Re: Ich liebe DIESES Amerika
Geschrieben von Schiller am 27. Juli 2003 06:48:24:
Als Antwort auf: Antiamerikanismus. Definition. Umfrage. geschrieben von Guerrero am 26. Juli 2003 14:55:09:
Ostrich syndrome enables war and occupation
Project Strait Gate (www.whtt.org/straitgate) pickets churches infected with Ostrich Syndrome.
Here are "pro- and con-" letters about our efforts, one from Marti, who was picketed, and one from Ericka, a picketer.
This letter, addressed to your editor by first name, is from a mom named Marti who caught Ostrich syndrome in church: We published Marti's first letter on (http://www.whtt.org/articles/030606.htm)
She writes again:
Charles,
Please do not forward any more messages to me. I will not read them anyway. This is my work e-mail, and I am not interested in anything your followers have to say. There is nothing that is going to change my mind, just as nothing will change yours. We are on total opposite sides of the fence.
Not only is my son joining the service, but my father is a federal agent. So let?s end this right now.
-Marti M.
Here is the letter that may have triggered Marti's Ostrich Syndrome:
Ericka M. wrote to Marti:
I was one of the women who picketed your church. It was the first time I had ever picketed anyone or anything in my life.
It?s hard to describe the feeling I had standing there. I myself am the Director of a Sunday School class in a Baptist church in Denver, CO. I grew up in the Baptist church. But I can tell you without reservation that although it was intimidating, I had a strong sense of the presence of God and a deep conviction that it was pleasing to Him for me to be there.
Six years ago, I might have thought many of the same thoughts you have. I was completely indoctrinated in Dispensational thought, and I also believed that Israel (the political state) was the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
Members of my family began asking me some very difficult and troubling questions; such as: why do we believe that Israel (the state) is the same Israel as the one in the Old Testament? It only came about in 1948, and most of the people who live there are not actually Semitic -- they are of Russian or Asian descent, or American, or European. In fact, the Palestinians are technically much more Semitic!
The Old Testament Israel was a family line, but the political state of Israel certainly has very few people, if any, who can trace their lineage back forty generations!
Well, if it?s not lineage, do we believe they are "chosen" because of their religious beliefs?
Since when does rejecting Christ as the Messiah make someone chosen?
How does that make sense when the vast majority of inhabitants of Israel are secular agnostics or atheists?
These kinds of questions and thoughts drove me to a 5-year study of the Bible. I prayed throughout my studies that God would give me wisdom as he promises in his word (James 1:5&6), and that he would reveal truth to me.
About two years ago, some missionaries from our church came back from a two-year mission to Palestine. They were asked by our teachers to come speak to our class. I was very excited, because my studies had developed into reading quite a few books about the Middle East situation, and especially about Palestine. I had just finished reading a breathtaking book by Grace Halsell, called Journey to Jerusalem.
The book was written by a secular journalist who stayed with people in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, even staying with some of the "Settlers" for several months. She interviewed many people and really got "into" the minds and hearts of the people she visited. I was horrified by the account she gave of what had happened there. She spoke of the indigenous people being displaced and separated into what can only be described as concentration camps.
She wrote about the abject poverty, the injustice, the torture, and the killing of untold numbers of adults and children by the Israelis army. She also spoke of the Israelis who refuse to serve in the military, instead choosing to go to jail. And there was much more: the fact that the United States buys the weapons of death and oppression. The fact that we give Israel well in excess of 3 billion dollars per year!
Anyway, this missionary couple came and talked to our class. And they talked about some of the things that I mentioned, but they were circumspect. After the class, my husband and I questioned them at great length, and subsequently got to know them quite well before they left for another mission trip.
I gave them the book I had read and asked them to read it. After they did, I asked them whether or not it was true. They were the only people I knew at the time who had actually been there. The man told me, "Yes, it?s all true -- and more."
They also told me that our church had limited what they could and could not say when they gave their testimony. Sort of a "gag order." So they were forced to mainly focus on trying to help people see the Palestinians as people that God created whom he loved.
During their presentation in our class, an otherwise wonderful Christian woman actually said, "How can you help these people when they are the enemies of God?"
To divert from my story, another woman in my Sunday School class recently leaned over after hearing that the American hostages had been released and whispered to me: "Now that those hostages are free, I wish we would just bomb that country into one big hole in the ground!"
These kind of incredibly un-Christ-like comments are evidence of the indoctrination of evangelical Christians into blind racism and hatred for the Arabic people.
Anyway, to get back on track, not long after that, my father, who is the President of We Hold These Truths, went to Palestine himself to see what was really happening there. He witnessed first-hand the same kind of things that I had already read (including a 30 minute air attack by an Apache Helicopter right near the place he was staying -- paid for by the U.S.A. taxpayer)!
So, MAmabile, the reason I am opposed to the war on Iraq and all wars that are preemptive, illegal, unconstitutional, and unprovoked is simple: It is a moral issue! We, as Christians must be on the front line of moral issues. The shedding of innocent blood is wrong.
Now I know that you can try to justify this with many excuses. And, believe me I have heard quite a few Christians and preachers try to do so. But at the end of the day, Thou shall not murder is still Thou shall not murder. This war was not a harmless video game or a display of fireworks. It was a horror.
And, please don?t try to tell me that the attack on Iraq was self-defense! Because in your heart you have to know, if you know anything about the situation in Iraq, that it is ridiculous to say that! After the gulf war and 12 years of sanctions, the country was in no position to fight the U.S. Did you know that 5,000 people have been dying there a month for the last 10 years as a direct result of the Gulf War and our Sanctions?
If you want some proof that atrocities such as bombing with depleted uranium and cluster bombing innocent civilians took place, you don?t have to look too far!
The Shock and Awe Photo Gallery might convince you. A picture is worth a thousand words, and they have many. I dare you to look in the faces of these precious people and look away with a dry eye. See what our country has done in that place. Their address is: (www.marchforjustice.com/3.22.php)
Beloved sister in the Lord, don?t be angry with me for making you uncomfortable. When we commit ourselves to an action such as war, the very least we can do is subject ourselves to some discomfort in the name of truth. We must not stick our heads in the sand. What if those were our children? (I have four.) Would we be so complacent and impassive if our children were being bombed with depleted uranium?
Dear sister, this letter cannot adequately describe the journey I have been on that led me to your church, but I can tell you that I came to you in love hoping that you would listen.
I also came knowing that you probably wouldn?t.
To whom do I stand or fall? Only to Christ, my Lord and my maker. He will be the judge of us all. I must act to stop the injustice, whether my actions have an effect on you or not.
Micah 6:8 says, "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."Paul says in Galatians 1:10, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.I pray that you, too, will open your heart and mind and ask God to reveal truth to you. Then, as the Bereans did, search the scriptures (I suggest starting with Galatians - especially Galatians 3 & 4) to see if what you arebeing told is true.God bless you, Ericka Moore
P.S.
I wanted you to know that I do consider it patriotic to protest. When a soldier is sworn into duty, he promises to protect America from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. Right now, we have a danger from within our country. It is our duty as Americans to protect our children and our country in every, and any way we can. That includes exercising our freedom of speech.
-End Ericka