Not only Is America Becoming a Failed State; the Bible Has Some Things to Say About That
The US Is Becoming A Failed State: How Do We Turn This Around?
By Rev. Paul J. Bern
The United States of America, if I may risk pointing out the obvious, is failing. Debilitated by the ongoing debacle in Afghanistan, by lying to the whole world about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq back in 2013, and by the extreme political divide that currently exists here in America. America has failed miserably to adequately tackle the systemic problems in our debt-based economic system. The US has failed to so much as consider the deep flaws in our system of government as it currently exists.
America’s leadership, and particularly those in charge of the military-industrial complex, have trashed the reputation of the United States and damaged our image abroad for years to come. America has failed to adequately protect its citizens from violence at home (the plague of murders by rogue police officers across the US is only one example of many). Moreover, we have failed in education, in health care, in human rights, in religious tolerance, and even with regard to the incarceration of its citizens, as the overcrowded and dangerous US prison system attests to. In fact, we look a lot like the USSR in 1990 — except with a lot more big-screen TV’s. And we all know what happened to the former USSR during the 1990's.
The Bible has a few things to say about waging war. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.” (Revelation 19:11) Right off the bat, this verse makes it abundantly clear that waging war is not our job, it’s God’s. If we worship the Prince of Peace together in peace, we can learn to wage peace instead of waging war. We can build up together than destroy with blood in our eyes. The apostle James similarly wrote in chapter 3 of his timeless epistle to the greater Church, “17) But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18) Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” Based on this alone, the US military-industrial complex, for the most…
