Edge of the Financial Cliff
Laurence Vance asks the Christian questions we all should, which hints at blowback, moral and legal hypocrisy, the humanity of those other than U.S. citizens, living the Gospel in government, and the importance of justice and legal equity:
My point is, if another country does to us what we do to others, we’re not going to like it very much. So I would say that maybe we ought to consider a golden rule – in foreign policy. Don’t do to other nations what we don’t want to have them do to us.
– Ron PaulThe war-crazed conservatives in the crowd at one of the Republican presidential debates recently held in South Carolina booed and jeered when Ron Paul called for a golden rule in U.S. foreign policy. “We endlessly bomb these other countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?” added Dr. Paul.
. . .
Suppose that a presidential candidate in another country said that the U.S. president needs to be taken off this planet. How would Americans feel about it?
. . .
Suppose that the government of another country said that the U.S. president needed to step down. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the government of another country forbade its citizens from traveling to the United States. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the government of another country imposed sanctions on the United States. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the government of another country had a secret program to develop nuclear weapons for offensive purposes. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the military of another country insisted that it had the right to build over 1,000 military bases in foreign countries. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the military of another country insisted that it had the right to station hundreds of thousands of troops on foreign soil. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the military of another country insisted that it had the right to build bases and station troops on American soil. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the government of another country spent more on defense than all the governments of the rest of the world combined. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the government of another country claimed it had the right to assassinate anyone in the United States. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the intelligence agencies of another country insisted on infiltrating the U.S. government and its intelligence agencies to spy on them. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the government of another country spent a trillion dollars on defense, most of which was really for offense. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the government of another country said that the United States must get rid of its nuclear weapons. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the military of another country bombed American soil. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the military of another country invaded the United States. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the military of another country occupied the United States. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the president or secretary of state of another country said that the United States needed a regime change. How would Americans feel about it?
Suppose that the intelligence agencies of another country flew drone planes at will over the United States. How would Americans feel about it?
You know exactly how Americans would feel about these things. So why is it that foreigners aren’t expected to feel the same way?
This column is incredibly tame when compared with the atrocities the U.S. has committed abroad in the past 50 years. Many more questions exposing the selfishness of U.S. foreign policy could be asked about NAFTA, the Oil-for-Food Programme, the Vietnam War, and many other topics that even at first glance look innocent enough. We should not be exploiting the world for our own gain. The Golden Rule is the only tenable alternative to a Christian.
