THE GOSPEL AND SYRIAN REFUGEES

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) - Caravaggio

Last Sunday, we heard the following passage from the Gospel of John in church:

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him,    ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’  (John 18:33-37)

The kingdom of God, as opposed to the kingdom of the world, is the upside down kingdom Mary describes in her prayer of praise to God which is called The Magnificat.

‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
   and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
   and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ (Luke 1:46-56)

In God's kingdom, the lowly are lifted up, and the proud and powerful are brought down, the hungry are fed, and the rich go away empty.  Thus the kingdom of God stands in opposition to the kingdoms of the world.  In his sermon, our rector, Doug, related the message of the Gospel to the plight of the Syrian refugees fleeing from persecution and violence in their own country and the opposition to accepting the refugees that we hear around the country.  The opposition claims to be rooted in fear that terrorists might slip through the stringent and lengthy screening process for Syrian refugees that takes up to 18 months or 2 years before approval is given.  Those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ have a choice: to allow fear to rule our lives, or to follow the Gospel of God's kingdom and welcome the refugees.  Doug said fear of terrorists and "the other" is understandable, but, for Christians, the message of the Gospel is clear.

For Doug to address the subject of welcoming Syrian refugees in the present, divisive atmosphere, when strong feelings run high against accepting more refugees, called for courage on his part, and he risked accusations of  "playing politics".  As for me, I'm grateful he addressed the matter of the controversy over the refugees.  If a Christian preacher preaches the Good News of Jesus Christ as described in The Magnificat and in many other words of Jesus in the Gospels, I don't see how he/she can avoid statements that might be called political.  Jesus preached over and over about the politics of power versus the powerless, and, though he embraces everyone with his love, he most certainly seems to me to favor the powerless.  

IRAQ WAR 3.0

From Informed Comment:

On a 36-month schedule for “destroying” ISIS, the president is already ceding his war to the next president, as was done to him by George W. Bush. That next president may well be Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state as Iraq War 2.0 sputtered to its conclusion. Notably, it was her husband whose administration kept the original Iraq War of 1990-1991 alive via no-fly zones and sanctions. Call that a pedigree of sorts when it comes to fighting in Iraq until hell freezes over.

If there is a summary lesson here, perhaps it’s that there is evidently no hole that can’t be dug deeper. How could it be more obvious, after more than two decades of empty declarations of victory in Iraq, that genuine “success,” however defined, is impossible? The only way to win is not to play. Otherwise, you’re just a sucker at the geopolitical equivalent of a carnival ringtoss game with a fist full of quarters to trade for a cheap stuffed animal.

In his televised address on Wednesday, September 10, 2014, President Obama said, "Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy." and, "...we will not get dragged into another ground war."  Whatever the label for the present war, it is now Obama's war. I thought it right that the US helped to rescue the Yazidis from the mountain where they were trapped and that we provide assistance and military equipment to the Kurds, who seem to me the sanest people in the territory, but we should stop there. Is anyone thinking through to possible consequences of bombing in Iraq and now in Syria?

What will happen if a pilot is shot down and captured by ISIL, and the worst happens? Surely there will be cries for further escalation. Turkey has taken in over 1 million refugees. Are we willing to welcome refugees from Syria and Iraq whose homes are destroyed by our bombs or who flee from their homes for fear of being bombed? While it's true that we created a number of the problems in Iraq, I don't see how bombing, killing, and wounding more Iraqis will solve them. ISIL is a brutal organization, but what is the end game? How will we know when ISIL is defeated?  What if ISIL is not destroyed in 36 months?

Iraq, as a country, was cobbled together by British colonial powers after WWI.  Kurds and Shi'ites tried to break away at the time, but the colonial powers quelled the revolt.  Sunni/Shi'ite divisions go further back than the colonial period.  Despite past interventions by Western powers, we cannot now fix the troubles in the Middle East.  In Iraq, the center will not hold, no matter how many bombs we drop, but the destruction proceeds, and who knows how or when it will all end?  We can be certain the end will not come before more innocents are killed, wounded, or driven from their homes.

HUMANITARIAN AID NOT MISSILES TO SYRIA

Syrian President Bashar Assad is a cruel despot, but the US should not involve itself militarily in Syria's civil war. The tangled alliances and relationships in the Middle East change quickly, beyond our abilities to follow or understand, but the civil war is not simply a struggle between the good guys vs. the bad guys.

More than a dozen key Syrian rebel groups said Wednesday that they reject the authority of the Western-backed opposition coalition, as U.N. inspectors returned to the country to continue their probe into chemical weapons attacks.

In a joint statement, 13 rebel groups including a powerful al-Qaida-linked faction but also more mainstream forces slammed the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition, saying it no longer represents their interests.
....

The rebel groups' statement was titled "Communique No. 1," a term used before in Arab countries following military coups that suggests the creation of a new leadership body.

A video released on the Internet showed Abdel-Aziz Salameh, political chief of the Liwaa al-Tawheed brigade that is particularly strong in the city of Aleppo, reading the statement.
....

The signatories called on all military and civilian forces "to unite under a clear Islamic framework based on Shariah law, which should be the sole source of legislation"— an apparent reference to the al-Qaida faction's aspirations to create an Islamic state in Syria.

Our efforts should be directed toward humanitarian relief of the Syrian people, who are suffering greatly, rather than sending missiles that will surely serve to inflict further suffering.  The plight of the 1 million Syrian refugees who fled to surrounding countries is, in many cases, desperate, and we must focus our attention on giving aid to relieve suffering.  

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA: DON'T BOMB SYRIA

The petition reads:

"President Obama:  With civilians being butchered and refugees suffering immensely, it is horrifying to watch the brutal civil war in Syria unfold. But U.S. military intervention is far more likely to make matters worse, not better. The U.S. should not bomb Syria. The best thing we can do is commit to holding war criminals accountable, expand humanitarian aid for refugees, and maintain constant diplomatic pressure for a negotiated end to the conflict."

Sign the petition here.

The administration sees the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a threat to our national security. Certainly, the Syrian people suffer, but I don't understand the threat to the United States. What good purpose would be served by sending missiles that inflict more suffering and death on people who are already suffering and dying?

Instead of sending in missiles that kill and cause more misery, why not spend the money to help refugees, over 1 million of whom are children, many alone without their parents? Help the Syrians who fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt who are in desperate need. The last thing Syria needs is more violence.

Donate to UNICEF here.