FATHER; FORGIVE THEM.....

By

JOHN ROBERTS(2010)

On the morning of Sunday 20 December 2009, I was sitting quietly on my bed, when I found myself thinking of the words of the Nazarene, as he was about to die. His persecutors certainly did not realize the gravity of their conduct or the consequences for the history of humanity during the ensuing two-thousand years. I will repeat them here:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” (Luke Ch 23,v.34)

I have an idea that I may have already commented, in a previous essay, on these perceived words of Jesus: made under stressful circumstances. Traditional Christian apologists point to this statement as a confirmation of the fact that Jesus was much more than just an ordinary person: that he was, exclusively, the “Son of God!” That he had the “ear” of God in a manner quite distinct from that of an ordinary man. That may be so; but my own belief is that, if the words were, indeed, spoken by Jesus, they can satisfactorily be explained by the fact that to kill any person, is contrary to the Divine Law. That being the case, I now come to the main points that I wish to make here.

“Life” is sacred! This is a valid statement, even though there are many living creatures that we humans find to be intolerable in our lives and that we willingly destroy: e.g. “Flies; Wasps; Rats and Mice, Cockroaches; Harmful-Bacteria, etc.. All these small things are perceived to threaten us in some way, although not so menacingly as the larger wild animals, that are found in certain parts of the world. Of course, some spiritual people in places like India, will endeavour to avoid killing even these creatures, in the belief that the doctrine of the “Transmigration of Souls” demands that these “lower animals” need to be able to work out their “Karma”, without interruption. This doctrine also embraces the idea that activity within this particular life may even result in retrogression on the part of the individual, to such a degree that the Law of Karma may result in a future re-birth as an animal much lower down the evolutionary scale than a human-being.

My own present pre-occupation is with the concept of the “Sanctity” of human life, as distinct from that of less-advanced creatures. I reject, entirely, the idea that Jesus of Nazareth, or any other historical person, is of greater or lesser value to the Creator than another human-being. His concern, if he said the words recorded, is for the sanctity of human life itself, not for himself as an exclusively exalted individual.

That these words are significant, cannot be denied. The killing of anyone is a crime against all law, civil, criminal or spiritual. To deprive one person of his life, by an act of will, is heinous and unforgivable. To “snuff out a life!” under any circumstances, is reprehensible in the extreme. No-one can ever be endowed with authority to deprive another person of his or her life: for the effect, thereof, is to extinguish life, forever, so far as this world is concerned. “Life”, therefore, is so highly prized a treasure, as to be inviolable: not to be destroyed under any circumstances.

The above remarks must be held to apply, without reservation, to the lives of all persons who are born into this world. It is such beliefs that have led, quite rightly, to the abolition of the Death Penalty in many enlightened countries of the world. To kill a person, for any reason, whatsoever, is regarded by morally sensitive persons to be totally and utterly “taboo”: even in cases where criminals have committed multiple acts of murder. Arguments are raised to the effect that judicial murder removes the possibility of repentance and reformation that, in theory at least, is possible, in even the most brutal and vicious cases of this type of crime.

The enormity of the crime of murder lies in the impossibility of its reversal, once the offence has been committed. We hear, on an almost daily basis, of cases in which heinous crimes are committed by mentally-ill people. One feels a certain measure of compassion for these offenders, as their crimes are often the result of psychotic conditions, beyond the control of the individual. Nevertheless, the results are, invariably, tragic, for all concerned.

Publicity has recently been given to the case of a mentally ill person, holding British citizenship, who has been executed in China for importing drugs. A great display of indignation was made by the Prime Minister of England, at the refusal of the Chinese Government to waive its, admittedly, harsh laws against drug-pushers and remit the Death Sentence in his case. Yet the same British Politician who is so concerned to save the life of one unfortunate individual in a Chinese Gaol, is quite happy to send his soldiers overseas to kill and maim the perceived enemies of the United Kingdom, (who also happen to be the perceived foes of the United States of America). As a result of the utterly unwarranted actions of the United States and its associates in Mass Murder, countless thousands of people in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan have been killed and their property destroyed. Is it any wonder that they hate all “Westerners” and, particularly, Americans and their lackey allies in crime. I include Iran in the class of victims of US aggression, as it was the USA which armed Saddam Hussein of Iraq and persuaded him to engage in a ten-year War against Iran, with the loss of a million or so lives, on each side. America also supplied him with the technology to produce the poison gas, so callously used against Iranian soldiers and Kurds in Northern Iraq.

Gordon Brown’s predecessor, Tony Blair, is said to be suffering from overwhelming guilt feelings in connection with his part in this carnage: so much so that he has resorted to the church of Rome, in an attempt to escape culpability for his crimes. He should understand that they are of such magnitude that no amount of “holy water” or “Hail Mary’s” will suffice to wash away his guilt. He will be stuck with it for all eternity: as will all those who take the lives of their fellow men, without good cause. His culpability extends, also, to the lives of those soldiers who have died or been maimed whilst “serving their country” in these so-called “Theatres of War!”

Are we never to learn the truth of the horror that war brings to the innocent. I am myself a “victim” of war, as I sat in a cold, damp cellar in Britain during 1940-41, as a 11-year-old, listening to the scream of bombs falling; their tremendous detonation and the unbelievable roar of anti-aircraft guns. Overall, the experience was not beneficial to a child’s emotional development. Yet, children in such countries as Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, Palestine, Lebanon have all experienced terrors far worse than those of a child in England in World War Two. The death toll of innocents killed in subsequent wars, is uncertain but believed to be many millions. In Vietnam alone, it is, possibly, four or five millions of peasants: and what horrors are they still suffering as a result of US anti-Communist paranoia after World War 2.

But these arguments of mine would be merely shrugged-off by those important folk in the know in the USA and its satellite states, as the whinging of a weak and ignorant mind. These people live under the delusion that they are still running our world: that Russia and China are not the “up-and- coming” folk who will not be denied their chance at the top of the International scale. Take a look at the map of the world, Mr. Obama and Mr. Brown and see who holds over half the land. Russia, alone, is enormous and, with its vast gas and oil resources, will not be dictated-to any longer by a weak and impoverished “Western-World”. Your Empire, Mr. President, is in decline and with it, your friends in past prosperity. It has not lasted a thousand years.

Meanwhile, the killing continues, along with the terror induced by attempts to attack America in its tender spots. George Bush’s “Declaration of War on Terror”, was merely a theatrical statement of the fact that America will not forgive the ll Sept 01 event and will pursue those whom it believes to be the promoters of that dreadful massacre. However, it has led to undeclared wars in the cases of Iraq and Afghanistan, accompanied by killing on a grand scale and destruction of property. In both instances “Blitzkrieg” methods have been “successful”, with Puppet Governments installed in both countries. However, the butchery goes-on, with loss of life increasing. Iraq is completely destabilized and at war with itself. There have also been instances in which missiles have been launched across neutral country and pilotless planes targeting specific isolated foes: directed, presumably, as a result of the work of spies in places like Yemen. It is well-known that the United States employs thousands of agents throughout the world, in attempts to subvert legitimate governments and identify enemies.

Afghanistan: a country in which bloodshed is the “norm” and its inhabitants habituated to killing each other, as part of the daily interplay of human relationships; for thousands of years. Their menfolk are not happy unless taking pot-shots at each other, or, if invading armies are around, at their alien foes. No foreign army has evidently succeeded in subduing Afghanistan and it seems likely that America and its idiotic associates in War, will lose a great many more lives before they wake-up to the realities of the situation. There is no way they can win this war! Russia tried but failed, when the Mudjahadeen shot down all their helicopters, using Stinger missiles, (supplied courtesy of the USA). Now it’s the turn of the USA to “cop-it”! Reading the history of British intervention in Afghanistan, during “The Raj”, one might suggest that the present leadership of Britain ought to realize how hopeless is the situation of their armies in 2010.

Western Media today, is apt to confuse our ideas regarding the “United Nations” and “NATO” (The North-Atlantic Treaty Organization”). The latter is composed of a group of European Nations, led by the United States, which formed a Military Alliance during World War Two. The membership of this body has, I believe, been varied from time to time, over the years. It purports to carry out military activities in various parts of the world, as if it, indeed, carried a mandate from the United Nations to interfere in the affairs of other, non-aligned nations. It should be understood that it has no such mandate. It is not the military arm of the United Nations, by any means but has been involved in outrages throughout the world. NATO’s primary role, from my viewpoint, is that of a military vehicle for United States meddling in the affairs of other countries.

The “NATO Gang” is not merely fighting “Insurgents” in Afghanistan but the whole Nation. Afghanis are all, essentially, tarred with the same brush: are Islamic Fundamentalists: unimaginative: circumspect, myopic: are supporters of one “War-Lord” or another: do not consider themselves to be dressed without a “Kalashnikov” over the shoulder: are “Taliban” one moment and “Friendly Afghanis’ the next. However, they do belong in Afghanistan. It is their homeland and, for better or for worse, they have the right to govern themselves as they wish.

They also have the right to be left in peace: to determine their own future. If we do not like the way they “carry-on” it does not give the USA or NATO or any other military alliance the right to invade: bomb the country and destroy lives and property, for any pretence whatsoever: not even a nasty act of sabotage and mass-murder in the USA, gives that country the right to make undeclared war on Afghanistan or any other Nation.

In its arrogance and hypocrisy, America fails to perceive that all this hatred of everything American (and Western) arises on account of the pathetic failure on the part of successive Administrations within the USA itself to understand the mentality of the Islamic mind. In fact, there is a remarkable similarity between Christian and Islamic Fundamentalism. Neither mind wishes to change: both are steeped in a mentality that has its roots in the primitive origins of its own particular “religion”. Christian Fundamentalism awaits the coming of its Messiah: a future non-event but eagerly awaited. Islam, which was originally an off-shoot of both Christian and Jewish ideas, was a reformist movement, calculated to resolve the hopeless confusion reigning in the 7th Century Middle-Eastern and, nominally, Christian world. After the success of its original “message”, Islam settled down to a development period of several centuries, during which Islamic Scholarship thrived, particularly in Damascus in Syria and in Spain. After the 15th century expulsion of Moors and Jews from Spain, this Scholarship was centred, largely in Istanbul. With the decline of the Ottoman Empire and having lost the drive to promote its teachings, Islam became quiescent and inactive, that is, until goaded into life, once again, by 19th and 20th Century exploitation by Britain, France and, latterly, the United States.

Our Western leaders would be aghast at the suggestion that we, ourselves, are responsible for the hatred that is being directed against the United States and its allies. The “Myth” of Western superiority was accepted by the peoples of the Third World, without being seriously questioned, until the coming of World War Two, in l939. It was then that the myth was blown apart and Colonial peoples began to clamour for independence. They asked themselves the question: “Why have we allowed these white men to take over our countries and rip us apart?” They began to think about the fact that they were slaves in their own lands: did not have a say in the governments of their own nations and saw themselves being drained of their national resources day by day.

No wonder the people of Iran kicked-out the British and American Oil people: acts of rebellion that have never been forgiven by Britain or the good old U.S of A. Australia, itself, has been a partner in the oppression of the people of Iran for over 40 years, by participating in the US imposed blockade of the Persian Gulf. How we deserve their hatred! What an arrogant, cynical, brutal mentality is displayed by America today, in its dealings with these people, who have the audacity to challenge the might of the USA? How dare they!?

But all that is bound to change. The stark realities must dawn, sooner or later, on the cloddish minds in Washington, that they cannot get away with throwing their weight about any longer. These Islami’;s are not going to put up with it and are already showing that they are capable of mounting a formidable army of young men and women, who are prepared to sacrifice themselves in the most horrific and devastating manner by blowing themselves to pieces in public places.

As a Spiritualist, I am a fervent believer in the continuity of life after death. However, I cannot acknowledge that the quality of such a life can be as desirable as these young people are taught to envisage, subsequent upon the killing of themselves and others in such a barbarous manner. Those persons who are responsible for such doctrines and who indoctrinate young folk in these beliefs, are guilty of crimes again both human and Divine Law. A very wise man once said, “If the light that be in you is darkness: how great is that darkness!” I have no doubt that such is the destined end of those who instil such evil ideas in the minds of the young.

The tragedy of these cases is that there are growing numbers of young people who really believe that Paradise awaits them if they kill themselves and others in such a wicked manner.

“The West” is, therefore, faced with a dilemma which it is incapable of comprehending and for which there is no immediate remedy. How does one identify these people and, if known, how can one go about reversing a mindset that has been developing throughout the whole life of the individual to that point in time. No-one but an influential and learned Muslim teacher would be capable of effecting any change in the minds of these boys and girls, if one could be found to attempt the mammoth task of refuting the promises made to these young “targets”. How could one convince a potential suicide-bomber that he is a dupe of ruthless and cynical people who are prepared to sacrifice him to achieve a strictly political end. It is probably true to state that all the people who are involved in the preparations, leading to suicide-bombing really believe in the validity and effectiveness of the doctrines. By a curious twisting of logic these young Islami’s become convinced that the killing of the perceived “enemies of Islam”, in this cowardly and brutal manner, is performing God’s work in the world.

Once again, we are reminded of the hypocrisy inherent in our ideas as to the “Sanctity of Life!” When we ourselves adopt a lax attitude towards this question of the Sanctity of ALL Life, we cannot complain when other people do the same. In fact, we have quite clear evidence of an utter disregard of the 6th Commandment, all through the history of Jews, Christians and Muslims. We all need to clean up our acts, before there is a real bloodbath.

Peace-loving people, the world over, are sick of the horrifying obsession with weapons of war and military activities, which appears to be the main preoccupation of Governments, world-wide. So long as we are prepared to allow politicians to spend our hard-earned taxes on weaponry and the glorification of war, so long will we remain bankrupt and unable to educate our children, pay for our medical facilities, pay our debts or support our unemployed people.

Someone, indeed, should call out: “Father, Forgive them: for they know not what they do!” Upon further reflection, there is no need for this, as the “Creator-God” is all-forgiving and all-compassionate. After all, one would be entitled to expect this from an intelligent and divine source, which has given us the gift of Free-Will and left us to get on with the task of evolving into something “Godlike”. The problem for everyone is that of personal progression to the stage where we can forgive ourselves, individually, all our crimes of omission and commission.

End

John Roberts,

Sydney.

13th January 2010

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