IS GOD TOO BUSY RUNNING THE WAR ON ISLAM?

 WAS JESUS HIJACKED BY HATE?

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER

I bought a gun from an estate sale a couple of days ago.  The Walther P38 came in a paper bag with a loaded magazine.  When I rolled it out on the table, it was covered with dried blood and brain matter.  The normally enjoyable tear down, inspection and cleaning became a biohazard task.

America had killed another one.  Was it a returned veteran, a failed banker or a "10 most wanted" shooting himself before the police kicked down the door? 

For sure there was no reason to keep living.  So many are dying like this, thousands.   Where is religion?  Where are our Churches?  Where are those that stand by the weak, the confused and comfort them?  Where are those who stand against torture, corruption and war?  Has American religion, in love with influence, in love with war, hijacked Jesus?

I am not an expert on religion.  I read books about religion, some written by friends, and have more pictures of churches around the world than just about anyone.  I always light candles, put money in the box and drag out the Nikon.  I can tell you who built the church.  Churches were built to represent the kingdom of heaven. 

Nothing is left but a crumbling kindom of man, too often less than human, less kind, less forgiving, less caring, blurring the divide between man and beast.

I find the idea of religion fascinating.  I think of the major religions whose basis for existence is proving that other major religions are wrong and their believers need to be tortured and killed in the name of love and brotherhood. 

I have heard military chaplains praying for nuclear Armageddon so that Muslims will suffer.  Normally I would think people who talk like that should be in a prison or hospital or perhaps a prison hospital.  Instead, this kind of thinking provided the "moral justification" for the overthrow of our system of government.  Anything can be justified to save us from the nasty decisions that "free will" can offer.

Is the same message, mirrored, being taught in thousands of Mosques too?  Do we celebrate our differences by being the same?  Is Iran our enemy or our twin?

I grew up with a combination of European "rationalists," Methodists and Jews.  It was a fun family.  I have a couple of people I have known, out of many, that have religion in their lives and beliefs that help them put a working world together.  90% of the people I know, many church goers, are athiests "behind closed doors."  What a pack of liars we are.

The only time religion is dragged out of the closet is to justify pointing a finger at someone else, Jews, Muslims or to kick Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses off the porch. 

How can religion provide solace when Satanism appears to be the driving force behind organized religion.  When I watch a TV evangelist I see horns, not wings.  Hell, here in Toledo, our local "church" actually has a coven of priests that are warlocks.  The leader is doing life for sacrificing a nun during a black mass.  Only one priest was jailed and one case, a ritual murder, prosecuted.  There were many, involving rape, bestiality and torture.  Police and church officials had covered it up for years.

Our demanding society expects results.  Prayer may effect seratonin levels but Satan seems to be alot more fun.  Wonder who the folks in our government must be praying to?  I would love to say "no Christian could ever allow torture" but, as we all know so well, Christianity has the most brutal history of any belief system on Earth.

Does religion in America hate our soldiers?  Does it hate our veterans?  Perhaps we should examine this also.  For sure, our current wars were being pushed by religious leaders who want to bring on the Apocalypse and kill as many Muslims as possible.  This is no secret, never was.

The only result I see is an America less righteous, less moral, less caring, more willing to sacrifice, betray and abandon her own, addicted to the love of religious war and reviled the idea of taking responsibilty for the suffering. 

That effort has not worked out very well.  Not only have millions in Pakistan joined those from 2 dozen other countries fighting us, but Islamic extremism and warfare is spreading across Africa now, as predicted by everyone who wasn’t as stupid as the Bush administration.

One good thing about religion and the military, there are no war crimes in a religious war.  Killing a child is eliminating an "apostate" or non believer.  Torture is a tool religion has always used.  Religious leaders will get out the hot irons and testicle crushers at the drop of a hat.

They have even more fun with women.  Europe is filled with museums of religious torture.

When churches are busy pushing war and advocating genocide, as they have for the past few years, their role in serving the spiritual needs of the flock seem to have fallen aside more than usual, and that’s saying alot.

Was it the marriage between extremist religion in the US and the GOP Whitehouse that addicted so many to power, power to oppress, power to kill and power to judge? 

Was the idea of god or Jesus simply cast aside?  Did Bush replace Jesus?  This is my best guess.  When Christianity left its origins and melded with the "pagan" cults of Greece, Rome and Northern Europe, idolatry and a pantheon of God’s repackaged as "the trinity" or as saints moved the teachings of Christ into the religious "basement."

Islam loves reminding us of this as do the Jews.

Burned, banned, edited and mistranslated gospels created corporate religion based on serving the powerful and wealthy at the expense of the just and righteous.  The Divinci Codes didn’t even being to touch on the truth as any real religous scholar will tell you.

When was the last conclave of churches in America tasked with ending the war and restoring human values?  Where is the religious outcry over torture?

There is nothing but time and money, oh so much money, for bashing homosexuals but so little money and no time at all when it comes to standing up to evil or serving the spiritual needs of people, veterans, military and their families with something other than rants against Islam and calls to slaughter.

Thousands of ministers, priests and backwoods preachers across America will be giving sermons based on talking points written by insurance company lobbyists tomorrow.  Hundreds of churches will be asking for armed insurrection in support of people Jesus would have beaten in rage.

One thing can be depended on, religion is predictable.  Keep the message simple.  Blame others.  Breed hatred. The money will follow.  Is religion theatre or something worse?

First they killed off the Christians, the real Christians as heretics.  Then they killed the Jews.  Then it was Islam, a "hard target" if there ever was one.

It is always the easy target, the weak and disenfranchised or more difficult targets fought by proxies, our soldiers, our allies, people who can be ignored as easy as turning off a television when things go wrong.

What would Jesus do this Sunday?  I can guess and it would involve renting bulldozers, lots of them. 

Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran and regular contributor on political and social issues.

Gordon Duff

Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.

Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.

Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.

• Gordon’s Archives:  2008-2015
• Gordon’s Archives:  2016-2022