The Green Button

2003-3-22 16:22:00

The Question:

If you press the red button there will be no war and the situation will continue as is.

Which button will you press?

I'm surprised that some of you wondered if the question was referring to which button someone else would push. The question was clearly stated as "Which button will YOU press?"

All who answered the question stated the green button. I thought Blayne's answer was thought-provoking:

"Reverse the numbers; 90 percent chance of being injured or killed, And I would still opt for the green button."

Sounds like Patrick Henry come again.

Jesus gave us the golden rule that whatsoever we desire to have done to us that we do to others.

This puts an interesting twist on the war that should be of concern to the protest movement.

If we were in the situation of the Iraqis and we would desire outside nations to forcefully liberate us, even at physical risk, then we on the outside should do to them as we would request if we were in the same situation.

Some wonder if the Iraqis are so conditioned to not have freedom that perhaps they are content to be in that situation.

It is very rare for the human spirit to be content with having his freedom suppressed. Besides, the reality revealing itself does not bear out the idea that the Iraqis are not ready.

Here is an interesting quote in today's news from a human shield who went to Iraq to prevent war:

"Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip 'had shocked me back to reality.' Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera 'told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start.' They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head." ( http://www.upi.com/ )

During the last Gulf War many Iraqis rejoiced when Allied troops invaded and many Iraqis cheered and tore down pictures of Saddam. They did this thinking that Saddam would be overthrown. Unfortunately, we did not overthrow him and Saddam sought our several hundred thousand who cheered the troops, or tore down his picture, and had them killed. This is one of the little known tragedies of the first war.

This time the people are more cautious about cheering the troops but, even so, many brave souls are doing so anyway. Many are openly weeping with joy as they watch our troops tear down pictures of Saddam.

Here is another quote from today's news:

"US Marines took Safwan at about 8 am yesterday. There was no rose-petal welcome, no cheering crowd, no stars and stripes.

"Afraid that the USA and Britain will abandon them, the people of Safwan did not touch the portraits and murals of Saddam Hussein hanging everywhere. It was left to the marines to tear them down. It did not mean there was not heartfelt gladness at the marines' arrival. Ajami Saadoun Khlis, whose son and brother were executed under the Saddam regime, sobbed like a child on the shoulder of the Guardian's Egyptian translator. He mopped the tears but they kept coming. 'You just arrived,' he said. 'You're late. What took you so long? God help you become victorious. I want to say hello to Bush, to shake his hand. We came out of the grave.'

"For a long time we've been saying: 'Let them come,' his wife, Zahara, said. 'Last night we were afraid, but we said: Never mind, as long as they get rid of him, as long as they overthrow him, no problem.' Their 29-year-old son was executed in July 2001, accused of harboring warm feelings for Iran.

"He was a farmer, he had a car, he sold tomatoes, and we had a life that we were satisfied with,' said Khlis. 'He was in prison for a whole year, and I raised 75m dinars in bribes. It didn't work. The money was gone, and he was gone. They sent me a telegram. They gave me the body.'

"The Marines rolled into the border town after a bombardment which left up to a dozen people dead. Residents gave different figures. A farmer, Haider, who knew one of the men killed, Sharif Badoun, said: 'Killing some is worth it, to end the injustice and suffering.' The men around him gave a collective hysterical laugh." ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/ )

When we say "The Great Invocation" and pray that the door to evil will be shut, we should realize that Saddam is a part of that door that the Hierarchy has in mind.

The door to evil mentioned there is not just wrong doing, or even nations that do not honor human rights, but it is a door that can lead to the spread of death and destruction to the extent that the new age of peace could be replaced by an age of destruction.

Iraq, North Korea, and the terrorists organizations are the main door. Iran is a lesser possibility, for many of its citizens want to live in peace with the world. Even so it is developing nuclear weapons and if the fundamentalists prevail then it could be a danger.

A typical third world dictatorship is not a part of the door to evil. It is a situation in need of correction, but not a threat to the coming age.

Bush was wise to tackle Iraq first because success here can lead to much greater power to seal the door elsewhere. The destruction of one point of the "Triangle of Evil" will be a dramatic blow indeed.

The other day when I heard Bush address the nation and state that the goal was to bring freedom to the Iraqi people, I felt the mind of Christ through the Oneness Principle and knew that Bush was being contacted and responding to higher will. He is not perfect, of course, in responding to higher impression, but he received the correct message on this.