There's always so much conflict and unrest going on around the world. Constantly we're bombarded by headlines and news coverage of Iraq, and terrorism but there are other terrible conflicts happening. Especially in Africa, where right now there's civil disobedience ie. internal wars in Burundi, Nigeria and Sudan among other countless small wars and tribal violence.
Sudan is a country that has suffered one of the deadliest fighting in the world over the past 2 decades.
At least 1.5 million people have died and 4 million been displaced and made refugees over this prolonged war. Fought between the Arabic government army forces (things are actually more complex than this) and the rebel force of the (mainly-Christian) black tribes from the South : the Sudanese People's Liberation Army. (The 2 sides are working on a peace agreement) In addition western Sudan region of Darfur there's also a campaign that has sprung up (since early 2003) in which government supported Arab militias have attacked and terrorized local peoples to the number of approximately 1 million.
Links to information on Sudan conflicts:
Darfur conflict short description
BBC info. on Darfur conflict
Sudan civil war description
BBC report on situation now
Canadian inter-church coalition report on genocide
Also there's an UN report out now that describes the conditions that exist in Africa for slavery and human trafficking. Really appalling and terrible especially when you consider this the 21st century.
BBC article
Friday, April 23, 2004
I realised something stunning yesterday. Reading an article on an independent news site, the writer pointed out that in the media, so much attention was made of the American deaths in the siege of Fallujah, yet almost a thousand Iraqis were killed (the actual numbers could be much higher) of which there was scant attention and no outcry or calls for investigation paid to this.
I remembered reading articles in the newspaper and in Yahoo news and seeing the casualty figures with the hundreds of Iraqis dead during this siege, yet I hardly paid any attention myself as to how could so many civilians be killed?
I mean, maybe the US were using heavy artillery and bombardments against the insurgents and these civilians were caught but anyway this is truly terrible that civilians especially this much were killed and then, nothing was made of it in mainstream media.
The article is: Crushing Fallujah on Znet
I remembered reading articles in the newspaper and in Yahoo news and seeing the casualty figures with the hundreds of Iraqis dead during this siege, yet I hardly paid any attention myself as to how could so many civilians be killed?
I mean, maybe the US were using heavy artillery and bombardments against the insurgents and these civilians were caught but anyway this is truly terrible that civilians especially this much were killed and then, nothing was made of it in mainstream media.
The article is: Crushing Fallujah on Znet
This world is so full of ambiguity (when something has/is of different and opposing qualities) and irony. Sometimes its hard to figure out what's the right way or opinion in life. Every event/ circumstance/ situation has its victors and victims.
You can start with the running of countries in the world and their different systems such as democracy, dictatorships, fundamentalist regimes and communism/socialist. Democracy is widely regarded by many as the best system of running a country, it's a mainstay and strongly upheld as an attribute of modern society in Western developed countries and it's passionately (even if not fairly) practiced and desired for in developing nations that don't or only recently have them eg. Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea. Basically it's practiced in almost all the world's most developed and leading 3rd world nations- US, Canada, France, England, India, South Korea, Brazil etc.
Yet democracy has become altered, manipulated and corrupted to the point of it becoming the opposite of what it stands for- the right of every citizen to have a fair say in who runs the country and its national affairs so ensuring the leader is accountable to the general public and mainly has their interest at heart for the nation.
The most obvious example is the mighty USA where the 2000 elections came down to a near split with the current pres GWB winning by a pin's width. Since then he has proceeded to implement and propose measures (the war on Iraq, tax cuts with the rich getting the largest cut, refusal to ratify the Kyoto (environmental) accord/protocol) which have been widely opposed by a large amount of his subjects yet because of his winning the ELECTION and his party winning the House and Senate majority, he is able to do all these things albeit with lots of criticisms and protests. I mean lots of people support him and his policies but there's a large group of people who don't and its unjust how a man and his party rule a nation against the support of almost (actually more than) half the citizens.
I think one of the main points of my criticism is that democracy depends on being elected by the most people or representatives (who are also directly chosen by the people/ electorate) therefore to win, a leader and party must try to appeal and connect with as much people as possible. However this brings out the worst in politicians as they go around making lofty promises, idealistic solutions, seeking endorsements from whoever is the richest or most influential groups and giving out rewards to friends and backers when in power. So there's hypocrisy, there's corruption and there's deceit.
The worse is that instead of being lead by a specific agenda/goals to run the country as best as possible, a politician and his/her policies is influenced/ dependent/ (even dictated by) on groups whether interest or ethnic, for his/her support and victory eg. the political power of the NationalRifleAssociation in the US which prevents any government from creating a ban/restrictions on firearms for the public or the voting power and thus election influence that the exiled Cuban community in Florida exerts which causes the government to continue their embargoes on Cuba which serve no benefit for anybody and which all these years haven't caused any substantial effect on Castro's communist rule and which in effect may strengthen his power and esteem by foreign countries and his own people.
It's obvious when you see politicians supporting all kinds of causes in one situation like when in the opposition then turning on these same causes/people when in power. Like the US leaders who order embargos and sanctions against certain governments (rightfully and unrightfully) like Castro, Saddam, Gaddafi and Syria but yet support regimes/ governments such as in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and in the 70s, the Shah of Iran which are corrupt and oppressive as well but the US considers them better (easier to cooperate with and manipulate for their own interests) than fundamentalist parties/factions that in fair elections could be elected by their people and because they possess vast resources needed by western nations like OIL or exercise strong influence in their region.
In essence, this actually causes the rise in popularity and support and proliferation of fundamentalist (some terrorrist) groups which oppressed people turn to as their savior and conflicts and wars are waged, ethnicities are targeted, terrorrism is conducted and people are made to suffer terribly thus the conditions that the western nations especially the US and their 'democracy' ideals are supposed to be against in the first place.
Or when politicians stick with their supporters and refuse to condone or prevent unjust actions deriving from that group such as India where the ruling BJP (I may be a little off with the initials) is afraid or unwilling to deal with Hindu fundamentalist organisations (mainly RSS) because they- the BJP badly need their support to keep supporters and win elections. This coddling/ indifference towards the activites of these militant groups led to the slaughter of thousands of Muslims in the state of Gujurat in 2002 where state police were useless and powerless to prevent mobs from killing, looting and raping whole Muslim communities.
These politicians seem so shallow and useless that one wonders what's the use in democracy- to choose the lesser of however many evils to rule over us?
The question is, If democracy is wrong or inefficient, then What's the best alternative? I don't know really. That's the big ambiguity (I know, I'm overusing this word to death but it's essential to the topic) of democracy and politics- Is there any righteous way to run a country??
I think that human nature will always seek to corrupt any system humans conceive of (eg. Communism in China during the 1940s to 1970s: the optimism and pride after the victory over the KMT in 1949 to the abuses in Great leap forward and Cultural revolution) and for now, the best choice for now is the democratic system which keeps most people happy though at the same time it victimises a lot of people.
Maybe there is no right way to rule a society But GOD's way and so far, nobody from the Vatican to Communists to the US can rule in that way and that's why this world is so messed up.
Other issues involving ambiguity/ irony: the war on terrorism, the Palestinian-Israel conflict, capitalism and global markets, and basic human behavior including religion. Also excuse me for any factual mistakes and uncertainties in my examples and writing as I did not exactly conduct careful painstaking research into it. But I do stand by those opinions I wrote and I believe in them strongly.
You can start with the running of countries in the world and their different systems such as democracy, dictatorships, fundamentalist regimes and communism/socialist. Democracy is widely regarded by many as the best system of running a country, it's a mainstay and strongly upheld as an attribute of modern society in Western developed countries and it's passionately (even if not fairly) practiced and desired for in developing nations that don't or only recently have them eg. Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea. Basically it's practiced in almost all the world's most developed and leading 3rd world nations- US, Canada, France, England, India, South Korea, Brazil etc.
Yet democracy has become altered, manipulated and corrupted to the point of it becoming the opposite of what it stands for- the right of every citizen to have a fair say in who runs the country and its national affairs so ensuring the leader is accountable to the general public and mainly has their interest at heart for the nation.
The most obvious example is the mighty USA where the 2000 elections came down to a near split with the current pres GWB winning by a pin's width. Since then he has proceeded to implement and propose measures (the war on Iraq, tax cuts with the rich getting the largest cut, refusal to ratify the Kyoto (environmental) accord/protocol) which have been widely opposed by a large amount of his subjects yet because of his winning the ELECTION and his party winning the House and Senate majority, he is able to do all these things albeit with lots of criticisms and protests. I mean lots of people support him and his policies but there's a large group of people who don't and its unjust how a man and his party rule a nation against the support of almost (actually more than) half the citizens.
I think one of the main points of my criticism is that democracy depends on being elected by the most people or representatives (who are also directly chosen by the people/ electorate) therefore to win, a leader and party must try to appeal and connect with as much people as possible. However this brings out the worst in politicians as they go around making lofty promises, idealistic solutions, seeking endorsements from whoever is the richest or most influential groups and giving out rewards to friends and backers when in power. So there's hypocrisy, there's corruption and there's deceit.
The worse is that instead of being lead by a specific agenda/goals to run the country as best as possible, a politician and his/her policies is influenced/ dependent/ (even dictated by) on groups whether interest or ethnic, for his/her support and victory eg. the political power of the NationalRifleAssociation in the US which prevents any government from creating a ban/restrictions on firearms for the public or the voting power and thus election influence that the exiled Cuban community in Florida exerts which causes the government to continue their embargoes on Cuba which serve no benefit for anybody and which all these years haven't caused any substantial effect on Castro's communist rule and which in effect may strengthen his power and esteem by foreign countries and his own people.
It's obvious when you see politicians supporting all kinds of causes in one situation like when in the opposition then turning on these same causes/people when in power. Like the US leaders who order embargos and sanctions against certain governments (rightfully and unrightfully) like Castro, Saddam, Gaddafi and Syria but yet support regimes/ governments such as in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and in the 70s, the Shah of Iran which are corrupt and oppressive as well but the US considers them better (easier to cooperate with and manipulate for their own interests) than fundamentalist parties/factions that in fair elections could be elected by their people and because they possess vast resources needed by western nations like OIL or exercise strong influence in their region.
In essence, this actually causes the rise in popularity and support and proliferation of fundamentalist (some terrorrist) groups which oppressed people turn to as their savior and conflicts and wars are waged, ethnicities are targeted, terrorrism is conducted and people are made to suffer terribly thus the conditions that the western nations especially the US and their 'democracy' ideals are supposed to be against in the first place.
Or when politicians stick with their supporters and refuse to condone or prevent unjust actions deriving from that group such as India where the ruling BJP (I may be a little off with the initials) is afraid or unwilling to deal with Hindu fundamentalist organisations (mainly RSS) because they- the BJP badly need their support to keep supporters and win elections. This coddling/ indifference towards the activites of these militant groups led to the slaughter of thousands of Muslims in the state of Gujurat in 2002 where state police were useless and powerless to prevent mobs from killing, looting and raping whole Muslim communities.
These politicians seem so shallow and useless that one wonders what's the use in democracy- to choose the lesser of however many evils to rule over us?
The question is, If democracy is wrong or inefficient, then What's the best alternative? I don't know really. That's the big ambiguity (I know, I'm overusing this word to death but it's essential to the topic) of democracy and politics- Is there any righteous way to run a country??
I think that human nature will always seek to corrupt any system humans conceive of (eg. Communism in China during the 1940s to 1970s: the optimism and pride after the victory over the KMT in 1949 to the abuses in Great leap forward and Cultural revolution) and for now, the best choice for now is the democratic system which keeps most people happy though at the same time it victimises a lot of people.
Maybe there is no right way to rule a society But GOD's way and so far, nobody from the Vatican to Communists to the US can rule in that way and that's why this world is so messed up.
Other issues involving ambiguity/ irony: the war on terrorism, the Palestinian-Israel conflict, capitalism and global markets, and basic human behavior including religion. Also excuse me for any factual mistakes and uncertainties in my examples and writing as I did not exactly conduct careful painstaking research into it. But I do stand by those opinions I wrote and I believe in them strongly.
It seems, no, it IS a fact that all around the world conditions, life, countries seem to be getting worse or at least not improving as fast as it should. With terrorism, war, poverty, disease, materialism and immorality you can pick from any and see how far this world is regressing.
I wrote about the ironies/ ambiguities in life, how things are never simple to have a good side and a bad side and how maybe that's because we don't depend on God and try to rely on our own methods. Pertaining to Christians this should be an easy observation to make but in practice things can get confusing, out of hand and not have the effect it should. Christians are supposed to be peaceful, forgiving and humble, yet looking at history and today's events how can that be possible?
One main reason Christianity spread so far and became popular was due its proclaimed as the official religion of the Roman empire during the reign of Constantine (the Great). Constantine fought and won many wars and was a strong ruler. At times he had to fight to protect Christians and defend his rule from usurpers and so consequently through his faith and strength Christianity rose from a minor and persecuted religion into a major faith of the Empire. The point of this brief history lesson is that order to uphold and defend his faith and Empire Constantine had to undertake violent action -war, killings, against his enemies or perish. I then think that in modern life, God still wants us to uphold His faith which involves resisting and acting against evil but really it's confusing and hard to know when to forgive and when to fight.
Take the fight against terrorism. We all know what happened Sept. 11th-the Towers were destoyed and thousands of lives ended by middle eastern extremists on board planes. From then on, the US undertook a bold campaign to destroy terror and establish democracy and righteousness across the world wherever terror existed. The US first obtained goodwill and encouragement from the international community (China, Russia,the Europeans, etc) and built a coalition to strike at and destroy "evil". The first target was Afghanistan and the US succeeded in destroying the Taliban movement and shattering Al-Quada (though they still exist and have been regrouping quietly since then) thus freeing the whole country from oppresive Taliban rule and establishing a new government with a charming, modern leader Hamid Karzai.
Now taking their aim of destroying evil and restoring justice and democracy into consideration what they did in Afghanistan was very good. Actually No, it wasn't. In order to bring justice towards the evil Al-Quada and Taliban government that sheltered them, the US under George WB and his 'henchmen' Don Rumsfeld, D Cheney and company (see "Richard Clarke"...) made alliances with nations like Russia and Pakistan while maintaining and strengthening ties with Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states and Central Asian nations like Uzbekistan.
Russia has had its own Islamic fundamentalist/ terrorist war going on with its invasion and occupation in Chechnya in which many tens of thousands have been killed, imprisoned, raped and hundreds of thousands made homeless and refugees. With the continuing brutality of the occupation, Chechynan resistance movements have become more fundamentalist with countless hardened muslim fighters being trained and developed with many having gone on to fight against the US in Afghanistan.
Now though the Chechynans resistance are led by fundamentalists and have used tactics like suicide bombings and hostage takings, you cannot ignore the brutalities and overwhelming force that the Russians have commited in seeking to rein in a people who since at least the18th century they have exploited and ruled unjustly. Russia has managed to occupy most of the nation and capital, while destroying towns, villages and infrastructure and forcing Chechnyans to flee into refugee camps in neighboring regions-Dagestan. For a while, Western nations and human rights organisations have condemned Russia for undertaking this military campaign but with the US need to form a "Coalition of the willing" after 9-11, the Russians managed to solicit ,in return for aid like intelligence sharing and flight zone permissions, an understanding from the US that the Chechynans are terrorists and extremists and the Chechynan war is an interior matter and a war against terror itself with the result the US now remains silent over the atrocities there.
In effect the Russians have made the US turn a blind eye to grave injustices (in Chechyna) while making an alliance to combat "evil" in Afghanistan and terror which the Russians continue to perform in their own conflict but now without any interference and criticism from anybody else.
I know I've been writing a lot of stuff that may seem confusing and really stupid (like who gives a damn about events over there...it's all messed up, right?) but it is important to be aware of things going on all over the world especially when there's so much evil and confusion in existence.
I wrote about the ironies/ ambiguities in life, how things are never simple to have a good side and a bad side and how maybe that's because we don't depend on God and try to rely on our own methods. Pertaining to Christians this should be an easy observation to make but in practice things can get confusing, out of hand and not have the effect it should. Christians are supposed to be peaceful, forgiving and humble, yet looking at history and today's events how can that be possible?
One main reason Christianity spread so far and became popular was due its proclaimed as the official religion of the Roman empire during the reign of Constantine (the Great). Constantine fought and won many wars and was a strong ruler. At times he had to fight to protect Christians and defend his rule from usurpers and so consequently through his faith and strength Christianity rose from a minor and persecuted religion into a major faith of the Empire. The point of this brief history lesson is that order to uphold and defend his faith and Empire Constantine had to undertake violent action -war, killings, against his enemies or perish. I then think that in modern life, God still wants us to uphold His faith which involves resisting and acting against evil but really it's confusing and hard to know when to forgive and when to fight.
Take the fight against terrorism. We all know what happened Sept. 11th-the Towers were destoyed and thousands of lives ended by middle eastern extremists on board planes. From then on, the US undertook a bold campaign to destroy terror and establish democracy and righteousness across the world wherever terror existed. The US first obtained goodwill and encouragement from the international community (China, Russia,the Europeans, etc) and built a coalition to strike at and destroy "evil". The first target was Afghanistan and the US succeeded in destroying the Taliban movement and shattering Al-Quada (though they still exist and have been regrouping quietly since then) thus freeing the whole country from oppresive Taliban rule and establishing a new government with a charming, modern leader Hamid Karzai.
Now taking their aim of destroying evil and restoring justice and democracy into consideration what they did in Afghanistan was very good. Actually No, it wasn't. In order to bring justice towards the evil Al-Quada and Taliban government that sheltered them, the US under George WB and his 'henchmen' Don Rumsfeld, D Cheney and company (see "Richard Clarke"...) made alliances with nations like Russia and Pakistan while maintaining and strengthening ties with Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states and Central Asian nations like Uzbekistan.
Russia has had its own Islamic fundamentalist/ terrorist war going on with its invasion and occupation in Chechnya in which many tens of thousands have been killed, imprisoned, raped and hundreds of thousands made homeless and refugees. With the continuing brutality of the occupation, Chechynan resistance movements have become more fundamentalist with countless hardened muslim fighters being trained and developed with many having gone on to fight against the US in Afghanistan.
Now though the Chechynans resistance are led by fundamentalists and have used tactics like suicide bombings and hostage takings, you cannot ignore the brutalities and overwhelming force that the Russians have commited in seeking to rein in a people who since at least the18th century they have exploited and ruled unjustly. Russia has managed to occupy most of the nation and capital, while destroying towns, villages and infrastructure and forcing Chechnyans to flee into refugee camps in neighboring regions-Dagestan. For a while, Western nations and human rights organisations have condemned Russia for undertaking this military campaign but with the US need to form a "Coalition of the willing" after 9-11, the Russians managed to solicit ,in return for aid like intelligence sharing and flight zone permissions, an understanding from the US that the Chechynans are terrorists and extremists and the Chechynan war is an interior matter and a war against terror itself with the result the US now remains silent over the atrocities there.
In effect the Russians have made the US turn a blind eye to grave injustices (in Chechyna) while making an alliance to combat "evil" in Afghanistan and terror which the Russians continue to perform in their own conflict but now without any interference and criticism from anybody else.
I know I've been writing a lot of stuff that may seem confusing and really stupid (like who gives a damn about events over there...it's all messed up, right?) but it is important to be aware of things going on all over the world especially when there's so much evil and confusion in existence.
The US is the most powerful and richest country in the world, one which many people automatically associate with wealth, justice, democracy, might and stability yet they resorted to arrogant, deceptive, and unjust actions to carry out their war against terror in Iraq. On the other side, many people (including me) like to criticize America and many people openly hate America to the point of cheering and exulting when it suffers terrible tragedies like the celebrations in some countries after the 9/11 attacks, and proclaiming America as the 'Great Satan'.
In countries everywhere from France to Iraq to South Korea, people have passionately protested against American hegemony (rule by one nation/state) and influence. Politicians and clerics alike regularly denounce American policies and actions as arrogant, criminal and evil.
Yet I wonder what would this world be like without the United States?? Specifically without the might and influence of the US and its ideals of democracy, free trade and freedom of speech and thought. This world would be even worse if men like Saddam, Gaddafi, Kim Young II, and the like were free to do whatever they want such as forcing their injustice and evil onto other people (actually, Saddam did try to do that) that they inflict on their own people.
America has indeed been guilty of a LOT of things. They have screwed up many times, they have a materialistic culture and they have acted arrogantly, unustly and hypocritical at times. Yet look at Vietnam after the North conquered the South, look at Cuba, look at the Soviet Union during the cold war. In all cases you have people who living under socialist/ communist/ dictatorial rule who desire western ideals and lifestyles. Think of yourself and your life, and think whether you would rather be from another country, where society is not under western/American influence - Cuba, Sub-saharan Africa, Communist China, Iraq etc.
In countries everywhere from France to Iraq to South Korea, people have passionately protested against American hegemony (rule by one nation/state) and influence. Politicians and clerics alike regularly denounce American policies and actions as arrogant, criminal and evil.
Yet I wonder what would this world be like without the United States?? Specifically without the might and influence of the US and its ideals of democracy, free trade and freedom of speech and thought. This world would be even worse if men like Saddam, Gaddafi, Kim Young II, and the like were free to do whatever they want such as forcing their injustice and evil onto other people (actually, Saddam did try to do that) that they inflict on their own people.
America has indeed been guilty of a LOT of things. They have screwed up many times, they have a materialistic culture and they have acted arrogantly, unustly and hypocritical at times. Yet look at Vietnam after the North conquered the South, look at Cuba, look at the Soviet Union during the cold war. In all cases you have people who living under socialist/ communist/ dictatorial rule who desire western ideals and lifestyles. Think of yourself and your life, and think whether you would rather be from another country, where society is not under western/American influence - Cuba, Sub-saharan Africa, Communist China, Iraq etc.
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
As we continue onwards, there's so much going on around us and so much differing views and perspectives.
With that in mind,
here are a few excellent sources of information and opinions on topics relating to world events concerning terrorism, war, and the US. These are written by individuals or organisations that are not big media so their content can be seen as controversial, prejudiced and exagerrated BUT still they contain a lot of truth and have good points.
Please note that some of the "blog" sites contain differing views ie. pro-Bush or anti-Bush
So remember to keep a balanced mind when looking at the contents.
Zmag
guerillanews
views of ardent right-wing American and Bush-supporter
The most popularweblog(stated in Wired)
With that in mind,
here are a few excellent sources of information and opinions on topics relating to world events concerning terrorism, war, and the US. These are written by individuals or organisations that are not big media so their content can be seen as controversial, prejudiced and exagerrated BUT still they contain a lot of truth and have good points.
Please note that some of the "blog" sites contain differing views ie. pro-Bush or anti-Bush
So remember to keep a balanced mind when looking at the contents.
Zmag
guerillanews
views of ardent right-wing American and Bush-supporter
The most popularweblog(stated in Wired)
Saturday, April 17, 2004
ORIGINALLY POSTED AUGUST 2003
Recent developements around the world: the invasion and defeat of Saddam's tyrannical rule in Iraq by the Americans, the escalation of a civil war in Liberia following civil wars in neighboring countries and which US marines and other African countries were forced to intervene, terrorist bombings in Indonesia, Israel,Chechnya and most recently India.
It's sad that there are still lingering wars and conflicts going on all over this world. I know thoughout history wars have been going on and on and that many times they are essential to survival and justice. However as a Christian, I'm aware that killing and making judgements on another man's life are wrong and immoral, but if this (wars and justice) is essential to the creation of human societies it seems that Christianity is too idealistic and irrelevant to life in this world.
I feel that there are quite a number of contradictions in religion, all religions not just Christianity but I think too much of religion and too little in our lives is just wrong for how we live. The only problem is how to live out that balance.
I mean, if you think of God and religion all your life, then you might as well never go out in the real world at all and go live in some secluded, isolated place hidden away in some wilderness (actually that's not such a bad idea) because there's all kinds of sh*t you deal with at school, at work ,at home and you can't expect your thinking and actions to always be in line with Christ's teachings). This is partially why I have so much admiration for some pastors, reverends and even priests for their total dedication though obviously there are many holy men who have fallen short (re child molestations, homosexuality, corruption, greed and killing).
Also there's the problem of extremism, which means thinking you have the absolute right to impose God's will on anyone and anyhow you want. Think of the medieval Crusades, the Inquisition and the jihads that were declared these past decades by fundamentalists and terrorists. And the enormous sufferings,loss of life, horrors and abuses that have happened in the name of God but really just man using religion to justify their own evil intentions.
Then if you have too little spirituality in you, you start to live life as if God doesn't really matter at all. I guess this is a huge problem nowadays considering the wealth of technology and luxuries that we in the developed world live in which leads many of us to put our main focus in life not on worshipping and praising god and living according to His teachings but on material things, greed, power, sex and violence.
On one hand, there are the atheists who don't believe in God. Then there are people who belong to a religion but don't follow god and his teachings anymore. And finally you have the Sunday/ weekend Christians- it's like people have a gas station mentality (I read this from somewhere and I fully agree) where they go to church on Sundays or Saturdays to 'fill up in spirituality' which they waste during the week by doing ungodly things like drinking,engaging in immoral things like being dishonest or f*cking,gossiping and insulting other, and then they go back the next Sunday or Saturday to fill back up on God's blessings.
Truth is, I sometimes wonder whether I'm like one of these people also as I find it so hard to remember God in many circumstances and situations.
Recent developements around the world: the invasion and defeat of Saddam's tyrannical rule in Iraq by the Americans, the escalation of a civil war in Liberia following civil wars in neighboring countries and which US marines and other African countries were forced to intervene, terrorist bombings in Indonesia, Israel,Chechnya and most recently India.
It's sad that there are still lingering wars and conflicts going on all over this world. I know thoughout history wars have been going on and on and that many times they are essential to survival and justice. However as a Christian, I'm aware that killing and making judgements on another man's life are wrong and immoral, but if this (wars and justice) is essential to the creation of human societies it seems that Christianity is too idealistic and irrelevant to life in this world.
I feel that there are quite a number of contradictions in religion, all religions not just Christianity but I think too much of religion and too little in our lives is just wrong for how we live. The only problem is how to live out that balance.
I mean, if you think of God and religion all your life, then you might as well never go out in the real world at all and go live in some secluded, isolated place hidden away in some wilderness (actually that's not such a bad idea) because there's all kinds of sh*t you deal with at school, at work ,at home and you can't expect your thinking and actions to always be in line with Christ's teachings). This is partially why I have so much admiration for some pastors, reverends and even priests for their total dedication though obviously there are many holy men who have fallen short (re child molestations, homosexuality, corruption, greed and killing).
Also there's the problem of extremism, which means thinking you have the absolute right to impose God's will on anyone and anyhow you want. Think of the medieval Crusades, the Inquisition and the jihads that were declared these past decades by fundamentalists and terrorists. And the enormous sufferings,loss of life, horrors and abuses that have happened in the name of God but really just man using religion to justify their own evil intentions.
Then if you have too little spirituality in you, you start to live life as if God doesn't really matter at all. I guess this is a huge problem nowadays considering the wealth of technology and luxuries that we in the developed world live in which leads many of us to put our main focus in life not on worshipping and praising god and living according to His teachings but on material things, greed, power, sex and violence.
On one hand, there are the atheists who don't believe in God. Then there are people who belong to a religion but don't follow god and his teachings anymore. And finally you have the Sunday/ weekend Christians- it's like people have a gas station mentality (I read this from somewhere and I fully agree) where they go to church on Sundays or Saturdays to 'fill up in spirituality' which they waste during the week by doing ungodly things like drinking,engaging in immoral things like being dishonest or f*cking,gossiping and insulting other, and then they go back the next Sunday or Saturday to fill back up on God's blessings.
Truth is, I sometimes wonder whether I'm like one of these people also as I find it so hard to remember God in many circumstances and situations.
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