Jesus on "Inclusiveness" and "Divisiveness"

"Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!"
Luke 12:51

A Prayer for Forgiveness, Justice, and Peace

"A Palestinian girl cries during the funeral of a relative that was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009. Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, cutting the coastal territory into two and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas gained momentum.
(AP Photo/Fadi Adwan)"

While we are sitting on our fat butts lamenting our diminishing 401(k) money, our tax dollars are paying for the killing of women and children in Gaza. Congratulations, America, we are paying for the murder and oppression of people who have done nothing to us, and we will suffer the consequences of our injustice. We have enemies in the Middle East because we have earned them.

http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_17.shtml

May God heal the suffering we have caused, may He forgive our sins, and may His justice be established in our time.

News Flash: Hell is Real

Matthew 13:31-52
Matthew 25:31-46

Yes they Lied

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081219/ap_on_go_co/iraq_cia

Roberto Gonzales and Condoleeza Rice lied when they claimed they did not know the CIA had informed the Bush administration that "intelligence" that the Sadaam Hussein regime was seeking uranium to build nuclear weapons was not credible.

The central truth that no amount of shuffling, hemming, hawing and forgetting can alter is that the intelligence apparatus of the United States had made clear to the White House that (a) the basis on which the President sold the war to the public was not credible and (b) the war would further destabilize the region and enhance the power of Iran.

In spite of the warnings given by professional intelligence agencies, the Bush administration proceeded with its reckless, baseless war. The result has been thousands of needless deaths and a boon to mideast terrorists. Make no mistake: Bush, Cheney, Powell, Gonzales, Rice, Wolfowitz, Rove, et al. are guilty of treason. No lesser word truthfully describes their conduct. A special corner of hell is reserved for them.

Sometimes there are no good guys.

This is a follow-up to the July 6, 2008 entry below. There is nothing more to add to this story, which speaks for itself.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081206/ap_on_re_as/as_korea_mass_executions

A Glimpse of the Void

America values persons in terms of their income. We make celebrities of the rich, even when we know they are evil, because we envy and admire their power. We do this in spite of the fact that we know that income a is highly contingent and arbitrary matter, except perhaps in a limited way to those few and unfortunate souls whose entire lives are devoted to maximizing their income. Income is highly contingent and arbitrary because it is due to the vicissitudes of the market, over which we as individuals have no control. Therefore, we value persons in terms of highly contingent and arbitrary matters.

As a result, we dehumanize others and ourselves. We place more value on money than on moral character, faithfulness, and life itself. We are willing to die at our desks for money, because our income is what renders us valuable to the other people in our lives and makes us worthy human beings. We regard the ephemeral and fleeting as the Absolute and disregard the eternal as insignificant. We are truly alienated from ourselves, from other persons, and from God. From that condition of alienation, we have a glimpse of the void.

And Justice for All...

Here's a good one for the Fourth of July Weekend, as Brits are the heroes in the story. It reminds me of Albert Jay Nock's essay about Brits: "On Doing the Right Thing."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/06/ap/world/main4235268.shtml