Did you read in the news lately that a U.S. military spy satellite is about to fall out of orbit in early March? This thing weighs over 5,000 pounds, and they expect that about half of it will survive the plunge through the atmosphere. It is also carrying an unknown amount of a deadly rocket fuel that can kill anyone touching it. Boy, if this thing lands on you, it could ruin your day! The satellite also features a top, top secret imaging sensor that others would like to get their hands on. If you hear a big WHUMP in early March and discover a heightened number of individuals in your neighborhood speaking Russian, Chinese, or Iranian, you had better call the Pentagon.
Now, I realize that the chances of this thing hitting someone (or even land, for that matter, given that the majority of the earth's surface is covered with water) is quite remote. But the folly of the military letting it fall is what bothers me. The military has recently been running ads on TV touting their space program, which the spots say "rivals NASA's." Does that mean they have their own space shuttle? I wouldn't be surprised. For those of you old enough to remember the beginning of the space shuttle program, you might remember that several missions per year were "secret military missions." These suddenly stopped. Logically one might conclude that the military started flying their own shuttle and didn't need NASA any longer. I think the Brass could have figured out a way to rescue this satellite, don't you?
This brings me to my main point here. Not everything the military does is "A-OK." People are everywhere with those "support the troops" stickers. I DO support the troops, but supporting the troops doesn't mean we have to support a pointless war like the one in Iraq or "amen" every action of the armed forces. And supporting the troops doesn't mean we have to like the HUGE percentage of the national budget that goes to the military, especially when "military waste" has become such a daily part of the public lexicon. One wonders if cancer and AIDS could have been eliminated a decade ago if some of this money were spent on research and cures rather than things like the V-22 Osprey, a political and monetary boondoggle at best.
Meanwhile, if you are out walking next month, better take a lead umbrella.
On a different newsworthy note, did you happen to catch the Religious News Service article about a recent Barna poll that indicates "born agains" favoring Hillary Clinton? I am not at all surprised to see dedicated Christian people moving toward the democrats. Modern Christians--especially the younger ones--are taking more seriously the "social ministry" aspect of Jesus' teachings ("love your neighbor as yourself"). They are de-emphasizing the dogmatic, doctrinal stuff that sent the last generation's "born agains" to the Religious Right, and are seeking to DO SOMETHING to make this world a better place. Gee, how truly CHRISTIAN! Who knew?
Interestingly, some were critical of the Barna poll, accusing them of using too "wide" a definition of "born again" when surveying people. The definition they used of "born again Christian" was: "someone who has made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and, based on a confession of sins, believes heaven awaits after death." What is broad about that? Sounds like a pretty good definition to me. In fact, it may be a bit NARROW! While I affirm the concept of a personal affirmation of Christ as Lord, salvation is NOT just a "personal" thing. Paul says in II Corinthians 5 that "God is in Christ, reconciling the world to godself." Salvation is God's action and is a GIFT. Our only response is to say "yes." God is seeking to reconcile the WORLD, not just you and me. I think that some of these "formulas" for what constitutes being "born again" are human efforts to separate the "sheep from the goats." Friends, that is not our job. Our job is to LIVE the Christian life, be disciples, and witness to the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ. God is not a Republican OR a Democrat, but I bet if Jesus were here today he would NOT be a member of the NRA. (Sorry, I just couldn't resist that.)
Shalom, friends.
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1 comment:
The military blew the sattelite out of the sky - Yay!!
As a country though, military waste is a minuscule problem compared to the government waste we tolerate. If eliminating military waster could potentially have wiped out Cancer and /or AIDS, think of what we could do by eliminating all government waste.
While the Church's social ministry is very important, it is a travesty when people use it to de-emphasize the doctrinal/dogmatic part of Christianity because that is what defines us as Christians. Is it more important to feed the poor bread or to feed the spiritually poor Bread from heaven? People seem to think that we have to focus on one or the other. Without the doctrine, we would be nothing more than another civic service organization like the kiwanis. If our faith is not producing fruit, it is dead. If the church preaches Christ and this preaching produces faith (Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of Christ) the works will naturally follow faith.
It is somewhat ridiculous to me that you claim Christians are turning to democrats in the name of the social Gospel. I don't think democrats are more passionate or caring people that republicans when it comes to taking care of people in need. The democrats just seem to think it is the government's job to do so. Democrats try to force people to do the right thing by taxing them and redistributing the wealth. Republicans typically did not do that until the neocons took over the party. Now Republicans do the same thing only with different emphasis.
However, the idea that Christians can support someone who defend abortion because they feel that he or she is a better example of loving one's neighbor as themselves is farcical.
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