Syria Chemical Weapons?

Have you heard about this story? It is from December 2013 and onkly gets airtime on alternative stations like Democracy Now. 

World War I Documentary

This documentary is available for purchase. 

A Certain Level of Irony?

I found Sen. McCain's response to Vladimir Putin's Op Ed piece to be quite ironic. Here is an excerpt:

I make that claim because I respect your dignity and your right to self-determination. I believe you should live according to the dictates of your conscience, not your government. I believe you deserve the opportunity to improve your lives in an economy that is built to last and benefits the many, not just the powerful few. You should be governed by a rule of law that is clear, consistently and impartially enforced and just. I make that claim because I believe the Russian people, no less than Americans, are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

On one level, I can't say I really disagree with too much he said. (Although he clearly did not understand what the punk band he mentioned, whose name I will also not repeat, actually did. They would have been arrested if they had done the same thing in Washington, but the prison sentence would have been less.)

This is what happens if you are McCain's or the US' "interesting man." Assad knows thisBut on another level, for McCain to write such a piece shows just how clueless he is. Read the entire piece and substitute America for Russia in your reading. The criticisms he makes of Russia just as well apply to America. Accusing Russia of supporting dictators was particularly funny. As McCain himself said after meeting Qaddafi, "an interesting meeting with an interesting man." Click on the link to see just how ironic it is. 

What planet does he live on?

Actually, I know. He married into the elite that run the US. While his wife is in the second tier of the US's elite, she clearly belongs among their number. Yes, an elite controls Russia. But an elite controls the US as well, and McCain is a part of that elite.

Having gone to Russian many times in the last 12 years, I see the trajectory that Russia is on--more freedom, and more prosperity. Having lived in the US for the last 12 years I see the trajectory the US is on--less freedom, and less prosperity.

If these trends continue, at some point the two countries can wave at each other as they pass in the night, going in different directions.

There is a rumbling stampede headed our way. Are you doing the equivalent of having a nice picnic in a field watching the herd approach, but instead of rising to flee, you continue your meal? Are you enjoying your potato salad as hoof beats get louder?

Syria from a Christian Perspective

If you want to know what is happening to Syrian Christians, watch this. 

Oh No, Not Civil Religion Again!

My critique of the modern combination of religion and government has not been well received. I am not surprised as the prophets' condemnation of the ancient forms of patriotic religion was not well received either. 

For me the most notorious example is the singing of the Battle Hymn of the Republic in church. Philip Gorski, whom I have mentioned before, had this to say about the Civil War: 

It was the Civil War and its aftermath, however, that transformed Christian nationalism into a popular ideology and gave it its characteristic ritual form: the cult of the fallen known as “Memorial Day” (Stout 2006). Politicians and clergy on both sides of the Mason-Dixon were quick to claim that God was on their side, that theirs was a sacred cause, and that the blood of the fallen was a form of sacrifice to the Almighty. And as the carnage escalated, the rhetoric turned apocalyptic as well.

Consider one of the most famous and familiar texts of the era — the lyrics for "The Battle Hymn of Republic." It contains the archetypical tropes of Christian nationalism American style: God as a God of war who marches, carries a “terrible swift sword” and can be seen “in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps.” A God, too, who demands blood sacrifice on “an altar in the evening dews and damps.” A demonized enemy, a “serpent” whose head must be crushed. An apocalyptic war that will unleash “the grapes of wrath” and set all men free. An empty promise, of course.

Philip Gorski is apparently not a Christian, so he may have several levels to the idea of an empty promise, but I must agree that from my perspective the promise of God's aid to either side in a murderous war was idolatry. The same is still true today. 

What is ironic to me about the desire to compare Modern America to Biblical Israel is the lack of historical context. Have modern Christians forgotten what happened to ancient Israel? If the comparison is valid, and on some level I agree that it is, then the consequences of America's sins will be dire. 

Jeremiah 7 talks about ancient Israel and the natural consequences of their sins. Let me quote the Message version, and make a few changes to make the parallel I am drawing more exact. 

3-7 “‘Clean up your act—the way you live, the things you do—so I can make my home with you in this place. Don’t for a minute believe the lies being spoken here—“This is God’s Country, God’s Country, God’s Country!” Total nonsense! Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people in this country and no longer destroying your souls by using your Churches as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood. Only then will this country I gave your ancestors be my permanent home, my Country. 

Hmm. 

Knowing what happen to Ancient Judah not too long after Jeremiah 7, and knowing the sins of the US, I am not sure I would make the analogy between the US and Israel lightly.