Faith, The Only Certainty

The most despicable article I have read mentioned that 44 people were killed in attacks by suicide bombers. The author went on to note that this count included the bombers themselves. Bias, what bias?

I am reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", the allies had and missed many opportunities during the rise, to thwart and prevent the evils that ultimately resulted. The pre-emptive attacks executed in Afghanistan and Iraq are just that type of prevention. They have saved countless nameless faces from suffering at the hands of evil rulers.

The cost born by our American sons and daughters is painful to bare. But seeing the smiling faces of the Iraqi citizens after voting is clear evidence that the costs are not in vain. May God bring special comfort to those who have suffered losses for others to live free.

In a conversation today with a friend we discussed the transition from needs to wants. We know that people have basic needs and after that move up to wants and desires. So the needs get met and then the incongruent behaviors appear. Those foundational influences only reach so high up the want chain.

In the Bill Moyers piece, you see one who believes that we are despoiling our nation and wasting resources, and those nasty Christians are to blame. But the result of consuming resources is more efficient use of the resources as their costs increase. While he is correct that some resources truly have limits. Do we want to constrain our current potential when it might be that potential that opens opportunities we never imagined. Life is not a fixed sum game. As people become more productive, they gain more wealth. With more wealth, they consume more goods creating more demand and likely competition to produce those goods more efficiently. The consumption of goods can actually end up resulting in more efficient use of those limited resources. Artificial controls contraining the consumption are naive and not the answer. We are where we are because those before us produced and consumed resources. Their productivity consumed entire forests and prairies, but we now have farmers producing goods to feed our nation and beyond. The market works as a strong guide to not be wastefully using our resources.

Is it a need or want for Bill's vision of a better future for his grandchildren? The vision is a need we all share. How we want to realize it is where we don't yet see eye to eye.

Christains share the basic confession that Jesus died for their sins. But that sole foundation of belief, when mixed with the many other aspects of the person and their experiences, is expressed in dramatically opposing views. Some views can be attributed to a simple emphasis of Justice or Mercy, but more often, there are many other subtle aspects that play into the persons expression of their faith.

To understand these incongruent outcomes is something I enjoy pondering. The quote by Abraham Lincoln fits well on this issue: "I don't like that person, I need to get to know them better." The power of uniting the people and understanding the reasons for their varing views may help us to establish, ultimately, more peace.

At church, I have friends who are more liberal than I am conservative. I feel that as a result, we are somehow less effective at achieving the goals we share as Christians. Striving to find the common ground and putting our focus there would be more effective than casting votes that end up cancelling each other out.

What principles or additional beliefs drive us, many, but for example:

• Government - a source of solutions or cause of problems?
• Should taxes be higher to provide more services or lower to allow individuals to share according to their choosing?

Seek first to understand, then be understood.

Contrasting Captain Ed's Note to Democrats with the comment by MarineLiberal1775 is startling. Both love America, but the Captain points out failings in the Democratic leadership through their failure to recognize the power of elections in Iraq. 1775 sees the bashing of the leaders and attacks back. On his site he paints Republicans with Cognitive Dissonance. My suspicion is that the Captain would say the same of the Democratic leadership. What is the source of this deep felt contrast in views, to the point that it gets difficult to see the good in the other side. Fundamental principles guide each of them, some like love of America are likely identical, but when they finally percolate to the surface of the person, they are incongruent.

A blog to strive for congruency in an incongruent world.