As Christians, it is up to us to build the kingdom of God on earth. God is preparing a new world for us that we will inherit after death, but this is only a part of the kingdom of heaven. God has also given us his Church, and we are loyal sons and daughters of her. But it seems that Jesus himself taught another way of seeing the kingdom of God, as "the utopia of a fully reconciled world, a utopia that is prepared and begun here and now in history through the committed action of people of good will." - Leonard Boff.
Christ came to reconcile us with ourselves, which can only be achieved by creating a unity of the inner and outer self, otherwise known as being true to oneself, inner integrity. We try to put an end to the Abu Ghraibs that exist in our own behaviors and at the same time, we put an end to violence externally by supporting those who obey the voice of conscience regarding the dehumanization and murder of the people of Iraq.
One concrete way to do this is to support the "Canada: Let Them Stay" campaign by Courage to Resist. War resistors in Canada are currently being threatened with deportation. The campaign will send letters to Canadian officials, asking them not to expell them. The letter begins: "I am writing from the United States to ask you to make a provision for sanctuary for the scores of U.S. military servicemembers currently in Canada, most of who have traveled to your country in order to resist fighting in the Iraq War. Please let them stay in Canada..."
Please go to Dear Canada: Let the War Resisters Stay and consider signing the letter and making a donation.
Each soldier that lays down his weapon in an unjust war adds a brick to the kingdom of heaven.
2 comments:
WHY "CHRISTIANS" SEEM SO UNPLEASANT
"Because they were so very bad
Due process need not stand."
So goes the argument, my lad,
Simple, concise, and grand.
Because the threat is very great
Harsh measures are required--
Nor think that I exaggerate,
For our foes have conspired.
Our foes are Christ´s foes, son, and we´ve
Firstly got to survive
So to bequeath what we believe
To those not yet alive.
Therefore, as in the moslem way
Deal vengeance, eye for eye,
To win at any price, and slay:
Fear not, nor fear to die.
Christian in spirit, put on hold
The Christian precepts, till
The threat is beaten, when we bold
May saunter up that hill.
When all the enemies are gone
Then we may put our precepts on,
Give cheek for cheek, because by then
All men shall act like gentlemen--
But till that time, utopia hasn´t
Arrived so we must act unpleasant.
Dear i.m. small,
This is exactly the kind of rhetorically precise critique of the "Christianity" that throws away Jesus' precepts to embrace the weapons of this world that we welcome at Nonviolent Jesus. May your muse thrive and reproduce.
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