Okay, maybe it’s just me. I certainly take no joy in seeing
I am no real believer in Karma.
I do appreciate many of the concept of Hinduism and the theory of the Transmigration of Souls, but for me the traditional Hindu belief of Karmic destiny restrains free will and the hope of atonement for past wrongs without overwhelming consequences. I much more prefer the ‘Karma-Light’ version of the concept that most Americans who have no real concept of Hinduism espouse, that is: What goes around comes around.
The basic theme of Karma, which is cause and effect of deeds, be they good or evil are universal. Biblically we can see this theme in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. “(NKJV)
This universal rule can also be generational as seen in the Ten Commandments, the second commandment being: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image: any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:4-6 (NKJV)
Now according to Jesus , the greatest commandment (Which means literally the most important) is: “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV)
As spiritual people we are commanded to love God and to live in peace with one another. If we do not do so there are consequences.
The early European Settlers and their leaders were Christian in name and belief.
They swore loyalty to God and King.
But they had a little problem with the ‘loving your neighbor’ part.
It usually started with a little dispute that escalated into violence by one part or the other.
In taking a honest look into historical texts neither side had unstained hands, as a whole.
But then the Government stepped in and under the auspices of God and Country made oaths and promises to the Native Americans who were usually the ones who held the losing hand in the final deal.
And over time and circumstances that made rich men richer, and the poor and impoverished either dead or MORE impoverished, the politicians rescinded on their promises and tried to renegotiate the treaties and oaths their forefathers made so they could make a tight profit on the land and blood of those whom they had once pledged before the almighty.
The Ponca Tribe Treaty of 1865
Metlakatla Indian Community v. Egan, 369 U.S. 45 (1962)
Under the auspices of God and through signed vow of man the
The ungodly practice of stripping the land from the poor and selling it to the highest bidder in order to line the rich man’s coffers has been standard practice of Governmental Ascendance from the foundation of this country.
And it stands in stark contrast to the individual pilgrim who by sheer will power, ingenuity and faith forged a path in the wilderness to reach out in love and faith to others who might not share the same skin color as they do, but still have a love for faith and kin.
At the writing of this article
It started with the hopes of raking in mass profit from the poor and working class in the area of land ownership.
The rich would get richer by exploiting the poor and their innate desire to have a place to dwell.
A home.
And the end result is a nightmare that dares to tear apart the very fabric of what we as Americans rely upon most as our daily world view: free market capitalism.
It was torn apart by those who dared to exploit those who had little more than faith to rely upon. And as greed and corruption spread by the wealthy to exploit the poor who had no real way of financially fulfilling their hopes and desires, I truly believe God’s Judgment has been poured out on the iniquity of the privileged few.
Now I am not a socialist.
Socialism is just the Government in more control, and the Government has been the problem since the foundation of civilization.
Or as the adage says, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I am actually a Conservative in many ways.
I am actually a Liberal in many ways.
Am I a Moderate?
Bah!
I’d rather be called Wishy Washy.
I am a person of Conscience and Principle who loves God and strives to love his fellow man.
Probably a lot like you.
And we are the ones who are unfortunately caught in the middle.
Is there a curse upon
There were many who strove or even gave their lives to reach out in love to the indigenous peoples of this continent without the fleeting consideration of exploitation.
But still there were those who made a fortune in land stolen from the naïve and downtrodden of this country.
And I feel their sins have found them out.
Are we in the End Times, and is this but one of the knells of Doom for both
Only God knows.
All I know is the solutions that are now being presented by those who are in power for the current financial crisis is going to make an America that in the future will be hard to recognize as the one that I grew up in, let alone the one that our forefathers fought and died for.
Is
Reflect upon the following and pray about it:
Are they real?
While factual accounts may vary the psychological burden upon us shows a reality that there is a spiritual debt to be repaid by our Nation as a whole, one that has not been acknowledged by those who sit in the power elite.
Let the bowl be poured out, and may all that have an ear, let them hear.
God help us all.
May God Bless
Remember, the blessings begin with YOU.
Until next time,
Pastor Swope
Listen, Pastor...
ReplyDeleteI hope what I'm going to say doesn't come off as political. Just repsonding to your great post. It made me think of some things.
I don't really think all of this is happening because of the long-standing conflict between Native Americans and the rest of America. BOTH sides are guilty of a lot of unnecessary cruelty and crimes on that one.
I'm not saying YOU are saying that either.
Some might say that though.
What this is all about is fraud and theft. Irresposibility. Unnecessary risk-taking by banks and predatory lending and mortgage brokers. So on and so forth. It is finally coming back to bite us in the derriere. And everybody is to blame for this. The banks and mortgage brokers looted the house, but Congress opened the doors for them. And the American people collectivelly turned the other way.
Even Bush was saying that in that depressing address on Wednesday. He basically was saying that if we don't approve the plan, we're looking at a financial apocalypse on our hands.
Nobody believed him, of course. The country has not trusted government or their financial institutions for a long time.
George Ure and the Web Bot project over at UrbanSurvival.com are prediciting by means of their "web spider" technology (which predicted 9/11 among other things) that we're heading for a turbulent period of extreme "emotional deflation" lasting over 5 MONTHS starting on October 7. The build-up to it is happening right now as we speak. The emotional fallout will start on Oct 7 and will probably last till March 19 of next year. And by "fallout" they use the words "epic" and "monumental." They're askling people to stock up on food, money and ammunitions. In contrast, 9/11 fallout only lasted about 10 days.
They're also saying there might some sort of a state of emergency called by Bush---even military action taken. Martial law perhaps?
I'm not asking to be believed. Just telling of the stuff that's floating around the web and in society right now. Let's all have our eyes open. And pray. A lot.
May God or whatever-it-is out there protect us and guide us.
Sorry I went on, Pastor. I just feel we need to have our eyes and minds open to whatever may be coming our way in the next few months. It's not just the Web Bots that are saying this. Prophecy and Conspiracy sites are also predicting something catastrophic coming around October. I don't get the feeling the election will haoppen just as "planned." I really don't. It may actually be cancelled. It's not going to be as simple as people thought.
Let's just start hoping and praying, people. again, I'm sorry if I ranted, Pastor. I just have a bad feeling as to what is going to happen to this country pretty soon.
One final thing---
You may want to take a gander at this:
http://www.freedomradio.us/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3379&Itemid=167
You can sort of undertand the concern and worry if what this says is true.
I will never bring this up again. Just needed to get that out of my sytem, Swope.
Thanks again for the insightful comment Cryptidsrus,
ReplyDeleteThis has been a long time coming, and it has been fueled by greed and corruption.
The fraud and theft of the poor by the powerful is the same thing that made victims of the Native Americans, and unfortunately it has become the standard by which the powerful rule.
Of course it has always been that way.
I agree with you.
God help us all...
Cryptidsrus,
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not saying I disbelieve you, or that what you're hearing/reading has no merit. However, keep in mind that we've been hearing things of this nature for many many years. Jesus is coming. The economy will collapse. Martial Law will ensue. Armageddon is imminent.... blah blah blah.
Trouble ahead? Could well be. However, we've heard these same things over and over - from the very sources you mention: so-called prophets, "conspiracy" web-sites and radio shows, etc. Anyone recall Lyndon LaRouche? Hal Lindsey? Clinton will declare Martial Law in order to retain the Presidency? I could go on and on.
God Bless.
I have personally been through 2 land grabs. And being on govt assistance made the experience worse with my personal one. A new landlord buys the place, throws us all out in a month, pockets the deposits, and threatens us. Legal recourse? Of course not! Help from the govt? *insert laugh here*. I watched an animal shelter be destroyed by the corrupt govt of Hendersonville, NC and Henderson county, and PETA. So some SOB could put up a condo.
ReplyDeleteBTW- prayer didn't even slow any of it down.
Thanks for the comment Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteAs one who has had many experiences with landlords who hope to gain nothing but money to line thier purses while my friends and family are put out on the street I can fully emphasize.
And as one who wished God answered when He did not according to my wishes I can to sympathize, very much.
We all have free will and when evil consumes a greedy man sometimes all God can do in view of our brief history of eternity is make his world come crashing down upon him, and then we can pray he learns something. Bu whenever such calamities happen to us and God does not answer in the way we wish, we always have to ask ourselves what can we learn from this, and how can I grow from the experience.
I know what you have gone through. God was there, He might not have granted your desires, but He was still there. I can only say this because I am a pilgrim who has trodden a similar road.
You are not alone in your misfortune.
God is just.
Even when all we see before us is injustice.
We might not get all our desires if we put our trust in God, but in my personal experience He will always work things out.
You just have to look for His handiwork in the midst of the storm.
It is there.
And if you find it you will be blessed.
May God take care of you in the midst of this overwhelming chaos.
War and fear of poverty causes people to hoard. Oil prices, War and housing prices is America's sole problem. Fix those three issues and everything will iron out.
ReplyDeleteNxavier:
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I'm not saying these things will hapeen---just saying we need to "keep our eyes open"---know what I mean? I get you though.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI read your blog and enjoy it quite a lot.
Your writing about the two greatest commandments is important because it is what makes life on this earth meaningful in the context of beings who are eternal spirits and who are seeking answers to why we exist.
If these two commandments were taught to all children as the basic tenets of life then we would not experience man's inhumanity to man. There would not have been the countless wars and our history would have been most wonderful.
It is just remarkable to me that love for our fellow men is not foremost in our hearts. I have come to the conclusion that God must put the Love in our hearts first -- before we can love others as God loves us. It is a mystery, isn't it?
But the current crisis was caused by government programs seeking to address inequalities, which led to subprime loaning. Not to be over critical because I love the blog, but by your logic the "curse" went into effect after American politicians tried to do help the impoverished meaning the desire to help the poor was in some way tied to the "curse".
ReplyDeleteThat just doesn't make much sense to me.
Thanks for the comment Rob Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from, but I am just a little skeptical when it comes to banks and the Government trying to help the poor when in the end they hoped to make money off of the deal.
Nobody gets into realty to be a nice person (except for Habitat for Humanity)especially when it comes to loaning money.
While many in the Government who came up with the sub prime idea might have had their hearts in the right place, I just cannot believe that the banking institutions had the same benevolence as motivation for their whole hearted acceptance of the idea.
From personal experiences I would rather assume that they hoped to make a lot of money off the foreclosed property. And the individual person who brokered the loan made a hefty commission knowing full well many of the people they made the loans to would never be able to pay it back.
Is there a curse? I did not directly state that but there is a pattern. That this country's power elite have always had a greed for land and that this may lead to the this country's eventual downfall might not qualify as a curse. It is striking though.
It might be a judgment of God.
But whatever it is, its as I stated at the beginning of the article.
What goes around comes around.
Thanks for the Comment Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteMystery indeed, and I have to say a hearty "Amen" to your insight!
I have some doubts about the accuracy of the article on the Cornstalk Curse because I know of at least one incident the writer posted which could not have happened. He states a Southern Airways DC-10 crashed in November 1970. If this did happen it had to have been in a parallel universe because the first flight of the DC-10 was in August 1970 and its introduction was in 1971 by AMERICAN AIRLINES!
ReplyDeleteWhen a writer has to manufacture supporting evidence for his premise it makes me more than a little suspicious about the whole article.
But my point was that the government forced banks to make risky loans with the Community Reinvestment Act which created a market for Subprime mortgages. The Subprime market is one of the key ingredients to the current crisis.
ReplyDeleteThe CRA wasn't put through out of greed, it was put through by Jimmy Carter as a way of letting poor people have access to the financing needed to become home owners. It had the unintended consequence of creating a huge pile of unpaid debt.
Sans CRA the market wouldn't be inthe shape it's in today. But without the CRA home ownership would have been forever out of reach of the poor, including Native Americans. That's the problem I have with the idea of us incurring a karmic debt, because it wasn't until America tried to be generous that the cycle of the pain now began.
Thanks again Rob Taylor for your insightful Comment,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment of the CRS, and of it's impact of the current situation in which we find ourselves.
But a lot of people did get instant gratification of financial gain and a lot of people got bumped to the street who all their lives had hopes to actually own a home of their own.
A lot of people who though home ownership was out of their reach had a brief hope, only to see the carrot that was dangling before them before they ended up slammed onto the street.
Native Americas, African Americans,Caucasian Americans...
And some had hopes in the recent housing surge in the last few years to exploit the CRS to their own gain and to the mourning of many a poor person who really never knew what they were getting into.
I do not mean to paint a broad brush stroke.
But it has happened.
And I do not mean to contradict what you say.
I hear ya, really I do.
But this matter is both complex and simple.
The complex we could argue about ad nauseam...
The simple is based on greed and exploitation.
At least to me.
Thanks for the thoroughly insightful comment rndvsr,
ReplyDeleteDid NOT know that.
I did not write the supporting evidence, if you look it was copywrited by the writer in 2002.
I have only began writing my mish mash of musings since June of this year 2008.
I did not try to contrive anything to support my argument. In fact I was only using them for the reader to introspectively consider the patterns and see if the patterns I presented benefited the term 'curse'. I only referenced the web site, I did not even quote.
However I would give the original writer some slack. Was it a type? Misinformation? Or was it a dubious act of altering the facts?
I am not the one to write the article.
And I like to give grace whenever possible before jumping to conclusions.
But I do thank you for sharing your knowledge! I truly appreciate it! If the original writer ever gets to this small corner of the web, perhaps a revision will be in order!
If it caused any doubt about my veracity, I must assure you my feelings about the subject are most sincere.
This is not a story told to me by another that I strive to retell with dramatic flair.
As someone who loves America and loves its Native peoples I just saw a sad connection of land, greed and seeds sown that have now produced the most bitterest of fruit.
And I had to share.
Pastor Swope
ReplyDeleteI wasn't saying you contrived anything to support your argument. I said the writer of the Cornstalk article did.
Btw, the sub-prime problem is just a symptom of the real problem. The real problem is all the "Free Trade" agreements that have been made that allow companies to outsource work to other countries.
It's really just a simple logic problem. Probably the first thing affected were the high tech jobs in the computer industry. The first companies to take advantage of the out-sourcing idea were the really greedy ones. Of course the people they laid off were able to find jobs with other, not so greedy, companies; sooner or later, though, they got laid off and ended up having to take a couple of jobs to make the same money they were making before to people able to keep up with things as HOUSE PAYMENTS, meaning they took out such things as ARMs. Afterall, whoever heard of the mortgage interest rate going up!!
Meanwhile, companies discovered they could also out-source the jobs their skilled labor force ie, machinists, etc., had been doing.
At the same time instead of admitting they were making a BIG mistake by doing this companies started buying up other companies to help their cash-flow. Guess how they do this? By BORROWING from banks.
Now what do these companies do with the companies they've bought with the money they've borrowed? They sell off the parts of the companies they don't want, keep the parts they can use, then give big bonuses to the CEO, board of directors and other upper management.
Companies can do this for awhile but the moment too many companies start doing this something starts happening. They start finding they are having problems meeting payments on their loans. They make big promises and then can't deliver; ie Airbus and it's A380, Boeing and the 787 Dreamliner, and who knows what others that haven't made the news. Plus all sorts of borrowing by governments to pay for their obligations; the "War on Terror".
When people would over-extend themselves in this manner they would suddenly find it hard, to impossible, to borrow more money until they paid off their loans. Not true with Big Business and Government. UNTIL NOW!!!
There ain't enough money left to go around. Until somebody wises up and starts doing what they have to to pay their bills. Doesn't look as if it is going to be our government because at the same time they are trying to come up with a way to solve one problem, the financial one, they are sending a new many hundreds of billions of dollars Defense Spending package to the President.
Just a few of my opinions on where the problems we are facing really are.
Thanks again for the insightful comment Rndvsr,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the confusion, and thanks for truthful and honest thoughts.
The world is changing right before our eyes.
Fear not Pastor Swope. America is in good hands.
ReplyDeleteAs this quote from Forbes.com demonstrates,
"In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number.""
economics is an exact science, and our friends at the US Treasury are meticulous masters of its...ummmmm...exactness.
Furthermore, has George Bush ever lied to us?
Or tried to rush us into something detrimental using fearful apocalyptic imagery?
After all, being a Christian nation, apocalyptic imagery is our bread and butter, is it not?
I mean, you can't have a Savior unless there's a constant stream of things to be saved from, now can you?
Americans love debt Pastor Swope. I suspect they love it even more than they love Mr. Christ.
It is our only "product" of worth anymore.
And, as such, it needs to be treated with a modicum of respect.
Treating it as the end product of some "curse" is just downright mean.
In my opinion, Americans need to do what they've always done. They need to let their leaders handle it while they occupy their time with more important matters like, say, the football season or the latest American Idol Karaoke Competition.
Then they need to just go back to sleep.
They're so cute when they're asleep.
We may not be the smartest folk, pastor Swope, but you've got to admit that we're probably the most rested.
If that doesn't work, then maybe we could declare war on debt, and blow up a failed bank or two while water-boarding negligent bank examiners, prime time, on HDTV.
Just a thought or two.
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind".....or else???? I should love a god that threatens me??
ReplyDelete"For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God"... isnt that a form of coveting?? Jealously is a human emotion, God should be way beyond that!!! The bible contradicts the living hell out of itself. I think if their is a God, hes not the creep from the bible.
Thanks for the comment Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteIf you take more than just a precursory examination of Scripture you will see God is loving, kind, understanding and forgiving.
I am sorry if you are the victim of abuse, but it was not God's fault. It was the real creep who actually did it.
They must be some serious curses because they're certainly effecting the rest of the world too. Especially when american owned Brands and services are concerned.
ReplyDeleteI knew nothing about the Native American curses but I do know that we, who are supposed to be a friend of Israel have been dogged in our determination to hop into bed with people that want to wipe it off the map. We are in a time of Judgement as a nation and I hope we wake up in time while we still have a country. Of course, on the same tokien, Russia might decide that October is a good month to invade Israel so, the whole point might be moot! We will see.
ReplyDeletebrokenbible.com
ReplyDelete