I’m not really sure why I am surprised, but I am. Last night as
I watched the Republican debate on Foreign Policy, on more than one occasion, I
was literally stunned. Watching this with my kids, I keep asking them if they
understand what is meant by certain terms and if not, explaining them. I try to
interpret political speak for them, making it very clear for them why politicians are
referred to as forked tongued serpents.
A poignant example from tonight was when I had to explain what Mitt Romney means by the 21stcentury being “an American Century,”
...or what terms like ‘exceptionalism’ mean, when they’re used be people like this.
In this case they're euphemisms for Empire.
A poignant example from tonight was when I had to explain what Mitt Romney means by the 21stcentury being “an American Century,”
...or what terms like ‘exceptionalism’ mean, when they’re used be people like this.
In this case they're euphemisms for Empire.
My children are usually asking about which candidates are Christians or claim to be…every day as they learn about current events, the contemporary church and Church History…they’re learning the meaning of these caveats and how the term Christian has become almost meaningless.
Tonight it was a real delight to find the Christian
candidates arguing for torture while employing all the Orwellian euphemisms
provided by government agencies and think tanks. Yes, it was pretty clear
tonight, the Christian position is to torture and kill.
I don’t agree with Ron Paul when it comes to economics. His
views are from my perspective worthy of Pollyanna if not Pelagius. If you don’t
know what I mean by that, I’ll explain it some other time. But when it comes to
foreign policy and the morality surrounding these issues, he was the only one
on the stage standing for anything decent and with any integrity.
It was sickening to see the morally bankrupt Newt Gingrich
argue that the Arab Spring has led to Christian persecution and that he would
use American governmental resources and call on the State Department to put
pressure on governments that don’t work to suppress persecution.
Am I for persecution? Of course not. But as I wrote elsewhere it is wrong for the
Church to call upon Rome and Caesar to help us wage our spiritual warfare. And
when Rome and Caesar wage war for the church the result is the Shapur Effect.
Christians will be persecuted not because of the gospel but because of the
geopolitical ramifications of the Imperial policy.
As if America had ANY moral standing in the Middle East?!?!
Christian ethnic groups (if there is such a thing) have been
repeatedly duped throughout history by allying themselves with Western Imperial
powers. The Armenians have been burned several times. The Maronites were backed
by the United States during the Lebanese Civil War which due their conduct
harmed both their moral rectitude as well as the moral standing of the United
States. And today, the Copts are feeling the backlash of 30 years of
anti-Western animosity due to American meddling in Egyptian affairs and the
support of a dictator. In Iraq we are watching the Assyrian swan song. Safe
under the Baathist regime, the long memories of the Middle East are coming back
to haunt them. They aided the British before, and in recent days the Americans.
In the present radicalized climate…they have driven nails into their own
coffin.
The Christians of South Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia will
learn this lesson at a future date. The Empire is expanding into Africa to
counter Chinese influence and access. There will be many results but one of them
will definitely be…the death of Christians.
Though the United States hasn’t directly intervened in Syria
though I guarantee Antioch (the rallying point of the Syrian dissidents in
exile) is a CIA hotbed at the moment…the Assyrians in that country will also
suffer due to the general instability of the Middle East. Even moderate nominal
Muslims (yes they have them too) are tired of American Empire and its Zionist
ally.
Tonight’s statements at the debate only vindicate the
argument that people in the Middle East hate the United States because of its
policies. Tonight was all about domination, manipulation, invasion and extermination.
The US isn’t in Syria yet? Well, according to most on that stage, if they were
president, the United States would definitely be involved at least through
covert means.
Just imagine if we sat in the United States and watched
candidates in China talking about using ‘covert’ means in Canada and Mexico.
There’s nothing covert about it. And if that somehow exempts the Americans from
responsibility…there are literally dozens of countries around the world who
will loudly take exception.
It was more of the same old arguments…we have to dominate
and conquer virtually everything. Santorum the pro-life candidate who loves
death argued as much when he insisted that Pakistan ‘has’ to be our friend.
Interpretation… Pakistan belongs to the United States. Because of our
geo-strategic interests the United States has to dominate that country. If the
regime is unfriendly…remove it. Self-determination? As long you answer the way
we want you to. Otherwise you’re terrorists, criminals, hostiles, Satanists…whatever.
Whatever it takes that is to sell the policy of aggression to the public and
the world.
This same kind of rationale was used by the British Empire.
Always eager to protect India, the Jewel in the Crown, they embarked on endless
wars of defense which to those on the receiving end were nothing more than wars
of conquest. They took a pretty massive piece of Earth’s real estate to defend
their holdings. Of course as the holdings grow there’s more to defend. Rather
than simplify the security equation it grows exponentially. Today with modern
technology and global trade, it’s much worse. There are that many more issues
and areas that have to be controlled.
Rick Perry wasn’t shy about it. He flat out said that
American Aid (itself a euphemism) should be tied directly to American corporate
access.
That’s largely what the Empire is all about in the end. The
Politicians represent the corporate interests that back them. The military
working with the politicians does the same thing on several fronts…wars, arms
sales, power projection also known as threat.
Corporations are also manipulated by these forces. They all
feed each other, but largely corporations are calling the shots. Rick Perry’s foreign
policy is about serving you as much as it is about serving Halliburton,
Northrop Grumman, Monsanto, and General Electric. Not to mention Highpoint,
Allstate, Exxon, and many more.
Obama of course has proven to be no agent of change. While
he has barely tweaked a few domestic policies, he hasn’t changed the Imperial
policy at all. In fact he’s expanded it.
His assassination order of an American citizen that was
suspected of Al Qaeda involvement is terrifying. I say suspected because under
our legal system you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Now
instead of courts we have secret tribunals and review councils. Just like with
the torture debate…it’s all in the word games. One calls it enhanced
interrogation, another calls it torture.
One calls it assassination of a citizen without due process.
Those on the stage tonight suggested that when you’re declared an enemy
combatant you essentially lose your rights of citizenship.
So in other words when the state says you’re ‘outlaw’ you
just lost all the rights that go back to the Constitution, the Magna Carta… if
not Roman law itself.
So was it assassination of an American citizen? Well,
depends how you define citizen. If Mitt Romney is president and he decides I’m
not a citizen…then I guess I just lost my rights to due process.
Conservatives? Do they not realize that one of the reasons
men took up arms in 1776 and rebelled against the king of England was due to
this very fact? They wanted rule by law, not rule by an arbitrary and
tyrannical monarch. Whether 1776 was right or wrong, with the exception of Ron
Paul, the men* on that stage are essentially arguing for George III, not
Washington, Jefferson and the men they claim to revere.
We’ve come full circle. The Conservatives don’t stand for
any kind of Constitution or law. They stand for protecting the power of the
Establishment regime…I guess that’s what a Conservative really is in the end.
Why did this become the Christian position?
What a shame to see so many who are revered in Christian
circles celebrating torture, death, empire and all that goes with it.
*I realize of course Michelle Bachmann is not a man, but in this case I might argue her behaviour is incompatible with being a Christian woman. I'll look at a few issues regarding Christian women in politics and how people treat it in the next post.