Sunday, July 22, 2012
crummy Right-Wing musicians
Amy Grant,
Avenged Sevenfold,
Charlie Daniels,
Gretchen Wilson,
James Hetfield,
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter,
Johnny Ramone,
Taylor Swift,
Ted Nugent,
50 Cent.
The making of the Muslim left
Muslim leftism is the only way to ensure that Islam's
individualist revolution doesn't take an even darker turn than it already has.
By Ali Eteraz, guardian.co.uk
I went to a government school in the American south where I
had constant interaction with religious supremacists. Such people believe that
their moral mandate must be given preference, if not outright dominance. In the
south, these people were Christian. Their imperative was to acquire converts
who would eventually help make their political programme the law of the land.
Many times I put up with the noise of evangelical youth
preaching on the steps with a megaphone. I was condemned to hell in class
discussions. English teachers had to tread carefully through 19th century
literature so as not to offend. I had to politely reject, and then oppose,
Bible study groups.
My brother and I were the only Muslims in the school. We
lamented the ceaseless invasion of our personal conscience by "these
fundos".
After a couple of years, a number of Muslim students
enrolled at the school. They were also upset with the endless Christian
proselytising. Since many of them were family friends, they took me aside and
urged me to help them set up an Islamic society. Its primary purpose would be
to hold Quran study circles, correct anti-Muslim propaganda in textbooks, and -
"just like the Christians do" - invite students to learn about their
religion. All on school property. Their goal, just like the Christians, was
evangelism (the Arabic term is da'wa). They presented two white boys with
new Muslim names as proof of their success. As I left, my acquaintances
couldn't understand why I wouldn't help them. "It's just da'wa!" they
said. "It's a free country!"
There it was, in the microcosmic world of high school,
staring at me in the face: the Muslim right. Or, as my brother pejoratively
called them: "Falwell Muslims."
Today, it is undeniable that traditionalist clerical Islam -
which is quietist, meek, and oriented towards the status quo - has lost its
monopoly over Muslims. This is the result of multiple
instances of internal
dissent over a millenia (as well as colonialism). Led by a mixture of
cleric-minded Muslims in the US, UK, and Jordan, traditionalist clerical Islam
is trying to make a comeback and become more relevant - like by writing
a letter of peace to the Pope. Though such efforts are good, it is a
case of too little too late.
Instead, Islam is well on its way towards
an individualist revolution; one that no amount of clerical effort can
contain.
The most attention-grabbing child of this revolution has
been jihadism. However, it is not the most successful. That (dis)honour lies,
in my mind, with the Muslim evangelicals - also known as Islamism, the Muslim
right, or political Islam. It is a great
fallacy to think that jihadists and Islamists are one and the same.
The Muslim right is an ideological movement. Why not? When
rationalism is rampant and clerics can't bind Muslims together, ideology is the
best thing to obtain mass obedience.
Islamism's ideological aim is secular, ie political power.
Yet, despite its secular ends, it makes its political base among a large swath
of religious Muslims. With their religious supremacism - which convinces them
that everyone else's life would be better off if they adopted the same values
as them - these Muslims leave themselves wide open to be preyed upon by savvy
propagandists. Thus, hateful tricks like invoking the dangers of homosexuality,
attacking sexual liberation, demonising religious minorities and foreign
cultures, and censoring anything that smacks of critical thinking, are all used
to keep the ideological base stirring.
With that base in hand, Islamism then agitates for
unfettered democracy. It purports to speak for the "common man" (even
as it preys upon it) and acquires a populist mystique. Islamism doesn't fear
elections because it is the best of the grassroots propagandists.
The Muslim right is international. It played off the Cold
War and in a Machiavellian stroke made
the US its benefactor. It ended up creating a decentralised international
network. Jamat-e-Islami in Pakistan consulted with Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt;
the Brotherhood then, with "tacit support"
from their self-professed enemies, created Hamas. Then the Sunni Islamists went
and assisted Khomeini, pragmatically putting aside their doctrinal
disagreement with the Shia for the sake of shared ideology. Taking inspiration
from these successes, copycats rose up in Gulf and African states. For
publicity and fund-raising purposes, theMuslim
right brought its evangelism to the west. Muslim children coloured by this
ideology ended up in school with me, asking me to help them set up an
organisation that does exactly what Christian supremacists do.
So the dilemma for 21st century Islam is that there is a
group of Muslims who with "activists" instead of "clerics"
have reined in Muslim individualism, organised it into a system, injected it
with illiberal values, and then invoked non-violence and freedom of speech as a
shield to hide behind. If I had not seen Karl
Rove do it with American Christianity I could have never realised how
the Muslim right does it with Islam.
So what is to be done?
Well, secular tyrannies are inadequate. Monarchies are
dictatorial. Outright Islamophobia and directly demonising Islam gives fuel to
Islamism. Military confrontation is out of the question for ethical and
pragmatic reasons.
I recommend creating a viable and well organised Muslim
left. It would be an intra-religious movement as
opposed to a universalist one
(though obviously it doesn't shun allies). It would be a cousin of the
international left, but in a Muslim garb. Just as the Muslim right found Islamic
means to justify the destructive ideas from the enlightenment (Fascism,
Marxism, totalitarianism, evangelical religion), the Muslim left should find
Islamic means to justify the positive ones (anti-foundationalism,
pragmatism, autonomy, tolerance).
This Muslim left should also espouse the following basic
ideas, without being limited to them:
• separation of mosque and state;
• opposition to tyranny (even if the tyrant has liberal values);
• affirmance of republicanism or democracy;
• an ability to coherently demonstrate that the Muslim right represents merely
one interpretation of Islam;
• a commitment to free speech and eagerness to defeat the Muslim right in the
marketplace of ideas;
• commitment to religious individualism and opposition to left-collectivism,
specifically Marxism;
• opposition to economic protectionism;
• opposing any and all calls for a "council of religious experts"
that can oversee legislation (even if those experts are liberals); and
• affirming international law.
Muslim leftists will - it is a must - have to be able to
articulate all of these in Islamic terms, in order to persuade the people who
need to be convinced, ie Muslims. This means that a Muslim leftist will, naturally,
also have facility in the Muslim traditions. The real-world paucity of
individuals with such dual facility is indicative of how far behind Muslim
leftism is currently.
Further, in order to advance these ideas, the Muslim left
will have to be sophisticated enough to employ certain strategies. These
include but are not limited to:
a) Popularising the slogan "theocentric, not
theocratic" to counter claims of religious treason that will be hurled by
Islamists;
b) An alliance with supporters of old-school Muslim
orthodoxy who despite their conservative values are not the same as the Muslim
right because they do not like to politicise their faith. These Muslims, by
virtue of doctrine and history, have always supported separation of mosque and
state, and still
do;
c) Having the confidence to call their solutions truer to
the ethos of Islam than the ideas of the Islamists, without engaging in
apostasy wars;
d) An alliance with Marxists and neo-Marxist Muslims without
getting sucked into their collectivist phantasmagoria;
e) Opposing any and all punishments, fines and stigma for
"apostasy," "heresy," and "blasphemy". This
includes opposition to all "sedition" crimes;
f) Accepting that the enthronement of the left through
democratic means might require the intermediate step of the Muslim right
succeeding as well, due largely to its head-start;
g) Supporting arts, literature, agnosticism and atheism
without engaging in derogatory or insulting gestures. The battle against
Islamism isn't a fight against Allah or Prophet; it is against an ideology;
h) Supporting Muslims' right to express their piety with
beards, hijab, niqab in order to draw the moderates among the pietists away
from the Islamists; and most importantly
i) Opposition to all imperial western behaviour. Also,
rejection of any and all alliances and support from the western right.
Muslim leftism is the only thing that will assure that
Islam's individualist revolution doesn't take an even darker turn than it
already has. Some in the Muslim right like to insist that they
are moderate and ready
for pluralism.
That might be a bit of wishful thinking. Without a potent
Muslim left, the right will not have an adequate check, nor any incentive to
make accommodations. This is because political systems that rest on religious
supremacism rarely make compromises. We know this from America. We know it from
the third world as well. After more than two decades the Iranian right has
failed to move significantly towards the centre. If unchallenged, better should
not be expected from the Egyptian, Pakistani, or Gulf nations equivalents.
In the next post in this Islamic reform series, I will share
names and identities of people who qualify to be on the Muslim left, in order
to show how to identify others like them.
Real Christians don't love MONEY
Jesus against riches
(Mark 10:17-25)
17 And when he was gone forth
into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good
Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto
him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments,
Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false
witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said
unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus
beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way,
sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 And he was sad at that saying,
and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked round about,
and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into
the kingdom of God! 24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But
Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them
that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God.
(Compare: Matthew 19:16-30;
Luke 18:18-30)
Righteousness versus Wealth
This famous scene with Jesus and
a rich young man is probably the most ignored by modern Christians. If this
passage were actually heeded today, it is likely that Christianity would be
very different. It is, however, an inconvenient truth, and so tends to be repressed.
According to Jesus, there is no
chance that a rich person can get into heaven. Rather than a sign of God’s blessing,
material wealth is treated as a sign that someone is not heeding God’s will.
The King James Version emphasizes this point by repeating it three times; in
many other translations, though, the second, “Children, how hard is it for them
that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God,” is reduced to
“Children, how hard it is to enter into the kingdom of God.”
In the only example of anyone
refusing to follow Jesus, the rich young man went away grieved, upset that he
couldn’t become a follower on easier terms that would allow him to keep all of his
possessions.
Deuteronomy 5:19 "You shall
not steal"
Leviticus 19:11 "Do not steal. Do not lie"
Leviticus 19:11 "Do not steal. Do not lie"
Leviticus 6:1-5 The Lord spoke
to Moses, saying, “If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by
deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery,
or if he has oppressed his neighbor or has found something lost and lied about
it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby—
if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by
robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him
or the lost thing that he found or anything about which he has sworn falsely,
he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to
whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.
Exodus 20:15 "You shall not
steal"
Exodus 22:1 “If a man steals an
ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox,
and four sheep for a sheep.
Exodus 22:3-4 But if the sun
has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he
has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast is found
alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall
pay double.
Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and
have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and
faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Leviticus 19:13 You shall not
oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain
with you all night until morning.
Deuteronomy 25:13-15 You shall
not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. You shall not have
in your house differing measures, a large and a small. You shall have a full
and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be
prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
Psalm 112:5 It is well with the
man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.
Proverbs 11:1 A false balance is
an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.
Proverbs 16:8 Better is a little
with righteousness than great income with injustice.
Proverbs 22:16 He who oppresses
the poor to make more for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to
poverty.
Jeremiah 22:13 Woe to him who
builds his house without righteousness and his upper rooms without justice, who
uses his neighbor’s services without pay and does not give him his wages.
1 Timothy 5:18 For the Scripture
says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The
worker deserves his wages.”
James 5:4 Look! The wages you
failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The
cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
Ecclesiastes
5:10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never
satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry
then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we
wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your
heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His
kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Luke 3:14 Some soldiers were
questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to
them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be
content with your wages.”
Philippians 4:11-13 For I have
learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be. I know now how to
live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous.
In general and in particular I have learned the secret of eating well or going
hungry of facing either plenty of poverty. I am ready for anything through the
strength of the One who lives within me.
1 Timothy 6:7-10 For we brought
nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food
and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall
into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and
pierced themselves with many griefs.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free
from the love of money, and be content with what you have.
James 4:1-3 What is the source of
quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage
war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are
envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because
you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Proverbs 23:4 Do not weary
yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it.
Deuteronomy
15:10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because
of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you
put your hand to.
Deuteronomy 16:17 Every man shall
give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has
given you.
Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Proverbs 11:24-25 There is one
who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds
what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be
prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.
Proverbs 21:26 …the righteous
gives and does not hold back.
Proverbs 22:9 He who is generous
will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.
Proverbs 28:27 He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.
Proverbs 28:27 He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.
Matthew 6:3-4 But when you give
to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so
that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in
secret will reward you.
Mark 12:41-44 And He sat down
opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money
into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor
widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling
His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put
in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of
their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had
to live on.”
Luke 3:11 And he would answer and
say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and
he who has food is to do likewise.”
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be
given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured
to you in return.
Acts 20:35 In everything I showed
you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the
words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than
to receive.
Romans 12:8 …Or he who exhorts,
in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with
diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
2 Corinthians 9:10 Now He who
supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your
seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;
James 2:15-16 If a brother or
sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to
them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what
is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man
will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go
unpunished.
Proverbs 13:11 Wealth obtained by
fraud dwindles, but the one who gathers by labor increases it.
Exodus 22:25 If you lend money to
My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you
shall not charge him interest.
Leviticus 25:35-37 Now in case a
countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then
you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with
you. Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your
countryman may live with you. You shall not give him your silver at interest,
nor your food for gain.
Deuteronomy 15:8 But you shall
freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his
need in whatever he lacks.
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 You shall
not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything
that may be loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to
your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may
bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to
possess.
Deuteronomy 24:10 When you make
your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his
pledge.
Proverbs 3:27-28 Do not withhold
good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not
say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,” when
you have it with you.
Psalm 15:5 He does not put out
his money at interest, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who
does these things will never be shaken.
Psalm 37:26 All day long he is
gracious and lends, and his descendants are a blessing.
Psalm 112:5 It is well with the
man who is gracious and lends; he will maintain his cause in judgment.
Nehemiah 5: 1-13 Now there was a
great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.
For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many;
therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.” There were others who
said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might
get grain because of the famine.” Also there were those who said, “We have
borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our
flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet
behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our
daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our
fields and vineyards belong to others.” Then I was very angry when I had heard
their outcry and these words. I consulted with myself and contended with the
nobles and the rulers and said to them, You are exacting usury, each from his
brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them. I said to them, “We
according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the
nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?”
Then they were silent and could not find a word to say. Again I said, “The
thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our
God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? And likewise I, my
brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave
off this usury. Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their
vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, also the hundredth part of the
money and of the grain, the new wine and the oil that you are exacting from
them.” Then they said, “We will give it back and will require nothing from
them; we will do exactly as you say.” So I called the priests and took an oath
from them that they would do according to this promise. I also shook out the
front of my garment and said, “Thus may God shake out every man from his house
and from his possessions who does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be
shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised
the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise.
Matthew 19:21-26 Jesus said to
him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the
young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned
much property. And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were very
astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to
them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Mark 4:19 But the worries of the
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter
in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mark 8:36 For what does it profit
a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?
1 Timothy 6:9-11 But those who
want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful
desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a
root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from
the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things,
you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance
and gentleness.
James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich,
weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have
rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have
rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your
flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been
withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the
harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. You have lived
luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened
your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous
man; he does not resist you.
Genesis
41:34-36 Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land,
and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven
years of abundance. “Then let them gather all the food of these good years that
are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s
authority, and let them guard it. “Let the food become as a reserve for the
land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so
that the land will not perish during the famine.
Luke 12:16-21 And He told them a
parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began
reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store
my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and
build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will
say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take
your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very
night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have
prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God.”
Luke 14:28-30 For which one of
you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the
cost to see if he has enough to complete it? “Otherwise, when he has laid a
foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish. ‘”
1 Timothy 6:7 For we have brought
nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.
Matthew 6:31-32 Do not worry
then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we
wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your
heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Deuteronomy
15:10 You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved
when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you
in all your work and in all your undertakings.
Deuteronomy 24:19 When you reap
your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall
not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the
widow, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your
hands.
Acts 20:35 “In everything I
showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember
the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give
than to receive.’”
1 Corinthians 9:10-11 Or is He
speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the
plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing
the crops. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap
material things from you?
1 Timothy 5:18 For the Scripture
says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker
deserves his wages.”
Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, to the
Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is
in it.
1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, o Lord,
is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty,
indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion,
o Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
Psalm 50:10-12 For every beast of
the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the
mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry I
would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and all it contains.
Proverbs 22:4 The reward of humility
and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life.
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be
devoted to one and despise the other you cannot serve God and wealth.
Matthew 23:12 Whoever exalts
himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
Luke 9:48 …and said to them,
“Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me
receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is
the one who is great.”
Matthew 22:21 They
said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.
Deuteronomy 26:12 When you have
finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of
tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan
and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
John 6:12 When they were filled,
He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing
will be lost.”
Ecclesiastes
5:12 The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much;
but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.
2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 For even
when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing
to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are
leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like
busybodies.
1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does
not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has
denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Isaiah 51:12 I, even I, am He who
comforts you, who are you that you are afraid of man who dies and of the son of
man who is made like grass
Matthew 6:25 For this reason I
say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what
you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more
than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that
they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father
feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being
worried can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 6:31-33 Do not worry
then, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?”‘ or “What will we
wear for clothing?” For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your
heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His
kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Luke 12:22-29 And He said to His
disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to
what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is
more than food, and the body more than clothing? Consider the ravens, for they
neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them;
how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by worrying can
add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little
thing, why do you worry about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they
grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory
clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the
field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much
more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! And do not seek what you will
eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.
“Let’s be realistic, demand the impossible!”
Excerpt from
“France’s Greatest Export”
by Jonathan Rée
[…]
If you are repelled by radical leftism, you can brush Badiou
off as an unreconstructed Maoist bully. But even if you aren’t, you may feel
uncomfortable with some of the so-called “axioms” of his “post-dialectical
dialectics.” Politics, as Badiou understands it, is not about compromise,
negotiation, or listening to what other people have to say: it is essentially a
philosophical practice, and as such it cannot be satisfied with anything less
than “the Good and the True,” which, it seems, refuse to come out of hiding
except in the pure ecstasy of revolutionary action. You are therefore enjoined
to set aside your bourgeois qualms about “elitism,” “aristocracy,” or
“totalitarianism,” and enter the lists against “democratic stupidity,”
“humanitarianism,” “programmatic egalitarianism” and “human rights.” No doubt
about it: French philosophy still has a kick in it, and it can still turn
heads. You have been warned.
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