This is kind of setting the cat among the pigeons, about questions that are
unanswerable.
People die from heat exhaustion, because of - well - the heat and dehydration
coupled
with lack of sodium. There cannot be any sense of divine retribution, if that
where you're
heading.

We don't know what the consequences are as far as Israel-Lebanon, or the
Coalition
occupation in Iraq, or 9/11. God has put - delegated - into the hands of
national leaders
the ability to wield the sword (Rom. 13:4). For now, no matter how much we
disagree or
protest, we are only doing so from the sidelines, unless we get our hands dirty
and join in
the political process and machinery. For many of us, discretion is the better
part of valour,
and it is our choice to not get so embroiled.

We do know - and this may sound like a cop-out - that God will judge in the end;
that the
rightness of the wars in the larger balance of history will make itself clear;
that in many
lives things in the end will work out for good, particularly if they're
Christians; that
repentance will be necessary and required of all sides.

It is difficult to comment on another regime. In Pakistan, for instances whole
sections of
the popualtion live on £30 (about $50) a month. The military and the police are
heavily
funded (even though the police feel that they have to extract money from the
public in
traffic violations, to supplement their income). In many ways like many other
nations in
that regions, there is a level of repression and what may seem like craziness
(the heat,
perhaps?), but unless you are committed to the welfare of the nation, or have a
strong
assurance of having a prophetic word, it is quite difficult to have valid place
to speak.

This is not a "Shut up, you guys. You don't know what you're talking about".
Rather,
opinions about the Long War, the War in Iraq often end up as hot air with a
bunch of
aggravation and discord among brothers. Many in the UK fought like cats and
dogs over
the rightness of the War in Iraq, was it right for a nation to unilaterally to
subvert the
authority of another nation-state by enforcing regime change without other
nations
feeling that they could do the same? shouldn't we rather support the work of the
UN as the
main international arbiter with all its flaws, in the name of peace?

Also, we don't know what we're talking about. Advocates of both sides of, say,
the War in
Iraq, had elements of right on their side. Saddam Hussein was an evil man, even
though
Madeleine Albright once called him 'our kind of guy'. Yet how many other 'evil
men' who
suppress the human rights of their citizens do the West do business with?
Regime change:
what's that about? We will never really know the answers to this question or
Israel.

Advocates of democracy for nations such as Iraq, must concurrently call for
greater
democracy in their own countries. We have to insist on more democracy than once
(in the
form of a cross) every four or five years. We need an intelligent electorate,
who know how
to pick a guy who makes the decisions. We need to know what the issues are.

Sorry about the long posting; I certainly didn't intend to lecture. I feel like
it's many
postings in one. Heat exhaustion(?!), war and informed opinions. These are
issues that
I'm passionate about. We must talk, yes, but also get involved.

--- In emerging_theology@yahoogroups.com, "JZ" <jzeckler@...> wrote:
>
> Why is it that people die from heat exhaustion?
>
> Do you know why people die from heat exposure?
>
> If you don't you are very ignorant.
>
> Why is it that accidents happen? Do you know? You should?
>
> Why do tragedies and catastrophies happen?
>
> Why did Cain killed Abel?
>
> Why did Lamech killed one of Set's children?
>
> Cain killed for one reason. Lamech killed for two.
>
> Killing Cain as revenge would cause 7 accidents or tragedies,
> diseases, catastrophies.
>
> Killing Lamech as revenge would cause 70 accidents or tragedies,
> diseases, catastrophies.
>
> How many Israelis will be afflicted with accidents, tragedies and
> diseases for each Palestinian, Arab that Israels kills as revenge?
>
> How many Americans will be afflicted with accidents, tragedies and
> diseases and heat exhaustion for each Iraqi, Afghani, Arab that
> America kills as revenge for 9/11?
>
> Reference: Genesis 4:24
>
> God is the only one that has the authority to kill.
>
> JZ
>