Here is a scary article about the use of Biblical texts to justify a recent war. It clearly illustrates the thinking of extreme right-wing fundamentalism at its worst. It sure doesn't represent the heart of Christ or the message of God's kingdom.
Click here to read.
Thanks for the eye opening revelation Mark. How twisted can some people get!!! They even twisted the scriptures during Hitler’s war to justify them killing millions of Jews as well. No wonder the world is in such a mess! God help us all!
And snake oil salesmen can use Mark 16:18 “they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all…” to peddle their wares *sigh*
It reminds me of the classic film “A Few Good Men”. A Bible and a code to live by.
There was nothing wrong with the Bible verses quoted in the reference article. Many seem to forget that the scriptures describes thousands of years of wars through-out history.
The word “war” occurs 233 times in the Bible. As an example, Exodus 15:3, Number 1:3 – 45; Numbers 10:9; Deut.21:10; Joshua 4:13; Joshua 8:1 – 11; & many more plus Ecclesiastes 3:8 “A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of WAR, And a time of peace.”
When I saw this article, my insticts told me let’s see what comes next on this. I would be careful jumping to too many conclusions about this spin article quoted.
It is coming from an Obama administration who said they would shut down the torture camps, but have not. They are deathly silent about the Democrat Pelosi’s approval of the torture camps a year or so later. They are sitting on 2000 photos which Obama has just declared will not be released. Why not?
Hence in light of the “change you canNOT believe in” I think why we might be seeing this particular spin article as a political decoy against to head off a host of broken promises to their pacifist supporter base.
Isn’t it sad when Christians justify their actions by misquoting Scripture. The prosperity gospel people have been doing it for years. My pastor has said that a verse taken out of context is a pretext. Rumsfeld and others have a heck of a lot to answer for.
Thanks for this Mark. I think it’s so important that people like yourself get this message out there, that Jesus’ greatest commandment was to love God and love one another. His life exemplified this and was marked by love of enemies.
Mark,
I can’t believe you are serious….. The article is ‘scary’..if 100% accurate, also sensationalist.
Is there another side to the story. Do the accused get a response, or are we all going to hop on board and damn them with you so we too appear ‘contemporary??? moderate???? hip??? cool????? Left????? relevant?????? emergent????
The debate about the justification for the Iraq war will go on for decades.
that you have referred to a sensationalist article in this manner,and just left it out there surprises me, I thought you had a bit more depth!
The secular media ‘demonises’ conservative christians in the manner that this article has constantly. All ‘ends’ of christianity can be extreme, but American conservative bashing is getting tiresome.
In doing this you appear to be trying to ‘distance’ yourself from the ‘fundies’ yourself.
All very interesting me thinks!
The church seems to be shifting increasingly to the left, why? I am not sure, is it a good thing? Maybe? maybe not…
time will tell TREAD YOUR OWN PATH!!! WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION.!!! and Church ..be very careful of who you jump into bed with!!!!!!
Oh, and now I remember why I have stopped going to church!
BTW Marija, how dare you compare the Bush adminstrations alleged ‘misuse of scripture’ with the Nazi’s …
None of you would be able to freely attend church, even make these posts if good men and women in the past had not stood against tyranny.. and given their lives ‘… for their friends’….
I am so over the infiltration of the idealogies of the left in Christendom…
I totally despaireth and weep for the state of the church… the walls are indeed broken down and the enemy is coming in like a flood!
aaaaggghhh! nothing more to say…
previous post should have been signed Mark G
Yes, last night I was tired and grumpy, and a bit heavy handed… still though, as a ‘conservative’ (think salt as a preserving agent..) in an an increasingly less conservative and more liberal western church I am frustrated that the conservative ‘baby’ is being thrown out with the ‘bath water’ in the name of ‘cultural relevance’ and ‘post modernism’ and future generations of christian’s in OZ will subsequently suffer….
‘If the foundation is destroyed… what will the righteous do….!
How many understand the history of Western civilisation, the signifcance of the Magna Carta, the development of the printing press and its part in the spreading of the gospel, the Guttenberg bible, the reformation, the Westminister form of government (under attack by our own labor party) and its Christian hertiage… How many christians have even heard of these things? How many care? yes much has already been lost!
Mark G
Mark G. sorry that you are having a bad day. Firstly, Mark Conner’s heart is in the right place. He is indeed a man of great depth and has compassion for all people. Secondly, I was not comparing the Bush government to the Nazis, just making a statement how scripture can be wrongly twisted to further someone’s war agenda. Hope you are feeling much better today. Have a nice day 🙂
Mark G, you must be on some strong stuff. The article is simply about misuse of Scripture – nothing sensational about it. Out of Bush’s own mouth came words like crusade, axis of evil, etc. Nobody goes out looking for sensationalism on the “salt of the earth, right winged fundies :)” – they manage to create it all on their own, and then cry persecution when someone disagrees and points out the stupidity. It becomes dangerous when a political group actually believe they have God on their side.
1 in 7 freed Gitmo detainees go back to terrorism: Pentagon report
See Link:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/05/1_in_7_freed_gitmo_detainees_g.html
Says it all, really…
May 20, 2009 – Once Upon a Time in 2002
by Victor Davis Hanson
Opportunism, not principles, guides most in Washington. Almost no proponents of the Iraq war withdrew their support right after the successful three-week effort to remove Saddam. Had there been little Iraqi violence during the transition to democracy, former supporters would probably still be vying to take credit for the war’s success.
Consider also the dexterous Obama administration’s own about-face. It still finds it useful to damn the old Bush government’s embrace of wiretaps, military tribunals and renditions — even as it dares not drop or completely discount these apparently useful Bush policies, albeit under new names and with new qualifiers.
What does this political opportunism teach us?
If we get hit again by a major terrorist attack, you can bet that today’s cooing doves will flip a third time and revert to the screeching hawks of 2002 — and once again scream that their president must do something to keep us safe…
LINK:
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson051909.html
So Rumsfeld’s action in using these texts was justified? Or simply political opportunism?
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/