The ongoing war between US/Israel and Iran, with all the permutations and angles this possesses (Hezbollah, Strait of Hormuz closure, potential Bab el Mandeb closure, etc.) is set to resume on Monday after the temporary two-week “cease-fire” expires. I hope that it will not and that the belligerents involved will be able to talk through their differences, but I expect that they will pick up their guns and begin firing again, this time with all-out fervor until one of them knuckles under and cries, “Uncle!”.
Col. Douglas McGregor lays it out quite plainly in this 30 minute video. See here.
Tucker Carlson has a lengthy video out concerning Donald Trump and his blatant mockery of Jesus Christ, Christianity, and Islam. I watched the first fifteen minutes, then shut it off to work on this post, however, I am in complete agreement, at least, so far, with his argument. Like I said, I only watched fifteen minutes. See here. For good measure, read my recent post on the same subject.
For the last few days, I have been reading Immanuel Velikovsky’s book, “Worlds in Collision”, in which he posits that the planet we know today as Venus was once a comet which nearly collided with Earth and was then captured by the sun’s gravity. He claims this occurred near the same time as the Biblical story of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of the “promised land” about 1500 years before Christ. It is fascinating reading and for serious scholars (unlike myself) is heavily footnoted. His argument is compelling and, even though I am only about a third of the way through, I intend to finish it. It explains a lot in a logical manner (sometimes it appears to be quite far-fetched) about past happenings which we tend to disregard as myths and pooh-pooh as ancient religious beliefs.
Traditional religion and modern science ridicule his hypothesis as bunk, delusional, and unscriptural, but the question remains. What if he is correct and everyone else is wrong? After all, the saying, “Athanasius contra mundum.”, originated because a leader in the early Christian Church stood virtually alone in his defense of the divinity of Jesus Christ against the doctrines and beliefs of the Arian teaching. Athanasius was eventually vindicated and his teaching accepted as truth.
Just because you’re the only one doesn’t mean you’re wrong.
If you’re interested, download a free .pdf copy here.
Just war? What exactly is just war? Is there such a thing as a “just” war? Apparently, according to the recently anointed Pope, Leo XIV, this is open for discussion. And some hate him for bringing up the subject.
“God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.” — https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2042588417578668338
This does not sit well with some Catholics, however, who prefer tradition, interpretation, and doctrine over the actual teachings of Jesus, who spoke very plainly about the need to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us. Instead, we prefer to “do unto others, but do it to them first”.
Notice that the author of the article linked to, Matthew McCusker, leans quite heavily on Old Testament scripture to reinforce his position, but when he shifts to a discussion of the topic according to the New Covenant, there is absolutely no New Testament scripture quoted. Instead, he resorts to a history of the Catholic Church calling for wars and blessing wars in the name of the Christ. For instance,
‘The Sacred Scriptures, which are divinely revealed and free from all error, make it clear that (i) God commands war, (ii) war can be justified by reference to God’s commands and revelation, and (iii) He listens to the prayers of those who wage war.
Indeed, the waging of war at God’s command, and with His blessing, is one of the major themes of the Old Testament. Throughout the history of Israel and Judah, from the time of Moses down to the Maccabean revolt of the second century BC, God blessed those who fought in His name and He answered their prayers.”
And, without any reference to New Testament approval or blessing,
“The Church has also shown that God approves of fighting and leading just wars by repeatedly canonizing soldiers and military commanders.”
God approves of wars and fighting because the Church has repeatedly canonized soldiers and military commanders. I mean, my goodness, if this is the way to life then, by all means, let’s kill them all and let God sort them out. The problem for McCusker is that we do not live under the Old Covenant and are not obligated to its demands, but a New Covenant which has different rules of living. There is no such thing as a “just” war. Wars always result in the deaths and sufferings of innocent individuals, many of them women and children, who have done nothing to deserve what they are getting. McCusker needs to come up with a better defense of war than church tradition and papal bulls.
I am not Catholic and never will be, but I have to say that I think the Pope is on the right track and, given that he is on Donald Trump’s “naughty” list, makes me even more convinced that he is worth supporting in this.
“Tradition, tradition!” “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!” “That way, the whole world will be blind and toothless.” — from the musical, Fiddler on the Roof
Poor Roger's Almanac 