End Drone Warfare

Photo credit: Hippie Christian Blog

Now that the election is over the conversation about drone warfare can begin.

This week the conversation was taken to the streets as seen in my photo of an abandoned movie theater turned billboard by a local activist artist group.

On PBS NewsHour this week Exploring Technology, Effectiveness, Consequences of Drone Warfare brought up some good questions, also this week their Targeted Killings piece gives a rather in depth explanation of the policies and rational used to justify drone warfare.

The Vancouver Sun ran an Associated Press story this week reporting that a special UN investigation is being launched into U.S. drone attacks and targeted killings. It remains to be seen what will come of the UN investigation, given that the US has veto power at the UN.

In 1858, Baptist minister Charles H. Spurgeon made the observation that the general public is insulated from the realities of war...

"It is astonishing how distance blunts the keen edge of anything that is disagreeable. War is at all times a most fearful scourge. The thought of slain bodies and of murdered men must always harrow up the soul; but because we hear of these things in the distance, there are few Englishmen who can truly enter into their horrors. If we should hear the booming of cannon on the deep which girdles this island; if we should see at our doors the marks of carnage and bloodshed; then should we more thoroughly appreciate what war means. But distance takes away the horror, and we therefore speak of war with too much levity, and even read of it with an interest not sufficiently linked with pain."

How prophetic those words are today with war being waged by remote control drones!

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

The Square And Stationary Earth

This is what the Earth looks like when the poetic, figurative language of the Bible is read as a science text - square and stationary!

Ferguson, Orlando, and L.H. Everts & Co. Map of the square and stationary earth: four hundred passages in the Bible that condemn the Globe Theory, or the Flying Earth, and none sustain it ; this map is the Bible map of the world. [Hot Springs, South Dakota: Orlando Ferguson, ©, 1893] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2011594831/

This is what the Earth looks like when the poetic, figurative language of the Bible is read as a science text - square and stationary! At least that is how Professor Orlando Ferguson portrayed the Earth in his Map of The Square and Stationary Earth back in 1893.

According to the map, the good Professor's view of a square and stationary Earth is supported by "Four hundred passages in the Bible".

As depicted in this comical detail from Prof. Ferguson's map, a round Earth rotating on its axis and circling the sun would have its inhabitants holding on for dear life to keep from being flung off into space by the terrific rate of speed they would be traveling at.

Apparently Albert Einstein had a bit to say about all of that a few years later.


Hanging on for dear life... figuratively.

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

Spherical Lump of Congealed Cosmic Dust

The Milky Way. Photo Credit: NASA

In an earlier post, I'm Losing (and finding) My Religion - Again, I wrote about the reconciliation of my faith and current scientific understanding of the universe. I have come to believe that the Bible is not a science textbook and that science doesn't answer questions of faith.

We are no longer the center of the solar system or the universe, thank you Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei. 

Abandoning a geocentric model of the universe and an egocentric view of creation my faith is no longer threatened by science. I am free to fully experience the wonder and shear awe of our universe without the cognitive dissonance that a literal reading of Genesis brings on. 

Last year I bought a new telescope and I am enjoying my rekindled love of the cosmos. While viewing sights such as the Orion Nebula, the Beehive Cluster, and the Pleiades, I can't help but think about our spherical lump of congealed cosmic dust and its place in the cosmos. Could there be other planets out there?

According to John Johnson, assistant professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech, “There’s at least 100 billion planets in the galaxy—just our galaxy, That’s mind-boggling.”

I started wondering how many Earth-like planets are in our galaxy, how many in the universe?

Joe Catanzarite, a scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, estimates that there might be "two billion Earth analog planets" in our galaxy alone. He added, "Then you start thinking about other galaxies. There are something like 50 billion, and if each one has two billion Earthlike planets, it's mind boggling."

I love it when scientists use technical jargon like "mind-boggling".

So, being neither an astrophysicist nor a mathematician, I'll do my best to "do the math"...

If there are 50 Billion galaxies in the known universe (a conservative estimate according to some scientists, the number could be 100 Billion) and multiply it by 2 Billion Earth-like possibilities, we come up with the "mind-boggling" number of 100,000,000,000,000,000,000. That is a 1 followed by 20 zeros (1 x 10²⁰). I could be wrong about the name, but I think that number is called 100 quintillion. 

Perhaps we are not alone in the universe on our little spherical lump of congealed cosmic dust after all.

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

Isn't There Any One Who Can Tell Me What Christmas Is All About?

Here is one of my favorite scenes from the Charles Schultz classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Here Linus, as usual, provides the moral and spiritual compass needed to answer Charlie Brown's ever present angst.



Happy Christmas!

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

Hippie Christian Peace Tracts!

Hippie Christian Peace Tracts!

I would get requests for these from around the world. It was an amazing experience to send little packets of these Peace Tracts to far off places.

Through these little tracts I was able to connect with other Hippie Christians in places I may never be able to visit in person and help them spread the Gospel of Peace.

I have scans of the original below along with some instructions just in case someone would like to print their own to give away to their friends. I printed these on 8.5 inch x 11 inch "Astrobrights" colored paper and then cut them down to 2.75 inches x 8.5 inches. They fold in thirds to about 2.75 inches x 2.75 inches.

Hippie Christian Peace Tract - Front

Hippie Christian Peace Tract - Inside

 

Just click on the images to open up the full size versions. Print four "Front" images on one side of 8.5 x 11 paper and four "Inside" images on the back side. After printing both sides, cut down to the final size of 2.75 inches x 8.5 inches. Fold in thirds so the peace sign is on the front and the prayer is on the back, approximately 2.75 x 2.75 inches.

"...Freely ye have received; freely give" ~Jesus (Matthew 10:8)

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

Salaam - Shalom - Peace

Photo: NASA

Then said Jesus unto him, "Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Matthew 26:52

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

Wake Up And Smell The Coffee

Atom Bomb latte by Devin of Mozart's

In the time it takes to drink a $3.50 latte, the Pentagon spends $19,146,689 of our taxes.

Check out this cool online military spending calculator over at PentagonSpends.com

But, the U.S. isn't only spending money on arms, we are also the world's largest exporter of arms to foreign countries. According to a new study for Congress U.S. overseas arms sales reached a record high in 2011.

The New York Times reports that weapons sales by the United States tripled in 2011 to a record high, driven by major arms sales to Persian Gulf allies concerned about Iran's regional ambitions.

In 2011, the United States overseas weapons sales jumped to $66.3 billion. That figure makes up 77.7% of the $85.3 billion global arms market in 2011, up from $21.4 billion in U.S. overseas weapons deals in 2010.

John Lennon latte by Michael Keen
Studio 6 Coffee House, Denver, CO

 

"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."
~John Lennon

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

Are You Truly Pro-Life?

B-2 Stealth Bomber during a 1994 training exercise.

According to the UNICEF report "Patterns in conflict: Civilians are now the target" the UN Secretary-General's expert on the impact of armed conflict on children Graça Machel states that "Armed conflict kills and maims more children than soldiers,"

How can Pro-War be reconciled with being Pro-Life?

How is it that the far right political candidates are at the same time both war mongers and staunchly pro-life?

Why is the Biblical mandate to avoid the shedding of innocent blood, which is at the heart of the Pro-Life movement, not equally applied to war?

These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV)

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud) 

Peace Day - September 21, 2012

According to the website InternationalDayofPeace.org the International Day of Peace was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly.

The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982. In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

By creating the International Day of Peace, the UN devoted itself to worldwide peace and encouraged all of mankind to work in cooperation for this goal.

Wouldn't be great if we could declare every day Peace Day?

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." - Jesus (Matthew 5:9)

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

The Drumbeat Of War Is Out Of Tune

The daily drumbeat of war that we are hearing is totally out of tune with the majority of American public opinion.

According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News Poll more are in favor of using sanctions and diplomacy over bombing to prevent Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon capability.

When asked if they would support or oppose the United States bombing Iran's nuclear development sites in an effort to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, 53% of those polled said that they would oppose such military action.

When asked if they would support or oppose increasing international economic sanctions against Iran to try to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, 74% of respondents said that they would support economic sanctions. And to try to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons a full 81% support direct diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran to try to resolve the situation.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."
- Jesus (Matthew 5:9)

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

The Sermon on the Mount and Iran

In a recent post on the Essence Restored blog titled The Sermon on the Mount and Iran a very good point is brought up that all those who claim the name of Jesus should ponder...

"If it is morally justified to create a pre-emptive war and kill hundreds of thousands of people in the name of stopping a “hypothetical threat” then all the teachings of Jesus about loving our enemy, about how those who live by the sword will die by the sword, and turning the other cheek are pretty much worthless, and the teachings of Jesus should be abandoned."

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-92) England's best-known preacher of the nineteenth century said it quite well...

"The spirit of war is at the extremely opposite point to the spirit of the gospel"

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

Preventing War Is Cheaper than Fighting It

According to the Friends Committee on National Legislation "Research has indicated that investing early to prevent conflicts from escalating into violent crises is, on average, 60 times more cost effective than intervening after violence erupts."

The FCNL goes on to say that "the world spends just $1 on conflict prevention for every $1,885 it spends on military budgets. Here in the U.S., less than 2% of income tax goes to civilian foreign affairs agencies; meanwhile, 39% goes to the military."

The FCNL points out that almost $1 billion of taxpayer dollars are spent each year for our military academies, but only about $40 million goes to fund the United States Institute of Peace, which is the only U.S. agency dedicated to conflict prevention and peacebuilding.


Download the FCNL flyer (pdf file) and find more of what the U.S. could accomplish if it budgeted for peace, not war.

Then saith Jesus to him, "Return thy sword to its place; for all who take the sword shall perish by the sword."
Matthew 26:52

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)