Mary Mostert
UN considers problem of good and evil, God and the Devil
By Mary Mostert
While religion appears to be increasingly a taboo subject in American politics, it has suddenly popped up at the United Nations, which of course is on American soil, as a major issue.
And, I suspect this may very well be another case in which the world is following President Bush who has been telling us for five years that we are in a war between good and evil.
Increasingly, it seems, the world have come to agree with President Bush. There IS a war between good and evil going on. The only thing the people of the world now have to decide is which side is good and which side is evil.
This week at the United Nations, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela announced to the world body :
"Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.
"I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad elaborated on the accusation of imperialism, by guess who, by telling the world that "today humanity passionately craves commitment to the Truth, devotion to God, quest for Justice and respect for the dignity of human beings. Rejection of domination and aggression and then spoke specifically of "the occupation of Iraq" and the "situation in Palestine" which, he said: "goes back to the Second World War. Under the pretext of protecting some of the survivors of that War, the land of Palestine was occupied through war, aggression and the displacement of millions of its inhabitants."
Of course, there were no "millions of people" in Palestine in 1948. In fact, the portion of the Palestinian Mandate that became the State of Israel actually had a Jewish majority of 55% with only 405,000 Arabs and 498,000 Jews in 1948. However, in the entire Mandate at the time was 33% Jewish and 67% Arab including the portions of the Palestinian Mandate that are now part of Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Compare that to what is about to take place in Serbia where Kosovo Albanian Muslims in 1999 were 5% of the population of Yugoslavia and had been part of Serbia for almost 1000 years, but who demanded that the province of Kosovo become their separate ethnically pure nation, having driven out most of the Serbs, Jews and Roma. . This time Muslims are DEMANDING that a much smaller minority than existed in the Palestinian Mandate be given 15% of the land mass of the nation and it appears that may be given that land by the UN.
And, what was it that the man identified as the "devil" SAID to the UN General Assembly the day before? What President Bush said that apparently ticked off Chavez was:
"Last week, America and the world marked the fifth anniversary of the attacks that filled another September morning with death and suffering. On that terrible day, extremists killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, including citizens of dozens of nations represented right here in this chamber. Since then, the enemies of humanity have continued their campaign of murder. Al Qaeda and those inspired by its extremist ideology have attacked more than two dozen nations. And recently a different group of extremists deliberately provoked a terrible conflict in Lebanon. At the start of the 21st century, it is clear that the world is engaged in a great ideological struggle, between extremists who use terror as a weapon to create fear, and moderate people who work for peace.
"Five years ago, I stood at this podium and called on the community of nations to defend civilization and build a more hopeful future. This is still the great challenge of our time; it is the calling of our generation. This morning, I want to speak about the more hopeful world that is within our reach, a world beyond terror, where ordinary men and women are free to determine their own destiny, where the voices of moderation are empowered, and where the extremists are marginalized by the peaceful majority. This world can be ours if we seek it and if we work together.
"The principles of this world beyond terror can be found in the very first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document declares that the "equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom and justice and peace in the world." One of the authors of this document was a Lebanese diplomat named Charles Malik, who would go on to become President of this Assembly. Mr. Malik insisted that these principles apply equally to all people, of all regions, of all religions, including the men and women of the Arab world that was his home.
"In the nearly six decades since that document was approved, we have seen the forces of freedom and moderation transform entire continents."
It would appear, from all this talk at the United Nations, that there is considerable agreement that we really are facing a battle between good and evil, or God and the Devil. Now all we have to figure out is which side is representing the Devil and which side is representing God.
It's a time when we might want to remember that Jesus warned us to "beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"(Matthew 7:15-16)
He may very well have had in mind people who talk about God, peace and justice while urging young men and women to kill as many of us infidels as possible as they kill themselves.
© Mary Mostert
While religion appears to be increasingly a taboo subject in American politics, it has suddenly popped up at the United Nations, which of course is on American soil, as a major issue.
And, I suspect this may very well be another case in which the world is following President Bush who has been telling us for five years that we are in a war between good and evil.
Increasingly, it seems, the world have come to agree with President Bush. There IS a war between good and evil going on. The only thing the people of the world now have to decide is which side is good and which side is evil.
This week at the United Nations, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela announced to the world body :
"Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.
"I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad elaborated on the accusation of imperialism, by guess who, by telling the world that "today humanity passionately craves commitment to the Truth, devotion to God, quest for Justice and respect for the dignity of human beings. Rejection of domination and aggression and then spoke specifically of "the occupation of Iraq" and the "situation in Palestine" which, he said: "goes back to the Second World War. Under the pretext of protecting some of the survivors of that War, the land of Palestine was occupied through war, aggression and the displacement of millions of its inhabitants."
Of course, there were no "millions of people" in Palestine in 1948. In fact, the portion of the Palestinian Mandate that became the State of Israel actually had a Jewish majority of 55% with only 405,000 Arabs and 498,000 Jews in 1948. However, in the entire Mandate at the time was 33% Jewish and 67% Arab including the portions of the Palestinian Mandate that are now part of Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Compare that to what is about to take place in Serbia where Kosovo Albanian Muslims in 1999 were 5% of the population of Yugoslavia and had been part of Serbia for almost 1000 years, but who demanded that the province of Kosovo become their separate ethnically pure nation, having driven out most of the Serbs, Jews and Roma. . This time Muslims are DEMANDING that a much smaller minority than existed in the Palestinian Mandate be given 15% of the land mass of the nation and it appears that may be given that land by the UN.
And, what was it that the man identified as the "devil" SAID to the UN General Assembly the day before? What President Bush said that apparently ticked off Chavez was:
"Last week, America and the world marked the fifth anniversary of the attacks that filled another September morning with death and suffering. On that terrible day, extremists killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, including citizens of dozens of nations represented right here in this chamber. Since then, the enemies of humanity have continued their campaign of murder. Al Qaeda and those inspired by its extremist ideology have attacked more than two dozen nations. And recently a different group of extremists deliberately provoked a terrible conflict in Lebanon. At the start of the 21st century, it is clear that the world is engaged in a great ideological struggle, between extremists who use terror as a weapon to create fear, and moderate people who work for peace.
"Five years ago, I stood at this podium and called on the community of nations to defend civilization and build a more hopeful future. This is still the great challenge of our time; it is the calling of our generation. This morning, I want to speak about the more hopeful world that is within our reach, a world beyond terror, where ordinary men and women are free to determine their own destiny, where the voices of moderation are empowered, and where the extremists are marginalized by the peaceful majority. This world can be ours if we seek it and if we work together.
"The principles of this world beyond terror can be found in the very first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document declares that the "equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom and justice and peace in the world." One of the authors of this document was a Lebanese diplomat named Charles Malik, who would go on to become President of this Assembly. Mr. Malik insisted that these principles apply equally to all people, of all regions, of all religions, including the men and women of the Arab world that was his home.
"In the nearly six decades since that document was approved, we have seen the forces of freedom and moderation transform entire continents."
It would appear, from all this talk at the United Nations, that there is considerable agreement that we really are facing a battle between good and evil, or God and the Devil. Now all we have to figure out is which side is representing the Devil and which side is representing God.
It's a time when we might want to remember that Jesus warned us to "beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"(Matthew 7:15-16)
He may very well have had in mind people who talk about God, peace and justice while urging young men and women to kill as many of us infidels as possible as they kill themselves.
© Mary Mostert
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