Military Madness: We are spending insane amounts of money and resources on ever more efficient means of destroying our own species. Nations worldwide wasted $3 trillion a year on military spending in 2019, an increase of 3.6%, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The US alone spent over $372 billion of this, more than the next ten most heavily armed nations combined. China, with by far the largest population of any country in the world, is in a distant second place and impoverished and densely populated India is third.
Intelligent Life: The biblical prophets have long advocated turning swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Faithful followers of Jesus support loving, praying for, and doing good to enemies rather than threatening them with harm.
Toxic Poisoning: We are wantonly exploiting and plundering the earth and its resources as though there were no tomorrow. The mass production of more and more means of adding to our comfort, convenience and consumer wealth threatens to destroy the earth on which we depend for life, creating dangerous levels of waste and pollution and contributing to climate change that will make life as we know it unsustainable.
Intelligent Life: Seers of old have long railed against the exploitation of human and other resources for material gain, and Jesus lived and taught a life of radical simplicity and generosity.
Malignant Messaging: We are disregarding truthfulness and normalizing falsehoods as an accepted part of politics and as a part of everyday life as usual. Our entertainment, sports, and advertising industries bombard us with lies and deceptions about what leads to "happily ever after." We allow ourselves to be brainwashed with promises of immediate, short term gratification that fail to deliver, and find ourselves embracing untruths that divide us and threaten us with irreparable harm.
Intelligent Life: The Pentateuch forbids all false witness, and Jesus insists on our every word passing the truth test, so that our yes always means yes and our no, no. In line with the rule of the Trappist monks, we aim to "speak only when it improves the silence."
Insane Inequities: Billionaires with private jets and luxury yachts coexist on the same planet on which over a billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. Even middle class households in industrialized countries like ours feel entitled to a lifestyle that even members of the monarchy throughout most of history would envy, with little regard for millions of refugees and other destitute people living on the edge of starvation.
Intelligent Life: If our scriptures do not always seem clear on some things, there is no lack of clarity on the part of Jesus and the prophets that God's heart is for the poor, and that those who are "rich in things and poor in soul" are of all people to be pitied. The goal of all who live under the reign of God is not to simply extend charity to the poor but pray and work for God's justice and equity to prevail, and for Abba's will to be done "on earth as it is in heaven." Basil, an early church father, wrote, "The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the one who is naked. The shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of one who is barefoot. The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor. The acts of charity you do not perform are so much injustices you commit."
These are not only wise words, but calls for repentance we must all heed for the sake of our survival.
Thank you for your clarity of conscience.
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