Guess whose foreign policy stance …
Candidate X warned against an overactive American foreign policy and the negative reception it would receive around the world:
If we are an arrogant nation, they will resent us. If we're a humble nation, but strong, they'll welcome us.
Guesses in the comments below. Answer to come in a few days.
P.S. Don't cheat and Google it.
"We hunt people for Jesus"
My friend Heather spent two and a half years in Afghanistan doing photography and communications work for developmental NGOs. She wrote this blog in response to video footage of an American military chaplain encouraging soldiers to "hunt people for Jesus."
Training the military to convert those at whom they point weapons is not only a grave misuse of power, but a reinforcement of extremists’ stereotypes, putting American lives at risk.
Hensley’s language of “hunting people” and “sending the hounds of heaven after them” suggests nothing but conquering; it implies perpetrating violence against, and the oppression of, people created in the image of God. Jesus told a parable saying “As much as you’ve done to the least of these, you’ve done it unto me.” Why? Because our treatment of those on the fringes — the widow, the orphan, the alien and stranger … our perceived enemies — is indicative of the moral climate of our society. Our treatment of these is an outworking of the way we love our God.
Jesus did not live and breathe in a political void. Jews had been waiting and waiting for the Messiah to come — for their savior to overthrow the Romans in a violent revolution. Yet Jesus chose not to engage militarily. Instead, he loved and he died. This is my Jesus — leading a life in which love disarms arguments, heals the chasms of stereotype, and makes the feared Other part of the family.
As one of the blog commenters pointed out, Jesus' words to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:15 don't often get much coverage from the pulpit:
You cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
"Who Would Jesus Shoot?" Rendered Moot
After an outcry from Christians and people of other faiths, Trijicon has released a statement saying it will no longer imprint Bible verses on its gunsights. Thank you, Trijicon, for your quick and responsible action on this matter.
Who would Jesus shoot?
In case you haven't already seen this, it's been discovered that gunsights on weapons used by British and American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are inscribed with coded biblical references, including:
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
It's absolutely mind-boggling to me that carved onto weapons of war are words of truth and peace, words from a man who embodied and heralded a kingdom characterized by peace, and from a man who announced an alternative to empire and spoke of faith, hope, joy, gentleness, goodness, and peace. How in the heck do these things go together?!
On the website of Trijicon, the US-based manufacturer, it states: "We believe that America is great when its people are good. This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals." Which of course is clearly congruent with SHOOTING people.
Clearly.
No wonder Christians have a bad name. You'd think we'd learned our lessons from the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc. But apparently not.
UPDATE (Jan 20, 2pm EST): Now cross-posted over at God's Politics.
UPDATE (Jan 20, 4pm EST): If you'd like to sign a petition asking the Pentagon to stop using weapons branded with Bible verses, you can do so here.