the basic message #E258

4/2/04

It's kind of funny how the occupant of the White House can polarize a nation.  4 years ago it was the Clinton "left wing" group in office with the "right wingers" grumbling in the trenches.  Today it's the Bush "right wing" group in office with the "left wingers" complaining in the streets.  Personally, I don't see much difference overall between Democrats and Republicans- that's why I registered Independent 32 years ago and have never voted for a candidate due to party affiliation in those years.  So what does all of this political talk have to do with Christianity?  Much more than you might think, my friend.

George Bush has proclaimed his Christianity since before the last election.  Bush claims that he has a relationship with Jesus Christ, but quite frankly there have been times that I really wonder about that. Yes, I fully realize that we're not supposed to judge, but we can indeed inspect the fruit that a Christian produces.  I believe George W. came to the White House with the full intention of someday going after Saddam Hussein.  Call it revenge for the elder Bush's loss to Clinton, or just having an axe to grind, but no matter what you call it, most folks should agree that George W. wanted to bring down Saddam.  I won't belabor the fact that the weapons of mass destruction weren't found, but I will indeed mourn the loss of innocent lives in Iraq, be them our soldiers or Iraqi civilians simply living in a battle zone.  For those of you who have no compassion for people who live in a country overrun by war, you may someday get a chance in America to feel what those people go through everyday.  Someone is muttering right now, "This guy needs to shut-up and realize that on September 11th, we did have a battle zone in America."  Precisely- one day. 

How have we become such a callous nation that we can simply say "oh, well" when it comes to bombing innocent people in Iraq?  Our "Christian Nation" is so poorly versed in the scriptures that all I ever hear is, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."  Even though Jesus overturned that American favorite, consider this:  The eye for eye, tooth for tooth law was exactly as it sounded- it allowed retribution for a particular offense.  For those among us who still don't get it, that simply means that if someone put our your eye, the most you could get from them was to put out one of their eyes.  Even if, and it's a very big if, we still observed that rule as Christians, what would be the most that the "enemy" must give up?  It's really pretty easy to calculate:  The cost of the Twin Towers, the cost of the damage to the Pentagon, 3 jetliners, and the lives of about 3000 people.  How many of "the enemy" have we already killed?  I think we exceeded the 3000 mark many months ago, yet we still have a taste for blood.

George W. Bush claims to be a born-again believer.  Has he ever suspended his radical actions for days or weeks and called for the American people to simply pray for a solution?  Don't get confused and think that calling for a war and then asking the American people to pray is the same thing.  Jesus taught us to pray first, then wait for God's instructions.  We haven't caught on to that principal yet.  Perhaps you're a "practical" Christian that believes we must take decisive action and not sit around waiting for God.  That's not practical, that's simply rebellion. 

In closing, I'll acknowledge that most of you will disagree with my views and will send nasty emails.  That's fine, and I'll answer each one.  Someone will remind me that "freedom isn't free".  I agree.  Some of you will tell me to shut up and support the President.  That means you don't want me to have freedom.  I just finished doing my Federal Income Tax last week, and I don't take any of the loopholes and questionable benefits that many "Good Christian Americans" take liberally.  I paid over $10,000 in Federal Tax, so I'm funding more than my fair share of a war that many flag-wavers don't want to pay for.  So I ask you, who's the real patriot- the people who pay lip-service to the government and cheat on their taxes, or the people who speak out against the war, yet quietly go about paying their taxes without cheating the government?