Whatever is true, whatever is just, think about these things

The Bible is reactionary to most governments. It should be included in the Index of Forbidden Books.
For example, the story of Exodus talks about the emancipation of Israelite slaves in Egypt. It inspires many wars of independence against colonial governments. Many prophets, from Samuel down to John the Baptist, Jesus Christ and his disciples, so called spokesmen of God, were troublemakers and accused kings of not doing the will of their God. They taught that the authority of kings was given by their God, putting a deity above kings and laws. In particular, Jesus taught his followers the so called Beatitudes, to use non-violence and non-cooperation to achieve their aims and promised them the Kingdom of Heaven. So, Christian loyalty is divided. They cannot be good and patriotic citizens. Today, we see many Christians and Cardinals supporting causes against their governments, making the population difficult to rule. In short, Christianity is a dangerous religion. It should be banned.

Unlike many other religions, Christianity demands its believers to get involved in their societies, to build a Kingdom of Heaven on earth. When people are satisfied with their livelihood, Christianity has no appeal. Christianity flourishes where people are being exploited. These people look for liberation, deliverance, redemption and Christianity promises them salvation, if not in this world, in heaven.

Most people are short-sighted and pragmatic. They want their daily bread. They care more about making their ends meet today than a fair society in the future. They are willing to be exploited so long as they are able to subsist. Adults are realistic. They are always ready to compromise. Just get back to normal asap, where normal means the usual daily exploitation they are suffering. An alien from outer space will be amused to see these mature creatures suffer so willingly! It will be amazed to see how the human nature can tolerate such flexibility. It is not at all a problem to abandon moral principles in order to survive, to meet their needs at this moment. Can this be the image of God? God must be very sad to see His image to be so defaced.

I am approaching my retirement. For the past 39 years, I have not achieved an open and fair society for the young people. I feel guilty to see the young people fighting for a fair society for themselves because we adults have failed to provide them one. We have not discharged our duties properly like the tenants in the parable of vineyard we read today (Matthew 21:33-46). May God judge us.

The OC is a new phenomenon in that the battle fields are not only the physical space but also the virtual space, thanks to the Internet. The rich and resourceful Goliath is playing on equal footing on the social networks with the meek David. The rich can mobilize many hired guns to provoke the non-violent underdogs and yet to little avail because the identities of those hired guns are quickly revealed, thanks to the Golden forum on the Internet. Conflicts in MK were orchestrated. Police was revealed to play both the good guys and the bad guys in provoking the peaceful demonstrators. A few hired extras played  workers in the government HQ in front of TV cameras. Then our CE accused the OC protesters of blocking access to the government HQ so that 3000 civil servants were not able to render government services to the citizens. He issued an ultimatum, making Monday morning the deadline for protesters to open up the footbridge leading to the HQ. University vice-chancellors, professors, school principals called on their students to leave the HQ, fearing for their safety. Actually, these days, the government offices are still functioning. Supervisors instruct their staff to leave office at flexible hours after four. Do not leave at the same time for whatever reasons ...

The words of Isaiah and Philippians rang in my ears.
"... and he (Yahweh) looked for justice, but behold bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry!" (Isaiah 5:7b)
"Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8)

Dear Lord, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup of wrath from us. Yet not what we want, but what you will. Amen.