Some cling to traditions as if it were life itself. I am not one of them. To me, traditions are too often used to cling to prejudice and a fanatical resistance to change, any change. I saw that on display in the Lutheran churches I once belonged to. They would often cite this bible verse or that, to justify their outdated and often prejudiced beliefs. … Continue reading Some Cling To Traditions…
I HATE WAR!! I wanted to say that up front in this post. If anything shows the potential for the extinction of the human species it is war. I am a lifelong reader of history and it is obvious that most of recorded history is about one war or another. The Roman Empire didn’t start the idea of war, but they took it to an … Continue reading I Hate War!! …
I don’t know why I have these times when so much flashes across my brain? The thoughts come and go quickly unless I write them down. Getting down to it, I think one of the primary reasons the world is in such a turmoil has to do with neighborhoods. For us in the U.S. it is about being bogged down in the Middle East. We … Continue reading It’s All About the Neighborhood.
I have certainly had some fun visiting the rendezvous in the last few years. They are becoming my favorite venue for my micro-RV trips. With temperatures in the 60s today and much of November, it doesn’t feel like winter (thank goodness) but I am still in the mode of looking back with my picture portfolio. So, I have gathers some pics to celebrate rendezvous. Someday, … Continue reading Rendezvous…
The quotes below come from input from Irish high school students when asked about having religious studies in their school system. The wisdom of these kids’ words are way beyond their years. By giving all children the opportunity to learn about the beliefs and values of diverse groups in society, the government would be providing for their education in some of the liberal democratic values … Continue reading Teach theology, not religion
First of all I want to hope everyone has a good day on this important national holiday. 240 years ago a bunch of rebels got the idea to make a nation based on freedom of choice. The exact right group got together to hash out the details and those details have allowed us to for the most part flourish since then. I thank God for the … Continue reading Happy July 4th… And…
I have been holding off on this post so as not to offend some people’s views of that holiday. My friends at Red Letter Christians have spurred me in thoughts once again. This time it is about Memorial Day. I have always found it strange that we as a nation celebrate our wars. Some even seem obsessed with them. To me war is the failure to … Continue reading Memorial Day Is Not On the Church’s Calendar
President Bush’s use of drones and elevated them to an extreme level. We are told that the innocent lost of life because of these drone strikes are one of the primary reasons so many hate us in that part of the world. They strike so quietly and devastatingly to strike terror into innocent citizens of those Middle East countries. Yes, we are known by some … Continue reading U.S. Reveals Death Toll From Airstrikes
I think I heard somewhere that the U.S. has more than a thousand military bases throughout the world and I suspect many of them are located in the Middle East. We as a country seem to be so fixated on telling others how to live that we spend huge amounts of money and our citizens’ lives trying to do just that. Here are some words … Continue reading How America has waged an eternal war in the Middle East
From the title it is hard to determine where this post is going. We can be wrong about almost anything in this life and there seems to always be someone around to alert us of that fact. If we get something set in our minds that just isn’t true then we are the worst kind of wrong. But… that is not where this post is … Continue reading Were We Wrong??
It’s an incantation repeated among Obama’s neocon critics: the Iraq surge worked; things were going swimmingly until we withdrew; the same thing will happen in Afghanistan if we pull out completely. Let’s assume it’s true, that we could keep peace and order in these countries if we kept tens of thousands of troops (or more) on the ground. Here’s my question: Why on Earth would … Continue reading Obama’s Neocon Critics…
a world that is boiling over in violence and cut-throat theocracy makes me nostalgic for the days it was merely “simmering in resentment and tyranny Source: How the refugee crisis is teaching us the value of Hussein, Mubarak, and Gadhafi Don’t we all wish for the “good old days” when Saddam ruled with an iron fist and as a result kept the lid on the … Continue reading The Good Old Days…
For those of you who haven’t visited here much I will state up front that while I am very much a social progressive but I am also a fiscal conservative. I too think as indicated in this editorial cartoon by Jack Ohman “where did the Republican party go?” They once were the party of small government and keeping expenses under control. During those days I voted Republican about … Continue reading The New GOP…
Spouting Off… Being Loud But Not Being Obnoxious One of the things I missed the most about my hiatus from RJ’s Corner is spouting off. It does the heart good to question everything and sometimes put forth a thought or two. I plan on doing that rather frequently in the future here on the new/improved blog so get used to it! 🙂 I hear all … Continue reading How About…
This post is a continuation of my story about my father and his early years. I know there there millions of families that have been seriously affected by all the wars we have been involved in during my lifetime. Some grievously damaged, some to a lesser extent. I see too many people who are still living with the wounds of my generation’s war and that … Continue reading War and Families…
“We were ready to do it” Russian President Vladimir Putin said he considered putting the country’s vast nuclear arsenal on alert to prevent outside agents from stopping the Kremlin’s forced annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine last year. Putin’s admission was aired during a prerecorded documentary called Homeward Bound, which was broadcast on a state-backed television network Sunday in the run-up to the first … Continue reading Weighing Nuclear Option…
If it were challenged by Russia, how important is Estonia’s sovereignty to you? Would you kill and die for it? Send your children to do so? Would you risk the nuclear annihilation of your civilization? Is your gratitude for use of Estonia’s airspace during the war on terror that great? SOURCE: Don’t save Ukraine – The Week. The publication “The Week” is becoming a favorite … Continue reading Is It Worth It???
Christians have a presumption against war as well as an obligation to help heal those who suffer its consequences. The above title and words come from a Sojourners Magazine article by Gregg Brekke in the April 2014 issue. I have made it clear on most of my blogs that I am pro-peace in almost all regards and of course that makes me anti-war. All the … Continue reading Wounded Souls….
Somebody is always telling us in the papers how to prevent war. There is only one way in the world to prevent war and that is for every nation to tend to is own business. Trace any war and you will find some nations was trying to tell some other nations how to run their business. All these nations are interfering with some other nations’ … Continue reading To Prevent War…
If we can just let other people alone and let them do their own fighting. When you get into trouble 5,000 miles away from home, you’ve got to have been looking for it.” – Will Rogers, 9 February 1932 Thanks Will for reminding us what common sense, which seems to be a rare commodity these days, sounds like…. My Republican friends like to say that … Continue reading Let Them Do Their Own Fighting…
It has been a while since I have visited this site (click on the picture to go there). Of course if you have spent any time on this blog you know that I frequently say that we just spend too much money on our military. Forty times more than any other country on earth and more than the rest of the world combined! That comes … Continue reading One Minute For Peace…..
What would happen if we spent as much money on seeking peace as we did going to war? I suspect the cartoon would be much different. It would be a fleet of Maseratis on the Autobahn instead of what you see above. I don’t know if peace would actually happen even with this reversal but wouldn’t it be interesting to find out? Maybe we could … Continue reading Peace Talks…
I know many think of me as one of those starry eyed liberals who doesn’t have any sense of reality. With this post I will probably cement that vision with many of my more conservative friends. But what would happen if we just refused to be enemies with those our leaders dictated us to hate. What would happen? Let’s look at maybe the worst leader … Continue reading Starry Eyed…
While Tertullian emphasized the negative aspects of the military to Christian discipleship, Origen pointed out the positive vision of a life of Christian peacemaking. He criticized the army as a society of “professional violence,” pointing out that Jesus forbids any kind of violence or vengeance against another. “We will not raise arms against any other nation, we will not practice the art of war,” he … Continue reading Early Christians and War….
“[War] won’t stop till there is as much brains and scientific study put to aid peace as there is to promote war.” – Will Rogers, 1 June 1929 Of course these words were spoken not long after World War I which was inaptly titled the “war to end all wars”. Of course it didn’t accomplish that noble task. President Wilson tried his best to put … Continue reading The War To End All Wars….
We are three billion in the hole and will be three billion more next year, and not a Congressman has got the nerve to ask voters to pay part of it. — January 29, 1933 Will Rogers Obviously this quote was said long before even Grover Norquist’s parents were born but it is equally true today as it was in Will’s time. The fact … Continue reading About The Debt…
Here is a letter from my Quaker friends at AFSC that I thought you might be interested in. If enough of us speak out we might just be able to force some of the politicians to actually do some of the things that they campaign on. 🙂 If you want to sign this petition click on this link https://afsc.org Continue reading Mr. President, Keep Your Promises!
But every one of us write our own history. If it sounds better the way we want it than the way it might have been why that don’t stop us any more than an amber light. – September17, 1933 Will Rogers Will’s quote here is still pretty much true today except to maybe change the word amber to red. The number one cause of … Continue reading Amber Lights…
I saw a statistic somewhere that said that 68% of U.S. citizens are war weary. I am certainly one of them. Neither party seems to shy away from sending our kids and/or our dollars to fight in this or that conflict. After twelve years of constant war costing us thousands of our kids and $trillions I am war weary. Do we really need to be the policemen of the world even if it bankrupts us? Our war machine has cost us enough! Continue reading “I am War Weary…….”
Tonight is, thank heavens, the last debate for this presidential season. It will be on foreign policy. I can tell you in advance what will happen. Each side will tear into the other saying their opponents foreign policy will assure the total destruction of the United States. There will be little of anything but put-down and counter-put-downs.
If I were running for president I would give you very clearly what I would proudly call RJ’s Doctrine: Continue reading “RJ’s Doctrine….”
I guess I am still fixated on the post from yesterday about how so many very sparsely populated States in the U.S. now have so much power. It seems that our country is quite out of balance right now as a result of past decisions. Maybe it is time to revisit some of that stuff. Being that I am the fool who rushes in where … Continue reading How About Some Changes….
Source: Recent email from FCNL (Friends Conference on National Legislation – Quaker) Do your members of Congress and candidates know what you think about Pentagon spending cuts? What they hear from you now could influence their decisions this December and into next year. Urge them to support Pentagon cuts of $1 trillion over the next 10 years, as recommended by experts from across the political spectrum.1 39 cents out … Continue reading Do Members of Congress and candidates know what you think???
Source: U.S. News – Historic battleship USS Iowa to become museum in Los Angeles. “There’s no more ships like this in existence in the active navies anywhere in the world,” said Robert Kent, president of the Pacific Battleship Center. Thank the Lord there are no more ships like this in existence. When you take a massive explosive shell and launch it from up to twenty miles … Continue reading Historic battleship USS Iowa to become museum in Los Angeles
Here is a rather straight forward graph showing military spending by country. Are you like me and see a very basic problem here? If we look at is per citizen it is even more skewed. No wonder our budgets are in so much trouble. No wonder the world always comes to us to solve their problems. We are taking on massive debt to be the policemen … Continue reading Military Expenditures by Country…
[War] won’t stop till there is as much brains and scientific study put to aid peace as there is to promote war. – May 31, 1928 Will Rogers Here we are one world war and dozens of other wars later and still we can’t understand what Will was saying almost one hundred years ago. Except for a brief period during the Clinton years we have … Continue reading War and Peace….
Source: NYT: Risks of Afghan war shift to contractors – World news – The New York Times – msnbc.com. This is a war where traditional military jobs, from mess hall cooks to base guards and convoy drivers, have increasingly been shifted to the private sector. Many American generals and diplomats have private contractors for their personal bodyguards. And along with the risks have come the … Continue reading The Uncounted Deaths of War…..
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