Real Christians Don't Lie

Yesterday Lewis Libby was indicted by Grand Jury on 1 count of obstructing justice, two counts of giving false statements and 2 counts of perjury in regard to the CIA leak investigation.

Of note, in the television footage of those affected in our administration, all seemed in good humor and smiling, even Mr. Libby.

In fact, it has been astounding to me that the people responsible for over 2000 American deaths, the catastrophic wounding of 40,000 American soldiers, 40,000 (and probably many more) Iraqi civilian deaths and the unleashing of terrorism on the Iraqi citizenry always come across as happy and unaffected by the damage they set in motion.

Reporter Judith Miller, up to now, has been the only one to suffer for her acts.

Her contribution was to act as a media puppet for the White House message that we in the U.S. had no choice but to invade Iraq given the alleged, imminent threat it was said to pose.

Judith Miller wound up spending time in jail, not for her role in contributing to the tragedy of Iraq - for it isn't a crime to repeat White House lies as though they are truth - but to protect a White House source. This demonstrates God's ironic sense of humor to me.

Now one of the architects of the war, Lewis Libby, has been indicted - not for kindling support for the war - but for obstructing an investigation into who outed Valerie Plame.

This seems a clear case of As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

Yet no one seems penitent and no one is apologizing.

One of two things is going on. The first possibility is that Mr. Libby and others in this Administration all have so much faith in Mr. Libby's innocence - and faith in God - that they cannot take these charges seriously.

If so, I envy them their faith, for innocent people are often taken aback and very concerned by any kind of legal charge, much less one so serious.

The other possibility is that these men are all so powerful and well-protected that they feel immune from the law and sure these charges are just a joke to be gotten around. Remember, President Bush can always pardon anyone indicted when he is about to leave office.

Yet, it is important to understand these proceedings are not a joke, nor were they undertaken lightly. They began after a covert CIA officer was outed and that outing sent a message to all such agents that they not only face danger from foreign governments, but from their own, and at the whim of political expediency.

It is strongly suspected that the reason this particular agent was betrayed was because her husband was a whistleblower regarding one of the lies we were told in order to justify the invasion of Iraq.

However, the Grand Jury could not get to the bottom of this, to determine if this was true or not. Why? They allege, after two years, that they were unable to see the truth because Lewis Libby lied about it and worked to obstruct their view.

This Administration claims to operate out of Christian principles. Yet we have caught it in one lie after another, to serve the political ends of its elite supporters and power brokers. While we cannot presume Lewis Libby is guilty of lying, it would not, frankly, surprise us because it fits a pattern we have seen for the last five years.

Yet, the Bible is very clear about lying, especially lying which leads to the death of others.

Keep far from a false matter, do not kill the innocent and the righteous. Exodus 23:7

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. Proverbs 21:6

But if you have...self-seeking in your heart...Lie not against the truth. James 3:14

All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Revelations 21:8

Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. Acts 5:4

Saying one is a Christian means nothing. Anyone can invoke God's name for what he or she does. Only the measure of how closely a person walks the talk of Jesus ultimately shows one's true intentions. And Jesus never lied.

God Created Science

Albert Einstein and his brilliant first wife were gifted scientists.

It is the work they did - and Einstein's grasping that matter and energy are manifestations of the same thing - that has led us to a place where science and spirituality are becoming one.

Einstein gave us an idea compatible with science: that we are energy in a form known as "matter."

His theory supports the idea that the energy of God manifests - as all sages have said - in everything we see and understand as the "real world."

I bring this up because the current war against science and facts - including evolution - is a false one, brought about by those whose idea of God is far too small.

In fact, God created us through evolution. We can clearly see that His is an energy that creates through process, when we look at the birth of a child.

A child is not created, fully formed, in the womb. The child develops from a single cell, in a reenactment of our species' evolution from single-celled animals to what we are today.

This microcosm of birth mirrors the macrocosm of how God birthed our species. Thus, there is no contradiction in Christians believing in God and believing in evolution.

Likewise, God is the energy which created us and is us. There should be no contradiction for scientists to believe in God just as they believe in physics and the Quantum Field.

Listen to Albert Einstein explain the Equivalence of Energy and Matter otherwise known as E = mc²

"It followed from the special theory of relativity that mass and energy are both but different manifestations of the same thing -- a somewhat unfamiliar conception for the average mind. Furthermore, the equation E is equal to m c-squared, in which energy is put equal to mass, multiplied by the square of the velocity of light, showed that very small amounts of mass may be converted into a very large amount of energy and vice versa. The mass and energy were in fact equivalent, according to the formula mentioned above. This was demonstrated by Cockcroft and Walton in 1932, experimentally."

Wise men lay up knowledge. Proverbs 10-14

In him we live, and move, and have our being. Acts 17:28

Change Or Die

Each of us, at certain points in our lives, has decisions to make in regard to the type of person we want to be and the legacy we hope to leave.

As we get older, we become more aware of our mortality and realize if we are going to become more successful people - however we define success - we need to make different choices. For, if we continue doing things exactly as we have been doing them, we will continue seeing the results we have been seeing.

For instance, if a person is having problems in his or her marriage, that person must be willing to change - perhaps to let go of resentments or change routines that block intimacy and love - in order for there to be improvement.

It is said people do not like to change, but a large part of that dislike is because, so often, we don't have the first idea how to change. In addition, we want to be true to ourselves, and so often resent being told we have to change something about ourselves.

It would be far easier for us, as human beings, to change in positive ways, in ways that would, ultimately, make our lives better, if we could grasp the fact that what we see about ourselves - the way we dress, act, and even think - are not really who we are at all.

All of this is superficial. Our personalities are masks over the divine spirit that is our core.

That core is always trying to break through to us, through the thoughts we think are ours - but have been embedded within us by our respective cultures.

That core is always trying to get us to understand that this whole world is a constantly reflecting mirror for each of us. Like attracts like and everywhere we look, we see ourselves.

Are you angry at someone in the news? Dig deep and you will find that what you are really angry about has little to do with them and everything to do with you and your own actions or inactions, your own inner fears and conflicts.

In addition - and this is crucial to understand, what we see "out there" is the result of a string of actions that we have taken either as an individual, or collectively. And, have no doubt, each of us has contributed to everything we see, whether by actively shaping what has happened or by, passively, going along with it.

Why? We live in an energy Universe. What we do comes back to us. In the past the return was, often, slow and it was difficult to really see a connection between how our thoughts, intentions and actions were coming back to impact us. But the energy of this age is different. Anyone who is honest with himself can see it and feel it.

What we do is now coming back to us at an accelerated rate. Thus, as the Bible says:

He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9:6.

An issue that overshadows most others, in this regard, is Global Warming.

We have heard about Global Warming for the last three decades, but preferred to avoid our responsibility to change. Now those seeds we have sown are coming back to us in a multitude of ways, including destructive hurricanes, most poignantly Rita.

Poorer nations have always felt the effects of human folly before we do - such as with the tsunami - and Africa is now in the midst of a terrible crisis. According to the article below, they understand that they must change or die. Now the question is, when will we?

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We must adapt to climate change - or die

By Caroline Hooper-Box

As Earth hurtles towards potentially disastrous changes in temperature, top scientists from Africa and the rest of the world will meet South African government officials on Monday in Midrand to discuss the threat of climate change in South Africa and the sub-continent.

In South Africa, the effects of global warming are predicted to include the spread of diseases such as tick-bite fever, cholera and malaria; the extinction of plants and animals; and ruined crops.

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is to deliver the opening address at the National Climate Change Conference, where delegates will thrash out options for responding to the crisis.

Globally, nine of the past 10 years have been the warmest since records began in 1861. Research confirms that climate change is "a real and significant threat to biodiversity in South Africa", according to Guy Midgley of the South African National Biodiversity Institute.

South Africa's botanical treasures - the succulent Karoo and fynbos biomes, recognised as specialised ecosystems of rich plant biodiversity - are under grave threat. Once temperatures rise 2,4°C higher than they are now, the Karoo's 2 800 endemic plant species will become extinct. Above 3¼C, the Kruger National Park is projected to lose two-thirds of its animals.

Some species in the Kruger Park are already disappearing, Norman Owen-Smith, a Wits university scientist, said. "Half the species in the park may want to be somewhere else in 20 to 30 years' time."

Sable and roan antelope in particular will want to move west of the Kruger, where rainfall is higher, he said, but are unable to move beyond the park fences.

South Africa's biodiversity provides livelihoods for a significant number of rural South Africans who are victims of poverty, Midgley said.

Maize is particularly susceptible to drought
This was confirmed by a report on the impact of climate change to be presented at the conference this week by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research scientists Graham von Maltitz and Carmel Mbizvo. They predict that in most instances, climate change will add stress to already fragile livelihoods.

Because 70 percent of Africa's population relies on agriculture for its livelihood, and because the continent includes some of the world's poorest nations, it is particularly susceptible to climate change.

Southern Africa's staple food, maize, is particularly susceptible to drought.

The southwestern tip of Africa will see less rain as the planet heats up, Von Maltitz and Mbizvo say, "and it is this area where some of the most severe livelihood consequences may result".

The United Nations Environment Programme predicts that an increase in temperature is likely to reduce soil moisture and soil quality, both of which are vital for agriculture, as well as to generate a proliferation of pests.

The UN has warned that by 2050 as many as 150 million "environmental refugees" may have fled coastlines vulnerable to rising sea levels, storms or floods, or agricultural land that has become too arid to cultivate.

In South Africa, a broad reduction of rainfall in the range of 5 to 10 percent for the summer rainfall region is predicted. This is likely to be accompanied by an increased incidence of drought and floods, with prolonged dry spells being followed by intense storms.

The department of environmental affairs and tourism says the increased temperatures and changes in rainfall can be expected to affect health, including an increase in the occurrence of strokes, skin rashes, dehydration and skin cancers.

South Africa's east coast is expected to become wetter, with an accompanying increase in the incidence of diseases such as cholera, malaria and sleeping sickness.

In a warmer world, mosquitoes and ticks could also expand their range to higher altitudes.

Peter Luckey, the chief director of the department of environmental affairs, told reporters this week that climate change science predicted more frequent and intense extreme weather conditions, and said that "in most cases, they will be changes that affect our everyday lives".

Bruce Hewitson of the climate systems analysis group at the University of Cape Town said what was needed most in this period of climate change was "following up on adaptation and responding to impact".

It was too late to mitigate the effects of climate change, Hewitson said. "There is nothing we can do to prevent climate change for this generation."



This article was originally published on page 3 of The Sunday Independent on October 16, 2005


Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-10-16 09:33:00



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© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved.

Birth Restraint

Today I read a story about an Arkansas woman who has given birth to her 16th child with plans to have as many more as she can. Her husband has been a politician and they, apparently, do not practice birth restraint, on religious grounds.

There was a time when having a lot of children was a badge of honor for a woman, provided she had a husband who could afford to feed and clothe those children.

To carry all pregnancies to full term was a great blessing a hundred years ago when mortality rates for mothers and their children were high. Prior to modern medicine and science, a woman's body and genes had to be very tough and she had to have immense stamina and character to raise a large family.

But having a lot of children today is not the triumph against odds it was in the past.

On the contrary, with a burgeoning world population of 6.3 billion we have immense problems of pollution and global warming, threats of world pandemics and a third of the world's people living in poverty and hunger. To help further overpopulate the earth under these conditions is not a triumph, but a failure of restraint, for birth restraint is no longer a choice, but a necessity.

Why?

Imagine if every woman of childbearing age spent her life like that woman in Arkansas, having as many children as possible. We would soon be like fruitflies in a sealed bottle.

Put two fruitflies in a closed bottle with water and food and they breed until there are hundreds of fruitflies, life is no longer sustainable in the bottle and all die.

I was taught this by an astute fourth grade teacher and the lesson was very powerful. Yet we, in this country, are going backwards, arguing for more children instead of less.

Do you know that, currently, we withhold foreign aid funds from women's clinics in foreign lands that dare to offer those women sex education and contraception?

So while on one hand we bewail the millions who will starve in those countries in the next ten years, we also actively work against real solutions.

It has been said that the ideal, sustainable population for the earth is around 3 Billion. We now have 6.3 Billion, with a third of them living in wrenching poverty.

Let us return to our couple in Arkansas, for this decision to have as many children as possible is not just the woman's, but is also the choice of her husband.

Is it responsible for anyone to bring so many children into the world - whether they can "afford them" or not - when we already have 6.3 billion people on the planet?

The fact is, our planet cannot afford the ecological footprint each one will leave in combination with all others.

We are all in this together and have an obligation to work for the greater good, which includes voluntarily working to limit population levels.

If we want our species to survive and the children of the future to have any quality of life at all, we must stop giving approval for this kind of, ultimately, destructive behavior.

How this behavior must gall those who have no children and desperately yearn to have one upon which they could lavish their love.

And one must wonder how loved - and how special - a child feels when he or she is one of a dozen or more for whom mom has no time.

God helps those who help themselves and He never meant for us to populate our Mother Earth to the point of destroying her.

Neither is there any justification for ignoring the children we have for the purpose of creating more.

In Biblical terms such people are living immoderately, without any self control or temperance. For them to justify their intemperance on religious grounds is fallacy.

It is time that Christians stop apologizing for advocating birth restraint and contraception. Both are in keeping with the spiritual value of being partners with the Earth that nourishes us. We are charged with her safekeeping to assure not only her survival, but our own.

For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread. I Corinthians 10:17

The fruit of the Spirit is...temperance. Galatians 5:22-23

Let Me Hug All Of You

Below are words of wisdom from the 20th century's most effective spokesperson for peace, Mohandas K. Gandhi. Using principles of non-violence, he led India's people to independence with a single tool: Faith In God.

Let Me Hug All of You in Love and Friendship by Mohandas K. Gandhi

Having flung aside the sword, there is nothing except the cup of love I can offer to those who oppose me. It is by offering that cup that I expect to draw them close to me.

I cannot think of permanent enmity between man and man, and believing as I do in the theory of rebirth, I live in the hope that if not in this birth, in some other birth, I shall be able to hug all humanity in friendly embrace. Love is the strongest force the world possesses and yet it is the humblest imaginable.

Love has the special quality of attracting abundance of love in return. Ahimsa means the largest love, the greatest charity. As a follower of ahimsa, I must love my enemy. I must apply the same rules to the wrongdoer who is my enemy or a stranger to me, as I would to my wrongdoing father or son.

This activity necessarily includes truth and fearlessness. As man cannot deceive loved ones, he does not fear or frighten them. Gift of life is the greatest of all gifts; a man who gives it disarms all hostility. He has paved the way for an honourable understanding.

And none who is fearful can bestow that gift. He must therefore be himself fearless. A man cannot practice ahimsa and be a coward at the same time. The practice of ahimsa calls for the greatest courage. Never has anything been done on this earth without direct action.

I reject the word 'passive resistance', because of its insufficiency and its being interpreted as a weapon of the weak. What was the larger 'symbiosis' that Buddha and Christ preached? Gentleness and love. Buddha fearlessly carried the war into the enemy's camp and brought down an arrogant priesthood.

Christ drove out the moneychangers from the temple of Jerusalem. Both were for intensely direct action. But even as Buddha and Christ chastised, they showed unmistakable love and gentleness in every act of theirs. My creed of non-violence is an extremely active force. It has no room for cowardice or even weakness.

There is hope for a violent man to be some day non-violent but there is none for a coward. I believe that non-violence is infinitely superior to violence; forgiveness is more manly than punishment. Forgiveness adorns the soldier.

But abstinence is forgiveness only when there is the power to punish; it is meaningless when it pretends to proceed from a helpless creature. But I do not believe India to be helpless. I do not believe myself to be a helpless creature. Strength does not come from physical capacity.

It comes from an indomitable will. The spiritual weapon of self-purification, intangible as it seems, is the most potent means of revolutionizing one's environment and loosening external shackles.

It works subtly and invisibly; it is an intense process though it might often seem a weary and long-drawn one. It is the straightest way to liberation. The surest and quickest and no effort can be too great for it. What it requires is faith.

From M.K. Gandhi Organization

Source: The Times of India dated 30th September 2005

A Conspiracy With Mother Nature?

There is a lot of angry buzz on the blogs about the flood in New Orleans. There are accusations, especially by blacks, that everything that happened was the result of racism.

I think any time people are angry, they have a perception that supports that anger.

Whether that perception is correct or not, I don't know.

While we know that racism is alive and well in this country, I did not think any racism was intentional, but more a result of those in charge having the same old disregard for the poor that we always see.

However, I have heard a couple of things that are disturbing. They, quite frankly, support the contention that what happened was not an accident, but deliberate.

The first jarring words came from House Speaker Dennis Hastert. After the devastation in New Orleans became apparent, Hastert issued a statement something like: "We've wanted to get rid of the slums for years. We couldn't do it, but God did."

I thought that comment was crass for a couple of reasons.

First, slums may have been destroyed, but they were still people's homes and those people went through hell losing them.

Second, I thought his gall in speaking as though all that destruction and suffering was part of "god's plan" and a good thing - since Hastert and others wanted it - was astounding.

I chalked it up to a pampered politician who lacks empathy and put his foot in his mouth.

Then I saw an interview on Charlie Rose.

Forgive me, but I've visited the PBS site to try and find the name of the man interviewed, but I am unable to identify him. I got the impression he was associated with a newspaper or other media, who had been following the story. It might have been Anderson Cooper, but please don't hold me to that. I honestly don't remember.

In any event, during the course of the interview, he referred to a "conspiracy" that he said he did not believe in, but which many people do believe in. I had no idea, at that point, what he was talking about.

He said it is fact that the city of New Orleans has no industry and is dependent upon tourism.

Because of this, politicians have tried for years to get rid of the slums and public housing, in order to make New Orleans more "tourist friendly."

When I heard this, it put Hastert's comment in context.

Now while I was ignorant of this struggle, the poor people of New Orleans - most of whom are black - have been very much aware of it because, essentially, to get rid of the slums meant getting rid of them. There wasn't any huge push to get Habitat For Humanity in there, building decent homes for them as replacements.

The result is that many apparently believe work on the levees was stopped so that when - not if, but when - a category 5 struck, they, their slums and public housing would be washed away.

Whether they are correct or not, I don't know. However, it is a fact that the slums have been, essentially, washed away.

Most of the poor who were evacuated will not return. The residences they left behind will have to be bulldozed because, according to another article I read, mold has penetrated as far as the studs in these buildings and you can't get rid of it. The mold is so noxious it has made the buildings entirely uninhabitable. The only solution, at this point, is demolition.

Yet the experts all say the flooding was fully preventable.

There were reports, warnings and predictions as to exactly what would happen when a category 5 struck. In addition, as I stated, the prediction was not if a category 5 would strike, but when. The recommendations including rebuilding the levees so they could withstand a 5 and restoring wetlands as a first defense. Of course not only were these recommendations not followed, all maintenance work was halted.

So I can understand how it can look like there was a covert conspiracy to get rid of poor, black people and rebuild New Orleans around the tourist trade.

The question is: is that just how it looks, or is that how it went down?

If in fact there was a complicit plan to just ignore New Orleans and leave her vulnerable in hopes of nature taking her course, then I think the people of New Orleans have every right to be very angry. I think black people, especially, have a right to be angry. Because if this is what happened, they were treated like refuse.

We may never know the truth, but I, for one, have an uneasy feeling that once again, just as there was with the war in Iraq, there has been an agenda at work about which most of us knew nothing.

Head Start: Creating Better Citizens

Here's an informative article about Head Start and its value to the children and families it serves.

Head Start not only prepares children for academic and behavioral success but also helps parents create a contributing, functional family unit.

This is why the move by the Bush administration to cut funds for Head Start is such a bad idea. Eliminating Head Start is not just meanspirited. Funds targeted for Head Start actually help children - and their parents - become better people and citizens. The value of that is priceless.

We spend so much on programs that destroy. It is time to make our first priority programs that alleviate suffering and create a stronger nation through cultivating the strengh of our people.

He shall save the children of the needy. Psalm 72:4

Even if we do not do so out of the goodness of our hearts, we must do so because it is simply in our own best interest to create more responsible, educated and committed citizens.

Peace: Too Frightening?

I receive a very conservative political e-mail because I want to read a variety of opinions. That e-mail contains links that, from time to time, I check out to see if there is anything of value being expressed. Unfortunately, the articles are seldom worth reading, much less responding to.

However, in reading one very nasty diatribe against "liberals" and Cindy Sheehan, I could not refrain from sending an on-line "letter to the editor" in response.

However, I received an e-mail saying my letter had been rejected for publication.

Why? Oh you know the excuses they give, but the truth was: it's too frightening.

God's word is always harder to follow than the litany of hate.

Here's my letter:

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Bob Pappas makes his reputation by labeling rational people, whose opinions differ from his, enemies of the state.

Hitler did that to Jews, liberals and homosexuals and rode to power on it.

Likewise, Pappas would like to ride to power on the backs of all who clearly see that the war in Iraq was optional and cannot achieve its stated ends of "freeing the world of terror."

Indeed, the latter idea – that the war in Iraq can free the world of terror - is revealing itself to be ridiculous.

Mahatma Gandhi brought freedom and independence to India with his principles of peace. However, Mr. Pappas cannot advocate for that kind of effective action because it takes more bravery to stand without weapons than it does to kill.

In this way he shares the philosophy of the terrorists who strap bombs to their backs and blow up innocent people.

Until we are willing to sacrifice our bodies for peace, as we sacrifice the bodies of our soldiers for war, people like Mr. Pappas will reign supreme, glorying in their rhetoric while others die.

His invective is, frankly, sickening. And for him to compare the pre-emptive war in Iraq with World War II is political trickery.

But he is just a pawn in this machine of war he praises, a very frightened man under all that bombast, he does not offer us help, but fear and loathing. I ask everyone to pray for him, and for our nation that is being dragged down the wrong path.

The battle is not yours, but God's. 2 Chronicles 20:15

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isaiah 2:4

Clyo Beck

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I ask you all to pray for all people spouting hate including the web publisher who is so afraid of my opinions that he dare not publish them.

Just as we are urged to want God as much as a parched man longs for water, so must we long for God's peace with that same need.

Let us all pray to be filled with that longing, and soon.

Clyo