"Bomb Thy Neighbor"
Which religion allows you to smite someone just because you think he
might want to smite you? And ‘do unto others as you would have
them do unto you’ doesn’t leave much room for bombing girls’ schools.
by Bill Bonner
“He’s one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever seen...
you’ll end up starting World War III with a guy like that.”
- Donald Trump, commenting on Lindsey Graham
Youghal, Ireland - "Whose side is God really on? ‘Gott mit uns’ said the Germans in WWI. Maybe, but what do the seraphim and cherubim say about this one? Which side is the ‘powerful, swift sword’ backing? Today, we leave behind the murder and mayhem of the ‘first order effects’...and set aside (for today) the ‘second order’ economic and financial effects...and we wonder about the fourth- and fifth-order effects. Who are the ‘bad people’...and can we count on God in the war we just started?
The dumbest member of the Senate clearly thinks so. Lindsey Graham says this is a ‘religious war.’ Perhaps it was a process of elimination that led him to it. None of the other explanations have held up. Implanting democracy? Nope...no one would believe it.
A US attack to head off an Iranian attack intended to head off an Israeli attack? Crazier things have happened! The nuclear threat? Our own intel agencies tell us there never was a realistic risk.
Regime change? Un un again. The successor Supreme Leader is considered more ‘hard line’ than his father. The Muslim faithful, he says, must seek revenge for the killing of his father. Like Graham, he wants to turn it into a religious war.
But what religions are we talking about? The Mohammedans may or may not have a religion that allows revenge. But which religion allows you to smite someone just because you think he might want to smite you? And ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ doesn’t leave much room for bombing girls’ schools.
But Graham is not the only one who thinks of this war as a religious exercise. Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel, put a similar spin on it. CBN: "‘You Will Hear From Heaven’: Huckabee Tells Trump Only God’s Voice Matters in Israel-Iran Conflict."
What...did God give the go-ahead to attack Iran? What kind of God is this? Does he speak directly to Donald J. Trump? Even stranger, some people think Jesus is involved. Newsweek: "US Commander Said Trump ‘Anointed by Jesus’ to Attack Iran: Report."
Nordic Times referring to Ted Cruz: "Republican Senator: The Bible commands us to support Israel."
But if the ‘religious war’ claim were true, the Supreme Court would have to put a stop to it immediately. The US constitution clearly forbids the government from favoring one religion over another. Of course, if God tells you to do something...it’s probably best to do it, whether it contradicts your constitution or your own religion. But is God really on speaking terms with Huckabee, Trump, or Graham? We don’t know. But their case for war rests on such a flimsy reed it hardly bears the weight of a single sparrow, let alone the killing of thousands of people.
In our Sunday church service - St. Mary’s, Youghal - the Old Testament reading focused on the slender reed in question. In it, the Lord says to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you...and the one who curses you, I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Did God create the universe in six days? We don’t think so...at least not in the 24-hour days we know. But, before the universe existed - with no sun...and no earth - a ‘day’ could mean anything. Much of the Bible is similarly subject to interpretation. But this section clearly says ‘all the families of the earth will be blessed,’ not just the families now under the command of Netanyahu and Trump. Logically, the Iranians are as blessed as the Israelis...and as we are.
Jesus later amplified the point, and - in the story of the Good Samaritan and in the Sermon on the Mount - showed that his God didn’t play favorites. ‘Love thy neighbor,’ he said. But of course, anyone who claims to know which way God is leaning in the US-Iran contest is either a fool or a charlatan. Maybe both."
o
Religion...
Watch with sound on...incredible.
No comments:
Post a Comment