QuakerQuaker

Primitive Christianity Revived, Again

The Man of Peace

Well the man of Peace has spoken and everyone agrees we have to stop ISIS and kill them. Recognizing that most US citizens don't want to see more of their loved ones and neighbors die or get maimed on foreign soil we are only going to use sophisticated weapons to degrade and obtain victory over this barbaric enemy. This decision was preceded by publicizing atrocious acts perpetrated by the enemy on innocent or at least less militarily prepared, victims. This raises the threshold of outrage of the ordinary peace loving people reducing any possibility of voicing objections to this new onslaught in a reasonable discourse and so once again the voice of peace is stifled by a well managed campaign to continue the rule of the military complex. A voice that is needed now more than ever as Russia proceeds to up its own military preparedness for who knows what conquest Mr. Putin has in mind or maybe he actually has intelligence information showing he has to brandish his own big stick if he doesn't want to fall prey to further deterioration of Russia's nationalistic fervor by some covert operation of our own government.

All of this is to say that Jesus says we should count the cost before we go out to war. In a day when no one finances a product without doing a market survey no where have I read any numbers on the deaths and injuries that will occur if we intervene vs. not intervening. A life is a life. If we can remove people from harms way with less loss of life than if we actively engage the enemy that is a much more preferable alternative. If we can supply people with weapons that will allow them to defend themselves without destroying their neighbors that too is a preference. If the numbers show that a large scale attack saves more lives let us see the numbers. Let's not be reactionary because of pride. Pride goes before a fall. Let's not be manipulated, either intentionally or unintentionally, into expending limited resources on creating more harm than necessary for no other purpose than to get the country's mind off the plight of the poor, the homeless and the hungry, to say nothing of the many wounded veterans here at home for the sake of politics as usual. Before ISIS started this most recent reign of terror the people of the Mideast were killing each other regularly over cultural issues that have existed for centuries and seemingly held in check only by authoritarian rule. We can't fix man's heart but that isn't a reason to help them kill more of each other. Help them defend themselves yes. Help them kill each other no.

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Comment by James C Schultz on 9th mo. 13, 2014 at 12:25pm: We are increasingly in danger of falling prey to what Jesus warned his disciples of in Mathew 26:52.

Comment by Forrest Curo on 9th mo. 13, 2014 at 6:43pm: The bulk of our organized cultural output seems intended to make people dismiss and forget that warning. People just grow up assuming that "defending yourself" is possible, something they have to do because... People believe they are supposed to be atheists in practice, supposed to count on their own cleverness and prowess to keep themselves safe. Quite silly if you think about it...

Comment by Clem Gerdelmann on 9th mo. 14, 2014 at 7:41am: Wonder why the other "Man of Peace" didn't refer to all our global-wars-combined as a 3rd Crusade rather than a 3rd World War?! Let the one without guilt throw the first stone at so-called men of peace.

Comment by James C Schultz on 9th mo. 14, 2014 at 8:34am: Personally I love Jimmy Carter. I don't agree with a lot of what he says but I personally think he is a good choice for a Man of Peace award. But I have to admit that I'm an outlier. After all I'm a fan of Dennis Rodman's North Korea trips and I don't think he's going to get any Nobel Peace Prize, although he might deserve one.

Comment by Clem Gerdelmann on 9th mo. 17, 2014 at 7:48am: Actually, James, I was speaking of Pope Francis' latest comment - just presumed that Friends are up on media sound-bites these days.

Comment by James C Schultz on 9th mo. 17, 2014 at 10:52am: Sorry Clem, not this friend. Been a long time since my pope watching days. Thankfully. But I am very concerned by the apparent lack of concern by Quakers over the continued use of force by this country in a reactionary manner. I tried to call my local Senator to voice a protest but was put on hold and never got to even leave a message as I had the distinct impression I was never going to find relief from the continuous melody designed to put me to sleep.

Comment by James C Schultz on 9th mo. 19, 2014 at 10:04am: It's going to take a lot of prayer and probably blood to cover yesterday's decision by Congress. Lord have mercy on America.

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