"Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders."- Jeremiah 9:4(KJV)I saw a 'news program' last night called 'Democracy Now'. The program was part of a segment called their War and Peace report(I think that was the name) about a video that was supposedly leaked from someone within the military showing an assasination/ambush.What struck me more than anything about the entire program was the amount of speculation and accusations that were made, all without any response from the parties involved or even much factual clarification as to what exactly was taking place(so far as I could tell).One man was invited to speak who had 'written a book' and he spoke as though he had intimate knowledge of US Military actions around the world, through 'his sources'.What all of this made me think of is the fruit of a culture that embraces lies and expects deception at every level.No one trusts anyone because everyone knows that everyone else is a liar, and a certain amount of deception is expected in even the most basic elements of life.It is the ethos of Babylon the Great. I say that because, although the people running this 'story' might have at some level noble and good intentions, yet it all seems to be systemic of a humanity that has choosen to trust in the strength of itself to solve its problems, to bind together so that they are not scattered abroad. Instead of trusting in God.We have sought to uphold truth apart from Ultimate Reality and the consequence is that we have reaped an unholy mountain of lies.And we have not trusted in the One Who swore to His own hurt and did not repent, even when the cost of that was that He Himself would have to pay it through(Psalm 15:4, 110:4, Hebrews 9:22, 10:5).And so, decieving, and being decieved, is the ethos of Babylon the Great.An entry for the word at wikipedia says this:Ethos (pronounced /ˈiːθɒs/) (ἦθος, ἔθος, plurals: ethe (ἤθη), ethea (ἤθεα)) is a Greek word originally meaning "accustomed place" (as in ἤθεα ἵππων "the habitat of horses", Iliad 6.511), "custom, habit", equivalent to Latin mores.Ethos forms the root of ethikos (ἠθικός), meaning "moral, showing moral character". To the Greeks ancient and modern, the meaning is simply "the state of being", the inner source, the soul, the mind, and the original essence, that shapes and forms a person or animal[1]. Late Latin borrowed it as ethicus, the feminine of which (ethica, for ἠθική φιλοσοφία "moral philosophy") is the origin of the modern English word ethics.
_________________Christopher Joel Dandrow
what exactly are you saying?
Hi Neil,Thank you for your interest in what I had written here.I've been thinking about your question and one thing seems appropriate to re-emphasise in particular if I can:"We have sought to uphold truth apart from Ultimate Reality and the consequence is that we have reaped an unholy mountain of lies."Truth and Light are meant to lead us to the Mountain of God(Psalm 43:3). God is the Truth and the Ultimate Source of Reality; nothing has any basis for being or meaning without Him and trying to uphold the truth, to stand for justice and to fight against wrong(without God)(like those who presented the news story would appear to be doing) is like everything else under the Sun(Eccl 2:11).Not only this, but without God, there is no objective standard for morality in upholding truth. If man is his own measure he also decides what are the 'just' and 'fair' and 'appropriate' rules of engagement in the wars he wages, whether wars with guns or wars with words, shooting bullets or spreading information. And can he be trusted to do that?He that trusts his own heart is a fool.The people that ran the news story came across(to me) as being confident they had moral high ground. Even if it were so, were they treading upon it justly, and without shedding blood also?Was it right and good to offer as much speculation, accusation, and supposition as facts when indicting people and governments of crimes before a public viewing audiance? Well, if man is his own measure, he can also decide when using verbal weapons of mass destruction is justifiable, with or without the collatoral damage.If truth and Light do not lead us to Mount Zion, the only other place to go is the city that sits upon 7 hills, which is a Mountain of Lies.Which leads me to why I make the connection to this, and Babylon the Great.I beleive that at the root of every lie is the motive of self-preservation. I believe it was the same thing as was expressed in the saying of them that went to build the first Babylon, who said"...and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."Whether it is to preserve our name or our way of life, whatever we do in contradiction to the known will of God is a falsehood and a lie.Mystery Babylon is the Mother of harlots, but she is also the progeny of the first one that did not abide in the truth(John 8:44), who by so doing, became a lie himself.And a world that refuses to obey the known will of God in the message of the Gospel is forced to live a life of lies and untruth to the point where it becomes the very part and parcel of its nature.Decieving and being decieved is the ethos of Babylon the Great.edited to correct erros in spelling ect...
Chris, while i did not see the democracy now program, are you refering to the leaked gun camera footage initially brought to light by Wikileaks?This footage shows graphically the deaths of two Reuters News reporters, Iraqi's, and the deaths of other civilians on this street. A van drives up to the scene to remove the few wounded, as 30mm cannons, rip people apart, in the van, were two kids.i watched the whole video, shoot in 2007, i also listened to our guys, and these boys were trigger happy that day, and from the banter, i doubt these were Christian brothers. Further, outside of the global embarassment caused by this whole ugly episode, i saw no operational reason to classify this.is that the video you're referring to?here's a link, look familiar?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0&has_verified=1be aware, the images are foul, the language is foul, the spirit is foul.i still do not understand what you are trying to say with your post, not meaning to be argumentative.
by ChrisJD on 2010/6/18:No one trusts anyone because everyone knows that everyone else is a liar, and a certain amount of deception is expected in even the most basic elements of life.===============================================================Fracis Schaeffer quipped, in his book, "How Shall We Then Live," about this downward spiral even within the ranks of Christendom, something to the effect of where it once was:"The Lord is my Shepherd..." degrades to "...There is no shepherd."Without a standard of what is wrong and what is right we have our just dessert, 'Relativity Delight', complete with a dollop of whipped cream, and a marischino cherry to top it off.Even in churches, one is not hardpressed to hear thoughts that reek of 'christian' humanism.gActs 20:323
Chris,It seems to me you are causing yourself disturbance of Spirit when you begin to watch the Propaganda on TV and expect to hear facts presented in a honest fashion. There is no truth in anything they show or say. How can there be without God?We no longer watch the news broadcasts for that reason. We do follow some events through on-line forums but even what you read there must be considered contaminated.Anything that comes out of Washington is all lies, too.The only thing that is trustworthy is God's Word, Jesus our Lord.
_________________Janice
Hi Neil,That is probably the same video, it sounds similar. Thank you for taking the time to read and trying to understand the post brother, even though it was not clear.Whitestone, you are right,"...when you begin to watch the Propaganda on TV and expect to hear facts presented in a honest fashion."This is precisely the point, I don't think people do expect to hear facts presented in an honest fashion anymore but rather they expect to hear the facts spun a certain way depending on the leaning of the program they are watching.A commentator can move from facts to speculation to accusation in one sentence and it doesn't seem to matter if there is any distinction between them at all.I decided to watch the program because I wanted to see what a far-left(I'm assuming it is so) news program looked like.I'f I'm not mistaken, the same station had an interview with a man that suggested the US should seek to partner with Iran and Turkey, because they shared our long term strategic interests.Thank you for the qoute Phanetheus.
