Is it only their problem?
Some thoughts, and a sermon, on the war in Iraq,
Michael Moore's movie Fahrenheit 911.
Today I watched a very disturbing documentary,
Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. It is an amazing piece of work, well worth
watching. I had read Moore's books "White Men with Guns" and "Dude, where's my
country?". Furthermore, I use his documentaries "Roger and me" and "Bowling for
Columbine" in my Ethics classes to address the notions of deontological and
teleological ethical decision making processes. However, nothing could have
prepared me for the damning evidence of abuse displayed through the masterful
use of shocking and moving scenes in this, his latest
work.
After reading his first two books I wanted to establish whether there was any credible academic work to substantiate Moore's claims that the Bush Administration had stolen the American presidential elections in 2000 and that they were using the war on terror as a rouge to cover for their unscrupulous business dealings. I had been quite skeptical of the American claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and even more than that, could see no credible link between the Hussein regime and the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
Moore makes all of the above claims, but adds to them the claim that there has been, and continues to be, a strong relationship between the Bin Laden family (and for that matter many members of the Saudi Royal family). This relationship is both a personal friendship and a business relationship (since the Bush's wealth comes primarily from oil).
To my surprise there is indeed very credible evidence to substantiate the seemingly ridiculous claims! In particular the scholarly work of Prof Noam Chomsky substantiates in great detail many of the claims that Moore makes in an entertaining and typically 'Holywoodish' manner. Don't get me wrong, I am very aware that Moore is clearly biased against Bush and his administration. In my mind he has good reason for this bias.
Whilst the evidence of the Bush's abuses of their power in order to benefit themselves, and their close friends and business associates, appears to be quite solid I was most moved by one short clip in Moore's movie. In the clip an Iraqi father takes the body of his dead infant daughter of the back of his truck. He presents her, limp, covered in blood, to the camera and with great emotion pleads to know what crime she had committed that warranted her painful and brutal death at the hands of the American Liberation forces. This clip is juxtaposed with a statement from a glib senior American Army officer who justifies the loss of civilian lives in order to save the world from the threat of Saddam's (non existent) weapons of mass destruction. It is truly powerful.
I am now more convinced than ever that this war is evil, and that the administration that initiated it (and continues to fund it) are engaged in injustice and terror. There is very little doubt in my mind that their motives for going to war and continuing the occupation of Iraq are impure. I would encourage each Christian to be brave enough to find out the facts. Please pray that some sense of sanity and truth will prevail in the upcoming United States elections. If you have any contact with American friends or family who are eligible to vote, encourage them to vote and pray that they would have wisdom as they make a decision who to vote for.
My fear is that if we are silent in the face of terror and abuse, our silence makes us complicit. Let's not stand by without doing anything! I am constantly plagued by that simple question "What would Jesus do?" It's a tough question to answer. I am fairly sure that he would not be silent.
If you are able to, go and see the movie. Read one of Moore's books or contact me and I will pass on reference's to Chomsky's more scholarly work. I have also attached a message to this entry which I preached before the war in early March 2003. At that stage I was a lone voice, much maligned for questioning the motives of the war. It may be of some use, particularly in relation to Thomas Aquinas' notion of a "just war". Let's not remain silent any longer.
Best regards,
Dion
To bomb or not to bomb Christian response to war on Iraq s 2 March 2003.doc
(To bomb or not to bomb? 2 March 2003)
After reading his first two books I wanted to establish whether there was any credible academic work to substantiate Moore's claims that the Bush Administration had stolen the American presidential elections in 2000 and that they were using the war on terror as a rouge to cover for their unscrupulous business dealings. I had been quite skeptical of the American claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and even more than that, could see no credible link between the Hussein regime and the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
Moore makes all of the above claims, but adds to them the claim that there has been, and continues to be, a strong relationship between the Bin Laden family (and for that matter many members of the Saudi Royal family). This relationship is both a personal friendship and a business relationship (since the Bush's wealth comes primarily from oil).
To my surprise there is indeed very credible evidence to substantiate the seemingly ridiculous claims! In particular the scholarly work of Prof Noam Chomsky substantiates in great detail many of the claims that Moore makes in an entertaining and typically 'Holywoodish' manner. Don't get me wrong, I am very aware that Moore is clearly biased against Bush and his administration. In my mind he has good reason for this bias.
Whilst the evidence of the Bush's abuses of their power in order to benefit themselves, and their close friends and business associates, appears to be quite solid I was most moved by one short clip in Moore's movie. In the clip an Iraqi father takes the body of his dead infant daughter of the back of his truck. He presents her, limp, covered in blood, to the camera and with great emotion pleads to know what crime she had committed that warranted her painful and brutal death at the hands of the American Liberation forces. This clip is juxtaposed with a statement from a glib senior American Army officer who justifies the loss of civilian lives in order to save the world from the threat of Saddam's (non existent) weapons of mass destruction. It is truly powerful.
I am now more convinced than ever that this war is evil, and that the administration that initiated it (and continues to fund it) are engaged in injustice and terror. There is very little doubt in my mind that their motives for going to war and continuing the occupation of Iraq are impure. I would encourage each Christian to be brave enough to find out the facts. Please pray that some sense of sanity and truth will prevail in the upcoming United States elections. If you have any contact with American friends or family who are eligible to vote, encourage them to vote and pray that they would have wisdom as they make a decision who to vote for.
My fear is that if we are silent in the face of terror and abuse, our silence makes us complicit. Let's not stand by without doing anything! I am constantly plagued by that simple question "What would Jesus do?" It's a tough question to answer. I am fairly sure that he would not be silent.
If you are able to, go and see the movie. Read one of Moore's books or contact me and I will pass on reference's to Chomsky's more scholarly work. I have also attached a message to this entry which I preached before the war in early March 2003. At that stage I was a lone voice, much maligned for questioning the motives of the war. It may be of some use, particularly in relation to Thomas Aquinas' notion of a "just war". Let's not remain silent any longer.
Best regards,
Dion
To bomb or not to bomb Christian response to war on Iraq s 2 March 2003.doc
(To bomb or not to bomb? 2 March 2003)
Posted: Sat - September 25, 2004 at 10:51 PM
Quick Links
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
Archives
XML/RSS Feed
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Mar 01, 2005 05:36 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Mar 01, 2005 05:36 PM