Christian Words, Un-Christian ActionsAmerica has entered troubling times. Our nation's debt load is staggering, yet our ability to consume more than we earn only increases. We are engaged in an expensive war which we're told will not end in our lifetimes, if ever... Our country's goodwill has been sullied by its use of torture, America is increasingly alienated from the rest of the world, and we are more dependent on oil than a junkie is on heroin. Wealth disparity and racial tension increasingly foster disorder, while the family unit and even our community ties are frayed and deteriorating.
Who do we blame for these conditions? Do we blame the politicians we elect; the lawyers we hire? Do we blame auto manufacturers for selling us the cars we demand? The junk food producers for providing the nutritionless food we desire? Do we blame the banks and foreign governments for loaning us money? Our teachers for our children's failings?
Whether or not we accept responsibility for the condition of modern America, we have no choice as to the consequences. Do we accept responsibility to achieve solutions, or is that someone else's also?
The goal of this website is to lead us toward solutions. The matter at hand is to define the moral code which is America's. If America is a nation of good, then it must be held to a standard of goodness. If Americans share a consensus that our nation should not torture, initiate expensive, unjustified and unpopular wars, neglect its poor or its environment, fail to educate its children, or live beyond its means, then why are all of these problems so immense in today's America?
We possess the power to change...
The first step in reaching a solution is to identify the problem. In today's America more than ever before, corporate and special interests dominate the political process, manipulating not only the government but the information Americans receive through media and advertising. Political candidates from both parties seek the votes of individual Americans, but their paymasters are the business and other interests who finance their campaigns. The checks and balances of government have weakened, and the power of the executive branch is now immensely greater than intended by the framers. But more crucially, the balance of power has shifted such that the American people are being dominated by the government which is supposed to serve them. This imbalance will increase, for government only grows larger, and profit-driven business interests only seek greater profits.
America has become Orwell's anti-Utopian vision, where those with power and influence dominate those whose noses are too close to the grindstone to have the luxury to seek escape. The "rags to riches" American Dream is realized by fewer and fewer Americans, while more and more people struggle just to avoid economic decline. Like in Orwell's 1984, we are at endless war with vague and shifting foreign enemies, our attention shifted abroad; our government expands its control, employing torture and propaganda to exert its righteousness.
And George W. Bush, pretending to be a common man who cuts brush and goes fishing, is the worldly leader of this massive federal behemoth. He gained office by feigning a Christian faith that was driven by political aspiration, and once in power he demonstrated his true heart by his actions - in an immoral war that has drained energies better spent protecting America from Islamic extremism; in the use of torture, which he then blamed on the loyal troops who did as he bade them; in the draining of our nation's wealth through massive bureaucratic spending coupled with tax refunds to the wealthy. All in Christ's name, for Bush has represented himself to be a born-again Christian.
The first step toward a solution of America's diverse and dire problems is to hold the "accountability president" accountable to the ethical code he said he'd follow but didn't: but also to hold America to that same code. Because with Christianity, one may not have one's cake and eat it too - if America is to call itself a Christian nation, it had best stop proudly proclaiming itself to be "the greatest nation in the world," and start addressing its moral failings. For what would Jesus say of our nation? And what does the Bible teach will become of nations who turn away from God?
Who do we blame for these conditions? Do we blame the politicians we elect; the lawyers we hire? Do we blame auto manufacturers for selling us the cars we demand? The junk food producers for providing the nutritionless food we desire? Do we blame the banks and foreign governments for loaning us money? Our teachers for our children's failings?
Whether or not we accept responsibility for the condition of modern America, we have no choice as to the consequences. Do we accept responsibility to achieve solutions, or is that someone else's also?
The goal of this website is to lead us toward solutions. The matter at hand is to define the moral code which is America's. If America is a nation of good, then it must be held to a standard of goodness. If Americans share a consensus that our nation should not torture, initiate expensive, unjustified and unpopular wars, neglect its poor or its environment, fail to educate its children, or live beyond its means, then why are all of these problems so immense in today's America?
We possess the power to change...
The first step in reaching a solution is to identify the problem. In today's America more than ever before, corporate and special interests dominate the political process, manipulating not only the government but the information Americans receive through media and advertising. Political candidates from both parties seek the votes of individual Americans, but their paymasters are the business and other interests who finance their campaigns. The checks and balances of government have weakened, and the power of the executive branch is now immensely greater than intended by the framers. But more crucially, the balance of power has shifted such that the American people are being dominated by the government which is supposed to serve them. This imbalance will increase, for government only grows larger, and profit-driven business interests only seek greater profits.
America has become Orwell's anti-Utopian vision, where those with power and influence dominate those whose noses are too close to the grindstone to have the luxury to seek escape. The "rags to riches" American Dream is realized by fewer and fewer Americans, while more and more people struggle just to avoid economic decline. Like in Orwell's 1984, we are at endless war with vague and shifting foreign enemies, our attention shifted abroad; our government expands its control, employing torture and propaganda to exert its righteousness.
And George W. Bush, pretending to be a common man who cuts brush and goes fishing, is the worldly leader of this massive federal behemoth. He gained office by feigning a Christian faith that was driven by political aspiration, and once in power he demonstrated his true heart by his actions - in an immoral war that has drained energies better spent protecting America from Islamic extremism; in the use of torture, which he then blamed on the loyal troops who did as he bade them; in the draining of our nation's wealth through massive bureaucratic spending coupled with tax refunds to the wealthy. All in Christ's name, for Bush has represented himself to be a born-again Christian.
The first step toward a solution of America's diverse and dire problems is to hold the "accountability president" accountable to the ethical code he said he'd follow but didn't: but also to hold America to that same code. Because with Christianity, one may not have one's cake and eat it too - if America is to call itself a Christian nation, it had best stop proudly proclaiming itself to be "the greatest nation in the world," and start addressing its moral failings. For what would Jesus say of our nation? And what does the Bible teach will become of nations who turn away from God?
Source: http://www.christianwords.us/
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