Aaargh

Lest we drift too far from our theme

A way out of Iraq

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Tony Campolo: Religious Leaders Propose a Way Out of Iraq

Charles De Gaulle once said that politics is far too serious to be left in the hands of politicians. I agree!

The politicians in Washington are painfully divided over what should be done about the war in Iraq. The Republicans talk about “staying the course,” which our nation can ill afford. The Democrats, on the other hand, propose a “cut and run” policy, and everyone knows that this would leave a vacuum to be filled with the chaos of all-out civil war. But some of us in the religious community propose a third option, which we believe could get America out of Iraq without leaving a total mess behind. Our plan has three parts.

First, we propose that American and British troops be replaced by an international police force composed of those who better understand the Iraqi culture. Leaders in Saudi Arabia proposed such a solution almost three years ago. Americans and Brits are not only devoid of any grasp of the language and the religion of the Iraqi people, but are defined by many Muslims as a Christian army that has invaded a sacred Islamic land. Our army’s presence is perceived by many in the Muslim world as a rebirth of the medieval crusades.

Second, we propose that the United States appropriate $50 billion to rebuild the towns and cities that the invasion of Iraq has left in shambles. This would be a small price to pay, considering the $2 billion we are presently spending every week in order to keep this war going.

Third, we propose that our president go before the United Nations and ask the world to forgive America for what we have done to Iraq, and how we have set back efforts for world peace. He should point out that he is asking forgiveness on behalf of almost all Americans – because we overwhelmingly lent support to the invasion of Iraq some four years ago. He should further point out that our original intentions were good! We Americans were told that we were invading in order to remove the threat of what we thought were Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Repentance of this kind is necessary because we need to re-establish our moral standing in the world, and confessing wrongdoing is a start for doing that. It is not weakness to admit that we did wrong, especially when the whole world knows that we did. Now is the time for us to live out that verse from 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

If you are willing to support this proposal, go to www.tikkun.org/iraqpeace. You will find an expanded version of this proposal there, along with an opportunity to sign on with us. Do it now, because time is short and the days are filled with evil (Ephesians 5:16).

Tony Campolo is founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE) and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Eastern University.

Mil & Henry

Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.

She made a mistake, however, when she accused Henry, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon.

She emphatically told Henry in front of several others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.

Henry, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny.
He said nothing.

Later that evening, Henry quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house...walked home.... and left it there all night.

You gotta love Henry.

yearbook, news, & pr

yearbook, news, & pr: "thepresscorps.blogspot
I hope this doesn't become a blog about blogging, that might be like the coffee table book about coffee table books on the old Sienfeld show. What it is about is journalism, photography, and graphic design. I am a high school yearbook adviser who writes a column, draws cartoons, and contributes to a small-town newspaper in Iowa. This blog is a place to post things for my students AND to comment on what's going on in the media."

A statement from John and Elizabeth Edwards

A statement from John and Elizabeth Edwards
We are simply heartbroken by the deaths and injuries suffered at Virginia Tech. We know what an unspeakable, life-changing moment this is for these families and how, in this moment, it is hard to feel anything but overwhelming grief, much less the love and support around you. But the love and support is there. We pray that these families, these students, and the entire Virginia Tech community know that they are being embraced by a nation. There is a Methodist hymn that gave us solace in such a moment as this, and we repeat its final verse here, in hopes it will help these families, as it helped us:

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing, in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Our dearest wish is that this day could start again, with the promise of these young people alive. Knowing that cannot be, our prayer is for God's grace and whatever measure of peace can be reached on this terrible day.

Amen to that too.

Prayer for Virginia Tech

You know, I can just see some LCMS malcontented control freak inquisitor giving me flack for posting a prayer from a Jewish Rabbi on my Christian blog, but they'll just have to get over it. This Virginia tech thing is a huge tragedy, bigger than Columbine. Marc Gellman may not know Jesus as his savior, but he still works for His dad, so here's a prayer we can all join in:

By Marc Gellman

Special to Newsweek

Updated: 6:05 p.m. CT April 16, 2007

April 16, 2007 - Almighty God,

We ask your blessings of comfort descend like the dew of Heaven for the families of those whose children shed their blood into the concrete and spring grass of a place they had come to for learning and not for death.
We pray also for those who are injured that they might be healed speedily and in our time. We pray for those who believe in You and we pray for those who do not believe in You. May they all find their way through this avalanche of grief and woe by their own lights and by the strength of their friends and families. Comfort them all and heal them all from the wounds of this terrible day.

We also pray for those students and their friends and families who, though not wounded physically, have been traumatized by this senseless act of carnage on their campus and in their lives. Help them to overcome their fear. Strengthen them to face the Springtime of their lives with a wounded but still intact hope.

Heal O Lord, we also pray, all the parents and protectors of all the children who are sent off to all the schools in all the mornings of our lives. Help them to let their children go to school with a smile and a kiss and not a tug and a tear. We know that the chances of such a bloodbath engulfing them are remote, but like lightning or a sudden storm, we know that the chances for complete safety are an illusion in our wounded world. We truly and sorrowfully know that some storms cannot be weathered. So it is with the storm of murderous evil on this day. We know that we must let them go, but today we do not want to let them go. Today we only want to hold them close. Help us all to live with the terrifying challenge of freedom and fate.

In Exodus 19:4 we read that You took us out of Egypt on eagle's wings. The symbolism of this is lost to many of us who do not know the way of eagles. Those who watch eagles know that they teach their young to fly by pushing them out of their nests built upon high cliffs and then flying close to them as their chicks fall and flap their untested young wings. When their young fall too far, the eagle parents swoop down, catch their young on their pinion feathers, and flip them upward into the sky to save them from the rocks below and to give them another chance to reach the sky. Eagle parents do catch most of their eagle fledglings. We know this because there are still eagles in the sky. Still, we know that they do not—they cannot—catch them all. Nor can we.

Oh dear God, heal us from our grief at the sight of our fallen eagles. Help us, but mostly help them to find a way to believe Springtime and the blue sky still beckons.

Amen

Of course, as defensive as I may have been in my introduction, I sincerely do want to add,

In Jesus' precious Name,
Amen

Click here to see tons of my cartoons- http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2
Or http://tedstoons.blogspot.com

Sunday School: Armor of God; The Sheild of Faith

Ephesians 6:16 tells us to take up the shield of faith.
What exactly is faith? Hebrews 11:1 It's NOT the same as just believing, even the demons do that and shudder James 2 :19
Where does it come from? Romans 10:17, so listen, by reading your Bible regularly, attending a church service, listening to Christian music, participating in a Bible study, doing personal devotions, reading a blog like this- do these things and God will feed your faith in Him.

Now, what good is faith. Well let's start by considering what St. Paul and his readers in ancient Ephesus considered shields. Not a dinky little round thing like Captain America's jiffy Frisbee- Roman shields were more like lugging around a door. Most of them were like 4 foot tall by 2 foot wide, made out of wood and covered by leather- that could be soaked in water to help extinguish the flaming arrows of the enemy. Roman soldiers could just kneel down behind it and be pretty well protected. If they lined up together, it made a pretty decent wall. (see the picture above)

• The Bible tells us that we are saved by Grace through Faith Ephesians 2:8-9
• Because we have faith, we are no longer at war with God- I for one would rather be His ally than His enemy- Romans 5:1-2 (by the way, it's faith in Him that can get us through the hard times Romans 5: 3-5)
• Faith makes us solid like a ROCK, like a MOUNTAIN! With faith, we cannot be moved! Psalm 125:1
• The shield of faith works together with the breastplate of righteousness. The righteous shall live by faith Habakkuk 2:4 & Romans 1:17

Faith is even more potent in numbers though. The ancient Roman legions had a maneuver that they called "the tortoise." The front 6 soldiers made a row with their shields, and the next three rows of 7 soldiers each could all put their shields up forming a giant tortoise shell of 27 shields which was great protection against almost anything the enemy could throw at them. Cool huh?
The point is, we need to come together with other Christians to share our faith with, share our troubles with, pray for each other and with each other, and support each other in our faith and in life's struggles. See Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Thessalonians 3:10 There's power in numbers, so if you aren't in some kind of fellowship yet, ask God to lead you to a church, a Bible study or prayer group or worship community of some kind. Even if it's just a few Christian friends, a mentor or a prayer partner, God will provide you with just what He knows you need. Maybe it's just a friend or two who all challenge each other to read the Bible on their own and talk about what you've learned while you go for a walk or play video games or something as simple as that.
Remember the tortoise and the hair. There's safety in numbers.

If you're looking for something, here's your open invitation- I teach the high school Bible Study at my Church in Charter Oak, St. John's. It's at 8:50 in the kitchen in the basement, if you ever want to come sit in, you're always welcome. 104 Birch Avenue. Charter Oak, IA 51439.

Keep the faith, baybuh!
Me ka pule,
Ted

Come view my cartoons

Click here to see tons of cartoons- http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2
Not only do I think that the last 5 weeks or so are some of my best political cartoons, but I just added another 5 non-political ones that I did in PhotoShop. There's over 100 cartoons there. It's more than a hobby, it's becoming an obsession. Listen, it's a psychological illness- I NEED for you to look at these cartoons. Fortunately, I don' t need you to laugh or to agree with all of them. I know that this is a lousy spam message, but I can't help myself! If you promise to forward this web address to at least a couple of other people who might like to read cartoons, I think that will bring me psychological well-being so that I'll stop sending spam to you. Seriously. As long as you're there, you can click on one of the other menus on the top of the page, like "home," so that you can see tons of other artwork, paintings, drawings, computer graphics, and photos of Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. You might even be tempted to bookmark it and visit it every other week to see new cartoons.

Beg, beg, plead

_______________________________
Pirate Prayers at:
http://malloryprayer.blogspot.com

Ted's cartoons, artworks, photos, and commentary at:
http://tmal.multiply.com

"The gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." ~Garrison Keillor

"Prayer leads you to see new paths and to hear new melodies in the air. Prayer is the breath of your life which gives you freedom to go and stay where you wish and to find the many signs which point out the way to a new land,. Praying is not simply some necessary compartment in the daily schedule of a Christian or a source of support in time of need, nor is it restricted to Sunday morning or a as a frame to surround mealtimes. Praying is living."

- Henri J.M. Nouwen
from “With Open Hands”