Did you know that in a few days, Scotland will vote on becoming an independent nation?
On the 18th of this month, Scots will be flocking to polling stations to vote either “yes” or “no” on becoming a self-governed country, joining in the movement with many areas of Europe, currently campaigning for self-determination (though barring the Catalonians, Scotland’s probably the closest any have yet gotten).
And may that day yet come…
So is this a good thing? We here at CWR say yes. Continue reading
Posted in Economy, environmentalism, Europe, government, health, history, money, news, politics
Tagged age, bigotry, BNP, citizenship, EDL, ethnocentrism, Europe, fracking, freedom, GCHQ, healtchare, independence, Indyref, loch lomond, Military, missile, Nationalism, NHS, no, NSA, nuclear, pension, pensioner, poverty, proposal, racism, Referendum, scotland, Scottish, September 18, SNP, spending, taxes, trident, UKIP, vote, weapons, Yes
Yesterday, CWR’s own Kat posted “Do Western Christians Want Martyrs?”, a short post questioning the motivations behind the recent outpouring of Western sympathy for the plight of Iraqi and Syrian Christians, currently being massacred by the forces of the terrorist group formerly known as ISIS. That post prompted the following comment: “[it] seems a bit sick to turn this into a critique of Christians or Christianity… what is it in you that wants to make this a critique of Christian hypocrisy?”
Now I don’t think it was Kat’s intention to downplay the genocide in progress in the Levant and it certainly isn’t mine either. So why critique Christians?
Because Christians are guilty.
No, they’re not pulling the triggers or wielding the swords, but the actions of Western Christians have contributed not only to the slaughter of Iraqi and Chaldean believers, but the persecution, suffering, and misery of the church all across the world. And even as Western Christians switch their profiles to the Arabic letter “nun” for “Nazarene”, the self same people continue to be part of the problem.
Let me show you a picture:
These are the first of the first. The oft-forgotten Christians of Palestine. The descendents of the very first followers of Christ. These people are literally Nazarenes.
Where is their defense? Continue reading
Posted in America, Christianity, history, Islam, morality, news, politics, religion
Tagged 3rd World, Amazon, Amazonian, Bethlehem, Bush, Christian, Christianity, Christians, el salvador, European, fake, Foreign Policy, Gyspy, Houghton, Houghton College, hypocrisy, Iraq, IS, ISIS, Islamic State, israel, martyr, Martyrs, middle-east, Mr. By-Ends, Nazarene, news, Nike, nun, Oscar Romero, palestine, palestinian, Palestinian Christians, Pilgrim's Progress, Policy, Roma, Sabian, Slave Labor, sweat shop, sweatshop, Syria, western, Western Christians, Yezidi
UN Officials report having warned Israel “17 times” that the school was housing refugees and children.
I’m writing this after one of the deadliest days in the recent bombing of Gaza. As of right now, estimates place the Palestinian death toll for the past 24 hours as being over 100, with many lost after the IDF (“Israel Defense Force”) bombed a UN school-turned-refugee shelter. With the total death count standing at 1,336, it can be tough in such times to feel that there’s any hope- but readers, there is a way to fight back.
It’s called “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions“.
Posted in Africa, America, Christianity, Economy, Europe, Fame Day, government, history, money, morality, news, politics, religion
Tagged Alice Walker, apartheid, BDS, Boycott, civil rights, Death Toll, Desmond Tutu, Divestment, Gaza, Haredi, human-rights, idf, israel, israeli, Presbyterian Church, Sanctions, school, south africa, Stephen Hawking, Tesco, UN, UNWRA, West Bank, zionism
I’m sticking with this topic because I was asked, somewhat indirectly, to cover the tactics Hamas has been using. I don’t think I can do that without sounding like an apologist for Hamas- which I’m not a fan of, in spite of my constant proclamations of solidarity with the struggle of Gaza. Still, I wanted to deliver on some level, and the more I thought about it, the more I found myself returning to a quote of JFK’s- that “those who make peaceful protest impossible make violent protest inevitable.”
Whenever any conflict flares up enough in Palestine for the West to take notice, we’re inevitably going to encounter the idea that the Palestinians are to be blamed for not using “peaceful protest”. Such comments usually come from folks who can’t deny the plight of Palestinians but who can’t yet bring themselves to actually take a stand for them- but we’ll get to that in a minute.
At times like these, we tend to cite our own “peaceful protests”, conveniently only talking about the white-washed portions of it. We’ll talk about MLK Jr. all day long, and forget that even such “nonviolent” civil rights luminaries as Fannie Lou Hamer kept herself armed to the teeth. Heck, Hamer herself declared “I keep a shotgun in every corner of my bedroom and the first cracker even look like he wants to throw some dynamite on my porch won’t write his mama again.”
Yes indeed. And only one of many such examples within the “non-violent” movements of the 50s and 60s.
Posted in media, morality, news, politics
Tagged Al Haq, Arms, Budrus, Canada, Christian ZIonism, Europe, Gaza, lobby, MLK Jr. Fannie Lou Hamer, nonviolent, organization, pacifist, palestine, palestinian, Palestinians, peaceful, peaceful protest, Protest, Shawan Jabarin, Shin Bet, US, village, Violence, west, West Bank, zionism
There’s a prevailing idea that the Middle East and its history is nothing but a quagmire of conflicts and wars too ancient and complicated for all but the most scholarly. This simply isn’t true, and 9 times out of 10 it’s just a flimsy excuse for one’s ignorance on the people and politics of civilization’s cradle. The truth is, the Middle East isn’t anymore complex than any other part of the world, and by the end of this post, I’m hoping to have proven that.
This is as simple as it gets, people.
Let’s talk about a little stretch of beach called Gaza.
A fifth of the size of Los Angeles, and with a population of 1.7 million, the Gaza Strip is the world’s largest open-air prison.
That’s right, a prison. We can call it a “territory” or a “reservation” or dress it up any number of ways- at the end of the day, a gigantic holding cell is all that it is.
Posted in government, morality, news, politics
Tagged 2010, 2014, aid, arrest, bantustan, bigotry, Blockade, civil rights, democracy, election, fishermen, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, human-rights, humanitarian, ignorance, imprisoned, israel, justice, kidnapped, Mavi Marmara, murder, palestine, palestinian, prison, Rachel Corrie, racism, siege, violation
Yours truly has not had many good things to say about organized religion, yet today we celebrate just that. Or more specifically, the Presbyterians, who voted on June 20th to divest its holdings in three companies (Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions) associated with supplying Israel.
In fact, the Presbyterian Church has gone so far as to
1. Call upon all nations to prohibit the import of products made by enterprises in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.
2. Call for the boycott of all Israeli products coming from the occupied Palestinian Territories, including AHAVA Dead Sea Laboratories Beauty Products, and all date products of Hadiklaim, The Israel Date Growers Co-Operative Ltd, often marked by the brand names: King Solomon Dates and Jordan River (not Israeli products from Israel).
3. Direct the Stated Clerk to communicate this action to all other PC (USA) councils and entities and invite and strongly encourage those groups and organizations to endorse this boycott until significant progress toward Palestinian rights and independence can be reported to the General Assembly or the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (note: formerly General Assembly Mission Council.)
4. Direct the Stated Clerk to inform our ecumenical partners of this action, both nationally and globally, and call upon them to join in the boycott of these companies.
Posted in America, business, Christianity, Fame Day, money, morality, news, politics, religion
Tagged Apocalypse, ban, BDS, Caterpillar, Christian ZIonism, church, Disinvestment, Dispensationalism, Divest, Fame Day, Gaza, Hewlett-Packard, israel, Israeli settlements, Mission, Motorola Solutions, palestine, Palestinian Territories, Presbyterian, Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, the Presbyterian Church, vote, West Bank, zionism
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