by Bishop Andrew Gentry   

We and those Marines live in a culture that glorifies violence and deifies power. From the nut cases of the NRA that insists a citizen has the "right" to own an assault rife to police officers who think they have the "right" to be judge jury and executioner in the performance of their duty to "protect and serve", to those demented and evil young men who willingly and in cold blood shot their fellow classmates and teachers only to be "explained away" as perhaps social outcasts, the entire society wreaks of the havoc of the religion of "the cowboy"! We worship the cult of celebrity and we use monetary value as the only absolute by which we judge worth. We celebrate television programmes that display dysfunctional families and individuals raised to the level of the theater of the absurd and demand more. Our humor is toilet humor and our language toilet language. We demonize those who dare challenge our racism which our right wing politicians use effectively to stir up the blood lust of that racism. We never sin we just make mistakes even in the most "sacred places"! We are "horrified" at the photos of war and yet we do not condemn those who behead journalists and "infidels" for fear of the charge of sectarianism. We have never been honest about who and what we are as a nation nor have we ever accepted the responsibilities for our own genocide and slavery of others. We have had our own wars of conquest and colonialism in the name of America. Until the day comes when we fundamentally change our values peeing on dead enemy soldiers is just Photoshop to many people.



Peace
Bishop Andrew Gerales Gentry