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| Bozo is in town, Please give him a "warm" welcome |
Many historical scholars will tell us that Jesus Christ can be considered a revolutionary leader, even today.
In the sense that he refused
to be a narrow political leader that would just make Judea (todays Israel)
politically powerful.
His mission was worldwide to benefit all mankind;
leveling the importance of power and wealth.
He
was equally compassionate and attentive to: women, tax collectors,
foreigners inclusing Roman Centurians, Lepers, those crippled, those blind, insane Gentiles,
Samaritans, Pharisees (though he brought some of them up short for
their hypocrisy), Sinners, Rulers of the Synagogue, and very rich people, including Nobility.
Unfortunately
today his doctrine is only given "lip service" in many Christian
Churches around the world, in particular the US and Europe.
What has
happened to the revolutionary Spirit of compassion and involvement Jesus
spoke about ?
Case
in point. When in recent weeks the US government’s abusive and widely
condemned policy of separating migrant children from their families was
publicly criticized, the attorney general Jeff Session of the Trump
Administration responded, by quoting the New Testament writer Paul, who
in the book of Romans calls on people to obey the laws of the
government. Really?.
That this would have ruled out the actions of Jesus himself, was
seemingly lost on Sessions, as indeed was the fact that Jesus’s family
were forced to escape across borders.
Or the fact that Psalm 202.28 states: "The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you", and as we read in Mark 9:42: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it
would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea".
But the Sessions incident highlighted the problem that Christianity has and
the problems that are still being created.
To put it bluntly: in
the 2016 presidential election a majority of practicing Christians in
the USA voted for the most racist and misogynistic candidate going, and in
so doing helping Donald Trump to the position of the most powerful
person in the world.
Against such a background it’s easy to forget that the movement
from which Christianity emerged was one that shared possessions in
common, renounced war and at least in some ways modelled more
progressive understandings of gender than was generally accepted in those days To use
some words that weren’t around at that time in history; human rights, democracy, pacifismt and pro-feminism..
It
is easy and quite hypocritical in a way, to externalize modern day
problems as
happening a long way away, or to personalize them in the name of
political leaders; but when injustice is being justified in the name of
one of the worlds largest faiths, professed by most of the EU
population, it is important for us to voice our protest.
Trump’s ‘America First’ ideology has many similarities with those of other dangerous nationalist- populists around the world..
Trump
has also not attempedt to conceal his admiration for other populist
movements around the world. He openly supported the Brexit movement, and
populist Marianne Le Pen's campaign in the French Presidential election
against President Emmanual Macron. He also hails authoritarian
'strongmen' like Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Vladimir Putin. He
obviously, secretly, envies their freedom of action, and
probably wonders why the restraints of this "bourgeois democracy"
continuously tie his
hands behind his back.
In the relatively short time period the current Trump administration has been in power,Trump pulled the US out from the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Paris agreement on climate
change and the Iran deal
. He also withdrewn the US from
the United Nations' top human rights body and plans to end NAFTA --
while his recently announced tariffs affecting the EU, China, Mexico and
Canada, are on the verge of starting a global trade war.
These
International actions, however, are only the top of the Iceberg, in
comparison to the changes his administration has already made on the
home front, negatively affecting peoples health, immigration policies,
taxes, and personal freedom.
And now.... Donald Trump has arrived in Europe, arrogant and cocky as ever.
Check
out your local press and social media for additional details of the
Donald Trump visit to the EU, and where demonstrations will be held in
your area---and please attend.
Trump's
program which starts this afternoon July 10 in Brussels, where Trump
will meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg,
before participating in high-level sessions with the 28 allies on
Wednesday July 11. and Thursday July 12th at the NATO headquarters.
On the 13th of July he will be in Britain where he will meet Prime Minister Theresa May, Queen Elizabeth II and
business leaders, before heading to the Trump resort in Scotland on Friday evening, where
he’s expected to play some golf over the weekend.
The US president is due to spend his first and only night in London at
the US ambassador’s official residence, Winfield House, in Regent’s
Park. Over the weekend he will be going to Scotland for some golf and probably stay at his luxury hotel he owns in Ayrshire, the Trump Turnberry
On Sunday evening July 15, Trump will fly further north to Helsinki, Finland
for a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Given the backdrop of
international trade tensions following Trump’s tariff increases; the
litany of retaliatory measures announced by U.S. allies including the
European Union (EU); Trump’s criticism of NATO; and close scrutiny of
his administration’s links to Russia — some of these encounters are
bound to be less congenial than others.
The role that we as individuals can each play is to join in demonstrations, wherever they may be held in in Europe.
You might feel this does not add up to much, but
together it can add up in
disrupting the US president’s hoped-for, and loved media PR opportunity, by showing an alternative to what he stands for.
But that is only a first step.
The bigger job is, after acknowledging the problem, to dismantle the scaffolding of
structural racism, and economic inequality, that allowed Trump to
get where he is today, and which allow comparable policies to happen in Europe and around the world.
If
you live or have family or friends in the areas where Trump is visiting
please pass this article along and encourage them to demonstrate.
Make Trump understand his Administrations policies are not acceptable in the EU.
