Colbert is the new prophet.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Word - New Country for Old Men
Friday, February 25, 2011
Bullying the Needy, the Poor, and the Disable
This basically summarizes all that is wrong with our political system. Our politicians, whether Republicans or Democrats or Tea Party affiliates, are all the same for they cut from those who have no voice and vote. Politicians tell us that the cut is necessary because of budgetary short fall but when banks and the super-rich need tax-break or bail-out or tax-cut 'to save' the 'market' we lend them a hand because, as the argument goes, it is good for everyone to save the rich -- strangely, the middle class has been losing their income power where the super-rich income has seen gains of up to 260% in the past two decades.
When more Americans are truly facing hardship, particularly during our economic woes, politicians are merely concerned with the appeasement of the business communities and their rich-contributors. Since the poor and disable aren't a great political threat to any political parties, services and programs that serve our most vulnerable population are either severely cut down or exterminated. Perhaps, the worse form of dehumanization is to classify programs serving our most vulnerable as 'entitlements' programs. It is not 'entitlements' but it is the responsibility of us to protect and serve our most vulnerable, i.e., our elders, our children, our widows, our orphans, our disables, our poor, and all of those whose humanity is under threat (cf., Ex. 22:21-24; Lev. 19:34; 25:35; Dt. 10:18; 14:28-29; 15:7-11; 27:19; Isa. 1:17; Jer. 7:6-7; 49:11; James 1:27)
A great example will be Texas as a proposal to cut all class-special programs (e.g., Music Therapy, Aquatic Therapy, Special Therapy, and etc.) comes to vote this Wednesday (March 2, 2011). This complete termination will save the state 14 million dollars but the overall budgetary short fall is around 27 BILLION dollars. The overall budget that helps disable children and adults is less than 0.0005% of the overall budget. Strangely, the Conservative-Right-Christian questions the authenticity of Mr. Obama’s birth certificate, which has been certified by the State of Hawaii, but at the same time the Right-Conservative-Christian does not question the authenticity of these self-professed Christian politicians whose policies are a clear violation of human rights and also a violation of God's law. It is interesting to see and to note that God's judgment against a nation has never been against private immorality but public injustice against the weak, poor, widows, orphans, and the needy. God will hear their cries. God will see their suffering. God will condemn all injustices done against the least of these, our brothers and sisters. And when God asks you: what have you done to the least of these? Did you fight against oppressive statutes? Did you fight for justice and not rob the poor and weak of their right? Did you fight against predatory business that prey on the poor, the widows, and the orphans? Did you stand against policies that strip society of its responsibilities to care and love as Christ has loved all of us? Have you?
Ha!, you who make iniquitous decrees,
who write oppressive statutes,
to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right.
that widows may be your spoil,
and that you may make the orphans your prey!
What will you do on the day of punishment
in the calamity that will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth? (Isaiah 10:1-3)
Rest assure, the cross of Jesus Christ does not save us against our inactions to fight against injustice. The cross accentuates the injustice and demands justice. There will be nowhere to hide. The cross is not salvation as a free pass card. A faith in the cross does not save us from our participation in the systematic injustice present in our world, instead it demands us to fight against the power-that-be of this world. We will be judged on how we have cared and loved the least of these:
“The Son of Man will put the sheep (good people) on his right and the goats (bad people) on his left. "Then the king will say to those good people on his right, 'Come. My Father has given you great blessings. Come and get the kingdom God promised you. That kingdom has been prepared for you since the world was made. You can have this kingdom, because I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your home. I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me.' "Then the good people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our home? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?' "Then the king will answer, 'I tell you the truth. Anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.' "Then the king will say to those bad people on his left, 'Go away from me. God has already decided that you will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever. That fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. You must go away, because I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your home. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.' "Then those people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you alone and away from home? Or when did we see you without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?' "Then the king will answer, 'I tell you the truth. Anything you refused to do for any of my people here, you refused to do for me.'"Then those bad people will go away. They will have punishment forever. But the good people will go and have life forever” (Matthew 25:33-46).
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
When Money Is in the Wrong Place
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Chomsky on Religion
The truth of the gospel as Chomsky sees it. If a self-confessed non-religious man sees the corruption of the gospel then I am having a hard time to see why the church cannot see that the gospel is not about what most Christians seems to believe.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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