Sunday, October 25, 2015

Endless War In An Allegedly Christian Nation

The Hypocrisy Of War In A Nation That Professes Christianity
by Rev. Paul J. Bern



Being the proactive Christian and Jesus follower that I am, I make it my business to follow current events, particularly anything having to do with Israel and the Middle East (since the majority of Bible prophecy has to do with both). It's in our best interest to do so due to America's very serious financial situation, not to mention the dangerously overextended US military which has bases in over 100 countries while fighting two wars. Rev. Billy Graham has prophesied that these multiple wars, clandestine activities and other occupations “will end in disaster”. This brings me to the point I wish to comment on today, and that is the hypocrisy of war in a nation that calls itself Christian and proclaims its devotion to Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. You can't profess to worship Christ as a nation while waging war, they are diametrically opposed to one another. We can't bemoan all the wars overseas and all the over-the-top violence going on in America's streets while continuing to be the world's largest arms manufacturer and exporter. We Americans are going to have to make up our minds what we want, because we can't have it both ways as a nation. Either wage war or wage peace. As for me, I choose peace. Killing only begets more killing.



The latest chapter in Washington's plan for global domination is the threat of war with Iran. The US incursions into Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya were really bad ideas no matter how you look at it. What is America doing over there? First, the 2nd war in Iraq was based on a series of lies about weapons of mass destruction. Second, we already got Osama Bin Laden, so why are we still in Afghanistan? Why is the US still conducting drone strikes inside Iraq and Syria? As for Libya, Italy and France were perfectly capable of managing the Libyan crisis from just across the Mediterranean Sea, they didn't need the US to come all the way across the Atlantic to help them out. These two regional powers don't need or want our help. Yet the US military continues to stick its nose into every situation it can find globally as if America is the world's policeman. America can't afford to continue to spend more money on military hardware than all the other countries of the world combined. This is clearly unsustainable. Our country's aggressive actions are also infuriating a large number of people worldwide, and I believe it is the primary cause of much of the world's terrorist activity.



What would Jesus say about this if he were here right now? God bless America? I think not! The US military entered and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the air war in Libya and the drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, without getting a formal declaration of war from Congress, a requirement of the US Constitution. Of course, the American public is being told that there are no US troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria, but US Special Forces and the CIA have been 'in country' right up to this very day. Not to mention the fact that the US military is lately beginning to set its digitized sights on China. Our country's “leaders” have forgotten that Hitler lost the Second World War when he opened up three battle fronts against the USA, Great Britain and Russia within a year. Although they held their own at first after scoring significant battlefield victories, the Nazis ultimately found themselves overwhelmed. What do you think will happen if the US opens up just as many battle fronts at once? Apparently our nation's “leaders” haven't learned one stinking thing from history. America has charted a course towards disaster!



We are going to have to face up to the fact that we live in a very violent society, and that perpetual war for profit – not for victory, but for humongous amounts of money – is only a superficial symptom of a much more deep-seated problem. Violence surrounds us. Like it or not, it is ingrained into and embraced by U.S. Society. We are bombarded with violent imagery on a daily basis if we watch much TV or rent a lot of movies. The nightly news is full of it, and the followers of Christ are sick and tired of all of it. Come to think of it, so is nearly everybody else.



More than 50 years ago, President Dwight Eisenhower warned of the growth of the “military-industrial complex”. He cautioned us about the need to guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, "whether sought or unsought," by this military industrial complex. "The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist," he said. George Orwell once wrote of “perpetual war," a situation in which war operates as a means of controlling the population by constantly rallying them against a common enemy. This is exactly the situation we are faced with in America today, with its military/industrial/incarceration complex running in overdrive. At the same time, the American people have figured out that if all the money spent on wars was spent on its people instead, we could give every American free health care, free higher education or free vocational retraining for life, with a minimum wage that is double its current rate. There are many people constantly, loudly lamenting their shortage of money. They fail to realize that vast portions of their incomes are being drained off by their country for war, death and destruction.



Obama administration officials said the United States decided to wage war on Libya because of the threat Moammar Qaddafi was to his own people. Why not attack Bahrain or Yemen? Tyrants in those countries are committing similarly repugnant acts against their citizens. Why not attack Syria since atrocities are being committed against the people there? I am very excited that ordinary people are rising up across the Middle East to cast off autocrats, tyrants, kings and dictators, not to mention the secret police who harass the citizenry daily. People want peace and justice, not war and violence. And they want it here in America too. That is why we will see very soon here in the US a similar political movement that we have seen previously in the Middle East. The Arab Spring of 2011 has evolved into the 'Occupy' and the 'we are the 99%' Movements here at home and other capitalist countries, and they are just the beginning of what is to come.



Given the near silence of our nation's pulpits in the face of the violence and war that surrounds us, the exertions of our theologians in justifying war, and the propensity of religious people to condemn abortion while proudly sending their sons and daughters off to fight and kill “the enemy”, it is certain that future historians will view organized religion as a slave to the vast war machine that engulfs us. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. prophesied, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." Will we rise up against the madness of violence or are we dead already? What's it going to be, people?

Sunday, October 18, 2015

An Economic Crash Is Coming, and It Will Be the Government's Fault When It Happoens

If Capitalism (and Deficits) Were Replaced With A Bible Based Monetary System, Could That System Be Made Workable?
By Rev. Paul J. Bern




Just last week, Congress passed yet another legislative patch for our country's broken-down patchwork monetary system so the US government won't run out of money. But it has been my observation that America's capitalist economic system, together with the US dollar it is represented by, has a very big problem. It's like the old 'elephant in the room' truism, and in this case the elephant in the room is debt – unbelievable, nearly incomprehensible, colossal debt! The global capitalist economic system rooted in Wall Street and big banking, administered in New York and presided over in Washington, is based on greed and materialism in a debt-based economy where money is created from nothing. Debt-based economies are nothing new, they have been around for at least 3,500 years (see Nehemiah chapter 5, verses1-14). The pursuit of profit reigns supreme over all other pursuits in modern America, trampling humanity underfoot in the pursuit of that power over others that provides the top 1% with the illusion of human supremacy. Designer clothes, 400+ horsepower cars and trucks, million dollar bank accounts and 30,000 square feet houses are the norm in today's world. Capitalism would have us believe that the pursuit of more and more material wealth is what everyone wants to achieve. But is that necessarily so, and is it a healthy pursuit in life?



All we have to do is to look around us. Massive deficit spending that funds multiple wars and over 700 military bases overseas (not counting the mainland US) threatens to bankrupt our country. Bankruptcies and foreclosures remain near an all-time high, and there will be a second wave of foreclosures starting in 2016 that will include commercial and industrial real estate. The interest on the federal budget deficit will exceed 70% of US gross national product by 2025 (at the rate we are going and if something isn't done quickly). Millions can't find a job because all the good jobs have been exported overseas. I know this to be true from my own previous experience with long-term unemployment which ultimately ended my 20-year computer/IT career. There are more homeless people in America today than at any time since the Great Depression. On any given night in New York City it has been estimated that there are from 10,000 to as many as 30,000 homeless people. Here in Atlanta where I live, the homeless problem is no better, and that includes appalling numbers of homeless children. It appears that our entire capitalist economic system is on the verge of collapse. China will have the world's biggest economy by the middle of 2016, and that will dethrone the US as the world's leading economic power permanently when it does occur – and rest assured it will! That will mean the US dollar will no longer be the world's reserve currency, resulting in a crash of undetermined magnitude for the dollar, the equivalent of a financial earthquake. Communism in Soviet Russia fell in 1989, and it may well be that the American economic system is going to be the next to go. What will we all do when this finally does occur?



To find the answers, we need to go to the book of Acts in the New Testament. I am going to use two separate quotes from the Book of Acts, starting with Acts chapter 2, verses 44 to 47. “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to everyone that had need. Every day they continued to meet in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” The closest thing the US has had to this ancient tradition was the hippie movement of the 1960's, where communal living was widely experimented with. How many people today would, after becoming Christian, immediately sell nearly everything they had just so they could share it with others? How many would give up owning property and join together with others of like intent and noble purpose for the sole expressed purpose of combining their resources so that all could have more? Very few, I would guess. Everybody today is trying to get a better job, house, car, investment portfolio and whatever else it takes to get over. Nearly everyone is out only for themselves at the exclusion of everyone else. They are afraid to share because they are convinced that if they do, there will not be enough for themselves. I'm going to say this as gently as I can, but people like this need to learn to let go of their fear and apprehension and stop thinking about all that could go wrong. Instead, try replacing that with new solutions concerning managing things, people and situations so that they come out in your favor. The early Church had a good handle on what it takes to have this kind of genuine success in this life. I have another quote about this two chapters later in the book of Acts:



All the believers were of one heart and mind. No one claimed any of his possessions as his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to everyone as they had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet. (Acts 4, verses 32-37, NIV) How many people today are doing this? Who would sell their house, land, car, truck, boat and whatever else they have and then turn around and give all the proceeds away? I would be very surprised if anyone sent me a check for such an amount since I rely on small donations almost exclusively. Many other churches and charities do the same. If anybody sold their house today and then gave the money away, people would assume they were crazy. And yet this is exactly how the early church operated. Maybe what we need to do now that we know this is to relearn what has been lost. Could it be that, due to a greatly reduced standard of living due to the dollar's inevitable devaluation, people with no money, home or job will have to pool their resources to survive? What if that turned out to be a blessing in disguise?



We have lost our way, entangled in a web of material goods and services, opulence and luxury, and all at the expense of everything and everybody else. We have forgotten the most important things, like how to take care of each other, how to show love and be merciful towards one another. Some of us have simply forgotten how to make friends, or even recoil at the thought of doing so. Solving this social problem can only be accomplished by a change in priorities. Maybe we should all be giving some of our excess wealth away to those less fortunate. What have I done for somebody else lately? How do I treat people, really? What matters most in life to me, and to those around me? What can I do to make a positive contribution to those whose lives I touch? What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind when I am dead and gone? Let us begin to ask ourselves some other basic questions. Such as, why do I need 400 horsepower under my hood? Come to think of it, why buy a new car when I can get a used one much cheaper? Do I really need a bigger house, or more new clothes? What's wrong with the house or the clothes I have now? The truth of the matter is that it's time to get back to the basics of life – God, family, friendship, a home and a livelihood.



Let us make sure and remember the lesson learned from the two Bible quotes listed above. There are certain advantages to living our lives as the early Christians did. “No one claimed anything as his own, but they shared everything they had”. I admit that this seems to be a bit idealistic at the moment, but a life such as this is the logical outcome in the event of the collapse of capitalism. Our country's debt, which is growing exponentially as everybody knows, is clearly unsustainable. This huge debt load will be on the backs of our children, grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren, and that is a social injustice that must be protested and demonstrated against until something is done about it! Even if it means shutting down entire cities, it is up to us, the American people, to put a stop to this once and for all. I think it's high time we “occupied” social and economic injustice.



If this money was spent on taking care of the American people instead of waging war, what a difference it would make in the lives of every one of us! What if we outgrew our need to own things and to accumulate frivolous material goods? If we set our priorities this way, it would line up with the priorities and values of the early Christians. I am prophesying to you all that the death of capitalism – or at least as we have known it – will happen within the next year or two, and maybe even sooner. But when it occurs, something wonderful will happen. We will all become equals and peers in a land where service to others rather than ownership of property and consumer merchandise will not only become the law of the land, but the new standard for personal success. What a wonderful world we could create if only we set our minds to doing this very thing! We will have become an egalitarian society, and I see a lot more that's right about that than what's wrong. We can accomplish this by living as the Bible commands us to do in the book of Acts. By doing so together we can get our priorities straight once and for all. And in the process we can create a new economic system completely from scratch to effectively replace the old one. It would be a brave new world, that's for sure. I exhort and encourage each one who reads this to make a real effort at beginning to live your life this way. God has given each of us this ability. It is up to us to learn to plug into this new power source so we can use it for the good of others. And we do this knowing that the more good we perform for others, the more it will ultimately benefit ourselves.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Some deep thoughts about the school shootings in Oregon this past week

What Kind of People Do We Want To Be?
By Rev. Paul J. Bern



I was having a casual conversation with someone just recently, and there came a point where I was asked, “What to you do?”. I replied that I was a minister and a writer, as well as a blogger and political activist. “What denomination are you from?”, she inquired. I explained that I was nondenominational, and that I was not aligned nor affiliated with any other churches, be they virtual churches like this website or brick-and-mortar. I talked to her about my views regarding being set aside, or standing alone, pledging allegiance only to Jesus Christ instead of 'Religion, Inc'. By that time, it was time for me to get off the train, and we bid each other warm goodbye's. But it got me to thinking: Who or what do I say that I am? What's my sense of identity? Does that match up to what's going on inside my head, or do I think one way and act another? These are not comfortable questions for anyone, but if we don't inquire about this to ourselves, how do we measure our authenticity as human beings? And so I took an internal, in-between-the-ears inventory of myself. I came to the conclusion that, among other things, I want to be like Chris Mintz, who took multiple bullets at Oregon's Umpqua Community College during this past week's school shooting du joir, saving many more lives in the process.



I want to be a peacemaker like Mr. Mintz's friends and family members have called him, and I too stand against indiscriminate violence wherever it may be found. “Blessed are the peacemakers”, Jesus said at the Sermon on the Mount, “for they shall be called 'sons of the living God'”. So I concluded that being a peacemaker was a good starting point regarding my own self-inventory. The apostle John wrote about this topic in his first Epistle nearly 2,000 years ago, and I quote: “If anyone says, 'I love God', yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1st John chapter 4, verses 20-21, NIV). People who are devoid of love can never be peacemakers because they are inherently selfish individuals. But if we are true Christians and followers of Christ, we sow seeds of peace and unconditional love wherever we go. If you want to be a man or woman of peace, the first step in learning how to do that is to worship the Prince of Peace. Let Jesus be your example to follow, your coach and your mentor.



I am also a crusader for civil and/or human rights, and against social injustice and economic inequality. I have written and self-published two books on these topics and I have blogged extensively as well. I was formerly middle class before winding up on disability. I know what it's like to lose everything and to have to start one's life all over again from scratch. And I know what it's like to wind up homeless. One of the most important lessons I learned from these experiences is that we live unfulfilled lives as long as we chase after money, material goods and the trappings of luxury and convenience. These are the things that simply don't matter in the long run. But seeing who is in need, or what contribution can be made, or what innovation can be implemented that benefits everyone equally, it is all these things that we should strive to achieve. Cooperation, then, replaces competition when it comes to the worship of the Son of God, and this bleeds over into the life of the believer like a Spiritual blood transfusion. Competition is so 19th and 20th century! Mutual cooperation for mutual benefit, like a beehive, is the wave of the future, and it resembles God's kingdom on earth much more closely (see Revelation chapter 20, verses 4-6).



That is only part of His directions for those that followed Him concerning how they were supposed to live life in service to others. Christians call it the Sermon on the Mount, but it was lived as a lifestyle until about 300 AD by Jesus' followers. By then some Old Testament teachings on warfare had replaced Christianity as a lifestyle and devalued it to a mere ideology. Jesus also said he came to replace the law because it had not been followed by the Jews, much to their own detriment. Just think of all the false teachers and error-laden churches that ignore these teachings. For those who do not follow His teachings I ask this: Are we all the same peoples despite color or nationality, and all the same citizens despite the unjust nature of government or of the religion we follow?



Is civilization all about wars and conflict? What about the non-warriors whose gifts to us include all the advances in farming that none should go hungry? Those who devised portable or temporary shelters so that man could venture beyond the close environs of the cave or those who devised ways to bring water to the villages that none might be thirsty or crops perish from the lack of water? Who was the hero or heroine who devised the wheel? Who among our ancestors built stationary shelters that we now call houses? Who first tamed and rode horses? All of these people from our ancient past are true heroes, giving us lasting gifts that advanced civilization, even if the gifts were soon turned to warlike purposes. Is someone considered a danger because of their gender, sexuality, skin color, political ideology or personal attributes? Why is it that women in modern society earn an average of 25% lower pay for the same work as opposed to men? Why is a nurse less valued than a doctor? Why is a teacher less valued then a banker or a lawyer? How many can name one person who is not recognized by their own community for what they have given? 
 


How will we be remembered by the next generation? We are all given a choice and a say in what happens tomorrow, today. A million today’s were shaped by what a million nameless, faceless someones did yesterday. Do we go along to get along or do we stand up and demand our say-so and contribution in our future? Do you wait for Jim or Sally, Joe or Jane to take the lead, or do you begin hoping that they will say or do something you can agree with? The only person responsible for your decisions and what happens tomorrow because of them, is the one looking back at you in the mirror. Shall we become part of the solution, or remain part of the problem? We can be contributing individuals to the world of tomorrow, or the zoned-out TV watchers and self-isolating video game players of today. Which do we choose?



Which brings us back to the community and the growing of support and friendship. Who are your friends? Are they just people you grew up with or work with or go to the club or church with? Are they all men or women or all the same racial background as you are? Are all of your friends the same general age or do you number the elderly and the children among your friends? In our society friendship sometimes seems shallow, temporary and based on filling someone's immediate needs. One different outcome and way of looking at friendship is offered in the Native American community. They look at friendship as a choice, a responsibility and that it be long lasting. Jesus said it best when he uttered these words, “Greater love has no man, than to lay down his life for his friends”. 
 


A friend is someone you choose to give your friendship to without any qualification. It doesn't matter what they do in life, it doesn't matter what they may or may not have done. The friendship remains not because of who we are or what we have to offer. Friendship is a mutual choice. So, go out and make one new friend this week and go back to your current friends and say you will support them, stand by them and offer advice if they ask for it. Make sure they know that you will help them in time of trouble. When times of trouble do arrive, such as mass shootings, follow through with them. Enjoy their companionship at all times. Make it your choice, it is your life. Are you starting to see being a peacemaker as something worthwhile now? Is peacemaking something of value in your family, neighborhood, community, state or nation? Are you willing to become a peacemaker or support those who do choose to become one? Will you be a Chris Mintz, or one who will actively support such uncommon and tough-as-nails individuals? Will you be part of the solution to gun violence?



I, for one, vow to do so without hesitation, and I will go to any length to propagate peace, even if my personal safety is at risk. I will continue to insist that all life is precious, that all life is God's handiwork, with each form of life having a singular uniqueness all its own. I will continue to advocate for the homeless because every human being on the planet has the fundamental human right to shelter. The cave men of 10,000 or 20,000 years ago had roofs over their heads, and none of them ever punched a time clock. I will also continue to stand up against economic inequality, social and racial injustice, and waging warfare. I would endure torture, jail or death rather then compromise any of my beliefs. Perhaps my enduring any or all of the above will bring others to believe as I do, knowing that I write on Christ's behalf. I will speak out against any injustice or any war, and even use my own body to shield victims of injustice, if necessary, just like that ex-soldier in Oregon did this past week. I am asking you to do the same, having given you all ample reason to support my stand. No more working for the wealthy to make them richer. We work for the benefit of all mankind from this day forward, not just the top 1 or 2 percent. And we will enforce peace across America, first by our relationship with Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace, and secondly by acquiring the means to defend ourselves whenever appropriate, so this terrible cycle of violence can be stopped for good.