On Faith: Is the Iraq war "just"?

President Bush is preparing this week to send more troops to Baghdad. Do you believe there is such a thing as a "just war"? Is the Iraq war "just"?

Interesting that you pose a question about Bush's plans in a column about faith, because only those who think of Bush as a god believe this plan will work. Those who have faith in peace, those who have faith in justice, and those who have faith in truth never wanted this war.

As to the issue of a just war, we should only base our judgments on specific acts, not on vague words. The war on drugs turns otherwise law-abiding people into criminals and creates a lucrative but deadly underground business, but the war on poverty wishes to elevate people in accordance with humane standards.

The problem, of course, appears when we discuss WWII. But again, we must review what WWII was that the Iraq war isn't. If WWII was about saving a nation, three continents, and the conscience of the US, the war in Iraq is the exact opposite: The nation we were supposed to help is now suffering even more, the continent we were supposed to stabilize is in total chaos, and the American people who see the way events unfold in their name and with their money find it hard to stare at their collective reflection.

Who Was Jesus?

So I've heard about this Washington Post "On Faith" thing and decided to go over and have a look around. I appreciate the people commenting there, including the greatest religious experts of our time, and all that. And who am I? Just a simple man with a blog and borrowed opinions. Still, maybe as I'm still recovering from the honor bestowed upon me by Time Magazine, let me just say: Are you seriously asking me if Jesus was the son of God? Is that how you plan to pull readers away from blogs and back into the warm bosom of MSM?

Still, I'm there so I might as well answer their question:

Do you believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God? If so, what exactly does that mean? If not, who was he?

Is this question for real? I mean, I see some point in asking what we think about the philosophy of the New Testament or what we should learn from this or from any other book of mythology. I can imagine a question about the link between practiced Christianity and the actual words ascribed to Jesus, but are you seriously asking if I think he was the son of God?

Even strict Christians consider Jesus the son of God only in a symbolic way (like we are all God's children, etc.), so the only thing left is to stretch this metaphor slightly further and then what do we have?

Some people didn't get Stoic philosophy; it was too complicated. So they needed an example. That's all there is to it.

Now, if you want to tell me Merry Christmas, I don't care; I take that as a compliment. If you want to pray to God to bless me when I sneeze, I'm still grateful. But don't expect me to take that book literally. To argue about the history of Jesus would be to miss the point of the philosophy he supposedly preached.

Read The Golden Sayings of Epictetus. He said the same things Jesus did. But for some reason, as Epictetus was never witnessed walking on water, Jesus received all the glory...