Why did we respond to the 9/11 tragedy where more than 3,000 innocent men and women were killed by killing hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Afghanistan and Iraq? 

I remember standing at the Vietnam Memorial, looking at all those names and asking, "Why?"  If you haven't been there, you should go.  Not only is it a very emotional experience, of most importance, it demonstrates the true cost of war . 

Across the street was a replica of the cage where the Vietnamese Army housed some of our soldiers, approximately 4 x 4.  I don't know if they were water boarded, but I do think those soldiers were tortured.  Staying in those cages for months on end certainly would have driven me crazy. 

Today nobody thinks the Vietnam war was necessary.  It was started to prevent that slippery slope into communism we were told.  And for that threat, thousands of young men and women....plus so many thousands of innocent civilians were killed.

Reminds me of the Iraqi War and those "weapons of mass destruction" we were told about!  The CIA must have been sleeping on the job.  I just don't get it.  I learned that they have the equipment to target my dining table and tell me what I am eating.  In essence,  we started a war on a hunch.

....I found these youtube videos that just might open your eyes to very relevant issues.

Click on:

http://costofwar.com/en/

Was the war worth it when we consider that at least 919,967 people have
been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since the U.S. and coalition attacks, based on lowest estimates

The following seems to have used credible sources:

http://www.unknownnews.org/casualties.html

When I searched 9/11 I found dozens of videos on interesting theories.

Here’s one.  Click on:  http://youtu.be/puWqNJI8Mjo

Before the Iraq war, I invited someone who had recenty visited the Iraqi country to speak at our church.  I always remember what he said.  Speaking to an "average citizen" about the probability of war for regime change, the man said, "Saddham is a headache to all of us, but the United States wishes to solve that problem by cutting off our heads."  He was right.....hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens have been killed. 

There is no question that the U.S. taxpayers have also paid dearly for these wars and are still paying about 1 billion dollars a month.  Just think about it: The only people who have benefited are the corporations of the U.S.  Frankly, I just couldn't find any other reason for those wars. 

And, let's face it, it is very questionable if those countries will have "democracy" after our troops finally leave.... 

However, the oil companies will have a pipeline in Afghanistan, I understand, something thing desperately desired.  With acess to that Iraqi oil, they needed a way to get it out.  And the Defense companies with whom the former administration was intimately tied have profited beyond belief with no-bid contracts.

I don't wish to be cynical.  I just wish the truth.  What do you think? 

Pastors, isn’t it up to us to be informed with all the issues?   Don’t we owe the members of our churches the effort to try to find out the truth behind the policies of their governments under which they live? 

But then again, does it matter what the reason for war might be?  Aren’t we supposed to be helping our congregants live according to the teachings of Jesus?  And Jesus taught forgiveness.  Jesus taught love and peace.  We sure seem to forget that, don't we? 

I wonder if we applied the rules of war we have adopted to adultery:  There is a threat that my husband/wife might leave me someday, I caught him/her looking at an attractive person....whatever.  We could call it "just" adultery.

Think about it.....how many Christians supported these wars?  Does "patriotism" take precedance over the teachings of Jesus? 

What should have been the role of Christian pastors in this regard?  Did you teach....do you teach the what the real Christian response to war, to these wars, should be?

What would Jesus have said?  Remember what he said about an eye for an eye.  I doubt very much that he would have sought revenge.  Let's face it, the excuse that those wars are making us safer just don't hold water.  Before the wars, Osama led a small group of radicals.  Since our occupation of their countries, Al Quaida has a huge network of followers now.

I want you to read the scripture for this Sunday again. And read the powerful sermons on the 9/11 pages of CHURCH PowerPoint  http://churchpowerpoint.com 

Do you have the nerve to teach Jesus?  Think about it! 

Terror came home to Norway on Friday. A bomb was detonated near the prime minister's office in Oslo and a gunman attacked a political youth camp on the island of Utoya.  Why, we ask, would someone kill innocent children?  Why would they set off a bomb that would kill innocent bystanders?  From what we have learned so far, a "Christian" set off the attack in protest against Muslims.  Not only must we mourn the loss of all those killed, we must also mourn the terrible act that accomplished the murders "in the name of Christ."

Isn't it about time pastors confront the terrible anti Muslim discrimination that is growing throughout the world?  I truly believe if we can stop the spread of the hateful "words" we will stop the disturbed people who put them into action.  Think About It! 

The following are several articles I found on the internet that could prove help in developing a sermon...

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/09/muslims_scapegoating.html

What is most disturbing about recent attacks by the political and religious right on Muslim Americans and their religion, Islam, is that it feels so depressingly familiar.

Christian and American conservative politicians and the religious right needed a new enemy that would mobilize their base in the 1990s when they were faced with the fall of the Soviet Union and the loss of “godless Communists” as the enemy of everything civilized. Televangelists needed a new “evil” to rail against—a threat dire enough to convince Social Security pensioners to send in their $5 and $10 checks and keep them on the air.

So gays became the new communists.

Jerry Falwell, head of the Moral Majority, and other religious right leaders deliberately determined that gays would be the new enemy. Their tactics are documented in a memoir, Stranger at the Gate, by Rev. Mel White, a former conservative who was Falwell’s ghost writer but lost his job after coming out as a gay man.

Rev. White writes:

During the 1990s, when the religious right shifted the focus of their fund-raising appeals from the 'evil communist empire' to the 'homosexual agenda for the destruction of America', I began collecting samples of their terrible lies against us. One of my early hate-mail 'treasures' was an emergency Jerry Falwell fund-raiser sent in an oversize envelope (five by fourteen inches) with a bold red banner across its face stating simply: 'Declaration of War…Official Notice'. Jerry Falwell was officially declaring war against gay and lesbian people.

Since that time we’ve seen this scapegoating’s devastating effects on the gay community. There’s been incitement of hate and discrimination to the enactment of the Defense of Marriage Act, active opposition to reforms such as the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and well-funded efforts to forestall marriage equality.

Now, however, it appears that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people’s success in achieving equal rights in this country is impending and virtually assured. It makes me wonder, then, if a new “enemy” is now being chosen—Muslim Americans and Islam.

First, they came for the communists, then the gays—now the Muslims?

The search for scapegoats is as old as humankind. The word “scapegoat” itself comes from the ancient Hebrew practice of symbolically placing the sins of people onto a goat, and then sending that goat and its attendant sins into the wilderness on Yom Kippur, presumably to perish. Such a practice is always easier than taking responsibility for the sins that belong at home and making the behavioral changes necessary to undo them.

I’ve been searching for a rational explanation for the fierce and widespread opposition to the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, which is neither at Ground Zero nor principally a mosque. Combined with the outrageous tenacity with which many hold the clearly erroneous belief that President Barack Obama is himself secretly a Muslim, there has to be more here than political expediency.

I fear we are seeing the next mass target for scapegoating. Will the obsession with Muslims “too near” Ground Zero disappear with the midterm elections? Sadly, I think not. Have political operatives and religious right leaders decided that Muslim Americans and Islam are the next scapegoat? That they are a sure vehicle for getting conservative voters to the polls and for opening the wallets of religious right contributors?

I hate to get caught up in conspiracy theories, but the current hate speech against Muslims that portrays them as dangerous to America, our security, and values has the ring of intentionality to it that I cannot shake.

Demonizing all Muslims based on the irrational and despicable actions of violent extremists would be sad enough if it were only a domestic problem. But the fact is we are handing Al Qaeda the most effective recruitment tool they could ever hope for. We live in a wired world where mosque burnings, attacks on Muslim Americans, and hate speech against Muslims by national politicians and preachers are instantly seen by millions around the globe. These attacks serve to convince the Muslim world that despite America’s rhetoric, we really are waging war on Islam and we really do hate Muslims.

Americans of all stripes—religious and nonreligious—need to stand up for our fellow Americans who are Muslim. Embedded in the Bill of Rights is the right to practice our religion. Countless patriots have fought and died for this freedom. When religious freedom and tolerance is attacked for some, it is threatened for all. All of us must work tirelessly to undo the suspicion, hatred, and xenophobia directed toward our Muslim fellow citizens.

Bishop Gene Robinson is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.
---------------------------------------

Religious freedom and tolerance

By: John Bispala 

    President Barack Obama has now stated clearly where he stands on the controversy over the proposed building of a mosque near ground zero in New York. He said to the Muslim community on August 13, "As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country...That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."

    Over the years since September 11, 2001, I have received so much email from people who let you know they are Christians and yet who express anti-Muslim attitudes that amount to fear and hatred, attitudes that are out of line with the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the peacemakers," just to mention one admonition of Jesus. The prevalent anti-Muslim mood tells me people are not making fair distinctions.

    The most basic distinction President Obama is making is between the very, very few Muslim Americans who would commit a terrible crime as was done at the World Trade Center and, by contrast, the millions of Muslims who are law abiding, freedom loving citizens of the USA. All Muslims are not the same!

    Sitting in Philadelphia in 1776, our nation's founding fathers were not trying to be primarily Christians. What they were trying to do was to keep bishops and the church from dominating the Revolutionary government. They had experienced the failure of that domination in their lands of origin. This country got its start with an anti-clerical attitude, but this didn't make them any less personally devoted to their own religious, moral or philosophical principles. There are countries today dominated by a religion and lacking in freedom for their people.

A letter from the Camden News:

http://www.camdennews.org/news/info.nsf/get+CCN+Article+All/Letters+to+the+Editor_Religious+freedom+and+tolerance

Let us share our faith at this critical time in history.....the faith that teaches love and compassion for all peoples.  Why don't you share your sermon with us?  Think About It.  

Matthew 14:13-21



See http://churchgalleries.com for the rest of the image set.

I served a church in rural Michigan which could distinguish itself by its location, one of the poorest counties in the State.  Although housing costs were quite low, the number of people, including children, who were homeless was distressing.  The farmers with government subsidies weren’t suffering, but the rest of the population who were not part of government jobs definitely were.  Here was a very visible portrait of the haves and the have nots.

How could our church help.  We were part of the ecumenical food kitchen which collected and supplied canned and boxed food for the poor.  It helped!  But any of you who have ever been unemployed and tried to stretch those unemployment checks for housing costs, clothing, transportation, etc. realize it is impossible to do…..  Supplying food was such a tremendous benefit. 

We were in a farming community.  Why not offer to the suffering poor the fresh vegetables and fruits that were not available at our food kitchen?  We called it “Neighbor to Neighbor” and asked those with farms and backyard gardens to bring their surplus to the tent we set up on the front lawn of the church.  Several articles in the paper….and word of mouth….brought both donations of food and those who were in need. 

It was rare for our tables to be empty during the day.  And very rare for them to be filled at the end of the day.  The tent was on an honor system.  A  small sign designated the available food only for those who were in need.  You may be surprised to hear this, but it worked.  It really worked. 

We are now living in a truly new situation where unemployment in the U.S. is hovering just below 10 percent.  Jesus turned those few loaves and fishes into a banquet that fed over 5000 people with left overs. 

Some have interpreted the miracle of that day in more realistic terms; that is, the miracle was actually that fact that many people who did bring food threw some of their supply into the basket for those who had none.   In those days, there were no McDonalds or Wendys.  If they were going to travel any distance, most people brought their own food.  Frankly, what we need today is the same kind of miracle. 

What should we do?  Read about the inspiring story of an entire state:  Click on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14022795

What is your church doing in these times of economic suffering?  Share with us.   Add a comment at the bottom of the page.

 Think About It.  Dorothy

 

 

The mustard seed parable should be an inspiration to all of us who at times are overwhelmed with the enormity of need for reform in our world.  Why should  people go hungry, even die of malnutrition, when there is enough food for everyone on the planet?  Why should the richest country in the world wish to deny good healthcare to its poor and aged?  Why do people kill each other in the name of God? 

Well, my friends, as insignificant as we may feel, as small as a mustard seed, our contributions to those causes for which we feel passionatly may actually result in moving a mountain.  But it does take one to get it started. 

At a party I recently attended, as It was winding down and only a handful  were left, someone  began telling jokes…. one of those hurtful Polish jokes.    I objected.  A woman chimed in….she was Polish.  Nevertheless, they  continued.  No one  laughed.  Calling Polish people stupid is particularly hurtful, I explained.   Not a big deal, but I didn't know these people very well...and it was difficult for me to speak up in front of them.  But if each of us would stand up for what is right in our daily lives, perhaps prejudice…..wars could be prevented.

“Stupid” Polish jokes are particularly sensitive, I explained.  Few people know about the genocidal  crimes by the Nazis against the Polish people, particularly the intelligentsia and clergy in Poland.  Their plans included killing or enslaving all the educated population to prevent leaders from rising up in protest.  And they did so by the millions.   6 million Jews were killed.  It is little known that 3 million Christian Polish people were killed.  And plans for the ultimate distruction of the Poles was in place: to send them to Siberia to cultivate the swamps there.  It was presumed they would also die…..a slower genocide!

During the German invasion of Poland (1939),  special action squads of SS and police  were deployed , and arrested or killed civilians caught offering resistance against the Germans or considered capable of doing so. Tens of thousands of government officials, landowners, clergy, and members of the intelligentsia:  professionals:  — teachers, doctors, journalists, and others (both Poles and Jews) — were either murdered in mass executions or sent to prisons and concentration camps.  . The Selbstschutz, along with SS units, took an active part in the Mass murders in Piaśnica, in which between 12,000 and 16,000 Polish civilians were murdered.

One of the most well known examples was the deportation to concentration camps in November 1939 of 180 professors from the university of Cracow.  The German occupiers  planned to eliminate the Polish intelligentsia and leadership class More than 16,000 members of the intelligentsia were murdered in Operation Tannenberg alone.

The Roman Catholic Church was suppressed in Wartheland more harshly than elsewhere: churches were systematically closed;  most priests were either killed, imprisoned, or deported to the General Government. In the General Government, Hans Frank’s diary shows he planned a “war on the clergy”. The Germans also closed seminaries and convents and persecuted monks and nuns. Between 1939 and 1945, an estimated 2,801 members of the Polish clergy were murdered (in all of Poland); of these, 1,926 died in concentration camps (798 of them at Dachau).One hundred and eight of them are regarded as blessed martyrs,

As part of a wider effort to destroy Polish culture, the Germans closed or destroyed universities, schools, museums, libraries, and scientific laboratories. Polish academic institutions were turned into German establishments. Polish children were forced to attend and obey with strict punishment used. They demolished hundreds of monuments to national heroes.[85][86] To prevent the birth of a new generation of educated Poles, German officials decreed that the schooling of Polish children should end after a few years of elementary education.

"The sole goal of this schooling is to teach them simple arithmetic, nothing above the number 500; writing one's name; and the doctrine that it is divine law to obey the Germans. I do not think that reading is desirable,"

At the end of October 1939, the Germans introduced the death penalty for disobedience to the German occupation.

It was the German plan to move Poles to Siberia. Himmler wrote a memorandum in May 1940. In it he promised to deport all Poles to the east [Russia]. Plans for mass transportation and slave labor camps for up to 20 million Poles were made. All were intended to die during the cultivation of the swamps.

During the war, Himmler in his capacity as Reich Commissioner oversaw the kidnapping of Polish children to be Germanized. The German also took approximately 50,000, some estimate are as high as 200,000, Polish children from their families. They were sent to the Reich to be subject to "Germanisation". Many of the children were not recovered and remained in Germany.

The following is from a blog that tells a story of the contribution of just one person.  I have included the entire article….so beautifully written:  http://norgrebnief.blogspot.com/2011/01/budapest-is-lovely-city-filled-with.html

Let's travel to Eastern Europe and recall the heroic deeds of a man who stood againsts the Nazis and single-handedly saved thousands of Jews from slaughter.

Budapest is a lovely city, filled with surprises. Turn a corner and you stumble onto the Danube, flowing leisurely beneath the Chain Bridge, one of the most impressive suspension bridges in the world. A moment later you catch site of the spires of Hungary's magnificent parliament building, a massive structure and notable landmark.

There are intimate pedestrian walkways and expansive, tree-lined boulevards, surrounded by shops and offices, apartments and mansions. And all of this is pulled together smartly, a sophisticated, eclectic blend of architectural styles — Classical, Romanesque, Gothic — that look and feel, well, European.

You're feeling oh-so worldly about now, toying with the idea of stepping into a nearby cafe for a cup of coffee. And then you see something odd, a huge monument (photo above) attached to the side of a building. A slight chill fills the air as you manage to make out the name written across its top — Raoul Wallenberg.

For people of a certain generation the name is familiar. For younger folks it means little. And that's a shame. Wallenberg was a genuine hero, his life the stuff of legend.

His name surfaced again earlier this year in news stories, this time focusing on the death of his mother and stepfather in the late 1970s. Apparently the couple committed suicide after years of worry about the fate of their son. Such articles are published every so often because Wallenberg’s story is always worth re-visiting.

It began quietly enough, a life of luxury in Sweden, school in the U.S., followed by odd jobs in South Africa and Palestine. In 1936, Wallenberg returned to Sweden and, with the help of family, found work in Stockholm with an export-import company owned by Kalman Lauer, a Hungarian Jew.

As the world moved toward war, Hungary aligned itself with Germany and Italy. In the late ’30s and early ’40s, the country enacted a series of anti-Jewish laws that set limits on the jobs Jews could hold, schools they could attend, where they could live and who they could marry.

It was clear that Lauer was no longer welcome in his homeland. Wallenberg, meanwhile, had become a trusted friend and confidante of his boss and was willing and able to help. He began handling the company's business in Hungary, often traveling to Budapest. Within a year he had become a joint owner of the firm and its international director.

In the spring of 1944, Jews across the country were rounded up and forced into ghettos. Only weeks later the first transports to Nazi death camps began. Even as Soviet troops neared the Hungarian border and freedom loomed precariously on the horizon, the trains continued to roll. By mid-summer, over half the Jews in Hungary — about 500,000 men, women and children — had been deported.

After years of indifference, world leaders were being pressured to deal with the slaughter of Jews across Eastern Europe. A rescue plan, encouraged and supported by both the U.S. President and British Prime Minister, was set in motion and Wallenberg was selected to lead the effort. He was a logical choice. He had spent time in Budapest, spoke the language and had contact with some of the country's top business and political leaders. Lauer would help him make contact with the Jewish community.

Wallenberg returned to Budapest in a semi-official role, attached to the Swedish Legation. His mission? Through bluster and wit, rescue as many Jews as possible. The stage was set.

Throughout the summer and fall of 1944, with the aid of a small army of Jewish agents, Wallenberg located and purchased "safe houses" in the city where Jews could evade capture. He created and issued "protective passports" for thousands of refugees and provided food and medicine to those in need.

When his documents were ignored and diplomacy failed, he used bribes and threats. When necessary, he followed transports and argued for the release of Jews he claimed were protected by his government. In one notable episode, Wallenberg hopped atop a train in Budapest, distributed dozens of passports, then demanded the release of refugees holding the bogus documents.

In January of 1945, with the Russians on the outskirts of Budapest, the Nazis decided to liquidate the Jewish ghetto in the city. Wallenberg confronted the SS officer in charge and threatened to have him hanged as a war criminal once the war ended if the order was carried out. The officer backed down and tens of thousands of Jews in the city survived the war.

The number of people Wallenberg saved in the final months of the war is staggering. Some historians credit him with rescuing over 100,000 Hungarians. His story, unfortunately, ends abruptly.

After Budapest was liberated in 1945, Wallenberg was arrested by Soviet troops — and disappeared. Soviet authorities reported several years later that he died in the late 1940s. But reports continued for decades that he was alive and still being held by the communists.

Wallenberg's heroic deeds and the mystery surrounding his arrest and imprisonment fueled books, movies and news stories for years. But over time, as the Cold War played out and the world moved on, the name of Raoul Wallenberg has become for many a hazy historical footnote.

That’s not to say he’s been forgotten.

These days you'll find Wallenberg remembered by international organizations and in textbooks, memorialized at Holocaust museums and parks. But there's a special connection between the man and Budapest, the city where he brought the gift of life to so many. So it only seems natural that there are schools and roads, plaques and monuments, expansive parks and intimate gardens here that honor his name and memory.

The monument in the heart of the city, next to the boulevard that bears his name, shows Wallenberg in hat and overcoat, holding a list in one hand while halting some phantom figure with his other. It’s here that he established many of the safe houses where Jews found refuge over 60 years ago. The houses are now shops and offices, but Wallenberg’s memory still lingers, a reminder that in difficult time’s one person can still make a difference.

Now, no one would say I moved a mountain in objecting to the prejudicial joke, but it did instill in those gathered, I believe, a new sensitivity in future type of actions.  And you never know what impact it will play. 

Do you have stories about a mustard seed kind of courage?  Inspiration for our congregations.  Think about it and share. 

When I read this Sunday's text, I thought of the war being waged by the fanatical Muslims against all those who do not believe as they do.  And, too, I also think of the battle being waged within the Christian Church between the fundamentalists and those who practice a more liberal interpretation of the Bible.  Isn't Jesus saying:  live in peace..... At the final days, not you, but the angels will divide the weeds from the wheat!

I just received an issue of a newsletter on this very subject.  It might prove of interest to you:  Connections by Barbara Wendland
http://sz0166.wc.mail.comcast.net/service/home/~/7-11%20Conn.pdf?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=479840&part=2


More on the subject of the parable:

From Wikipedia……..

The Parable of the Tares has often been cited in support of various degrees of religious toleration.

In his "Letter to Bishop Roger of Chalons", Bishop Wazo of Liege (c. 985-1048 AD) relied on the parable ^[8] to argue that "the church should let dissent grow with orthodoxy until the Lord comes to separate and judge them"^[9].

Martin Luther preached a sermon on the parable in which he affirmed that only God can separate false from true believers and noted that killing heretics or unbelievers ends any opportunity they may have for salvation:

"From this observe what raging and furious people we have been these many years, in that we desired to force others to believe; the Turks with the sword, heretics with fire, the Jews with death, and thus outroot the tares by our own power, as if we were the ones who could reign over hearts and spirits, and make them pious and right, which God's Word alone must do. But by murder we separate the people from the Word, so that it cannot possibly work upon them and we bring thus, with one stroke a double murder upon ourselves, as far as it lies in our power, namely, in that we murder the body for time and the soul for eternity, and afterwards say we did God a service by our actions, and wish to merit something special in heaven."

He concluded that "although the tares hinder the wheat, yet they make it the more beautiful to behold". ^[10]

Roger Williams, a Baptist theologian and founder of Rhode Island, used this parable to support government toleration of all of the "weeds" (heretics) in the world, because civil persecution often inadvertently hurts the "wheat" (believers) too. Instead, Williams believed it was God's duty to judge in the end, not man's. This parable lent further support to Williams' Biblical philosophy of a wall of separation between church and state as described in his 1644 book, The Bloody Tenent of Persecution.^[11]

John Milton, in Areopagitica (1644), calling for freedom of speech and condemning Parliament's attempt to license printing, referred to the parable ^[12]:

(I)t is not possible for man to sever the wheat from the tares, the good fish from the other fry; that must be the Angels' ministry at the end of mortal things.

I remember when I moved to California from Manhattan.  I was thrilled with the flowers and grass after all that cement and proceeded to "garden."  I pulled out the weeds and fertlized the plants...at least that is what I thought I was doing.    As the season progressed, I learned that it was not weeds I tore out, but lovely flowering plants....as witnessed in my neighbor's yard.  And the real weeds were flourishing under my care!   Taught me a lesson.......

What do you think?  Is tolerance toward beliefs, that you might believe false, Jesus' message today? 

What are you going to preach about this Sunday? 

Please return to http://churchpowerpoint.com for all the images. 

Be sure to scroll down to the text you are working on.........



The saying goes, “Nothing is sure, but death and taxes.”  The scripture today deals with the former…the terrible threat of being gathered up with the weeds at “the end of the age” by angels and thrown into the fiery furnace, “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 

 The church has spent much time preaching about death…..but I have never heard a sermon and, I am sorry to say, have never preached one about taxes.  And taxes couldn’t be more relevant...having celebrated Independence Day recently.

You may have heard the phrase "taxation without representation."   Well, that is what happened in the colonies.  Unlike the British citizens, the early setttlers  living in the 13 colonies did not have direct representatives in the British parliament.  Therefore, the colonists couldn’t vote on how they would be taxed, nor who would represent them.   With no way to fight taxation and no way to claim their rights, many colonists feared that their property could be taken away through debilitating taxes.

Well, the citizens finally rebelled.  During what is now called, The Boston Tea Party, they boarded the ships and threw crates of tea into the ocean.  This sparked the fire for the American Revolution and the birth of the Nation.  Now, the citizens were not fighting taxation.  What angered them was the lack of representation….the lack of voice.  They wanted to vote  on who their representatives were and what and how they would be taxed.  Today in the U.S. is a new movement called The Tea Party that wishes to do away with “Big Government” and, to a large extent, taxes.  Do they really wish to do away with the protection of the police and firemen,  free education for the young,  the maintenance and building of roads and bridges, the glorious park systems, critical assistance for the disabled, unemployment insurance, etc. etc.…….all the benefits that make this country safe and a country to cherish? I think those contemporary “Tea Party” people don’t realize that we have been doing away with taxes for quite some time.  Perhaps they haven’t noticed because cuts have been strictly for the wealthy individuals and corporations, not the middle class or poor.

Tax rates have declined at a huge percentage for the very wealthy:  20% for those earning over 1 million.  7% for those in the lower tax bracket!

As astonishing as those figures reveal, they don’t hold a candle to the tax breaks that were voted in for corporations.

Were you aware that GE paid no taxes; Goldman Sachs paid $14 million last year. The GAO reported in 2008 that “two out of every three United States corporations paid no federal income taxes from 1998 through 2005.”  And record profits are being reported. 

Companies have become all too astute at paying for loopholes which allow them to shift profits abroad, or move their gains (on paper) to foreign low-tax/no-tax nations.

As the graphic below shows, the change in corporate taxes — not merely rates, but what they actually paid — over the past half century is astounding.  What is even more surprising is the false information that has been broadcast regarding these figures. 

 

Corporate Taxes as a Percentage of Federal Revenue
1955 . . . 27.3%
2010 . . . 8.9%

Corporate Taxes as a Percentage of GDP
1955 . . . 4.3%
2010 . . . 1.3%

Individual Income/Payrolls as a Percentage of Federal Revenue
1955 . . . 58.0%
2010 . . . 81.5% …..and as we have seen the burden is essentially being carried by the middle class.

Shouldn’t  pastors be concerned?  Apparently, the poor are getting poorer.  The middle class is disappearing and the wealthy are growing!

What do you think?  Who is going to be thrown into that furnace along with the weeds?  Those who contribute to the betterment of their fellow human beings or those who do everything they can to grasp more money for themselves?

 What is the obligation of the church when the security for their congregations’ old age and health benefits are being threatened?  When the dreams of their young are being squelched. Do we have an obligation to speak up? To educate?

All those people sitting in your churches make the decision on who is going to represent them.  Shouldn’t they be aware that  our senators and representatives  might have a wholly different perspective than they have? 

Are you aware:   The average American's net worth is $96,000. But the average Senator's net worth? $13.4 million. For House members that sum drops to "just" $5 million.  No wonder cutting benefits does not concern to many of them; they can afford whatever they need. 

I want to be to be very realistic. You can't expect people to dramatically change their self interest or for corporations to be less self-interested than they are." That's why we have to change self-interest.   And who better than the Christian Church that teaches, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself!” 

What do you think we should preach about this month while we wave the flag of the country we love?  ?  Isn’t it time for tough love?  Isn’t it time for pastors to speak up?  

Let's change our thinking from ME to WE.   Think About It

Share what issues you think Jesus would preach about this week?

 

 

Both consoling and frightening....that is my view of Jesus' words in this magnificent parable, forcing us to consider the depth of our faith by how we have lived it. 

How do you think Christians have displayed their faith in the world?  On what kind of soil throughout the world have the words of Jesus fallen?   In many of the nations claiming a Christian majority has Jesus mandate to care for the poor thrived?   

 The U.S. which boasts of the largest numbers at Sunday church in the world, nevertheless also claims the worst healthcare for the poor among first world countries.  In these times of economic stress in the country where concern for those who have suffered with loss of jobs, savings and healthcare, tax cuts for the rich and cuts in health care, social security, and other benefits for the poor and middle class are being promoted ......by a party that believes, to a large extent, it is speaking for the religious Christian conservatists.

It just doesn't make sense to me.  Does it to you?  There appears to be significant differences for many Christians between the words and the practice. 

The largest reason for bankruptcies in the U.S. is the cost of healthcare.  You can lose everything even if privately insured if a catastrophic illness should hit your family.  And yet the compassionate new law going into effect that would prevent this calamity is being challenged by  one of the political parties.    

I have written about the lack of universal healthcare in the U.S. in the past and received some negative mail.  A pastor of a church wrote that I was being judgmental....., "Jesus didn't heal all the people of his time, why should we?"  

Which would Jesus choose:  healthcare as a right for all or a privelege for those who can afford it?  Would Jesus ask the wealthy to share their good fortune with those who have little....or would he endorse their accumulation of vast riches? 

Should pastors preach about this conflictual Christian attitude?  Where are Jesus' words falling in your church?  Your town?  Your country?  Think About It!     

(The words on the beginning image are from the sermon of J. Mary Luti for this Sunday.)



   

I found these videos on youtube re. journaling. 

The first is a simple explanation of journaling...the what and how.  1st of 4 videos on the subject.  Click: 
http://youtu.be/nxgxH3Rjf8A

The second is a more emotional view.  It is part 1 of a 3 part series.  If you have never journaled, this video emphasizes the impact journaling could have on your life.  Click on:  http://youtu.be/G1KjGwq7d54

Dorothy

 
Pentecost 3. Proper 9. Ordinary Time 14

My first real intimate contact with Jesus was during a particularly difficult time in my life.  Accepting a position with a company thousands of miles from home was financially sound, but personally a disaster.  With no close friends with whom I could share those problems, I turned to journaling.  I bought a beautiful book with blank pages and began:  Dear Jesus, .....

I found this simple act was so liberating, I not only survived the troubling circumstances of that time, but was inspired to bring my relationship with Jesus to a new level.  

Journaling to Jesus is a mode of truth-telling, self-expression, and homage to God.  In composing such a frank and simple account of my daily life, it also became a profession of profound belief because oddly enough, the very act of writing to Jesus brought him into my life as a constant presence.  

When I think back, I am amazed at what transformed that anxious, worried writer into a relatively happy, certainly peaceful and serene creature.  It was not therapy, counselors, or medication.  It did not cost money.  I just brought my burdens to Jesus.    

Has anyone a history of journaling?  Would you share? 

Wouldn't you agree that in these times of economic stress, journaling could be a source of great comfort for some  members of your church?  Would anyone consider preaching about it?  Think about it!  Share..........

 

Welcome to Share your faith on Think About It.  

Think About It relates the text based on the lectionary to current issues. 

• As Luther commented:  Preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. 
•  Let us share faith with each other on contemporary issues of the day during our sermon preparation. 

And then, please check back  for new views.