Bush works to keep pressure on N. Korea

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) President Bush has failed to win South Korea's support for a program to intercept ships suspected of carrying supplies for the North's Korea's nuclear and missile weapons.

"South Korea has some of the largest Christian churches in the world. They send missionaries to every nation including our own. They are, by all appearances, a great Christian nation, but their Christianity is a lie.
The most basic Christian impulse is to care for one's neighbor and to love one's brothers and sisters. South Korea is absolutely paranoid about a sudden influx of North Koreans into their society. They are not willing to threaten the comfort and wealth they have developed for the sake of desperately poor cousins to the north. This is NOT a Christian response. It is selfish and profoundly immoral.
South Koreans will lose their precious comforts because they are not willing to share them. Greed is their byword and poverty will be their reward. They will reap the whirlwind of their failure to be genuine Christians."

I agree that the South is too focused on their toys above their national sense of security. Are you saying the Sunshine policy of the South in actively engaging with the North on building a real economy is a failure? If so, your right. Appeasement has never worked and it never will. The South will be attacked and won't be able to stop the North when they do. You should check out Ray Alguira's site www.prophecy.org and type in 'North Korea' in the search tool on the site.

"You've got a good point : darfur, iraq, afghanistan, n/s korea, taiwan, georgia, gaza, lebanon...all the flash points in the world. Are we to forever be the WORLD'S COP, the dutch boy with his fingers in an ever increasing number of dike-leaks? SK is a case in point : they have become so accustomed for us to counter the threat that they've forgotten the 1950 korean war which was 3 generations ago. Taiwan is a similar case. Europe is a similar case. They have become so accustomed to the US military guarding them that they assume a cocoon mentality, that they can't even VISUALIZE an enemy army invading their home. As Rodney Dangerfield says : I get no respect! LEAVE...then they'll know...."

I'll agree but let me add one more thing. When we are THERE being the global policemen do it so we WIN (Iraq) even if that means we are ruthless. We got a TON of worldwide respect for Afghanistan and lost respect in Iraq. The other countries can now say 'told ya so!' on Iraq and our Mideast enemies of Iran and Syria will continue moving in and NOT RESPECTING us.

Thank you. You are the first poster to acknowledge that the politics of status quo and appeasement applied by the South are a fools errand.
I could not find the search function on Alguira's site.
The real crisis in South Korea is the same as for many here in the US and throughout Europe. South Korea does not want to get its hands dirty with the horrors of the North and prefers to try to isolate themselves from that terror.
There are some efforts at improving the economy of the North. Much of this merely maintains the trappings of power by the elite and does not reach the masses of starving, oppressed citizens.
The simple, awful truth is that there is no effort on the part of the North Korean government to develop solutions to the grinding poverty and misery of the great mass of its people.Overcoming this humanitarian tragedy cannot be done in the context of working with the North Korean government since it is utterly corrupt. That dynasty must be ended.
There are many ways to achieve this. My concern is for the Christians of South Korea. They are uniquely situated to provide a powerful witness, sufficient, I believe, to topple that regime. All efforts, however, seem to be in the direction of keeping those dirty, ignorant northern citizens in their place. There are horrid racist overtones to this policy that deserve the harshest condemnation.
This is why I have chosen to couch my concern in terms of the failure of a massive Christian movement's utter failure to apply basic Christian teachings to their evangelical efforts in the North. Certainly, there must be a few who understand this and are working to achieve a genuine Christian witness in the North. Those efforts are paltry and inconsequential to date. We can only pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal a great and powerful witness sufficient to overcome the terror in which so many millions of North Koreans live.
If this sounds all too general and obtuse it is because I am not on the ground in South Korea - a fact that I have been reminded of frequently on this thread. I am not in a position to reccommend forms of witness.
Some churches have been built in the North by South Korean Christians. They need to be pastored by men and women of missionary zeal. I have met some of those missionaries, especially in Haiti and I am deeply moved by their willingness to share in the lives of those to whom they witness.
There is a legitimate and vital Christian witness to oppressed people especially in countries where the slaughter of innocents is a daily occurance. The Christian community cannot be reminded of this often enough, especially by those who witness to their faith by sacrificing their lives in His service.

Afghanistan was payback for 911, everyone understands that. Iraq was, in part, a feud between the bush's and saddam; but the real crux of the problem is OIL. Develop our own independent sources and we could leave the arabs to go back and become camel jockeys again. Give you a little clue : cheniere.org. Tom Bearden and Bedini tell in explicit detail how to do your own Free Energy Generator(battery re=charger)by tapping the ZPE. The energy may be free but the book isn't($43). Do you have electronic motherboard skills, and $43 to bet that this might work?

"This is why I have chosen to couch my concern in terms of the failure of a massive Christian movement's utter failure to apply basic Christian teachings to their evangelical efforts in the North. Certainly, there must be a few who understand this and are working to achieve a genuine Christian witness in the North. Those efforts are paltry and inconsequential to date. We can only pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal a great and powerful witness sufficient to overcome the terror in which so many millions of North Koreans live."

This may go back to your original point of not having enough witness in the North and a focus on material things in the South. Their is one's life to risk for Christ literally by witnessing in North Korea. I was attacked something awful when I used my media resources of a company I owned to do a global witness for Christ. It is nothing however compared to what those witnesses must face if captured, beaten, starved, raped and killed. I shall begin praying more actively for the people in the South and North.

"Afghanistan was payback for 911, everyone understands that. Iraq was, in part, a feud between the bush's and saddam; but the real crux of the problem is OIL. Develop our own independent sources and we could leave the arabs to go back and become camel jockeys again. Give you a little clue : cheniere.org. Tom Bearden and Bedini tell in explicit detail how to do your own Free Energy Generator(battery re=charger)by tapping the ZPE. The energy may be free but the book isn't($43). Do you have electronic motherboard skills, and $43 to bet that this might work?'

That is very cool indeed. Your right about the oil and us becoming energy independant. Too much greed and not enough love of God and Country.

Don't you think this is an overstatement? Legislative majorities determine national policies. I think that Christians are less than 50% of the South Korean electorate, so the Christian vote cannot by itself do anything.

South Korean churches are financing the conversion of Korean populations in Manchuria, which is very important.

The US is more of a Christian nation than South Korea. Has this fact done much good in Darfur? Aren't those people suffering over there our brothers and sisters? Does that failure mean that US Christianity is a "fraud"?

US Christianity is absolutely a fraud. I doubt seriously that the US has a richer spiritual life in Christ than Korea. Our Christianity is slathered with prayers for comfort and wealth, not an earnest desire to sacrifice our lives in service to the living Christ.
The Way of Jesus is not a democratic process. It is a witness to one's condition. That is all it is.
When my witness is not for self preservation but for personal sacrifice that others may find hope it begins to reflect the life of Christ.
We are taught in our churches that following Christ leads to success and happiness. Not in this world! Following Christ means standing against evil.
Where do you see that happening? It is uncommon but it is there. Seek out those who are surrendering their comfort to serve those in desperation and you will find Christ.

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