Just read your post "The Rich Young Man". Beautiful! Thank you!
You wrote:
"... if we simply did as Jesus taught, there would be no need for government."
Amen.
I'd go so far as to say that if we did as Jesus taught, government would also have no power. It would be toothless. For besides the fact that there would be no reason to bear the sword, there would be no one even willing to bear it.
For we'd be living in the Kingdom of God that Jesus preached.
"The state of Israel is a monster which ought to be destroyed."
I'm not sure this is fully thought through. For example, who should be tasked with destroying the state of Israel? And how would they avoid becoming monsters themselves?
Perhaps, as an anarchist, you are advocating the destruction of all "states"? That would be a different matter, but your post does not quite lead in that direction. It could even be misread that you are advocating the destruction of the Israeli people.
If you excuse violence on one side, you can't condemn it on the other just because it is the stronger side. It could be argued that all violence is evil and it only barely reaches the status of justice by limiting itself to equal measure. i.e. Eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth. Justice is only justice if it is equal. And if the stronger side limits its use of force to the same force used by the weaker, it may be equal, but no progress will be made.
And so far, I don't see much progress being made.
The weaker side needs to realize that, unless it gets help (whether in the form of military aid, wisdom, technology, "luck", or other), it cannot prevail, whether right or wrong. This is just the obvious laws of nature. And if this is the case, then what does war achieve?
As you say, it is perfectly understandable why a Palestinian growing up in such a world would become a terrorist. But that does not change the fact that an eye for an eye just fills the world with blind men.
It would be remarkable indeed if the Palestinians laid down their arms and thereby became better Jews than the Jews themselves. And the irony is, they might even win that way.
It echoes my own struggle with it as well. There's a rest and a peace when I believe it, and yet the justice side, and the revulsion that others seem to show when they encounter it, make me pause.
So far, I think the most important aspect of the "debate" is in the last line of your poem:
"Yet our seeing or not seeing is also in the hands of God."
I think it is important for me to remember that God has already given me a lot to "see" with. But most of the time it seems that I am like the men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:25, where Jesus says to them:
"O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken..."
That's me. And if I'm slow of heart to believe what is already in front of me (I'm not talking about the lofty things of Calvinism here, I'm talking about practical things like the Sermon on the Mount), then don't I deserve to be blinded? If I won't even believe the light I have, why should I expect more?
So far, in my ponderings on this, it seems to me that whether I'm blind or not is more important than whether predestination is true or not. Because even if I have free will, God can still guide my paths by determining how much light I have. If I reject the light I have, He is under no obligation to give me more. And so, in either case, humbling myself seems the only logical action. I can at least pray for and work on that.
Thanks for your poem. It was an inspiring summary.
I hope you win your gamble. Sometimes it seems like a long shot when other people are involved in the outcome of your gamble, but sometimes that just means the stakes are really worth going for.
"WOW" DAD THAT IS AN AMAZING PRAYER I AM COPYING IT AND POSTTING IT ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE AN YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE AS WELL ALSO I AM GOING TO TAKE IT TO WORK WITH ME AND SHARE IT THERE AS WELL I WILL READ IT TO MY DAUGHTERS AND TO MY MOM ERIC READ IT AND LOVES IT SO DID HIS MOM I LUV YOU DADDY KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.....
p.s. I am sending you a note also send me a list of stuff again so I can order you things you need and want now that I am working I can afford a little so let me know xoxox " * U {luv u}
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I lost your mailing address because of a STUPID mistake on my part. Please send me another brief letter and give it to me.
roberthazelett@gmail.com
or
Robert Earl Hazelett
#64 St Anthony Street
Mirador Hill Subdivision
2600 Baguio City
Philippines
Bob Hazelett
You wrote:
"... if we simply did as Jesus taught, there would be no need for government."
Amen.
I'd go so far as to say that if we did as Jesus taught, government would also have no power. It would be toothless. For besides the fact that there would be no reason to bear the sword, there would be no one even willing to bear it.
For we'd be living in the Kingdom of God that Jesus preached.
"The state of Israel is a monster which ought to be destroyed."
I'm not sure this is fully thought through. For example, who should be tasked with destroying the state of Israel? And how would they avoid becoming monsters themselves?
Perhaps, as an anarchist, you are advocating the destruction of all "states"? That would be a different matter, but your post does not quite lead in that direction. It could even be misread that you are advocating the destruction of the Israeli people.
If you excuse violence on one side, you can't condemn it on the other just because it is the stronger side. It could be argued that all violence is evil and it only barely reaches the status of justice by limiting itself to equal measure. i.e. Eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth. Justice is only justice if it is equal. And if the stronger side limits its use of force to the same force used by the weaker, it may be equal, but no progress will be made.
And so far, I don't see much progress being made.
The weaker side needs to realize that, unless it gets help (whether in the form of military aid, wisdom, technology, "luck", or other), it cannot prevail, whether right or wrong. This is just the obvious laws of nature. And if this is the case, then what does war achieve?
As you say, it is perfectly understandable why a Palestinian growing up in such a world would become a terrorist. But that does not change the fact that an eye for an eye just fills the world with blind men.
It would be remarkable indeed if the Palestinians laid down their arms and thereby became better Jews than the Jews themselves. And the irony is, they might even win that way.
It echoes my own struggle with it as well. There's a rest and a peace when I believe it, and yet the justice side, and the revulsion that others seem to show when they encounter it, make me pause.
So far, I think the most important aspect of the "debate" is in the last line of your poem:
"Yet our seeing or not seeing is also in the hands of God."
I think it is important for me to remember that God has already given me a lot to "see" with. But most of the time it seems that I am like the men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:25, where Jesus says to them:
"O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken..."
That's me. And if I'm slow of heart to believe what is already in front of me (I'm not talking about the lofty things of Calvinism here, I'm talking about practical things like the Sermon on the Mount), then don't I deserve to be blinded? If I won't even believe the light I have, why should I expect more?
So far, in my ponderings on this, it seems to me that whether I'm blind or not is more important than whether predestination is true or not. Because even if I have free will, God can still guide my paths by determining how much light I have. If I reject the light I have, He is under no obligation to give me more. And so, in either case, humbling myself seems the only logical action. I can at least pray for and work on that.
Thanks for your poem. It was an inspiring summary.
Wow.
That was beautiful.
I hope you win your gamble. Sometimes it seems like a long shot when other people are involved in the outcome of your gamble, but sometimes that just means the stakes are really worth going for.
^
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*
U SMILE JESUS LUV'S U AN SO DO I...
p.s. I am sending you a note also send me a list of stuff again so I can order you things you need and want now that I am working I can afford a little so let me know xoxox "
*
U
{luv u}