Renounce War, Proclaim Peace

Although many of you have probably already read this on other blogs, I'm reposting it so that you can read it to.

“We renew our declaration that international disputes can and should be settled by peaceful means. That is the way of the Lord.
We call upon the statesman of the world to assume their rightful control of the affairs of nations and to bring this war to an end, honorable and just to all. Animated and led by the spirit of Christ, they can do it. The weeping mothers, the distraught and impoverished wives, the fatherless children of the world, demand this be done. In this way only will enduring peace come; it will never be imposed by armed force. Hate driven militarists and leaders with murder in their hearts, will, if they go though to the end, bring merely another peace that will be but the beginning of another war.
We call upon the Saints the world over to pray to God constantly in faith, nothing doubting, that He will bring His purposes speedily to pass and restore peace again to the earth to bless His children.”

Who was it that said this? Some crazy liberal organization? Surely they must know that we are engaged in a global war between good and evil! Don't they remember that we were attacked?!

In reality, the organization who issued this statement was the First Presidency of the LDS Church in October 1942, less that a year after Pearl Harbor.

-Bob

(Thanks to Centerville Citizen for finding this.)

A warlike people

President Spencer W Kimball, then-president of the LDS Church, June 1976:

We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel—ships, planes, missiles, fortifications—and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching:

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:44–45.)

Iraq Growing Opium; We Lose War on Terror and War on Drugs

One of the largest ways that the Taliban gets money is by growing poppies for the opium.

One of the things we did well in the early stages of the WaronTerror:Afghanistan was to get rid of the poppy crops. Fast forward to 2007, where this year's poppy crop is expected to be larger than last year's record-setting amount.

And now, we read that they are starting to grow poppies in Iraq:

Farmers in southern Iraq have started to grow opium poppies in their fields for the first time, sparking fears that Iraq might become a serious drugs producer along the lines of Afghanistan.

Rice farmers along the Euphrates, to the west of the city of Diwaniya, south of Baghdad, have stopped cultivating rice, for which the area is famous, and are instead planting poppies, Iraqi sources familiar with the area have told The Independent.

The shift to opium cultivation is still in its early stages but there is little the Iraqi government can do about it because rival Shia militias and their surrogates in the security forces control Diwaniya and its neighbourhood. There have been bloody clashes between militiamen, police, Iraqi army and US forces in the city over the past two months.

Oops.

-Bob

USA funding Al QAEDA in 2007?!?

How F***ed up is this?





I so wish this was a joke.

Hatch, FISA, and Article II

Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who is also a member of the Intelligence Committee, said he had been given details about the program and was satisfied — but not absolutely certain — that it is constitutional. "I am familiar with the program," Hatch said, "and I have to say that I agree with [the] proposition that the Congress cannot take away the president's authority under Article Two of the Constitution."

-From National Review

Article II, Section 2, Clause 1: "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. "

That's the only mention in Article II about being Commander in Chief. And there's nothing about making up, or being above, the laws. War, or no war.

Oh, and only Congress can decalare war (Article I). The last time they did that was December 9, 1941 (Germany).

-Bob

Wasting Tax Dollars

Unabashed Utahn has a great post on his current life in the military. It's not the same as the ads make it seem. He brings up what a wonderful use of resources this war is:

Back home people think being in the military involves a huge amount of patriotism. But it hasn't for me, if anything I have slowly been chipping away at my innate nationalism since I joined. My job just seems so meaningless. Here I am wasting tax dollars that could be spent on education or implementing environmently friendly policies. Everyday I think of the waste this giant military is. I hate listening to everyone say "thanks for protecting our freedoms" and "you make us free." What freedom was threatened by Iraq? If we wouldn't have invaded to find WMD would we not be watching crappy reality tv shows, would the internet have shut down, or would the Communists have taken over? NO! We are not the Department of Defense anymore, defending the nation has now fallen to the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Jimmy Carter on values and Mormons

If any of you out there are looking for what to get me for Christmas, Former Presidnet Jimmy Carter's new book Our Endangered Values would be near the top of my list.

In the book, Carter talks about how America's values, those that are actually talked about in the Bible, seem to be ignored by the fundamentalists who run today's Republican Party, and are in The White House.

He expects his book "to resonate deeply" with Utah's Mormon population.

"Mormons are committed to peace. We worship the Prince of Peace not the Prince of Pre-emptive War," Carter said. "Mormons have always shown a strong concern about poor or deprived people. This administration has shown an ostentatious preference for the richest Americans. I think Mormons have shown a great respect for the environment. This administration is the least concerned about environmental issues of any in history." -From a Salt Lake Tribune Article

It should be a good read.

-Bob

Renounce War, Proclaim Peace

I read DailyKos, well, daily, but most things there don't fit my blog, which is mostly local.

I don't know if diarist flernk is local, but he is LDS, a Democrat, and wrote a diary on LDS and peace.


This is my (and the Church's) official position on war...

"Now, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what does the Lord expect of us? As a Church, we must "renounce war and proclaim peace." As individuals, we should "follow after the things which make for peace.'"
--Elder Russell M. Nelson, 5 October 2002

To be clear, this isn't my position on the "War on Terror," or the current war in Iraq, nor even the Viet Nam or World wars. This is my (and the Church's) official position on war itself. Say or believe what you want about my Church, all politics aside, I wish THIS was the image people remembered when they thought of us.


Amen, brother.

-Bob