It seems every time I open my homepage MSN, I see this guy who founded Wikileaks is in deeper trouble. I have read many posts and comments from hundreds of people about Wikileaks publishing some "classified" papers. Some say he is a traitor and other say he is a great defender of freedom. You probably already have your own opinion.
While thinking of all the pros and cons of Wikileaks, I remembered the Watergate cover up. For those who don't know the Watergate story: it was a Republican covert operation. Which included breaking and entering into the Democratic Party Headquarters in attempt to thwart the Democrat campaign for the presidency of the United States. It concluded with the resignation of President Nixon back in the 70's.
Briefly:
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were investigative reporters for the Washington Post. An informant called, "Deep Throat" secretly passed information to them about the Watergate cover up by White House Republicans . You can "Google or Bing" for more information on Watergate if you are interested. But for comparison I am going to sum up the opinions and what happened.
Those who loved Nixon, hated Bob, Carl, and the Washington Post, these were mostly Republicans. Nixon denied any knowledge of wrong doing. A famous Nixon line: "I am not a crook" was born here. They sacrificed a few close adviser's to Nixon, trying to deflect attention from Nixon's involvement. In the end it didn't work, Nixon resigned his Presidency.
On the other hand there were those who thought Bob and Carl and the Washington Post were heroes, these were mostly Democrats. They viewed Bob, Carl, and the Post as defending democracy.
After comparing the shouting about Watergate and Wikileaks here is what I'm thinking.
There has been a huge shift in Freedom of the Press and whistle blowing since the days of Watergate. Whistle blowers used to be protected and the press mostly reported the facts. Not so much anymore.
Now the news is just not reported. If you are not informed as to what is going on you do not know what is going on. Those who do bad things do not want you to know what they are doing. This is called a cover up. Labeling something top secret or classified or a matter of national security does not change it from wrong to right.
Withholding information from the people is dangerous to a democracy. Actually a democracy can be ruined because of withheld information.
I started to notice the absence of reporting with the war in Iraq. When President Bush no longer allowed coffins of dead Americans to be photographed or published by the press. As a matter of fact no negative news is allowed anymore wherever our troops are fighting. You may point to Abu Ghraib or a few other things. But I am talking Mi Lie Massacre compared to Bradly Manning. Briefly, Mi Lie was reported and those who did wrong were made to answer (at least a little). Bradly Manning blew the same whistle last year and he is the one in prison. You can "Google or Bing" these two stories and form your own opinion. The point is; what is "right" has been changed by our government, either in the name of national security or classified information.
The results of this information (or lack of information) is obvious. Vets from Vietnam were called "baby killers" when they came home and there was great opposition to the Vietnam War. Vets from Iraq or Afghanistan are called "heroes" when they come home; the war is on the back burner of many peoples minds; and when troops do come home they have a parade for them.
Different news results in different public perception. I believe these two wars are viewed differently because of the information (reported or not reported) in the news.
Sidebar - many many vets from both wars have problems dealing with what went on. What they did, what they saw, and what happened. I am not talking about straight up combat, that is bad enough. I am talking about things they knew were wrong and were helpless to make it right. Some have even been ordered to never talk about it.
Now back to my topic.
Today, our government has turned whistle blowers into the bad guy to protect itself. It was scary enough for Bob, Carl and the Post to report on Watergate with the freedom to report the cover up. Now, a person should be terrified to turn in anyone in the government for wrong doing. At best they will be fired, at worst (so far) they will go to prison.
The focus is not on what wrong was done but who had the audacity to bring it to light. Freedom of the press has grown more limited with direct pressure from our government. Lots of things are now "classified" to prevent the truth from being told and protect those who screwed up, nothing else.
Here's your choices:
1) Call it like it is and pay the price FOR freedom.
2) Hide things you don't want known and pay the price WITH freedom.
You cannot have it both ways. There is a price to be paid no matter what, one is FOR freedom, one is WITH freedom.
Wilileaks is a poor example. Why? Wikileaks only published the information and it was a foreign publisher. They did not steal the information. Who stole the information? Actually, I don't know. But I do know Wikileaks is in a mess because our government wants it destroyed. I doubt the idea of freedom will ever be destroyed. Things like Wikileaks will always pop up. The only way for Wikileaks and others like them to be destroyed is to be open and honest. The self preservation game of individual politicians must stop, but I know it will not.
Not only is our news oppressed by our government, now the government wants to restrict information coming from other sources. Sounds like China to me.
Politicians will do whatever it takes to stay in office. That sounds like China to me also.
This is not a democrat or republican problem. It is systemic. If you haven't given the 1st Amendment, Freedom of the Press, much thought maybe now is a good time to think about it.
Here's your sign.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Belief in Jesus, Religion, and the Nazis
I have often wondered where the Germans who called themselves "Christians" were as Hitler was killing Jews. What happened? Why didn't they try to stop Hitler and the Nazis?
In a country where the first book every printed was printed, and it was the Bible!!
I have spent some time lately researching this issue. Here is what I have found. This is scary. It seems a short stones throw away from life today.
To my surprise the Nazis were cleaning up the world in ways I had never heard before. The Nazi political agenda was very close to church righteousness positions (both protestant and Catholic) on many subjects. These familiarities allowed a partnership to evolve.
Please be patient as I move back and forth to explain.
First, Hitler is/was a Catholic! However, as a young man he stopped going to confession. In Germany, if you were a church going person you became a member of the church you attended. As a member, your name was on a register and you paid a "church tax". Hitler continued to pay his "church tax", he never took his name off the church register. Interestingly, Hitler was also a supporter of the protestant church. He believed that the protestant church should have a chain of command like the Catholic church. The protestant church was not organized enough to have one voice speak for all protestants. The Catholic church had an Archbishop, or some official who would speak for the Catholic church. Hitler liked that. Hitler told a close comrade "I will always be Catholic" (this was discovered in a friends diary after the war). And finally, Hitler, to this day has never been excommunicated from the Catholic church.
How were the Nazi party and church beliefs similar?
The church was against prostitution, homosexuality, pornography, abortion, and other stuff. So was Nazism! Passionately! The Nazis wanted to clean this stuff up. It was a blight on there beloved Homeland. Sounds familiar today.
The Nazis did not invent anti-Semites (prejudice against the Jews). Since before Martin Luther (a German priest who began the Protestant Reformation in 1517) there was a strong resistance to the Jewesses of Jesus and that the Jewish race was as much a problem to the world as pornography and abortion and other evils. Think about this, the Jews have been kicked all around the world for more than a thousand years. This is history we all should know. It was only after WW II that Israel became a state/country again.
In the late 1920's there was some resistance to the Nazi party from a few clergy. But by the early 1930's the clergy supported the Nazi party. The few left that resisted the "party" were disappeared. By the mid 1930's to the early 1940's there was no resistance from the church. In fact, the church supported the Nazis.
But wait - who is the church? Only the pastors and priests? No. The people are the church. Unfortunately the people also went along with Nazis. Why? How could they do that? Because the Nazis were going to bring righteousness to Germany. Remember Jews had already looked down upon for being a Jew for hundreds of years. Although it seemed wrong, it was acceptably to over looked that Jews were being rounded up and put into camps because they were low on the totem pole.
Amazingly the one thing Hitler and Germany hated more than the Jews, was Communism! If you every wondered why Hitler created a two front war when he attacked Russia, now you know. Wait! I thought Hitler was a communist! No. Hitler hated communism more than he hated Jews. No way! Yes. And next on Hitler's list was Socialism. He hated that too! Communism and Socialism were the real Nazi enemy. Jews and abortionists and homosexuals, they were the "lite" work. Getting rid of these people would create a superior race. You know, get the bad genes out by killing anyone who had them. Made sense to the Nazis. Also, eliminating communism and socialism as a form of government would make way for a righteous government to rule the righteous people leftover.
As Nazism spread, by invading other countries, the Jews and such were put into camps. Even for non-Jews it was very much like the "Spanish Inquisition", become a Nazi or die. Europe became concerned with "Nazi Expansionism" and started to fight back. Hence World War II.
Hitler and the Nazis were trying to make a perfect world according to the way they viewed the world. No Jews, no prostitutes, no abortion, all Nazis - you get the picture.
An interesting fact is that the Nazis believed that the church and state should be one. This made perfect sense. Instead of just talking about righteousness in church, the state could force you by law to be righteous, or put you in prison if you resist. It would be very difficult for a Jew to become unJewish so I guess they were doomed.
Remember the "church tax"? The church registered the names of its members and kept records of name changes. These same so called "Christian" churches gave lists of names to the Nazis so they could roundup the Jews. Ugly but true.
I find it hard to understand how the same people who claim to believe in the same Jesus I do could do this. Jesus said, the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbor. So how could a believer in Christ do this?
Here is my thought. Religion (not unlike the law) is a bunch of rules which forces people to act in a certain way in order to belong. To me this resembles a political party. Actually from where I am sitting now the only difference I see is the agenda. Both are just as passionate about their belief systems and some will stop at nothing to force their beliefs on others.
Jesus said, all the law and the prophets (the Bible) are summed up in this , "love God and love your neighbor". I think love is from the heart, it cannot forced by law.
The lesson I learned from all this is how easy it is to buy into something that sounds like what I believe. The easiest way to be deceived is to forget love. When we forget to love we lose our tolerance. Intolerance leads to division, division leads to separation, separation leads to conflict, and conflict results in death.
So where were the so called "christians" "church goers" in Germany as the Nazi party came to power? They were joining, eager to rid the world of all they saw as evil. And Nazism (not love) was the perfect tool to get the job done.
Footnote: The word "Christian" comes from the Bible, in the Book of Acts, where in the city of Antioch the followers of Jesus were called "Christians" because they were acting like Him. They did not call themselves Christian. That would be pretty pompous. They called themselves "believers". But this is a whole nother blog.
In a country where the first book every printed was printed, and it was the Bible!!
I have spent some time lately researching this issue. Here is what I have found. This is scary. It seems a short stones throw away from life today.
To my surprise the Nazis were cleaning up the world in ways I had never heard before. The Nazi political agenda was very close to church righteousness positions (both protestant and Catholic) on many subjects. These familiarities allowed a partnership to evolve.
Please be patient as I move back and forth to explain.
First, Hitler is/was a Catholic! However, as a young man he stopped going to confession. In Germany, if you were a church going person you became a member of the church you attended. As a member, your name was on a register and you paid a "church tax". Hitler continued to pay his "church tax", he never took his name off the church register. Interestingly, Hitler was also a supporter of the protestant church. He believed that the protestant church should have a chain of command like the Catholic church. The protestant church was not organized enough to have one voice speak for all protestants. The Catholic church had an Archbishop, or some official who would speak for the Catholic church. Hitler liked that. Hitler told a close comrade "I will always be Catholic" (this was discovered in a friends diary after the war). And finally, Hitler, to this day has never been excommunicated from the Catholic church.
How were the Nazi party and church beliefs similar?
The church was against prostitution, homosexuality, pornography, abortion, and other stuff. So was Nazism! Passionately! The Nazis wanted to clean this stuff up. It was a blight on there beloved Homeland. Sounds familiar today.
The Nazis did not invent anti-Semites (prejudice against the Jews). Since before Martin Luther (a German priest who began the Protestant Reformation in 1517) there was a strong resistance to the Jewesses of Jesus and that the Jewish race was as much a problem to the world as pornography and abortion and other evils. Think about this, the Jews have been kicked all around the world for more than a thousand years. This is history we all should know. It was only after WW II that Israel became a state/country again.
In the late 1920's there was some resistance to the Nazi party from a few clergy. But by the early 1930's the clergy supported the Nazi party. The few left that resisted the "party" were disappeared. By the mid 1930's to the early 1940's there was no resistance from the church. In fact, the church supported the Nazis.
But wait - who is the church? Only the pastors and priests? No. The people are the church. Unfortunately the people also went along with Nazis. Why? How could they do that? Because the Nazis were going to bring righteousness to Germany. Remember Jews had already looked down upon for being a Jew for hundreds of years. Although it seemed wrong, it was acceptably to over looked that Jews were being rounded up and put into camps because they were low on the totem pole.
Amazingly the one thing Hitler and Germany hated more than the Jews, was Communism! If you every wondered why Hitler created a two front war when he attacked Russia, now you know. Wait! I thought Hitler was a communist! No. Hitler hated communism more than he hated Jews. No way! Yes. And next on Hitler's list was Socialism. He hated that too! Communism and Socialism were the real Nazi enemy. Jews and abortionists and homosexuals, they were the "lite" work. Getting rid of these people would create a superior race. You know, get the bad genes out by killing anyone who had them. Made sense to the Nazis. Also, eliminating communism and socialism as a form of government would make way for a righteous government to rule the righteous people leftover.
As Nazism spread, by invading other countries, the Jews and such were put into camps. Even for non-Jews it was very much like the "Spanish Inquisition", become a Nazi or die. Europe became concerned with "Nazi Expansionism" and started to fight back. Hence World War II.
Hitler and the Nazis were trying to make a perfect world according to the way they viewed the world. No Jews, no prostitutes, no abortion, all Nazis - you get the picture.
An interesting fact is that the Nazis believed that the church and state should be one. This made perfect sense. Instead of just talking about righteousness in church, the state could force you by law to be righteous, or put you in prison if you resist. It would be very difficult for a Jew to become unJewish so I guess they were doomed.
Remember the "church tax"? The church registered the names of its members and kept records of name changes. These same so called "Christian" churches gave lists of names to the Nazis so they could roundup the Jews. Ugly but true.
I find it hard to understand how the same people who claim to believe in the same Jesus I do could do this. Jesus said, the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbor. So how could a believer in Christ do this?
Here is my thought. Religion (not unlike the law) is a bunch of rules which forces people to act in a certain way in order to belong. To me this resembles a political party. Actually from where I am sitting now the only difference I see is the agenda. Both are just as passionate about their belief systems and some will stop at nothing to force their beliefs on others.
Jesus said, all the law and the prophets (the Bible) are summed up in this , "love God and love your neighbor". I think love is from the heart, it cannot forced by law.
The lesson I learned from all this is how easy it is to buy into something that sounds like what I believe. The easiest way to be deceived is to forget love. When we forget to love we lose our tolerance. Intolerance leads to division, division leads to separation, separation leads to conflict, and conflict results in death.
So where were the so called "christians" "church goers" in Germany as the Nazi party came to power? They were joining, eager to rid the world of all they saw as evil. And Nazism (not love) was the perfect tool to get the job done.
Footnote: The word "Christian" comes from the Bible, in the Book of Acts, where in the city of Antioch the followers of Jesus were called "Christians" because they were acting like Him. They did not call themselves Christian. That would be pretty pompous. They called themselves "believers". But this is a whole nother blog.
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