I Am Required to Love You, I Don’t Have to Like You

A friend of mine, Kevin T made a post titled I Don’t Have To Like You in which he shows the ridiculous PC requirements of individuals to like other people based on demographics.  This post had stayed on the edge of my mind since he wrote it and like a gentle nagger, the conversation I had had in prayer came to mind and is itching to get out of me.

Ten years ago, being a new Christian, I had had a serious issue with some people I could not stand.  I mean I hated these people.  They were egocentric, arrogant, hateful, greedy and all manner of negative attributes.  I was angry because I could not reconcile the ‘acting like a Christian’ and putting away from me those things that would lead me to a more sinful life (To me hating one and wasting my time thinking on that, was a sin).  So what is ‘acting like a Christian’?  It is those who follow the commands that Jesus gave in the Bible and act like they are following that, right? 

It is in prayer and meditation that I got to converse with God about this topic.  I was dwelling on a particular individual who is the antithesis of a Christian, and I wanted to know how was I to deal with this individual.  It is then that That Voice speaks and cannot be denied:  “I said for you to LOVE one another, I didn’t say you had to LIKE one another! LOVE one another”. 

I customarily check the scriptures to ensure revelations or epiphanies do not countermand the Bible, then I go along with it.  So to the Bible I went.  Now this is not a discussion about war and how to deal with pedophiles, and it is not about corporal punishment and justice, I am talking about the individual dealing with individuals.  So it is the following verses that helps me deal with certain scenarios:

• If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.  —Proverbs 25:21-22  

• “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

• If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.  —Proverbs 25:21-22  

• “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

• “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  —Luke 6:27-35  

• A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”—John 13:34-35

Well that part about loving one another is clear enough.  No where does the scriptures command that we like one another.  Nowhere does it say we must ‘be nice’.  Fact is the contrary is true.

•  Proverbs 29:5  A man who flatters his neighbor  Is spreading a net for his steps.

Jesus never said to be nice.  He said to Love.  So how do you love?  If your co-worker has rivulets of mascara on her face, do you tell her?  Yeah I know she is a horrid woman to work with, but do you tell her?  I would, even though I can’t stand her voice or the fact that she exists, I would still tell her.  Not only will that help her avoid looking like a fool, but one also must understand spiritual principles, in that that woman may very well be on her way to an interview for a job that will take her from your office.  So that example illustrates an immediate example of why one should love one another. 

There are quite a few people with whom I have had repeated contacts, that I couldn’t stand, but I have loved them.  Yes there is a dissonance in the act, at first blush, but in the long run it has paid off.  For those people, will one day testify to your beneficence.  This should not be construed to make this your motive in loving one another.  For if the motive is that you wish to obey the command, you will find these benefits occurring spontaneously.

One of my other examples is the time I saw a couple walking down a state highway on a very hot day, apparently the older car I had passed had a flat.  Hundreds of cars had passed them by, (In a southern state and this was a biracial couple) I pulled over even though I was on my way to a brunch with a ranking socialite.  I gave the couple a ride to call for help with their car.  I waited for them to see if everything was ok.  It wasn’t.  I had some tools in my car and offered to do what I could to help.   So we drove back up to their car and I found that the flat and all the tires had metal threads exposed.  This was too dangerous for anyone to drive on so I got the flat one off their car and drove up to the tire place that was open on a Sunday.  We got there and I asked the manager if he had good used tire that he would put on the rim.  He hemmed and hawed and I explained the situation and told him I hadn’t much money but wanted to help the couple, he relented and sold it.  The used tires in question had more than 50% of the original tread!  While the couple was out of earshot, I explained to that manager how the other tires on the car were all thread bare too and if I could get them back up there would he ensure the other tires were replaced.  I explained that I didn’t have money for all new tires but the spares I could afford.  I went on and explained how no one was helping them and that hundreds of cars were just going by ‘not seeing’ them.  He agreed to replace them with the used ones remaining.  So for $80.00 I was able to have all four of the tires replaced.  I took the one tire we had done, and we three went to their car and I got the tire on and I made them promise me they would go back to that shop to ensure I had it tightened to the proper specs.  They assured me they would go back there.  See, they didn’t know that I had them hooked up for the other 3 tires.  I confirmed with the manager a few hours later that they had indeed gone back and gotten the other 3 done.  I don’t know their names and they don’t know mine.  But this is part of knowing how to love one another. 

Now this telling of this is not to claim virtues, but to illustrate examples.  When He said Love one another He meant exactly that.  These acts of love should never be misconstrued with acts of like.  If I liked you only I would have just told you “Hey, you look nice today.”, when the truth is your butt crack showing is disdainful and your mascara is running down your face.

There is one outcome that still gets me; it surprises me on every recollection of it today as it did on the first hearing of it.  There is one girl that I utterly could not stand.  She didn’t take care of her kids, she was slovenly, she abraded every freaking nerve I had!  She oooohh I couldn’t stand her!  It took a lot for me to not just collect laughter from others in talking nasty about her, but I didn’t.  I was not the only one who felt that way about her, she had been quite unlovable back then.  But I loved her children, who only craved proper discipline.  I showed her how to never spank her kids for coming to her.  I kept personal feelings out of my words when she needed correction on anything.  I fed her, I helped her when she needed it.  After time and distance, my best friend told me that she and the woman referred to, were all socializing one day, talking about me, and that woman said, “She loves me!” she continued, “She always loves me, no matter what, that woman loves me!”  I could never have been more surprised than that day.  It was then that I hear that Voice return, saying, “This is what I am talking about.”

So just because I don’t like you, does not mean I don’t love you.  Just because you think you may be unlovable, does not mean you are unloved.  Sometimes we make ourselves unlovable, that makes the command harder to follow.  When I tell you the truth, especially one you definitely need to know, I am not liking you, I am loving you.  If it hurts your feelings, too bad, I am loving you, and that truth may save your life or sanity.  It is a great relief to differentiate like from love.  It is easier now.

Zionism At Large

"...in short, zionism is that which has always gnawed at your conscience, while you were busy dodging misinformation."  ~ Brandon Dean

That statement is such a soft and quiet voice within, isn’t it?  Many are afraid to speak such things aloud.  They are afraid because they fear a neighbor or co-worker will tell others who will like in the days of the gulag, abscond with the offending speaker in the middle of the night.  Or fear that the one will be  banished from their society, or treated like anathema. 

The poor Jews:

Who is the source of this dark fear?  Those who number so few but inhabit the top tiers of the power elite in America.  The Jews?  Not really.  The Zionists?  Yes.  Who are Zionists?  They are the people who broker power to any and all who support Israel.  That is right, the group who wields so much power and fear are those who send money and power to Israel.  One asks then, “Are you saying that because the President of the U.S. and the Congress, by sending millions and billions to Israel, that makes them Zionists? “  You bet.  Wait, you say, “We are paying taxes that is used to send money to Israel, does that make us Zionists”?  Yes, if you voted for the person who voted to send that money.  And after discovering this truth you continue to support Israel. 

Why is the support of Israel such a bad thing?  Well let us pose it this way, Let us say that Spain decided that because the Mexican people have a point and that Spain wants the southern portion of the U.S.  and that they were promised that land by an ancient queen, now let us further venture to pose that Spaniards today believe they are supposed to have that portion of the U.S. and there is no other way about it.  So they begin to migrate while getting the blessing by the Vatican and the U.N.  Now Spaniards are moving in and evicting the residents who have lived and owned that land for generations, and the Spaniards have also set up their own government in say Colorado.     

Now mind you that there has been no lines drawn for this emigration.  No Spaniards will commit to having any borders drawn.  Suddenly you hear news that your cousin is being evicted from his house and the house is being razed and he is then interred at a small encampment.  He cannot grow food there and cannot hunt.  He cannot commute to work except by approved modes of transportation and is subject to a search.   That is not all, your cousin's children are shot for picking up a rock in this newly occupied area.  What will you do? When your cousin's wife is called all manner of names, what will you do.  If you think that because your direct family is involved that it will not affect you.

That is the same thing the Jews said while in Germany and it is the mantra of today, that we must stand up  today as it will soon affect us individually soon enough. 

Watch this whole video to see how a people are treated in their land.  See how the children are treated.  See how the ones tasked with keeping peace are turning a blind eye and tacitly assisting the abuse.  What would you do if someone called you a whore?  What would you do in the face of such hate?  It is a good thing this psycho bitch was not anywhere near me.  I will watch the video again so I can memorize this face, so that if I ever chance upon seeing this nasty broad in real life, I will get to punish the bully coward that she is.  Teach her a lesson.

In the meantime, are we American's going to allow this apartheid with our money?  Why?  If this was done in America, there would be such an outcry and policy changes and laws passed....  Oh.... yeah.... nevermind, we have horror museums and laws that only protect the perpetrators of this.

Ladies! What are we doing dispensing angst in Iraq?

What are we doing dispensing angst in Iraq?

Ladies, the taxes we pay when we spend money on groceries, shoes, feminine needs, or any item, is going to the war machine that is killing innocent women and children. When I say 'innocent', I mean precisely that. These are non-combatants. The simile would be you and or your child being gunned down on Main Street America. Bullets have no nationalities. Drug Thugs, American Troops, or Al Queda, they take the blood and lives of the innocents.

Can you tell the nationality of these dead?  

Layla Anwar is crying out to all that can hear. Ladies let us hear her cry.

Ladies, if you care and if you can sway your man to care, weigh this womans words. Imagine yourself in her shoes. Your little darling's gymnastics class is so trivial compared to the broader scope of things.

Ladies, don't you feel the gnawing in your stomach? Can't you sense the imbalance. Can't you smell the blood?

No; no one is asking for money. Your pieces of paper and digital money has already done enough damage going into the coffers of those who would shed your blood with the same alacrity it would shed some Muslim woman's.

Why can you not call your representative? What is a phone call to you? You would spend 10 times as long on the phone with a gossip monger who does nothing to enrich your life.

Ladies let us quit hiding behind the busyness of pot lucks and birthday parties, and finally do something that means something.

The UN, Bosnia, Rape, and Jolie

A couple of months ago I had heard that Angelina Jolie was preparing to film a new movie in the Balkans. The movie was to be about a love story between a Bosnian women and a Serbian man set in Bosnia during the Balkan War. The filming was planned to be in Bosnia and in Hungary. I would see some segments about Jolie and the movie scenes and such on the local news. I don’t know a lick of the Serbian language , but it was apparently positive in the reports. Incidentally, I have dined at a restaurant here called the Old Penguin that has been favored by Brad Pitt, and from the photos of him there, he had a nice time. Oh yes, the food and service was wonderful. So if you are coming to Serbia, I recommend this restaurant to all.

Back to the point, Jolie chose Bosnian actress Zana Marjanovic for the role in the film. Another goal for this venture was for a regional education center in Sarajevo for the returning Bosnians who had escaped the war. But the basics is this: A Bosnian woman and a Serbian man were in love prior to the war, then during the war the lovers find each other again as Bosnian detainee, and a Serbian guard of the camp.

Now, today, we have a whole new controversy. Because of erroneous reports by Bosnian news people, there is speculation and rumors that this is a rape love story. If one thinks critically how the AP reports it one would think the MOVIE caused the controversy, when it was the news agency that did:

The movie caused controversy in Bosnia when local media reported rumours that the film was the story of a Muslim rape victim who falls in love with her Serb attacker.

Women victims' associations complained about the reported content and in mid-October the Bosnian authorities suspended Jolie's filming permit.

It was quickly reinstated after Jolie sent the authorities a copy of the script which her Bosnian production company says does not include any rape love story.

Here we are in December 1, 2010 and now the yahoo headlines are screaming: “Bosnian Rape Victims Protest Angelina Jolie Movie in Letter to U.N.”, the article goes on to say that the Bosnian Women Rape Victims are calling Jolie ‘ignorant’.

Why should Jolie be concerned about a group of people that the movie is NOT about? Well because just like any WWII movie, you must include sensitivity to any victim even loosely associated with the time period covered, even if the sensitivity is just a footnote. You can’t have a WWII movie without the ‘Jews being victims’, or if set in the Pacific theatre, the Japanese being ‘sneaky ruthless bastards’. Why can’t people who produce a movie just tell the story they wish to tell, without having to bend to the pressure of political groups?

Just like Cameron was vilified by so many for his fantasy film Avatar, evidently he was not sensitive to some particular demographic. He was accused of brainwashing, and mind programming and all manners of evils. Instead of letting the customers or viewers of movies tell how they liked or disliked a movie, we have political groups disrupt what we the people want to see. If I like a movie I tell people and they go watch it. Because I enjoyed the movie, Avatar, so much, I told people. Five people who don’t normally spend money on the theatre tickets did go buy tickets and watched the movie. That is how a movie producer should evaluate the success of the movie. If a political group decides before the movie is filmed or released, that it is in some way bad, and they succeed in halting the filming or release, that denies us, we the people, from our choice in financially supporting or not supporting a film or producer.

Now that those news people in Bosnia have started a rumor and used media to stop the filming of this Jolie movie, the customers including those victims, who would not have had been harmed by this film, has had this issue tear into those emotional scars.

Now the economic affects are this: Instead of filming in Bosnia as Jolie would have, she has moved the filming to Hungary. So this group has successfully reduced the financial boon of film crews in Bosnia and sent them to Hungary.

So what was the endgame here? Like my daddy used to say, “There is no such thing as an accident. There are only acts of carelessness and acts of God. So this ‘rape love story’ story was not an accident, there was a goal afoot. Those local news people put that story out there with an intent, as it was not just one reporter.

Now the results are that Jolie is under scrutiny, her film is under scrutiny, and her screenplay is now viewable by all kinds of people in Bosnia who can now pick apart all aspects of the film, and who is not sworn to the safety of the copyright content.

Was it the goal of those news people to provoke the anti-Serbian sentiment? Is this to introduce an idea that all Serbian men are rapists? Just like the endgame played in America, that all German men were Nazis and the whole German country was guilty of genocide? Is this the endgame? Looking at the comments on the Yahoo story about Jolie’s new movie, it appears to be the case. Or was the endgame to set more sanctions against Serbia. The results are infighting among those who read the story. The results are also showing some serious lack in reading skills among those who commented. Or was this a testing to see how many will proclaim that they too, were ‘rape victims and that no one else understands’.

Don’t you want to choose what movie you are going to watch? I do. When this movie gets released, I will definitely see it, and I will comment on what IS in the movie, not on the political crap not in it.