Fw: my letter to a church

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Alanna Hartzok

To: TOES

Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2005 4:59 PM

Subject: my letter to a church

                                        1927 Hafer Road, Fayetteville, PA, 17222  

March 14, 2005


To the Minister(s) at Mt. Pleasant Church,

Thank you for the Happy Easter card and jelly beans and previous invitations to attend services at your church.  I grew up regularly attending King Street United Brethern Church and after leaving Chambersburg area, was on a 25 year vision quest for truth. During that time, living in different countries and major world cities, I found answers to my big questions about psychological and spiritual realities, political and economic justice issues. I gained a big picture understanding of world affairs and some profound perspectives concerning what is happening to the planet and humanity in these times, including what needs to be done to build a world that works for everyone.

So please tell me, is your church a Blessed are the Peacemakers church or are you a Rambo Jesus church? Are people there deeply searching for how they can be peacemakers, or are they gung-ho for the imperialist policy of ³full spectrum dominance² that is now the guiding principle of US foreign policy? Are the church members concerned about the fact that less than 300 multi-billionaires now have as much wealth as half the people on the planet, three billion of us? That in the US, the top 1% of the people now has two trillion dollars more wealth than the bottom 90%? Are they deeply aware that 30,000 people die of hunger each day, needlessly? Are they concerned to hear that our government keeps trying to depose democratically elected President Chavez of Venezuela because he has been enacting land reform and capturing more oil funds to distribute in goods and services to the poorest people of his country? Is your church working for peace and justice on earth or are you among those caught up in the ridiculous belief about the ³rapture²?

So, the above are the issues and concerns central to my life, along with pathways of emotional healing in my work as a mental health counselor.  If these are not concerns of your church, then believe me, you would not want me as a member, I would make everyone too uncomfortable.

Sincerely,

Alanna Hartzok
Co-Director, Earth Rights Institute, United Nations ECOSOC NGO Representative
Acting President, Council of Georgist Organizations, Board Member, United for a Fair Economy
Advisor/Consultant, Odi Ecovillage, Nigeria

Worshiping the Golden SUV by Carol Wolman

 

Worshiping the Golden SUV by Carol Wolman

 

 Psalm 106:  ¹⁹They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.    ²⁰Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.       (or an SUV that guzzleth gas).

 

America's glory always used to be its freedom- freedom of worship, freedom of the press, freedom of speech.  Bush still calls on this freedom rhetoric to sell his war budget.  But we all know it's about oil for the SUV's Americans refuse to give up.  If we all drove normal sized cars that got decent gas mileage, we wouldn't need any oil from the Mideast.  We wouldn't need to invade Iraq and go after oil-rich Iran as well. 

 

We have exchanged our freedom for "security from terrorists".   This translates into support for a militaristic imperialistic regime that seeks to nail down American oil supplies for a few more years.  As long as Americans worship their SUVs, they will continue to trade the glory of freedom for fascism.

 

In the name of the Prince of Peace,   Carol Wolman