Jim & All:
Jim You wrote:For your consideration:
This week, the country watched as tragedy hit the Amish community near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Once again, unspeakable horror is in the news. One man, for reasons we may never understand, has terrorized and murdered several innocent children and plunged a community and a nation into shock and grief.
Lately the news has been full of shock and grief and senseless death. Two other school shootings took innocent lives. We just observed the fifth anniversary of 9/11. In Iraq Americans are attacked in ever increasing numbers and the death toll continues to mount.
America is under attack. And we, a peaceful, freedom-loving people must do something. But what? Build a bigger fence? Build a greater military? Create a greater weapon? What kind of weapon could possibly protect America from the waves of hate the world wants to throw at us?
That weapon was demonstrated this week. It was in the news. But it did not get the coverage it deserved. It is an awesome weapon whose power has yet to be fully understood or harnessed. Its unilateral use may be the only thing capable of stopping the hate mongers who are out to destroy us. But it is not to be used lightly. We must be committed, we must be unified, we must speak with one voice, we must not waver. We must stay the course. This is a weapon to be used only by people with great strength, great purpose and great resolve.
It will save us from the world wide terror that seeks to destroy us. But only if we are willing to deploy it again and again. We must stand together. We cannot back down. We must continue until our objective is realized.
It takes a people of amazing strength and amazing grace to use something this powerful. But it was used this week. It was used by a people of singular strength and power – and amazing grace.
It was used by the Amish community of Lancaster County, PA.
It is forgiveness.
It is powerful enough to overcome hate, and even defeat death.
But it can only be used by people of tremendous strength.
Are we strong enough?
Your overall solution that we as a unified people should forgive brought me to the dictionary:
Forgive:
absolve, accept apology, acquit, allow for, amnesty, bear with, clear, commute, condone, efface, exculpate, excuse, exempt, exonerate, extenuate, forget, laugh off*, let off*, let pass*, make allowance, overlook, palliate, pardon, pocket, purge, release, relent, remit, reprieve, respite, spring, w, wink at*
My first thought is lets look at reality and see if I can wink at or laugh off some of these forgiveness’s you would have us do?
My mind runs over your words and says… whom should we forgive?
You kind of leave it open to three scenarios as I read it. I will try to explain the three different ideas I have here.
1) The animals that that would pray on our children killing them in a safe zone of schools?
2) The Muslims that are bent on killing Americans where and whenever they can?
3) Maybe you would have us forgive our leaders that got us into this war that rings the same bell as we heard in Vietnam?
1) The Animals:
I guess I will start by discussing the two events that happened this week in the schools were two men went to satisfy their needs and the ending wasn’t pretty. You seem to put a lot of emphasis on this type of situation and I assume we, as Americans should forgive these men in these situations in the aftermath?
Well let’s talk about this … then? We are talking about two situations where men with twisted sexual needs invaded the sanctity of our school buildings with the intent to act out their sexual fantasies. They went there with three given solutions in mind. One … to get notoriety. Two.. to have their sexual needs taken care of as one would have their candy fetish satisfied by going to a candy shop. Three death by cop. Both of these schoolhouse attacks were written in these men’s minds and the end result was planned and inevitable. Take the last event in the Amish community. This man went there with the intent to die. He went there with the intent to bar the doors after getting out all the boys and other people he wasn’t sexually interested in. He took K-Y jelly tubes aplenty with him. He had weapons. He made a statement by phone to NOT BOTHER HIM. He didn’t want to be bothered because he knew he was going to have his way with the little girls over and over. Why else would he take 2x6’s and 2x4’s to bar doors and windows. He was planning a long siege with notoriety and sexual gratification as his goal and obsession. Under these circumstances the cops should never wait to negotiate with such twisted minds they should attach immediately as to wait puts the children at even more risk, danger and hideous, gross rape. There is most likely going to be death, but then that is what the sick men that does this want, while getting their last nut.
If I understand you right… we as Americans should just FORGIVE the men that would pray upon our children in our face, with the intent of torture and sexual gratification of our collective youth, while holding us all hostage as a people for their quest for notoriety?
I for one am not to quote you “strong enough” nor would I expect the families of these youth that are tortured, raped and brutally murdered to turn the other cheek. Maybe the Amish community is strong enough to do that? It seems that you are willing to give up your young bloodline to the likes of these animals and turn your cheek and sing bible sayings of forgiveness? I truly wonder if you were put to the task of that situation and you were holding the broken flower of your family lineage, would you be so high on the thoughts of forgiveness?
2) T
he Muslims that are bent on killing Americans where and whenever they can?
The Muslims like the Christians have a long history of doing what best fits their interests.
Both claim the ultimate power is behind them to the exclusion of the other. The words Crusade and Jihad reflect two sides of the twisted religious coin for killing the others beliefs. To be sure this whole aggression is just a continuation of the past wars of civilization. Both groups don’t think alike it seems to me. Christians glorify life and Muslims glorify death. Muslim children are taught that death while taking down some Christians is to the glory of Islam.
If this attitude of Muslims being taught that killing Americans (Christians) is accepted and they act on it you would again have us in the big picture do the bible thing of turning the other cheek, well good luck? I feel it is foolish thinking to expect that we should be set out as bait as in a trap going about our daily lives and when they come along and blow us uP or kill us we should say like the meek “We forgive you and your leaders who hate, with extreme prejudice because it is the Christian thing to do”.
That said, I would agree that we should ask forgiveness of Islam, for our big corporations that have hijacked our government as seen by the last few years of cynical Republican rule. In the cause of these big corporations, tramped all over the Islamic world with condescending words and deeds, while never swaying support for Israel. We sow and reap as a people who have let the cynical Republicans claim the bible as cover and dupe the masses that would believe their words. Exemplified, by Tom Delay’s arrest in Texas. Where he smiled for his mug shot, claiming it was for Gods will and support, all awhile he had been subverting our government. By the misuse of extortive, bribery monies that span our nation from corporations seeking favor, as he was seeking to keep the Republicans in power by bible thumping, job shopping K-Street lobbyists and Gerrymandering a lock on power. By mobilizing in the Karl Rove tradition the Christian ministries of America by cynically parroting what they needed to hear, the Republicans have kept power and the far right Christian thought of Armageddon timing we are treading on the Islamic historical & biblical lands indiscriminately. We as a people should not be allowing the Republicans with their twisted symbiotic religious right partners to project our power to subvert the Muslim countries for the end pages of a book or Israel. The Neo-Conservatives were instrumental in our warring for the sake of nation building and their only way to save face is to continue. We as a people should ask forgiveness for falling short of social morals and take back power and demand no more preemptive aggression in the name of corporate greed based on capitalism where invasion, occupation with condescension of subjugated peoples won’t be tolerated. Yes we are going to reap what we sow as the insurgencies that surly will spring uP against their rightfully perceived Christian usurpers headed by the one way Bush doctrine backed by the bible thumps continues till anger brings an explosion we can’t tolerate and then hell on earth will become real. Thoughts of forgiveness will fade and revenge will then be the rule of the day. Your Pollyanna dream of an Amish attitude of can’t we all forgive will be dead and gone.
3) Maybe you would have us forgive our leaders that got us into this war that rings the same bell as we heard in Vietnam?
I was one that in a conservative attitude voted for the leader we have now once. The second time at the last moment I pulled my vote … distasteful as it was and went to the polls and voted for the other. You see the Neo-Conservative reality had just came to my view. The Idea of going to war because of these behind the scenes men pulling strings for Israel and nation building overwhelmed me. The combination of the Neo-Con connection and the cynical Karl Rove plan to incorporate the biblical right teaming up with a parroting politician in GW Bu$h hit home. In retrospect looking at how the Republicans, ever pressing for smaller government but spending the bank I fear something is amiss. I can see now that the dream of the conservative less government has gone into a corruption spiral, without less but more spending by government for corporate welfare. The Republicans in a cynical twist have taken away money from people and by the way abandoned responsibly for most taxpayer concerns all awhile demanding bribes from corporations for every perk imaginable but the stacking of seats (Gerrymandering) in congress and the K-street take over to the end of perpetual Republican power shows special unprecedented hubris. What I find most insulting is how these men USE the special language and right words of the biblical right to CON those good people into voting for them (The Karl Rove effect). Now let me not leave out the Democrats. They are not blameless here. They just never have taken the corruption and buying of votes and legislation through bribe to such an extent in my recollected lifetime. Right now with the election to come this November they are in a palpable sweat at the thought of the corporate money swinging back their way. So forgiveness you want eh? Well I will forgive all of US that have let these cynical, money sucking, political class con-men, bamboozle we the people, because we don’t have the balls as a group to overthrow these parasites of tremendous ill gotten power. We need forgiveness and then we need a swift kick in the @ss to get us into collective action. We need a resurgence of Theodore Roosevelt and or his relative Franklin Roosevelt type attitudes that targeted big business who were preying on the people. For today the attitude and will of the corporations is being exasperated by both political parties in Washington DC. Every day conservatives as well as liberals see the writing on the wall. They see their rights eroded hidden behind such slogan words a "The Patriot Act". They see the the money that passes over the people after hard won social gains are now lost. They see the systematic destruction of unions. They see both parties in Washington taking money to let corporate power be exerted against medical care, prescription drugs, oil and the worst being the security of our boarders so the labor can be exploited at the cost of the taxpayer for social services paid for the non American onslaught. They see the sluffing off of costs and services by hiring undocumented labor and both parties playing politics with the lives of many. The people see the corporations pay less and less in taxes with off shore banking. The people also see the jobs of America going over seas. They see the tons of cargo containers stacking up in on the West coast of the USA blotting out the sight of the sea and the evening sun. The American people see the American money in the form of the deficit growing to the ungodly amount that must some day come home to roost with the massive loss of purchasing power. Paying down the road, with their children living a poverty that their parents didn’t know. Yes I forgive … I forgive the people for being so foolish in giving away their constitutional heritage and did I mention their bill of rights one inch at a time to their corporate masters.
by Jim Wellington » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:15 pm 
I'm not running---too many closets.
