Dashing Babies on Rocks

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QUESTION:

I am troubled by Psalm 137 verse 9. Who would want to take revenge on babies, and why is this in the Bible?

Psalm 137 is one of a small group of Psalms that are known as "imprecatory" or "curse" psalms. It's possible that those who want to see the infants of enemies dashed on rocks are those who have seen their own infants suffer atrocities of war. In wars, terrible things happen, and crimes and massacres happen on both sides. In a world fueled by hate, and lacking the peace of Christ, we should not be surprised when wars kill and maim the innocent, displace families and slowly starve refugees to death. Sometimes Christians will find it hard to understand why these words are found in our Bible. Such graphic violence seems out of place in a book we look to for hope and comfort, and in view of God's forgiveness and love. Unfortunately, we cannot just dismiss these words because they seem harsh and offensive. The writers of the imprecatory psalms were concerned about something far more significant than revenge.  They were concerned first for God's holiness -- and recognized that He was offended by the atrocities committed against His people.  We should remember that the imprecatory psalms are fundamentally pleas for God to administer justice. We should also recognize that strong emotions in poetry are expressed in strong language. The psalmists also knew that right would only triumph when evil had been overthrown and punished. Perhaps the imprecatory psalms (the best known is Psalm 109) are included in scripture to express God's approval of a passionate hatred of evil and evil deeds.

SCRIPTURE:

O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us -- he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.  Psalms 137:8-9

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Why I carry a gun… and where.

Why I carry a gun… and where.

I carry a gun because I am a good guy…

For just a bit of background I will tell you I live in California. I have a CCW permit issued by the Placer county Sheriffs department. It took me almost a full year to obtain the CCW permit. I am now legal to carry a concealed weapon in any county in California, and in a few other states that recognize a CCW permit issued in California. There was a fair amount of required training and extensive background checks including the FBI & DOJ. And these came after the California BG check. 
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When you begin carrying a concealed weapon you are exposing yourself to enormous potential liability. First, should you ever find yourself in the position of having to shoot at someone, you better be darn sure you really needed to shoot. Even if you are in the right 100%, you are going to be arrested and spend at least one night in jail. Then, you will begin a long and expensive legal battle, because you are going to be sued. Ether by the recipient of your bullet(s), or his/her family. You can count on that. That is just the way our world works today. It is my fervent  prayer that I am never put in the position of shooting someone. Having said that and being very serious about it, I would like to be clear on one thing: Should I be in a position where my defensive posture is to shoot a bad guy/gal to protect myself, my family or anyone else… I will do it without hesitation. As fast as possible I will put two 9mm holes in the chest of the threat. With the ammunition I use, there is a better than 90% chance the perpetrator will not survive. 

Okay, so why do I carry a gun? There are really two reasons. One reason is for self-protection and the other is for protection of others. At my age (I am 70) most people are retired and living a life of leisure. While I guess that technically I am retired, I am still working. I do property inspections (Fannie Mae, HUD etc.) to supplement my Social Security income, and my wife’s employment income. The properties I inspect are owned by the mentioned quasi-government agencies, and are supposed to be vacant. Because the agencies became the owners via foreclosure you can imagine that a fairly high percentage of them are in blighted and high crime areas.  I call it visiting the “badlands”. These are dangerous areas and it’s risky just going there, not to mention I have encountered squatters, evidence of drug parties, etc.  I carry a gun for protection in these high risk areas.
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When I am not working, and I am just living my life, I am carrying my gun most of the time. I am not carrying it because I feel the need for protection personally, I am carrying it to protect others. Others like my wife, friends, neighbors, and other church attenders. Yes, I usually carry my gun when I attend church. Again, not because I feel the need for personal protection, I don’t. But because we live in such a crazy society, you never know what some nut is going to do. And when that nut appears I will do my best to stop him/her. I carry my gun to church and other places to protect others… to protect you!  We are about one year past that terrible movie theater shooting in Colorado.  Wouldn’t it have been nice if there had been a couple of people attending that movie who were carrying a gun? No doubt there would have been a different outcome.

Except when working, I don’t carry a gun for my own protection, but for yours. I don’t know where the dangerous crazy person is going to be. If I did know, I just would not go there. But I can’t know, so I carry my concealed weapon most of the time. Again, I pray I will NEVER need to use it, but if necessary I will.  

Quote from: Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association’s executive vice president

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

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The New Golden Boys in the Military

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The below post is a Commentary by Lt. Colonel John Lewis Cook, USA (ret.)

When I read it I, as a proud Navy veteran, it made me very sad.  Where will we end up?  Are we approaching the day when I will be ashamed to say I served our country in the military? Where are all of the people with the brains (and grapes) to correct this sort of crap? Wayne

 

I give you:
The New Golden Boys in the Military


Just when you think the Obama administration cannot possibly engage in
any more stupid, embarrassing episodes, you suddenly discover that you
are wrong. This administration’s capacity for insanity appears to be
limitless. The latest example of this occurred on Tuesday when the
Pentagon hosted something called the Second Annual Gay Appreciation
Day.

This tribute to the Lavender Set took place in the Pentagon’s
auditorium which is in the basement of the building. Normally, special
events such as this take place in the bright sunlight of the center
courtyard. In any event, the basement is the perfect place for this
venue.

Valerie Jarrett, the president’s all purpose, all weather cheer leader
was in charge and she was definitely ready for the challenge. Ms.
Jarrett is famous for other-the-top statements that bear little
resemblance to reality and on Tuesday, she did not disappoint. “Because we repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, our military is strongerand our country is safer now that homosexuals may serve openly,” she told the cheering audience. This is a most sweeping assertion and it would, under normal circumstances, be accompanied with something in the way of proof to lend it credibility. After all, she is making the gay soldiers sound like supermen and, without them, the nation would be in grave danger. However, there is nothing normal about these circumstances we are facing today with this administration. It’s as if Obama has repealed the requirement for any supporting documentation, on any issue. In short, if the administration says it, it has to be true. If the administration decides to make gays in the military the new Golden Boys, then they become Golden Boys. Period.

Next up was Chuck Hagel, the current Secretary of Defense who was
selected to be the fall guy for the loss of Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t know it yet. Taking his cue from Ms.
Jarrett, he fell right in line. “We’re very proud of everything the
gay and lesbian community have contributed and continue to
contribute,” he echoed, with the same amount of proof and less
enthusiasm that Ms. Jarrett offered, which was none.

Then Eric Fanning, Air Force Secretary, heaped praise on a gay Marine
Captain and said when he deploys in August, “he’ll be taking his
husband with him.” (I admit, it will take some of us some time to get
used to these odd possessive pronouns, such as “his husband,” and “her
wife,” but I suppose we should all make the effort because they are
not going away. However, in the interim, it does appear a bit, well,
queer.)

To make the event complete, there was actually a gay General officer
in the audience. Not much of a General, to be sure, only a Brigadier
and not active duty but reserve, but technically, a General none the
less. BG Tammy Smith is duly noted as the groundbreaking General
officer that actually came out of the closet. She and her wife were
duly recognized. At next year’s event, I’m sure the organizers are
praying for a two or three star active duty General just to give the
whole thing a touch of class.

While it is all too easy to make fun of these officials fawning over
gays as if they were rock stars or an endangered species, there is a
far darker side to gays serving openly in the military and none of
these officials have the courage to address it. The dirty little
secret is this. During 2012, the first full year where gays could
serve openly in the military, there were 26,000 sexual assaults across
all services. Of these 26,000, 14,000 were male-on-male assaults. Yes,
you read that correctly. More men in the military were sexually
assaulted than women in 2012. So who is committing the majority of
sexual assaults in the military? Well, it’s the new hero who “is
making our country safer,” according to Ms. Jarrett, the homosexual
serving openly. It’s the same homosexual soldier that Chuck Hagel is
“so proud of.” In fact, Hagel is “proud of everything the homosexuals
and lesbians are doing.” Well, do you think he’s proud of this report
that was reluctantly released last month that blamed the “homosexual
community” for most sexual assaults in 2012? And why was there a 35%
increase in sexual assaults from 2011 to 2012, most involving
male-on-male assault? Could it be that throughout all of 2012, gays
were serving openly and apparently taking full advantage of the repeal
of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, came out of the closet in droves, determined
to celebrate their liberation with anyone they encountered, regardless
of consent?

When viewed through this lens of cold, hard reality, free from the
distortion of political correctness, the whole gay issue quickly
ceases to be humorous. In fact, it becomes utterly disgusting. The
truth is, gay soldiers are a real threat to real soldiers and this
report bears that out. Instead of putting them on a pedestal, they
should be tried and put in jail. If this is allowed to continue, this
virus has the potential of killing the military from the inside. For
anyone who still has doubts about this, then I advise them to read the
“Annual Report on Sexual Assault In The Military,” May 2013. So, what
is being done about this epidemic of male rape in the military?
Precious little because if it is forced into the bright light of day,
it is an admission that the great gay experiment was a total failure.

Meanwhile, as the military leadership was partying with gays in the
basement on Tuesday, the last remaining grownups in the Pentagon, the
operational folks who always have to make the hard calls during times
like this, were wrestling with the latest orders from the President to
cut ten combat brigades from a force that is already too lean. That
will be roughly 45,000 soldiers who will, eventually, lose their jobs
and the chance to finish their careers. Soldiers who have done nothing
wrong, raped no one, just doing their job, will be cut loose. But have
no fear. None of those who get cut will be gay. God knows, in this
environment, being gay is being golden and the gays will keep getting
a free pass until sanity is restored to the system. When that will
happen is anybody’s guess because there are no George Patton’s on the
horizons. Like those guys at Benghazi, the military right now is on
its own. No help will be coming from this administration.


About the Author

Lieutenant Colonel John Lewis Cook, United States Army (Retired),
“served as the Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Interior in Kabul,
Afghanistan, with responsibility for developing the force structure
for the entire Afghan National Police. As of 2012, this force totals
157,000. From March 2008 until August 2012, his access and intimate
associations with all levels of the Afghan government and coalition
forces have provided him with an unprecedented insight into the
policies which will determine the outcome of the war. It is this
insight, coupled with his contacts and associations throughout
Afghanistan that form the basis of Afghanistan: The Perfect Failure."

More about Lt. Colonel John Lewis Cook
<http://www.military-writers.com/army/john_lewis_cook.html>

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Who was Antonio West?

Hello. Don’t recognize me? That’s OK; I understand.

My name was Antonio West. I was the 13-month old child who was shot in the face at point blank range by two black teens, who were attempting to rob my mother, who was also shot.

I think my murder and my mommy’s wounding made the news for maybe a day, and then disappeared.

A Grand Jury of my mommy's peers from Brunswick, Georgia ruled the black teens who murdered me will not face the death penalty... too bad it was me who got the death sentence from my killers instead, because Mommy didn’t have the money they demanded.

See, my family made the mistake of being white in a 73% non-white neighborhood, but my murder wasn’t ruled a ‘hate crime’.

Oh, and President Obama didn’t take a single moment to acknowledge my murder. He couldn’t have any children who could possibly look like me - so why should he care?

I’m one of the youngest murder victims in our great Nation's history, but the media didn’t care to cover the story of my being killed in cold blood.

There isn’t a white equivalent of Al Sharpton, because if there was he would be branded a ‘racist’. So no one’s rushing to Brunswick, Georgia to demonstrate and demand ‘justice’ for me. There’s no ‘White Panther’ party, either, to put a bounty on the lives of the two black teens who murdered me.

I have no voice, I have no representation, and unlike those who shot me in the face while I sat innocently in my stroller - I no longer have my life.

Isn’t this a great country?

So while you’re out seeking ‘justice for Trayvon’, please remember to seek ‘justice’ for me. Tell your friends about me, tell your families, get tee-shirts with my face on them, and make the world pay attention, just like you did for Trayvon.

I won’t hold my breath.

I don’t have to anymore.