"How to Create an Enemy" by Sam Keen

Truth in every word - dehumanizing the enemy is a very dangerous game.




Start with an empty canvas
Sketch in broad outline the forms of
men, women, and children.


Dip into the unconsciousness well of your own
disowned darkness
with a wide brush and
strain the strangers with the sinister hue
of the shadow.


Trace onto the face of the enemy the greed,
hatred, carelessness you dare not claim as
your own.


Obscure the sweet individuality of each face.
Erase all hints of the myriad loves, hopes,
fears that play through the kaleidoscope of
every infinite heart.


Twist the smile until it forms the downward
arc of cruelty.


Strip flesh from bone until only the
abstract skeleton of death remains.


Exaggerate each feature until man is
metamorphasized into beast, vermin, insect.


Fill in the background with malignant
figures from ancient nightmares – devils,
demons, myrmidons of evil.


When your icon of the enemy is complete
you will be able to kill without guilt,
slaughter without shame.


The thing you destroy will have become
merely an enemy of God, an impediment
to the sacred dialectic of history.

Required sacrifices

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”


“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” 


“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” 


"When I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you."

Coffee with Jesus

Do not dwell on the past

“The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."”

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness. And rivers in the desert.”

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

I just read “UN: Afghan civilian deaths in war hit record high”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46262008/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/#.Ty75r8jjvQU

I recalled and looked up the term “Body count” in Wikipedia: “Since the goal of the United States in the Vietnam War was not to conquer North Vietnam but rather to ensure the survival of the South Vietnamese government, measuring progress was difficult. All the contested territory was theoretically held already. Instead, the US Army used body counts to show that the US was winning the war. The Army's theory was that eventually, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army would lose after the attrition warfare.” When unleashing monstrosity on ‘primitive barbarians’ for “shock and awe” value it’s forgotten that a “body” is a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a neighbor, a friend. How can one convey the horror and agony involved in killing of non-combatant “human beings”? Can murder be justified? Does “cost of war” or “collateral damage” help numb the senses and hide the fact that those who unleash such murderous acts torment souls?  “Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13) [Matthew 5:21, Matthew 15:19, Matthew 19:19, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, Romans 13:9, James 2:11] And, are we, in our acquiescence complicit in these evil crimes?

Renew a right spirit within me

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12)

The Beatitudes

    He said:    ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.