Good information in the post below. It is a political world we live in, however. The biblical message is no guide for politics. Seems to me it is the church who should be concerned to the point of action regarding human suffering. Nations need to survive. In today's economy, they need oil and allies and trade partners. The church needs none of the foregoing. The single most important national consideration is the protection, military protection of its citizenry. The church's expressed purpose(s) includes nothing of the kind -- very nearly the opposite. I understand your thinking, Jonathan. I truly do. And I certainly can be wrong on this. The sites listed below offer only one aspect ofthe whole picture. They do not describe the whole show. The part that omitted, in terms of reference, is that which you detest. Governments are a necessary evil -- the U.S. included. I don't suppose it will kill any of us to survey your concerns.
Peace out
JD
In a message dated 9/12/2004 10:40:41 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Izzy is on the right track here; her question immediately debunks the clip posted below. Lets go a bit farther. If we were going to take this article seriously (which we should but not because of the authors intent but because of the completely unchristian action/thought it espouses) it would be far more likely that the storms are battering the United States FOR its support of Israel, not for its minor attempts at getting Israel to reform and stop its crimes against humanity. I know it may sound crazy but God actually died for Arabs too. A little critical thinking and this clip is easily refuted. All of use are guilty of making this kind of argument at some point in our lives. All one needs is a cause that they take seriously. It could be anything. Then we take any sign of judgment, like weather patterns, and apply it as a sign to verify and validate our cause. In this case it is that the United States is supposed to allow massive crimes against humanity (i.e. the Palestinians) in order to satisfy a Zionist proposal (the concept of covenant Land). No one will point out that God is punishing Florida and Caribbean countries instead of where the lawmakers are. Sunny skies in Washington! It gets silly real fast. We of course are talking about the only nation in the world that actually does support Israel â the United States. More aid (read massive amounts of weapons) is given to Israel by the United States than by any other country. Without the US there is no Israel. On the international front they are one and the same.
If one wants to do some more critical thinking on this matter I would suggest the following websites:
www.hrw.org â Human Rights Watch. Highly recommended site. Spend time there everyday. Find out what is actually happening around the world. Ignorance is not bliss!
www.amnesty.org â Amnesty International. Click on the map on the right hand side near Israel. Then click on Israel/Occupied Territories. You will be shocked. Ask yourself why the suicide bombers of the Palestinians are considered terrorism but the massive amount of attacks by Israel are not (well only in the States are they not considered terrorism as well). Read Amnestyâs open letter to George Bush to help you understand the issues quickly.
www.johnpilger.com â Click on Palestine in the top menu (far right). Walk through the very short essays. These are very powerful. It was probably through this work that I first began to understand the plight of the Palestinians. This is not to excuse their horrible acts but it is to say that at least I know feel like I can answer the important question: why?
http://www.coldtype.net/Assets.04/Essays.04/Truth_Eng.pdf - Good discussion from both points of view. Worth reading. Reading anything on www.coldtype.net is interesting. You may not agree with some of it but it will make you think and begin to wrestle with the issues at hand.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008O35S/qid=1095010245/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5303035-4559105?v=glance&s=dvd Rent or buy this documentary entitled âGaza Stripâ. It will blow you away â guaranteed.
Remember it is to the unfortunate that we are to direct our help, our lives, our hopes. To be fully Christian is to be fully human. Find out where people are being de-humanized and help them. It will hurt, it will cause you a lot of suffering, but it will end theirs. These are the real storms. Pray against these.
Jonathan
