I will write more on the conflicts in Palestine and Israel later. My heart aches.As one who believes that to follow Jesus is the way to justice, peace, and flourishing, albeit the pathway may be misunderstood and opposed, i cannot countenance retaliation, revenge, hatred.I recently signed a petition, “An Open Letter from Palestinian Christians to Western Church Leaders and Theologians.” Pray and act upon prayer.
The rush of rich nations of the Global North to support the tragic war in Ukraine has diverted attention and resources from other nations and desperate peoples. In Yemen, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Sudan, human food shortage is at critical levels for mass starvation. Much of this is war-related. Major media is silent.Read this link to a descriptive article, then advocate for these millions who are suffering.
What huge imago madeA psychopathic god:I and the public knowWhat all schoolchildren learn,Those to whom evil is doneDo evil in return. (W. H. Auden’s poem, September 1, 1939) Almost immediately after the horrific terrorist attack September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center and Pentagon killed 3000 Americans, the drumbeat for retribution and revenge pounded loudly. Drowned out were voices calling for restraint. While peoples from nations around the world offered sympathy, so-called Christian America cast aside Jesus’s clear teachings against returning evil for evil to instead foment violent war on Afghanistan, to be followed 18 months later upon Iraq.… Read More
Herding sheep into others’ fields, preventing access to water, blocking roads, killing animals and breaking into homes in the middle of the night – these and other tactics are part of the daily terror perpetrated by settlers in Palestinian villages. I witnessed these tactics when I lived with Palestinians in the southern Hebron Hills (Masafer Yatta) in 2005, 2006, 2008. It is even worse now since the extreme racist Isaeli government has taken power. This settler violence is a wicked distortion, betrayal and perversion of God’s biblical calling forth Jews to be an instrument of righteousness. Here are two articles… Read More
I am so angrily disgusted by U.S. government leaders who smugly fund and urge further warfare carnage in the Ukraine/Russia war. Even though Ukraine has been unable to reclaim territory seized by Russia at huge casualty costs on both sides, Sen. Romney recently called the proxy war the ‘the best national defense spending’ the US has ever done. Apparently Biden, Romney, Blumenthal, and maybe most others are blind to moral evil. Read Jeremy Camp’s article about this despicable evil talk. https://news.antiwar.com/2023/08/30/sen-blumenthal-us-getting-its-moneys-worth-in-ukraine-because-americans-arent-dying/
Chris Hedges, a noted journalist, social critic, and ordained Presbyterian minister, preached a powerful sermon in Norway in August, 2023. Actress Liv Ullman read the introductory scripture from Jeremiah 37:11-21. Hedges preached on the courageous, incorruptible prophets who faced persecution. He then spoke of his incarcerated Julian Assange who aired out the dirty laundry of U.S. military operations in his Wikileaks. Watch the entire YouTube video or start at minute 50 for the sermon.
The following article’s subtitle says to modern Jews, “It was not baseless hatred that led to the destruction of the Temple in antiquity. It was the arrogance of the military and the absence of political judiciousness – precisely the same dangers we now face.” Read this lament by a modern Jewish author who distinguishes between God’s original intent for Israel and Israel’s misappropriation over millennia. HERE FOR LINK TO ARTICLE
Chris Hedges is a noted journalist, culture critic, and ordained Christian minister. He also is a contract instructor for Rutgers University teaching at a prison. Hedges notes that Rutgers, a public university in New Jersey, pays annual salaries to top administrators approaching $1 million, and football and basketball coaches exceed three million. The football team continues to incur debts now at $250 million as it spends lavishly on its programs trying to overcome a long streak of losing seasons. Meanwhile adjunct professors and grad students that make up much of the academic instruction are often under $30,000. At Rutgers, some… Read More