The term "divide and conquer" is obviously well grounded in reality. Division makes any group of people, of any size, much easier to conquer, even destroy.
Each Sept. 10 now marks the anniversary of another remembrance of the last day that we experienced the feelings of safety and unity we once had, however falsely based that some of those feelings were. This year, I am especially sad at the the planned building of a mosque near the site of 9/11. I am even more distressed at the plans of the "pastor" Terry Jones to hold a public burning of the Koran in his church group. Really? Just what does he think this will accomplish?
I am going to quote a quote from Jim Palmer's "Wide Open Spaces" that is heavy on my heart today:
I Hate You.
You Hate Me.
We Hate Them.
They Hate Us.
What does it take to change this?
- Connie on MySpace, as quoted in "Wide Open Spaces"
These words planted a seed within me that has continued to germinate. Religion teaches that God is synonymous with a specific belief system. Each system claims to have "right" beliefs about God, which are passionately held by its adherants - so much so that hate, bitter resentment, bloodshed, and even war can result from disagreement about God. A brief overview of world history shows that bad things happen when religious belief systems clash. That is what Connie was feeling. She had experienced religious hate in her own world, was fed up, and voiced it in nineteen sobering words.
- Jim Palmer, "Wide Open Spaces"
I am also posting this video clip which immediately came to mind.
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4 comments:
Another great post....I have Jim's book here but haven't read it yet and I definitely plan to watch Footloose again ;-) You do a great job of pulling things together and expressing truth.
Hi Steph, it's funny I am on a kick of wanting to watch a bunch of the movies from high school days lately. I feel compelled to search for spiritual truth in all sorts of places. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. :-)
Enjoyed your blog Lionwoman.
I have not seen Footloose, will have to ck it out on Netfix.
I found this quote and thought it says so well what we are seeing in our world.
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction." Blaise Pascal
Everything that can be shaken is being shaken--religion fighting against religion--and many of us being shaken out of all of it--because we have seen His Kingdom come!!
windblown1
Hi Windblown, Footloose was one of those 80's movies with some corny acting but good food for thought about what goes on in the religious world. Yes I read that quote somewhere recently, it might have been in Jim P's book. Yes indeed, there's a lot of shaking going on!
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