[FairfieldLife] For the Love of Bush
from Dr. Robert Svoboda's blog.September 17. 2005Visiting Ram Dass at his Maui home I noticed that (as had been rumored) he does keep a photo of George W. Bush on his altar. That photo reminded me, as it does him, that it is essential for all of us to pray that the current "world's most powerful man" will be guided to make the best decisions possible. In fact, it behooves all of us to strive mightily to entreat the Celestial Powers-that-Be to render astute our head of state.Perhaps it would be too much to request Providence to encourage those of our "leaders" who actively identify themselves as Christians to actively follow the path that Christ laid out for his disciples, e.g. to sell all that they have and give the proceeds to the poor, to turn the other cheek at every slight, and the like. Jesus advised us not to judge, lest we be judged, and being myself no paragon of Christ-like virtues I have no business judging anyone (even W). Of course, I also try to keep my personal beliefs private, rather than trying to drag Jesus into politics the way many of these "leaders" do; and this current politicization of Christ (a problem which has dogged Christianity almost since its inception) does I believe warrant comment.For example, how can one simultaneously claim to follow the Golden Rule ("do unto others as you would have them do unto you") and also actively promote the doctrine of "preemptive war" ("do unto others BEFORE they do unto you")?Or, consider the words of Jesus as reported in Matthew 5:43-44:"Ye have heard that it has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."I freely admit that, as of yet, I have been unable to love all my enemies, and to do good to each of those who mean to do ill to me. I have however found it immensely worthwhile to set these principles as my goals, and try to live up to these high standards that Jesus instructed us to attempt to meet-norms that make it injudicious for anyone (even W) to condemn anyone else (even W).Which forces me to ask the question of why, when we have been thus unmistakably directed to love our enemies, is so much hate being so publicly directed toward those who are currently our enemies? (Setting aside for the moment the issue of, if Osama Saddam were so clearly evil, what caused us to support them as "allies" for so long.) If we pray for our foes, why have we not yet had a national day of prayer with an Osama focus? Why before Saddam was overthrown was he routinely demonized, rather than "loved" and "blessed"? Why is the "do good to them that hate you" option never even hinted at by the "Beltway born-again" in the context of fundamentalist Islam? Shouldn't such a clear directive receive at least a public hearing among "public Christians," if only to offer counterpoints to the Muslim-baiting agitprop that has become so popular? Couldn't this option also present a positive Christian perspective that would be as comprehensive in its compassion as the ultra-sectarian Muslim world-view is comprehensive in its detestation of all non-Muslims?
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Re: [FairfieldLife] For the Love of Bush
Vaj wrote: from Dr. Robert Svoboda's blog. September 17. 2005 Visiting Ram Dass at his Maui home I noticed that (as had been rumored) he does keep a photo of George W. Bush on his altar. That photo reminded me, as it does him, that it is essential for all of us to pray that the current world's most powerful man will be guided to make the best decisions possible. In fact, it behooves all of us to strive mightily to entreat the Celestial Powers-that-Be to render astute our head of state. Perhaps it would be too much to request Providence to encourage those of our leaders who actively identify themselves as Christians to actively follow the path that Christ laid out for his disciples, e.g. to sell all that they have and give the proceeds to the poor, to turn the other cheek at every slight, and the like. Jesus advised us not to judge, lest we be judged, and being myself no paragon of Christ- like virtues I have no business judging anyone (even W). Of course, I also try to keep my personal beliefs private, rather than trying to drag Jesus into politics the way many of these leaders do; and this current politicization of Christ (a problem which has dogged Christianity almost since its inception) does I believe warrant comment. For example, how can one simultaneously claim to follow the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) and also actively promote the doctrine of preemptive war (do unto others BEFORE they do unto you)? Or, consider the words of Jesus as reported in Matthew 5:43-44: Ye have heard that it has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. I freely admit that, as of yet, I have been unable to love all my enemies, and to do good to each of those who mean to do ill to me. I have however found it immensely worthwhile to set these principles as my goals, and try to live up to these high standards that Jesus instructed us to attempt to meet-norms that make it injudicious for anyone (even W) to condemn anyone else (even W). Which forces me to ask the question of why, when we have been thus unmistakably directed to love our enemies, is so much hate being so publicly directed toward those who are currently our enemies? (Setting aside for the moment the issue of, if Osama Saddam were so clearly evil, what caused us to support them as allies for so long.) If we pray for our foes, why have we not yet had a national day of prayer with an Osama focus? Why before Saddam was overthrown was he routinely demonized, rather than loved and blessed? Why is the do good to them that hate you option never even hinted at by the Beltway born-again in the context of fundamentalist Islam? Shouldn't such a clear directive receive at least a public hearing among public Christians, if only to offer counterpoints to the Muslim-baiting agitprop that has become so popular? Couldn't this option also present a positive Christian perspective that would be as comprehensive in its compassion as the ultra-sectarian Muslim world- view is comprehensive in its detestation of all non-Muslims? I've heard this line of thinking from Robert Thurmond too. And yes I pray every day that Bush and his administration wises up, admits they've been terrible and resign.Likewise, that the Neocons realize it was a mistake to follow the teachings of Leo Strauss and disband. Likewise that large corporations realize they are bad for society and ask Congress to reinstitute the laws that existed up until the Civil War when corporations did not have the rights of an individual, had limited size and life. Too much passive thinking is why India was overrun so many times. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM ~- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [FairfieldLife] For the Love of Bush
On Oct 11, 2005, at 12:39 PM, Bhairitu wrote: Too much passive thinking is why India was overrun so many times. It's seems to be a blind tolerance as well. I'm thinking of the story I heard about the Hindus who accepted the Sufi saint, never realizing the reason the Sufi was a saint was because they had slaughtered so many infidel Hindus... Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM ~- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [FairfieldLife] For the Love of Bush
I'm always sending prayers to help our goofy king and asking for the blessings of some heavy hitters to grace his life. By the way, have any of you asked for the grace of all your spiritual teachers and mentally bowed to each of them before you meditate? A whole new world! --- Vaj [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: from Dr. Robert Svoboda's blog. September 17. 2005 Visiting Ram Dass at his Maui home I noticed that (as had been rumored) he does keep a photo of George W. Bush on his altar. That photo reminded me, as it does him, that it is essential for all of us to pray that the current world's most powerful man will be guided to make the best decisions possible. In fact, it behooves all of us to strive mightily to entreat the Celestial Powers-that-Be to render astute our head of state. Perhaps it would be too much to request Providence to encourage those of our leaders who actively identify themselves as Christians to actively follow the path that Christ laid out for his disciples, e.g. to sell all that they have and give the proceeds to the poor, to turn the other cheek at every slight, and the like. Jesus advised us not to judge, lest we be judged, and being myself no paragon of Christ- like virtues I have no business judging anyone (even W). Of course, I also try to keep my personal beliefs private, rather than trying to drag Jesus into politics the way many of these leaders do; and this current politicization of Christ (a problem which has dogged Christianity almost since its inception) does I believe warrant comment. For example, how can one simultaneously claim to follow the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) and also actively promote the doctrine of preemptive war (do unto others BEFORE they do unto you)? Or, consider the words of Jesus as reported in Matthew 5:43-44: Ye have heard that it has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. I freely admit that, as of yet, I have been unable to love all my enemies, and to do good to each of those who mean to do ill to me. I have however found it immensely worthwhile to set these principles as my goals, and try to live up to these high standards that Jesus instructed us to attempt to meet-norms that make it injudicious for anyone (even W) to condemn anyone else (even W). Which forces me to ask the question of why, when we have been thus unmistakably directed to love our enemies, is so much hate being so publicly directed toward those who are currently our enemies? (Setting aside for the moment the issue of, if Osama Saddam were so clearly evil, what caused us to support them as allies for so long.) If we pray for our foes, why have we not yet had a national day of prayer with an Osama focus? Why before Saddam was overthrown was he routinely demonized, rather than loved and blessed? Why is the do good to them that hate you option never even hinted at by the Beltway born-again in the context of fundamentalist Islam? Shouldn't such a clear directive receive at least a public hearing among public Christians, if only to offer counterpoints to the Muslim-baiting agitprop that has become so popular? Couldn't this option also present a positive Christian perspective that would be as comprehensive in its compassion as the ultra-sectarian Muslim world- view is comprehensive in its detestation of all non-Muslims? __ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM ~- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [FairfieldLife] For the Love of Bush
On Oct 11, 2005, at 6:01 PM, Peter wrote: I'm always sending prayers to help our goofy king and asking for the blessings of some heavy hitters to grace his life. By the way, have any of you asked for the grace of all your spiritual teachers and mentally bowed to each of them before you meditate? A whole new world! Guru-yoga dude, guru-yoga! New world indeed. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM ~- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
