[Mb-civic] "Your Rich Men are Full of Violence"

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Published on Thursday, November 4, 2004 by CommonDreams.org  
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1104-37.htm

Your Rich Men are Full of Violence
by Robert Jensen 
  
After hearing both John Kerry and George W. Bush end their concession and 
victory speeches with the ubiquitous "God bless America," I decided to 
conclude all my future political talks with the call "God condemn America," 
and quote the Bible in support. 
Many in the anti-war and anti-empire movement tend toward the pacifist 
language of the gospels when they invoke religion, but I've always been a fan 
of the so-called "minor prophets" of the Old Testament, such as Micah. 
Probably the best-known verse from Micah is: "And what does the Lord 
require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with 
your God?" (6:8). 

It's a beautiful passage, a reminder -- even for non-believers -- that a decent 
path through life can be expressed simply: justice, kindness, humility. 

But Micah doesn't stop at articulating the ideal; he speaks of the failure of 
those in power to live up to the ideal. He names the wickedness in the land: 
"Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their 
tongue is deceitful in their mouth" (6:12). Micah's language is harsh: "The 
godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among 
men; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts his brother with a net" (7:2). 

Despite the professions of Christian faith from Bush and his gang, that all 
sounds a lot like this administration: willing to use violence -- and obscene 
levels of violence, including violence against innocents -- to extend and 
deepen U.S. power, and willing to lie to manipulate public opinion to build 
support for illegal wars. 

I like reading the prophets, not just for their passion but as a reminder that 
there are many moments in history when leaders -- whether they are the 
kings of ancient Israel or the presidents of the United States -- will have 
amassed such concentrated power that no challenge in the short term is 
possible. There are moments when those leaders will have bought off or 
deceived the majority of people so that they rule with popular support. Bush 
won a second term with a 3 1/2 million-vote margin. Many of the people who 
voted for him believe, or want to believe, that the United States is God's 
instrument on this earth. 

They should read Micah more closely. Perhaps we can turn back from our 
assault on the rest of the world, and our disregard for the cascading 
ecological collapse, before it's too late, before "the earth will be desolate 
because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their doings" (7:13). One day, 
perhaps, we will reach the point Micah promises: "The nations shall see and 
be ashamed of their might" (7:16). 

To reach that, Micah reminds us of the need for commitment over the long 
haul: "Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in 
darkness, the Lord will be a light to me" (7:8). 

We sit in darkness; there is no point in pretending otherwise. The imperial 
project of the United States is rotted to the core, a fact neither candidate nor 
party seems able or willing to acknowledge. Bush's election is disturbing 
mostly because it reveals just how many fellow citizens share in that wicked 
project. 

So, God condemn America, please, so that the world might live. 

Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin 
and the author of "Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our 
Humanity" from City Lights Books. He can be reached at 
rjensen at uts.cc.utexas.edu. 

###
 

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Action is the antidote to despair.  ----Joan Baez
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