Contemplation and Resistance

2010-09-15T10:09:00.001-07:00

Tell Congress it's time to pass the Dream Act.
http://ping.fm/C8guq

2010-09-15T09:59:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/meW88

2010-08-10T17:36:00.001-07:00

Pop Christian Teacher Joyce Meyer Sounds the Trumpet for Biblical Social Justice http://ping.fm/MwY6J

2010-08-10T16:24:00.001-07:00

5 myths about Mexico's drug war
http://ping.fm/4G8Bb

2010-08-10T16:06:00.001-07:00

28,000 dead in Mexico's drug war since 2007 http://ping.fm/qNPKA

2010-08-03T13:07:00.003-07:00

Modernizing Foreign Assistance http://ping.fm/B2vUv

2010-08-03T13:07:00.001-07:00

U.S. Development http://ping.fm/X06xj

2010-08-03T12:40:00.001-07:00

Simple way to fight modern slavery. http://ping.fm/7lj1J

2010-08-03T12:38:00.001-07:00

Help fight human trafficking. Call your senator, believe it or not it makes a difference. http://ping.fm/9VBqG

2010-08-01T18:17:00.001-07:00

i shall truly learn to surf http://ping.fm/Tyxma

2010-07-28T20:35:00.001-07:00

Listen to Talib Kweli's song on the Arizona Immigration law http://ping.fm/h9w0b

2010-07-28T20:18:00.001-07:00

http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/hip-hop-wisdom-bambu-speaks-on-gender-politics-filipinos-in-hip-hop-gang-life-in-la/

2010-07-28T19:54:00.001-07:00

Republicans Block Campaign Finance Bill http://ping.fm/42310

2010-07-28T19:33:00.001-07:00

In CA, Schwarzenegger vetoes a bill which would give farmworkers the right to overtime pay after 8 hours? What the hell! Arnold can go to Hollywood. http://ping.fm/2rurq

2010-07-28T12:01:00.001-07:00

Judge Keeps Key Parts Of Arizona Law From Going Into Effect http://ping.fm/XKWrv

2010-07-28T10:10:00.001-07:00

The state of immigration on the eve of SB1070
http://ping.fm/pFOhK

2010-07-28T10:03:00.001-07:00

Nonviolence or nonexistence? Panel on "Where do we go from Here? The Prospect of Peace in the 21st Century." http://bit.ly/2GJvNb

2010-07-28T10:01:00.001-07:00

Love Thy Neighbour As Thyself (Only if He is a U.S. Citizen or Resident Alien) http://ping.fm/miz45
altoarizona.com and http://ping.fm/jRWvB

2010-07-28T09:59:00.001-07:00

Even after Gulf Oil Spill Environmental Protection getting weakened?http://ping.fm/n96qw

2010-07-28T09:56:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/VvG5j

2010-07-27T13:04:00.001-07:00

Divine Forces in Full Effect

http://ping.fm/ywZiW

2010-07-27T12:56:00.001-07:00

Amazing film about the healing power and tool for social change hip hop can be in Uganda http://ping.fm/xMZ9X

2010-07-26T12:39:00.001-07:00

"Cast your cares upon the LORD and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22

2010-07-22T20:00:00.001-07:00

ping test

2010-07-22T19:18:00.001-07:00

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake--Henry David Theoreau

Early Christian Concern for the Poor in the Roman Empire

2010-02-20T07:12:00.000-08:00

Taken from What Has Christianity Ever Done For Us? by Jonathan Hill

" In the past, Greeks and Romans alike had idealized the 'city' as the basic unit of human society, and they had regarded the 'citizens' as making up that society, Philanthropists and other wealthy individuals or families would make donations to their city, perhaps to pay for buildings or amenities. Official welfare, where it existed, was distributed according to citizenship, rather than actual need. For example, the Roman empire operated something called the 'annona' system, which shipped food from areas with a surplass to those with a deficit and distributed it to the people....But people had the right to receive the distributed food if (and only if) they were 'citizens' of the city that was doing the distributing- it had nothing to do with need. And, it seems, there were plenty of poor people in the Roman empire- not simply the destitute and the hungry, but the equivalent of the lower working classes, who may have had a roof over their heads but lived hand to mouth and were very vulnerable to economic change. In an age where apart from the annona, there was virtually no state assistance or welfare provision to the economically disadvantaged, people like this could easily become homeless and hungry. Moreover, the cult of the 'citizen' meant that foreigners had no place in the ideal image of the 'city'.
The Christians, however, helped to turn this whole system around. For them humanity was not divided between 'citizens' and 'non-citizens', it was divided between rich and poor. And 'poor', in this context, meant not only the destitute, but those vulnerable to poverty-traditionally, widows and orphans-as well as foreigners and other strangers. Christians believed that it was their duty to try to help these people. We have already seen Jesus'command in Matt. 19:21 to sell everything and give to the poor, and the tradition went back to the Old Testament too. Job 29:11-16 states;
When the ear heard, it commended me, and when the eye saw, it approved; because I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger."

song of david

2009-10-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

מזמור לדוד Song of David the Movie (with Hebrew Subtitles) - Watch the top videos of the week here

Cesar Chavez "The Mexican American and the Church"

2009-10-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

The following article was prepared by Mr. Chavez during his 25-day Spiritual fast and was presented to a meeting on Mexican-Americans and the Church at the Second Annual Mexican Conference in Sacramento, California on March 8-10, 1968.

The place to begin is with our own experience with the Church in the strike that has gone on for thirty-one months in Delano. For in Delano the Church has been involved with the poor in a unique way that should stand as a symbol to other communities. Of course, when we refer to the Church we should define the word a little. We mean the whole Church, the Church as an ecumenical body spread around the world, and not just its particular form in a parish in a local community.

The Church we are talking about is a tremendously powerful institution in our society, and in the world. That Church is one form of the Presence of God on Earth, and so naturally it is powerful. It is powerful by definition. It is a powerful moral and spiritual force which cannot be ignored by any movement. Furthermore, it is an organization with tremendous wealth. Since the Church is to be servant to the poor, it is our fault if that wealth is not channeled to help the poor in our world. In a small way we have been able, in the Delano strike, to work together with the Church in such a way as to bring some of its moral and economic power to bear on those who want to maintain the status quo, keeping farm workers in virtual enslavement. In brief, here is what happened in Delano.

Some years ago, when some of us were working with the Community Service Organization, we began to realize the powerful effect which the Church can have on the conscience of the opposition. In scattered instances, in San Jose, Sacramento, Oakland, Los Angeles and other places, priests would speak out loudly and clearly against specific instances of oppression, and in some cases, stand with the people
who were being hurt. Furthermore, a small group of priests, Frs. McDonald, McCollough, Duggan and others, began to pinpoint attention on the terrible situation of the farm workers in our state.

At about that same time, we began to run into the California Migrant Ministry in the camps and field. They were about the only ones there, and a lot of us were very suspicious, since we were Catholics and they were Protestants. However, they had developed a very clear conception of the Church. It was called to serve, to be at the mercy of the poor, and not to try to use them. After a while this made a lot of sense to us, and we began to find ourselves working side by side with them. In fact, it forced us to raise the question why our Church was not doing the same.

We would ask, why do the Protestants come out here and help the people, demand nothing, and give all their time to serving farm workers,while our own parish priests stay in their churches, where only a few people come, and usually feel uncomfortable? It was not until some of us moved to Delano and began working to build the National Farm Workers Association that we really saw how far removed
from the people the parish Church was. In fact, we could not get any help at all from the priests of Delano. When the strike began, they told us we could not even use the Churches auditorium for the meetings. The farm workers money helped build that auditorium! But the Protestants were there again, in the form of the California Migrant Ministry, and they began to help in little ways, here and there.

When the strike started in 1965, most of our friends forsook us for a while. They ran- or were just too busy to help. But the California Migrant Ministry held a meeting with its staff and decided that the strike was a matter of life or death for farm workers everywhere, and that even if it meant the end of the Migrant Ministry they would turn over their resources to the strikers. The political pressure on the Protestant Churches was tremendous and the Migrant Ministry lost a lot of money. But they stuck it out, and they began to point the way to the rest of the Church. In fact, when 30 of the strikers were arrested for shouting Huelga, 11 ministers went to jail with them. They were in Delano that day at the request of Chris Hartmire, director of the California Migrant Ministry.

Then the workers began to raise the question: why ministers? Why not priests? What does the Bishop say? But the Bishop said nothing. But slowly the pressure of the people grew and grew, until finally we have in Delano a priest sent by the new Bishop, Timothy Manning, who is there to help minister to the needs of farm workers. His name is Father Mark Day and he is the Union’s chaplain. Finally,our own Catholic Church has decided to recognize that we have our won peculiar needs, just as the growers have theirs.

But outside of the local diocese, the pressure built up on growers to negotiate was tremendous. Though we were not allowed to have our own priest, the power of the ecumenical body of the Church was tremendous. The work of the Church, for example, in the Schenley, Di Giorgio, Perelly-Minetti strikes was fantastic. They applied pressure- and they mediated. When poor people get involved in a long conflict, such as a strike, or a civil rights drive, and the pressure increases each day, there is a deep need for spiritual advice. Without it we see families crumble,leadership weaken, and hard workers grow tired. And in such a situation the spiritual advice must be given by a friend, not by the opposition. What sense does it make to go to
Mass on Sunday and reach out for spiritual help, and instead get sermons about the
wickedness of your cause? That only drives one to question and to despair.

The growers in Delano have their spiritual problems... we do not deny that. They have every right to have priests and ministers who serve their needs. But we have different needs, and so we needed a friendly spiritual guide. And this is true in every community in
this state where the poor face tremendous problems. But the opposition raises a tremendous howl about this. They don't want us to have our spiritual advisors, friendly to our needs. Why is this? Why indeed except that THERE IS TREMENDOUS SPIRITUAL AND ECONOMIC POWER IN THE CHURCH. The rich know it, and for that reason they choose to keep it from the people.

The leadership of the Mexican-American Community must admit that we have fallen far short in our task of helping provide spiritual guidance for our people. We may say, I don’t feel any such need. I can get along. But that is a poor excuse for not helping provide such help for others. For we can also say, I don’t need any welfare help. I can take care of my own problems But we are all willing to fight like hell for welfare aid for those who truly need it, who would starve without it. Likewise we may have gotten an education and not care about scholarship money for ourselves, or our children. But we would, we should, fight like hell to see to it that our state provides aid for any child needing it so that he can get the education
he desires.

Likewise we can say we don't need the Church. That is our business. But there are hundreds of thousands of our people who desperately need some help from that powerful institution, the Church, and we are foolish not to help them get it. For example, the Catholic Charities agencies of the Catholic Church has millions of dollars earmarked for the poor. But often the money is spent for food baskets
for the needy instead of for effective action to eradicate the causes of poverty. The men and women who administer this money sincerely want to help their brothers. It should be our duty to help direct the attention to the basic needs of the Mexican-Americans in our society... needs which cannot be satisfied with baskets of food, but rather with effective organizing at the grass roots level.

Therefore, I am calling for Mexican-American groups to stop ignoring this source of power. It is not just our right to appeal to the Church to use its power effectively for the poor, it is our duty to do so. It should be asnatural as appealing to government... and we do that often enough.

Furthermore, we should be prepared to come to the defense of that priest, rabbi, minister, or layman of the Church, who out of commitment to truth and justice gets into a tight place with his pastor or bishop. It behooves us to stand with that man and help him see his trial through. It is our duty to see to it that his rights of conscience are respected and that no bishop, pastor or other higher body takes that God-given, human right away.

Finally, in a nutshell, what do we want the Church to do? We don’t ask for more cathedrals. We don’t ask for bigger churches of fine gifts. We ask for its presence with us, beside us, as Christ among us. We ask the Church to sacrifice with the people for social change, for justice, and for love of brother. We don’t ask for words. We ask for deeds. We don’t ask for paternalism. We ask for servanthood.

the Cornel West theory...New Album September 2009 on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

2009-09-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

the Cornel West theory...New Album September 2009 on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

2009-06-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness.-Richard Foster, "Celebration of Discipline"

photos continued

2009-06-02T09:37:00.001-07:00

Boston Photos

2009-06-02T09:20:00.001-07:00

miracle in the hood

2009-03-14T15:16:00.001-07:00

The Name of the Crew: Lightheaded

2009-03-05T12:44:00.001-08:00

Mickey Mouse is a B-Boy

2009-03-05T12:42:00.001-08:00

Mickey Mouse gets served

Dr. Elizondo

2009-02-19T02:25:00.000-08:00

2009-02-19T02:15:00.001-08:00

MTV's Be The Change: Live From The Inaugural - Celebrity News

Millenium Village

2009-02-19T02:12:00.000-08:00

MTV's Be The Change: Live From The Inaugural - Celebrity News

MDG's

2009-02-19T01:47:00.001-08:00

One: Celebrate and Accelerate

2009-02-19T01:39:00.000-08:00

Helen Berhane

2009-02-18T22:01:00.001-08:00

L.A. Catholic Worker Resistance

2009-02-12T03:55:00.001-08:00

L.A. Catholic Worker

2009-02-12T03:46:00.001-08:00

L.A. Catholic Worker

2009-02-12T03:45:00.001-08:00

Cesar E Chavez. "The Mexican-American and the Church"

2009-02-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

The following article was prepared by Mr. Chavez during his 25-day Spiritual fast and was presented to a meeting on Mexican-Americans and the Church at the Second Annual Mexican Conference in Sacramento, California on March 8-10, 1968.

The place to begin is with our own experience with the Church in the strike that has gone on for thirty-one months in Delano. For in Delano the Church has been involved with the poor in a unique way that should stand as a symbol to other communities. Of course, when we refer to the Church we should define the word a little. We mean the whole Church, the Church as an ecumenical body spread around the world, and not just its particular form in a parish in a local community.

The Church we are talking about is a tremendously powerful institution in our society, and in the world. That Church is one form of the Presence of God on Earth, and so naturally it is powerful. It is powerful by definition. It is a powerful moral and spiritual force which cannot be ignored by any movement. Furthermore, it is an organization with tremendous wealth. Since the Church is to be servant to the poor, it is our fault if that wealth is not channeled to help the poor in our world. In a small way we have been able, in the Delano strike, to work together with the Church in such a way as to bring some of its moral and economic power to bear on those who want to maintain the status quo, keeping farm workers in virtual enslavement. In brief, here is what happened in Delano.

Some years ago, when some of us were working with the Community Service Organization, we began to realize the powerful effect which the Church can have on the conscience of the opposition. In scattered instances, in San Jose, Sacramento, Oakland, Los Angeles and other places, priests would speak out loudly and clearly against specific instances of oppression, and in some cases, stand with the people who were being hurt. Furthermore, a small group of priests, Frs. McDonald, McCollough, Duggan and others, began to pinpoint attention on the terrible situation of the farm workers in our state.

At about that same time, we began to run into the California Migrant Ministry in the camps and field. They were about the only ones there, and a lot of us were very suspicious, since we were Catholics and they were Protestants. However, they had developed a very clear conception of the Church. It was called to serve, to be at the mercy of the poor, and not to try to use them. After a while this made a lot of sense to us, and we began to find ourselves working side by side with them. In fact, it forced us to raise the question why our Church was not doing the same.

We would ask, why do the Protestants come out here and help the people, demand nothing, and give all their time to serving farm workers, while our own parish priests stay in their churches, where only a few people come, and usually feel uncomfortable? It was not until some of us moved to Delano and began working to build the National Farm Workers Association that we really saw how far removed from the people the parish Church was. In fact, we could not get any help at all from the priests of Delano. When the strike began, they told us we could not even use the Churches auditorium for the meetings. The farm workers money helped build that auditorium! But the Protestants were there again, in the form of the California Migrant Ministry, and they began to help in little ways, here and there.

When the strike started in 1965, most of our friends forsook us for a while. They ran- or were just too busy to help. But the California Migrant Ministry held a meeting with its staff and decided that the strike was a matter of life or death for farm workers everywhere, and that even if it meant the end of the Migrant Ministry they would turn over their resources to the strikers. The political pressure on the Protestant Churches was tremendous and the Migrant Ministry lost a lot of money. But they stuck it out, and they began to point the way to the rest of the Church. In fact, when 30 of the strikers were arrested for shouting Huelga, 11 ministers went to jail with them. They were in Delano that day at the request of Chris Hartmire, director of the California Migrant Ministry.

Then the workers began to raise the question: why ministers? Why not priests? What does the Bishop say? But the Bishop said nothing. But slowly the pressure of the people grew and grew, until finally we have in Delano a priest sent by the new Bishop, Timothy Manning, who is there to help minister to the needs of farm workers. His name is Father Mark Day and he is the Union’s chaplain. Finally, our own Catholic Church has decided to recognize that we have our won peculiar needs, just as the growers have theirs.

But outside of the local diocese, the pressure built up on growers to negotiate was tremendous. Though we were not allowed to have our own priest, the power of the ecumenical body of the Church was tremendous. The work of the Church, for example, in the Schenley, Di Giorgio, Perelly-Minetti strikes was fantastic. They applied pressure- and they mediated. When poor people get involved in a long conflict, such as a strike, or a civil rights drive, and the pressure increases each day, there is a deep need for spiritual advice. Without it we see families crumble, leadership weaken, and hard workers grow tired. And in such a situation the spiritual advice must be given by a friend, not by the opposition. What sense does it make to go to Mass on Sunday and reach out for spiritual help, and instead get sermons about the wickedness of your cause? That only drives one to question and to despair.

The growers in Delano have their spiritual problems... we do not deny that. They have every right to have priests and ministers who serve their needs. But we have different needs, and so we needed a friendly spiritual guide. And this is true in every community in this state where the poor face tremendous problems. But the opposition raises a tremendous howl about this. They don't want us to have our spiritual advisors, friendly to our needs. Why is this? Why indeed except that THERE IS TREMENDOUS SPIRITUAL AND ECONOMIC POWER IN THE CHURCH. The rich know it, and for that reason they choose to keep it from the people.

The leadership of the Mexican-American Community must admit that we have fallen far short in our task of helping provide spiritual guidance for our people. We may say, I don’t feel any such need. I can get along. But that is a poor excuse for not helping provide such help for others. For we can also say, I don’t need any welfare help. I can take care of my own problems But we are all willing to fight like hell for welfare aid for those who truly need it, who would starve without it. Likewise we may have gotten an education and not care about scholarship money for ourselves, or our children. But we would, we should, fight like hell to see to it that our state provides aid for any child needing it so that he can get the education he desires.

Likewise we can say we don't need the Church. That is our business. But there are hundreds of thousands of our people who desperately need some help from that powerful institution, the Church, and we are foolish not to help them get it. For example, the Catholic Charities agencies of the Catholic Church has millions of dollars earmarked for the poor. But often the money is spent for food baskets for the needy instead of for effective action to eradicate the causes of poverty. The men and women who administer this money sincerely want to help their brothers. It should be our duty to help direct the attention to the basic needs of the Mexican-Americans in our society... needs which cannot be satisfied with baskets of food, but rather with effective organizing at the grass roots level.

Therefore, I am calling for Mexican-American groups to stop ignoring this source of power. It is not just our right to appeal to the Church to use its power effectively for the poor, it is our duty to do so. It should be as natural as appealing to government... and we do that often enough.

Furthermore, we should be prepared to come to the defense of that priest, rabbi, minister, or layman of the Church, who out of commitment to truth and justice gets into a tight place with his pastor or bishop. It behooves us to stand with that man and help him see his trial through. It is our duty to see to it that his rights of conscience are respected and that no bishop, pastor or other higher body takes that God-given, human right away.

Finally, in a nutshell, what do we want the Church to do? We don’t ask for more cathedrals. We don’t ask for bigger churches of fine gifts. We ask for its presence with us, beside us, as Christ among us. We ask the Church to sacrifice with the people for social change, for justice, and for love of brother. We don’t ask for words. We ask for deeds. We don’t ask for paternalism. We ask for servanthood.

Piece on Stereotypes

2009-02-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Shepard Fairey on Charlie Rose

2009-02-11T02:29:00.000-08:00

wow...this gave me a good laugh

2009-02-11T02:26:00.000-08:00

Gustavo Arellano @ Google

2009-02-11T00:41:00.001-08:00

2009-02-11T00:32:00.001-08:00

2009-02-11T00:21:00.001-08:00

Gustavo

2009-02-11T00:12:00.000-08:00

More Gustavo

2009-02-11T00:03:00.000-08:00

Interesting....Gustavo Arellano

2009-02-11T00:00:00.001-08:00

More West

2009-02-10T23:54:00.001-08:00

My brother Dr. West

2009-02-10T23:27:00.000-08:00

Eyezon "Lord hold me"

2009-02-10T17:55:00.001-08:00

Find more videos like this on I AM HIP HOP

The brother Poems

2009-02-10T17:37:00.001-08:00

What an injustice

2009-02-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Tijuana

2009-02-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

The Gospel According to Cesar Chavez

2009-02-07T00:42:00.001-08:00

The Village Nation

2009-02-06T00:48:00.001-08:00

Bill Fletcher Jr.

2009-02-06T00:40:00.000-08:00

More Black and Brown

2009-02-06T00:30:00.001-08:00

javascript:void(0)

Black and Brown.....let's get down in unity

2009-02-06T00:18:00.000-08:00

Fast for our future!

2009-02-05T23:42:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite intellectuals!

2009-02-05T23:39:00.001-08:00

Cornel West on knowledge
Uploaded by dropping_knowledge

Indigenous Theologians

2009-02-05T23:38:00.001-08:00

imagejournal.org

2009-02-04T15:05:00.001-08:00

Makiza

2009-02-03T16:27:00.001-08:00

Early Christian voices on War and Peace

2009-02-03T14:13:00.001-08:00

Justin Martyr wrote in 160 AD:

“We ourselves were well conversant with war, murder, and everything evil, but all of us throughout the whole wide earth have traded in our weapons of war. We have exchanged our swords for ploughshares, our spears for farm tools. Now we cultivate the fear of God, justice, kindness to men, faith, and the expectation of the future given to us by the Father himself through the Crucified One.” (Dialogue with Trypho 110.3.4)

Tatian, (death c. 185), Justin’s disciple, wrote:

“I do not wish to be king, I don’t want to be rich, I reject military service. I hate adultery.” (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Vol. II, reprint 1979, p. 69)

Irenaeus of Lyon (ca 130-202) wrote:

“But the law of liberty, that is, the word of God, preached by the apostles (who went forth from Jerusalem) throughout all the earth, caused such a change in the state of things, that these [nations] did form the swords and war-lances into ploughshares, and changed them into pruning-hooks for reaping the corn, [that is], into instruments used for peaceful purposes, and that they are now unaccustomed to fighting, but when smitten, offer also the other cheek.” (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.
I, reprinted 1977, p. 512)

Hippolytos wrote in c. 200:

“A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate who wears the purple must resign or be rejected. If an applicant or a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God.” (Hippolytos, Apostolic Tradition 16:17-19)

Clemens of Alexandria (ca 150-215) wrote:

“If a loud trumpet summons soldiers to war, shall not Christ with a strain of peace issued to the ends of the earth gather up his soldiers of peace? By his own blood and by his word he has assembled an army which sheds no blood in order to give them the Kingdom of Heaven. The trumpet of Christ is his Gospel. He has sounded it and we have heard it. Let us then put on the armour of peace. … The Church is an army of peace which sheds no blood.” (Protrepticus XI, 116)

Tertullian (160-220) wrote in De Corona Militis:

“To begin with the real ground of the military crown, I think we must first inquire whether warfare is proper at all for Christians. … Shall it be held lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword? And shall the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him even to sue at law? … Of course, if faith comes later, and finds any preoccupied with military service, their case is different, as in the instance of those whom John used to receive for baptism, and of those most faithful centurions, I mean the centurion whom Christ approves, and the centurion whom Peter instructs; yet, at the same time, when a man has become a believer, and faith has been sealed, there must be either an immediate abandonment of it, which has been the course with many; or all sorts of quibbling will have to be resorted to in order to avoid offending God, and that is not allowed even outside of military service; or, last of all, for God the fate must be endured which a citizen-faith has been no less ready to accept. Neither does military service hold out escape from punishment of sins, or exemption from martyrdom.”

About 240, Origen wrote:

“You cannot demand military service of Christians any more than you can of priests. We do not go forth as soldiers.” (Against Celsus VIII.7.3)

Cyprian (200-258) wrote:

“The world is soaked with mutual blood. When individuals commit homicide, it is a crime; it is called a virtue when it is done in the name of the state. Impunity is acquired for crimes not by reason of innocence but by the magnitude of the cruelty.” (To Donatus, chapter 6)

Athanasius (298-373) wrote:

“Christ is not only preached through His own disciples, but also wrought so persuasively on men’s understanding that, laying aside their savage habits and forsaking the worship of their ancestral gods, they learnt to know Him and through Him to worship the Father. While they were yet idolaters, the Greeks and Barbarians were always at war with each other, and were even cruel to their own kith and kin. Nobody could travel by land or sea at all unless he was armed with swords, because of their irreconcilable quarrels with each other. Indeed, the whole course of their life was carried on with the weapons. But since they came over to the school of Christ, as men moved with real compunction they have laid aside their murderous cruelty and are war-minded no more. On the contrary, all is peace among them and nothing remains save desire for friendship…

Who, then, is He Who has done these things and has united in peace those who hated each other, save the beloved Son of the Father, the common Saviour of all, Jesus Christ, Who by His own love underwent all things for our salvation? Even from the beginning, moreover, this peace that He was to administer was foretold, for Scripture says, ‘They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles, and nation shall not take sword against nation, neither shall they learn any more to wage war.’ Nor is this by any means incredible.

The barbarians of the present day are naturally savage in their habits, and as long as they sacrifice to their idols they rage furiously against each other and cannot bear to be a single hour without weapons. But when they hear the teaching of Christ, forthwith they turn from fighting to farming, and instead of arming themselves with swords extend their hands in prayer. In a word, instead of fighting each other, they take up arms against the devil and the demons, and overcome them by their self-command and integrity of soul.” (On the incarnation, chapter 8, 51 and 52)

Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-395) wrote:

” ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.’ Who are these? Those who imitate the Divine love of others, who show forth in their own life the characteristic of the Divine energy. The Lord and Giver of good things completely annihilates anything that is without affinity and foreign to goodness. This work He ordains also for you, namely to cast out hatred and abolish war, to exterminate envy and banish strife, to take away hypocrisy and extinguish from within resentment of injuries smoldering in the heart. Instead, you ought to introduce whatever is contrary to the things that have been removed.” (The Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes, Ancient Christian Writers series, Newman Press)

The fantastic preacher John Chrysostom (347-407) said:

“That they may now understand that this is a new kind of warfare and not the usual custom of joining in battle, when He sent them with nothing He said: And so, marching on, show forth the meekness of lambs, although you are to go to wolves… for so will I best show my power, when the wolves are conquered by the lambs… For certainly it is a greater work and much more marvelous to change the minds of opponents and to bring about a change of soul than to kill them… We ought to be ashamed, therefore, who act far differently when as wolves we rush upon our adversaries. For as long as we are lambs we conquer; even when a thousand wolves stand about, we overcome and are victors. But if we act like wolves we are conquered, for then the aid of the Good Shepherd departs from us, for He does not foster wolves but sheep.” (Epistle Matt. Hom 34, n.1: - Breviary, June 11th)

Eugene Cho

2009-02-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

Leo Tolstoy

2009-01-27T23:58:00.001-08:00

The process of creating a St. John's Bible

2009-01-27T22:56:00.001-08:00

The St. John's Bible - "In the Beginning..." from Speaking of Faith on Vimeo.

Gary Haughen, IJM President: Just Courage

2009-01-26T23:11:00.001-08:00

Perspective on adversity from man who climbed Mt. Everst blind

2009-01-26T18:19:00.001-08:00

Human Rights and Indigenous People Rigoberta Menchu

2009-01-26T13:55:00.001-08:00

Racial Reconciliation with John Perkins

2009-01-26T13:46:00.001-08:00

Dr. Virgilio Elizondo

2009-01-23T20:47:00.001-08:00

We must be united!

2009-01-23T20:21:00.000-08:00

The Ordinary Radicals

2009-01-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

Tremendous piece of work. This documentary basically explains a lot of what I believe and have come to understand about the Way. It is engaging, entertaining, and quite comprehensive as far as introducing issues. Also it is great that it highlights some important voices in these movements.
www.theordinaryradicals.com

Resistencia: Hip Hop en Colombia

2009-01-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

Gentrification in Downtown L.A.

2009-01-23T16:16:00.001-08:00

Global Hip Hop Documentary

2009-01-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

Documentary is nearly 1 hour but quite insightful.

the i heart revolution

2009-01-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

2009-01-23T15:34:00.001-08:00

Greetings.
This is my first post. I am a bit late getting to starting my own blogspot but it's all good.
I see a couple good uses for this. One is to hopefully spread some consciousness about issues
which I think are important. Second, this is an easy way to create a sort of online diary of the research I am doing and the interesting things happening in my life. My interests are wide ranging like a lot of people, so I hope to touch on cultural highlights as well such as music, arts, etc. The title of my blog is Contemplation and Resistance because seeking justice is paramount to how I strive to live my life.

Peace.