I debated this past week whether or not I would continue to press the issue of Iraq and Christians and the war and the appropriate response our government should have had. I must be a glutton for punishment (that or I really like getting yelled at).
Honestly, this topic was going on the shelf, but, while reading a wholly unrelated book, I came across a passage from the Sermon on the Mount - arguably the most important part of Jesus' teachings.
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you….As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?…But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great.”(Luke6:27-28,31-32,35)
Does any other passage of the Bible so clearly sum up the core of Jesus’ message of peace?
Of course, let's not forget “Thou shalt not kill” - it doesn’t come with provisos or addendums. Though it could be argued that self-defense is one exception to the rule, a pre-emptive strike is by no means “defense.” Get it through your head, war-mongers, “pre-emptive” is not defensive. It’s plain killin’.
Before someone calls me a pacifist again - I dare you to try and hurt any member of my family. You'll see exactly where my pacifism ends and the Viking warrior imprinted on my Norwegian genes begins. And believe me, any foreign military that stepped foot on this land will see exactly how ferociously I will fight for my homeland. I'd be planting roadside IED’s.
Now, let me put myself in the Oval Office on 9/12. Here’s what I would have done:
-I would have given airlines more authority to protect the passengers on their planes – no Homeland Security debacle (seriously, does anyone like the airport experience anymore? C’mon admit it. It's awful).
-I would have kicked out all foreign citizens from countries where the hijackers came from, for a minimum of two years.
-I would have quadrupled the efforts (or more) to get ourselves weaned off foreign oil. How about $10 million bucks to the first guy to make an engine that uses fried-chicken grease as fuel (Goggle “Motorhead Messiah”).
-And I would have massively beefed up our border security, including a guest-worker program complete with ID. Make no mistake, people are coming here to work. Let’s let ‘em, but track ‘em.
Switching gears for those who think there are radical Muslims out to get us and take away our freedoms – you’re right. There are a few extremely radical individuals and small groups out there who would like to take us down.
But let's face it - they are not coming over here, en masse. These radicals, with no homeland or country to call their own, have succeeded in blowing up exactly three buildings, in one city, over a six-year period.
But for a second, let's assume they're coming. Where are they coming from? How are they going to get here? Maybe Iran? Is Iran really capable of attacking this country?
According to globalsecurity.org, the current Iranian navy has 20,000 men, six submarines, three 25-year old frigates, three 50-year old destroyers and 13 hovercraft. That's one hovercraft for each state on the Eastern seaboard. Look out!
By comparison, the U.S. has 289 ships and submarines, 35,000 deployed navy personnel with an active duty roster of over 350,000 men. The U.S. has so many submarines, one is even named after the city of Scranton. Is anyone really worried about invasion?
C’mon people, wake up and smell the hummus. U.S. foreign policy has been arrogant, abusive, repressive and sometimes downright nasty. Anyone remember the U.S. involvement in the overthrow of the Iranian Prime Minister in 1952? Said Madeline Albright in 2000, "In 1953, the U.S. played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister, Mohammed Massadegh...the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it's easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs."
Isn’t that the plank in the eye that most of the war supporters are missing?
Again, I say they are some people who wish America would go away. But does that give us the right to invade a country and kill innocent people when there has been no organized national military that has made any aggressive moves toward us?
Bottom line is this: we're losing American men by the thousands, killing or displacing Iraqis by the millions and spending American tax dollars by the billions. It's simply time to stop.
Phil Boyum cannot be reached in his hovercraft (just in the office at 489-9454).
Honestly, this topic was going on the shelf, but, while reading a wholly unrelated book, I came across a passage from the Sermon on the Mount - arguably the most important part of Jesus' teachings.
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you….As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?…But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great.”(Luke6:27-28,31-32,35)
Does any other passage of the Bible so clearly sum up the core of Jesus’ message of peace?
Of course, let's not forget “Thou shalt not kill” - it doesn’t come with provisos or addendums. Though it could be argued that self-defense is one exception to the rule, a pre-emptive strike is by no means “defense.” Get it through your head, war-mongers, “pre-emptive” is not defensive. It’s plain killin’.
Before someone calls me a pacifist again - I dare you to try and hurt any member of my family. You'll see exactly where my pacifism ends and the Viking warrior imprinted on my Norwegian genes begins. And believe me, any foreign military that stepped foot on this land will see exactly how ferociously I will fight for my homeland. I'd be planting roadside IED’s.
Now, let me put myself in the Oval Office on 9/12. Here’s what I would have done:
-I would have given airlines more authority to protect the passengers on their planes – no Homeland Security debacle (seriously, does anyone like the airport experience anymore? C’mon admit it. It's awful).
-I would have kicked out all foreign citizens from countries where the hijackers came from, for a minimum of two years.
-I would have quadrupled the efforts (or more) to get ourselves weaned off foreign oil. How about $10 million bucks to the first guy to make an engine that uses fried-chicken grease as fuel (Goggle “Motorhead Messiah”).
-And I would have massively beefed up our border security, including a guest-worker program complete with ID. Make no mistake, people are coming here to work. Let’s let ‘em, but track ‘em.
Switching gears for those who think there are radical Muslims out to get us and take away our freedoms – you’re right. There are a few extremely radical individuals and small groups out there who would like to take us down.
But let's face it - they are not coming over here, en masse. These radicals, with no homeland or country to call their own, have succeeded in blowing up exactly three buildings, in one city, over a six-year period.
But for a second, let's assume they're coming. Where are they coming from? How are they going to get here? Maybe Iran? Is Iran really capable of attacking this country?
According to globalsecurity.org, the current Iranian navy has 20,000 men, six submarines, three 25-year old frigates, three 50-year old destroyers and 13 hovercraft. That's one hovercraft for each state on the Eastern seaboard. Look out!
By comparison, the U.S. has 289 ships and submarines, 35,000 deployed navy personnel with an active duty roster of over 350,000 men. The U.S. has so many submarines, one is even named after the city of Scranton. Is anyone really worried about invasion?
C’mon people, wake up and smell the hummus. U.S. foreign policy has been arrogant, abusive, repressive and sometimes downright nasty. Anyone remember the U.S. involvement in the overthrow of the Iranian Prime Minister in 1952? Said Madeline Albright in 2000, "In 1953, the U.S. played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister, Mohammed Massadegh...the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it's easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs."
Isn’t that the plank in the eye that most of the war supporters are missing?
Again, I say they are some people who wish America would go away. But does that give us the right to invade a country and kill innocent people when there has been no organized national military that has made any aggressive moves toward us?
Bottom line is this: we're losing American men by the thousands, killing or displacing Iraqis by the millions and spending American tax dollars by the billions. It's simply time to stop.
Phil Boyum cannot be reached in his hovercraft (just in the office at 489-9454).