The American Lie

I was in my Sociology class the other day...strangely I enjoy that class...

Anyways, lots of times in our class we get off topic with all the talking about world issues, elections, and even things here in Memphis. After all, Sociology does cover a broad spectrum of things.

But on this particular day, a fellow student made a statement that, unfortunately, so many people in America have bought into today.
That statement was this:

"I mean, the world is primarily full of good people, making it a good place. Yea, there are some problems in it, but most people around the world make a good living and are happy."

...
I kept my mouth shut, mostly because I wanted to laugh at the person for their naivety, and their stupidity.
It is sad to think that most Americans, including Christians, believe that the world is a good place where occasionally bad things happen.

Just to support my point, and my point is that the world isn't as good as many people think it is, here are a few reasons:

The 20th century has been one of the most devastating centuries for humanity, an estimated 4,000,000,000 individual human beings died from war, genocide, malnutrition, famine, disease...and other reasons besides old age. For you people that suck at math, that number is FOUR BILLION.

The number of wars, and the devastation that follows them, increased nearly threefold in the 20 century. In fact, between the years of 1950 to 1990, there were over 150 bloody conflicts around the world.

The number of genocides worldwide increased to 45 before the end of the century...meaning that the number of those killed in genocide reaches into the tens of millions.

According to the United Nations, disease, famine, and starvation affect 1 out of every 6 people on Earth, that's over 1,000,000,000 people...

Even in the wealthiest nations, it is getting harder and harder to find cures for new diseases and viruses, such as the bird flu, which seem to appear every few years now.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, and during the chaos that followed in Eastern Europe, over $30,000,000,000 in small arms was illegally sold, illegally exported, or downright stolen out of Eastern Europe alone. This is perhaps the greatest heist in human history. Many of these small arms have resurfaced in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South America, where violence, wars, and genocide are most prevalent today...

The world's five largest arms dealers to third-world countries, where violence is the worst, are the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France. They are also the five permanent members on the United Nations Security Council...how scary is that...

And my personal favorite...Darfur....

In short, I think I can make a case for the world being a not-so-good place. And there are plenty more facts than that...

Maybe I should have said something, heck, maybe I should've laughed at the person. I don't know what held me back. Maybe I didn't want to ruin their ignorance; after all, ignorance is bliss.

The fact that this person said that the world is a predominantly good place when babies are being picked up by their legs and swung headfirst like baseball bats against trees in Darfur.... well, I fail to see the overall goodness of humanity.
And yes, there are reports out of Darfur that babies are being beaten against trees until they die. How someone could do that...man, I can't even comprehend that kind of hate.

The American Lie is easily proven as what it really is: a LIE.

So what is the reality?
In a nutshell, worldwide, people are being shot, starved, murdered, robbed, falling to illnesses, victims of genocide...and we have all fallen to a spiritual genocide, thanks to sin...

In fact, the world is so bad that the very Son of God had to die just so that we would have a way out...maybe that helps to put our plight into perspective better than anything else.

My opinion, stop believing the lies. It just isn't true! Yes, I wish that humanity was perfect, and I wish so many things, that we as Americans and Christians choose to ignore, didn't happen; but they do happen. And we aren't on this Earth just so we can ignore the consequences of others and ours sins.
We can help to fix it.
We just choose not too...

If you don't want to help, I feel sorry for you...and I hope God can forgive you for doing nothing to help stop defenseless babies from being beaten to a bloody pulp against the sides of trees.
For those of you that choose to stick with your ignorance, enjoy the ignorance while you can, because God most likely won't be happy when you stand before Him whenever the appointed time is.

You don't have to go to Darfur, the Middle East, or South America to confront the fallout of sin...because it’s everywhere. If you aren't called to help with Darfur like I am, find your calling. It could be working at an urban ministry, it could be going oversees, and it could just be telling the people around you of everyone's universal need for Christ.

The world can't afford much more ignorance; it is costing us too much...

In Christ,
Hackett

Black and White Blended Makes Grey? Why...

Confusion...
Mixed thoughts and emotions...
No wrong or right answer...
Life...

Welcome to the so-called "Grey Area"...

Before you get too involved in this one, I must admit that this blog has no particular direction, no particular answers, and no "deeper" meaning. To my few, avid readers out there, sorry if you are disappointed.
This one is just to show the circle I've been running in the past few weeks.
If your name is Johnny Coggin (and I know you are reading this, because you supposedly read all my blogs), then you might appreciate this one because we talked a little about it the other day over yummy pizza subs...by the way, we should go again soon.

The Grey Area, a blend of black and white...
I hate it...

Sometimes there are no right or wrong decisions in life, only ones that have different outcomes that could have either good or bad ramifications.
Ahh, if only times were simpler, like back in the World War II days when the whole nation was unified as one against a common enemy, and only the big picture mattered.
It's been decades now since America has been united as it was back then, since morals actually mattered in this country, and it's been a few years for me since my feelings, thoughts, and decisions have been united.

All because of the "Grey Area"...

I am currently in a situation in which there is no wrong or right decision, and there is no way of telling which decision would have better outcomes. There is no "black and white" decision, so to speak. There's no right or wrong answer, just a decision that has to be made and soon...
And I made up my mind about, oh, maybe last weekend...

To bad it may be to late for the route I chose, I have a gut feeling it is to late...

If your name happens to Gummy Cole, it is referring to "people"...hope you catch that one Gumbo...

Anyways, I have tried to focus on the bigger picture. If you know me, you know I am big into stopping the genocide in Darfur, which God has given me a great passion for. I do believe that is the calling in my life at the moment, and a very demanding and worthy calling at that.

I guess I know deep down that, when compared with the calling in my life to Darfur, my personal life is very insignificant. But the issue in my personal life right now is affecting my decisions and judgment when it comes to making an impact with the genocide in Darfur...so my personal life kinda does matter.

And that is my circle I've been running in. I guess I feel like a hamster running at his wheel, and I honestly don't see how the hamster does it for as long as he does...because I'm burnt out.

Ha, I guess the irony of it is that the "wheel" I'm running in is painted grey...

Don't take this the wrong way; I'm not complaining...my only assumption is that this is a test from God. Maybe that's why I haven't received an answer from Him when I am praying at two in the morning because I can't sleep...
Or maybe His answer is not evident to me yet; I have no idea at this point.
Or, what scares me even more, is that He has trusted me to make this decision...I pray that isn't it, because I am sure I could very easily let Him down...and like the band Reliant K says, " I hate these consequences, cause I know that I let You down, and I don't want to deal with that..."

I don't need advice, I've made my decision...prayer would be nice, I guess. Please don't tell me to pray about, I already do that every hour of the day for the past weeks. Please don't try and give me the answer, because I am willing to bet my life that you don't have it, sorry if that sounds harsh...

I've made my decision, and that's following my heart...if only I could trust my heart...because as most of you know, the heart is just as capable of choosing a disguised, bad decision as it is capable of choosing a good decision.

Ha, at least there never seems to be a dull moment in my life...although I hope one day I can experience that for a few brief seconds to see what it is like.

The Grey Area...
How I hate it...

Please pray for me...my prayers seem to be falling on deaf ears, even though I know they aren't...and please pray for the genocide in Darfur, God knows that those people are suffering much more than I am right now.

In Christ,
Hackett

Hell on Earth

"On September 29, the AU base in Haskanita was attacked and destroyed, killing 10 peacekeepers. Rebels were suspected of being behind the attack on the AU base.
In the following days, while the government controlled Haskanita, the former rebel-held town was burned to the ground and thousands of residents were sent fleeing.

Suleiman Jamous, respected humanitarian coordinator for the Sudan Liberation Army, said 105 people died when government forces and allied militia razed the town.
Analysts said the fact that rebel factions were suspected of attacking the AU Haskanita base gave Khartoum cover for an offensive to garner as much land as possible before the talks.
"The upshot of this strategy, of course, is that it becomes more difficult by the hour for any rebel faction or leader to show up in Sirte, Libya in 19 days," said U.S. academic Eric Reeves."

- BBC News.


Darfur, Sudan.
Welcome to Hell on Earth.

The small town of Haskanita, which had only 5,000 residents a few years ago, was home to at least 40,000 refugees from neighboring areas of Darfur.
Today, it is deserted.
To sum up what happened there, rebel forces attacked an African Union peacekeeping base there, hoping to bring more international attention to the genocide in Darfur. Sudanese government troops arrived and forced the rebels out of the area. The remaining peacekeepers were then evacuated.

With the peacekeepers gone, the Sudanese military burned Haskanita to the ground... several women were raped and locked into the burning homes, and over 100 men, women, and children were killed execution style...shot at point blank range.

And the United Nations still refuses to call the atrocities in Darfur genocide.

By the grace of God, the thousands that called Haskanita home had already fled before the Sudanese army arrived. The small African Union peacekeeping force has promised to deal with those responsible for the genocide in a much more forceful manner from now on...to bad for the 400,000 that are already dead, I guess.

With the number of attacks like these occurring more and more frequently now, the peace talks that are scheduled to begin in a few weeks are in danger of not happening. And with the potential delay of the 26,000 strong international peacekeeping force already occurring, the death toll could be on par with the genocide that occurred in Rwanda if a solution is not found soon...history is repeating itself.

At this point, I'm in favor of what appears to be the inevitable: turn the future peacekeeping force into an invasion force. Politics aren't working, peace talks aren't working, and cease-fires aren't working.

While I do believe that the peace Christ offers is the only solution to the bloodshed in Darfur, I also am a realist. Neither side is going to sit down and accept the freedom Christ gives until the fighting is stopped. The Sudanese government, in fact, has already made it clear that it isn't going to accept Christ; it did so when it murdered hundreds of thousands of Christians in southern Sudan over the past twenty years. Another untold genocide in Sudan...

And rebel forces aren't going to sit down and accept the peace of Christ until the Sudanese government can be kept from murdering more defenseless people.

Christ can heal the bleeding wounds of Darfur, but wounds can't be healed until the disease that caused the wound is dealt with. In this case, the disease is the government-sponsored genocide. Until the peacekeepers arrive, the wounds will keep bleeding.

How much genocide does it take to make humanity realize it must be stopped? How many defenseless lives must be lost before we stop it? How long is the Christian Church going to sit back and allow sin to massacre humanity, unchecked and unchallenged?

After the Holocaust, the world said, "Never again..."
After Khmer Rouge, the world said, "Never again..."
After Rwanda, the world said, "Never again..."

Empty words from an empty world.

So, here's the deal. Get off your high horse and off your lazy ass and go to www.savedarfur.org. There are several petitions that need to be signed, there are lists of ways you can get involved, and you can always tell a friend about the genocide.

If you want to make an immediate impact on helping to save lives in Darfur, Samaritan's Purse is in great need of monetary support as they expand their relief operations in Darfur.

For detailed reports on the genocide, visit www.eyesondarfur.org. There you can find satellite imagery, pictures, and eyewitness accounts of the genocide in Darfur.

Being an activist doesn't mean you have to march in protests or give every penny you have to the United Nations. Praying and telling friends about it is more than the rest of the world is doing, and its a good start. Spreading the word will help get the job done.

Getting your church involved is another good way to help. I was very surprised when my church responded with an immediate, emergency monetary donation to Samaritan's Purse, and prayer support.

So, stop worrying about your girlfriend or boyfriend problems. They pale in comparison to what is happening in Darfur. PEOPLE ARE DYING! Would you want the world to ignore your desperate case if our government was killing us? OF COURSE NOT! Millions of lives are at risk, and if the violence isn't stopped soon, it could be years before it is over. And God knows the last thing this world needs is another Holocaust or another Rwanda...

Let's kill genocide...

In Christ,
Hackett