Materialism by Carol Wolman

Materialism by Carol Wolman

Deut 8: 3 Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

 

 We live in a materialistic culture.  We measure success by the neighborhood one can afford and the make of car one drives.  We all know that the policies of the US government are designed to maintain the American way of life, in which the US consumes far more than its share of the world's resources, and contributes far more than its share to global warming. 

 

This is why the Bush administration is tolerated- the American people appreciate having their oil supplies safeguarded and expanded.  This is why both leading candidates for president in the last election were pro-war, why our military budget is so bloated, why we are occupying Iraq illegally.  Americans are materialistic.

 

The new American religion, the evangelical church is "pro-free markets, they're pro-private property.  That's what evangelical stands for."- says Pastor Ted Haggard, founder and leader of the New Life megachurch in Colorado Springs, and a crony of Bush.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052805A.shtml

 

Material success is good in today's evangelical churches.  One cannot help but notice that many passages in the Bible are ignored by these folks, such as the one above. 

 

The Lord's prayer asks for daily bread, no more.  Jesus tells the rich young man to sell everything he has and follow Him.  But the evangelical Christians enjoy their private property, while millions around the world go hungry.

 

Jesus said you cannot serve both God and mammon.  The evangelicals around Bush try to do both.  There's something very wrong with this picture.

 

In the name of the Prince of Peace,  Carol Wolman

 

 

 

 

 

 

By What Authority? by Carol Wolman

  By What Authority?  by Carol Wolman

Mark 11: ²⁷And they come again to Jerusalem: and as He was walking in the temple, there come to Him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,   ²⁸And say unto Him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

The rulers of Judea wanted to know who gave Jesus the authority to drive the moneychangers out of the temple.  THEY were the authorities, who dared to challenge them?

We must ponder this question as we challenge the authorities of our day.  By what authority do we do this?  Many of us are seeking to drive corporate money out of our civic life, to limit the power of corporations to influence elections, and to bring to justice the corrupt officials whose policies benefit their home corporations rather than the people.  Our  representatives are elected to serve us, the humans, but the corporate beast has stolen our personhood through the legal system, and with it, the right to decide who rules us, and what policies the rulers make.  The laws and courts now favor the corporations over the people. 

Jesus did not answer the chief priests and scribes, because He knew they would not believe Him.  His answer would have been the same one God told Moses to give- YHWH sent me, I AM WHO I WILL BE sent me. 

Who will we be as we assert our authority to challenge the way things are, and demand justice for ourselves and our children, an end to public secrecy and lies, an end to wars that profit only the corporate warmakers, an end to living as if there were no tomorrow and a return to sanity, fairness and decency?  Who are we becoming, as we demand an explanation for the British "smoking gun" memo, and seek war crime charges brought against those in high places who authorized torture?

We have the authority, we the people are given the authority by our Constitution,  to demand that we be governed in our best interest, by representatives that we the people elect, not those selected by the Trilateral Commission, or the satan worshippers of Bohemian Grove.  Let's drive the money changers out of our temple of democracy.

In the name of the Prince of Peace,  Carol Wolman