Get Another Job?

Or another spine?

“He said, ‘every time that I’m asked to speak an official sermon on base, when I leave I go back to my knees and ask God to forgive me that I did not pray in the name of His Son.”

Or another heart?

Or stronger convictions and deeper commitment?

Or all of the above?

I don’t know. I do know that it’s too easy to condemn and/or mock military chaplains like the one in this story.

About as easy as it is to be weak, spineless, and compromising in my own life.

20 Dead — So What?

Agence France Presse reports another wreck. Oh no!

Twenty people were killed and 77 injured in central South Africa when a bus plunged into a river, police said.

Oh.

It happened in South Africa.

Too bad. Oh well. Why must I be told such “insignificant” news?

I suppose the sensible answer is that I’m part of a global news market. So a news agency from one part of the globe reports something of significance in some other part of the planet and I get the story in yet another part of the earth.

Fine. But is there another dimension to the answer?

Justice in America?

Is this politics as usual?

…the Barrett report’s shocking allegations of high-level corruption in the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department are likely to be concealed from the public and from Congress.

A recently passed appropriations bill, intended to permit release of this report, was altered behind closed doors to ensure that its politically combustible elements never saw the light of day.

That investigation would be a long walk into the unknown, with possibly far-reaching consequences. Prominent Democrats in Congress have spent much of the last decade in a campaign, successful so far, to suppress Barrett’s report. Its disclosures could dig deeply into concealed scandals of the Clinton administration.

I know — this makes the Democrats look bad.

I’m not entirely persuaded the Republicans are superior.

So why do I call attention to this story here?

I don’t know.

Two Southern Borders

In comments obviously for national consumption, Mexican President Vicente Fox . . .

denounced as “disgraceful and shameful” on Wednesday a proposal to build a high-tech wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigrants.

Concerned about the huge numbers of illegal immigrants streaming across the border and worried it could be an entry point for terrorists, a U.S. lawmaker has proposed building two parallel steel and wire fences running from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Coast. But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said a wall running the length of a border would cost too much.

Mexico has expressed indignation at the idea.

Fox, speaking in Tamaulipas state across the border from Texas, said such extreme security measures would violate immigrants’ rights.

He again called for the easing of U.S. immigration laws to benefit millions of undocumented Mexican fruit pickers, waiters and janitors working north of the border….

Señor Presidente, una idea, por favor. (“Mr. President, an idea, please.”)

  • Treat the illegals on your southern border as you would have the US treat illegals on its southern border.
  • How about easing your immigration laws to benefit those Central Americans entering (and wishing to enter) through your southern border?

Perhaps you should show the US how it’s done. :mrgreen:

Just a (wild) thought.

DISCLAIMER: I have no ill-will for Mr. Fox nor his countrymen (there or here). For the record, Mexico is the land of my infancy, childhood and youth, though not quite of my nativity. I also served there five years as a missionary. I love Mexico and her people.

Commendable Muslim Defense?

I like this story:

Volunteers from Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation will guard churches across the world’s most populous Muslim nation on Christmas amid fears of terrorist attacks on those places, the group said on Friday.

A youth wing affiliated with Indonesia’s largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama, some 40 million strong, said that members would guard churches for the coming Christmas festivities….

Way to go, young folks!

Tsunami in Asia

No, this isn’t breaking news:

It’s been nearly a year since the tsunami devastated southeast Asia. Thousands of people were killed, thousands were left homeless, and thousands continue to be in need today.

Open Doors USA’s Carl Moeller explains. “Tens of thousands of communities are still wiped off the map with virtually no infrastructure remaining. And, we along with other agencies are continuing to find new pockets of just personal devastation throughout the tsunami areas.”

It’s broken news.

Should we care anymore? Do we care anymore?

If you care, I have a recommendation: Christian Aid Ministries.

Above all, love God!

since November 9, 2005
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