Tag: US Foreign Policy

Hands Off Venezuela, America! You’re a Big, Fat, Bully Nation!

I have been meaning to write about Venezuela and the distorted coverage of its internal affairs that we have been receiving in this country for some time now.  Well, I better do it now, before the US sends our troops to help complete the overthrow of another democratically elected, South American government, and the US press extolls the virtues of yet another one of our “humanitarian interventions.”  (That was sarcasm, in case you missed it).

Crowds of voters during the 2012 elections

Western news coverage of Venezuelan politics, whether by print, radio or television, not only in the US but in Britain and Western Europe, offers a perfect example of how corporate media dishes out pure propaganda to its consumers.

This includes everyone.  I have yet to find a single exception to this rule in the case of Venezuela, whether it’s Fox, ABC, NCB, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, you name it.  They are all the same.

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro

Everyone is touting the same line: Nicolas Maduro is a dictator.  He has killed Venezuelan democracy.  The people are oppressed. There is no freedom of speech or of the press. The entire nation is starving due to government mismanagement. And on and on…

Sound familiar?

For a legible version see http://lati-negros.tumblr.com/post/31490408699/56-us-military-interventions-in-latin-america

Anyone who knows anything about the long, bloody history of American intervention in South American, however, will already be suspicious of such uniform, lock-step reporting.  Especially when few if any of this “reports” are coming from (a) journalists who speak Spanish (b) doing investigative journalism (c) on the ground in Venezuela (d) by speaking to a broad spectrum of actual Venezuelans still living in Venezuela.  (For information on US-sponsored coups in South America see this, this, this, this and this).

From what I can discover, the reality in Venezuela today is exactly the opposite of what our news media is telling us.  They have democratic elections. In fact, Jimmy Carter’s election monitoring organization observed Venezuela’s national elections in 2012 and concluded that “The election process in Venezuela is the best in the world.”  (For further discussion, see this article on “Why the US Demonizes Venezuela’s Elections” by Mark Weisbrot, another guy I pay attention to.  Another great source of information is Venezuelanalysis.com, where you can find “Facts About Venezuela’s Presidential Elections and the Voting Process”).

WW 2 propaganda poster

I mention all of this, not only to highlight another clear example of the way our government and corporate controlled media try to propagandize us all, but also because propaganda often paves the way for military intervention and war.

Remember that President Trump has already threatened using “the military option” on Venezuela if Maduro won reelection (also here).

So, why does the US government hate the Maduro government in Venezuela?

First, Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world and is a significant source for US imports.

Second, the Venezuelan people have chosen to elect a socialist government, which is a convenient way for the US to resurrect the Cold War bogie man of creeping communism sucking at American’s underbelly.  There are several problems however:

  • If America is the great defender of democracy around the world, what business is it of ours to interfere in country’s that democratically choose a socialist government?
  • Venezuela has not threatened to invade any neighboring countries. The US is the only nation threatening to invade another in order to overthrow its (democratically elected) government.

Third, beginning with Hugo Chavez and continuing with Maduro (but not as aggressively) the Venezuelan government has worked at nationalizing its industries, including its oil production.  This has been good news for the general population, but not such welcome news for the CEOs of the major oil companies operating in Venezuela.

Whenever more money flows into the pockets of the local people, ensuring that less money will flow out of the country and into the pockets of foreign oil conglomerates, the corporate executives always call Washington, D.C. and demand some of that ole’ time “regime change.”

Mohammed Mosaddegh, Prime Minister of Iran

Don’t forget that in 1953 the CIA and the British overthrew the democratically elected government of Mohammed Mosaddegh in Iran (and had him executed) after he decided to nationalize Iran’s oil industry, depriving British Petroleum of its windfall profits at Iranian expense.  There IS a clear precedent for all this.

So, in preparation, the government propaganda machine has been rolling for some time now, preparing us for the possibility of another illegal military/CIA intervention overseas.  If/when it happens it will be described as another chapter in the noble saga of America’s sacrificial “defense of freedom around the world.”  (Wave flags and play patriotic music, with predictably mind-numbing effects, here).

US orchestrated coup in Chile, 1973

In fact, it will be one more bloody intervention in another nation’s affairs where innocent human beings will be murdered by the thousands simply because US business interests are lusting after more and more money.

This government overthrow will then be followed by the imposition of a conservative, right-wing government, perhaps even a military dictatorship, as has happened so many times before.  The multinational corporations with return. The resource extraction will be denationalized and reprivatized so that the majority of the benefits will go back overseas to Western companies, and the local people are once again deprived of what is rightfully theirs.

THIS IS WHY CHRISTIANS, and by this, I mean the entire Christian church in this country, NEED TO CARE ABOUT THE NEWS AND POLITICS!

Because we want to obey Jesus’ teaching that “we do to others as we would want them to do to us.”

Because we want to “love our neighbors as ourselves.”

The US military kills people all around the world in our name, using weapons created with our tax dollars, pursuing policies supposedly for our benefit, sacrificing the lives of our children and the children of many others, all in the name of “American values.”

I am firmly convinced that nobody who genuinely knows and loves Jesus Christ; no one who understands Jesus’ values and the manner of living he taught and modeled for his disciples, can possibly be at peace with our country’s interventionist policies around the world.

We must object, speak up, write letters, call our representatives and insist that we stop meddling in Venezuelan internal affairs.

No US military or CIA in Venezuela!

(This post originally included a section on finding reliable news sources for this type of information and discussion.  I have decided to make that a separate post to follow shortly.)

Dispelling a Memorial Day Myth

I wrote this article in 2006. It was originally published in Perspectives Journal  (August 1 issue).  It is as relevant today as it was then.

The only difference for me is that my father died several weeks ago of war related health problems.

“I’m an Army brat, the proud son of a proud veteran who completed four tours of duty in two separate conflicts. I am immensely grateful that my father always returned home, at least physically. My mother was never forced to grieve at her husband’s graveside, but there is more than one way for a soldier to die. Often the man who comes home is not the same man who left for war.

“I remember my mother’s stories of how his hands would encircle her throat at night as she crept into his nightmares, the sleeping wife lying next to him fused with the Chinese enemy crawling under his tent flap. I vividly recall the continual depression, the emotional detachment, the explosions of anger. Our family eroded (internally, if not externally) and gradually fell apart like a sand castle trying to withstand an oncoming tide.

“There is more than one way for a soldier to die. Sometimes the family that waits behind gets back only a shell of the man they once knew. Somewhere overseas the soldier’s insides are emptied onto a battlefield, scooped out by bombs and artillery, sleepless nights and ‘collateral damage.’ The father I once knew had been replaced by someone new, a stranger haunted by guilt and riddled with sickness.

“What do my mother and siblings have to celebrate on Memorial Day?

“Please, don’t urge me to remember the veterans who gave their lives so that we could be free. It’s cold comfort because it’s not true. Aside from the clearly religious overtones of those words, something my Christianity finds deeply offensive, my father’s life was not ruined while defending American freedom. Were that the case, I might be able to celebrate. But with the possible exception of World War II, what modern war has this nation fought for such noble purposes? None. My father’s life was hollowed out for a discredited domino theory that preserved American freedom by only the most strained exercise in mental gymnastics. (If Southeast Asia falls, we’re next!) In the end, half the Korean peninsula and the whole of Vietnam were ‘lost.’ Yet, our freedoms were not diminished one iota.

“Let’s be honest in our celebrations. My father’s comrades-in-arms died believing that they were defending American freedom. They died because this nation’s political leaders had convinced themselves that the borders of American national interests extended into Southeast Asia. But the verdict is now inescapable. American freedom was never at risk in any of those conflicts.

“Soldiers gladly give their lives defending the buddies huddled beside them.

Wounded U.S. paratroopers are helped by fellow soldiers to a medical evacuation helicopter on Oct. 5, 1965 during the Vietnam War. Paratroopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s First Battalion suffered many casualties in the clash with Viet Cong guerrillas in the jungle of South Vietnam’s “D” Zone, 25 miles Northeast of Saigon. (AP Photo)

Soldiers die because they obey their orders, no matter how dangerous. Many die because they are patriots. Sometimes they die in the conviction that they are defending someone else’s freedom. More die because they didn’t know what else to do after high school graduation. Soldiers die because they trust their leaders and believe the rallying cries of the commander-in-chief. But none of this necessarily has anything to do with the defense of American freedom. History demonstrates that our soldiers most often die as instruments of the ambition, naivete, stubbornness, ignorance, arrogance, and miscalculations of our nation’s leaders.

Washington DC, USA – June 18, 2016: The Memorial Wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC at dawn.

“It is far more accurate to say that Memorial Day commemorates those men and women who unwittingly gave their lives for the extension of America foreign, political, and economic interests. But that’s neither catchy nor comfortable to repeat.

“In 1775 Samuel Johnson characterized patriotism as the last refuge of the scoundrel. It is also the first refuge of the masses unwilling to face hard political realities. I’ll stand to memorialize the patriot soldiers who gave their lives protecting a buddy while carrying out dangerous commands. But don’t ask me to memorialize a lie. My family has suffered enough for patriotic delusions.”

The US Supplies an Air Force for ISIS and AL Qaeda

Last night president Trump bombed Syria without any congressional debate or approval.  Though you would not know it by watching our mainstream media, this is actually a big problem.  Here’s why.

First, the US Constitution prohibits the president from taking such unilateral military action.

Second, there is still no evidence that a gas attack took place in Ghouta, much less that Assad would have been involved.

If you did not know this, please listen to this analysis from Max Blumenthal (an independent, investigative journalism who focuses on the Middle East) who carefully unpacks the many falsehoods underlying the mainstream reporting on this matter.

Also, listen to James Jatras, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State, make similar observations explaining how the US has effectively become the Air Force for Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Third, the AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Military Force), passed after the 9/11 attacks and now being used to justify whatever aggressive military action the US wants to take around the world, has become a blank check for perpetual war.

This cannot be allowed to stand.  Bombing Syria has nothing to do with “keeping America safe from terrorism.” If anything, it continues to have the opposite effect.

Fourth, we need to ask why the president ordered this attack one day before a team of independent investigators, who were already on the ground in the area, were scheduled to begin their study of the alleged gas attack?

Why couldn’t the president at least have waited a few days?  Is he hiding something?

Is this another “way the dog moment” where a president uses military action to distract from his domestic problems? (I am no fan of Rachel Maddow, but here she is asking very pertinent questions.)

Check out this frightening study that correlates Trump’s Twitter activity with the airing of the Fox program, “Fox & Friends” (also here, here and here on the Trump/Fox feedback loop).

Is it only accidental that Fox & Friends suggested that Trump should bomb Syria in order to distract from the release of James Comey’s new anti-Trump book?

Fifth, this attack on Syria is one more example of American hypocrisy.  Let’s not forget that we happily support, finance and arm oppressive dictators around the world when it suits our purposes.  Think of el-Sisi in Egypt, Santos in Columbia or Hernández in Honduras. (In all three cases, the US encouraged, supported and financed the military coups that put

Supporters of ousted Honduras’ President Manuel Zelaya protest outside the entrance to the international airport in Tegucigalpa, Sunday, July 5, 2009. After the Organization of American States, OAS, suspended Saturday night Honduras’ participation in the organization because of last week coup, (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

these men in power).

We also happily tolerate and encourage chemical attacks – when they truly do happen! – as long as they are carried out by our allies.  Don’t forget that the US supplied Saddam Hussein with the chemical weapons he used mercilessly against Iranian forces during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988).

In all those years, the US never stopped the flow of nerve agents we supplied to the Iraqi army.

Furthermore, the US does not bomb countries for “humanitarian” purposes but for geo-political reasons.  American neoconservative leaders began looking for ways to overthrow Assad’s government in Syria long before the last Iraq war (see here, here, here and here).  Why?  Neoconservatives are closely allied to the Likud party in Israel, the party of president Benjamin Netanyahu.  In effect, the US is acting as a proxy for the Israeli government in Syria.

So, the US has just bombed Syria for the very same reasons that it says and does nothing about Israel’s crimes against humanity now being committed against the people of Gaza.

Finally, people who say that they follow Jesus Christ are called to be advocates for peace and diplomacy.  Disciples don’t adopt this position because we think America is a Christian nation (it’s not), or because God is guiding US foreign policy (no one but God can know this), or because Trump is God’s chosen leader (if he is, then he was sent to punish America in the way that Assyria and Babylon were sent to punish ancient Israel).

Disciples of Jesus will always insist on honesty and fair play.  But these qualites are entirely absent from the American conversation on Syria right now, as the interviews (see above) with Blumenthal and Jatras reveal.

For now, America continues its clumsy tumble towards the junk heap of has-been empires.  The most pressing question now is how much damage, death, confusion and chaos will our struggle to maintain our historic, global dominance cause for the rest of the world?

The American church, especially its so-called “evangelicals” (that is, disciples who surrender themselves to be dominated by the Good News of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension), people who truly want to be like Jesus – which has always been the center of real Christianity – must ask themselves,

Why have we become cheerleaders for a modern-day Caligula; a licentious ego-maniac drunk with power; a man without conscience, entranced by the shiny baubles of war?

When the author of the New Testament book of Revelation described the whore of fall of Babylon and her fall – which was also Rome, which was also every subsequent world empire, including the United States of America – he warned those claiming to be Christian,

“Come out of her, my people, so that you do not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.” (Revelation 18:4-5)

When will American evangelicalism stop its complicity in US war crimes?

When will it rip off the blinders of patriotic nationalism and see this world through the eyes of Jesus Christ?

A line is being drawn between the true church and the false, between the wheat and the tares, between the church militant and the church acquiescent, between disciples with their eyes firmly fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and those blinded by the “worries and deceits of this world” (Mark 4:18-19) whose cheer-leading for wickedness reveals that they have abandoned their seat at the Messiah’s banquet table (Luke 14:15-24).

Stop the US March to War with Russia

As I posted yesterday, we are entering perilous times in the Middle East, and most of the American people are completely unaware of the false information being fed to them.  The similarities to the government lies about WMDs that “justified” the Second Iraq War are too close to ignore.

Take a moment to watch this analysis by Peter Ford, a former U.K. ambassador to Syria, as he explains why he does not believe that the so-called chemical attack in Ghouta ever occurred.  It is entitled:

Former UK Ambassador to Syria: Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack Was STAGED By Islamic Jihadi Propagandists, It Is Likely No One Died

Remember the run up to the last Iraq War?  Do not forget that our government lies to us all the time. Lying is one of the things all governments do in this world.

Of course, Mr. Ford may be wrong.  BUT AT THE VERY LEAST, President Trump has no business ordering a retaliatory strike against Assad before an independent investigation has been conducted!

Please, call your Congressional representatives (at 202-225-3121) urging them to sign the bipartisan Lofgren-Amash letter, reminding the president that, according to the War Powers Act, he must receive congressional approval before launching a strike against Syria.

Also tell them to insist on an independent investigation into the claims of a gas attack.  It still is not too late.

Here are a few additional headlines from today:

ASSAD ADVISER: SYRIA AND ALLIES PREPARING FOR POSSIBLE WAR (Jerusalem Post)

Trump says Syria attack “could be very soon or not so soon at all” (Reuters)

Jerusalem Responds to Russia: Iranian Aggression Is Destabilizing Syria – Not Israel (Haaretz)

Israel on High Alert, Prepares for Possible Iranian Retaliation After Strike on Syrian Air Force Base (Haaretz)

Top Israeli Defense Officials Push for Offensive Approach in Syria Against Iran (Haaretz)

Trump is Threatening Another War, which is Only One of Many Reasons No Christian Should Be Supporting Him

Once again, our president is threatening to bomb another country.  This time it’s Syria.  In the not-too-distant past it’s been North Korea, Iran and Russia.  The New York Times reports (4/11/18) that President Trump now promises to launch a military strike against Syria and has threatened Russia not to intervene.

It’s one thing to be a bully in private life.  (The numerous allegations of Trump’s sexual assault against women and his criminal business dealings have been amply documented for many years. [Read David Kay Johnson’s books, The Making of Donald Trump and It’s Even Worse Than You Think]).

It is another matter altogether to be a public, presidential bully who imagines the nation’s military, armaments and treasury to be his own personal play things.

We do not need a blustering businessman in the White House – can we finally bury this foolishness once and for all about the importance of electing business people into government?!  We need a diplomat, an intelligent, well-educated person who understands the issues, or at least a leader who believes in the priority of diplomacy and detests war.

Tragically, Donald Trump is not that person.  He is an extraordinarily undiplomatic war-monger.

I believe that every American who professes to follow the resurrected Jesus should take advantage of the democratic mechanisms at our disposal (at least, for the moment) and voice our opposition to our government’s love of war-making.

Here are several things we can do:

  1. Call your Congressional representatives (at 202-225-3121) and ask them to sign the bipartisan Lofgren-Amash letter, reminding the president that, according to the War Powers Act, he must receive congressional approval before authorizing a strike against Syria. No US president has the authority to use military force unilaterally.
  2. While you have them on the phone, tell your elected representatives that you vehemently oppose any further military action in Syria. In fact, urge them to tell the president to implement his earlier plan for withdrawing all US forces from Syria.  As both Trump and Putin acknowledged last year, there is no military solution to this conflict.  Only a cease-fire and diplomacy will help the Syrian people.
  3. Tell your representatives to insist on an independent investigation into the apparent gas attack in Syrian eastern Ghouta. Tell them that our U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley (another neoconservative always in favor of another war), must stop her pro-war saber
    U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley vetos an Egyptian-drafted resolution regarding recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem, during the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including Palestine, at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., December 18, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid – RC19707F9890

    rattling and cooperate with the UN Security Council’s desire to investigate these charges.

  4. Educate yourself, sharpen your critical thinking skills and hone your skepticism. For instance:
  • Did you know that there is no solid, empirical evidence that Syrian president Assad or his troops had anything to do with the supposed “gas attack” in eastern Ghouta? Do not swallow the wall-to-wall reporting fed to us from the corporate media saying otherwise.  For instance, here is an excerpt from a lengthy report from an independent journalist who visited the scene of this “attack”:

“I was told by people I spoke with, in Erbin (a city in eastern Ghouta), that the terrorist factions had carried out the attacks on civilians in that district in order to blame it on the Syrian government, army and Russia.

“While there is no way to fully verify these on the ground reports, it must raise the question – why do western media repeat the narrative fed to them by western backed & financed groups like the White Helmets who are proven to be closely affiliated to extremist groups including Al Qaeda…?”

  • Israel has been lobbying the United States to go to war against Iran for many years. Israel has exploited the current situation in order unilaterally to attack Iranian forces in Syria.  (By the way, Iranian troops are in Syria by invitation.  Ours are not.)
  • Iran is now threatening a counter strike against Israel.  The only reason Israel has not continued its attacks is because of Vladimir Putin’s intervention, insisting on de-escalation.  Yes, Russian is acting as the peace-maker in this situation.
  • John Bolton, Trumps’ new National Security Adviser, is a psychopathic war-monger and a rapid pro-Zionist who has been doing Israel’s bidding for years, insisting on war with Iran.  In fact, Bolton has “promised” that he will effect regime change in Iran before the end of this year!
  • Russia has promised to “return fire” if American attacks Assad’s forces.
  • With Syria, the United States, Russian, Israel and Iran (let’s not forget Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, if things fall apart) all fired up, feeling aggressive, threatened and defensive, we have a frightening stew of international ingredients for a major war.

It is long past time for American evangelicals to stand for peace not war.  Please, make the call today.

Make your arguments.  Demand an accounting.

Let them know that you will not vote for a senator or representative who supports anymore needless destruction in our fragile world.

American Empire Never Quits

Corporate efforts at killing Brazilian democracy, backed by the U.S. government and American oil companies, continues unabated.

For now, let’s skip over the first U.S. backed military coup in 1964 and jump into the present-day.

Rousseff

More recently, the corporate-controlled right wing senate illegally impeached President Dilma Rousseff without any evidence of wrong-doing.  Her defenders have called it a “political coup,” fueled by a pact between the government, military leaders and the oil companies.  She was not as friendly to big business as the conservatives in  her government would have liked.  And, of course, they are all very chummy with the U.S.

Temer

The current president, Michel Temer who was a leader in the group that ousted Rousseff, is now the most unpopular leader in Brazilian history, crippled by his own well-publicized corruption scandals.

Enter Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (known simply as Lula among the people), a former president seeking another term in that office now that his protege, Rousseff, has been ousted.  He is extraordinarily popular, and seemed to be headed towards an easy upset at the polls.

Lula

But corporate powers have intervened yet again. Lula has just been “convicted” on corruption charges and sentenced to prison, despite the fact that no one has ever been able to offer any evidence of his guilt. (Read this amazing story at The Intercept).

The Supreme Court that just convicted Lula has more suspicious financial connections to the corporate oligarchs that funded Rousseff’s impeachment than you can shake a stick at.

If you don’t believe that the U.S. government and the American oil industry is not helping to finance all of this turmoil, well then, I have some swamp land I’d like to sell to you in Florida.

  • Update:  check out this informative analysis by Mark Weisbrot, of the Center for Economic and Policy Research,  from Democracy Now.

The Morning the Elders Walked Out on Me

It has happened to me before, but not by so many – and at both services!

I believe that every church elder in the first service, and several congregants and/or visitors in the second service, walked out at the midpoint of my message.

More than that, the elders called me into a meeting between services to tell me why they were so upset and to suggest changes to my next message.  I learned later that one elder wanted to stop me from speaking again altogether.

What did I say that was so upsetting?

No, I was not deconstructing the Trinity or denying Jesus’ incarnation.  Those might have been messages worth boycotting.

My message title was “Seeking God’s Kingdom First and Foremost.”  The Bible passage was basically the Sermon on the Mount, focusing especially on Matthew 6:33, “But seek God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness first, and all these others things (i.e. food and clothing) will be added to you.”

After surveying the specific kingdom righteousness insisted upon by Jesus (reread the Sermon on the Mount) – that is, mercy, peace-making, non-retaliation, non-violence, forgiveness, servanthood, etc. – I then turned to the question of practical application.

Specifically, how might the American church behave differently if everyone claiming to follow Jesus truly lived out Jesus’ command in Matthew 6:33?

What might it look like for our kingdom citizenship to trump (no pun intended, but what’s a writer to do?) our American citizenship?

How should Jesus’ kingdom righteousness over-rule popular views of American righteousness?

Then I got specific. I said, Let’s focus on the priority of being non-violent, merciful peacemakers living in American, the greatest purveyor of death, violence and destruction in the world today.  What should that do to us?  What should we be doing ourselves?

So, I offered a few examples, illustrated with readily available information that every American can look up for themselves.

  • The United States is the largest arms dealer in the world, selling almost half of the military weapons purchased by other developing countries.
  • The United States is arming and enabling Saudi Arabia’s assault on the people of Yemen, contributing to what is now the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.
  • Many hundreds of thousands of people have been killed directly or indirectly during our unending wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, many of whom have been innocent civilians blandly labeled “collateral damage.”

I then suggested that Christians ought to be appalled by America’s participation in such horrors. We can never endorse, much less support, such ruthless destruction.

In fact, as kingdom citizens who are also citizens of a supposed democracy, we should take advantage of the political means at our disposal to speak out, object and strive to change our nation’s addiction to bloodshed and warfare.

THAT is a part of what it means for disciples to be “salt and light in this world” (Matthew 5:11-16).

I then suggested a few practical, local avenues available to those who want to do something in a hands-on way.

Well, the exodus began well before I was even half-way through the statistics on American war-making.  The elders explained that they walked out because I had stopped talking about Jesus and instead “turned to politics.”  The Jesus part was great.  Then the politics ruined everything.

I was told that a church service ought to be a “safe place” for everyone.

Oh my.  Where to being?

My experience provides a text-book example of SO many of the things that have gone wrong with the American church.

  • Since when is worshiping the Holy One and hearing divine revelation supposed to make me always feel safe? Try telling that to Moses as he trembled before the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6).
  • When honestly proclaimed, the gospel of Jesus Christ comforts the afflicted while afflicting the comfortable.  And the American church is filled with an abundance of oh-so-comfortable people. After all, that is the primary reason many attend church in the first place, to be comfortably confirmed in their comfort zones.
  • This nationalistic, play-it-safe attitude was exactly the mindset of the German Christian church in the 1930s and ‘40s, filled with Nazi sympathizers supporting Adolf Hitler. (See the discussion of this phenomenon in my new book, I Pledge Allegiance: A Believer’s Guide to Kingdom Citizenship in 21st-Century America). I suspect that these folks would have happily listened to politics had it been their brand of Christian nationalist politics. (Actually, I am still mystified as to why raw facts and figures are heard as bad politics…).
  • Recall that Jesus’ says, “Woe to you when everyone has only good things to say about you!” ( Luke 6:26).  In other words, the church is in big trouble if our mission is only to help people feel safe and secure.
  • This sad attitude is perhaps the most damning indication of the American captivity of the church, happily enslaved to US consumerism and the self-help gospel of wealth and success.
  • I strongly suspect that most of these folks are afflicted with consciences horribly numbed by Fox News idolatry. This network has been a scourge in our country and has almost single-handedly transformed historic conservatism (a respectable tradition) into an ungodly, mean-spirited, narrow-minded mob fueled by idolatrous, nationalistic propaganda. Honestly, any “Christian” who depends on Fox as his/her sole/primary source of news and political information ought to repent and be ashamed, be very ashamed.
  • The gospel has always been inherently political. This can only be avoided by truncating the truth. Politics concerns itself with a people’s governance, the management of public interaction/conversation and the exercise of state power. Once you acknowledge the universal sovereignty of the Lord Jesus, become a citizen of the global kingdom of God and submit yourself to Jesus’ instruction in kingdom ethics, it becomes impossible to avoid open confrontation with the public powers-that-be.  Especially when they demand an allegiance contrary to Christ’s rule.
  • Fortunately, the African-American church in this country has always understood this.  Predominantly white churches need to listen and learn from our black brothers and sisters in Christ. We have much to learn. And they have a wealth of experience to share.
  • The fact that these obvious conflicts of interests (and power) go unrecognized by so many (white) folks calling themselves Christians, and then cause such discomfort and bizarre behavior when discussed from the pulpit, illustrates the widespread, colossal failure of American church leaders to engage the gospel fully and to discuss the broad spectrum of its practical application in their teaching.
  • We need to change.

Alas, I could go on, but I will stop here…for now.

P.S.  I must add that after both services, I received much more positive feedback from people who understood the issues involved and were eager to follow Jesus obediently in this dimension of their lives, too.  All in all, it was an encouraging day that demonstrated the Holy Spirit’s work in a way that, I trust, is representative of the church at large.

A Spider’s Web of Corruption

For more on Yemen, here is an excellent summary (from Democracy Now!) on the political machinations and disturbing developments coming out of Washington D.C. over the past few days.

It offers fine interviews from knowledgeable people, a C-SPAN clip of Sen. Sanders on the Senate floor, more about the Saudi crown prince, Trump’s weapons deal, and Yemeni suffering.  It is about 15 minutes long.

I hope you will set aside a few minutes to keep yourself apprised of the many nasty strands that make up the spider’s web of US foreign policy.

Thanks.

Senate Condemns Yemen to Ongoing Slaughter

In a 55-44 vote yesterday, primarily along party lines, the US Senate decided to table the bipartisan S.J.Res.54.  In effect, killing it for the foreseeable future.  The vote was scheduled deliberately to coincide with the state visit of Saudi Arabia’s ruling crown prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Nora O’Donnell’s groveling interview for “60 Minutes” (see good discussions here and here) offered a Marie Antoinette moment for American viewers. Not only did she not ask a single question about the war in Yemen (something that would have never passed muster in the days of Mike Wallace).

But those of us who knew what was happening on the other side of The Hill, watched a repulsive spectacle. The United States Senate and CBS News, a king-pin in corporate broadcasting, were genuflecting before Saudi royalty while telling the Yemeni victims of our illegal war — “let them eat cake.”

Especially noteworthy was the president’s afternoon press conference with the crown prince.  President Trump chose to focus attention on the tens of billions of dollars in arms sales that the Saudis will continue to buy from US manufacturers (what’s the deal with the big visual aids? I kept expecting Trump to poke the prince in the eye).

Obviously, in the calculus of our capital city, Yemeni lives just aren’t worth very much.  At least not when Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Ratheon and other weapons manufacturers stand to make billions in profits.

But, then, this has always been the American way of war and diplomacy.

If you have never read it before, take a look at Marine General Smedley Butler’s important book “War is a Racket” (1935).

Sadly, it has ever been this way.   As the Greek historian Thucydides (c. 460 – c. 400 BC) wrote, “The rich will do what they can, while the poor will suffer what they must.”

The rich have won another round, for the time being.

The poor in Yemen — and others like them who suffer wherever the American Empire (and our collaborators) places selfish, national, economic interests above the needs of humanity — will continue to die of starvation, disease, bombs and bullets.  Each weapon proudly stamped “made in the USA.”

Yesterday’s political maneuvers were signed in blood, by both the Senate and the White House. America’s cup fills to overflowing, and the inspired warnings of John the Revelator (Revelation 18:23-24) were never more relevant:

“Your merchants were the world’s great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her/you was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth.”

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, by Durer

Their blood, like Abel’s, will cry out from the ground on Judgement Day (Genesis 4:10).  God keeps close accounts. They will be avenged, and America, with all her leaders responsible, will be condemned.

Yet, followers of Jesus are neither shocked nor discouraged when sin shows its ugly public face, as it did yesterday. Justice and mercy will not always triumph in this world, but Christians know that goodness and love  WILL reign supreme on that Last Day.

In the meantime, we have every reason to continue our witness to see Humanity Renewed here and now through Jesus Christ.

Check to see how your senators voted.   If they voted AGAINST tabling the resolution (as did my two!), call or write and express your gratitude and appreciation.  If they voted IN FAVOR of tabling S.J.Res.54, let them know in no uncertain terms that they have not represented your values. If their moral compass does not change, then they may not remain in office much longer.

And Pray.  Pray for the people of Yemen. Pray for the victims who die every day in the multiple American wars raging continuously around the globe.

Pray for the people of God, especially that Christians in the USA will be conformed to the mind of Christ (Romans 12:1-2) even as we are exorcised of the spirit of partisan politics and of Donald Trump.

 

Excellent Yemen Analysis by Lawrence Wilkerson, What Corporate Media Isn’t Saying

Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson is an honest man of deep integrity, intelligence and straightforwardness.  He was Gen. Colin Powell’s chief of staff in the last Bush administration and is now a Distinguished Professor of Government & Public Policy at William and Mary.  His  recent article in the New York Times, “I Helped Sell the False Choice of War Once. It’s Happening Again” illustrates his depth of conscience.

I always try to read and/or listen whenever I come across anything from  Wilkerson.  So, given my recent posts on the catastrophe unfolding in Yemen (here and here), I am sharing an 18 minute interview with Wilkerson available on the RealNews (an excellent source of information I look at regularly).

Col. Wilkerson discusses vital topics: the Saudi Arabian bloodletting going on; US involvement; the famine; Pentagon malfeasance; Iran and more.

Please take a few minutes to hear a man of conscience discuss American culpability in the poorest Arab-speaking country in the Middle East. (I was hoping to post the video here, but it is too large. So, click the link above.)

The bipartisan bill (SJ Res 54) that will help to end the war in Yemen could come up for a vote as early as today (3/20/10).  Call now if you haven’t already.

Call 1-833- STOP WAR.