Nuclear weapons stopped the Cuban missile crisis ending in nuclear holocaust

Such was the thought from a friend.  The problem is, however, that the very nations who have the most nuclear weapons to wipe humanity off the face of the earth the greatest number of times, are the very ones who cause the most wars, viz: USA/UK/Israel, Soviet Union/Russia.  Their possession of WMD is no brake on their extremist tendency for warfare and, in this century and last, for killing the greatest number of people ever seen in the history of humanity.  Nukes are no deterrent to aggression and violence.

The enormous stockpile of WMD was no disincentive for the USA to put Jupiter missiles in Turkey near to the border with USSR, nor was it a discouragement to the USSR in their bid to put missiles (ICBMs) near to the USA landmass.  It was this one-sided, aggressive policy of the West that caused the Cuban missile crisis in the first place.

The truth is, these nukes are so destructive, with the blowback of radiation on the attacker, too that they are just too impractical to be of any use in a crisis or no crisis; in time of war or in time of peace.  Therefore, they are not deterrent.  Why have them when they have to remain unused white elephants, stuck in their underground silos for ever or, having to be moved around the subterranean depths of the world's oceans in a cigar shaped metal tin?

Could these nukes simply bring the thought to these imperious states in the nuclear club that they can throw their weight around in the world?  That they can strut around like self-important, gilded peacocks to use coercion, force, aggression and violence to get their way whenever they want?

"Jesus wants to save Christians" - book review

"JESUS WANTS TO SAVE CHRISTIANS" - FROM BEING EXILED by Rob Bell

To be like Jesus is a tall order but not so impossible if Rob Bell could have been a little more outspoken about us all renouncing the attacks, the occupations, the aggressions, the sheer violence of our descendants and, now, ourselves - on other nations.  The Church in exile is the church wrapped in the devil's arms of violence; it should be noted for its non-violence.

Jesus wants to save Christians to be more like Him in the way He renounced empire building in His first temptation.  Rob omits to remind his readers that the Christian West has been at the forefront of taking and taking over countries to be all their own - called colonialism.  Now the religious, God fearing, USA is the largest empire on earth.  The Church in exile is the church in unholy empire of being on the take; of being in domination.  Not quite what Jesus intended!

"Man shall not live by bread alone".  Yet, the Church has done just that in grabbing what and who it can while the going was good.  Not just land and fossil fuels but slaves to make us rich beyond what humanity has ever seen before.  We are now turning, transforming, the stones of rare minerals and a host of other finite resources to live it up to bring today's comfort and riches.  But bread for the poor and future generations is overlooked, ignored, forgotten.  Including the stones of fossil fuels and all finite raw materials.

Is this not what Jesus also wants to save Christians from in order to be more like the Man God who rejected what we never, ever reject?

Rob - You have more to include in the next edition, please!

V serious contradictions and flaws in our national life

Without even a second thought, we have for centuries gone to other lands around the world. We occupied, fortified and even killed the native populations to ensure our domination of such lands. We dragged our feet over giving them independence and, at times fought wars to maintain our domination and governance over those lands. And, never with even a hint of conscience operating in our minds!

With the USA, we fought tooth and nail to try and maintain our rule and ownership and say so over them. What is wrong with us? Why are we so aggressive and dominating and violent? Even when, over these same centuries we have had the Bible and Christian teaching and practice at the heart of our national life - the Bible (well, actually, the New Testament) completely contradicting these behaviours!

We even had two openly, God believing, talking to God men, Christian leaders indeed - in George Bush Jnr and in Tony Blair who were both anxious to do what God wanted them to do over first Afghanistan and then Iraq. However, it led to both waging a united war on both nations in a brutal and cowardly over-reaction to what another Christian leader, Bishop Desmond Tutu called an act of terrorism, not an act of war, on 9/11 (2001).  Which Christian leader was nearest to the mind of Christ?

For Israel, attack is the best form of defence

Israel only ever tries violence, terrorism and targeted assassination as the best forms of defence.

The nation was born in 1948 out of Israeli violence and terrorism against the British.  Terrorism was rewarded and its attacks and aggression on its neighbouring countries since then hardly endeared it to those nations.  An Israeli promotional film, I recently saw at church, actually admitted it was surrounded by enemies, as if this was something to be proud of rather than ashamed of, as a sign of failure.

After 64 years, I would have thought Israel would have tried a different strategy to win friends and influence people - even if this was only out of sheer self-interest to improve its security and future prospects.  But, then, it is an outpost of what the Palestinians see as the loathed USA/West in the very heart of the Arab/Muslim Middle East.  So, what more can one expect from Israel/USA/UK than continued warfare to ratchet up the hatred, to never bring peace with justice for either Israel or Palestine?

The problem of Israel - an outpost of the loathed USA

The problems that I have with Israel are these:

As last night's film showed, it is a mirror copy of the West, in particular the USA from whom it gets so much funding and enthusiastic support from the powerful Israeli lobby in the corridors of power.  There are many US companies in tiny Israel.  I feel the UK is the 51st state of the US and Israel is the 52nd.  Both countries are swift to carry out the wishes of
the USA in the Middle East.  As a result, both the UK and Israel incur the wrath of the vast majority of the populations of the Middle East who are horrified by the West's and Israel's attack, invasion and occupation of first Afghanistan from 7 October 2001 and then Iraq from the 19 March 2003.  I include Israel with the West and NATO because, as I say, it looks and feels like a very powerful Western nation.  They even speak the most impeccable English, too!

While Israel continues, by its own tragic admission in last night's film, to be "surrounded by enemies", it is a failed state.  It can make the desert bloom but it cannot turn enemies into friends.  It cannot turn the victim mentality of the Palestinians into bosom buddies.  "It is more blessed to give than to receive" is beyond its comprehension.  It simply takes yet more land in the West Bank for itself, feeling that is fair enough when it gave up Gaza.  But that was without the agreement of any Palestinian.  And what was left behind was razed to the ground to prevent the hated Palestinians from benefiting in any way!

In addition, the abysmal track record of who does the most killings puts Israel at the top of the league.  Its might is right, shoot first ask questions later tactic means it simply ratchets up the loathing.  The occasional extra-judicial killings by Mosad don't exactly help, either.  Those of us who want to be proud of Israel, continue to observe their answer of aggression to every problem, in utter amazement at such a foolish and counter-productive policy.  For them, it is always war, war and never jaw, jaw.  Lots of military aggression against the Lebanese and Palestinians but not lots of talking or acts of sacrificial giving or sharing of the land.  Now, threats against Iran to wipe their nuclear installations off the face of the earth.  No balance of terror is allowed by Israel; only they are allowed to place Iran and Syria under the threat of nuclear annihilation, with the blessing of the USA.  All their wars have got them absolutely nowhere.  It has not given them the peace and security that other Western nations enjoy.  Israel and the West are not respected by so many in the Arab world.

Yet, knowing all of this, many evangelical Christians look upon Israel as the apple of God's eye.  It doesn't say much for God!

Israel or the USA or the Church?

Is it Israel or the USA that is the apple of God's eye?

How can you have a God of justice and equality having one Chosen Nation, Israel, only and, then putting that nation on a pedestal above all others as the apple of His eye?

Is he not meant to be the God of all the nations? Or, perhaps, he is the God of none of them.
And, supposedly, along with Israel, He is God of one of the most military powerful and economically one of the strongest nations in the world - the USA. This is the exact opposite of what the Founder of this most Christian of all nations intended, from what we know of His life and teachings. Therefore, it is not Israel, the Chosen Nation that is the top dog amongst all the nations of the world but the USA that is. In addition, it claims that it is the City set on a hill, to give a light to all the Jews and gentiles and is the salt of the earth. It is called manifest destiny. It is the USA that claims to be especially blessed of the Lord and has a special place in God's heart. Yet, it is these same Christians who so highly regard Israel as especially favoured of God.

Is Israel the Lord's Chosen Nation or is it the USA or, as in replacement theology, is it the Christian Church?
God must have two or even three Chosen Nations on whom he heaps all His favours and blessings - at the expense of the rest.

Delicious Poetic Justice

"Our empire was an amazing thing" Daily Telegraph headline, quoting from a piece, under the title, written by Jeremy Paxman (16 Feb 2012)


The article begins,
"The history of the British empire is full of amazing stories of adventure, of war, of greed and plunder, cruelty and courage, heroism and low cunning."  I think, this is exactly, what our unethical foreign policy has resulted in since we reluctantly found our empire was declining and enthusiastically threw in our lot with the USA empire!  Paxman's sentence must still apply to us when one 'Today' programme 'Thought for the Day' contributor announced that our nation had bombed or invaded 23 nations since 1945; Libya being the 23rd.


The very people who were and are most vocal in support for our glorious and mighty empire, are the very people who are most distressed at seeing foreigners on our streets.  One was my Uncle Robin who worked for Barclays in Durban, South Africa in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.  He was surprised (and appeared to disapprove) at the increasing number of black people he saw in the UK whenever he returned to the homeland.


In other words, we can colonise and populate and exploit their lands but we don't like it one little bit when they legally and peacefully (unlike us!) come and live in our land.  The boot is now on the other foot.


"Grab and brag; occupy and fortify."  A common Victorian sentiment, quoted by Paxman, about our 19th century pre-occupation of Britannia for ever ruling the waves - not just for a thousand years, like one western European nation once wanted.  So we have our so morally upright, virtuous and Christian nation gladly bowing down and worshipping the devil when the Founder of their religion roundly rejected that same temptation.


'Perfidious Albion' as someone described the UK.  Along with our foreign policy remaining hypocritical and profoundly unethical.  Robin Cook MP was the first Foreign Secretary, when he was in that position, to state that he was working towards a more ethical foreign policy.