I cannot picture myself as a Christian ever thinking "Torture is a good thing and secrecy about it is a good thing - we should keep it up to keep our country free of terrorism". Yet this is exactly how people like Sean Hannity and apparently a bunch of CiA chief's think. They firmly believe in that old chestnut "The ends justify the means" and that all these tortures and renditions of suspects in far flung countries around the world actually "save lives" and are the guardians of our Liberty, or something such as that. I have wondered "If I decided to "test myself" and try to "Will myself" to "become one of them" the question is whether it would be "possible to do it", you know, just to prove that I could. Neil Savedra is really big on Will worship and says you can set your mind on any goal and will yourself - - "make a decision" to do something like be a Born Again Christian (and all the political baggage apparently, that comes with that) if I only have the Will or grit or determination or whatever. And I guess we're supposed to look to Neil as an example, after all he takes the trouble to share these little chestnuts of wisdom imparted to him by his theology professors or what not. But as I considered "Turning myself into Sean Hannity" or whoever Neil Savedra regards as a Born Again Christian I should emulate- - I came to the sobering conclusion that I could never pull it off. Certain things aren't in certain people's natures. I have had to face the sobering reality mindful of expressions such as "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result" (something people with frustrations about Church life should keep in mind) and I do not regard this statement as either "smug" or "too cleaver" but merely accurate. "Giving Christianity one more try" - - - giving far right conservatism one more try- - or "hating your fellow man" one more try- - - seems silly even as a completely "accademic experiment".
Some things Christians say are just nonesense when you analyze them. They say they hate "situation ethics" and yet "situations' pervade legal law, even rules of police conduct as to what use of force is permissable under what circumstances. You hear people like Chuck Smith say "I don't believe in circumstances" and yet Chuck Smith's whole life was - - the totality of all of the circumstances of Blessings in his life. And you hear people say things like "You are not in charge of your own future but God is" but of course - - IF my future is NOT in my hands, but another's, then how is it- - I AM THE ONE who is fingered for "Not living up to God's ideal"? There is an old Love Song track about "It's better riding in the back seat rather than driving". Yet people riding in the back seat are rarely held liable if the Driver is arrested for speeding or an illegal lane change.
I wonder what "God's" position is on - - petroleum products verses alternative energy fuels with a low carbon footprint? You know, at least I admire Sean Hannity. He at least wants to HELP people- - find a job in the oil business, for example. But I can't help wondering whether oil profits for a start up opperation- will be as high at sixty dollars a barrell as they were at 120 or whatever it used to be. Even Judy will tell you that you have to get "over that hump" to get into a zone where your business can make a profit and you can even AFFORD to even hire more workers. (Selah)
Here are some aimless thoughts on "keeping it optimistic". This
computer crashed, but I can be thankful that none of this file was unsaved at
the time. I’m also grateful for the fact
that in general the computer seems to be working better lately. I’m grateful that I checked both CD drawers
and there were no problems. I’ve
wondered about Dr Levy’s statement that all of us should “compare down” and be
grateful and upbeat about whatever we have.
Unfortunately Dr Levy never seems to have shared that optimism with
himself because he’s continually negative about the economy and I might even
infer that his time of taken up by other things trying to survive economically
and has no time for us. This might just
be the first year since I’ve been in Dr Levy’s class that he hosts no Christmas
party. Still we should be grateful for
all of the parties these previous years- five of them for me. Judy called and somehow this topic of
optimism crept into the dialog. I
expressed optimism about the economy for the next year at least saying the
stock market should be OK till then.
Judy immediately launced into a thing about how bad her business is
doing and some GNLD office in another state had to shut down. There was talk about how no small business
runs a profit for the first five years, and never ending are the complaints
about government regulations and endless paper work. When I said something about not being sure
what I needed for Christmas this year she responded “contentment is a good
thing”. But Judy had also said that what
drives business is a desire for new things and the ability to buy them. I have gotten “less than encouragement” as
far as bolstering my own confidence to get a job at this age, and have the
money myself to stimulate the national commerce by buying things. I tried to be encouraging in saying “Well the
Republicans are in firm control of congress now. Maybe they’ll pass something”. Judy had no response to this.
Failing to prosecute the fraud of the big banks is dooming our economy.
But it’s also illegal. Specifically, one of the top experts on bank fraud – William K. Black – says that the Bush and Obama administrations have both broken the law by failing to break up the insolvent banks.
Similarly, failing to prosecute those who created a policy of widespread torture is destroying our country’s reputation and hurting our national security .
Why?
Well, top experts say that torture creates new terrorists. Prosecuting the torturers would help to reduce the hatred – and terrorism – which comes from the horrendous program of torture.
In addition, top counter-terrorism experts say that indefinite detention – such as we have at Guantanamo – increases terrorism. Colin Powell’s chief of staff says that the Bush administration knewthat most of the inmates at Guantanamo were innocent, but kept them locked up indefinitely to avoid the embarrassment of admitting that they’d tortured innocent people.
In other words, Guantanamo is being kept open – and innocent detainees imprisoned forever – in order to try to cover up the torture of innocents. Prosecuting – instead of covering up for – the torturers would allow the innocents to be released … thus taking away one of the main causes of terrorism: indefinite detention.
And as Darrel Vandeveld – former prosecutor in the Guantanamo military commissions, and current Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve – wrote:
Torture is a crime and the United States engaged in it. Those are two indisputable facts…The process of self-examination and accountability has been, and remains, the only way to move forward and regain our moral and legal grounding…We have a Department of Justice for a reason, and now it’s up to Attorney General Holder, the nation’s top law enforcement officer, to do his job and appoint an independent prosecutor to follow the evidence where it may lead…It is critical that we hold accountable those who authorized, those who legally sanctioned and those who implemented the torture policies of one of the darkest periods in our nation’s history. What is at stake is nothing less than our democracy.
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