In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “the light came into the world, but people preferred the darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light, and does not come toward the light, so his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light.”
The evil or adversarial works of any one person, especially when done in the dark, harm us. All the more so the evil works of any one empire. If Julian Assange is considered one evil person, then the U.S. can be considered one evil empire. Assange, asserted by many as personally evil, asserts the U.S. as socially evil, doing “wicked things” in the dark, on which he shines a light. “This is… how we see this work we are doing.” “(W)e can all write about our political issues… (and) have particular brands of politics… (but) it’s all bankrupt… because we don’t know what the hell is going on.” But we do know what is going on, we have always known. We know empires and their soldiers do works of evil / adversarial work, like killing. Pvt. Chelsea (Bradley) Manning was a witness to the U.S. Empire and its soldiers doing works of evil. She witnessed, via military video, U.S. soldiers murder 2 journalists and other unarmed civilians who came to their aid, while the soldiers laughed about it. Making sure “the truth comes to the light,” Manning “exposed” the evil of this terrorist war crime, and others like it, to WikiLeaks, founded by Assange. WikiLeaks is an international non-profit news organization which publishes material soldiers keep in the dark. The soldiers are clothed in military camouflage on the battlefield but also in expensive suits on Pennsylvania Avenue and Wall Street. The many soldiers charged Assange and Manning as terrorist criminals. Truth is cancelled as are the lives of those who tell it by darkness devoted soldiers who do “wicked things” and do not want ‘their works exposed.’ Manning was jailed and, later, Assange, who is presently being tortured. The soldiers torturing Assange are using methods developed by the Nazis, who, upon learning they could not physically torture a person into their desired state, did so psychologically. The psychological torture includes lies. Lies are told by camouflaged soldiers and suited soldiers covering up their war crimes in their work for the military, the Glocks and the Remingtons, the Monsantos and the Beyers, the Waltons and the Murdochs, including one of their favorite liars, Rush Limbaugh (1951-2021). Limbaugh was an effective lying suited soldier, always in need of enemies and therefore always conjuring up enemies. Financially benefiting from hate, Rush and his many soldiers waged war on unarmed civilians, telling lies, torturing, and killing foreigners, people who are poor, native, female, Black, immigrant, gay. They did the same to the people and organizations who came to their aid, all the while they laughed about it. Opponents of these soldiers sometime mimic them in hostility, which is convenient for soldiers to project upon the mimics the lie that the mimics devise a cancel culture. But it is the soldiers who persistently and as a profession cancel culture as they cancel lives. The soldiers are currently attempting to cancel the lives of truthful youth and journalists operating online and independently. These two groups are telling the truth about camo’ed soldiers and suited soldiers and their war crimes of classism, sexism, racism and Capitol crimes of fascism, insurrection, violence. If we believe the lies told by soldiers whose evil cancel culture “prefers the darkness,” then Jesus is a liar for telling people to “live the truth” and “come to the light?” Can we consider youths and journalists are two witnesses to truth amidst a troop of soldiers telling lies?
‘Why, my dear Lucifer, would you abuse My call for witnesses? I did not mean That you should half of earth and hell produce; ‘Tis even superfluous, since two honest, clean True testimonies are enough.” (The Vision of Judgment – George (Lord) Byron)
Prayer: Spirit of Truth, we live in your light.
Question: How am I one of the soldiers waging a war on truth, or, am I making peace with truth?
March 14, 2021 Gospel John 3:14-21 Fourth Sunday of Lent