Community of the Risen

The problem is simple.  We think in terms of number, politics and statistics, rather than common sense.  With so much talk on Capitol Hill, surprisingly few analysts outside Jack Jacobs have noted the troop surge is less than a 15 percent increase in Iraq.  While Senators bicker over the surge, they swear in General David Petraeus, the new commander in Iraq, who suggests that an additional 120,000 troops are needed for stability in Iraq.  But who’s counting? 

The terms “winning” and “losing” no longer really apply in Iraq.  A better strategy might consist of “going big or going home.”  I’m tired of listening to the politicians.  We must either totally commit to Iraq, or withdraw.  There is no middle ground that does not mire us down.  

Most people know I am no politician.  Listening to the State of the Union has always been hard because of ghastly generalizations and euphemisms that do not really define the state of this union.  Bush argued, as I have often argued, that “out citizens don’t much care which side of the aisle we sit on as long as we’re willing to cross that aisle when there is work to be done.”  People want to keep their jobs, see a better education system in place for their children, and have security when they retire.  They want a place to go when they are sick, a government who understands their needs, and they don’t want excuses or a passing of the buck when things go bad.  Let us speak of some of the one of Bush’s main points: the energy crisis.  

The “energy crisis” is interesting coming from a president not known for his environmentalist leanings.  My personal belief is that the environment must be protected at all costs.  Church’s today, a bastion to conservatives all over the US, speak of the environment very little—if at all.  In the words of one of my closet Indian friends, “I like the earth; it’s the only one I’ve got.”  Her sentiments project what should be the majority Christian attitude.  This environment, the very world we live in, is the place where the new earth “will come out of heaven” (Revelation 21).  We are responsible now for the beginning and coming culmination of God’s kingdom on earth.  What will he call us—certainly not good and faithful servants—if we have ravaged and destroyed this earth.

This is why I believe true environmentalist reform cannot be done at the governmental level, but must be launched at a grass roots level.  Big oil companies can surely find loop holes and cut corners when if new laws get in the way of big profits, but people who truly care cannot be stopped.  The president and other members of congress should begin imploring religious leaders to help save energy.  Churchgoers should begin dreaming in big ways how they can cut down on their use of energy.  Carpooling to work, lobbying for mass transit systems, and finding other modes of transportation such as bicycles are all ways that we can reduce the amount of gas used in the world around us.

But as long as conservatives feel the environment is a secondary issue there will be no change.  Congressmen are elected by their constituents, and if their constituents are unhappy the congressman or woman will not be reelected.  That is why I am calling for a grass roots campaign on a multi-denominational front to seek for the advancement of technologies that save energy.  This grass roots campaign should join with other broader environmentalist organizations to change America into a country that cares about the environment around us.  The mentality of “more is better” must change before an energy crisis can be averted.    

In the December issue of Newsweek, Fareed Zakaria argued that Iraq was comparable to Vietnam.  The only solution now for Zakaria is a pullout in the fashion of Kissinger after Vietnam, while trying to do the least amount of damage to America.  O’Reilly, the infamous FOX News personality, says America must win the war, lest Iran fill a power vacuum with nostalgic thoughts of their Old Persian Empire.  I have hope that we can come out of this war with a positive outlook in the Middle East.  There is no way, as things have so far progressed, for America to have a victory in Iraq.  The damage that has been done economically, socially and culturally in Iraq is so great that we can only salvage the bits and pieces—the memory of this war will on the hearts and minds of Iraqis for many generations to come.  America looks like the bad guy—there is really no question about this in the Middle East.  Sending in more troops is more reason for Islamic extremists to cry out against what they see as western colonial efforts to destroy Islam.

A newly entrenched democratic majority in congress flew in on the wings of an anti-war platform.  Many congressmen and women have a vested interest in getting Americans out of Iraq.  There is, however, a power vacuum that could be taken by countries such as Iran if America withdraws.  O’Reilly’s argument here does hold merit in my eyes.  Whispers occurring all over the American media speak of Bush wanting a war with Iran.  This is all above my head, and I am no prophet.  What we do know is that Iran is hurting.  Iranians are upset that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who ran on a platform to end poverty, concentrates more on anti-West speeches than his own economy.  A recent Newsweek Article suggests that vegetables have tripled in price in the last month.  This should not just be dead information to American ears. 

Perhaps what we need is not more wars, but a united effort with a coalition of Western and Arab countries who promise in good faith to help rebuild Iran.  Instead of threatening and hard-lining the Iranian government Bush should call for meetings with Ahmadinejad.  What we need is a kind of Arab Marshall Plan, a humanitarian aid plan with no strings attached.  What is good for our neighbors, according to the laws of economics, is good for us.  Promotion of international trade and the modernization of Iran (while at the same time respecting religious and cultural tradition of the Iranian people) is good for the West and the Middle East. 

What will Ahmadinejad be left to say when Bush offers, along with a plethora of other countries, economic aid with no strings attached.  There is currently no war going on in Iran.  If we go in with a silent revolution, under only a humanitarian pretense, how can they call us the “great Satan?”

But fixing Iran does not solve the Iraq problem.  The problem in Iraq is a much more serious threat because of the nature of the country.  Due to many mistakes made by Rumsfeld and Bush, the country of Iraq is in shambles with power vacuums filled by such extremist leaders as Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army.  What we must understand is that the between Sunni and Shi’ite was first a religious difference and then a cultural difference. 

What Bush should really be looking for is not a powerful political leader, but a powerful religious leader who might have the ability to unite a politically divided Iraq.  Following our own years of civil war in America, we wanted to bring the South to “justice.”  The “radical republicans,” as they are now known, called for hard-line punishment of those who began the war in the South.  The leaders took an “us vs. them” mentality.  It was only by Lincoln and others after his death who allowed for forgiveness that the once split America was able to be reunited.  We cannot take this mentality in Iraq.  There is not an Iraqi and an American, there are only humans. 

What Iraq needs is a Desmond Tutu or a Nelson Mandela—people who would be willing to work for the reconciliation of Iraq.  More troops can keep the peace, but the power vacuum with always be there when we leave.  The only way to fight a terrorist ideology is a better and more peaceful ideology that must be widely accepted in Iraq.

For this we must continue to hope and pray.  A definitive leader, who can control both Sunni’s and Shi’ites, is in my estimation the only way to save and salvage Iraq.      

It’s weird when pictures make your stomach hurt.  Life, when taken day by day, is sometimes painful.  Pain is full of so many emotions–hurt, loss, regret, and sometimes even love.  Sometimes it is like a fire that burns so deeply–like a blazing sun.  It brings smiles for me.

What worries me most is that many Christians are afraid of pain.  They are afraid to experience it, afraid that they might not be able to make it through.  But in the words of Copeland, “Feel the pain, teaching us how much more we can take.” 

I honestly believe that pain was part of the fall, part of the reality of a world apart from God.  But it is a reality nonetheless, and we must go through it before we reach the final redemption.  Standing before God, we will feel it no more.  And how good it shall feel!