Very true Prentis.
We do well to remember Jesus words
'Pay back therefore Caesars things to Caesar, but Gods things to God'
There is a balance to strike... we pay our taxes and obey the laws of the land.... but we dont overstep the commands of God, or our allegiance to God, in order to do so.
Allegiance to God is not the same thing as allegiance to the flag - to Caesar.
Our nation is actively participating in torture. Is that God's thing or Caesar's thing?
Our nation is actively participating in the subversion of our liberties by usurption of Constitutional Law. Is that God's thing or Caesar's thing?
Our nation is actively imprisoning aliens & journalists(*) without trial, representation or hope of release at any time.
Is that God's thing or Caesar's thing?
Cursed be he that wresteth the justice due to the sojourner, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Deu 27:19
Our nation is now actively participating in SEVEN illegal and unjust wars (at last count); bombing, killing and destroying property without cause or provocation.
Is that God's thing or Caesar's thing?
Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor in secret. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Deu 27:24
All of this warmongering and beastly treatment of innocents around the world BY AMERICA - is it God's way or Caesar's way?
Judge for yourselves where your allegiance shall lie.
For the days are soon coming when your will be required to hold to a standard, either that of Christ Jesus or that of the bloody and unjust flag of our modern Caesars.
Judge - brothers and sisters. YOU MUST CHOOSE SIDES. The one is incompatible with the other.
You cannot dance with the devil and expect to dine at table in heaven.
* * * * * * * *
(* footnote from above)
Just when I thought I knew how many wars we were involved in, along comes congressman Bilirakis' revelations about the Mexican thing.
That brings the total now to 7 1/2 or thereabouts.
The half war is that nebulous vacuous thing that dubya Bush called the War on Terror.
"We aren't fighting a religion," he said, "we're fighting evil."
There is no such thing as evil. That which we know and experience as evil has substance, existance and sometimes purpose.
Evil has names, faces, addresses and telephone numbers. (Sometimes it's a selection on a greasy restaurant's menu.)
Evil is something you can point at and accuse. Even religion gives it a name and a home address.
In the world of global politics and modern warfare, evil seems to have escaped the necessity of little more than a transparent label.
If there were substance to it, then we would know the limits of war. Apparently dubya's version of evil has none.
When OBL was killed by Navy seals, that should have provided closure for our foreign adventure in warmongering.
Instead we were treated to "Arab Spring" and now what......Mexican Winter?
These are now the days of what one pundit calls "
shadow war". Not covert because everyone knows about them, but not front page news either. In fact news that is not covered by the media at all.
I'd read scathing attacks upon the media by such persons as Gore Vidal who claim that the journalists of today are part of some diabolical scheme to cover the eyes and ears of Americans so that our oligarchs may do as they please. Mr. Vidal may be accurate in part, but one thing I did not guess was the effect military and governmental repressive policies may have upon those journalists who still possess a modicum of integrity. I include here a portion of a column which appeared on CNN's web site on Friday. Since CNN is a respected news provider, I assume that what is written here has some substance of truth behind it. If so, then what does it tell us about the intent of those in leadership positions in America?
------------------------quote begins--------------------------
"In its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military has detained journalists without charge for long periods, and failed to adequately investigate our documentation of the killings of 16 journalists by U.S. forces' fire."
"Anti-state charges and "terrorist" labels have become commonplace and are used to unduly intimidate, detain and imprison journalists. Media blackouts and limited access to war and conflict zones have become routine, along with the uninvestigated killings of journalists. To put it starkly, 81 journalists were in jail around the world at the end of 2000. By the end of 2001, that number shot up to 118. Today there are 145, most held on state security charges."
"Ten years on, it's clear that the anti-terror rhetoric and policies developed by the United States after 9/11 have provided effective and enduring cover for the erosion of civil liberties around the world -- including press freedom."
- Joel Simon CNN 09/09/11
-----------------------------------end of quote--------------------------------
Some believe, as I do, that our own government was behind the attacks of 911. Facts and arguments about minute details aside for the moment, what the Bible said about evil men is still true.
For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
Luke 6:44
What then are the fruits of 911? Victory and peace or endless war and the massive erosion of our liberties.
We speak often these days of matters of Constitutional law. Many of us know the document well that did not know it before.
Why?
Do we really fight some nameless evil or have evil men placed their heels upon our necks?
