REVOLUTION, RIOTS, OR RENEWAL

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Arab, Christianity, history, iran, Iraq, Jesus, Jews, middle east, Muslim, President Barar Al-Assad, Syria, Tunis, Tunsia, Zine El ABinde Ben Ali

 

REVOLUTION, RIOTS, OR RENEWAL

or

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

 

Should you give a flip about what happens in the Middle East? Since your well-being could depend on the outcome of a struggle, you betcha!

The United States could quickly get sucked into a new armed struggle with Iran. The current Arab uprisings have turned that corner of the world upside down. Is it spring or winter over there? No one can say, but we better think about it. I certainly am.

Here’s some fact we should discuss today.

After Wael Ghonim helped start the Egyptian revolution with his internet attacks, experts from the U.S. Department of State to the Kremlin were shocked to discover Cairo’s Tahir Square exploding with protests and Mubarak fall from power. After the riots quieted, it was not clear whether this was renewal or ruckus. It still isn’t. Fireworks time is not over in Egypt.

The centuries old war between the Shiites and Sunnis rocks on in Iraq, threatening to topple any achievement the American presence made. It’s a little like the Methodist and Baptist shooting it out over how much water is needed in baptism. It’s no better across the border in Iran. Internal religious tension has only increased sectarian mistrust in Iran. Moreover, stepped-up sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program are punishing the economy and the Khamenei regime remains shaky.

And then there’s Syria, a country that I have visited and find most intriguing. In future blogs, I’ll described some of that experience. For all practical purposes, the Syrians are already in a civil war. Syrian President Barar Al-Assad watched the Arab Leagues observes run from his country while the brutal killing of thousands of Syrian citizens continues. No one knows whether Assad really believes the tides might turn in his favor or whether he is nothing but a tool of the military junta led by his brother Maher, called a ruthless murderer by many observers. I found Syria to have all the earmarks of an old-fashioned dictatorship.

Getting the picture? The fuse is already burning and I smell smoke in the air.

Of course, the outcome in Lybia appears more positive. New President Moncef Marzouki believes the democratic process is now irreversible. Recently, masses of citizens in Tunis, Tunsia, also marched to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali that helped spark the entire Middle East Revolution. I find encouragement in those situations.

In the on-going blogs, I will analyze what is occurring in these various states as well as concentrate on developments in Israel. I intend to give you a balanced and politically unbiased picture of this critical time of change.

We are living in one of the most important moments in recent history. There’s too much at stake to let this time slip passed us.

 

Question:

What’s your sense of what’s on the horizon? Do you doves descending or smoke going up?

UPDATE! UPDATE! BARBIE GETS THE BOOT IN IRAN!

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barbie, Christianity, iran, Iraq, Islam, Jesus, middle east, suffering, women

UPDATE! UPDATE! BARBIE GETS THE BOOT IN IRAN!

Citizens alert! Barbie’s passport has been cancelled in Tehran!

You think I’m kidding? The police have closed dozens of toy shops for selling the Barbie doll in Iranian stories. In a society where woman must wear head carves and men and women can’t swim together, Barbie’s swim suit and miniskirt collection have done her in. Branded a “Trojan Horse” by a government agency, Barbie is now considered a spy, smuggling in Western harmful trends like makeup or what they consider to be revealing clothes. Importing other Western toys has also been discouraged. Can you dig that?

Could this be the beginning of the fulfillment of John 24:7, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of sufferings.”?

Well, does it strike you that the Islamists and Mullahs might be a tad over the top in Iran? Maybe, it isn’t quite time to take out earthquake insurance. Pushing that little bit of nonsense to the back burner, there is a trickle of good news filtering out of Tehran. It appears in their confrontation with America the current regime has blinked first.

In contrast to the warning that a return of American warships to the Persian gulf would bring a dangerous response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp. now says it considers a return of American military ships to be a routine activity. Further, Iran is backing away from the threat to close the Strait of Hormuz. The oil-market squeeze and the shortage of American dollars (created by U.S. policy) has whacked the Iranian currency, knocking it to its lowest level ever against the dollar. The leaders of Iran (whoever they may really be) appear to be re-thinking their situation.

Barbie’s still in trouble, but a real crisis may have been averted.

While much of Iran’s political situation remains an enigma, it also remains difficult to discern who actually is in control of the country. Certainly, the mullahs sit at the top, but there’s tension up and down the political ladder. The Revolutionary Guard appears to have viewpoints that don’t always line up with Prime Minister Ahmadinejad. We also know the country was recently rocked by citizen’s political riots. There are good signs that there remains considerable unrest in the country inspite of politically bellicose statements to the media.

Here’s the point.

An intelligence expert on Iran believes “Iran is deterred now from crossing the Rubicon and developing nuclear weapons.” While there’s no way to discover if this is true, it’s certain a sign of hope.

It appears a better verse for today might be Jeremiah 31:17, “There is hope for your future, says the Lord.” Buck up, Barbie. Tomorrow may prove to be a better day.

ROSA PARKS A JEW?

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Equality, Faith, Haolocaust, history, Jerusalem, Jews, middle east, Rosa Parks, War

ROSA PARKS A JEW?

 

Was Rosa Parks Jewish? Let’s get real. Of course not.

 

But her heroic refusal to give up a seat on a Birmingham, Alabama bus and her rejection of white segregationists still rings out in Israel. You’d think the ultra-Orthodox boys on the back streets of Jerusalem would have heard the music.

They didn’t.

In December, the boys with curls hanging down to their chins tried to force a secular young Jewish woman coming home from work on a Jerusalem public bus to sit in the back. She told them to hang it on their noses. The war was on.

More properly called the haredim, the ultra-orthodox Jewish men thumb their nose at equal rights for all. These most “religious of the religious” believe women exist in a perpetual “come-on” state of being. Never mind, that these holy Joes have missed the fact that the problem of temptation is “in the eye of the beholder.”

Here’s an example.

In Beit Shemesh, a blonde 2^nd grade girl’s regular school appearance didn’t reach the proper measuring stick length. The boys in black and white descended on the child spitting and calling her a prostitute. Does it strike you that calling a 2^nd grader a prostitute might be a tad extreme? And spitting? It doesn’t take a psychiatrist to figure out which label you paste on these holy Joes.

Jews in America have already gone around this barn way too many times. In early January, the congregation of Beth El in northern New Jersey got another trip when a fire bomb was hurled through the Rabbi Nosson Schuman’s window, sending him and the family into the street. Up the road in Paramus, New Jersey, Congregation K’Hai Adath got the same bonfire treatment. The fire burned itself out; the worry didn’t.

What gives?

Periodically, I walk through Mea Shearim, the ultra-Orthodox quarter of Jerusalem. With my yarmulka firmly planted on my head, I remember that men walking with women is forbidden here. Oh pooh! Even walking with my elderly grandmother might get me in trouble. (Or her!)  Some of these folk would have carried Rosa Parks bodily to the back of the bus.

Women are considered perpetually seductive … oh yes, and inferior. Barbara Friedman will find that interesting. So, we find two different problems that are strangely similar. Prejudicial fire bombs in New Jersey; Prejudicial treatment of women and girls in Israel.

You ask again, what gives?

Though different in kind from the Haredi, far-right wing extremist made attacks in mid-December near Ramat Gilad. They slaughtered a holy cow in a most unkosher manner. (Holy cow, indeed!). Hit by a thrown rock, a Lt. Colonel felt the worst insult was being called a Nazi only a month after his grandmother died who had survived the Shoah. (Holocaust)

What gives is that gentiles must not let the nonsense reflect on Israel’s character. A small number of extremists don’t color the nation’s character anymore than nut cases playing with matches represent New Jersey. And here’s a sad footnote. Prof. Menachem Friedman, an expert on Jewish cults explains that the extremists are a reaction to the Shoah. Because they missed it, they feel they must take some public and extreme action to validate their Jewishness. Okay. But how about leaving 2^nd grade children and hard working woman alone.

The vast majority of Israelis agree. They are now shouting, “Stop the nonsense!” Sounds good to me. That’s Israel at its best.

Can we allow people with divergent beliefs to force their opinions down our throat? Should Israel throw open its doors to the practices of the ultra-Orthodox even when they cause some people to stumble?

All the signs of Halloween.

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America, death, eternity, halloween, holiday

All the signs of Halloween are out.

Pumpkins, cobwebs, scary window decorations everywhere.  Fake spiderwebs are in the trees, draped over front doors.  Costumes are in every store, even the grocery store.

It’s become a major American event. But what does this holiday reflect? I believe it demonstrates our fear of the unknown. We created creatures of horror from the grave that only reflect our apprehension.

There is hope.  We do not have to fear the unknown, the Christian message has a contrary message. The sting has been removed from death. We not longer have to be afraid. Leave all those fears in the ground where they belong, rejoice.

Love doesn’t die at the edge of a grace.

In Mexico they celebrate Las Dia de los Mueratos, the Day of the Death. The customs look strange to us but it reminds me of the story of the man placing flowers in a cemetery.  He noticed a Chinese man putting rice on a grave. He yelled, “When do you expect your dead ancestor to come up and eat the rice?” The man answered, “About the same time, yours comes up to smell the flowers.”

    I am reminded that the deceased remain precious to us. We honor them in many ways, but they all mean the same thing. Love doesn’t die at the edge of a grace.

Halloween…. Zombies…. Goblins…. Death….

 I’ve been putting up our fall decorations. In Oklahoma, the weatherman appears to think we’re still in summer, but we know that cooler weather is coming no matter what he says!

The leaves are changing color, the air seems a little crisper, the sun is going down earlier and coming up later…

    The local stores are now packed out with Halloween decorations and it’s only the lst of October! Halloween’s become bigger than Christmas. I am stuck by the fact that we have a strange view of death. Halloween appears to say that the dead become monsters of some sort. Zombies. Whatever. But by interviews with people with near-death experiences reports the contrary. The Christian faith teaches the opposite. In death we become whole and completed persons.  I am looking forward to the day when I am a complete person serving my creator in eternity.

Who is really in charge??

The view from the hearse raises the question, “who’s really in charge?” ” Well, of course, I am! The world answers back with a snort and a sneer. Sorry. You’ve missed the ball by a mile. When it’s all said and done, I’m in charge of virtually nothing. When I’m gone, I have control over nothing! Absolutely nothing!

For who’s in charge

Fortunately, scripture tells us that God is. It’s not the view from the hearse that oounts. It’s the view from eternity that tells the story. How do you think eternity is looking on you these days?

L’chaim!!!

Judaism celebrates life with the salute, “L’chaim.” The musical Fiddler on the Roof had a number of toasts to “L’chaim”, to life! It is a well known fact that the Jewish world treasures human existence and places the worth of each individual Jew at the top rung on the ladder. At times Christianity has recognized and embraced this value. At other times, it has forgotten. What not rethink the issue this fall? Isn’t the value of every life of such worth.

9-11

With the observance of 9-11 behind us, I can’t stop thinking about the number of people who died in the tragedy. At the same time, I am reminded of the Moslem world in the Middle East who rejoiced in the deaths of all of those innocent people. In that part of the world, they value existence in difference terms. It is a sharp contrast in recognizing the value of human life. One of the reminders we receive from “near-death” experiences is that every life is of supreme worth.

Where the Promise is…..

Labor Day weekend reminds us that one season is ending and another beginning. The heat of summer gives way to the cool of fall. The days get shorter and the nights longer. The changing of the season worried the ancients as they thoughts the world might end. It didn’t.

Each of us faces some ultimate day “out there” when our world will end. I find that worries contemporaries as much as the ending of season bothered the primiatives. The truth is we don’t need to be concerned. Take a look at I John 5:10-13. That’s where the promise is. It’s worth taking a second look.