8/14/09

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God....” Jesus, Matthew 5:10

I have not recently made the acquaintance of any conservatives or even Christians that have let
that encouragement slip from their lips.
Right now conservatives and Christians seem to be all about war.
War on terror.
War on the Taliban.
War on al Qaeda.
War to bring the blessings of democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan.
War to preserve Israel.
War on Iranian militancy.
War on radical Islam.
War on Marxism.
War on liberalism.
War on taxes.
War on Obama.
War on deficits.
War on government health care.
War on poverty.
War on hunger.
I might be missing a few.
This is not an advocation that we should not stand against evil, but it is intended to question
whether evil is thwarted by being belligerent against those who promote it. Consider that the terrorists
of 9/11 spent approximately $2,000 and caused turmoil to America that some would claim still grips the
country. In response America had spent nearly $1 trillion up to 2008, but the people who directed that
fateful day are gaining in influence and power in the region we've focused our efforts.
Who's winning that war?
Too often too many “conservatives”, in their defense of freedom, are being lured accepting
devices that enslave us to protect their agenda. Conservatives oppose big government, but the “War
Against International Terrorism” is nothing but a huge expansion of government that even encourages
government monitoring of our business transactions, and phone conversations, among other things. All
this is dedicated to supposedly defeating those who hate us for our freedoms.
The hypocrisy of Christians and conservatives is compounded when their verbal attacks on the
current government are held in context with their defenses of the previous presidential administration,
as Jon Stewart did in a recent episode of the Daily Show. Although Stewart is clearly a supporter of the
president, the ease with which he proves the most recognized critics of the current powers of
government have partisan motivations is damaging to the wider effort to restore government to its
constitutional limits. After all, the current government is just following the path blazed by Republicans
while they occupied the White House and held congressional majorities Congress.
This is not to say that the agenda of the current government is beyond criticism. Gary North
does it routinely, but he also criticized the Republicans with the same cool-headed reason. Perhaps the
most succinct criticisms of the current health care plan was written by North and John David Lewis.
They are intelligent, well-reasoned, and well supported.
Consider America's place in the world in early 1990 when the Soviet Union began to dissolve.
America was the worlds “lone superpower” that had the wherewithal to stand independently and
securely. There was talk of a “peace dividend”. Some commentators advocated dismantling NATO,
ending foreign occupations and foreign aid, and a restoration of American Federalism as a governing
model. Those in power, however, have acted to expand NATO, engage it in wars that have destabilized
Europe and have expanded America's military presence around the globe. All the while those in power
verbally marginalized those who advocated the end of America's empire. Consider the costs to
American for the various military operations that the country engaged over the past 20 years in the
context of an economy that is flooded with debt and bloated government. A peace dividend does not
sound so bad now, does it?
Today, America, embroiled in all of its physical, ideological, and political wars, is helpless
unless other countries can loan us money so we can fund all the promises that the government has made
to us and the world. So much for the “...shining city on a hill.” So far the only answer that our political
experts can offer is to continue to go to war for what we believe and trust in the political system
dominating the government to ameliorate the unintended consequences of all our struggles.
All the while many of us are taking sides that are defined by participants in elected government.
What is that getting us? We look at people in our communities with suspicion or even contempt
because they support a position offered by the half of the government or political system that is
different from half we support. On the other hand if we consider the skills of our neighbors and
ourselves we might be able to rectify the problems that have been foisted upon us by the “experts”.
“Peace” is, in part, defined as, “a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in
personal relations.” Governments and political systems are not very effective in building such
harmony. Judging from the fondness of American government for making war, both physical and
ideological, we appear headed for the same fate that has come to every empire. If that comes about, we
will face the challenge about which William Lind wrote wherein he detailed the path America's military
excesses are guiding its citizens.
His final analysis suggested that the collapse of the centralized Democrat-Republican
government will allow the emergence of locally based economic systems. We can begin preparing for
this possibility now by using our efforts to create, “ state(s) of mutual harmony between people or
groups,” within our spheres of influence rather than get suckered into the divisive schemes of a
government and political system that thrives on our divisiveness.