The situation today as you see is a global political game for more money and control by "shareholders," following the free market concept, of large organizations, and most countries.
The Arab world is waiting for the results of the first free elections of an Egyptian president in generations while violence continues in other Arab countries. The U.S. Administration who supported the Egyptian Revolution of January 25 2011 seems to be losing ground to the Islamists. While forerunner Islamists for presidential elections use the technology developed in the West, they speak negatively about the U.S. (where this information technology developed) and have vowed to reverse the 1979 Agreement by the late President Sadat with Israel, thus throwing the entire Middle East into a new round of uncertainty. See the Washington Post here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
The G-8 have just finished their meeting in Washington with an attempt to salvage the Euro-Crisis and solidify growth in Europe and cooperation between the advanced pro-capital economies of Germany and the more socialist ones in France...Yet, according to the pro-capitalist The Economist, there seems to be two directions for European states to choose from - none of them is easy. See http://www.economist.com/node/21555916
In Africa, Sudan and Southern Sudan are fighting for control of oil rich resources which happen to be at the border in Southern Sudan. In Asia, Pakistan seems to be challenging the U.S. by prosecuting, on charges of treason, a Pakistani physician who collaborated with the American Administration to find and kill the arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden last year.
In the current polarized situation in the global village, there has to be a global political/ religious leader, that leads according to the intrinsic values of fairness and non-violence. If Christians unite under the leadership of one holy person - presumably the Pope of the Catholic Church, then at least some form of Christian unity can be realized. A balance between individual freedom and commitment to the community (ecclesia) must be followed according to Vatican II.
Money must be spent to help those Christians in need. And above all perhaps you and I need to pray that God may save the world. After all, He created it and redeemed it. In God, we trust.
The Arab world is waiting for the results of the first free elections of an Egyptian president in generations while violence continues in other Arab countries. The U.S. Administration who supported the Egyptian Revolution of January 25 2011 seems to be losing ground to the Islamists. While forerunner Islamists for presidential elections use the technology developed in the West, they speak negatively about the U.S. (where this information technology developed) and have vowed to reverse the 1979 Agreement by the late President Sadat with Israel, thus throwing the entire Middle East into a new round of uncertainty. See the Washington Post here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
The G-8 have just finished their meeting in Washington with an attempt to salvage the Euro-Crisis and solidify growth in Europe and cooperation between the advanced pro-capital economies of Germany and the more socialist ones in France...Yet, according to the pro-capitalist The Economist, there seems to be two directions for European states to choose from - none of them is easy. See http://www.economist.com/node/21555916
In Africa, Sudan and Southern Sudan are fighting for control of oil rich resources which happen to be at the border in Southern Sudan. In Asia, Pakistan seems to be challenging the U.S. by prosecuting, on charges of treason, a Pakistani physician who collaborated with the American Administration to find and kill the arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden last year.
There appears to be a growing polarization and impatience in the debate for the future of the human race. This reminds me by Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" which predicted the division between the civil/secular cultures of the West and those of a resurgent Islam in the Middle East and beyond.
One of the main differences between the civilized Western world (including Catholic countries) and the rest of the world (including Islamic countries) is the commitment of Western countries to non-violence and some freedom for their citizens in their choices of how they wish to live their lives as individuals and families. This is the result of many centuries of Christian humanism in Europe. The late Jesuit Henri de Lubac wrote on Christian humanism, a real reform and renaissance as different from other forms of humanism. Before him, St. Thomas More was a great humanist too. They go back to the humanism and openness of Christ himself who was imitated by St. Francis of Assisi, St. Bernard, and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
One of the main differences between the civilized Western world (including Catholic countries) and the rest of the world (including Islamic countries) is the commitment of Western countries to non-violence and some freedom for their citizens in their choices of how they wish to live their lives as individuals and families. This is the result of many centuries of Christian humanism in Europe. The late Jesuit Henri de Lubac wrote on Christian humanism, a real reform and renaissance as different from other forms of humanism. Before him, St. Thomas More was a great humanist too. They go back to the humanism and openness of Christ himself who was imitated by St. Francis of Assisi, St. Bernard, and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
In the current polarized situation in the global village, there has to be a global political/ religious leader, that leads according to the intrinsic values of fairness and non-violence. If Christians unite under the leadership of one holy person - presumably the Pope of the Catholic Church, then at least some form of Christian unity can be realized. A balance between individual freedom and commitment to the community (ecclesia) must be followed according to Vatican II.
May be I am complicating things. I think the initiative has to come from the top and not only from the base. As I wrote to Pope Benedict XVI last October, the Pope may have to convoke an Ecumenical Council this year to which all Catholic and Orthodox bishops as well as other Christian leaders from the world are invited. The outcome is one Universal (Catholic) Church that includes all non-Catholic Christians together with Catholics and which can defend Christian values and promote the word of Christ in the "global village." If the Eastern Orthodox bishops do not agree, they can still make an alliance with the resourceful Church of Rome based on the Christian & human moral values. The world is slipping away before our own eyes.
Money must be spent to help those Christians in need. And above all perhaps you and I need to pray that God may save the world. After all, He created it and redeemed it. In God, we trust.
No comments:
Post a Comment