Cap Phantom

The Editor-in-Chief of SOJOURNERS Magazine, the Evangelical Jim Wallis has released a new book, The Great Awakening, written with hope to wake up American institutionalized Christians to be a part of the rebirth and renewal to heal, mend and transform “the biblical scandal of poverty around the globe and here at home, the crisis of environmental degradation and climate change that pose a threat to God’s creation, and to the multiple assaults on human life and dignity that shame our world.” [Page 12, Feb. 2008, SOJOURNERS]

Jim’s seeking revival, but this non-institutional Christian of The Beatitudes, is calling for a revolution and it begins with common sense and goes retro; back to the voices of wisdom that founded this nation.

“Soon after I had published the pamphlet “Common Sense” [on Feb. 14, 1776] in America, I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion… The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”-Tom Paine

Wallis proposes Seven Principals and Rules of Engagement for Christian political involvement in the world:

1. God hates injustice.

2. The kingdom of God is a new order.

3. The church is an alternative community

4. The kingdom of God transforms the world by addressing the specifics of injustice.

5. The church is the conscience of the state, holding it accountable for upholding justice and restraining its violence.

6. Take a global perspective.

7. Seek the common good.

All seven points are well and good and I wish Jim luck and pray he does indeed arouse the sleeping Christians for the western institutions have failed at its commission. Too many churches in the USA have become places to socialize and be entertained and to be patted on the back just for doing the minimum of what is required if one claims to be a Christian; and churches have become business’s that maintain the status quo and not so much about the social gospel.

The gospel-which means good news, that Jesus preached, was very political and a direct challenge to the politically powerful and the arrogant, self-satisfied, self-righteous teachers of the law.

Two thousand years ago the Cross had NO symbolic religious meaning and was not a piece of jewelry. When Jesus said: “Pick up your cross and follow me,” everyone back then understood he was issuing a POLITICAL statement, for the main roads in Jerusalem were lined with crucified agitators, rebels, dissidents and any others who disturbed the status quo of the Roman Occupying Forces.

In the latter days of Nero’s reign [54-68 A.S.] through the domination of Domitian [ 81-96] Christians were persecuted for following the nonviolent, loving and forgiving Jesus. That Jesus was first left behind when Augustine penned the Just War Theory.

Before Emperor Constantine brought Christianity into the mainstream, all the early Church Fathers taught that Christians should not serve in the army but instead willingly suffer rather than inflict harm on any other. St. Augustine was the first Church Father to consider the concept of a Just War and within 100 years after Constantine, the Empire required that all soldiers in the army must be baptized Christians and thus, the decline of Christianity began in earnest.

With the justification of war and violence supplied by Augustine’s Just War Theory, wrong became right. Nothing much has changed in two millennia, for in today’s Orwellian world politicians claim the way to peace is through war and that nuclear weapons provide protection. American money claims ‘In God we Trust’ but the truth is America’s faith is in an out of control Military Industrial Complex that seeks domination, power and control over any who would defy and challenge the American status quo. Eisenhower warned America not to bind our economy to the Industrial Military Complex and like most prophets, he was ignored.

In 313 AD, Emperor Constantine legitimized Christianity and thus, those who had been considered rebels and outlaws began to enjoy political power and prestige. Jesus’ other name is The Prince of Peace, and with the marriage of church and state, his true teachings were reinterpreted. The justification of warfare and the use of state sponsored violence corrupted what Christ modeled and taught. Jesus was always on about WAKE UP! The Divine already indwells you and all others. Christ taught that to follow him requires that one must love ones enemies; one must forgive those who hate, curse and revile them, without even a thought of payback.

Christ lived a life that proved evil can be opposed without being mirrored, and that the cycle of a “tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye”, will never bring peace and justice. Before Emperor Constantine brought Christianity into the mainstream, all the early Church Fathers taught –and all Christians never served in the army but instead willingly suffered rather than inflict harm on any other.

The term Christianity was not coined until three decades after Christ walked the earth. Until the day of Paul, followers of Christ were called members of The Way; the way being what he taught!

Christ was never a Christian, but he was a social justice, radical revolutionary Palestinian devout Jewish road warrior who rose up [intifada in Arabic] for he challenged the job security of the Temple authorities by teaching the people they did NOT need to pay the priests for ritual baths or sacrificing livestock to be OK with God; for God already LOVED them just as they were: sinners, poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees and prisoners all living under Roman Military Occupation.

What got Jesus crucified was disturbing the status quo of the Roman Occupying Forces of his time, by teaching the subversive concept that Caesar only had power because God allowed it and that God preferred the humble sinner, the poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees and prisoners all living under Roman Occupation above the elite and arrogant!

Clement, Tertillian, Polycarp and every other early Church Father taught that violence was a contradiction of what Christ was all about. There have always been those Christians who spoke out against this corruption of scripture and they have been ignored, reviled, rejected, mocked, persecuted and maligned throughout time. There have always been Christians who have never abandoned the true teachings, such as the Quakers, Mennonites, some Catholics and Protestants who have been faithful witnesses to Christ by denouncing violence and caring for the poor. There have also always been Jews, Muslims, atheists, anarchists, secularists, rebels and revolutionaries have lived lives that embody the message of Christ; have in fact done what he actually said, which was most revolutionary.

Christ, you know it ain’t easy

You know how hard it can be

The way things are going

They’re gonna crucify me-John Lennon

The institutionalized Christians may crucify me for claiming that many who attend 21st century American churches have re-crucified and maligned Jesus, for they worship an institution and pages in the Bible. All institutions are man made and the Bible was not FAXED in from heaven, it was written down after centuries of the oral history being passed down. When ever stories are retold, they change, and we all know this if we ever played the childhood game of telephone. Scribes were imperfect human who made many mistakes as they recopied texts; many also added their own point of view and some even left out what they chose to.

The most decisive event in the history of Christendom occurred when Emperor Constantine accepted the Christian faith, for those who had once been persecuted were now protected by an earthly king. Both a patriarchal monarchical state and church were formed at the same time. Power struggles and debates were common among the early Christians. Individual churches determined which texts were read, and they all had their favorites. Constantine sought to unite his empire, and uniting the church was a savvy political move. He announced he would pay for fifty illuminated copies of scripture to be bound, and thus the biblical canon was established and sealed. There was fierce debate among the bishops about what should be included and what left out.

The proto-orthodox, who had now become the dominant voice, determined what was heretical for everyone. The proto-orthodox demanded much-loved scripture to be burned, usually because it did not fit their understanding of God. We know more today about how diverse Christianity had once been with the discovery of the Nag´ Hammâdi Library. [Refer to Part One is this series for more information]

I may get crucified for this, but I contend that there is a cult within The Body of Christ in the USA that worships the institution and pages in the Bible, and it is a cult of the dead. Just because the canon was sealed, does not mean that God stopped talking to his creation and we can all hear Him/She/? in the voice of our own conscience, as well as in the voices of open vessels such as poets, musicians, critics, dissidents and rebels throughout history.

Just because I no longer do church, I am still connected to the mystical Body of Christ and the most rigid of fundamentalists are my sisters and brothers. St. Paul, who never failed to express his freedom of speech, warned the followers of Christ, NOT to judge the unbeliever but to provoke the believer onto good works. My hope and prayer is to mend, heal and repair the flabby Body of Christ in the west by reconnecting it to its very roots in the land where Jesus walked and taught that it is the peacemakers who are the children of God; not those that starve, bomb, torture or occupy others.

The Christian EXODUS from the Holy land-which is in pieces; Bantustans, has rendered their numbers from 20% of the total to less than 1.3% since 1948, and it is NOT because of Islam, but because of a brutal, inhumane military occupation which denies them human rights and ignores international law aided and abetted by the American government and its citizens hard earned tax dollars.

Every individual Christian is but one cell in the cosmic Body of Christ. “So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” -Romans 12:4

“Its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part [of The Body] suffers, every part suffers with it.”-1 Corinthians 12:25-26

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and all the prophets said, “You will recognize the believers in their having Mercy for one another, and in their Love for one another, and in their Kindness towards one another; like the body, when one member of it hurts, the entire body hurts.”

John Lennon penned The Wedding Ballad Of John & Yoko a few weeks after their 1969 marriage and then held a bed-in for peace to awaken the world via a media event to the abomination of the war in Vietnam. Using the global stage John said, “Yoko and I are quite willing to be the world’s clowns; if by doing it we do some good…And I’m saying peace…The struggle is in the mind. We must bury our own monsters and stop condemning people. We are all Christ and Hitler. We want Christ to win. We’re trying to make Christ’s message contemporary. What would he have done if he had advertisements, records, films, TV and newspapers! Christ made miracles to tell his message. Well, the miracle today is communications, so let’s use it.”

That battle rages on to make Christ contemporary and in this ongoing series I will be utilizing the World Wide Web.

The above was Part Four in the Series: “We have it in our power to begin the world again”-Tom Paine

Part 1 in this series: “We have it in our power to begin the world again”-Tom Paine

http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=759&Itemid=184

Part 2 in this series: The Stages of the Soul and How Religiosity/Fundamentalism is holding up Evolution

http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=775&Itemid=184

Part 3 in this series: Prophets, Doors, Walls: MLK, X, Lennon, Gaza and Thee

http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=778&Itemid=184

Funeral and memorial services can be considered a beautiful and memorable experience by all those who attend. Memorial and funeral services can be a celebration of one’s life and accomplishments. Military funeral honors are one great example of this. Military honors are used to acknowledge and commend one’s service to his or her country. Military honors are available to all servicemen and women, whether in times of war or peace.

Law mandates that the rendering of military funeral honors be held for all eligible veterans when requested either by the deceased before passing, or by the departed’s family. In order to demonstrate eligibility, the family must provide the funeral director with a discharge document showing any type of discharge other than dishonorable service. One example of the necessary forms would be a DD 214 form, a certificate of release or discharge from active duty.

During a typical military funeral service, the Honor Guard will consist of at least one member from the branch of service in which the deceased had served. If a casket is present, the flag will typically be draped over it, which will then be folded and given to the family either during or after the service. The blue field of the flag should always be placed at the head of the casket.

Taps will be played either by a bugler or by recording, and a three-volley salute, sometimes referred to as a twenty one gun salute, will be held by a firing squad. In some cases, the casings from this salute will be retrieved and given to the family, either by hand or by being placed within the folded flag. It is common to see the presence of a horse-drawn carriage at a military funeral. Depending on the branch of service in which the departed had served, additional elements may be used.

With all military funeral and memorial services, a Presidential Memorial Certificate is made available to the family upon request. If you are the family and would like to receive one, your funeral director will be able to assist you with this, and all other aspects of military funeral service.

Everything about military is unique and totally different from the normal aspects of a civilian life. It is all about valor and courage, about risking the life for the security of the nation. Usually if you are from the armed forces, then you may be required to move around from one place to another, living apart from your family. In this period, you may require some amount of finances to fulfill the personal demands. In that case, it is better to opt for Military Loans. These loans are meant to offer finances to those who are attached with the military, so that they can meet their need in a hassle free way.

These loans are readily available and are offered by most of the lenders. For a lender offering these loans has nothing to worry. It is primarily because the lender knows the fact that you are having a good job with a fixed monthly income. Not only this, the terms and conditions levied on the loan amount are also quite flexible. The interest rate is comparatively low and has very flexible repayment duration.

The basic qualification required to avail these loans is to be a part of the military. The amount is offered on the basis of your repayment capability and monthly income. It does not matter to which rank or post you belong. In fact, retired army officials can also apply for the loans. You are also required to submit some documents like bank statement, income proof and ETS etc. It is on the basis of these that the lenders approve the loan amount.

The amount obtained under these loans can be used for a number of purposes. For instance you can cover the expenses on education of your children, renovation of home, marriage expenses, purchasing a car, repaying debts etc and so on.

Before selecting any particular deal, it is recommended to conduct a proper research of the market. Be particular about the details, other wise it may crate debt problems in future.

So it can be said that with military loans, you can now easily disperse of the personal needs without undertaking any further stress.

I am completing Defending College Heights, a novel about an Irish Catholic family and a college administration in the aftermath of the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter. I started work on Defending because I had connections in the higher education community who were quite knowledgeable on the issues, or had worked closely with military recruiters on campus.

In my research, I went back to pro-military as well as anti-war protests against the Vietnam War. Then, and now, there were confrontations between military personnel and civilians. Most of these protests were non-violent, but others were not. Kent State, where four students were killed and nine wounded, was perhaps the tipping point of the protest movement.

Whatever we think of the war in Afghanistan or the war in Iraq, we owe our citizens who choose to serve our respect; they made their choice and they are making the ultimate sacrifice. Unlawful attacks on military recruiters or their place of work are a crime, and will not force them to change their message. If anything, they will catch their opponent’s attention.

One Republican congressman, Todd Akin of Missouri, has introduced a bill, posted as H.R. 6023, also called the Freedom to Serve Act of 2008. Introduced in the House Judiciary Committee on May 12, the act prohibits certain forms of interference against military recruiting. Most are obvious crimes: destruction of property and infliction of injury being prime examples, but others are gray areas; even peaceful protest in front of a recruiting office could be considered interference and intimidation (those exact words are used in the bill).

The act proposes a 1 year prison term for first-time offenders and a term of three years or less for subsequent offense. There are state and local laws to protect persons and private property and the military abides by those laws just as civilians do. In effect, this bill makes certain forms of civilian protest, especially the more violent acts, a federal crime.

Akin has 26 co-sponsors, all Republicans, most from states that attract large numbers of young men and women to the military: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. However, while the bill lists several examples of acts against persons and property, none of these happened in a sponsor’s home state. This, and the gray areas, interference and intimidation, do not bode well for the bill.

I understand the most obvious intentions of H.R. 6023, to protect the rights and property of recruiters and recruits. This bill would be a great accomplishment for a conservative Congressman to bring home to his or her district. But I am uncomfortable with those same representatives mistaking peaceful protest as interference or intimidation. A bill such as H.R. 6023 would open the door for the federal courts to make those judgments.

Whatever your political stripes, you have to agree that those who cause injury or damage property should be punished. But there is a reason why these powers, with respect to private property and personal injury, are vested with the states. The states want to set the punishment that fits the crime. They don’t want the federal government to intimidate or interfere.

(Originally published at Educated Quest blog and reprinted with permission of the author, Stuart Nachbar).

Military personnel are usually so busy in performing their national duties that, often, they do not find enough time for financial aspects of their life. Hence, they are more likely to find out Military Loans for urgently paying back some bills. These are especially carved out loans for them. A unique aspect of these loans is that the applicants receive the loaned amount within 24 hours in their bank checking accounts. But, at the same time, they must carefully borrow the amount for evading the debts.

Because of their status as military personnel, they are not subjected to any credit checks, even if they may be having a bad credit history of late payments and defaults. All they need to do is to fill the loan and personal details in an online application, and it is instantly approved. They can borrow anywhere from £100 to £1500 for 14 days, until their next payday. This means they should be repaying the amount at the time of getting next paycheque. But, they also can rollover the loan for few weeks after paying the interest charges.

While military loans are meant to serve the urgent monetary needs of the applicants, a draw back of high interest charges also is associated with it. The rate is high on the small borrowed amount and that too for a very brief period of two weeks.

It is, therefore, advisable that you must ensure repaying of the borrowed amount at the time of getting the next paychque, so the interest payments do no accrue against your name. You should avoid delaying the repayment, as it may involve penalties as well.

It is possible to find out military loans at competitive and lower rate of interest once you have browsed the internet for researching as many such offers. But study the terms-conditions involved in such offer. You must avoid falling into a debt-trap by ensuring timely repayment.