Where are the Christians?

(This entire post, except for this note, came from Rick Tuttle of Three Oaks, Michigan, and arrived in my mailbox last week. It expresses my point of view as well.)

And who are these proud, angry men who have usurped their name?

Where are the meek who shall inherit the earth?

And who are these greedy and violent men who think that they have already inherited the earth?

Where are the peacemakers who will be called the children of God?

And who are these warlords who pretend to pray "in Jesus' name"?

Where are those who mourn and shall be comforted?

And who are these blind men who do not want us to even see those who mourn?

Where are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness and shall be filled?

And who are these who have made sure that they are so filled that they do not recognize hunger and thirst? Who are these who promote the accumulation of wealth to such obscene degrees that they can not understand a poor man's desire for bread or a fair wage?

Where are the Christians?

And who are these pretenders, who like the money lenders and the Pharisees, quote only the oldest parts of the Old Testament? Who are these who do not understand that by the time Jesus was born, Rabbi Hillel had already instructed the Jews to look beyond the justifications of violence and vengeance contained in the earliest scriptures, to look ahead to the Golden Rule? Who are these who judge the world around them as enemy, who could not recognize a Good Samaritan if he kissed them on the cheek? Or the other cheek?

Where are the believers who have been delivered from their fear of death?

And who are these doubters who do not think that God would take care of Terry Schiavo after fifteen years of being locked away in Limbo? What possesses a "Christian" to want to deny anyone the blessing of returning to God? Who are these who did not hear Jesus say "Be not afraid," but instead preach constantly "Be afraid. Be very afraid"? When did death become separated from life? And when did life become a possession of the State, as opposed to a gift from God?

Forget turning the other cheek. Where are the faithful who would not dare steal vengeance from the Lord? Where are the merciful who shall receive mercy?

And who are these people throwing stones? Are they really without error or sin? What are these laws they propose that would remove a persons right to choose? That would remove the choices that allow us to have morality? Do they not see that if they can not choose they can not be moral? Who are these people who have forgotten that Christians were outlawed by the Roman Empire? That Protestants were outlawed by the Catholic Church? That the founders of this country could not freely choose their own faith in the lands they came from?

Where are the Christians for whom "all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?"

And who are these so called Christians who quote "an eye for an eye" and do not remember that Jesus said no to this and encouraged us to not judge; to love our enemies; to not act righteous in public; to give and give and give; to demand nothing of others? And as they proclaim their need to post the Ten Commandments do they not remember that in the Old Testament rape, prostitution, slavery and the slaughter of women and children are all condoned? Do they not remember that, as Paul pointed out in Galatians, if they use one law from the Old Testament; they must cease to eat pork and shellfish; they must not work on Saturday; they must follow a myriad of laws; they must always provide their first wife with the same level of support they give to their new wives; they must stone to death all their daughters who have had sex before marriage?

Where are the Christians who know that to love one another is the greatest and most important requirement, and the only path to the future of our planet?

And who are these judges who want to pass laws that determine who is allowed to love one another; how they are allowed to love one another; when they are allowed love one another? Why have they forgotten that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Who are these who have forgotten their own need and desire for love; who have forgotten how that need confused them and led them into errors; led them into situations for which forgiveness and mercy was their only way out? Who are these people who have forgotten how, upon encountering love, they were delivered?

Where are the lovers?

And who are these Christians who have forgotten how as children we were shown a man who would kneel in the dust to lift the weakest of us up, embrace us, understand us and love us?

Where are the Christians?

{ 10:31 AM }

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Ten days. "One of the more intriguing things that Bush was told during the [September 21, 2001] briefing was that the few credible reports of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda involved attempts by Saddam Hussein to monitor the terrorist group. Saddam viewed Al Qaeda as well as other theocratic radical Islamist organizations as a potential threat to his secular regime." — Murray Waas

{ 6:10 PM }

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A nightcap of mother's milk. Horsing around in Mongolia:

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld got a horse -- a black-maned steed he named "Montana" -- when he visited this visually stunning nation of desert steppes in October. Such gift horses aren't actually taken home; instead, they are kept around but not ridden, in anticipation of the next visit.

But White House aides say Mr. Bush was worried about the obligations of ownership. Would taxpayers be on the hook for upkeep? Was there any way to guarantee the horse's well-being down the road? The question occupied not one but several meetings at the National Security Council in the days leading up to Mr. Bush's trip, one participant said.

Eventually Mr. Bush's aides gently persuaded the Mongolians not to proffer a horse. What Mr. Bush wasn't able to avoid was a sip of the local specialty -- fermented mare's milk -- even though he's a teetotaler.

If there's any truth to the rumors emerging from his bubble, Bush's teetotaler reputation may not be intact much longer.

{ 4:55 PM }

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What fuels Cheney's sneer. "...oil company rates of return from investing in Iraq would range from 42% to 162%, far in excess of usual industry minimum target of around 12% return on investment.

{ 4:45 PM }

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More fraud in the name of Jesus. Some Christians are just not satisfied with waiting for their rewards in the afterlife — they want the booty now (Chicago Tribune):

A businessman who posed as religious communications mogul, driving a $350,000 Bentley and flying in a corporate jet, was sentenced to more than 5 years in prison Monday for bilking creditors out of $13.3 million.

Rodney Dixon, 41, had told lenders that his company, Lacrad International Inc., in Oakbrook Terrace, sold religious recordings and music from offices around the world in the late 1990s and had annual revenues of more than $100 million.

But prosecutors said that was a carefully crafted illusion, built on fake bank statements, phony invoices and "elaborately false tax returns." They said his annual revenue never exceeded $100,000.

We've noticed Rodney Dixon and his Satanic behavior before.

I think the simple fact of being Christian (or believing someone in authority is Christian) makes people susceptible to this sort of nonsense. After all, if you bought a book that was written by a bunch of shepherds two thousand years ago, why wouldn't you also buy whatever crap they're peddling today?

The Christianization of American politics has gone too far. It's nice that Christians have a belief system that makes some of the harder "moral" choices for them so they don't ever have to think too hard, but it enables the Rodney Dixons and the Pat Robertsons and the Jerry Falwells and the George Bushes and the Dick Cheneys and the Leo Wells of the world to prey upon their utter lack of rational skepticism.

The GOP is now a party with two distinct tiers: one layer of predatory capitalism (party leadership) and a much larger layer of hapless suckers (Republican voters).

{ 2:00 PM }

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Every sperm is sacred. Pity poor Michelle McCusker, a teacher fired by her Catholic school employer for being unmarried and pregnant.

Her first defense should be a presentation of the list of sexually active Popes, whose illegitimate children probably number in the dozens. Because if a sperm is wasted, God gets so irate.

{ 8:50 AM }

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Whoops, Dad, I crashed the country.



Image purloined from IRC Images and discreetly altered.

{ 10:34 AM }

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