From Aaron's Tour diary on mewithoutyou's sight:
11.22.04
back on the road, somewhere in the midwest right now, grateful to be travelling but missing home already. Bush won of course, and as for my last entry, people have asked why I'd say a thing like I said, and tho I don't want to get too much into political stuff again, I'll mention only a few things:
after the defeat of baghdad, he quoted old testament prophesy ("the people walking in the darkness have seen a great light..." -Isaiah 9:2) to refer to america - this prophesy is about the coming of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, not america! this is idolotry, this nationalism that calls our country a light to the world. needless to say, God is not an american (much less a republican).
waging war to "rid the world of evildoers." to list the "axis of evil" as a list of countries (iran, iraq, syria, north korea) is to deny the evil that exists in every human heart. may God give us the humility to wage war only against our own sin, to remove the plank from our own eye. Jesus never taught us war, but to Love our enemies!
the rich and powerful american brand of Christianity has so departed from Christ that it bears little to no resemblence to his teaching and his life. may God have mercy on us and give us that Holy Spirit that was with Jesus, that sells all, gives to the poor, and follows with nothing but a desire for the kingdom of God. the Spirit that prays for those who attack us, to turn the other cheek, to return a curse with a blessing. may we become the servants of all, working alongside and for the cause of the oppressed and marginalized and unimportant and forgotten and ignored and kicked aside and dirty and sick and ugly and mentally ill and locked up and thrown away. our faith has become a charade, a caricature, and God is not fooled by this. may he have mercy on our dishonest country and world.
please, please, PLEASE
-Aaron Weiss
