True Spirituality

My friend Brother Thierry (Bro T) is coming to speak to us at TRUE on Wednesday night @ 8pm. Don't miss it!
Check TRUE blog for details.

Davy and Sheena Mull

Well my wee bro got married yesterday. Was a beautiful day. Great to have the extended family under one roof along with friends old and new. Felt proud to be his groomsman, brother and friend..... and delighted that he now has a mighty fine wife!

Anyway for those who requested it, here is the video we showed. I'm glad to say that Sheena's mum has forgiven us!

The Logic of Power

Ok last burst of frustration then I'll try and lighten up the blog for a while.

Tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. George Bush said today that they had achieved:

"a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror".

Agreed?

700,000 killed and 4 million refugees..... and here is the financial cost... keep reading......

It is estimated that the overall cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is somewhere between $5 trillion and $7 trillion for the US alone and another $6 trillion for other countries.

Officially, the US spends $16 billion every month to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan (this figure includes only direct expenses).

The United Nations estimates that $195 billion would end world hunger and most of the devastating diseases afflicting the world’s poor. AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, extreme poverty could all be brought into manageable numbers or completely eradicated for less than the cost of one year of war in Iraq!!!

The world is so screwed up.

(btw this is a criticism of War, not of America which has produced many good things and great people like Eilis!)

The Stupidity of Man

Brian H had a great poem on his blog recently about the task of a Christian being recklessness. Well a lot of rage has gathered inside me that needs venting.

Violence breeds violence. Violence escalates. How stupid is mankind? Will we never learn? Violence makes things worse.

Last week the Israeli army killed 125 people in Gaza (over half civilians including many children). Their blockade on Gaza amounts to collective punishment by denying Palestinians their basic human needs. Christian Aid, Amnesty and other organisations have critisised the situation stating that the peopel of Gaza are 'battered and starved'.

The Israeli government say their actions are to stop rocket fire. Has it stopped? Of course not it has got worse. The threat on the Israeli people has become greater because of their government's actions.

Also last week a Palestinian gunman slaughtered 9 Israeli students in Jerusalem. What did he hope to achieve by taking these innocent lives? He has put his own people under more threat.

Further afield..........
The US (and allies) want to defeat terrorism so they bomb the hell out of Afganistan and Iraq.

• The war costs the US $275 million per day
• Almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers killed and more than 60,000 wounded
• 700,000 Iraqis killed and 4 million refugees

Is terrorism defeated? No it is has grown and spread and become a greater threat than ever before.

The thing that pisses me off more than anything is Christians who (even on this blog) justify the some of the actions I have mentioned as being part of God's plan.

Not the God I believe in.......
The God I believe in makes it possible to view all men as equal- Arab and Jew, Iraqi and American.

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity. By its very nature, hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up. Love transforms with redemptive power."
((MLK) thanks Bro T!)

Morning's news. At least 32 more palestinians killed last night including 4 children and 2 teenage girls.

'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere' Martin Luther King Jr