No matter hos you look at the bible it has an answer for every question. It is an apologists dream. Why I can even apply it to answering your questions. Take these quotes, and realise that these are just a few of the many axioms that seem to fit our greedy violent nature, that can cover our true intentions, and be used as interpretives for any situation. It is a well designed self contradicting philosophical dichotic apologists utensil and is wielded by skilled craftsmen to mold and shape us to their desired effects.
Because we’re afraid. .....Yea though I walk throught the valley of death, I will fear no evil... Tells us not to be afraid, but we are anyway.
Because we don’t have the bravery to take a blow and not respond. Something about turning the other cheek? Revenge is so much sweeter though.
Because we don’t have the creativity to figure out any alternatives. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Proverbs (ch. XVI, v. 32) It is easier to believe our leaders are doing the right thing than forcing them to do the right thing.
Because it helps a lot of corporations make a lot of money. A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. [Luke 12:15] But it helps to believe that TOYS ARE US.
Because it helps keep incumbent politicians in power. . . . it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Acts (ch. IX, v. 5) But if you try, you might still hit the balls!
Because it’s a convenient excuse for taking away our freedom. Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellers there is safety. Proverbs (ch. XI, v. 14) What did Franklin say about trading freedom and liberty for security?
Because it looks good on television. And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. [John 8:32]. And the truth is on TV and in the MSM and drilled into our heads!
Because we’d rather wave flags than ask our government hard questions. I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. First COMMANDMENT. Obey your leader and revere him as LORD.
Because fighting is easier than thinking. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. [Proverbs 23:7]. We are a violence solution based culture.
… and if I put a picture of an American flag next to what I write, it must be true. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; Second and Third COMMANDMENTS. But we revere the flag as if it were more than a scrap of cloth. Like the constitution which is slowly being shredded, it is a meaning and purpose of something greater than its symbolism. Don't forget his fatherly jealousy with such quotes as "You're either with us or the terrorists". This makes us choose sides. Bush says-
I trust god is speaking through me. People listen to this and have faith in his truth. Uneducated fools with no direction being fooled by a group of educated madmen with a plan.
Here's some quotes as well that describe the dilemma we find ourselves in. It is going to take a reversal of influence and propaganda to get us out of our preconceived notion about faith in a greater power being our guide. It is going to take a real mindset change to transform our direction and fear and revenge must be put aside. Time to adopt trust, sharing and caring as the only solution.
"My country, right or wrong," is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, "My mother, drunk or sober." Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Very few people in the world would care to listen to the real defense of their own characters. The real defense, the defense which belongs to the Day of Judgment, would make such damaging admissions, would clear away so many artificial virtues, would tell such tragedies of weakness and failure, that a man would sooner be misunderstood and censured by the world than exposed to that awful and merciless eulogy. Gilbert Keith Chesterton
The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. And one of the games to which it is most attached is called, ''Keep tomorrow dark,'' and which is also named (by the rustics in Shropshire, I have no doubt) ''Cheat the Prophet.'' The players listen very carefully and respectfully to all that the clever men have to say about what is to happen in the next generation. The players then wait until all the clever men are dead, and bury them nicely. Then they go and do something else. That is all. For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great fun. Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously. Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. Gilbert Keith Chesterton
http://www.chesterton.org/discover/who.html
There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America. Henry Clay
Somehow we must capture what is right with America and exorcise forever what is wrong.