tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post2496787842466461415..comments2024-03-08T07:09:46.527-07:00Comments on Pro Libertate: Stolen Sons (UPDATED)William N. Grigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-42578263799845023702007-05-22T13:06:00.000-06:002007-05-22T13:06:00.000-06:00I, too, am a serious student of our Lord's teachin...I, too, am a serious student of our Lord's teachings, but abhor violence and so have always been conflicted on subservience to the government when it promotes warfare. My church teaches that wars can be just, and that Paul's Letters to the Romans dictates that I do as commanded by our leaders, even as their dictates pertain to war. But several months ago, I came across the good folks at the Center for Christian Nonviolence (http://centerforchristiannonviolence.org/index.php). I read everything they generously offered. And now I know better. Christ would <I>never</I> have advocated war against one's enemies. We are to love <I>even</I> our enemies. There is no such thing as a "just war." <BR/><BR/>Keep up the good work, Wil. We're all struggling through these days, and the nations require people like you for clarity of sight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-87739506189423165452007-05-22T00:10:00.000-06:002007-05-22T00:10:00.000-06:00Mrs. Wilson, once again I appreciate your comments...Mrs. Wilson, once again I appreciate your comments and the sincerity and courtesy you've displayed in posting them.<BR/><BR/>It is my desire to express myself as candidly as possible, whether through the keyboard, the microphone, or face-to-face -- while making it clear that my opinion of an individual is not always based on agreement between us regarding political matters. <BR/><BR/>My parents vehemently disagree with my opposition to the Iraq war, as do most members of the church my family attends. I've found that while I continue to respect those on the other side of this issue, that view is often not reciprocated -- not that this troubles me, mind you, but this should be acknowledged.<BR/><BR/>Having said all of this, I must also say the following:<BR/><BR/>I desire the safe and IMMEDIATE return of our military personnel from Iraq. I do NOT wish to impart strength or support to them in waging a consummately immoral and un-Godly war of aggression and occupation. I do NOT want to see the government that rules us prevail in its war against Iraq. <BR/><BR/>Our men (and certainly our women) in uniform should never have been sent to Iraq, and those who sent them there should be on trial for crimes against our Constitution and laws. <BR/><BR/>Anybody who presents him- or herself as a public moralist, as Dr. Laura does, should understand and acknowledge the immorality of lying, and of killing without cause. Our rulers committed the first crime and have suborned good men and women into participating in the second. The Iraq war is the moral equivalent of armed robbery on an immense scale, and there is nothing decent, patriotic, or Christian about pretending otherwise.William N. Grigghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-2114567016849218462007-05-21T01:54:00.000-06:002007-05-21T01:54:00.000-06:00I just wanted to make one more comment about this....I just wanted to make one more comment about this...<BR/>I'm the one who originally directed you to Dr. Laura's blog. I believe you misunderstood where Dr. Laura was coming from. When she was speaking and, I feel, when she is speaking to military families, she is trying to convey how to act in order to give them as much strength, support and courage as possible. You stated or inferred that there is a blind following of support for this war. This is not even part of this disccussion. We are speaking of our soldiers and their families. The issue of this war, is a completely different topic and I feel you have used it to once again attack. Which I will say again, is a by-product of a society that only has the computer monitor to contend with. Please act as though you are speaking to people's faces, I think your point of view would be better sympathized with or better understood. <BR/>With best wishes...MrsWilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01487236951616659380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-89011371118520142252007-05-18T23:51:00.000-06:002007-05-18T23:51:00.000-06:00Dear Mr. Grigg,You wrote:"The men (and -- God forg...Dear Mr. Grigg,<BR/><BR/>You wrote:<BR/><BR/><I>"The men (and -- God forgive us -- women) mired in Iraq don't belong to the Regime; their families have an infinitely greater claim on them than any government ever could. Inverting the moral order by placing the Regime above the family isn't patriotism in any sense genuine Americans can recognize."</I><BR/><BR/>A very similar thought occurred to me when our pastor preached on Mark 12 a couple of years ago. While discussing vv. 13-17, he revealed to me a gem — one of those gems that was right there in front of me all along, yet one I’d never noticed before.<BR/><BR/>In contrast to the Roman denarius, which bore both the image and inscription of Caesar, Pastor Jeff asked rhetorically, “Whose image and inscription do <I>you</I> bear?”<BR/><BR/>"Why, the image of Jehovah, and the inscription of the Triune God," I thought. It suddenly occurred to me that, while <I>all</I> men bear the <I>image</I> of God, it is <I>His people alone</I> who bear His <I>inscription</I> — the mark or seal of baptism.<BR/><BR/>Pretty basic stuff, yes? But something worth considering the next time Caesar claims the authority to conscript citizens to murder for him. (A claim, I'm sad to say, I expect to be renewed in the very near future.)<BR/><BR/>So he who currently occupies the chair of former Presidents Lincoln and Roosevelt can have my pennies and dimes. <I>But neither I nor my children belong to him.</I> He has no authority to snatch us up, hand us a rifle, and compel us to violate the Sixth Commandment.<BR/><BR/>For “whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge” (Acts 4:19).<BR/><BR/>And incidentally, I was amazed and heartened this past Mother's Day to learn that Julia Ward Howe —whatever her other theological misprisions — comprehended well this doctrine, as evidenced by the following excerpt from her Mother's Day Proclamation:<BR/><BR/><I>"... As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,<BR/>Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.<BR/><BR/>"Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.<BR/>Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means<BR/>Whereby the great human family can live in peace,<BR/><B>Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,<BR/>But of God. ..."</B></I><BR/><BR/>Peace,<BR/>Frank<BR/>An anti-THIS-war evangelical conservative<BR/><BR/><I>"Cursed are the proud, for they shall inherit the quagmire.<BR/>Cursed are the warmongers, for they shall be called sons-of-bitches."</I>Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06989427631003371881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-19789431955363401302007-05-17T09:35:00.000-06:002007-05-17T09:35:00.000-06:00I was sharing with folks last night about how ingr...I was sharing with folks last night about how ingrained is the mentality within our nation that it will not speak ill of the military even when it clearly is anti-Christian, anti-family etc. Just how is one supposed to blindly "support the troops"? Using that sort of illogic anyone can justify anything so long as its sanctimoniously wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. Lest we forget that even "good" Germans, not all that long ago, believed they were "Christians" (of a sort), and dutifully marched off to kill people who hadn't done a damn thing other than come into the cross-hairs of nation-building nuts! Sound familiar? The only way for America to ever set itself free is to once and for all drive a stake through the Military Industrial heart, but because it is so ingrained throughout our nations economic and social fabric, given what the country has become, its a recipe for suicide. Would a country born and bred on evil fantasies, and the lucre they subsist on, give this all up willingly? I wouldn't count on it. Only the King of Peace can resurrect a dead body, my own or a nations, but first you'd have to die.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-87102588178150262192007-05-17T09:30:00.000-06:002007-05-17T09:30:00.000-06:00Absolutely Will. I agree totally and I'm glad you ...Absolutely Will. I agree totally and I'm glad you clarified (or updated) your take on Dr. Laura's comments. Even so, I don't pay much mind to any radio personalities anymore, as with the booby, and <I>especially</I> if I had loved ones mired down in this perpetual neocon orchestrated ME conflagration.<BR/><BR/>And on the debate. Sigh, I'm glad I didn't watch it because my blood pressure likely would've went critical. You basically have two choices, "Rudy McRomney" and Ron Paul. And this reminds me of the fact that the commoners should be paying far more attention to congressional elections where their votes really count instead of the choose-your-next-dictator-wannabe elections. But, sigh, we've already reached the status of democratic republic by now, eh?<BR/><BR/>Anyhow, once again Will, I predict that the Lizard Queen will be the next commissar [cough, $%^&%##&, President]. As the NR commentariat's post-debate comments, in particular, made crystal clear, style and presentation trumps substance. And however the media puppeteers so desire, the commoner marionettes will be "forced" to dance their desired jig. Ergo, with substance out of the question, the Lizard Queen easily trumps "Rudy McRomney" in style and presentation.<BR/><BR/>Even though the internet polls are encouraging at a glance, I agree that they likely ARE being spammed to some degree, as some media mavens are claiming, by Paul loyalists and not really a true indicator or gauge of the populace at large. No surprise there.<BR/><BR/>It all makes me wonder...<BR/><BR/><I>...why we don't simply defer to the prevailing reality, change the name of our country to the United Soviet States of Amerika, and be done with it.</I><BR/><BR/>Indeed. A cabal of constitutionalists become inevitably fatigued playing the game of Republic governed by socialist rules.dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-695006324853717812007-05-17T08:33:00.000-06:002007-05-17T08:33:00.000-06:00I think we saw clearly the madness of the mainstre...I think we saw clearly the madness of the mainstream during the last Republican debate. When Ron Paul stated the obvious, that the terrorists had a somewhat more nuanced selection criterion for murdering our citizens, rather than Canada's. The boobosie hooped and hollered for the fascist Guiliani. As I look at myself and at the world, the Bible's analogy of men as sheep never looses its power.zachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05334525584242029389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-25072000193103869342007-05-16T19:13:00.000-06:002007-05-16T19:13:00.000-06:00You sound like a nice man who has much faith. Tha...You sound like a nice man who has much faith. That is so refreshing to see on the internet these days. What you said about Dr. Laura and her visit to military moms, you got your facts wrong. This is the terrible side-effect of the current status of our media. They are so centered around making scandal that they neglect to actually report the news. If you would like to learn the rest of the story so you might avoid being embarrassed, here is a link to the blog that explains what actually happened. Also, if you google the event you will see some blogs from people that were actually there and they back up the story that she was supportive of military families. For heaven's sake, she is military family. Her son is over there fighting right now! I hope you are able to find out more about this so you can rest assured this isn't as you view it.<BR/>From the "horse's mouth:"<BR/>http://www.drlaura.com/blog/<BR/>May God bless you, your family and our country!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com