RockSteady History & Politics

“Hero Pay”

2021-03-15T16:37:00.003-07:00

To whom it may concern,

I read that you're considering a “hero pay” ordinance and I think there is a large group of individuals you missed- the EMTs and paramedics within your city who work for private companies. They are exposing themselves on a daily basis in confined spaces with poor ventilation to respond to your citizens emergencies. EMS personnel aid your citizens in their time of need and in addition to that, they now are administering vaccines to your citizens. Many of these EMTs and paramedics would never ask to be called heroes and many honestly would not like that title, but many of these EMTs make within a dollar per hour of minimum wage. I personally know someone who left a grocery store as a courtesy clerk to be an emt who took a three dollar per hour pay cut because he wanted to help people. Covid has definitely added some additional expenses to their households that add up. It's expensive and very stressful to make sure they don’t bring Covid home to the people they love, on themselves, in their car, or on their uniforms. In addition to that, many hours were cut for EMS personnel or they opted to take pto in order to not get laid off or have any of their coworkers laid off early on in the pandemic knowing once staff leaves they won’t be there for the surges in cases. The companies they work for did less than the major grocery store chains when it came to “hero pay" at the peaks of the pandemic. Many of the larger stores were adding an additional dollar to three dollars per hour to the employees wages. I would highly encourage you to not forget those people who take care of your citizens yet hardly complain to the press or make a big deal of things.

Thank you,

An Emt

Why God made Paramedics

2013-08-08T20:26:00.002-07:00

When God made paramedics, He was into His sixth day of overtime.

An angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

God said, "Have you read the specs on this order?

A Paramedic has to be able to carry an injured person up a wet, grassy hill in the dark,

dodge stray bullets to reach a dying child unarmed,

enter homes the health inspector wouldn't touch,

and not wrinkle his uniform."

"He has to be able to lift three times his own weight.

Crawl into wrecked cars with barely enough room to move,

and console a grieving mother as

he is doing CPR on a baby he knows will never breathe again."

"He has to be in top mental condition at all times,

running on no sleep, black coffee and half-eaten meals,

and he has to have six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," God replied.

"It's the three pairs of eyes a medic has to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

God nodded. "One pair that sees open sores as he's drawing blood,

always wondering if the patient is HIV positive."

(When he already knows and wishes he'd taken that accounting job)

"Another pair here in the side of his head for his partner's safety.

And another pair of eyes here in front

that can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say,

"You'll be alright ma'am when he knows it isn't so."

"Lord," said the angel, touching His sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow."

"I can't," God replied.

"I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound

drunk out from behind a steering wheel

without incident and feed a family of five on a private service paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the Paramedic very slowly.

"Can it think?" she asked.

"You bet", God said.

"It can tell you the symptoms of 100 illnesses;

recite drug calculations in it's sleep;

intubate, defibrillate, medicate, and continue CPR

nonstop over terrain that any doctor would fear...

and it still keeps it's sense of humor."

"This medic also has phenomenal personal control.

He can deal with a multi-victim trauma,

coax a frightened elderly person to unlock their door,

comfort a murder victim's family,

and then read in the daily paper how Paramedics were

unable to locate a house quickly enough,

allowing the person to die.

A house that had no street sign, no house numbers, no phone to call back."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Paramedic.

"There's a leak," she pronounced.

"I told You that You were trying to put too much into this model."

"That's not a leak," God replied, "It's a tear."

"What's the tear for?" asked the angel.

"It's for bottled up emotions,

for patients they've tried in vain to save,

for commitment to that hope

that they will make a difference in a person's chance to survive, for life."

"You're a genius!" said the angel.

God looked somber.

"I DIDN'T PUT IT THERE" He said.

Author Unknown

2013-06-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

"It is impossible to increase taxes, disastrous to keep on borrowing, and inadequate merely to cut expenses."
-Alexandre de Calonne

توزیع جغرافیایی و استحکامات از تأسیسات هسته ای ایران

2011-06-09T02:25:00.000-07:00

توزیع جغرافیایی و استحکامات از تأسیسات هسته ای ایران

در امور خارجه در سال ۲۰۰۲ اتحادیه آدرس پرزیدنت جورج دبلیو بوش ، با استفاده از اصطلاح "محور شرارت" به توصیف سه ایالت. این سه نفر در عراق ، ایران و کره شمالی. این سخنرانی گذاشته از اهداف "جنگ علیه تروریسم". به گفته رئیس جمهور "هدف دوم ما این است که برای جلوگیری از رژیم هایی که از ترور حمایت امریکا تهدید و یا دوستان و متحدان ما با سلاح های کشتار جمعی." [1] این سه به دلیل نیت خود را از تامین امنیت "سلاح های کشتار جمعی" برداشت شد. ایران به طور خاص هدف قرار داده بود ، چون ، "ایران به شدت دنبال این سلاح و ترور صادرات ، در حالی که غیر منتخب چند سرکوب امید مردم ایران برای آزادی است." [2] دولت در ایران ساخته شده است که اظهارات که انتقال قصد به استفاده از هر سلاح های کشتار جمعی در اسرائیل و متحدانش است. پس از حمله هوایی اسرائیل پیشگیرانه در رآکتور هسته ای عراق Osirak در سال 1981 تعجب بسیاری اگر اسرائیل و یا ایالات متحده از حمله پیشگیرانه علیه تاسیسات هسته ای ایران راه اندازی. با تجزیه و تحلیل نقاط قوت و ضعف از تمام کشورهای درگیر ما می توانیم تعیین اینکه آیا حمله به تأسیسات هسته ای ایران حتی ممکن است. ایالات متحده تا به حال چهار گل در هنگام برخورد با ایران ، از دولت کنونی به قدرت رسید. آنها "حد جسارت تهاجمی ایران در منطقه ، توقف حمایت تهران از تروریسم ، ترویج دموکراسی در ایران و حقوق بشر ، و متوقف کردن ایران از دستیابی به سلاح هسته ای است." جمعیت فعلی [3] ایران و زمین به شدت محدود هر دوره نظامی از عمل است. ایران در شرق میانه قرار گرفته است ، آن است که توسط "افغانستان ، ارمنستان ، آذربایجان مناسب ، آذربایجان ، نخجوان قلمرو ، عراق ، پاکستان ، ترکیه ، ترکمنستان" هم مرز است. [4] در حال حاضر ایران است میان نیروهای آمریکا در عراق و افغانستان ساندویچ.ایران نیز از این جمعیت حدود 65،875،224. زمین ایران است "ناهموار ، کوهستانی لبه ؛ بالا ، حوضه مرکزی با بیابان ، کوهها ؛ کوچک ، دشت ناپیوسته در امتداد سواحل" [5] با توجه به زمین های سخت و بزرگ ضد آمریکایی مردم امکان استفاده از نیروهای زمینی نمی باشد. در نظر گرفته شده به عنوان یک دوره از عمل است. هنگامی که از پراکندگی تاسیسات هسته ای است به حساب گرفته شده است ، نیروهای زمینی هستند غیر ممکن است استفاده کنند. لذا هر اقدام نظامی باید از هوا انجام می شود. ایران آموخته شده از اشتباهات عراق ساخته شده در سال 1981 زمانی که اسرائیل نابود خود را تنها راکتور هسته ای است. ایران انجام داده است چند چیز را برای اطمینان از تاسیسات هسته ای خود باقی می ماند آسیبی نرساند. امکانات شده اند پراکنده در سراسر کشور بزرگ ، ایجاد امکان پرواز کوچک بودن قادر به انجام آسیب گسترده غیر ممکن است. نقشه زیر نشان می دهد که چگونه ایرانیان پراکنده هسته ای خود را تسهیلات. ایران همچنین امکانات در شهرستانها پر جمعیت در صورت امکان قرار داده است. برخی از امکانات به دلیل هدف خود را وابسته به منابع طبیعی است. به گزارش آژانس بینالمللی انرژی اتمی (آژانس) ایران دارای امکانات حیاتی برای برنامه خود در پنج شهرستانها متفاوت است. این شهرستانها هستند تهران ، بوشهر ، اصفهان ، نطنز و اراک. [6] تهران است شرکت کالای الکتریک است که به تولید قطعات سانتریفوژ ، راکتور تحقیقاتی تهران ، تاسیسات تولید رادیو ایزوتوپ ، آزمایشگاههای جابر بن حیان چند منظوره مشکوک. بوشهر در روسیه ساخته شده است راکتور آب سبک است. اصفهان دارای مینیاتور نوترونی راکتور منبع ، نور آب زیر بحرانی راکتور آب سنگین ، صفر قدرت راکتور ، سوخت آزمایشگاهی ساخت ، اورانیوم آزمایشگاه شیمی ، تاسیسات تبدیل اورانیوم ، گرافیت زیر بحرانی راکتور است که نه در خدمات ، و کارخانه تولید سوخت. نطنز دارای یک خلبان کارخانه غنی سازی سوخت و کارخانه غنی سازی سوخت.اراک ایران راکتور تحقیقاتی هسته ای است. امکاناتی که کشورهای دیگر را عصبی در نطنز هستند ، زیرا آنها تولید تجهیزات مورد نیاز برای غنی سازی اورانیوم برای نیروگاه یا بمب. [7]
(هسته ای ایران سایت)[8]

در حالی که ایران به دنبال سلاح های هسته ای هرگز ادعا کرد بسیاری از کشورها معتقدند در غیر این صورت. این کشورها که ایالات متحده و اسرائیل باشد. با نگاه به تسلیحات از این کشور ایرانی ها ساخته شده شبکه دفاع. با کمک روس ها ایران مجموعه ای از بسیار موثر ضد هوایی سلاح کسب کرده بود. این سلاح ساخته شده که روسیه S - 300 PMU باشد. یکی از این سلاح در تاسیسات بوشهر سلاح های هسته ای مستقر شده اند. این سلاح قادر است از اهداف جذاب گرفته تا از ارتفاع از 30 فوت به 90،000 پا آن را قادر به تعامل با هر دو هواپیما و موشک های کروز. همچنین طراحی شده برای مقابله با هر نوع از اقدامات ضد الکترونیکی. علاوه بر این به یک است که شناخته می شود مستقر هستند چندین نفر دیگر شده اند که از روس ها خریداری شده وجود دارد. وجود دارد همچنین بسیاری از روسیه ساخته شده 100mm ضد هوایی اسلحه موقعیت در سراسر کشور. ایران همچنین 25 تا اف - 14 Tomcats توسط ایالات متحده به آنها فروخته شده ، این هواپیما مجهز شده اند به عنوان فرمان مینیاتور و کنترل هواپیما عمل می کنند ، به عنوان بقیه هواپیماهای ایان در آنها خیلی پیرم که به قادر به عملیات در شب. دیگر سد دفاعی طبیعی این واقعیت ساده است که 1،100 کیلومتر بین اسرائیل و ایران وجود دارد.[9] 1،100 مایل بین اسرائیل و ایران به علت مهم به هواپیما و تسلیحات که مالک اسرائیل است. در حالی که اسرائیل تا به بسیاری از انواع مختلف ایالات متحده ساخته شده بسیار هواپیما چند قابلیت را به سفر به ایران. اسرائیل در حال حاضر 25 - 15s اف ، 16 اف - 16 است ، اف 126 - 16 سی و دیاس. تفاوت مهم میان قابلیت های هواپیماهای ایرانی و اسرائیل این است که تمام هواپیماهای اسرائیل قادر به انجام عملیات در شب. مشکل با هواپیماهای اسرائیلی این است که فقط اف - 16 است که دامنه برای رسیدن به تاسیسات هسته ای ایران بدون سوخت گیری مجدد ، و اسرائیلی ها عدم توانایی برای انجام سوخت گیری در مقیاس بزرگ. [10] اسرائیل نیز فروخته شد 100 GBU - 28S . این بمب هستند £ 5،000 بانکر بمب منفجر یاخوردکننده قادر به نفوذ از 100 فوت است. از خاک و یا 20 فوت از بتن می باشد. [11] با توجه به این واقعیت است که اسرائیل هواپیماهای بسیار کمی که می تواند حمله بعید است که اسرائیل می تواند هر یک تاثیر مخربی بر برنامه هسته ای ایران را انجام می دادند. تنها کشوری است که از هر نوع نیروی هوایی قادر به کند کردن یا متوقف کردن برنامه هسته ای ایران خواهد بود که ایالات متحده می باشد. این به خاطر توانایی های هواپیماهای آن ، و مزیت فن آوری. آمریکا اف - 22 است ، ب - 2 ، و اف - 117A که می تواند استفاده شود برای حمله به ضد هوایی تاسیسات ، افشای تاسیسات هسته ای برای غیر خفا هواپیما بود. موج دوم خواهد بود با مقیاس بزرگ حمله هوایی هدف قرار دادن تاسیسات هسته ای با استفاده از مهمات دقیق. آمریکا توانایی برای انجام تمام در پرواز سوختگیری.[12] در طول این سالها ایران را توسعه داده است استادانه درست شده ضد هواپیما سیستم دفاع.علاوه بر متفرق تاسیسات هسته ای در داخل کشور ، در حالی که قرار دادن آنها نزدیک مناطق پر جمعیت. در حالی که این عوامل ایجاد مشکلات در هنگام تلاش برای انجام یک حمله هوایی ، ایالات متحده و اسرائیل که قابلیت انجام حمله هوایی. در حالی که آمریکا و اسرائیل دارند ، توانایی حمله به ایران ، ممکن است من نمی بهترین تصمیم گیری با توجه به واکنش های بسیاری از کشورهای دیگر اسلامی است. شیوه ای که تنها از ایالات متحده و اسرائیل می تواند با موفقیت حمله به تأسیسات هسته ای ایران است به عنوان ضد ثانویه پس از ایران بود حمله اسرائیل و یا آمریکا [13]

[1] State of the Union Address 2002,President George W. Bush, From the 2002 Presidential Documents Online via GPO Access, January 29, 2002
[2] Ibid.
[3] Michael McFaul, Abbas Milani, and Larry Diamond. 2007. "A Win-Win U.S. Strategy for Dealing with Iran." Washington Quarterly 30, no. 1: 121-122.
[4]Central Intelligence Agency, “The World Factbook- Iran” CIA World Fact book. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iran.html [accessed February 22, 2009]
[5] Ibid.
[6] Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Iranian Nuclear Sites, Hussein D. Hassan, 2007.
[7] International Atomic Energy Association, Report prepared for Meeting of the Board of Governors prepared by the Director General, Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran: 2003.
[8] “Iran Nuclear Sites”, Nuclear Threat Initiative Web site, http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles_pdfs/Iran/iran_nuclear_sites.pdf [accessed February 22, 2009].
[9] Andrew Brookes, “Air Attack Iran,” Royal United Services Institute, [Jun 2006, Vol. 151, No. 3]: 53
[10] Ibid,53.
[11] Global Security, “Guided Bomb Unit-28.” http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/gbu-28.htm [accessed February 22, 2009]
[12],Andrew Brookes, “Air Attack Iran,” Royal United Services Institute, [Jun 2006, Vol. 151, No. 3]: 54
[13] Michael McFaul, Abbas Milani, and Larry Diamond, "A Win-Win U.S. Strategy for Dealing with Iran," Washington Quarterly [Winter2006/2007]: 124-125.

American Lit- Naturalism

2011-05-29T00:11:00.000-07:00

Realism and Naturalism

Many naturalistic works demonstrate the problems when capitalism is allowed to run ramped in a society. Naturalistic books take good, moral, and just characters; puts them through a series of events which are out of their control. The end result is a character which the reader empathies with even though, the reader wouldn’t like what the character has become. This happens in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Sinclair takes a realistic approach when looking at his world and sees this uncontrollable force called capitalism. By showing the middle class readers part of ordinary lives that would shock and awe them these Sinclair is able to effect change.

In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair’s original goal is to expose the improper treatment of immigrant workers and child labor by paying them wages that do not allow for survival. Sinclair uses the main character Jugis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant, to show how capitalism takes advantage of the poor and uses them as extremely cheap labor without regard for their welfare. In many ways the conditions Sinclair describes are cheaper labor then slavery. This is described in the book as “There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where things are behind bars, and the man is outside.” (Sinclair pg. 337) Rather than being enslaved and behind bars Jugis and his family are on the outside of the bars where things such as food, medicine, and shelter are one the inside, just out of reach.

At the begging of the book Jugis is an enthusiastic, bright eyed, young man who is eager to live and work in America. He believed in America, “rich or poor, a man was free, it was said; … he did not have to pay out his money to rascally officials, --he might do as he pleased, and count himself as good as any other man.” (Sinclair pg. 23) With this being his idea of America Jugis brought his family of twelve (six adults and six children) in all to Chicago. Eventually this uncontrollable force of capitalism had Jugis working in the Stockyards of Chicago at a meat packing plant. Jugis’s job does not pay him enough and other members of his family are required to procure employment as well. The family then undergoes a series of unfortunate events that result in their suffering and death, all because of the uncontrollable force called capitalism.

His father, Dede Antanas, is one of the first family members to step up and help provide for the family. Dede is so old that he ends up having to pay a man one third of his wages in return for a job. This job is so unsanitary and unsafe that Dede ends up dying of lung infection.

Jugis’s wife, Ona, gets a job working for Phil Connor in a factory. She is constantly sexually harassed by him and he ends up raping her. Ona dies from blood loss during delivery of the child which is a result of Phil raping her. Phil is the representation and embodiment of everything that is wrong and corrupt with Chicago and capitalism.

After his wife dies his young son drowns in a muddy street while Jugis is at work. These two events and his overall failure to provide for his family, drive him to leave, his family, the city, everything. “They were beaten; they had lost the game, they were swept aside. It was not less tragic because it was so sordid, because that it had to do with wages and grocery bills and rents. They had dreamed of freedom; of a chance to look about them and learn something; to be decent and clean, to see their child group up to be strong. And now it was all gone-it would never be!” (Sinclair pg. 163) As a result of Jugis’s abandonment, Marija, Ona’s cousin becomes a prostitute to feed the remaining children. While at the brothel Marija, becomes addicted to morphine. These were a series of unfortunate events that had either resulted in the death of two children and three adults.

Jugis is arrested for a bar fight over change of a $100 bill and goes to jail. One of the great examples of how capitalism has effected Jurgis is when he prefers being in jail then out, and wishes they put his family in jail. “"They put him in a place where the snow could not beat in, where the cold could not eat through his bones; they brought him food and drink-why, in the name of heaven, if they must punish him, did they not put his family in jail and leave him outside-why could they find no better way to punish him than to leave three weak women and six helpless children to starve and freeze?” (Singclair pg. 191) While in jail he meets Jack who introduces Jugis to Chicago’s criminal underworld. Jugis becomes hired muscle and then goes back to the stockyards in hopes to get the union workers to vote for a republican candidate.

Sinclair would claim these series of unfortunate events just explained can be all tied to capitalism out of control. If only those companies were not so greedy and paid Jugis a wage which he could live on none of these events would have happened. Sinclair then turns the coin when Jugis returns to the city and is working as a con-man. This is evidence that capitalism is this evil force that will corrupt and ruin all who try to profit. It will also take advantage of the poor and any who are innocent victims.

In the end of the book Sinclair has, Jugis attending a political rally for the Socialists. The moment Jugis becomes a socialist things are finally becoming good for him. He becomes a porter at a hotel which is a social hotbed. He then returns to the children which capitalism had forced him to abandon. By the end of the book Sinclair has two characters becoming something that the reader would normally not empathize with; but because of the books naturalistic view point you feel sorry for Jurgis, the socialist, and Marija, the morphine addicted prostitute. The entire book is meant by Singclair to be a realistic example of how much capitalism is negative social effect, in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, America.

The book did not have the effect Sinclair wanted, Sinclair was hoping for reform with child labor, or fair wages. As a result of Sinclair’s novel there was a public outcry and “caused the Government investigation into the methods employed by the Beef Trust”. (Sinclair 2 pg. 3) The result of that investigation was within a few months of the book being published the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 were passed. Sinclair said this about the results of his book; “I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” (Wilson pg. 1) Many naturalistic books targeted capitalism as their uncontrollable force, yet few suggest other alternatives like Sinclair suggested socialism. Few Naturalistic books had the fast and swift reaction of the public and the Government. The book had such an impact that it was run as a long series in the “The Sun” a newspaper out of Tallahassee, Flordia. Although it was not the change Sinclair was hoping for he did achieve major change, through showing something that would shock and awe, the middle class.

Works Cited

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1906.

Sinclair 2, Upton. "The Jungle." The Sun 14 July 1906: Third.

Wilson, James C. The Heath Anthology of American LiteratureUpton Sinclair- Author Page. n.d. 19 March 2011 .

Twilight of the Saints Ch. 2

2011-05-29T00:07:00.001-07:00

Twilight of the Saints: Ch 2. Civil Religion From The ancient Past to the Anxious Present

The second chapter of Twilight of the Saints deals with the history of civil religion. Beginning with the history of American Civil Religion, The Declaration of Independence. G.K. Chesterton talks about how the Declaration lays out the “creed” of United States civil religion. The chapter lays out the past nations which have had some form of civil religion, like Rome, and Greece. It also lays out the history of America’s civil religion, how it became what it is today. This chapter expands the boundaries of civil religion

What is Civil Religion

This chapter uses the opinion of Rousseau to add to the understanding of civil religion. Rousseau adds an idea of a social contract. A Social contract is “the general will of the people expressed religiously in the life of the state with a benign but watchful deistic god to preside over the keeping of the public faith.”[1] The general will of the people is found using reason, assuming that the Christian religion is true. Civil religion is not a nation which possesses a state church as its religion. Emile Durkheim said this about civil religion “a common religion is constitutive of the unity and character of every society.”[2] Plato also confirmed the belief that “the essential conditions for achieving a just political order was the practice of citizens honoring the gods and their parents.”[3]

Civil Religion in Ancient Nations

Rome and Greece are two ancient nations which both possessed civil religion. These two nations both had a religion which every person embraced. Rome was the main force when it came to influencing England which influenced America. Rome was the first civilized nation that attempted to civilize the English. Because of this development of the English by the Romans the English experienced the civil religion of the Romans. The Romans first had a polytheistic religion but then the people began to worship the Emperor as god. This idea was impressed upon the English, but they were also opened up to the Christian religion. This Christian religion and the idea of a single person being in power remained. The Romans also gave the English the idea of global conquest through colonization. This is the reason why the Americas were established.

Civil Religion in England

England has played a vital role in the development of America’s civil religion. England has created a national church with much latitude making it almost a civil religion. The most important idea which emerged from England was the idea of a state. This is the idea of having an individual at the head of the country and a god to be next to the king. This is when the phrase “For God and crown”[4] originated. England also sent settlers to America who possessed this idea but wanted a different religion then the state church offered. These settlers wanted “their outpost in the wilderness would be as a “city upon a hill”, a moral and political example to the entire world.”[5] John Foxe has inspired the idea that “England was God’s anointed vessel.”[6]

Civil Religion in Modern America

The American civil religion is the basis of the American dream “A third element in constructing the first American civil religion was some sort of religious consensus”[7] The whole process creates “but in the process, where the churches moved out the nation moved in.”[8] The early civil religion was based on different ideals “evangelical-deistic ideals made up the early national faith.”[9] In Americas now use civil religion as a blending tool for all immigrants. America has “a nation with the soul of a church.”[10] This soul is nurtured by events like Memorial Day, “The Memorial Day celebration is an American sacred ceremony, a religious ritual, a modern cult of the dead.”[11] America has created a nation which is beloved by a majority of its citizens, because of civil religion. It is the sum of its major influences from Greece, to Rome and England.

Analysis

The Author does a very good job of presenting where Americas civil religion originates from. As well as the key people or ideas which have influenced it along the way. I personally did not like the references to some of the founding fathers being considered deists, on page 71.

[1] Robert D. Linder and Richard V. Pierard, Twilight of the Saints (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1978), 44

[2] Ibid 45

[3] Ibid 46

[4] Ibid 49

[5] Ibid 59

[6] Ibid 54

[7] Ibid 67

[8] Ibid 66

[9] Ibid 71

[10] Ibid 74

[11] Ibid 62

Twilight of the Saints Ch. 1

2011-05-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

Twilight of the saints:Effects of Civil Religion within America

Robert D. Linder and Richard V. Pierard do an excellent job at the religious problem facing American Pop culture. The chapter deals with defining civil religion directly with the United States. This problem is one of pluralism. The United States did not always have an unofficial religion of pluralism. At one point in time the United States was a country based on the basic understanding of a supernatural entity. Twilight of the Saints gives an account of the reason for falling down this slippery sloop of pluralism. The authors give a defence for why Christians can save America and why it is too late.

One of the defences is the orgins of the Uniteds States. Originally the United States was founded as a British colony. The majority of the people populating these colonies were English Puritans. These people held a dominant religion until the twentieth century. “During the nineteenth century the country flourished on the principles of biblical Christanity”[1] In the twentieth century the country underwent many changes and endured hardships. This is due to the events like presidential assignations, Vietnam War, and two world wars to say the least. Somewhere in all this Americans stopped practicing the civil religion which the immigrant puritans began. The orgins of America are Christian but somewhere over the years we have strayed from the orgins. “Upon Christian Principles as a holy experiment by people who had faith in Jesus Christ”[2]

Civil Religion is the use of consensus religious sentiments. This means when we use the national motto “In God We Trust” it is to further a certain political agenda. The pluralism has become so bad, we the people of the United States, thought about removing this part of our heritage from the history books. They like to compare their heritage to religious events in order to comply too civil religion. “Our freedom from the course of sin cost God His only begotten son. Our American freedom cost our forefathers and it cost the men who signed the declaration. ”[3]

Many people within the United States believe the United States is the new Isreal. In the Old Testament Israel was chosen by God to be his people. People now are thinking that God has gone aginst his character and changed his nation of favor. “We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people-the Israel of our time”[4]

Throughout the years each and every president has used God as a puppet to further their campaign. Many candidates attend church and make sure video cameras are present. Presidents use God and religious phrases in their speeches alongside patriotic phrases. This is something which the American people have always had this and will continue to vote for the individuals who do it the best. People want to see this because it really is both God and Country. American people love their flag and will do anything to protect it. Americans are disgusted when they see images of American flags being burned, when they are not aware if someone burned a cross on a churches front lawn. Americans want their religious references to remain intact for future generations.

Because of the introduction of secularism the people have come close to abolishing “In God We Trust” and the line in the pledge of allegiance referring to God. The church is standing idly by and watching this happen. The church only does this because it thinks it is powerless to stop anything. This is not true, but we should have acted when this book was written. Unfortunately the pluralism has abolished the propose of the United States by removing God. Now the people of the United States enjoy a purpose free nation and therefore they themselves are living purpose free lives. This creates many people who are unhappy and discontent with life in general. Our nation has lost it moral compass as well as its purpose.

[1] 152

[2] 148

[3] 150

[4] 144

Quotes

2011-05-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

"To Say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, this is truth." -Aristotle

"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it." -Gen. Douglas MacArthur

"War is not an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable so by the exertions of better men than himself." -John Stuart Mills

"Ignorance, the root and the stem of every evil." -Plato

"What is life without honor? Degradation is worse than death." - LTG Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." -Colin Powell

"A leader leads by example, not by force." -Sun Tzu

"The price of greatness is responsibility." -Sir Winston Churchill

"What a cruel thing is war; to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the face of this beautiful world." -Robert E. Lee (Letter to his wife 1864)

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." -Helen Keller

"To achieve greatness one should live as if they will never die." -Francois De La Rochefoucauld

"Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave." -Gods and Generals (Stonewall Jackson)

"There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but boys, it is all hell. You can bear this warning voice to generations. I look upon war with horror." -Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." -Sir Winston Churchill

"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity." -Keshavan Nair

"Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses." -George Washington Carver

"You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself."- Jim Rohn

"If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins." -Benjamin Franklin

"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire." -Field Marshal Ferinand Foch

"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion." -Dale Camegie

"Without friends no one would choose to live though he had all other goods." -Aristotle

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." -Robert F. Kennedy

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." -Mark Twain

"When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn." -John Wesley

"Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." -Winston Churchill

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever costs." -Arthur Ashe

"Essential characteristics of a gentleman: the will to put himself in the place of others; the horror of forcing others into positions from which he would himself recoil; the power to do what seems to him to be right, without considering what others bay say or think." -John Galsworthy

"The test of any man lies in action." -Pindar

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt

"They fought together as brothers-in-arms. They died together and now they sleep side by side. TO them we have a solemn obligation." -George Washington

"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Continue to learn. Appreciate your friends. Do what you love. Live if this is all there is." -Mary Anne Radmacher

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem you own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone then in bad company." -George Washington

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." -Abraham Lincoln

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away." -anonyms

"There aren't any great men. There are just great challenges that ordinary men like you and me are forced by circumstances to meet." -ADM. William "Bull" F. Halsey

"Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it." -Colin Powell

"How can you govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?" -Charles De Gaulle

"Democracy is the worst system devised by the wit of man, except for all the others." -Winston Churchill

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit." -Harry S. Truman

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." -Theodore Roosevelt

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." -GEN. George S. Patton

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -Bill Cosby

"The most prominent place in hell is reserved for those who are neutral on the great issues of life." -REV. Billy Graham

"We may make mistakes - but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

"With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. Consequently he who milds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions." -Abraham Lincoln

"Laziness may appear attractive, but work give satisfaction." -Anne Frank

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." -Newt Gingrich

"Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft." -Theodore Roosevelt

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." -Lord Acton

"A man who enjoys responsibility usually gets it. A man who merely likes exercising authority usually loses it." -Malcolm S. Forbes

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." -F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." -Proverbs 29:18

"Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop brining you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or conclude you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." -Colin Powell

"The administration of government, like a guardianship, ought to be directed to the good of those who confer, not of those who receive the trust." -Cicero

"We, the people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

"In a democracy, a man who does not listen cannot lead." -David S. Broder

"The difference between a politician and a statesman is: a politician thinks of the next election and a statesman thinks of the next generation." -James Freeman Clarke

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce - and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution - and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." -Alexis De Tocqueville

"The road to hell is paved with initiative." -

"If you don't know what something is intended to be used for, you are destined to abuse it." -

West Wing Quotes

2011-05-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

Bartlet: What's the virtue of the proportional response?

Admiral Fitzwallace: I'm sorry?

Bartlet: What is the virtue of a proportional response? Why's it good? They hit an airplane, so we hit a transmitter, right? That's a proportional response. They hit a barracks, so we hit two transmitters.

Admiral Fitzwallace: Yes, that's roughly it, sir.

Bartlet: This is what we do. I mean, this is what we do.

Leo: Yes sir, it's what we do. It's what we've always done.

Bartlet: Well, if it's what we do, if it's what we've always done, don't they know we're going to do it? I ask again, what is the virtue of a Proportional Response?

Admiral Fitzwallace: It isn't virtuous, Mr. President. It's all there is, sir.

Bartlet: It is not all there is.

Admiral Fitzwallace: Just what else is there?

Bartlet: The disproportional response. Let the word ring forth, from this time and this place, gentlemen, you kill an American, any American, we don't come back with a proportional response. We come back with total disaster! [He bangs the table]

General: Are you suggesting that we carpet-bomb Damascus?

Bartlet: I am suggesting, General, that you, and Admiral Fitzwallace, and Secretary Hutchinson, and the rest of the National Security Team take the next sixty minutes and put together an American response scenario that doesn't make me think we're just docking somebody's damn allowance!

Bartlet: Did you know that two thousand years ago a Roman citizen could walk across the face of the known world free of the fear of molestation? He could walk across the Earth unharmed, cloaked only in the protection of the words civis Romanus-- I am a Roman citizen. So great was the retribution of Rome, universally certain, should any harm befall even one of its citizens. Where was Morris's protection, or anybody else on that airplane? Where was the retribution for the families, and where is the warning to the rest of the world that Americans shall walk this Earth unharmed, lest the clenched fist of the most mighty military force in the history of mankind comes crashing down on your house?! In other words, Leo, what the hell are we doing here?!

Leo: We are behaving the way a superpower ought to behave.

Bartlet: Well our behavior has produced some crappy results, in fact I'm not a hundred per cent sure it hasn't induced it.

Leo: What are you talking about?

Bartlet: I'm talking about two hundred and eighty-six American marines in Beirut, I'm talking about Somalia, I'm talking aboutNairobi-

Leo: And you think ratcheting up the body count's gonna act as a deterrent?

Bartlet: You're damn right I-

Leo: Oh, then you are just as stupid as these guys who think capital punishment is going to be a deterrent for drug kingpins. As if drug kingpins didn't live their day to day lives under the possibility of execution, and their executions are a lot less dainty than ours and tend to take place without the bother and expense of due process. So, my friend, if you want to start using American military strength as the arm of the Lord, you can do that. We're the only superpower left. You can conquer the world, like Charlemagne! But you better be prepared to kill everyone. And you better start with me, because I will raise up an army against you and I will beat you!

Bartlet: He had a ten day old baby at home.

Leo: I know.

Bartlet: We are doing nothing.

Leo: We are not doing nothing.

Bartlet: We're destroying-

Leo: Four high-rated military targets!

Bartlet: And this is good?

Leo: Of course it's not good. There is no good. It's what there is! It's how you behave if you're the most powerful nation in the world. It's proportional, it's reasonable, it's responsible, it's merciful! It's not nothing. Four high-rated military targets.

Bartlet: Which they'll rebuild again in six months.

Leo: Then we'll blow 'em up again in six months! We're getting really good at it... It's what our fathers taught us.

Bartlet: Why didn't you say so? Oh, Leo...when I think of all the work you put in to get me to run and all the work you did to get me elected...I could pummel your ass with a baseball bat.

Bartlet: "We hold these truths to be self-evident," they said, "that all men are created equal." Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had ever bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those who show up.

Origin of American Modernism

2011-05-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Defining the modernism of American Literature is difficult due to the amount of authors, and genres. Modernism evolved from a combination of the genteel tradition and World War I, and a worldwide Spanish flu pandemic. The modernistic movement eliminated the idea that that virtue produces good things. This was directly as a result too the loss of life, that for many seemed to be meaningless. The combination of World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic took so many lives that writers stopped believing in good always winning; they then took it to another level and stopped believing in good and evil all together.

Modernism can be broadly traced to the period in-between wars; there were many historical events that took place during this time period which shaped the events and types of stories that were recorded. During this time there was the roaring twenties, prohibition, the Harlem renaissance, great depression, and the roaring twenties are just a few of the major events that changed America in the period between the two great wars. This time period of American history produced what Stein called the “Lost Generation”; it was this generation that produced much of the literately works known as modernism. In order to understand American modernism you must understand the events which the writers lived through.

To modernistic writers there is no absolute truth, not everything has meaning. All of the writers lived through World War I and the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic in some way shape or form. These two events did not leave anyone unaffected; these two events killed over three percent of the population worldwide. Both of these events created very harsh and violent deaths, but were a worse on those who were left alive. The effect World War I had on modernism writers was not only the total causality count but the way in which warfare was so brutally conducted. World War I was the first major implementation of the machine gun and chemical weapons. John Dos Passos used the novel Three Soldiers to express the post war disillusionment, because although Americans returned home from war they could never regain their innocence.

The roaring twenties were at the beginning of the modernism movement, they were based on the large amounts of money that were in the United States as a result of the war. During the roaring twenties many of these rebellious and disillusioned American writers were able to go live abroad and live wealthy on small amounts of money. These writers such as, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Stein, Pound, would go to Europe and absorb the culture then return to the United States and share their experiences through their work. During the twenties America became to love new technology, such as automobiles, and authors incorporated it into their writings. Fitzgerald, expressed his frustration of the corruption of the American dream during the roaring twenties when businesses were encouraging excessive materialism.

Many writers used their writing to search for meaning in life. For example Hemingway used some of his writing to search for the meaning of life and why so many men had to die. Not only did the population of the world devise systematic means of killing, but to add insult to injury at the end of the war the Spanish flu pandemic hit the world. To these writers there was no reason that either of these events had to occur, and if there was a God of the Protestant tradition he would not allow so much death. The result was the abandonment of virtue, and absolute truth. The result was not only the death of the Protestant tradition but also of the Genteel tradition. This all resulted in the breakdown of moral norms and cultural values, within the nation.

The Harlem renaissance allowed black writers to be recognized. Every writer in the modernistic movement was trying to write something new and these young writers had a unique story to tell. During the modernism movement the black Americans were able to begin writing about their heritage, culture, and zeal for life. For example, Langston Hughes incorporated blues rhythms into his poetry. Zora Neale Hurston crossed two boundaries during this movement as a female and an African American; she incorporated black folk life into her work.

One of the other minority groups that contributed to the modernism movement in the period between the wars was women. Some of the notable authors during this time period were Dorothy Parker, Amy Lowell, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Nella Larsen. They expressed their thoughts and experiences of women; due to the independence that women felt during World War I they wanted permanent social and political change. While their works are not as well-known as some of the male writers from the interwar period they effected great social change. By 1920 in America women had the right to vote and were no longer being restricted to the role of women in the genteel tradition.

The Great Depression followed the roaring twenties and Harlem renaissance; it was a delayed reaction to the global depression that followed World War I. The Great Depression involved the entire nation, factories were closed, farms dried up, a third of the nation was out of work and standing in soup kitchen lines. Steinbeck described the situation in the Midwest in Grapes of Wrath where farmers were leaving their farms to go to California.

Modernism was a push for every writer to produce something new. These writers wanted something new, something original, they created the world in the act of perceiving it. During the roaring twenties literature and writings became more readily available to the average American due to technology. This resulted in the desire to create something new, and original. While they wanted to create something new and deviate from the norm, they didn’t completely run away from their history. There was still a couple of remints of realism in modernism, the modernistic writers still enjoy focusing on the psychology and using their work of art as a coherent whole study. They also depict events that are real to them, but less objectively than realism writers.

The key to understanding the Modernism is to understand the history which that generation of writers lived in. Many of these key traumatic events occurred in the time between the two world wars. These events included World War I, Spanish flu pandemic, roaring twenties, Harlem renaissance, women’s suffrage and the Great Depression. These events created the expression of the unordered life, loss of tradition and virtue, the corruption of the American dream, the impact of traumatic events on the psyche of an individual and nation which we now categorize as modernism.

A Brief History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict

2010-09-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

The modern Israel-Palestine conflict begun at the fall of the Ottoman Empire. When the empire fell at the end of World War I (WWI), there was a power vacuum which the French and the British attempted to fill throughout the Middle East. They were unsuccessful at filling the vacuum of power left by the Ottoman Empire, and the when they divided up the land boundaries they did not consider the people groups in the Middle East. The conflict boils down to land, both who is controlling it and who is living in it. There have been at least five major wars between the Israelis and other Arab nations. The current and most recent issues are the Israeli settlements in the west bank, lack of a Palestinian State, Palestinian Refugees from the 1948 war, religious buildings, control over the City of Jerusalem, and security of Israel.

Before the end of WWI, in 1917 the British occupied Palestine. At the end of WWI, when the French and the British divided up the land; the British gained control of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922. This land included Israel, some of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This was formally established by the Balfour declaration, Balfour was a Zionist and wanted there to be a place for the Jews to return too. During the time that Palestine was under British control the Jewish population was growing due to growing persecution in Europe.

The five major wars involve Israel and at least one Arab nation. The first war was in 1948 when Israel was facing forces from seven different Arab nations and several militant groups. This was known as their War of Independence. Despite being severely outnumbered Israel managed to do much better than anyone expected, they did lose the Gaza Strip to Egypt and the West Bank to Jordan, but they gained the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is important because, “Israel views the sea as its one great natural reservoir and so will protect and control at all costs the sources that feed this sea.” (Burge pg. 20) The next war was in 1967 known as the six day war. In this war the Israelis were outnumbered yet they managed to gain large amounts of territory. The six day war was between the Israelis and the forces of ten nations in addition to militant groups like the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). During the six day war Jordan lost Jerusalem and the West Bank; Syria lost the Golan Heights; Egypt lost the Gaza Strip Suez Canal, and the Sinai Peninsula. The War in 1973 also known as the Yom Kanpur war, Egypt lunched a surprise attack on Israel. Egypt broke through the Israeli defenses at the Suez Canal and moved into the Sinai Peninsula. Once the Israeli forces reorganized they surrounded the Egyptian forces and forced surrender. At the conclusion of this war Israel gave back the Suez Canal and the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for the Egyptians to recognition of the Nation of Israel. In both 1982 and 2006 there were rockets and shells being fired into the nation of Israel from southern Lebanon. The people responsible for these attacks were organizations; specifically the PLO and Hezbollah, Israel invaded southern Lebanon in order to stop the attacks on Israel. The plateau of the Golan Heights, “continues south around the east side of the Sea of Galilee and towers over it from 2,500 to 3,000 feet. Considering that the Sea of Galilee is about 650 feet below sea level, the Golan offers a huge strategic advantage over the region.” (Burge pg. 19-20) This is why Israel considers the Golan Heights important for their security.

One of the main issues the Israel-Palestine conflict has is a security problem for Israel. Before The Six Day war the distance from the Israel border to Tel Aviv is well within the range of rockets and artillery fire. Whenever Israel is attacked by in-direct fire (rockets, mortars, artillery) their reaction is to invade the area it came from and create a buffer zone so the indirect fire cannot reach Israeli territory. Currently Israel has a peace treaty between Israel and its surrounding neighbors and the PLO. The PLO has not been a major threat since the war in 1982. The PLO and Israel signed their peace treaty called “Declaration of Principles”. The main objective of these organizations like the PLO is for a recognized Palestinian state, Israel claims a Palestinian State would be a base of operations for terror groups. A two state option is disliked by both extremes, Hamas and Zionists. Due to the many wars there have been many thousands of Palestinians who have been displaced from their homes, yet Israel is slowly building Jewish settlements that were destroyed by the same wars.

The problem with attempting any kind of peace treaty is the large diversity of population and religions. The land of Israel and Palestine includes Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze. The Christians many denominations the Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Holy Sepulture, COPTS, and Ethiopians. Trying to get all these groups to agree is almost impossible, especially when they can just start a new radical organization.

These are just some of the many issues involved in the Israel Palestine Conflict, which has had a very long and bloody history. This brief summary of events does not even begin to cover the religious side of the conflict. Many international organizations such as the U.N. attempt to find resolutions to these issues but there are two ways at looking at the conflict. One is to take it purely as a legal one with no religious or empathic perspectives. The other view is to take it as a religious conflict and become emotionally involved, taking empathy for those who this conflict has displaced. While the first one seems cold and heartless it is the best approach because once emotions and religion are involved nothing will be resolved.

Works Cited

Burge, Gary M. Whose Land? Whose Promise? Cleveland, Ohio: The Pilgrim Press, 2003.

Eisenhower Soldier and President By: Stephen Ambrose

2010-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

Stephen Ambrose’s book Eisenhower Soldier and President is a very well written and well researched book. There were many different ways that this book revels the attributes that made Eisenhower such a great military commander and president. While Ambrose gives many dates and details of Eisenhower’s life the important part is focusing on the character traits. These character traits and experiences that made him such popular and good leader should be understood for future reference.

Eisenhower’s mother was one of his greatest influences while Eisenhower was growing up. Eisenhower’s parents “taught the simple virtues of honesty, self-reliance, integrity, fear of God, and ambition.”[1] These are many of the same values which the Army requires of its soldiers and officers. These values are even more important in those seeking high office within the United States. To build on the values which Eisenhower’s parents instilled in him his home town of “Abilene was cautious and conservative in its social outlook, religion, and politics. Everyone was Christian, of European descent, and nearly all voted Republican.”[2] Due to these influences and a influences form a good friend he grew up wanting to go to Annapolis. He did not get the appointment but got one to West Point.

While at West Point he played football, and took many of the good lessons that the academy has to offer. “Hazing, the uglier side of West Point, had little appeal to him, obviously not as a recipient, but not as a Yearling either… He took from West Point what was positive and rejected that which was negative.”[3] One of the many positive experiences that West Point offered was football. Eisenhower played two games as a very promising running back but was injured and could no longer play. He then begin to coach the junior varsity team. “The act of coaching brought out his best traits –his organizational ability, his energy and competiveness, his enthusiasm and optimism. His willingness to work hard at a task that intrigued him, his powers of concentration, his talent for working with the material he had instead of hoping what he did not have, and his gift for drawing the best out of his players.”[4] This experience was one of the opportunities Eisenhower had to show his leadership potential while at West Point.

After Eisenhower graduated from West Point he had a number of assignments as a junior officer, some had little influence on him while others gave him very influential people. His first appointment was to Fort Sam Huston, where he met his wife, “her name was Mary Geneva Doud, but she was known as Mamie.”[5] During World War I (WWI) Eisenhower was an infantry training officer and was promoted up to the rank of Captain. Towards the end of the war he was transferred to a tank battalion, which had no tanks. All during WWI Eisenhower never saw action in France, and he resented that fact, but his superior officer “recommended him for the Distinguished Service Medal. The award finally came through in 1922. It praised Eisenhower for his ‘unusual zeal, foresight, and marked administrative ability.’ To Eisenhower, it was more a bitter reminder than a welcome award.”[6] These qualities are very important to both a commander and a President even though he never saw action Eisenhower learned valuable lessons during WWI.

Eisenhower did not like politics but the time between the wars involves lots of politics. “Army officers were supposed to be above politics.”[7] Eisenhower’s main dislike of politics is the controversial issues which he naturally avoided. During the time between the wars Eisenhower was under the command of General MacArthur, who embraced controversial issues. While this meant they did not get along well MacArthur saw the value of Eisenhower and the need to keep him around. “MacArthur embraced controversial issues; Eisenhower avoided them. When Eisenhower became President, the nation paid a price for his avoidance of controversy, as in desegregation crisis or in dealing with Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.”[8] This lack of dealing with controversy is a problem throughout Eisenhower’s military and political career.

One of the other problems Eisenhower had throughout his life was an anger problem. While under the command of General Marshall the Army’s Chief of Staff he had a very bad experience when he was not getting the field commands that he desired. After this experience he wrote in his journal “anger cannot win, it cannot even think clearly.”[9] But this experience lead to his promotion to major general and general Marshall said he was “was really not a staff officer.”[10]

When Eisenhower got to England he “proved to be outstanding at public relations.”[11] This is a very important quality for a President to have and it proved useful when “Eisenhower manipulated the press, for his own purposes and for the good of the Allied cause.”[12] For the same reasons the press liked him so did the British leadership especially Prime Minister Churchill. “Throughout the war, Eisenhower’s good relations with the British leadership would be one of his greatest strengths.”[13] These relations proved useful beyond the war when dealing with both the British and French governments while he was in office.

One of the strongest leadership qualities which allowed Eisenhower succeed both during the war and after, was surrounding himself with strong, competent leadership. “Eisenhower believed the most crucial appointment was his chief of staff.”[14] He believed “Officers that fail, must be ruthlessly weeded out.”[15] Before Operation Overlord, Eisenhower commanded Operation Torch, this operation was the invasion of North Africa. In this operation there was a battle called Kasserine Pass, in this battle the Americans were defeated. “Kasserine was Eisenhower’s first real battle; taking it all in all, his performance was miserable. Only American firepower, and German shortages, had saved him from a humiliating defeat.”[16] While direct responsibility fell on General Fredenall, “the man most responsible for American shortcomings was Eisenhower himself, because he was not tough enough. He had allowed Fredendall to retain command, despite his serious and well-founded doubts.”[17] Once again Eisenhower’s dislike for controversy caused problems. Although Torch was not one of the Allied’s best moments, “Eisenhower learned which of his subordinates could stand up to the strain of battle and which could not. Had it not been for torch… the allies would have gone ashore with an insecure Eisenhower in command of inexperienced troops led by Lloyd Fredenall.”[18] This would have turned Operation Overlord into a complete failure. After Operation Torch and Operation Roundup, Eisenhower was named as the commander for Operation Overlord; the invasion of Normandy, France.

While Eisenhower may have been uncomfortable with those under his command he knew how to act around subordinates. “He had learned how critical it was for him to be always cheery and optimistic in the presence of subordinates, how costly caution can often be in combat.”[19] He knew that “nothing pleased the footslogger struggling in the mud of Italy more than hearing that Eisenhower had put Spaatz or some other general in his place.”[20] Knowing the morale of his men and what they like is very much like knowing what the populist want and how to get it to them. Although while he was President he was very spot on with what the populist wanted he didn’t always do it.

Eisenhower’s first campaign for president was mainly over fiscal responsibility. After the war he was a very decisive man and because of that “Eisenhower ended up fiscal 1960 with a surplus of a billion dollars.”[21] He did this because he believed in the cause he was fighting for but when the country wanted a massive nuclear arms race with Russia he did not agree and therefore did not support an arms race. Instead he gave statements such as, “How many times do we have to destroy Russia?”[22] He did this because Eisenhower was a visionary and thought that “we must address this problem in terms, not of six months, but of forty years.”[23] Eisenhower always placed the importance of the nation before himself. Even though he lost Eisenhower still had a meeting with Kennedy at the Oval Office where “Kennedy listened carefully and intelligently as Eisenhower explained the wary the White House functioned.”[24]

Up until the end Eisenhower always was a loyal servant to the people of the United States, both as a soldier and as a President. His life experience gave him the leadership tools necessary to run major military operations as well as the country. These tools was a natural ability when it came to public relations, honesty, ability to surround himself with competent people, self-reliance, organizational ability, integrity, foresight, enthusiasm and great interpersonal skills. These attributes and virtues enabled him to the kind of President and statesman he became.

[1] Ambrose, Stephen E., Eisenhower Soldier and President (New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1990), 16.

[2] Ibid, 17.

[3] Ibid, 23.

[4] Ibid, 27.

[5] Ibid, 30.

[6] Ibid, 35.

[7] Ibid, 47.

[8] Ibid, 47.

[9] Ibid, 65.

[10] Ibid, 65.

[11] Ibid, 72.

[12] Ibid, 73.

[13] Ibid, 75.

[14] Ibid, 77.

[15] Ibid, 95.

[16] Ibid, 94.

[17] Ibid, 94.

[18] Ibid, 119.

[19] Ibid, 119.

[20] Ibid, 112.

[21] Ibid, 479.

[22] Ibid, 479.

[23] Ibid, 484.

[24] Ibid, 531.

2009-11-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

Many of the issues addressed within the book Personal Faith, Public Policy have religious conservatives as their base of advocates. Chapter nine directly addresses the issue of religious freedoms. There are many of people who believe this nation has many people religious fanatics who wish to manipulate the Declaration of Independence in order to create a theocracy. The objectives of the chapter are to address the issue of Church and State, Christianity’s effect on the democracy, the battleground of religious liberties, and the biblical approach to religious liberties. Then after Jackson and Perkins present a defense of the religious freedoms, they then go on the offensive and address issues which are currently being debated. According to Jackson and Perkins the Christian faith has benefited our nation as a hole.
American culture has created an environment which people believe the church played no role in the history of the United States. This is incorrect, in fact “that without Christianity, America would never have become the great power it is today.” Within the United States there has been a slippery slope effect. This started “at the time the First Amendment was written and ratified, a number of the fifteen states had established state churches.” Ending with “liberals who misread America’s original document are really saying is the federal government should not only silence churches but also exclude their members from any influence on government.” One of the large steps taken in this slippery slope is when the Supreme Court misinterpreted Thomas Jefferson.
The Supreme Court misinterpreted the term separation of church and state. Thomas Jefferson was the first person to use the term when writing a letter to religious leaders. He said, “Legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” This has been interpreted to the benefit of the churches. The current interpretations of the Supreme Court has had many major impacts on the why which the government conducts its business. This is explained later when Jackson and Perkins tackle the battleground for the Religious liberties. In order to provide a defense of Christianity for the liberals there must be given examples of a positive impact on Democracy.
By providing evidence that Christianity has a positive impact on Democracy gives the American public reasons not to believe the Liberals. As a group the Founding Fathers of the United States they wanted freedom of religion. “Freedom of religion was established to protect the free exercise of the Christian faith without the interference of an overly intrusive government.” This was created out of frustration with the King of England who required a certain belief system. In the past there have been many attempts to connect Christians with radical Islamic terrorists. The Muslim track record with freedom of religion is appalling. They conquered many nations by Jihad, forcibly limiting the practicing of other faiths. Currently worldwide the United States State Department has identified eight countries with limited freedom of religion.
There are not very many Biblical scriptures which have dealt with freedom of religion. Jackson and Perkins use many examples from the life of Daniel. Daniel is a particular good example because of his position within the Government. There were two things which Daniel did to benefit him, the first was do the best job he could; second was to not hide his personal relationship with God. His enemies were “unable to find fault with Daniel’s professional and personal life, they decided to make a wedge issue of his religion.” By doing this Daniel was trusted and he flourished within the positions he was given. “America has prospered not because it forced everyone to be a Christian; it has not, but rather America has recognized that we each have a choice.”
Within America the religious freedoms have been infringed upon. The main way which Jackson and Perkins express this infringement is through their analysis of the local law enforcement hate crimes prevention act of 2007(LLEHCPA). This law would give the Attorney General the right to aid local law enforcement with resources. These cases would include only hate crimes, the law also had a clause of crimes against someone’s sexual orientation. The law according to Jackson and Perkins would go beyond the crimes and extend to opinions contrary to the political correct ideology. There are three reasons why the bill was not liked by Jackson and Perkins. The first is the bill did not define sexual orientation. LLEHCPA also contains the phrase bodily harm, “the legal ramifications of this phrase can present a huge loophole through which speech can be included under the hate crime legislation.” The authors also are worried about the government pressing charges and indicting churches. Many government buildings have had the Ten Commandments removed from the walls or statues. This also applies to religious symbols such as nativity scenes and crèche.
America has had a history of religious freedoms which it extends to all faiths and beliefs. The current political climate is attempting to change the religious liberties of the nation. Watching its religious liberties be destroyed is the churches current role, when what they need to be doing is taking an active role in their government. “We cannot allow Christians to be forced to check their faith at the gate of the public square.” The church must push back and give an defense for their religious liberties much like Jackson and Perkins did in chapter nine.

2009-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

Jackson and Perkins tackled the problem of racial equality within the church. As always they gave the biblical perspective of racism. Then history of black evangelicals is the result of the separation of the white evangelicals from the blacks. Where the church is now and how integration is happening within the church. While also addressing the policies supported by both blacks and whites evangelicals. There was a plan made in 1973 to level the playing field for minority groups. This plan is called affirmative action; Jackson and Perkins give the benefits and shortcomings of this plan. Blacks still think the government is against them because of the criminal justice system and the black poverty. Within one chapter Jackson and Perkins attempt to address many different issues within the church’s response to racism.
The Bible teaches on subjects relating to racism but not the direct topic. There are three biblical principles the authors listed which impact the church’s opinion on racism. First “True freedom comes from God.” Resulting in a improper since of freedom for those who seek it elsewhere. The bible also teaches, “Equality among believers comes from Jesus Christ.” Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves, it also refers to believers as brothers and sisters. The last one is “True brotherhood is achieved only in Jesus Christ.” For these reasons the white evangelical need to reach out to their black brothers and sisters. The church needs to take the biblical principles that Jesus taught and apply them to their life. “The unity that we are referring to must come from within us spiritually and then affect our approach to life, relationships and politics.” It will only be in this manner that the church will achieve racial reconciliation.
There is a long history of black evangelicals within America; they have shaped the current image of the United States. “Racism is one of America’s original sins and one of the toughest problems to overcome.” The first blacks to come to the United States were on the Mayflower, as slaves. The Republican Party was the driving force during the civil war to abolish slavery. “Churches became the anchor of the black community in the reconstruction era after the Civil War.” Somewhere along the way there was a splitting of this support from the Republican Party. This support was during changed the civil rights movement. “This lack of support put a wedge between the strongest branches of the Christian movement.” During this movement the white and black evangelicals separated. The price of this separation was the L.A. riots; “This kind of race riot could happen again if we do not address racism within the walls of the church.” This division within the church must be overcome for the entire nation to gain the unification many minority leaders desire.
As a church we are to a point where the black and white evangelicals want to voice the same concerns when it comes to voting. Currently; “Black church leaders in those states began to lead their flocks toward a unified Christian front.” The republicans should acknowledge the black values voters and support them. The process of integration is not easy because the church is filled with fallen human beings. Yet “many pastors no will no longer speak of the white-led church versus the black-led church.” The church is slowly addressing this topic of racism; it is still not at the point where Jesus teaches us to love our brothers. “The church must deal with racism, or God will deal with the church.” This is a very important role for the church to figure out so it can present a united front to the nation. The book uses a example of a white church who opened their doors as a relief shelter to individuals fleeing from Hurricane Katrina. The church was majority white and the majority of the refugees were black. This was a great benefit to the church and the refugees.
Historically the black population has voted for principles which are of a “social justice” nature; where as whites historically vote for “personal righteousness issues”. These are the different opinions of policy which divide the two evangelical movements. “It’s important to remember that we need both perspectives-righteousness and justice-to allow the glory of God to be seen.” The nation needs both of the different issues therefore it is not a problem of who which issues they emphasize.
When the civil rights movement hit the nation in the 60s and 70s; one of the policies thought up was affirmative action. This policy is designed to benefit minorities by “leveling the playing field.” Though this policy was a good idea, once it was implemented, the results have been less than desired. “Sadly, after affirmative action was formally instituted, the 1970s yielded only one more percentage point of poverty reduction among black families.” On the flip side the labor force has increased in both women and minorities. “Between 1982 and 1995, the percentage of female managers in the United States rose from 40.5 percent to 48 percent.” The policy of affirmative action while unproductive at reducing poverty; it has bolstered the amount of females and minorities within the workforce. Churches need to follow this example and “open their hearts and their organizational charts to train the next generation of minority and female leaders.” Those who are young now will follow in the paths of those before them so if their parents are in a life not pleasing to God the children will blindly follow.
“Nearly two-thirds of the African Americans surveyed believed that the criminal justice system is rigged against them.” This statistic is extremely disappointing if it were false but the statistics prove they are correct. “Blacks make up 43.9 percent of the state and federal prison population, which totals 2.1 million inmates.” The truth is blacks are more likely to go to prison; Jackson and Perkins want to not incarcerate non-violent criminals. While these inmates are in prison they learn things that create worse human beings. Non-violent criminals should go to treatment.
The book mentions poverty, yet because it is within another chapter they do not address it directly. They mention The Black Contract with America on Moral Values; this is a six point plan which will assist the black man to overcome poverty. The six principles are: family reconstruction, wealth creation, educational reform, African relief, prison reform and, health care.
The goal of reuniting the church is to transform our nation through a unified body of believers. This can be done by churches first accepting each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Their need to be evangelicals who are willing to reach out to those minority groups in their community. This goal will only be achieved by seeing one color the red blood of Jesus Christ. Once the church has reached a point of reconciliation they can then spread it out to their community. Black and white evangelicals once worked together for a propose of the kingdom of heaven, we need to restart that work.

2009-11-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

One of the issues concerning the American public when voting this year is health care system. Citizens want heath care to become more affordable and accessible. Chapter seven addresses the current health care system, biblical perspective on health care; the political perspectives on how to fix the current health care system.
First the chapter addresses the problems with the current health care system. There are three problems highlighted first is lack of access to healthcare. Jackson and Perkins both believe that many patients do not get access to the best care because their insurance company will not pay for the best care. The book gives the example of when Jackson was personally over coming esophageal cancer. For the treatments and test Jackson underwent his medical bills were high but other costs were above “$100,000 in unexpected personal costs including special food, clothing, and preventive health treatments.” Most individuals do not take preventive measures when it comes to their health. As Americans we have a country which does not care about preventing sickness because our doctors are so readily accessible.
As in every chapter the biblical perspective is given; the old testament is full of preventive measures the Israelites were so post to undergo in order to adhere to the religious laws. “The Jewish dietary code was aimed at sustaining health.” Although “there is no real scriptural directive about modern health care;” followers of Christ established the first medical schools in Europe.
There are two opposing schools of thought when trying to solve the healthcare system within the United States. Both liberals and conservatives have different perspectives. Both agree “the best health-care plan will be a public/private commitment based upon biblical values.” The United States spends “17 percent of our gross national product. The most other nations spend is 10 percent of their GNP.” Both sides also agree the United States has some of the best doctors and hospitals.
Democrats are pushing to change the current health care system to that of a universal health care. This creates health care for all American citizens regardless of the economic status. This eliminates one of the current perks Americans love, the ability to make an appointment and receive quick treatment. Under universal health care the book addresses three problems “Endless lines to see physicians… Large numbers of underprepared “cheap doctors” and less qualified nurses and support staff… Fewer innovations in substantive techniques and particles.” In order to achieve universal health care some citizens have to limit their perks so others can receive them.
Republicans wish to give tax credits in order to allow citizens to purchase their own private health insurance. This idea is to allow more citizens to receive the benefit of health care without cutting into the coverage. The republicans want a free market approach to the solving the health care system within the United States. They also wish the
Jackson and Perkins are also afraid the universal health care system will infringe on the morally questionable practices. They give examples of “abortions, sex change operations, and other morally objectionable services.” The goal of a reformed health care system “will protect the moral consciences of the health-care providers as well.”
Christians must be accountable for maintaining their personal health and hygiene. The book outlines eight steps to take preventive measures when it comes to their health. They are focused on maintaining on fitness, healthy eating habits and proper rest.
This chapter assumes every person in the United States is deserving health care. The chapter provides a good historical biblical analysis to the problem of health care. While not endorsing any particular opinion on how to fix the current health care system, there is a very good summarization of the proposed solutions.

2009-11-30T10:14:00.000-08:00

There exists a stereotype of the Christian who states that they care about the poor but in reality they do nothing. Jackson and Perkins are attempting to dispel this stereotype of the Christian community. As always there is a biblical definition given pertaining to the subject matter. This biblical definition includes the three different socioeconomic tiers mentioned in the New Testament. To contrast that definition they also give the definition given to the word poor by the United States. They also address seven causes of poverty and four different partnerships in order to solve the poverty problem.
The Church has been seen to talk a lot about helping the poor but to never actually lift a finger. When in reality the book addresses that “a person is most likely to give if he or she is religious, conservative, and married with children in an intact home, religion being the strongest factor.” “Brooks actually found that those who build their political and social platforms on the issue of poverty are among the most uncharitable.” This is the evidence given in the book when they make a case for the amount the church donates. The statement is also made that the Church needs to be willing to vocalize their giving, but not in a boastful manner.
The Biblical view on poverty is that we must support those who are less fortunate then ourselves. This is defined grater in the New Testament into three different socioeconomic classes. They are plousios, penes, and ptochos. Plousios is the people who do not need help and “who need not work to survive or even thrive.” Penes are people who live paycheck to paycheck; or who “focus is upon meeting the physical needs of each day.” Lastly, ptochos are the “people who cannot sustain themselves because they are too old, too young, or too handicapped to work.” Out of these three classes mentioned in the New Testament both penes and ptochos are considered to be in poverty.
The book addresses seven different causes of poverty economic depression, natural disasters and wars are listed first. The book states “Hurricane Katrina ranked as the third most intense hurricane to ever strike the U.S. mainland. Louisiana and Mississippi are still dealing with damaged infrastructure and economies.” There are examples of these causes of poverty in the Old Testament the famine in the time of Joseph is one example listed. These conditions bring about a time when people have to do more with less creating extremely stressful economic times for all involved.
Government corruption, oppressive policy and persecution are the second on the list. “Persecution and improper government policies can be just as harmful to the economic well-being of citizens as a severe natural disaster.” Some of these policies include limiting specific professions by handing out licenses. This is one way the government looks out for its citizens as well as hinders them by limiting jobs. There are many laws designed to help the poor but in the end result in hindering them. The book uses rent control and minimum wage as examples.
The third cause of poverty is banking or lender abuse. “On almost any commercial city block today you will find a payday loan establishment that makes money by lending money, primarily to the working poor until the next payday.” The book claims the goal “would be for communities to help the working poor gain the life management skills that in many cases would make payday loans unnecessary.”
Breakdown in the family is the fourth cause of poverty. Today many men leave their family with no means to provide for themselves. Causing both an emotional and economic tension within the family.
Personal addictive behaviors also cause an economic strain on an individual or a family. These individuals not only have to support their addiction but their family which can be extremely costly.
Jackson and Perkins also attribute poverty to laziness. Men with this problem “are either paralyzed with fear or do not put in the diligence necessary to have true success.” Laziness is a common problem within the culture; we always are looking for the easy way out.
The book addresses the possible steps which need to be taken to stop poverty. They evolve individuals, churches, businesses and the government. According to Jackson and Perkins it is the individuals responsibility to ensure their family and community receive a four year college degree allowing them to make more money. The only problem with this is if a bachelor’s degree becomes as wide spread as a high school diploma.
The government’s role is to be fixing the long term problems which cause poverty. “When the government takes on the role of Robin Hood, people privately give less to charitable causes.” The government needs to focus not on the short term fixes of giving people money and food stamps but to avoid things like corruption.
The church needs to invest time, money, and effort into its communities in order to provide assistance to the poor. The book cites many churches which serve their community through soup kitchens, or some kind of outreach ministries which let the community that they are there to help.
Businesses are according to Jackson and Perkins to promote the causes which are too big for an individual or church. They also want the business to issue micro financing loans. In the current state of the economy there are very few businesses that are willing to hand out loans.
The overall goal of this chapter is that “serving the poor is part of our personal responsibility to help those less fortunate than ourselves.” This chapter did an excellent job with the biblical definition of poverty. It also did a good job when it came to the causes of poverty, though they should have been reordered in the greatest to least impact on the problem of poverty. The solutions presented to push back on poverty do not solve the problems presented they deal with one out of the seven causes of poverty.

2009-11-30T10:13:00.001-08:00

Chapter four deals with the issues referred to as pro-life. There are seven issues addressed in the chapter: abortion, cloning, stem cell research, child/elder abuse, euthanasia, sex trafficking, and capital punishment. Jackson and Perkins do not give a biblical definition for each individual issue addressed in the chapter due to the nature of the issues. All of the issues are dealing with caring for those who cannot defend themselves.
Abortion is the premeditated murder of an unborn child. This is the original “value of life” issue in the United States; as a result of the Supreme Court decision Row vs. Wade. The authors give credit to the efforts of the church after the decision. Examples of these efforts are “The nationwide network of crisis pregnancy clinics and homes for unwed mothers” .
Cloning was first proved to be possible when “Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996.” Although cloning is possible and considered a scientific miracle, it is not proper for humans to duplicate God’s creations. Although “The United Nations has gone on record against human cloning” ; the United States does not have a ban on human cloning. Another scientific advancement due to cloning is stem cell research.
The debate surrounding stem cell research concerns the remaining embryos from couples who are attempting in vitro fertilization treatment. This process creates multiple embryos which are not needed. “The question lies with what to do with the four hundred thousand “excesses” embryos that lie in wait within laboratories”. Some of these are used in couples who are infertile. The argument for using these embryos for research is that one day they may be used for treating medical conditions. But, “In the ten years…there have yet to be any successful treatments of any medical condition.” Adult stem cells have been taken from bone marrow, “at present, over seventy different types of medical conditions have been treated with adult stem cells.” Christians should encourage the adult stem cell research because it does not result in killing human embryos.
Jackson and Perkins divided the pediatric abuse and neglect and geriatric abuse. In reality, medical professionals are trained the same way for both cases. The church’s reaction should be the same yet we are outraged when it is pediatrics but not the geriatrics. This is a major problem because “four children die every day as a result of child abuse or neglect.” The authors make a great point when it comes to the modern culture and raising children; when they say “Parents draw back and do not have as strong a bond with their children as in past generations.” This then impacts those parents when they want to be cared for later in life but their children take advantage of them. Those parents become another burden for the adult child to bear. With the added stress the adult children sometimes take their stress out on the parent. Due to the physical conditions of a majority of geriatrics their medical bills are too much to bear. This results in the withholding of medical treatment, creating abuse. These people who have retired are a strain on their children, so they become “unproductive and unwanted” creating the concept of euthanasia.
Euthanasia is “the act or practice of ending the life of an individual suffering… by lethal injection or suspension of extraordinary medical treatment.” This practice is not addressed in any federal law in the United States, it has been an issue left up to the states to decide. Although there has been a precedent set in the Terri Schiavo case in Florida. The human race now has the chance to not only make all of the decisions in life but to also choose when they die. “There is concern that euthanasia may increasingly become used involuntarily for the elderly and disabled.” I would believe that the author’s parallel of euthanasia and the Nazi party’s genocide are not very similar.
Sex trafficking is a major problem in the world today “The FBI estimates that well over 100,000 children and young women are trafficked in America today.” This also shows it is a very real problem in the United States; more so than people realize. Within the United States many children are enslaved in the sex trade without a response from the church or government. “Many good pieces of legislation are passed into law, only to be left unenforced.”
Capital punishment is used as a punishment when two eye witnesses testify to a murder crime. The authors point out “The Old Testament gives specific guidelines for the use of capital punishment.” These guidelines are the same as we have today, two eye witnesses. Many people say that capital punishment is killing a person and therefore immoral. The authors do not seem to pick a side on the issue they just briefly present the issue.
The entire chapter can be summed up in one sentence “all innocent human life is deserving of our collective protection.” Chapters three and four can be summed up by saying, “With each concession we make in the value of innocent human life, we erode the foundation upon which all life stands.” This chapter was just bringing together the many issues regarding to the value of life. Many of these issues do not have a flipside for which the authors could list; the few that do exist were not mentioned. For example Jackson and Perkins did not address the issue of the abortions due to medical emergencies.

2009-11-30T10:13:00.000-08:00

Within chapter five Jackson and Perkins address the issue of immigration. This chapter contains the legal issues of immigration in addition to the biblical views of immigration. Once the limits of the issue are set Jackson and Perkins discuss seven principles within this issue they believe need to be addressed. Seven topics within immigration are: Enforcing security at the borders, help in assimilation to American life, reward counties attempting economic reform, attempting to keep families intact, minimize chain migration, guest workers programs, places illegal’s in a country while they are applying for legal papers. Some of these principles are in the center of the discussion in the government while others are not discussed. This chapter attempts to address the issue of immigration in a very limited amount of space.
This chapter begins with several stories of which are explaining the Harry Jackson’s life experiences with immigration. Examples are very effective when attempting to obtain the authors state of mind. The examples given are people who had been deported due to paperwork problems, a man who was qualified to be a church elder but was not given the position due to his immigration status, a young women who had seen her family killed and cam seeking asylum but was put in prison. All of the examples were because of problems in the immigration laws. “Part of the problem with immigration policy today is that we have not had a consistent, coherent philosophy of immigration in the past.”
Chapter five then continues into listing fifteen different laws dealing with immigration between 1882 and 2003. Several of these laws would be nice if the book gave a bit more of an explanation. Several of these laws provide advantages to citizens of some countries while placing restrictions on others; see the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924. The result of the poor legislation is “This unclear, back-and-forth government policy has created national disunity, a shadow economy, and broken families.” While “Many Americans feel that our country is being overrun by illegal immigrants and that our government is standing idly by.”
The biblical view on immigration is defined after the legal issues are addressed in the chapter. Jackson and Perkins list seven bible verses regarding to the immigration issue. All verses used are in the Old Testament, the majority of the verses are referring to the Israelites in Egypt. “The scriptures that speak of the plight of immigrants often address how the domestic poor should be treated as well implying that both groups often lack the means to defend themselves from exploitation.” Most often the immigrants “are desperate or see no other options to better their lives.” So the church needs to reach out to the legal immigrants and elect people who wish to reform the immigration process.
When it comes to border security Jackson and Perkins address the issue of security at the nation’s borders. They acknowledge the issue needs to be addressed but they are torn by the legality of the issue and the plight of the immigrants. “Our nation has provisions for those who are fleeing persecution and for immigration by people who follow legitimate processes. But there is no legal way to justify the brazen, dangerous act of violating our country’s borders.” They also propose attacking this issue from a different approach, “We need to take away one of the major reasons for illegal immigration—the ability to send large sums of money back home to family and loved ones.” Border security has not yet been attacked in this manner it is worth the effort of the government.
America has been referred to as a giant melting pot because in the past immigrants have accepted American culture and contributed to the culture. In modern America, there are little different racial areas of towns. Immigrants, “They must become part of the American family, and to do that they must actively assimilate.” This means they must follow the laws of America and become a “part in the fabric of the American family.”
Jackson and Perkins also propose the Government should be given to a “favored nation”; this nation would be based on economic reform occurring in the country. “These reforms would include fiscal policy and entrepreneurial incentives that seek to remedy poverty, the root cause of illegal immigration to the United States.”
Many families are broken up when a parent comes to the United States to gain a larger income. There are many pregnant mothers who attempt to cross the border when nearing their due date because the child will be an American citizen and she is eligible for residency when the child becomes 21 years old. The authors have a different opinion “Babies born to people here illegally should not automatically be citizens.” Chain migration is also a way in which families are broken up.
Chain migration “means by which aliens are permitted to immigrate because previous adult immigrants who now have gained citizenship send for their adult relatives.” These people are generally elderly adults who will need medical attention sometime in the near future, who lack medical insurance. Resulting in a heavier load on the emergency medical services; and the tax payers who pay for the emergency health care.
Guest worker visas are something in which both the current President and both authors support. There should be limitations placed on such a program according to Jackson and Perkins. “However, such guest-worker programs should be nonrenewable and nonadjustable, confined to a period of two years.”
Third-country resettlement is the last topic, this topic the writers do not seem to be pro or con. This issue does not seem plausible because of the same questions the authors ask, “What country is willing to take illegal aliens from the United States?”
This chapter overall did a good job addressing the issue of immigration and the biblical view on immigration. Out of the seven topics Jackson and Perkins picked from within the immigration issues very few solutions were proposed to the problems. In conclusion, when voting the religious right needs to take into consideration the candidate’s opinions on immigration policy. The point was also made of how much of an opportunity it is for Christians to witness to the diversity of cultures within the United States.

2009-11-30T10:12:00.000-08:00

The value of human life or lack thereof is commonly associated with abortion and euthanasia, yet within the 20th century at minimum one hundred million people died due to the actions of governments. The value of life needs to be applied to war and government actions. Chapter 3 deals with the value of life as it pertains to war, terrorism, and governments. Major ideas addressed in the chapter are the Bible’s view on war, just war theory, torture, and the church’s reaction to Islam. These issues are addressed by Jackson and Perkins in order to answer the question of “Can a Christian be in favor of war, and in what circumstance?” With the current world conditions many Christians are questioning the legitimacy of the War on Terrorism; this is a very important question.
Many Christians claim to be against war for the reason that the sixth commandment states in Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill”. This is a common mistake because the correct interpretation of the verse is not kill, but murder. Murder is committed by an individual, and war is committed by governments or what Paul refers to as “the sword” in Romans 13. “Further, government –not Individuals- are charged by God to wage war.” In Deuteronomy 20, God says nothing about not going to war. God does give instructions about going to war and how to conduct war. The biblical text gives the authority to declare war to the governments because they have been appointed by God. God giving the Israelites reasons to go to war and how to conduct war gives the modern world the idea of just war theory.
The book makes several comments pertaining to Islam and the authors beliefs on the subject. According to the book, Muslims believe that governments are in charge of going to war. Jihad is defined by the context in the book to mean holy war.
Christians take a different view of war, they use what is called the just war theory. This is a theory that was started by St. Augustine and completed by St. Thomas Aquinas. Before we apply the theory, the nations need to attempt every diplomatic resource available. There are two parts to this theory “Jus ad bellum” and “Jus in Bello”. “Jus ad bellum” determines if the reasons for going to war are justified. This does not include the actions during the war only the reasons for justifying the war. Seven to eight requirements exist. Just cause, legitimate authority, right intention, probability of success, proportionality, and last resort are the main six requirements needed to fulfill a just reason to go war. There are two less used reasons, then the former six these are; comparative justice, and emergent peace. “Jus in Bello” is pertaining to the actions of a military force once they are in the war. It governs the actions of those combatants while they are fighting the war. These actions, if violated, will make the war unjust. Even if the reasons for going to war are just the war will still be viewed as unjust while it is being conducted. This also deals with a proportional response to achieve your objective, and ensuring that you take into account civilian considerations. Perkins and Jackson take into account that preemptive strikes can be considered just, but they must adhere to the just war theory.
Terrorism is a major concern to many people around the world. Is this method of waging war considered to be just? The Department of Defense defines terrorism as “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies n the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” This definition alone states that terrorism is unlawful, because it is targeting a society filled with civilians, it violets the “Jus in Bello” portion of just war theory. The terrorists do not have legitimate authority to carry out these acts so they do not adhere to any of the just war theory.
While conducting war many countries have resorted to torture to extract critical information in order to obtain the advantage. The United States has signed the Geneva Convention which gives instructions in the treatment of prisoners. The only problem with this treaty is that it only deals with uniformed enemy combatants, resulting in the treatment of a terrorist dressed in civilian clothing to not be restricted to the Geneva Convention. Jackson and Perkins both state that the United States should adhere to the Geneva Convention regardless of the states of the enemy combatant. The way Jackson and Perkins define torture as anything that will leave lasting physical effects. With these definitions of torture and just war theory there is one thing that the church can do to peacefully fight terrorism.
The church needs to send missionaries to foreign countries, particularly the Middle East in order to witness to the individuals. According to Jackson and Perkins the U.S. state department needs to utilize its positive influence to gain access for the Christian missionaries into countries like Saudi Arabia. This needs to happen because many countries are not allowing missionaries into the countries, and one way to combat the terrorist is to challenge their ideologically. Jackson and Perkins say that without Christian influence in these countries the Muslim people will become more radical.
This chapter was really interesting because the authors address an issue that is not normally taken from the “value of human life” point of view. They did an excellent job on the approach of what the Bible has to say about war. When they attempted to tackle the Muslim point of view, they generalized the idea of jihad too much. Jihad means so much more than just holy war, yet they did not even hint at the possibility of the other definitions. The reason for this could have been the need to address many other topics. When it came to just war theory they did an apathetic job of explaining the theory. Just war theory has so much more substance that they did not mention. They redeemed themselves when it came to applying their definition of just war theory to terrorism. When they addressed the topic of torture, it was a decent job for the space used, this topic is such a heated debate it probably would have been best to just leave out the topic. Jackson and Perkins had an interesting opinion on what the church needs to do in order to combat terrorism. It would be extremely difficult to get the United States to use muscle in order to gain missionaries into countries who do not want them. The book did not create a distinction between Islamic radicals and believers. Overall the chapter was slightly disappointing.

2009-11-30T10:11:00.000-08:00

In the first chapter of their book, Personal Faith Public Policy, Jackson and Perkins attempt to answer the question “Who is the Religious Right?” Jackson and Perkins answer the question with five main ideas. These ideas are as follows “values voters”, Origins of the religious Right, recent diversification of the religious Right, youth movement within the religious Right, and Breaking the party lines. Those five ideas are used in such a way as to answer their original question of “Who is the Religious Right?”, by answering the question they dispel the myths created by the religious Right’s critics that the religious Right is dying.
Jackson and Perkins first establish that “values voters” exist and are a force to be considered in a national election; countering the idea that the religious Right is dying. Citing the exit polls from the 2004 election which listed the largest deciding factor for voters were moral values at 27%. These values are issues like same sex marriage, abortion, and many others. “Far more Americans share a common or similar set of values that just those dismissively labeled “the religious Right.” By establishing that the religious Right is far more than just the religious community, Jackson and Perkins also react to the accusations made by critics that the religious Right is an aggressive force.
The book also gives a brief history of the religious Right, objecting to the idea the religious Right was created as an aggressive political force. Judicial decisions based on the separation of church and state spurred on the religious Right movement in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. There are thirteen court decisions in which religious freedoms have been lost in the public arena such as prayer and bible reading in school, which are cited in the book. According to Jackson and Perkins the straw that broke the camel’s back was the prayer in the public schools being banned. At that point these religious Right organizations began forming. “The truth is we are simply responding to the attacks that have been waged by a small but significant minority aided by the courts.” By doing this the courts have awakened the sleeping giant of the religious Right in order to defend many religious freedoms, but it has diversified since then and grown into moral issues.
Just as the religious Right has diversified in the issues it wants to defend, the religious Right has also diversified in its base of supporters. Originally the religious Right was comprised of white, old, evangelical men, is now diversified into many different religions, age groups, and races. This has helped its power of voting bloc but also has caused the issues it confronts to broaden. A new face of the religious Right is the youth of this country. One great example of this new face is seeing you at the poll which was started by students meeting around the flag poll of their school and praying. This event happens every September 12th and it was estimated that nearly two million students participated in order to pray for their countries leaders and their school. Age is not the only diversification happening within the religious Right; the religious Right is including many different races as well. In 2004, Ohio had a marriage amendment against same sex marriage on the ballet and “based upon exit polling, six in ten African Americans voted in support of the marriage amendment.” These few examples from the book show the amount of diversification happening within the religious right, both racial and age.
The last idea covered in the chapter is the idea of breaking party lines in order to vote for the candidate with values the voter supports; causing party diversification within the religious Right. The origins of the religious Right are within the Republican Party but recently “values voters” have been crossing their party’s line and voting for the candidate who holds their values. By expanding the issues the religious Right has gained supporters from both sides of the isle. “As a result of broadening of the evangelical movement, both political parties will increasingly have to compete for the support of the evangelicals to succeed.” “Values voters” are forcing all candidates to confront the religious and moral issues in order to have a chance at winning an election.
“A Pew poll on religion and politics, conducted in September 2007, revealed that 72 percent of Americans want a president with “strong religious beliefs.” Regardless of political party, a candidate for president of the United States cannot win without passing a minimal hurdle of declaring faith in God.”
This chapter answered the question of who is the religious Right. Answering this question is becoming more complex as the religious Right diversifies. Causing politicians to be educated in the religious and moral issues.
Jackson and Perkins did an excellent job of answering their original question. Those five main ideas they used to answer the question defined the religious Right to one that is no longer confined to one party, race, and age group. This movement is lead by voters who uses their conscience and religion when they vote. The definition of the religious Right is now becoming less right and less religious, yet we continue to use this term for a lack of a better word. Evidence within this chapter validates the idea of civil religion, which is addressed in the book Twilight of the Saints.
The second chapter of the book begins by addressing the fact that the Bush administration has let down the “values voters”; because the only moral issue they have been successful at attacking has been stem cell research. When President Bush was running his platform was same sex marriage, stem cell research, abortion and several other moral issues. Though disappointing the nature of not having control of the congress, and a low approval rating has hindered the President’s efforts.
Even though the countries leadership has failed in the previous four years, the church needs to still vote and provide witness to this shattered culture. Jackson and Perkins use the model that the biblical prophets gave the church, using the five rights. If the church lives by these rights they will give a biblical example to the culture. The five rights are to live right, do right, move right, pray right, and speak right. Living right means the church needs to set an example of what a Godly person is, we need to talk the talk and most importantly walk the walk, the church needs to practice what they preach. Part of living right is to do right; this is achieved by serving the community around you by participating in outreach ministries. Moving right is ensuring the church is not becoming what the media projects us as. The church needs to become more active in prayer, the elders of the church need to take a lesson from the youth and be praying like the youth do when they meet for see you at the poll; Christians need to pray for the country more often. When witnessing to the nation the church needs to be loving not forcing their religion on people. These five rights will enable the church to effectively penetrate the culture actively instead of passively. Though these five rights the “values voters” can display what they want to happen effectively to the culture, by setting a “prophetic” example.

Iran’s Nuclear Program and Weapons

2009-05-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

In the 2002 State of the Union Address President George W. Bush, used the term “Axis of Evil” to describe three states. These three were Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. This speech laid out the goals of “the war on terror”. According to the President “Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction.”^{^[1]} These three were picked because of their intentions of securing “weapons of mass destruction”. Iran was targeted specifically because, “Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom.”^{^[2]} The government in Iran has made statements which convey the intention to use any weapons of mass destruction on Israel and its allies. Iran has developed their nuclear program with assistance of several foreign powers and has also achieved a method of delivery which can threaten most of the region. Due to current state of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs the pressing issue is; how can they be prevented from expanding their programs further?

The United States has had four goals when dealing with Iran, since the current government took power. They are “limit Iran’s aggressive assertiveness in the region, halt Tehran’s support for terrorism, promote Iranian democracy and human rights, and stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”^{^[3]} Iran’s current population and terrain drastically limit any military courses of action. Iran is located in the Middle East, it is bordered by “Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan-proper, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan”.^{^[4]} Currently Iran is sandwiched between U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran has an estimated population of 65,875,224. The terrain of Iran is “rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts”^{^[5]} This is why Iran has spread out the nuclear facilities.

Iran learned from the mistakes Iraq made in 1981 when Israel destroyed their only nuclear reactor. Iran has done several things to ensure their nuclear facilities remain unharmed. The facilities have been dispersed across the large nation, creating the possibility of a small flight being able to do massive damage impossible. The map below demonstrates how the Iranians dispersed their Nuclear Facilities. Iran has also placed the facilities in densely populated cities when possible. Some facilities due to their purpose are dependent on natural resources.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Iran has facilities critical to its program in five different cities. These cities are Tehran, Bushehr, Esfahan, Natanz, and Arak.^{^[6]} Tehran has the Kalaye electric company which is suspected to be producing centrifuge parts, Tehran research reactor, radioisotope production facility, Jabr Ibn Hayan multipurpose laboratories. In Bushehr there is a Russian built light water reactor. Esfahan has a miniature neutron source reactor, light water sub-critical reactor, heavy water zero power reactor, fuel fabrication laboratory, uranium chemistry laboratory, uranium conversion facility, graphite sub- critical reactor which has been decommissioned, and a fuel manufacturing plant. Natanz has a pilot fuel enrichment plant and fuel enrichment plant. Arak has the Iran nuclear research reactor. The facilities that make other countries nervous are in Natanz because they produce the equipment needed to enrich uranium for a power plant or bomb.^{^[7]} As the image below illustrates Iran did learn from Iraq’s mistake by distributing the facilities around the country.

^{^[8]}

Iran has developed several missiles capable of launching large payloads. The development of these missiles has been aided by countries such as China, Libya, and North Korea. North Korea has been the one which has provided the assistance for the longer range missiles. “Iran is now on the threshold of developing a missile with intercontinental ranges. One option available to Iran is to develop missiles similar to North Korea’s Taepo Dong-1 or Taepo Dong-2 using technology North Korea has already transferred to Iran or may transfer in future sales.”[9] The Iranian equivalent of these the Shahab-3 and the variant of the Shahab-3.[10] The range of the Shahab-3 is eight hundred kilometers and the Shahab-3 variant has a range of one thousand two hundred kilometers. At this range it is capable of threatening most of the region.[11] Iran is also searching for weapons with an even longer range up to six thousand kilometers. The image below illustrates the countries which will be within range of these weapons. “In the last five years we have witnessed the development of a nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program in Iran that now provides it with the potential to threaten American interests. Iran’s program has been, and remains, dependent on foreign assistance.”[12]

[13]

While we can attempt to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, we should also be focusing on stopping the sale of these technologies from nations like North Korea.

Many analysts have been attempting to figure out how to stop the development of nuclear weapons and delivery systems, there are others that feel that that is a lost cause. “The U.S. is unlikely to succeed in altering the range of Iranian motivations for acquiring WMD.”[14] There are many different ideas of how to prevent the future development of missiles and WMDs within Iran one of which is; “In Iran, the goal of U.S. direction of policy should be to encourage the evolution of the regime in the greater openness and moderation; in practical terms, this probably means the emergence of a political system in which clerics play a less prominent role.”[15] This is very difficult to do therefore there is little the United States can do to prevent Iran from attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Over the years Iran has developed an elaborate anti-aircraft defense system. In addition to dispersing the nuclear facilities within the country, while placing them near populated areas. There have been many nations which have assisted Iran over the years with building them nuclear power plants such as Russia or selling them engines for ballistic missiles such as North Korea. In order for the United States and the world community to slow or stop Iran’s programs they need to stop giving Iran foreign assistance.

[1] State of the Union Address 2002,President George W. Bush, From the 2002 Presidential Documents Online via GPO Access, January 29, 2002

[2] Ibid.

[3] Michael McFaul, Abbas Milani, and Larry Diamond. 2007. "A Win-Win U.S. Strategy for Dealing with Iran." Washington Quarterly 30, no. 1: 121-122.

[4]Central Intelligence Agency, “The World Factbook- Iran” CIA World Fact book. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iran.html [accessed February 22, 2009]

[5] Ibid.

[6] Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Iranian Nuclear Sites, Hussein D. Hassan, 2007.

[7] International Atomic Energy Association, Report prepared for Meeting of the Board of Governors prepared by the Director General, Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran: 2003.

[8] “Iran Nuclear Sites”, Nuclear Threat Initiative Web site, http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles_pdfs/Iran/iran_nuclear_sites.pdf [accessed February 22, 2009].

[9] CRS Report RS22758, Iran’s Ballistic Missile Programs: An Overview, by Steven A. Hildreth, pg. 5.

[10] Bill Gertz, "N. Korea sells Iran missile engines," Washington Times, February 9, 2000, p. A1.

[11] Bill Gertz, "Tehran increases range on missiles," Washington Times, September 22, 1999.

[12] U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. 2000. Iran’s Ballistic Missile and Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs. 106^th Cong., 2^dsess., pg. 36.

[13] U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Proliferation: Threat and Response, January 2001, p. 37.

[14] U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. 2000. Iran’s Ballistic Missile and Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs. 106^th Cong., 2^dsess., pg. 43-44.

[15] Ibid, 43.

International Relations A Christian Perspective

2009-04-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

nThe International State System:

Why Nations? Why States?

nAsk the Political Philosophers
State of Nature -- The Realist View

n“Political Community” begins by acquiring and establishing dominion over a particular part of the world

nThe first act of politics is to secure the safety, existence and self-sufficiency of the community

nThis reality is fully appreciated by most political thinkers: “laying its foundation on such principles

and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and

happiness.” - Declaration of Independence

nPlato, Laws, “for everyone there always exists by nature an undeclared war among all states.”

nMachiavelli, Prince, “a prince should have no other object, nor any other thought, nor take anything

else as his art but the art of war and its orders and disciplines.”

nHobbes, Leviathan, the norm for states is “having their weapons pointing, and their eyes fixed on one another.”

nAsk the Hebrew Prophets
State of Nature -- The Biblical View

nOriginal State of Nature – mankind in fellowship with God and dominion over the whole earth.

Original purpose engraved in human nature (natural rights)

nThe Corrupted State of Nature

Mankind’s rebellion and loss of dominion

Genesis 6:6 – “the wickedness of man was great in the earth….and every imagination of the

thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”

nAsk the Hebrew Prophets
State of Nature -- The Biblical View

nEarth filled with violence

Genesis 6:11 – “the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence”

nJudgment of the Flood and Institution of Government - Capital punishment sanctioned

to restrain violence

Genesis 9:6 – “Whoso sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God

made He man.”

nTable of Nations (goyim)

Genesis 10 – 70 names…the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth… “By these were the coasts

of the nations divided in their lands” “after their families (race), after their manner of speaking, in

their lands (space) after their nations (ethnicity).”

nAsk the Hebrew Prophets
The Dividing and Scattering of Nations

nDesire for Identity and Recognition

Genesis 11: “let us build a city and a tower….and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered.”

nConfusion of the Languages

Genesis 11 – “Behold, they are one people (am achad), and they have one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withheld from them, which they purpose to do.”

nBoundaries Established

Deuteronomy 32:8-9 - “When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the borders of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel (or bene Elohim Sons of God)”

nThe Nations in God’s Redemptive Plan

nIsraelite Nation Called out as An Example Nation

nTo Egypt

nTo Wilderness

nTo Homeland

nTo Exile, Return, Messianic Role, Dispersion and Future Role

nAppointed Times for all Nations

Acts 17:26 – (Paul speaking) “And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and boundaries of their habitation, in order that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

nThe Nations in End Times

nHaggai 2: Strength of the Kingdoms Destroyed

Hagaii 2:21-22 – “I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of

kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow

the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by

the sword of his brother.”

nMessiah Judges the Nations

Romans 11:25 – “when the fullness of the nations be come in.”

Matthew 25:32 – “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one

another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”

nMessiah rules as King of Kings

Psalm 72: 11 - “Yea, all kings shall prostrate themselves before him; all nations shall serve him.”

nThe Nations in Eternity

nFinal Deception of the Nations

Revelation 20:8 – “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his

prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth,”

nNew Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 21:1,24 – “then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old

earth had passed away, and the sea was no longer there…..the nations will walk by its light, and

the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.”

nLiber Chronicalum
Hartman Schedel 1440-1514

n“Tracking Down Mitichondrial Eve”
US News & World Report, January 29,2001

nFuture Ethno-National Evolution?
Tellus Project: 2335 A.D.

nHalford J. Mackinder
Modern Political Geography

nPolitical Geography

nSir Halford Mackinder, Royal Geographic Society (1904) commented on the close of the “Columbian epoch”:

n400 yrs of discovery and relatively easy expansion

n“virtually complete political appropriation”

n“Post-Columbian” age is a closed political system…every explosion of social forces, instead of being dissipated in a surrounding circuit of unknown space and barbaric chaos, will be sharply re-echoed from the far side of the globe.”

nMackinder’s Geopolitical View

nWorld Ocean: There is “One Ocean” covering 9/12th of the globe

nWorld Island: We can now see that Europe, Asia and Africa are a joint continent – “the World Island – covering 2/12th of the globe

nHeartland: is the dominant geopolitical fact in the World Island – “the greatest natural fortress on earth.”

nThe Inner Crescent: Is the area surrounding the Heartland where most of the World’s population lives

nOuter Crescent: The rest of the land (1/12th) is composed of large and small Islands

nMackinder’s World

nMackinder’s Heartland Theory

n“Heartland” is the “Pivot” region of the world

nunpenetrated from the waterways from the seas

nthere is an open passage to the West

nAround the Heartland lie 4 marginal regions arrayed in a “Crescent”, containing 2/3rds of the world’s population:

- Pacific Monsoon

- Indian Monsoon

- The land of the 5 seas

- Europe

nMackinder’s Heartland Theory

nThis “Crescent” is partly continental, partly oceanic and functions as a vast zone of conflict between the land and sea powers

nBeyond lie the Island Nations

nMackinder’s Observations on British Empire

nSea Power was ascendant in the 19th century

nSteam power had extended the reach of navies

nTelegraph and radio had extended commercial production, control and administration of a maritime empire

nReversal of power to the land of Eurasia was possible

nRussia expanding eastward on new modes of transport

nMan-power and resources could sustain a Eurasian empire

nEast Europe was in command of the Heartland

nUnification of Germany

nBritish strategy must protect the Eurasian Crescent

nfrom Heartland conquest

nto prevent a rimland power from commanding the Heartland.

nAfter Mackinder

nCarl Ritter, German geographer, envisioned a “Divine plan for humanity”, based on regionalism and a constant flow of forms.

nFriedrich Ratzel, science of “nation-states”, influenced by evolutionary theory

nLebensraum: living space to achieve autarky ( raw materials, populations, markets, states must expand or die.

nOrganic nationalism: to every race its place, natural political boundaries, harmony of state and nation.

nAfter Mackinder

nKarl Haushofer, Nazi geographer, defined spheres of natural influence/domination.

nArchitect of “The Eastern Plan” for a Germanic people “without a space”

Feudalism

2009-04-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Feudalism

Many think the medieval ages was a time where one king ruled the land as a tyrant; this is not the case. These kings did have control but they gave their land away to lords in order to have an army, maintain order and be able to manage his kingdom. These lords then had a contract not only with the king but with their own vassals or servants. This system of governance is known as feudalism. This system of government which started in France changed the political, military and socioeconomic environment of Europe forever.

Feudalism was created by the Frankish king Charles Martel. He created the system because the franks were under threat of invasion from the Muslims who had already conquered Spain. The Franks needed an army, yet they had limited resources to spend on the army. The solution that Martel came up with was to give the wealthy upper class gifts of land as long as they pledged military service. This created a social class much like the Germans had; they were known as the Comitatus. These warriors swore an oath of allegiance to the chief or lord to fight for them and follow their orders. This was the creation of the vassal-lord system, also known as the feudal system. (McGill September 2009)

The basis of feudalism is the vassal-lord relationship. This is the basis for the entire system of feudalism, it is based on the ideas that the vassals pledge their allegiance and services to the lord in exchange for a fife. This fife is an amount of land which the vassal will either divide among their vassals or will work the land if they are at the bottom of the hierarchy. The Lord will also provide protection of the vassal and his land. The system was one of inheritance therefore the eldest son will inherit any vassals or lords; if the presents were free they could choose to leave yet the land would be given to another vassal. The vassal-lord system is “to be an institutional structure which regulated the retainer’s obligations, service, and loyalty, to the lord and the lord’s obligations, protection and maintenance, to the retainer.” (Dumolyn June 2007) The “lords possessed of powers to command, judge, and tax were deemed noble ipso facto.” (Bisson, Medieval Lordship 1995) All of these aspects of the system the government was based upon mad the political system very delicate.

There were many implications of this feudal system, one was a very delicate and fragile political system. One of these is the complexity of the layers which the lords had created by having their own vassals. “Kings granted their vassals very large tracts of land. In turn, these vassals granted parts of their own fiefs to sub-vassals, who swore loyalty and military service to the vassals.” (McGill September 2009) All lords just wanted more money the way they obtained this was “to convert their tenants into abject serfs or slaves, and make them mere appendage of the soil, and to be kept forever in a condition of hopeless vassalage, without a prospect of relief.” (The Injustice of Tenant Farming 1844) Due to the perks the job of being a lord brought you it was widely known that many wanted to become lords. In fact “the early crusades, one might almost say, were concocted for men in search of lordly reputation.” (Bisson, Medieval Lordship 1995) These lords need their political power and economic power to raise and maintain an army which can assist in the protection and expansion of lands.

The military was raised by each individual lord and they were at the disposal of the King if he desired to call upon them. Most of the time the King did not require the army so they were used as a means to collect the taxes from the peasants and to expand the lords lands by fighting against other lords. “The feudal system created a wealthy class of land-owing barons. These barons had their own standing armies and controlled politics in their respective regions. These families battled one another over feudal disputes.” (McGill, Survey of the Magna Carta September 2009) The “feudal armies were predominantly instruments for the subjection of the peasantry.” (Barendse 2003) The lords used castles as their residences and to house their army, most of the peasants lived and worked near the castle. Although “erected castles, were not so much built to withstand invasions but to subdue the peasantry by “plunder, rape and armed assault” (as the sources say).” (Barendse2003) The armies were also used to put down any insurrections the peasants may start.

The economy was not centralized around the lords like the politics and the military were. The socioeconomics of the medieval age were centralized around the present family. The “peasant household production: that is, a way of agrarian production where the family is the basic unit of production.” (Barendse2003) The clash between lords was not the only battle that was occurring. “But unlike what Bison argues-The feudal mutation was exclusively a struggle for power within the elites- it was not merely that but a struggle between opposed classes, too.” (Barendse 2003) Although despite the battles within and between classes. “The tenth and eleventh centuries witnessed a great jump forward in trade, agricultural techniques, the diffusion of crops, and an overall rise of agricultural productivity, in western Europe.” (Barendse 2003) The benefits of the feudal system is it was a large step in centralizing Europe’s population, by bringing the rural peasants together. “Hunter-gathers or smaller “tribal” peasant groups were increasingly pushed our of agrarian core lands.” (Barendse 2003) It was also beneficial when the lords concentrated their vassals for easier control and access. Due to the lords lack of economic vision they frequently put themselves in position where they have to sell land or raise taxes, in order to fund their extravagant lifestyles. “Lacking a long term economic vision, many lords neglected, split up and often sold or gave away their demesnes.” (Dumolyn June 2007) The conditions of the socioeconomic climate within Europe at the medieval time period created a very large dichotomy between the socioeconomic classes that still exists today in some countries.

So while this is system of government was not perfect it did allow large nations to be ruled effectively. Wither or not they were ruled justly or unjustly is another conversation but the lords had stability and control over their assigned lands. Feudalism did create several large socioeconomic classes that still exist. Although the populations became more centralized and the overall agricultural output went up under feudalism. It also produced the Magna Carta. So while Feudalism was not perfect and probably an unjust form of governance it was beneficial to the continued development of the society as a whole. It provided a hatred of tyrants that produced the government specifically designed to prevent tyrants from coming to power. So it was a beneficial and necessary step in the development of government.

Bibliography

Barendse, R. J. "The Feudal Mutation: Military and Economic Transformations of the Ethnosphere in the Tenth to Thirteenth Centuries." Journal of World History 14, no. 4 (December 2003): 503-529.

Bisson, Thomas N. "Medieval Lordship." Speculum (Medieval Academy of America) 70, no. 4 (October 1995): 743-759.

Dumolyn, Jan. "The Political and Symbolic Economy of State Feudalism: The Case of Late-Medieval Flanders." Historical Materialism 15, no. 2, June 2007: 105-131.

McGill, Sara Ann. "Survey of the Magna Carta." History Reference Center, September 2009: 1-2.

McGill, Sara Ann. "The Feudal System." History Refrence Center, September 2009: 1-2.

"The Injustice of Tenant Farming." Documents of the Assembly of the State of New-York, 67 Session, 1844, Vol. VII, No. 189.

Ahmadinejad’s beliefs on the Hidden Mahdi: of Twelver Shi’ism

2009-03-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ahmadinejad’s beliefs on the Hidden Mahdi: of Twelver Shi’ism
Recently Ahmadinejad the President of Iran has made statements referring to the 12th Imam, this person is to be the savior of the Shia. The history of this Imam goes back to 847 CE when he went into hiding to avoid capture. This figure plays a vital role in the beliefs and actions of the current President of Iran. By understanding what he believes his actions become much more predictable and it is easier to establish diplomatic relations with the country. President Ahmadinejad believes the 12th Imam will return soon, therefore he is to prepare the Nation of Iran for his return.
In order to establish the importance of the 12th Imam it is necessary to understand who he is believed to be. “The Shia community believes that this 12th Imam, called the Mahdi, remains in hiding today and will at some point return as a messianic figure to usher in legitimate Islamic (Shia) Government.” This figure went into hiding in 847 CE, in order to escape the Caliph. He was then in contact with his followers until 941 CE, when he ceased contact with the believers. The Shia has had a governance issue ever since the Imam has ceased contact.
The rulers have governed according to the teachings of Mohammad listed in the Koran. The Imams are much more important to the Shia over the Sunni. “Sunni Islam uses only these references to govern, issue legal rulings and enforce the holy law (for Muslims, the only legitimate law), or Sharia.” Where as “the Shia reference the conduct and the rulings of the infallible Imams.” The belief in the 12th Imam is specifically referred to as Madhism. “Paying lip service to the Hidden Imam has been, since the time of Khomeini, a standard practice for Iranian officials.” There have been many people in power who take on the rhetoric of Madhism, but none match the passion of President Ahmadinejad.
President Ahmadinejad does much more paying lip service when it comes to the belief of Madhism. “Contrary to what some of his critics may think, he is neither delusional nor deceptive. He is ascetic, absolutist, opinionated, intolerant and something of a religious zealot.” Although many of his statements are religious in nature President Ahmadinejad’s background is in the military. “Following the 2005 election, Ahmadinejad filled most of the executive branch with veterans of the state security services. Moreover, even other conservative steams have increasingly been shut out of decision-making.” By the decision-making being done by people whom Ahmadinejad selected there is little that can be done in order to stop The President.
President Ahmadinejad believed “that his two predecessors… had failed to establish a “true Islamic state” in Iran. And it was his primary duty to achieve that goal in preparation for the Imam’s return.” For Ahmadinejad “becoming equipped with power is a lesson derived from belief in Mahdi. The expected justice, justice of Mahdi for the whole world, is not attained through admonition and preaching… achieving justice requires that just and righteous people have the power to confront the bullies… messengers of God preach to the people, but they are also equipped with weapons.” The literal interruption that Ahmadinejad uses, has determined the direction for the nation of Iran as that of direct confrontation. Directly in the path of Iran are both Israel and the United States. Both the U.S. and Israel do not like the fact that Iran is attempting to acquire is Nuclear weapons and long range ballistic missiles. While the President is focusing on the religious direction of the country the religious leaders are point the finger at what the President has neglected to accomplish within the country, specifically the economy.
While the nation attempts to grow in hard military power for when the 12th Imam arrives Iran is also attempting to grow in its soft economic power as well. The current rate of oil production within the nation of Iran is about four million barrels per day (bpd). “The government aims to raise this to 5.6 million bpd by 2010 and to 7 million bpd by 2020.” Due to the attempt at acquiring more military power, the “confrontation with the United States continues to cost Iran, by at least one estimate, about 1.1 percent of GDP annually in U.S. sanctions.”
Ahmadinejad’s ultimate goal is to establish a true Islamic state. This can be done by having a nation “devoid of modern concepts of human rights and equality of the sexes.” He also requires “the acquisition of nuclear weapons, the elimination of Israel, the destruction of liberal democratic states and Western capitalism, and an end to the United States as a super power.” According to Ahmadinejad these are “perceived as the greatest threat to the Islamic Republic’s survival and the main obstacle to the accomplishment of its objectives.”
So when looking at what Ahmadinejad believes it is very simply put in his address while at the United Nations when he “called on Allah to send sown the Hidden Imam or the Mahdi, who Shiites believe will come at the end of time.” While he is waiting for this to happen he is actively attempting to prepare Iran to become a true Islamic nation capable of the power Mahdi will require when he returns. Ahmadinejad is achieving this goal by increasing Iran’s military and economic power. The military is attempting to acquire nuclear weapons and long range ballistic missiles. Iran is making efforts to increase its oil production over the next eleven years. Ahmadinejad frantically believes in the Hidden Imam and is preparing his nation for the Imam’s return.

Strategic culture of the Islamic republic of Iran, 8.
Ibid, 9.
Ibid, 9.
Ahdiyyih, Mohebat. "Ahmadinejad and the Mahdi." Middle East Quarterly 15, no. 4 (Fall2008 2008): 27-36. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 15, 2009).
Amuzegar, Jahangir. 2007. "THE AHMADINEJAD ERA: PREPARING FOR THE APOCALYPSE." Journal of International Affairs 60, no. 2: 37.
Hen-Tov, Elliot. 2007. "Understanding Iran's New Authoritarianism." Washington Quarterly 30, no. 1: 166.
Amuzegar, Jahangir. 2007. "THE AHMADINEJAD ERA: PREPARING FOR THE APOCALYPSE." Journal of International Affairs 60, no. 2: 38.
Ahdiyyih, Mohebat. "Ahmadinejad and the Mahdi." Middle East Quarterly 15, no. 4 (Fall2008 2008): 27-36. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 15, 2009).
Hen-Tov, Elliot. 2007. "Understanding Iran's New Authoritarianism." Washington Quarterly 30, no. 1: 170.
Akbar Tobat, “Impacts of the U.S. Trade and Financial Sanctions on Iran,” World Economy 28, no. 3 (March 2005): 432.
Ahdiyyih, Mohebat. "Ahmadinejad and the Mahdi." Middle East Quarterly 15, no. 4 (Fall2008 2008): 27-36. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 15, 2009).
Ibid, Paragraph 13.
Ibid, Paragraph 13.
2006. "Brief of the Week." Human Events 62, no. 32: 4-4.

Geographic Distribution and Fortification of Iran’s Nuclear Facilities

2009-02-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

In the 2002 State of the Union Address President George W. Bush, used the term “Axis of Evil” to describe three states. These three were Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. This speech laid out the goals of “the war on terror”. According to the President “Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction.”[1] These three were picked because of their intentions of securing “weapons of mass destruction”. Iran was targeted specifically because, “Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom.”[2] The government in Iran has made statements which convey the intention to use any weapons of mass destruction on Israel and its allies. After Israel’s preemptive air strike on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 many wonder if Israel or the United States would launch a preemptive attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities. By analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of all states involved we can determine if an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is even possible.

The United States has had four goals when dealing with Iran, since the current government took power. They are “limit Iran’s aggressive assertiveness in the region, halt Tehran’s support for terrorism, promote Iranian democracy and human rights, and stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”[3] Iran’s current population and terrain drastically limit any military courses of action. Iran is located in the Middle East, it is bordered by “Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan-proper, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan”.[4] Currently Iran is sandwiched between U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran has an estimated population of 65,875,224. The terrain of Iran is “rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts”[5] Due to the difficult terrain and large anti-American population the possibility of utilizing ground forces is not considered as a course of action. When the dispersal of the nuclear facilities is taken in to account, ground forces are impossible to utilize. Therefore any military action must be done from the air.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Iran has facilities critical to its program in five different cities. These cities are Tehran, Bushehr, Esfahan, Natanz, and Arak.[6] Tehran has the Kalaye electric company which is suspected to be producing centrifuge parts, Tehran research reactor, radioisotope production facility, Jabr Ibn Hayan multipurpose laboratories. In Bushehr there is a Russian built light water reactor. Esfahan has a miniature neutron source reactor, light water sub-critical reactor, heavy water zero power reactor, fuel fabrication laboratory, uranium chemistry laboratory, uranium conversion facility, graphite sub- critical reactor which has been decommissioned, and a fuel manufacturing plant. Natanz has a pilot fuel enrichment plant and fuel enrichment plant. Arak has the Iran nuclear research reactor. The facilities that make other countries nervous are in Natanz because they produce the equipment needed to enrich uranium for a power plant or bomb.[7]

(Iran Nuclear Sites)

[8]

While Iran has never claimed to be pursuing nuclear weapons many nations believe otherwise. These nations would include the United States and Israel. By looking at the armaments of these nations the Iranians have constructed a defense network. With the aid of the Russians Iran had acquired an array of very effective anti-aircraft weapons. These weapons would include the Russian made S-300 PMU. One of these weapons is deployed at the Bushehr nuclear weapons facility. This weapon is capable of engaging targets ranging of elevation from 30 ft. to 90,000 ft. it is capable of engaging both aircraft and cruise missiles. It is also designed to counter any kind of electronic counter measures. In addition to the one which is known to be deployed there are several others which have been purchased from the Russians. There are also many Russian made 100mm anti-aircraft guns emplaced around the country. Iran also has 25 F-14 Tomcats sold to them by the United States, these planes have been equipped to act as miniature command and control aircraft, as the rest of Ian’s planes they are too old to be capable of night operations. The other natural defensive barrier is the simple fact that there are 1,100 miles between Israel and Iran. [9]

The 1,100 miles between Israel and Iran is important due to the aircraft and the armaments that Israel posses. While Israel has many different types of U.S. made aircraft very few have the capabilities to make the trip to Iran. Israel currently has 25 F-15s, 16 F-16 Is, 126 F-16 C&Ds. An important distinction between the Iranian and Israeli aircraft capabilities is that all of the Israeli planes are capable of conducting night operations. The problem with the Israeli aircraft is that only the F-16 Is have the range to reach the Iranian Nuclear facilities without refueling, and the Israelis lack the capabilities to conduct a large scale refueling.[10] Israel was also sold 100 GBU-28s. These bombs are 5,000 lbs. Bunker Buster bombs capable of penetrating 100ft. of dirt or 20ft. of concrete.[11] Due to the fact that Israel has very few planes which could conduct an attack it is unlikely that Israel could have any devastating impact on Iran’s nuclear program.

The only nation which has any kind of air power capable of slowing down or stopping Iran’s nuclear program would be the United States. This is due to the capabilities of its aircraft, and the technological advantage. The U.S. has the F-22, B-2, and F-117A which could be used to attack the anti-aircraft installations, exposing the nuclear facilities for the non-stealth aircraft. The second wave would be a large scale air strike hitting the nuclear facilities utilizing precision munitions. The U.S. has the capabilities to conduct all of the in-flight refueling. [12]

Over the years Iran has developed an elaborate anti-aircraft defense system. In addition to dispersing the nuclear facilities within the country, while placing them near populated areas. While these are factors create difficulties when attempting to conduct an air strike, the United States and Israel have the capabilities to conduct an air strike. While the U.S. and Israel have the capabilities to attack Iran, it may not me the best decision due to the reactions of the many other Islamic nations. The only manner of which the United States or Israel could successfully attack Iran’s nuclear facilities is as a secondary strike after Iran had attacked Israel or the U.S.[13]

[1] State of the Union Address 2002,President George W. Bush, From the 2002 Presidential Documents Online via GPO Access, January 29, 2002

[2] Ibid.

[3] Michael McFaul, Abbas Milani, and Larry Diamond. 2007. "A Win-Win U.S. Strategy for Dealing with Iran." Washington Quarterly 30, no. 1: 121-122.

[4]Central Intelligence Agency, “The World Factbook- Iran” CIA World Fact book. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iran.html [accessed February 22, 2009]

[5] Ibid.

[6] Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Iranian Nuclear Sites, Hussein D. Hassan, 2007.

[8] “Iran Nuclear Sites”, Nuclear Threat Initiative Web site, http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles_pdfs/Iran/iran_nuclear_sites.pdf [accessed February 22, 2009].

[9] Andrew Brookes, “Air Attack Iran,” Royal United Services Institute, [Jun 2006, Vol. 151, No. 3]: 53

[10] Ibid,53.

[11] Global Security, “Guided Bomb Unit-28.” http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/gbu-28.htm [accessed February 22, 2009]

[12],Andrew Brookes, “Air Attack Iran,” Royal United Services Institute, [Jun 2006, Vol. 151, No. 3]: 54

[13] Michael McFaul, Abbas Milani, and Larry Diamond, "A Win-Win U.S. Strategy for Dealing with Iran," Washington Quarterly [Winter2006/2007]: 124-125.