WAR IS NOT PEACE * DIPLOMACY IS NOT APPEASEMENT

Deborah Van Valkenburgh (who played my sister Jackie on Too Close for Comfort) in this poster from "The Warriors."

JOHN DEAN, author of "Conservatives Without Conscience" on BASHAM RADIO TODAY August 17!! Check for times at:

DougBasham.com

Just found this eye-opening post by JHBUCK at ThorninUrASSumptions

"There is no justification for the loss of 26 hundred of America's highest hopes for the future. Don't feed me this crap about possible adverse effects if we leave Iraq now. I can pull the same time machine out and predict that if we bring everyone home right now, someone whose life gets saved by the withdrawal will cure diabetes. Someone who gets saved by the withdrawal will adopt children who otherwise will be homeless. People can be heroic by living to their fullest potential. Yes, our soldiers are heroes. But so are loving parents. And so are generous friends. And so are honest business people. Why is it vogue right now to be a hero because you are dead? Because an insane "war room" (at the Pentagon) decided to sacrifice lives with no foreseeable end? Isn't this the time for Denzel or Tommy Lee Jones to come out of the background and relieve Mr. Bush of duty? Why is war policy even allowed to be controlled by such a measurable minority? What happened to the idea of politicians representing us in their mountaintop offices? Condi is a parrot. She is having the most brazen affair through sharing power with the man. She is smarter than him, but she says his words. What's wrong with this picture? It's disgusting, that's what!

It's CRIMINAL that's what!! (these are Lydia's words)

Also, please read a brilliant post below (at bottom) by Jude Nagurney Camwell. But first, these enlightening words from one of the world's great spiritual leaders:

"We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest...
Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation for everything beautiful, great and good — but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities...with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world's evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it, — determined not to be offended when no wrong is meant, nor even when it is, unless the offense be against God (Love, Truth, Life.) Nothing short of our own errors should offend us. He who can wilfully attempt to injure another, is an object of pity rather than of resentment." - Mary Baker Eddy

And of course, we heal our enemies, and take the fight out of them by returning love for hate: by actually NOT fighting them on their terms (with equal violence) but by withdrawing from the fight, seeing them as tragically misguided children of God who desperately need a new view of themselves. Once we remove ourselves from the hotbed, they are left with no one to fight. We disarm them with love. (This doesn't mean we have to personally like these guys, but we must view them differently in order for a change to take place. You can't fight someone who doesn't fight back.

******************************************************
Posted by Jude Nagurney Camwell in reply to Tall Texan's posting of the article calling European countries cowards and appeasers:

"Diplomacy is not appeasement, but Bush's favorite neocons don't want anyone to examine the vast difference.

George never looked Saddam in the eye - not once - before going in and making this mess in Iraq. The opportunity was there, but George wouldn't do it. Why? Because he is a fundamentalist in every sense of the word.

A fundamentalist is "never wrong." Religious and political fundamentalism is characterized by rigidity, domination, and exclusion. Fundamentalists are convinced that they are right and anyone who contradicts them is evil. The fundamentalist feels that they have a unique relationship with God - and that they actually speak for God. When there are serious differences between the U.S. and other nations, we cannot brand those who differ as pariahs or inferiors worthy of despise - yet fundamentalism in foreign policy tends to do just that. It leaves no room for discussing of ideas or for compromise.

George has an opportunity to talk directly with Syria and Iran reagrding South Lebanon. He will not do it. He is following the pattern of assured war by doing so. He is following the pattern of assured war by sitting back (immoral in his failure to speak out) while children die at the hands of a brutal aggressor. When children perish in such a manner, there is no moral person in this world who sees it as "self-defense."

From a non-fundamentalist point of view, when Jesus told us to 'love our enemies,' I really don't think he meant "go and kill them."

Great strength in leadership is found in those who will not rule out any possibility in the pursuit of political goals. Unfortunately, George only wants to use firepower to achieve his goals, neglecting the rule of law and human rights that have been set down in stone for us to see since the days of Hammurabi. George missed some very important lessons in leadership while he partied down and guzzled brew and f**ked up every business he ever had his grubby hands in. Our nation suffers for his weakness." - Jude Nagurney Camwell



LOVE & PEACE! xo, Lydia 2006

Getty Images

BRADBLOG banner:
"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." - Joseph Stalin

Here is the commercial-free unedited version of the radio show I did in June for Doug Basham's Progressive Talk in Vegas. Doug is one of my favorite people and a fantastic, brilliant host!

DOUG BASHAM PROGRESSIVE TALK

WE WILL WIN WAR ON TERROR by GETTING OUT OF IRAQ

WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE GONE TO WAR IN IRAQ. THIS WILL BE THE BIGGEST BLUNDER OF OUR LIVES.

REMEMBER: BUSH WANTED TO SELL OUR PORTS TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Bush rules only by fear which is False Evidence Appearing Real. FEAR. He uses terrorist tactics on us, making us think he thwarted these terror attacks! Thanks to Britain and Pakistan who shared information that helped thwart the London terrorist plot. Bush only found out about this on Sunday, so the Republican spin machine has no right to say Democrats are soft on "terror" or getting out of Iraq will make us less safe. IT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE!

STRENGTH LIES IN INTELLIGENCE. Democrats are stronger on terror because we know the value of human life. We will win the war on terror by gathering our forces and fortifying our homeland. By first bringing our troops home and strengthening our own borders, ports, airports and train stations and using our resources wisely. We can't afford to lose a single human life. We've lost over 2,600 troops, and another 16,000 missing arms and legs, and we've spent over 300 billion dollars on a war that has DEFINITELY CREATED MORE HATRED AND TERRORISM throughout the whole world against us.

Democrats will go out and communicate with our enemies: we will bridge the gap and open diplomatic channels. Syria, who was helping us right after 911 will be helping us again. Everyone wants to be on the side of the Peacemaker who brings a higher vision to conflict. In the time that George Bush and the Three Stooges have been in power, they have created more enemies than ever before in America's history. This is the most shameful time in our country. We must get these primitive self-serving oil barons and Neanderthals out of power before they destroy the world.
__________________________________
To NYTimes Editors
Re: the "liquid plane bomb threat." Two items from the massive press reporting do not ring true: 1) that the plotters go-ahead message "begin the attack now" would be sent without code words. No one is that dumb. And 2) How did the airlines know in advance to have thousands of clear plastic carry on baggies ready to distribute?
Plus there's the obvious political angle "Why just now?" which took away the democratic party's moment in the national spotlight with Ned Lamont's victory.

Garth Bishop, Los Angeles
_________________________________
BY ARIANNA HUFFINGTON:
At a time when the real enemies in the war on terror have reared their murderous heads (exploding shampoo? no need to sex that up), to hear Dick Cheney and company using illogical, over-the-top, fear-mongering rhetoric conflating Ned Lamont's victory with the war on terror is as deeply offensive as it is jaw-droppingly outrageous.

You want to know what really emboldens our enemies? It's not Ned Lamont beating Joe Lieberman; it's the idea of an impotent United States so over-extended and bogged down in Iraq that it has been pushed to the diplomatic sidelines.

What Lamont's victory should really do is embolden Democrats to aggressively counterattack the Republicans' scare tactics nonsense. (It would help if the MSM reacted to the GOP drivel by treating it with the contempt it deserves instead of dutifully reporting it as if it contained even an ounce of logic or sanity.)

John Kerry effectively counterattacked the Republican's scare tactics nonsense today -- and every Democratic leader should do the same every day, without fail, until the message finally breaks through the static. The thwarted London attacks, said Kerry, "expose the misleading myth that we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here. In fact, the war in Iraq has become a dangerous distraction... Nearly five years after the attacks of 9/11, we are not as safe as we can and must be... The 9/11 Commission's recommendations to secure our most vulnerable infrastructure remain virtually ignored. And homeland security funding has been cut for cities like Boston and New York."

One of the main reasons this has happened is that Congressional Democrats have failed to hold the Bush administration accountable for taking its eye off the national security ball in order to pursue its imperial adventure in Iraq. It's worth noting that the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is none other than Joe Lieberman, whose belief in bipartisan comity has kept him from holding the White House's feet to the fire. No wonder Karl Rove wanted to help him out, and Dick Cheney feels so concerned by his defeat.
Read more at HuffPo
_____________________________________

THE FREEDOM REPORT * NO MORE BUSHMEN! NO MORE WAR!

As the Native Americans reminded us: "No tree has branches so foolish as to fight among themselves."

You can reach my Home page at: LYDIA CORNELL

And to discuss SPIRITUAL SOLUTIONS to the world crises, along with some amazing prayer miracles in the next few weeks, please check out RADICAL PRAYER at my other blog THE PEACEMAKERS * LIGHT OF TRUTH

When I went on the USO tour of Beirut to visit the Marines, terrorism was in its infancy. This was right before the first major "truck bomb suicide attack" against U.S. Peacekeeping Forces. US Magazine published my "Beirut Diary" when I returned, and I did Good Morning America. We visited aircraft carriers USS INCHON, USS SUMTER AND USS SHREVEPORT.

Ambassador Joe Wilson, ex-CIA agent Larry Johnson, me and Jack Carter at Doug Basham's Progressive Talk fundraiser in Vegas. (June 2006.)

Hi Everyone. You can now leave comments here; we are experimenting with new websites, so please forgive the confusion. I am still on a spiritual retreat. This blog is back up and I will check in periodically.

GEORGE W. BUSH OUT-TRICKS RICHARD NIXON!

The BRAD BLOG congratulates George W. Bush for outlasting former President Richard M. Nixon in office!

It has been no easy feat to out-slick Tricky Dick, but with the help of a compliant rubber-stamp congress and a castrated roll-over media, Bush has managed to get away with a contempt for his country in a way that Nixon could only have dreamt of. As the legendary and mysterious Freeway Blogger has previously pointed out, we're all wearing the blue dress now...
BRADBLOG.com



Gibson Converts to Judaism: Changes Name to Mel Gibstein

Reuters - In his boldest bid yet to apologize to the Jewish community, actor Mel Gibson today announced that he had converted to Judaism.

The news took many Jews aback, since conversion to Judaism is a demanding process that can take months or even years of study, and Mr. Gibson accomplished the feat in a record time of forty-five minutes.

But a spokesman for the "Lethal Weapon" star explained how Mr. Gibson pulled off his lightning-fast conversion: "This is Hollywood -- a lot of things can be done by special effects."

Moments after his conversion to Judaism, Mr. Gibson paid a visit to the registrar's office in Los Angeles County and had his name legally changed to "Mel Gibstein" in a show of commitment to his new chosen faith.

Then it was off to Malibu, where the 50-year old actor was bar mitzvahed on the beach in a small, private ceremony.

"Today, I am a man," Mr. Gibstein said before a gathering of friends and well-wishers from the local watering hole Moonshadows. "A Jew man!"

Mr. Gibstein, whose Lexus LS sedan now sports a license plate reading "LCHAIM," said that he was "thoroughly enjoying being a Jew" and vowed to only shop wholesale from now on.

The actor added he would begin production of a new film, "Mad Matzoh Beyond Thundershalom," as soon as he kicks his drinking problem.

"I am really committed to reheeb," he said. "I mean rehab." (story sent by my friend Michael Levy)

Open thread. Please comment on the Mideast Crisis and on LIEBERMAN LOSING THE PRIMARY!
Lieberman losing is a good sign for peace lovers everywhere. We are not going to let them get away with endless war.

Every great statesman and spiritual leader knows that you can't fight fire with fire. Fighting our enemies embodies them with power, attention and new life. Withdraw forces, trust that the Iraqi people will find their way much faster than they will if we stay in Iraq attracting suicide attacks! Why are (bush-cheney-rove) such control freaks? Why are they playing God? They don't trust the Iraqi people to manage their own country? There is a higher power and everyone has access to it. It is not helping anyone to keep our troops in Iraq. In fact, OUR VERY PRESENCE IS CAUSING HELL TO BREAK LOOSE!

We need to understand our enemy. We need face-to-face dialogue with the "Other." Bush and Condi have to let down their macho pride and sweet talk Syria. We should be charming our enemies, getting to know them and doing everything in our power to prevent more children from being killed.

The more I obsess over a problem, the more I bring it into my life (because I’m thinking about it all day long.) The very thing I don't want is attached to me like a ball and a chain simply because I can't let it go. The less I diet, the more weight I lose. The less I nag my husband, the more agreeable he is. We give our enemies life, we empower them, validate and give them "body" by fighting them! That's why Christ said, "Resist NOT evil." Whatever you strike out at, only hits you back harder. When I expect the best in people and see the good in them, the good is all I see. (They rise to the occasion.)

Here is the commercial-free unedited version of the radio show I did in June for Doug Basham's Progressive Talk in Vegas. Doug is one of my favorite people and a fantastic, brilliant host!

DOUG BASHAM PROGRESSIVE TALK

See more pix:

DougBasham.com

LOVE & PEACE! xo, Lydia



Getty Images

HOW TRUE. I love what BRADBLOG has up on his front banner: "The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people
who count the votes decide everything." - Joseph Stalin

PEACE and HOPE: PROGRESSIVE GIFTS

OKAY WE'RE BACK UP! We are expanding! Please forgive the transition and growing pains.

You can reach my Home page at: LYDIA CORNELL

And to discuss SPIRITUAL SOLUTIONS to the world crises, along with some amazing prayer miracles in the next few weeks, please check out RADICAL PRAYER at my other blog THE PEACEMAKERS * LIGHT OF TRUTH

When I went on the USO tour of Beirut to visit the Marines, terrorism was in its infancy. This was right before the first major "truck bomb suicide attack" against U.S. Peacekeeping Forces. US Magazine published my "Beirut Diary" when I returned, and I did Good Morning America. We visited aircraft carriers USS INCHON, USS SUMTER AND USS SHREVEPORT.

This melts my heart: Just received this from John Conley the brave veteran who recently (2006) gave me his Purple Heart for speaking out in support of our troops in Iraq. Certain people are trying to smear me, but there is nothing more wonderful than having the truth on your side. Truth has substance and is real.

"God showed me that facing my fear head on was the only way to conquer it and that knowledge made me stronger in other areas. No one can hurt you, Lyd. If you're getting 'swift-boated', wear it as a badge of honor.  I know in my heart of hearts that no one possesses more fear than an Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh. That's part of their sociopathic natures. Have you noticed how trembly Coulter is when she begins attacking those who don't agree with her? Scared people spend their lives trying to appear strong and confident and that usually translates into physical or verbal violence.  You, on the other hand, are obviously a strong woman and I'm personally glad you're carrying the fight. You are very formidable, my dear. Of course, you need to know that I'll always be ready to stand with you, for what it's worth, in my capacity as a war veteran.....and I mean that literally. The fight is important enough and you mean enough to me for me to hop on a plane if I'm ever needed."

PLEASE READ THE DEVIL'S GAME BY THE BRILLIANT ROBERT DREYFUSS!

“’The enemy of enemy is my friend’ is usually considered unsophisticated, tribal thinking. But Robert Dreyfuss shows how, during the Cold War, precisely this principle led the United States to support anti-Communist Islamist movements throughout the Muslim world—nurturing the whirlwind we are reaping today. His book is judicious, fascinating, and deeply grounded in a little-know history that stretches many decades back from the CIA’s support for anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan. He is wise enough to know that all the strength of fundamentalist Islam can’t be blamed on American bungling, but the amount that can is appalling.”
—Adam Hochschild, author of Bury the Chains and King Leopold’s Ghost

Found this photo of Johnny Grant, Kelly Patterson and myself with the troops in Beirut, Lebanon for USO tour. God Bless the brave Marines of the 24th MAU, who died from a suicide truck bomb launched by Hezbollah shortly after we left Beirut. Years later I received fan mail from the 13-year-old son of one of these Marines. He asked me if I had ever met his father, and would I describe him to him. The boy was dying of cancer.

I will post parts of my US Magazine's Beirut Diary (if I can find it) in the coming weeks. Audrey Meadows, who played my grandmother on Too Close For Comfort, was the one who encouraged me to go to a war zone on Christmas Eve, 1982. I will always be grateful to her for pushing me to go to a war zone. But at the time, I thought she was a nut! She said it on this "trip of a lifetime." I was scared to death flying into Lebanon — and have some hilarious stories about paranoia and mine fields in a blacked-out city.
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

Human Events’ Coulter Cover-up Continues: Editor Outs Ann Coulter, by Dan Borchers

We are expanding! Please forgive the transition and growing pains. This page no longer takes comments, BUT click this link which transports you to my new improved blog: PROGRESSIVE FREEDOM BLOG

For spiritual solutions to world crises (or any other fears) please check out my new PEACEMAKERS blog.

You can reach my Home page at: LYDIA CORNELL

EXCLUSIVE! ANN COULTER'S PROPAGANDA MACHINE AT WORK! In their desperation to salvage the reputation of Ann Coulter, their five-time best-selling author, HUMAN EVENTS defamed a fellow conservative. They jettisoned truth and integrity for profit. And they have done a disservice to Conservatism and to themselves. In Part III, we will plumb the depths of their duplicity and discover the identity of the real culprits.

Human Events’ Coulter Cover-up Continues: Editor Outs Their “Porn Queen”
By Daniel Borchers

On July 10, 2006, Human Events published an online defamatory essay in order to discredit critics of Ann Coulter. Following a lengthy series of emails proving that it was false in sum and substance, that slanderous essay was removed – but not retracted. Indeed, no hint of apology has ever been given. My correspondence with Human Events Online Editor Robert Bluey is especially enlightening.

In Part I of this series, I refuted several bogus claims, including:
• They claimed that my amply-documented essay exposing Ann Coulter’s plagiarism in her first book, High Crimes and Misdemeanors, was “ridiculous,” when, in fact, it was accurate in every detail.

In Part II of this series, I refute additional phony claims made by Lisa De Pasquale and “verified” by Robert Bluey:
• Their claimed that I distributed “pornographic photos.” – FALSE
• Their claimed that I doctored photos of Coulter. – FALSE

READ THE REST OF THE STORY AND ALL THE DETAILS AT PROGRESSIVE FREEDOM BLOG


[Daniel Borchers is the Editor of BrotherWatch and the President of Citizens for Principled Conservatism. He can be reached at PrincipledConservative@yahoo.com.]

WHEN I WAS IN BEIRUT * IN MEMORY OF OUR 240 MARINES OF THE 24TH MAU who PERISHED

We are expanding! Please forgive the transition and growing pains. This page will still be here, but you can access my new blog at PROGRESSIVE FREEDOM BLOG

You can reach my Home page at: LYDIA CORNELL

And to discuss SPIRITUAL SOLUTIONS to the world crises, along with some amazing prayer miracles in the next few weeks, please check out RADICAL PRAYER at my other blog THE PEACEMAKERS * LIGHT OF TRUTH Just posted a wonderful article "Disowning Conservative Politics Is Costly for Pastor" over there. Blessings to a brave Christian who woke up and realized the truth. Of course he will be persecuted for it.

Found this photo of Johnny Grant, Kelly Patterson and myself with the troops in Beirut, Lebanon for USO tour. God Bless the brave Marines of the 24th MAU, who died from a suicide truck bomb launched by Hezbollah shortly after we left Beirut. Years later I received fan mail from the 13-year-old son of one of these Marines. He asked me if I had ever met his father, and would I describe him to him. The boy was dying of cancer.

I will post parts of my Beirut Diary, which was published by US magazine, in the coming weeks. Audrey Meadows, who played my grandmother on Too Close For Comfort, was the one who encouraged me to go to a war zone on Christmas Eve, 1982. I will always be grateful to her for pushing me to go on this "trip of a lifetime." I was scared to death flying into Lebanon; have some hilarious stories about paranoia and mine fields in a blacked-out city.

There were so many wonderful Marines I met before the attack. I wonder if Col. Black Jack is still alive? Does anyone know Black Jack? He gave me a plaque with a gold Black Jack card engraved on it.

Contemplate this photo of Sedona: it does wonders to bring down stress levels.


"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." Thomas Jefferson.

Why the Middle East Crisis Isn't Really About Terrorism
By insisting it is, President Bush clouds the real issues, which are how much the U.S. should do for Israel and what it should do to Iran
By LISA BEYER

Posted Sunday, Jul. 30, 2006
A year after 9/11, Richard Armitage, then the Deputy Secretary of State, was asked at a Washington forum whether the Bush Administration had plans, in its war on terrorism, for the Lebanese Islamist group Hizballah, factions of which the U.S. believes were responsible for the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. service members. Armitage, a bear of a man, gave a chest-thumping reply. "Their time will come," he vowed. "There is no question about it. They have a blood debt to us, and we're not going to forget it."

The time appears to be now. By supporting Israel's ferocious offensive against Hizballah in Lebanon, especially by pushing back international efforts to broker a cease-fire in order to give the Israeli military more time to lay waste to the group's fighters and armaments, Washington has taken a forceful swing at the militia, even if it's by proxy. It's not exactly about avenging the Marines, of course. It's about fighting the global war on terrorism.

Or is it? Should it be?

Enunciating a new security doctrine nine days after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush declared that the war on terrorism would be fought not just against al-Qaeda but also against "every terrorist group of global reach." Hizballah can certainly be said to fit in that category. However grand it may be to fight all global terrorists, though, the simple fact is that we can't: we don't have the troops, the money or the political will. That means it may make sense to limit our hit list to the groups that actually threaten us. Hizballah does not now do that. Nor does the other group currently in the spotlight, the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas. The U.S. has sound reasons for wanting to constrain these groups, principally that they threaten our ally Israel. But those reasons have largely gone unarticulated as Bush falls back on maxims about the need to confront terrorism, as if Hizballah and Hamas are likely to be behind the next spectacular that will top 9/11. They are not, and pretending that they are costs the U.S. credibility, risks driving terrorist groups that aren't allied into alliance and obscures the real issues at hand in the Middle East: How do you soften up militants who vehemently oppose Israel's existence? What should the U.S. put on the line for Israel? And does it make sense for Washington to engage in boxing by surrogate with Tehran?

THE NATURE OF HIZBALLAH

Formed in 1982 to resist Israel's occupation of Lebanon, Hizballah established its terrorist bona fides in the 1980s by kidnapping some 50 foreigners in Lebanon, including 18 U.S. citizens, and killing two of them, notably CIA station chief William Buckley. The group's global reach was achieved perhaps in 1985 with a suspected connection to the saga of TWA Flight 847, in which hijackers shot dead a U.S. Navy diver and dumped him onto a Beirut tarmac. In 1992 Hizballah bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29, and, in 1994, a Jewish cultural center there, killing 95. Read the rest of the article at: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1220505,00.html

ISRAEL * QUESTIONS ABOUT ZIONISM

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." Thomas Jefferson.

For TROLL-FREE blogging (without the malicious opposition trolls that personally insult people who comment here) please check out my other Progressive Blog at: FREEDOM BLOG

For spiritual solutions to the world crises, and some amazing prayer miracles in the next few weeks, please check out RADICAL PRAYER at THE PEACEMAKERS

Sunday Israel's air raids killed 34 civilian children and 26 civilian adults. Satellite imagery of the Haret Hreik quarter of Beirut, before and after Israeli bombing, just shows that Israel is bombing without regard or a care in the world for civilian life. They flattened entire city blocks to take out a few terrorists.

THE FIRST CRIME on OUR PART WAS our INVASION OF IRAQ. We tried to push democracy on others at the point of a gun. OTHER NATIONS THINK THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO INVADE AND BOMB EACH OTHER TOO. Of course Hezbollah is wrong; they are terrorists. But that doesn't excuse more terrorism. ISRAEL SHOULD HANG ITS HEAD IN SHAME and if they truly love God, they will CEASE FIRE for good and really trust God this time.

And by the way Zionism may be the cause of modern anti-Semitism. Zionism is not true Judaism, as I heard a Rabbi say the other day. It is a political land-grab that may not have been the best choice for the nation of Israel. The Israelis should not be defined by land; they are a great nation with or without that piece of land. Life is more than material or geographical position.

** Obsession with land is idolatry: and the Ten Commandments say: "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." Is Israel's obsession with their land getting in the way of God's true purpose for them? It seems that they can't see the forest for the trees.

Who would want to be in a arid land surrounded by enemies, when one's birthright is a spiritually powerful nation?

If they would spiritually "let go" and let God, meaning cease fighting everyone and everything, they would start a chain reaction, they would begin to find peace and a great sigh of relief. People would react differently to them. The meek shall inherit the earth. No one seems to get the spiritual significance of biblical parables and language.

This does not mean Israel must leave the land. It means "let go" metaphysically and surrender the fight. Whenever I surrender my fighting, my pent-up resentment, my whole life changes for the better.

The serenity prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

The world stops fighting you when you stop fighting it.

The best uniter of all is divine Love, for when Love is present, hatred has no choice but to be absent from the field. Let’s pray with love in our hearts for all people, no matter what side of the conflict they are on, no matter who began the fighting or who continues to provoke whom. Each one, in truth, is precious to the Creator; each one has a love-inspired role to fill, and death is no part of that inspiration. Let’s also take time to love the peoples of these nations and territories, each one striving for the peace and stability everyone longs for.

It is possible to leave conflicts of the past behind and move forward into a permanent and peaceful future. The Lord can lift the thinking and affections of everyone up to a higher place, one where Truth, Life, and Love fill their hearts—and ours—and where hatred and war will be found no more.

Every spiritual leader and every great world leader throughout history knows better than to do what Israel is doing and what George Bush is doing. Are we really going to continue to be led by people who do not remember history?

Lay down arms, both spiritually and physically, and actually use the Great Peacemaker's teachings. There's a reason Christ was born right there, in the center of all the conflict. No one will listen to him. There is no "wiggle room" in these miraculously powerful words: "Bless those who persecute you; love your enemies." Return love for hate. It's easy to love those who love you. Miracles happen when we actually stop fighting everyone and everything, regardless of who started it or how badly we've been wounded.

The most spiritual growth happens with your enemies.
There's a reason the Arabs and Israelis are next door to each other; they just don't get it yet.

Personally, no matter how safe I feel at home or in a bomb shelter (!), the mere fact that others are suffering makes me feel incomplete and sad. WE should all feel overwhelming compassion for others or we are not fully alive and human.

We must ask ourselves: is the point of our self-centered, air-conditioned, homogenized, shopping-club lives just for accumulating and hoarding all the goodies for ourselves? Are we here on earth just to cushion our fat bellies and feel artificially "safe" while the result of the world to bleeds to death?

Can you really enjoy life when you know others are suffering in the world? I can't. And no evolved, enlightened soul can. This is not freedom, to know your country has the power to lead the downtrodden sufferers to peace, but instead chooses selfishness, greed, violence and bloodshed. Do we really think this is the way to convince others of the "greatness" of our democracy. We have very screwed up values.

http://www.veteransforpeace.org/war_is_a_racket_033103.htm