A lot of Thoughts

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war
in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic
fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged
sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it
narrows the mind.... And when the drums of war have
reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate
and the mind has closed, the leader will have no
need in seizing the rights of the citizenry.
Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded
with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights
unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know?
For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."
- William Shakespeare

I am not sure what this is from, but if anyone knowsÖplease share. Thanks Tripp for letting me steal this from you blog.

This fits along so perfectly with the book I am reading now, The Powers that Be by Walter Wink. I have just started it, but I think it is providence that I am reading it right now, as just in the first 2 chapters Mr. Wink has discussed stuff that has been on my mind a lot; Namely, my thought on pacifism.

I am come from a very hawkish family. My father was on his way to becoming career Navy before becoming ill. He served 2 tours in Viet-Nam. I have an enormous amount of respect for our Service People, both present and past.

But, I also, have a problem with violence. Mr. Wink discusses a myth of redemptive violence that permeates our culture, and he traces this back to the Babylonian creation story (very similar to the Egyptian storyÖa god looses a battle with another god and his corpse is spread on the Earth and is the seed of life). The basic gist of the redemptive violence myth is the old story of the good guy getting beat up and finally through the use his/her brute force kicks the bad guys butt. Well, what is wrong with this is pointed in the Genesis creation story. God, unlike the Babylonian gods, created the world, especially humans out of love, from the Earth. According to the Babylonian myth we are spawned of violence, and the Genesis story we are created from love.

Re-reading what I wrote it is pretty incoherent, but bear with meÖ.I am a very stream of consciousness writer, and this is how I think.

Oh boy! Lost my train of thoughÖlets move on shall weÖreason number 412 I have not gone back to school.

Mr. Wink quotes a theologian who also commentates on NPRÖhere is a paraphrase (I donít have the book in front of me), Thank God we didnít loose more people than we did [in the Gulf War]. Well, yes, I agree, but what about the 100,000 + Iraqis who died. If our God is a sovereign and all knowing and all powerful and LOVING God, wouldnít God grieve the loss of these children. If we truly are a Christian nation, shouldnít we show Godís love and leave the judgment to God.

Ok. Enough for today, my brain hurts.

Peace.