Vengeance, Retaliation, Revenge, Justice

Vengeance, Retaliation, Revenge, Justice.

We hear these words and take offense that people would take the law into their own hands. There are various reasons for these actions that we don’t want to accept or acknowledge.
In some countries, religion or culture plays a role. An example is when a family member is killed. It is the duty of other family members to enact revenge. Waiting for the government to take action is often futile. “An eye for an eye” still exists in the Middle East. In my book, “They Plotted Revenge Against America”, that point is made clear. In Don Stephens book, “Tarnished Halo” revenge was needed and exacted by the key participant.

If we are a participant in a war with Iran, we can expect retaliation. It may not be immediate, but it will happen.

May be of interest to read what the NY Times reported. http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/israeli-fallout/?ref=opinion

We had a panel at church yesterday that was to include a Jewish Rabbi, a Muslim cleric, a Buddhist and a Hindu. The Buddhist and Hindu arrived; the Jewish Rabbi and the Muslim cleric did not. I wondered if the chaos in the middle east impacted their desire to participate on the panel.

However, the Buddhist and Hindu were quite enlightening. There were many "take-away" points; however, they were clear that war is inevitable because of our base and historical nature. Only people who have reached a higher spiritual place can see beyond personal wants and needs on this earth - that require protecting what we have, fearing loss to another, and fighting to maintain what we believe is our rights. These thoughts are universal in all cultures, religions and people. They may be expressed in different ways, but they start with "I am right; you are wrong."

Some people have learned through spiritual choice to rise above their natural selves, but they are spread throughout the world's cultures and not sufficient in numbers to change world politics.

I am quite disappointed by some of our fellow church members.
Today Dave got an email urging all Christians to leave the Democratic party. We are not members of any party and bristled at the idea of being advised by Christians as to how to deal with politics. Whatever happened to the idea of separation of church and state?

9/14/2012

Alice...

I wouldn't pay any attention to them, do what your

heart and mind wishes ! It's chilly here down to 40 !!

Cheers..Joe..

If not for separation of church and state, our country would be just as instable as the Middle East. Look at how terrible things were when the Pope had so much control over government. The tortures, the slaughters. Not good. Stability will not be possible in the Middle East until that separation happens and that is not likely to happen. Extremists exploit religion and its power over followers. Extremists are exploiting religion in the Middle East in order to gain political control.

I have good friends who are Islamic. They are wonderful, caring, religiously tolerant people who would not hurt a flea. Vengeance, retaliation, revenge, and justice are not part of modern Islam anymore than the right to possess and kill slaves, as stated in the Old Testament, is part of modern Christianity. It is a tool used by Islamic extremists to justify their political means and their desired end.

addicted2coffee wrote:

If not for separation of church and state, our country would be just as instable as the Middle East. Look at how terrible things were when the Pope had so much control over government. The tortures, the slaughters. Not good. Stability will not be possible in the Middle East until that separation happens and that is not likely to happen. Extremists exploit religion and its power over followers. Extremists are exploiting religion in the Middle East in order to gain political control.

I have good friends who are Islamic. They are wonderful, caring, religiously tolerant people who would not hurt a flea. Vengeance, retaliation, revenge, and justice are not part of modern Islam anymore than the right to possess and kill slaves, as stated in the Old Testament, is part of modern Christianity. It is a tool used by Islamic extremists to justify their political means and their desired end.

I have Muslim friends also--good people.

Lori, you stated it so well in so few words. Thanks.