TJP
THE JETHRO PROJECT
O R G A N I Z I N G F O R E F F I C I E N T O U T P U T
- Becoming President: The tradeoff is not inconsequential
- Byron A. Ellis – January 25, 2008
Many politicians covet the office of the president of the United States. However, it is a role fraught with far reaching consequences. For instance, tens of thousands of people died as a consequence of decisions made by the Bush administration to invade Iraq. And, many were innocent civilians. Furthermore, millions of Iraqis were displaced from their homeland and subjected to degrading life styles abroad.
Today, we learned that the Obama administration is continuing the Bush policy of using unmanned vehicles to execute missile strikes inside Pakistan. Often, the distant soldier executing the strike cannot truly distinguish between combatants and Pakistani civilians. As a result, innocent lives are decimated creating more animosity against the United States.
On Friday, January 23, The New York Times reported that two missiles killed at least 15 people in western Pakistan. The New York Times also noted “some of the attacks have also killed civilians, enraging Pakistanis and making it harder for the country’s shaky government to win support for its own military operations against Taliban guerrillas in the country’s lawless border region.”
Potential presidential candidates battle to become president of the United States. However, for true followers of Christ becoming president of the United States is a tradeoff not worth pursuing, if the essence of the presidency is to decimate lives and create hatred.
The culture of killing is uncivilized and it is a rejection of Christ’s teachings. When a Pharisee asked Christ, which commandment in the law is the greatest? His answer, found in Matthew 22:36, was “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” And, Christ further stated (Matt. 22:39) that the second greatest commandment is “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Killing ones neighbor is, therefore, the antithesis of the second greatest commandment. So, how can Christians justify violating the second greatest commandment?
Too many Americans interact with what they believe to be Christianity through the reinterpretation of religious and political leaders. Christ, however, was clear in is rejection of the religious (Pharisees) and political (Caesar) leaders.
Many religious and political leaders use human constructs to justify war and the taking of lives in war; they pompously ignore the commandment to love their neighbor. The cost of rejecting the second greatest commandment is inconsequential among humans. However, the consequence of rejecting it supersedes humans; it is a rejection of Christ.
The Caesars of the world built a legal framework for killing, which temporarily removes the guilt from battlefield actors, but that legal framework is not valid on the Day of Judgment.
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Comments
Craig |
I agree that politics is a legal killing field but your argument is one sided and self indulging. I am a Christan but at the same time I understand these critical decisions have to be made. Most are made on good intentions and the welfare of Americans, some are not. Nevertheless they have to be made. The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the shameful coward. DO NOT PREACH RELIGION WHILE CONDEMNING WAR!! You know that more people have died over religion than politics. That is just hypocritical. I have lost good friends over the last couple years... some in front of me. I have fought the good fight for 12 years and counting. You say we shouldn't be fighting and mankind should be nice and happy. MANKIND IS NOT nice and happy!!!! To think so is childish. We have to ensure our homeland is safe so our families are too. If you don't care to loose your family because you think god will take care of them, then you are a fool. God is taking care of them with the courage and blood of my brothers and sisters fighting everyday. I have seen first hand how accurate the the UAV's are in the field and I guarantee the casualty rates are far less countable then a battle scared combat solder. Politics is corrupt and war is the tool of the devil, (but sometimes you have to play devils advocate.) You can not condemn anything that can save the lives of our men and women in uniform. We will all be judged...but I will not be judged a coward!. Meaningless sacrifice sounds like suicide.(unforgivable Sin?) That's my one sided thought |
| Pamela | What I’m hearing in both of the
previous viewpoints on war and religion is a lot of pain. Here is
where God meets with us. One of the final words that Jesus spoke
during his crucifixion was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not,
what they do.” If God could forgive Moses for killing the Egyptian,
and Saul who converted to Paul, for permitting the killing of Stephen,
I believe that He can forgive, even Pharisees, political leaders, and
soldiers who don’t have complete knowledge of what they are doing. I
pray that God will have mercy on every soul on the planet, because we
have all fallen short of God’s infinite glory and are worthy of
eternal death, save by His grace. President Obama has stepped into this situation to end the war. That is his main objective. We should be happy that someone wants to attempt to bring the madness to an end. Will this be difficult? I suspect so. He has only been in office for 8 days. It is important to inform President Obama that actions speak louder than words. The drones have created enemies among the Pakistan people, and rightly so. Who would not be angered by destruction and the lost of civilian lives in their neighborhood? My advice to the new President, a cease fire should have been implemented world-wide to celebrate his inauguration, instead of continuation of the Bush policies. We should only fire when fired upon, period. We would then be considered, not “the enemy,” but, just possibly, a neighbor. |
| battleangel |
I agree with this article a lot it’s written a little stoically but it has some great quotes. I especially like the quote that the world uses government as a "legal framework for killing" which certainly does leave the U.S. feeling that its actions are justified. I will definitely use this in my next class debate. However, I am going to disagree with Craig because he separates politics from religion. The separation of Church and State is a newer social concept than one might be led to believe. So, the argument that "more people have died over than religion than politics" is misleading. Religion is politics and in many ways, politics is religion. All throughout human history Kings, Emperors, and many political leaders have associated themselves with religion or God to stay in power. This happened throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. And still continues to happen. Political leaders are also religious leaders. America has evolved differently however. Our "founding fathers" help to develop this concept of a so-called separation. Yet, they also help to develop the concept of "patriotism" at the same time as they realized they needed something to incite devotion towards the state. Therefore, "patriotism" or worship of the state is certainly the religion that many Americans blindly follow yet still have the nerve to call themselves Christians. Craig, your argument seems legitimate to you but you fail to see that those who attack our "homeland" and kill innocent civilians use your same words to justify killing the innocent. And as you advocate for the devil you will find that he has blinded you to who your true enemies are. Just as he blinded the Germans who were convinced, the Jews were "the enemy" who threatened "the homeland" Craig, you call Mr. Ellis childish yet the paradox is that you like some sort of high school boy who lives in fear of being called a "shameful coward" in front of his peers. It is not God whom you wished to be judged by but Humanity. I am thankful for all those Israeli and U.S. soldiers who stepped out of file and threw away the their guns and medals to say "no" to an unjust and immoral war. It is much more cowardly to shoot and kill the innocent in the name of self-defense then to step out of line and resist an authorized genocide. |