The Alpha and Omega of War

Today These United States are confronted with two instances of apparent tyranny, one by a determined Republican Party of God, and another by the tyrant of Libya, Kadhafi whose forty two years of tyranny is coming to an end.

Courtesy: presstv.ir

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - The force used against Libya so far seems to have exceeded the plan for NATO to intervene to protect the Libyan people from the threats of Kadhafi who said he would show no mercy toward them as adversaries to his tyrannical rule.

Indeed, he released his personal military against his people both on land and in the air to the extent that France, Britain and the U.S. felt compelled to act in the people’s defense. They even consulted with leaders of the Arab League which agreed to be a party to the plan, as did other nations, within limits.

The U.N.’s Security Council and NATO’s command for the area were advised and Resolution #1973 was drawn up outlining the extent to which the Coalition could go to succeed in its purpose. It was loosely defined and allowed for the establishment of a “No Fly Zone” sufficient to prevent the military from attacking Libyan people while allowing for judgment on the part of the solicitors as to what they thought was proper.

The Intervention began with a bang, but without invasion, that made quite an impression on the world stage. French, U.S. and U.K. aircraft swept the skies and attacked a Kadhafi column moving on rebels well outside Tripoli; U.S. missiles pounded defensive works along the whole Mediterranean length of Libya while planes did their part from the air with precision. It appears the Libyan military is in a box and holed up in Tripoli. Later reports suggest otherwise, but Kadhafi is silent, at least for the time being.

The force used against Libya is being greeted both pro and con by members of Congress. Those who see the conduct thus far as an act of war feel strongly that President Obama should have taken up the matter with Congress which alone has the right to declare War, but the instigator nations surely must see it as more like a spanking by the International Community against a repugnant child. There aren’t many Republicans who would disagree, not because they think of themselves as a good parent, but because they are members of the Party of God whose religion justifies such conduct in the interest of defeating evil, and God knows, Kadhafi is an evil man. It naturally follows that as followers of their faith, they of the country they serve, can do no evil. The trouble with that is other religions, such as Islam and its followers are just as adamant in the righteousness of their faith in Mohammed as are Christians in Jesus.

It can be argued that Jesus was called the Son of God for one of two reasons; first, Jehovah of the Old Testament was the first God of the Religions of the Book, and Christianity built upon the Old Testament to create its New Testament upon that of Judaism’s first.

Christians were first a cult within Judaism, and the brains behind the rise of Christianity, who referred to themselves as God, or Lord of their new religion for which Jesus was trained as the essential man expected to die for the cause. Jesus would be worthy of being called Son only after he committed fully to Christian dogma (philosophy) as he did on the Mount of Olives (“not mine, but thy will be done”) an act ever after referred to as his spiritual ascension into Heaven. Having committed himself to die, he was anointed for burial which earned for him the titles of Christ, the Son of God, and King of the Jews, before he was presented before Pilate who released him to the Jews who crucified Him, as presumably every well-informed Christian knows. The God of Christianity is its philosophy; Jesus as Christ was the essential man who became the symbol for the Christian Church; the One God of All Nations.

Islam’s Koran became the last of the Books in the 7th Century A.D. when Islam proclaimed Mohammed the Last Prophet of God after Jesus who is worshipped as a prophet in his own right: but not God. As the Last Prophet,

Mohammed and Islam presumed to override Christianity’s claim of Rome’s Primacy, later contradicted by Orthodox and Protestant Christians too.

It is easy enough to see why and how the world has been turned topsy-turvy ever since. The obvious solution to this dilemma is for all to admit that Diversity ought to be associated with Unity, but those who devoutly believe in what they have been taught, are impervious to the Truth which alone can get the parts together to form a homogenous Oneness. Until they can be, we just have to live with the situation as best we are able, a division based on common principles of Good and Evil as determined by the leaders of each segment to suit themselves. It is this distinction that is the cause of Wars over which logic and reason find it impossible to deal.

Significantly, only Orthodox Christianity has avoided the witch craze and remains pure to the fundamentals of its Christian Faith. The witch-hunt was begun by the Roman Church which used the Inquisition to enforce its will of absolute conformity to dogma upon those who were baptized into the Church as early as the day of their birth. Eventually the number of persons who objected at a later age grew, and those whose objections were manifested, were tried as witches who, if convicted by the Inquisition, were either burned at the stake of an artificial hell, or were reduced to the level of reprobate, an existence barely above that of death, often to the third generation of families for the sins of their fathers. The heat of this pent up rage, found release beginning in the 15th century.

The Renaissance preceded the Reformation by several centuries during which wealth increased selectively among traders and the Church in particular, which contributed to its artistic grandeur and the beauty of it architecture and accouterments, but also to its failings which about 1525 led to a break in the ranks. Erasmus of Rotterdam was a priest who wrote his In Praise of Folly, regaling his audiences with tales of Rome’s foolishness. In the early 1520s Martin Luther was struggling with his own faith and, contrary to it developed a new credo he called Justification by Faith, the Christian belief that the grace of God absolves people from all sin, Erasmus’ work has ever since been said to be the egg that Martin Luther hatched. As a result of them, the Reformation Movement was energized. Neither intended that their work should contribute to the Movement, but once begun, there was no stopping it.

The Vatican in Rome announced its Counter Reformation to convince the Protestants of their error, and until the 18th Century, when Rome admitted defeat, it is said ten million people from both sides were killed. Rome activated the Inquisition in its cause, and the Protestants constructed its own courts in response using the same tactics as did Rome against defectors from its ranks. And so it was that Protestants were imbued with the witch concept that was carried forward into the New World by 121 Pilgrims who arrived at Plymouth, Mass. in 1621 from Rotterdam aboard the Mayflower. Members killed their last witch in America early in the 18th Century, the same century our Constitution was written, and the Founders decided that the State should separate itself from Religious tyranny.

Today These United States are confronted with two instances of apparent tyranny, one by a determined Republican Party of God, and another by the tyrant of Libya, Kadhafi whose forty two years of tyranny is coming to an end. The Republican Party of God is tyrannous because it wants to regain control of the Government by any and all means at its disposal. As make believe Christians they would control our nation by returning it to the level of Roman Christianity, the model from which American Protestants escaped.

Republican Aspirants to seats in Congress; even the Presidency, is based on beliefs in Jesus as God and the Republican Party of God whose guiding light consists of Evangelists’ as its Holy See. It is they who protested against John McCain’s choice for running mate and insisted he settle for their choice of Sarah Palin from Wasilla, AK, who was of the Pentecostal cult and Governor of Alaska. Her qualifications left much to be desired, but if they could not control McCain, should he be elected President, clearly they would be able to groom and control Sarah Palin should John die in office and she become President. I mention this to show who really is in control of the Party of God, keeping in mind that Jesus was a prop that became the symbol of Christianity: Jesus is not God. The Book of Isaiah confirms it.

Geo. W. Bush was taught to believe, and accepted that “When God (Jesus) is in His Heaven all’s Right with the World.” But then what an awakening, and how he must have wondered about the truth of his Presidency when he flew over New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He never seemed quite the same afterward, as he accepted resignations from key personnel. The Rev. Rod Parsley of Cincinnati was the probable voice that got America to invade Iraq when he preached that it was God’s will that, “American Christians destroy Islam.” Here is the Alpha and the Omega of the two Geo, W Bush Administrations. I believe he left office a disillusioned man. But the Holy See remains to direct its illogical Republican Campaign against President Obama and his Administration, and in defense of those who speak honestly about Russ Limbaugh and Fox News, and who are forced to apologize.

Karl Rove is back to guide the political tracings of those who are suspected of being of value to the Holy See which guides the Party of God as the Vatican does The Church of Rome in its quest for overall dominance. Karl seems not to favor the radicals of the Tea Party mold, preferring to stick with the older gang of legislators. However, he and the Holy See may have to live and deal with their inheritance in spite of themselves.

I can think of several instances when Presidents went beyond their authority for the benefit of the nation. The Louisiana Purchase is a standout, the acquisition of Florida from Spain in 1812, and the Mexican American War in 1846-48 that moved our western boundary to the Pacific Ocean. The Civil War is a chapter of its own, but Alaska was bought by Secretary of the Interior, Seward - Seward’s folly - when Russia quit its otter post, Ft. Ross, north of the Golden Gate and somewhat above the mouth of the Russian River.

The American war with Spain was declared in 1898 with the public intention to free Cuba from Spain, but the U.S. Navy sailed West and took the Philippines, and other Pacific Island Territories from Spain as well to give the U. S. a footprint and influence in Asia.

At first the Filipinos felt they were being freed from Spanish Rule by the Americans, but when the truth was known they fought us viciously just as did Iraqis one hundred years later. 72,000 American troops were committed to winning the War for the Philippines which became known as the Forgotten War which ended in 1912 when the insurgent chief was captured and it was agreed to let America have a Navel Base in Manila in return for giving the Islands back to the Filipinos. The Iraq War is a virtual copy of this war, and will be confirmed if the U.S. wants and gets air bases in Iraq as it got a naval base in the Philippines.

And, just this year Lindsay Graham, Senator from South Carolina said publicly that “the U. S. ought to have an enduring presence in Afghanistan with Military Air Bases,” to influence all the Middle East as well?

WWI and II were defensive Wars fought primarily in Europe and on the seas for the good of mankind, Japan completed the Axis - of evil - along with Italy’s Mussolini and Germany - Hitler’s Third Reich - that ended in 1944,

In 1917 the Communist Revolution in Russia created a new form of religion that inspired its form of government an infected other nations after the World Wars, and continues its influence in some parts of the world yet. It spred to North Korea in the 1950s and to Vietnam in the70s where two more Wars were fought by the United States to stop its spread. Vietnam has since rebuilt and become a member of the world community in good standing. No. Korea is Communist yet. China became the largest nation to embrace Communism, but Russia, under Khrushchev. finally decided to quit the Cold War and cooperates with the U.S. in a variety of ways. It is enough to make one wonder why any war should be fought.

The U.S. still has 50,000 troops in Iraq, for what reason is uncertain, but for peaceful purposes as far as is known. They are to leave in their entirety by the end of 2012 presumably, but as with everything associated with Iraq it is probably safe to assume President Obama has something else up his sleeve. He may feel he has to produce something to show for the cost to America of Bush’s War, and if the result is equal to the result of the Forgotten War it greatly copied, we should soon know the truth.

Lindsay Graham, Senator from South Carolina, who planted the seed of what the U.S. should obtain from Afghanistan, seems to imply that every War is expected to produce for America a gain in its influence world wide, as they always have. When Graham says The United States should have “an enduring presence in Afghanistan” he wants Military Air Bases to be built there for what purpose - to keep an eye on Iran and the rest of the Middle East?

And now suddenly, most of the Arab Nations of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula are testing their leader’s ability to hold onto their rule as tyrants or benevolent despots. A whole new area is opening to the influence of Democracy, and Europe and The U.S. can hardly be disappointed. Naturally, they would prefer that the transitions be peaceful and generated from within. They might be if it weren’t for more radical elements who are now trying Israel’s patience to divert Arab attention by attempting to change the subject. But in Libya Kadhafi poses difficulties which NATO nations are reluctant to ignore. Kadhafi has threatened to “show no mercy” toward his people who rebel against him and his tyrannous rule in a reaction that appears more organic than imposed from without.

There is a natural tendency in man to come to the aid of those who suffer be it animal or man. And when catastrophe strikes as Nature seems to be doing so much recently, it is natural that man ask, why? I don’t know why the Middle East is erupting currently in a rash of uprisings against the status quo anymore than I understand completely the cause of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or tsunamis that have killed tens of thousands of innocent peoples of this world, but I do know this: To know God is to understand Nature, not the words of those whose purpose is to control our minds. The Church and Evangelists may pretend to know, but they don’t. To them Jesus as a personal God, not a universal and natural phenomenon. Their words do not compute with the forces of nature.

What amazes, however, is how the peoples of one Arab nation after another have chosen to be free from their king, benevolent despot, or tyrant in favor of Democracy. Apparently, it is a wave whose time has come, and a swell of human emotion that is moving with the power of a tsunami. Kadahfi can’t resist its force by “showing no mercy’ to the rebels of his regime in Libya, where the regard of other nations refuse to allow the slaughter. This is why Britain, France the U.S., and the U.N. Security Council and NATO have entered the fray, in defense of a defenseless people. Seems only right, all things considered.

This Intervention is nothing at all like a War; Iraq and Afghanistan are Wars. Both have contributed immensely to the reduction of America’s reputation and its economy. The Iraq War began as a deception by Evangelists such as Rod Parsley and misguided others who constitute The Republican Holy See who convinced the President that God [Jesus} was on their side. Big Mistake, as GWB learned as he flew over New Orleans in the wake of Katrina for which he was ill prepared.

“Trust, but verify,” is a perfect euphemism for “Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.” The GOP didn’t! Here in a nutshell is a history of recent world politics and the changes that most recently are affecting the Middle East and the world.

Kenneth G. Ramey is a member of Salem-News.com's original team of writers, he generates provocative articles on the subject of religion and world affairs. We are pleased that Ken's "lone wolf" presence as a writer in the world has been replaced by a spot on our team of writers at Salem-News.com. Raised in Minnesota and California during the dark years of the Great American Depression, Ken is well suited to talk about the powerful forces in the world that give all of us hope and tragedy and everything in between. You can write to Ken at: darken1@sbcglobal.net