Is America a Christian Nation?

Two questions.

How much would it cost to end world hunger?

$30 billion per year

How much does the United States spend on the military?

$869 billion per year

3.5% (or 7/200) of our annual military budget could solve world hunger.

Okay, one more question.

What does that say about us?

"Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."
                                                                                                                - Jesus

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
                                                                                                               - Apostle Paul



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A Difficult Love - Military and the Christian

Anonymous posted this comment on the thread about cutting military spending:

"As an anti-war guy, do you defend yourself when someone kicks in your door and decides he want your stuff or your wife? At what point do you defend yourself and your family? Or do you just take the peaceful way out? If we don't defend ourselves, we will be overrun. You have certainly never been in the military. By the way, I don't think we should be borrowing money from anyone. We don't have to. We need to change our way of spending. Even in the military. If we put our whole military budget into healthcare, these polititians would still puke it away on something such as acorn, unions, or something else that would not benefit us as a country."

I was never in the military although I had received a three-year full scholarship from the Air Force to attend college, but after the first year (the one I had to pay) I felt I could not serve in good conscience.  I concluded that even if I believed in the just war theory, I would have had no say as an officer on whether I believed the war I was fighting in was just or not.  As an officer or soldier, we just follow the chain of command; there is no possibility of opting out of a war that one feels is unjust.  At that point, following my personal conviction, I opted out and pursued ministry.  I do have a friend who was a soldier who left the military due to convictions of conscience he had developed while serving. 

Jesus taught a few hard teachings.  The hardest for us to follow in our culture seems to be the teaching to love our enemies.  We're taught, even on a personal level, to demonize and conquer our enemies.  As a Christian, loving those I should not even like is one of my priorities.  That is one of the ways I show Jesus to the world.  This means that I am willing to build bridges that people have burned, and I allow grace for mistakes.  And I hope others do the same for me because I also burn more bridges than I have meant to and make my share of mistakes that hurt people.  I am not perfect by any means, but I am blessed to be given grace every day to strive for perfection.  And I need to give that same grace, in a practical and tangible way, to others. 

Is this difficult love a feasible foreign policy if our whole nation did it?  I doubt it, but I am not worried about feasibility, just faithfulness.  Although, I must admit that it works good for Switzerland and was proposed here in America, even by Presidents, prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  See Common sense neutrality: Mobilizing for peace if you are interested in reading some of those views expressed prior to WWII.  God can handle feasibility and protection; I need to follow his difficult teachings even when it is "unrealistic" to do so.

So far I have been blessed and have not had someone come in and steal from my house or harm my family.  If I found myself in such an unfortunate situation, I hope I would respond with love and forgiveness.  Dying is not the worst thing in the world.  As a follower of the Prince of peace, I am willing to follow his example and die but not kill.  There is nothing wrong with being overrun.  My world is not this world.  My goal is not the accumulation of earthly goods.  The possessions they would be confiscating are not really mine anyway.  Jesus taught the Apostles that they were to just knock the dirt off their feet and continue on.  Christian traditions have done this before, so I know it is not impossible.  If I was overrun and found myself not being able to continue on, I would move along.  There are many things worth dying for; I can't think of anything worth killing for.

Spending We Can Cut - Military Spending

Pat Buchanan had a great column.  Despite his ridiculous statements at times, sometimes he hits the nail right on the head.

Liquidating the Empire

Here are some of the best quotes:

"We spend more on defense than the next 10 nations combined. Our Navy exceeds in firepower the next 13 navies combined. We have 100,000 troops in Iraq, 100,000 in Afghanistan or headed there, 28,000 in Korea, over 35,000 in Japan and 50,000 in Germany. By the Department of Defense's "Base Structure Report," there are 716 U.S. bases in 38 countries."

"Estimated combined budgets for the Pentagon, two wars, foreign aid to allies, 16 intelligence agencies, scores of thousands of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our new castle-embassies: $1 trillion a year."

"It is preposterous to argue that all these bases are essential to our security. Indeed, our military presence, our endless wars and our support of despotic regimes have made America, once the most admired of nations, almost everywhere resented and even hated."

"Indeed, how do conservatives justify borrowing hundreds of billions yearly from Europe, Japan and the Gulf states -- to defend Europe, Japan and the Arab Gulf states? Is it not absurd to borrow hundreds of billion annually from China -- to defend Asia from China? Is it not a symptom of senility to borrow from all over the world in order to defend that world?"

North Korea, Missiles, and the United States

Air Force tests missile in launch from Calif coast. The Air Force claims that it is a routine test. Hmmm, I wonder if it has anything to do with North Korea.

The American missile flew 4,200 miles. Now, I am sure we have ICBMs that can fly around the world, but the statement of this launch should be clear to North Korea. The Air Force was saying we can reach you. On the City Distance Tool, I calculated the distance from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska to Pyongyang to be only 3732 miles. I am making the assumption, and North Korea should too, that Pyongyang is within reach of some United States Air Force missiles hidden somewhere around the Air Force bases in Alaska.

So North Korea has the potential to shoot some rockets and hit Japan who we have sworn to protect. History will probably view Japan as a twentieth century form of colony of the United States, but that is another article for another day. North Korea's rockets only have a range of 2,175 to 2,670. That is unless they have some secret missiles that they have not fired yet and are reserving for a strike. What are they trying to achieve through this course of action?

I hope they stop stop escalating the situation, stop proliferating weapons, and peacefully join the world community. A war between them and the United States will not benefit the people of either side no matter who wins, and it is not likely that North Korea would win. Just lay down the guns and peacefully come to the negotiating table. It does not seem that difficult.

But then I ask whether the Americans would do that if we were in their situation.