealthy and socially disconnected.

I'm working towards finding ground that is biblically sound, ethically clear and still patriotic in a way, that is respectful and supportive but not endorsing of that which would be contrary to the spirit and work of Jesus. Remaining prophetic towards that which isn't Kingdom coming but restorative towards those who are still trying to work out their own salvations here on earth. Not an easy task.

I take courage that even the Church Fathers struggled with the issues:

"Emperors could only believe in Christ if they were not Emperors..as if Emperors could ever be Christians." -Tertullian, Apology (ca. 160 – ca. 220 A.D)

As we face more troop increases in Afghanistan, nuclear tensions in North Korea and Iran and the continued path of stabilization trying to happen in Iraq...I find my self praying the Lord's prayer with greater conviction than ever before...Thy Kingdom Come and will be done on Earth as it is done in Heaven...and lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil"

Deep and confrontational words from the Prince of Peace.

Woman among the Warlords...

2009-12-21T18:40:00.003-08:00

Everyone's got an opinion on Afghanistan but have you taken the time to listen to an Afghani? This woman, Malalai Joya, has got a few words to say....and she has earned the right to be heard....her speech is where the content is...the first few snippets must be put in context of her speech, so dont turn it off too soon. Here is her book: A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice

The White Rose...

2009-12-21T18:40:00.001-08:00

In the resistance tradition of the midwives who resisted Pharoh's genocidal decree and Rahab, who hid the Isralite spies from the Jericoh police and Saul’s troops who refused to kill the priest of Nob who had sheltered and armed David...I draw your attention to "The White Rose".

They were a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of a number of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor. The group became known for an anonymous leaflet campaign, lasting from June 1942 until February 1943, that called for active opposition to German dictator Adolf Hitler's regime.

The six core members of the group were arrested by the Gestapo and executed by beheading in 1943. The text of their sixth leaflet was smuggled out of Germany through Scandinavia to the UK, and in July 1943 copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied planes, retitled "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."
Monument to the "White Rose" in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Here are a couple quotes from "The White Rose's" writings:

"Why do German people behave so apathetically in the face of all these abominable crimes, crimes so unworthy of the human race? ... The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals....[The German] must evidence not only sympathy; no, much more: a sense of complicity in guilt....For through his apathetic behaviour he gives these evil men the opportunity to act as they do.... he himself is to blame for the fact that it came about at all! Each man wants to be exonerated ....But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!... now that we have recognized [the Nazis] for what they are, it must be the sole and first duty, the holiest duty of every German to destroy these beasts. (From Leaflet 2)

"...why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanised state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right - or rather, your moral duty - to eliminate this system? (From Leaflet 3)

I know that the gun seems so much more powerful than a stack of letters...but I'm a true believer in the transformative power of the Word. I think of Martin Luther King's sermon on Vietnam which could be preached today...just insert "Iraq or Afghanistan" instead of Vietnam. There is a lot of really great thoughts in his sermon, one of the most quoted being:

"This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

And this quote seemed particularly prophetic to me:

"Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism." -Buddhist leaders of Vietnam

or..."Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." -John F. Kennedy

My focus on such people and voices; isn't done with the intent on discouraging or maligning any who are serving in the military or hold pro-war convictions. I simply offer these alternatives and ongoing dialogue in order to foster greater thought and debate among honest and thinking Christians.

Silent Night...during WW1...?

2009-12-21T18:39:00.001-08:00

The Christmas Truce, which occurred primarily between the British and German soldiers along the Western Front in December 1914, is an event the official histories of the "Great War" leave out, and the Orwellian historians hide from the public. Stanley Weintraub has broken through this barrier of silence and written a moving account of this significant event by compiling letters sent home from the front, as well as diaries of the soldiers involved. His book is entitled Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce. The book contains many pictures of the actual events showing the opposing forces mixing and celebrating together that first Christmas of the war. This remarkable story begins to unfold, according to Weintraub, on the morning of December 19, 1914:

"Lieutenant Geoffrey Heinekey, new to the 2ND Queen’s Westminister Rifles, wrote to his mother, ‘A most extraordinary thing happened. . . Some Germans came out and held up their hands and began to take in some of their wounded and so we ourselves immediately got out of our trenches and began bringing in our wounded also. The Germans then beckoned to us and a lot of us went over and talked to them and they helped us to bury our dead. This lasted the whole morning and I talked to several of them and I must say they seemed extraordinarily fine men . . . . It seemed too ironical for words. There, the night before we had been having a terrific battle and the morning after, there we were smoking their cigarettes and they smoking ours." (p. 5)

As night fell on Christmas Eve the British soldiers noticed the Germans putting up small Christmas trees along with candles at the top of their trenches and many began to shout in English "We no shoot if you no shoot."(p. 25). The firing stopped along the many miles of the trenches and the British began to notice that the Germans were coming out of the trenches toward the British who responded by coming out to meet them. They mixed and mingled in No Man’s Land and soon began to exchange chocolates for cigars and various newspaper accounts of the war which contained the propaganda from their respective homelands. Many of the officers on each side attempted to prevent the event from occurring but the soldiers ignored the risk of a court-martial or of being shot.

Some of the meetings reported in diaries were between Anglo-Saxons and German Saxons and the Germans joked that they should join together and fight the Prussians. The massive amount of fraternization, or maybe just the Christmas spirit, deterred the officers from taking action and many of them began to go out into No Man’s Land and exchange Christmas greetings with their opposing officers. Each side helped bury their dead and remove the wounded so that by Christmas morning there was a large open area about as wide as the size of two football fields separating the opposing trenches. The soldiers emerged again on Christmas morning and began singing Christmas carols, especially "Silent Night." They recited the 23RD Psalm together and played soccer and football. Again, Christmas gifts were exchanged and meals were prepared openly and attended by the opposing forces. Weintraub quotes one soldier’s observation of the event: "Never . . . was I so keenly aware of the insanity of war." (p. 33). Read more here.
This is going to be one of my Christmas reads for sure.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." -Luke 2:13-14

Anti-War Heretic....???

2009-12-21T18:38:00.002-08:00

a prayer...

2009-12-21T18:38:00.001-08:00

The God of Hosts is with us.
You are our refuge and our strength
A very present help in the time of trouble. Therefore we will not
fear, though the mountains tremble and the seas rage. There is a river
whose streams make glad the city of God.
You are in her midst, she will not be overthrown. You are the One who
makes war to cease.Who breaks the bow and shatters the spear. We come
now to see Your works, the things You have done here on Earth. We will
be still and know that You are God. And You will be exalted in all the
Earth.
-Psalms

Nonresistance...or...Nonviolence

2009-12-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

The term "nonviolence" is often linked with or even used as a synonym for pacifism(nonresistance); however, the two concepts are fundamentally different. Pacifism denotes the rejection of the use of violence as a personal decision on moral or spiritual grounds, but does not inherently imply any inclination toward change on a sociopolitical level. Nonviolence on the other hand, presupposes the intent of (but does not limit it to) social or political change as a reason for the rejection of violence.

There would be no barbarians...

2009-12-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

Early in the third century A.D., the aforementioned Origen of Alexandria responded to charges made seventy years earlier by the social critic, Celsus, who claimed that Christians neglected the public welfare of the Roman empire. He criticized Christians, declaring "...if all were to do the same as you [Christians]...the affairs of the earth would fall into the hands of the wildest and most lawless barbarians..." (Against Celsus, IV.68). Origen's response? If everyone acted like Christians, there would simply be no barbarians. To the critique that Christians did not serve the common good through military service, but should, Origen's response deserves a full rendering:

"And to those enemies of our faith who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth, and to slay men, we can reply: 'Do not those who are priests at certain shrines and those who attend on certain gods, as you account them, keep their hands free from blood, that they may with hands unstained and free from human blood offer the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when war is upon you, you never enlist the priests in the army. If that, then, is a laudable custom, how much more so, that while others are engaged in battle, these too should engage as the priests and ministers of God, keeping their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those who are fighting in a righteous cause. . . .We do take our part in public affairs, when along with righteous prayers we join self-denying exercises and meditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be led away by them. And none fight better for the emperor than we do. We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it; but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army—an army of piety—by offering our prayers to God'" -Against Celsus

Malalai Joya...a

2009-12-21T18:35:00.002-08:00

"My condolences to the people of Afghanistan..."- Malalai Joya

This young Afghani woman inspires me almost as much as Mother Teresa and Aung San Suu Kyi. This article has to be read by anyone who is concerned about the war. Her words are so powerful, especially because her life is behind them. No armchair rhetoric here...: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/malalai-joya-the-woman-who-will-not-be-silenced-1763127.html

The Jester's should be King....

2009-12-21T18:35:00.001-08:00

In all my searching for an intelligent response to President Obama's speech on War for Peace...I couldn't find anything that captured what I was thinking and feeling. Two days of searching and finally...I found it And of course in concert with the other brilliant clip...here is yet another piece of gut-splitting reporting...have the Jesters...truly spoken the only wisdom to the court?

Good workers...

2009-12-21T18:33:00.001-08:00

"I would be the last to condemn the thousands of sincere and dedicated people outside the churches who have labored unselfishly through various humanitarian movements to cure the world of social evils, for I would rather a man be a committed humanist than an uncommitted Christian." ~Martin Luther King

Tempted...again and again...

2009-12-21T18:32:00.001-08:00

"The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we will find ourselves organizing clergy and laymen-concerned committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. ...."I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. ...."A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. (Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967 "A Time to Break Silence: Declaration of Independence from the Vietnam War")

So...the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $636 billion military spending bill on Wednesday that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It reminds me of these quotes and the temptation of Jesus by Satan.

"Over grown military establishments are under any form of governments inauspicious to liberty and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty." -George Washington

"The means of defense against foreign danger have historically become the instruments of tyranny at home." -James Madison

"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." -James Madison

Nation building as a result of a policy of American Interventionism is more than likely simply Economic Colonialism at the heart. I know that protection from foreign terrorists, liberty and democracy are the mantra of the war machine...but I am growing more and more convinced that there are far greater agendas at play in this Empire's actions in the world theater. Satan always offers kings...Bread (Economic Power)...the Kingdoms of the World (Military Power) and Public Piety (Religious Power).

Money, Military and Religion...all three powers are at play in full force in this era.

Rain...on me

2009-12-21T18:31:00.002-08:00

"Drip down, O heavens, from above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, And righteousness spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it." -Isaiah 45:8

"Jesus is God's revelation to us about how we human beings should live in this world." -Jonathan W. Hartgrove in his book: "To Baghdad and Beyond...How I Got Born Again in Babylon"

My reflections of late regarding war and peace...have arisen out of a general pursuit after my prayers for "God's Kingdom to come and His will to be done...on Earth as it is done in Heaven. One cannot pray that Jesus taught prayer for very long and not have it's words start to mess with your life.

The Words of Jesus...do that to me.

They jacked up my world when I was 15 and they still grab me by my throat and force me to look straight into His eyes...they unclog my stopped up ears and make me hear things God dreams about. They make me look at how I am living the life God is allowing me to live. This fact is haunting me as I near the day I stand before Him...face to face. I want Him to say...Well done...Good and faithful servant. I want to glorify Jesus and be called a "son of the Most High"...one who resembles His father.

Like Simeon and Anna of the Advent season...I am "Longing" and "Looking" for the King of the Kingdom.

But...not a Kingdom to come...that somehow has become practically irrelevant and the play toy of campy novel writers and profit making marketeers. I don't want more watering down of the sermon on the mount. Quit turning His vision for humanity into some pipe dream that exists in some celestial kingdom...somewhere, someday....I long to see the Kingdom that is upon us...within us...the Kingdom that destroys the works of the devil.

I am churning in the truth of the true Prophet who said...."The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force." Am I "violently" apprehending the city that is coming down? Do I storm it's open gates or politely stroll in a meandering and passionless pace? Have I grown so comfortable with living "down here" that I am no longer looking up? Do I truly pray Maranatha with a commitment to living the actions of that prayer today?

I do not care for a city that doesn't have streams that flow into the waste places of Empire.
I mourn for a kingdom whose tree's leaves bring healing to the nations. It's a feeding tree...not for disembodied floaters with harps but a tree that is rooted in the new creation and gives life to the world that is starved for true bread...both in body and spirit.

Angels singing music in heaven is great and all, among the perfect, redeemed and eternal....but music on Earth...now that is desperately needed....down here in the streets of bloodshed, the towers of materialism and among the dying, perverted and unredeemed....let the Angels sing their song.

I truly believe the Advent proclamations and promises...Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards all men. I believe it, not because it sounds good and makes great Christmas cards and caroling messages; but because it answers the deepest cry of the human heart...peace with God and...with each other.

That, is something worth believing in this Christmas

Afghan Women still suffering....

2009-12-21T18:31:00.001-08:00

"Shout it aloud, do not hold back....Raise your voice like a trumpet.
-Isaiah 58:1
The US-installed Afghan government passed a law in February, 2009, which applies to Afghanistan's Shia population (10-15 percent of the Afghan people) that explicitly legalizes rape in marriage by banning women from refusing to have sex with their husbands. That law also prevents women from working, going to school, getting access to health care or other services, or even leaving her home without husband's permission.

Donate to Malalai Joya's work with Afghani women: Here
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? -Isaiah 58:6-7

Did you know...?

2009-12-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

"A few days after 9/11, elements in the Taliban reached out to the US. They wanted political cover to turn over Osama Bin Laden, and to save their own emirate. This was an important opening, but the Bush administration decided to snub them. In mid-October, the Taliban's no. 3, Haji Abdul Kabir told reporters. "We would be ready to hand [Bin Laden] over to a third country" if the bombing ended. Once more, Bush demurred. It was not his style to negotiate. This is when the Afghan war was lost: not at Tora Bora but at a press conference at Jalalabad. If the US had taken the Taliban up on this offer, Bin Laden would have been in custody in a third country and tried in an international court.

Facebook War posts....

2009-12-21T18:21:00.000-08:00

I have recently been engaged in a number of discussions and debates on Facebook about the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the "War on terror". You can read the War Posts conversations from: Here