Bush 1.
My chosen president would have responded to 9/11 by saying, "Let no more innocents die." I can hear those words in Jack Kennedy's voice. He emphasizes No and More and Innocents and Die. "Let NO MORE INNOCENTS DIE," he says in that characteristic Brookline accent with those long drawn out vowels... Bush, with his Texas style butch swagger says, "Better them than us."
You have to wonder if a man who leaves it to advisors to read the news for him has ever cracked open a New Testament. If he has, he might not realize how much more challenging it is than the twelve step prayer, that it needs to be understood both in it's historical and cultural context and heard with a spiritual ear, always remembering that Jesus' only commandment was to love. I picture those eager and naieve cabinet officials traversing the White House halls with their Bibles prominently diplayed at their sides playing Bible roulette, allowing the sacred text to fall open to one of those angry Old Testament passages promising wrath and destruction, and never once thinking to ask, them or us?
I've known people for whom the answer that pops up in their minds when they ask a question in prayer is the voice of the almighty. For them the convergence of that same opinion from close friends and associates anoints it with infallibility. Still, it seems strange that someone claiming to be a follower of Jesus hears the same command to go forth and kill as does the follower of Mohammed. Mohammed set that example, Jesus went to great pains, surrendering to death on a cross to make a point. His point? That destroying others to save yourself is not ok.
I suppose if your Christianity is limited to the twelve step prayer, the determination to be alcohol free so you can act responsibly and be nice to your loved ones; if the only gospel you hear is that derived from the weekly sermon spun by a well meaning preacher from a single Bible verse for the weekly sermon, you might very well miss the main message. Jesus did not say, would never have said, would never have advised saying, "Better them than us."
My chosen president would have responded to 9/11 by saying, "Let no more innocents die." I can hear those words in Jack Kennedy's voice. He emphasizes No and More and Innocents and Die. "Let NO MORE INNOCENTS DIE," he says in that characteristic Brookline accent with those long drawn out vowels... Bush, with his Texas style butch swagger says, "Better them than us."
You have to wonder if a man who leaves it to advisors to read the news for him has ever cracked open a New Testament. If he has, he might not realize how much more challenging it is than the twelve step prayer, that it needs to be understood both in it's historical and cultural context and heard with a spiritual ear, always remembering that Jesus' only commandment was to love. I picture those eager and naieve cabinet officials traversing the White House halls with their Bibles prominently diplayed at their sides playing Bible roulette, allowing the sacred text to fall open to one of those angry Old Testament passages promising wrath and destruction, and never once thinking to ask, them or us?
I've known people for whom the answer that pops up in their minds when they ask a question in prayer is the voice of the almighty. For them the convergence of that same opinion from close friends and associates anoints it with infallibility. Still, it seems strange that someone claiming to be a follower of Jesus hears the same command to go forth and kill as does the follower of Mohammed. Mohammed set that example, Jesus went to great pains, surrendering to death on a cross to make a point. His point? That destroying others to save yourself is not ok.
I suppose if your Christianity is limited to the twelve step prayer, the determination to be alcohol free so you can act responsibly and be nice to your loved ones; if the only gospel you hear is that derived from the weekly sermon spun by a well meaning preacher from a single Bible verse for the weekly sermon, you might very well miss the main message. Jesus did not say, would never have said, would never have advised saying, "Better them than us."
posted by Peggy | 8:00 PM
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