Tag: violence

No New Things. . .

Google the phrase “nothing new under the sun.” I did. Wikipedia pops up in the top of the list directing to its page where I discover it’s the name of an album. Vinyl no less. There is nothing new under the sun, by a Missouri group, Coalesce. Amazon offers books that some how, the Google search says, are related to Nothing new under the sun. Then there’s the link to Under the Sun, who headed to North Korea to check out the “carefully managed national image.” Hum. Okay. If their image is carefully managed, then it means the country wants to be seen as a bit, well, crazy.

Not exactly what I was thinking. I could go into the Bible software that I use. But its search capabilities are lacking. It was free, so I won’t complain. Scrolling down the search page I get to a reference to Ecclesiastes 1:9:

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Despite what all new crops of college graduates think, it’s all happened before. Not to burst their bubble, but there are wheels and axles, so no invention there.

It’s been twenty-five years since I graduated with a Bachelor in journalism. I concentrated on newspaper journalism. I remember one of the instructors saying, “today’s news is tomorrow’s fish wrap.” With the ubiquitous computer or iPad or “smart” phone for reading the news, we won’t wrap fish in the news any more.

Here’s the thing about the news. A week ago angry protests and allegations, and pending investigations, of potential police officer racism and murder are left by the wayside so that we can learn everything there is to know about police officers murdered in Dallas. Now everyone’s opinion is all over CNN about the tragic murders of French civilians. What’s real and what’s simple fabricated, is hard to make out too.

Too many talking heads. I told my wife last night that what I really appreciated about what I call Real News, is that as a reporter there is the issue of sources and quotating those sources, and having the article reviewed. I suppose the television news gets that to some extent, but when these supposedly intelligent television entertainment guys stand up and interview people who clearly haven’t got a clue, one does have to wonder if plain dead air—the dreaded “no, no” of broadcast—would be preferable.

Last night one of the news entertainers said, “these have been happening so often they all run together.” EXCUSE ME! I’m sure that the family of the American man and his daughter who where on a trip to Nice are not thinking all these things run together. Neither are the families of the more than eighty people murdered. They were murdered by. . . some guy. We’ll learn the name, but it seems no one can agree on a proper title to refer to “those people who drive over people, shoot people, who were simple celebrating a national holiday. And someone in the political structure of our government wants a declaration of war against an enemy without a country and without a significant, agreeable title to describe the enemy.

We could call them what they are: Cowards! They train to murder unarmed and untrained civilians–men, women, children. Really honorable. It’s sick.

This war that isn’t a war has been going on quite a while now. It started well before the U.S. was attacked fifteen years ago. America lost over three thousand people that day to attacks on two buildings in New York and on the Pentagon in Washington. D.C., and don’t forget the fourth airplane that went down in Pennsylvania after its highjacking. And one of America’s politicians is concerned that if we retaliate we will be baited into a ground war. Seriously. America—representing the superior might of the world—is suppose to cower, suppose to just bury its head in the sand.

And then there’s the United Nations. What gall. It want’s to investigate allegations of police brutality in America. Not to mention wanting Americans to disarm, despite America’s clear Constitutional rights. One might think the U.N. wants to be in charge of the entire world. Like that’ll work. Europe can’t even unit itself, not to mention protect itself. As far as I know, America still supports NATO, is the strength of NATO.

But this war stuff has been going on a long time, and the violence it has brought us. Just look at Cain and Able. Brother against brother.

War. Rumors of war. Earthquakes. Some things never change. There’s nothing new under the sun. I expect one day to hear an angry voice from Heaven yell, “Children! I’ve had enough of your behavior. Go to you rooms. Now!”

It’s that or all Hell’s gonna let loose. And that’s not going to be a good thing.

Can’t we all just get along? I guess not. Nothing new under the sun.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Violence in America, and elsewhere

“When is anyone going to get serious? The problem is violence, a violence of monstrous and horrific proportions that has infected America’s popular culture,” wrote L. Brent Bozell III, in his column, ‘Dialogue’ Required for Violent Video Games, published February 22, 2013, in a column on CNSNews.com

Well, yes, it is obvious, violence has infected America. But when did this infestation of violence begin? Has this epidemic taken hold only recently with rampages resulting in school shootings? What was index case, as it the first instance of a disease is called? Was it the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, when on Dec. 14, 2012, a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7, at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., about 65 miles northeast of New York City, an event that reignited a national debate over gun control.

But wait, a timeline of school shootings shows the first to be Feb. 2, 1996, in Moses Lake, Washington, when Two students and one teacher killed, one other wounded when 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis opened fire on his algebra class. (Source: Time Line of Worldwide School Shootings.

Perhaps this epidemic of violence began with something much larger in scope, such as the horrific violence done to Americans on September 11, 2001, when a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks launched by the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. areas on September 11, 2001. On that Tuesday morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger jets, intending to fly them in suicide attacks into targeted buildings. Two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Both towers collapsed within two hours and falling debris, combined with fires that the debris initiated in several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the other buildings in the World Trade Center complex, also causing major damage to ten other large structures in the immediate area of the complex. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense), leading to a partial collapse in its western side. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was targeted at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers. Almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including all 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes. (source: Wikipedia)

Maybe we need to go back well beyond our recent history. Perhaps we should look at the beginnings of humankind.

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand.

Genesis 4:8-11

G-d cursed Cain for this evil, this violence. Here we are some 5700 years later and violence is rampant upon the Earth. It seems to me, one of the issues is that we choose to forget the origin of violence. If Cain slew Able today, we might examine Cain to see why he did what he did. We might declare that he was mentally incompetent, and society let him down by allowing him access to a club. Some might even blame Able for provoking his poor brother.

The thing is, it goes beyond the index case of violence in the world. It goes to the heart of the matter, and influences upon the human heart. Paul put it this way:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:12

Looking to blame individuals, looking to deter violence taking away what we perceive as the cause of that violence, misses the point. There is violence in America, as there is violence throughout the world. This violence has a source in spiritual wickedness in high places. Spiritual beings unchecked by the lack of Christian Watchmen.

Take a minute today, and tomorrow, and the next tomorrow, to recognize there are unseen forces unleashed upon our communities. Take just a minute to ask the Lord Y’shuaJesus to come “against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

These are the forces of evil that are ruining our communities, our nations, our world.

Come, Lord Y’shuaJesus. Come Back and conquer and rule.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon y’all. . .