2008

Man of peace?

Georgie-porgie recently acknowledged that he knows many consider him to be a war monger, but – he considers himself a man of peace; a peacemaker. That, of course, explains the $20 Billion arms deal he took to the Saudi’s recently in order to help negotiate lower oil prices. Nothing screams peace like cluster bombs and missile systems.

The advent of 2008, like most new years, offers a chance (a hope, a wish, a prayer) of change. And though a fresh start may be the wish, new beginnings rarely prove fruitful when governed by old tactics and desires.

As the celebration of the new year fades I wonder just how much change will be realized. Can America do the right thing? Will it? We live in a society that is motivated by financial markets and financial gain. The saddest thing about that is that most see no problem in that belief. Capitalism, it is thought, is the ideal. But is it?

(Recommended reading: Capitalism and Schizophrenia is a two-volume theoretical work by the French authors Deleuze and Guattari. Bloodthirsty Bitches and Pious Pimps of Power by Jerry Spence.)

I suppose it’s a matter of how much more we deem our value over the value of others. And make no mistake, we do – as a society – view ourselves as ‘more valuable’. It doesn’t sound nice, but it’s true. And I find that interesting considering we view ourselves to be a Christian nation. Doesn’t the Scripture tell us to ‘esteem others over ourselves’? It’s the classic ‘do as I say, not as I do’ syndrome. Something Americans have refined to a fine art. We proclaim high ideals, however, in practice we deceive ourselves. In short, we choose to believe the lie. Why? We do not torture. It’s a lie, but we continue to perpetuate that lie. Again, why? Mr. Huckabee promotes a Constitutional Amendment ‘more in line with God’s will’ (according to him) which completely sets aside the great theological issue of grace vs. works, showing himself to be a very poor biblical scholar but a good polarizing politician. And some accept his proposal as good and moral. Why?

I recently looked through a widely used history textbook used in American public schools. I found it interesting to note that not once was there cited any occasion in which America made a mistake. Interesting. Not once since our inception as a free nation have we erred or done a wrong thing. Believable? No. But each year we continue to teach our children the same (ridiculous) stories. Why? Because the stories are more palatable than the truth. If we taught our children the truth, we might find a generation of Americans standing up in unison screaming “Stop. Wait. Unfair”. That, of course, would be unacceptable.

I know many might claim I’m off on another diatribe of America-bashing, but that would be simplistic and untrue. What I am doing is calling for Americans to be honest, to tell the truth. Didn’t Jesus tell us that the truth would set us free? (Us and a great many others around the world who are currently suffering under the weight of American intervention.) Oh, in case you didn’t know, He also said “You cannot serve God and money both.” Was he lying? Or just a poor capitalist?