Imitatio Christi

Falwell and War with Iran

    Aw, just read it for yourself.....

Iraq War and Further Radicalization

    It should be a surprise to none that the war in Iraq has caused a remarkable radicalization of Islamic groups and has, in contradiction to the administration's claims, led to a world wide rise in terrorist attacks.  When folks talk about the need to "stay the course" in Iraq, it is usually argued along the lines that we have to win this "war on terror."  However, as terrorism has increasingly spread beyond, it is hard to see how we can any longer argue either that we are making things better or that Iraq is the "center" of the battle?

And the Truth Shall

    ...get you in trouble, apparently.  Or, at least that seems to be the implication here, since soldiers are being asked to stop talking about conditions at Walter Reed.  Is there fear that we will find out who really "supports the troops"?

Cluster Munitions

    I have commented that, in my view, the most immoral decision of the Clinton administration was its failure to stop the use of cluster munitions.  One does not even have to rise to the level of "loving one's enemies" to see that these weapons are despicable for the extent to which they lead to casualties of non-combatants--often children.  Whether or not this goes far enough, I suppose we could debate, but it seems a step forward to me.

Today's Quote

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.
Charles Wesley

The Least of These

    The pericope of the Great Judgment at the end of Matthew 25 connects one's eternal fate with how one has cared for the "least of these."  From the context, the least include the hungry, those without adequate clothing, those thirsty, those sick, and those in prison.  We consistently are told by supporters of this administration that this group of persons are Christians who stand for Christian values.  Yet, on one of the biggest test we find in Scripture, they not only fail, but they explicitly endorse policies that lead in precisely the other direction.  We need to raise our voices in order to speak for those who have no voice and for those seen as little more than fodder.
    The report here emphasizes once again the profound extent to which the times during which this administration has ruled, the least of these have been harmed and left even further behind.  Robin Hood in reverse, how else to characterize it?
chuck gutenson

And, They Wonder Why....

    Do you suppose they even realize the incoherence of the plans?

Self-Inflicted Wounds

    How often have we Christians been guilty of shooting ourselves in the foot?  Well, too often would be as good an answer as any, I suppose.  One wonders, though, exactly what is supposed to come from presentations like the one reported here?  How often do we hear, from this same group, affirmations of moral rights and wrongs that do not allow for coercion or the strong influence of others? In other words, often these folks are the ones who do not want to hear the fine nuances of why particular people act the way they do; rather, the focus is on "personal accountability."  Yet, in this piece, we get the remarkable attempt to make Darwin guilty of just about every evil occurrence since his publication of evolutionary theory.  If it turns out that evolutionary theory is true and is the mechanism God used to create the world, does that mean God is responsible for all the bad things they note? 

Just for Fun

    Discovered this on Andrew Sullivan's site today. 

Quote for 2/27

In Jesus and for Him, enemies and friends alike are to be loved.
Thomas A Kempis