Adam Says: Mars Hill and a New Years Resolution

I wanted to say a big thanks to Tess for dropping this link To the Mars Hill Website.
For those of you who don't know Mars Hill is the community/church begun by Rob Bell who also wrote Velvet Elvis one of my favorite books on the Christian Faith. She pointed out a great series of sermons Rob did on "Peace Makers" that goes along really well with the discussion Jeremy and I have been having about the war in Iraq. Check out the audio series title Calling All Peace Makers and make up your own mind.

On a vastly different side note let me talk about my New Years resolution... "New Years Resolution? Its February!" You may say; and you are correct, but the Chinese New Year is actually on February 18th, which was really convenient for me because I didn't make my resolution until like January 14h.... at any rate my resolution was to take a picture once a day for a whole year.... not of anything in particular and really at any time during the day I want to take it... once again I admit to ripping of the 3191 girls... link to the right... but I thought it was a great idea so I am taking it and running like I stole it... so at any rate this may turn into an interesting photoblog/art experiment or it could turn into a bunch of really bad photos taken by my D50 and D70 either way it should be worth checking out once or twice... so I look forward to seeing some of your comments about my resolution in the coming days weeks months... well YEAR.

Adam and Jeremy Say: Iraq! War! Urgh! Part 2

Adam: This is a picture of my brother’s friend Eric who is in the Air Force. He is a helicopter gunner who in December had his right eye and part of his face blown off by a bullet. This is a serious personal reminder to me that people are having their lives altered forever... or even worse are being killed every day over there... Americans and Iraqis, and that's what is so terrible about this war... this war is killing people... and I wish that wasn't something that happens but in this fallen world I don't see an end to war in general... I just wish we could end this particular war.

Jeremy: War will always be a part of humanity. The hard part is deciding how to keep it minimal. There are things we can do to help prevent some war, but 20/20 hindsight is the only way to really know the best way to do that. History says that if you want peace, you have to fend off and rid yourself of those that desire war. Ironically enough, sometimes that means waging war to kill those people. I think humanity has come a long way in trying to find peace, and maybe someday everyone will realize that the best way to get what you want is to fairly negotiate instead of pulling the trigger.

Adam: Yes but we didn't even wait for some one to attack us... its hard to qualify right now because war is something countries or factions do... its so gray when a country declares war on terrorist... that doesn't define you enemy... that doesn't make it possible to win.

Jeremy: 911 was an attack on us. There are zillions of links with the terrorists behind the 9-11 attacks with the terrorists in Iraq. Even though Saddam wasn't an Al Qaeda member, he allied with them by providing a safe haven in his country for them to operate. Plus, he had a history of very aggressive behavior that needed to be reconciled before he did something else. It was only a matter of time. Its hard for me to say, but I also agree that we shouldn't attack someone unless they have attacked us first. It sucks just sitting around knowing there are maniacs out there that are going to attack us, but we can’t just go around eliminating everyone we think might be a threat. Saddam, I think, is an exception because of his history and the links to terrorism that made him more than just a threat.

Adam: Okay I need you to not quote anything you have heard from FOX News for a little while... links between Saddam and Terrorist where sketchy at best... and if you want to take down every psychotic dictator who threatens someone then there is a list a mile long of countries we would have to invade... that cant be a reason to start a war... If Saddam had attacked us I would get it... I even got going after the Taliban Government that Funded 911, but if you want to talk about funding... talk about the Saudi's they are one of the biggest backers of terrorist groups and we don't attack them... My feeling is that we just didn't have a strong enough case for war... not like that has stopped us before... WW1... but I just don't think... "Saddam was a bad guy and there may be a terrorist link." Is a reason... Do I think Saddam needed to be stopped... yes... but I also think the whole government of Sudan should be taken out... and the North Korean Government... I think Iran has issues that needed to be addressed... but then I think someone like Chavez in Venezuela is being cast as this communist bad guy... guess what he doesn't like us... but he is making it possible for the poor in his country to live and to have healthcare and to work... so I say he is doing something right...I am ranting at this point... but I think the problem boils down the grayness of the matter... can we see black in white here... or are we just dealing with shades of gray?

Jeremy: Gray. It’s all gray....or is it grey?
Al Zarqawi was the number 2 guy in al Qaeda, right? Zarqawi ran operations in Iraq....freely. I don’t have to watch fox news to understand that if a=b, and b=c, then a=c. that seems black and white to me. I don't care about some Venezuelan dude, just like I don't care about Castro....they don't have a hand in killing Americans. I agree with you about stopping Sudan and north Korea and Iran, but we cant go to war with all those countries just because they suck(as you and I both know). Even though they pose a threat to us, I don't think they pose as big a threat as those supporting terrorists. Or if they do, I don't care, because we are in a war with terrorists right now. If North Korea had attacked us before 9/11, I would be more concerned with them, but I doubt a war with them would have lasted this long. It’s unfortunate that we are not at war with a particular country like Korea, because it would be such an easier war to understand and support. Alas, we are Americans and don't like supporting anything unless it’s easy.
In the 90s, I was often curious about what the next big war would be. Funny, I thought us and china would have been in WWIII before we got in a turkey shoot with a bunch of gorillas.

Adam: Nearly 3,000 people died in the combined September 11, 2001 attack
42,636 people died in auto accidents in US in 2005
200,000 people have died in the genocide in Sudan
Between 600,000 and 1million people died from starvation in North Korea between 1995 and 2000

Statistically speaking what is our biggest problem?

Jeremy: When you say "our" biggest problem, I'm assuming you mean the world’s biggest problem. I guess it would be the one with the highest statistics, but that was kinda like comparing apples to oranges. You can’t really compare the deaths of people in 911 to people in car accidents or those killed by abortions. I don't think you can get the US military involved in an intersocial issue with other countries. We can’t invade Korea just because they don't know how to keep their own people alive. That doesn't threaten us. If Sudan has plans to spread its genocide into other countries, then I can see why it might be a problem for us, but if they want to just kill each other, then other than my moral obligations as a Christian, I don't see what America can do about that.

Adam and Jeremy Say: Iraq! War! Urgh! Part 1

This is how the conversation began… you will have to wait to see how it ends.

Jeremy: What do you think would happen if the United States had a massive withdrawal tomorrow of all our troops and military presence in the Middle East?

Adam: What would really change? Are they not already shooting each other? Are they not already blowing up innocent people? I think the only reason we are there is to ensure that another dictator does not rise and take control of that country; well that and to help protect Israel.

Jeremy: Well, if nothing would change, then I don’t think there really is a reason for us to hang around there anymore. I don't think we are going to find WMD unless we invade Syria and Iran. I think there would be an all out Civil War if another dictator tried to take over. I know you could say that there already is a civil war going on, but you know what I mean. I'm tired of sitting around there playing police. I think they have enough government and military now to fight off the insurgents as those pop up. I think Israel can take care of itself from all immediate threats, and we could always be there within the day to back them up if something happened. I guess the only thing we couldn't stop is a nuclear attack on Israel. But, then again, we probably couldn’t stop that on American soil either. I think if terrorists had nuclear weapons, they would have already used them, and it’s only a matter of time until the French of Syrians sell them the technology and supplies to make them.