Judge Not, that ye be not judged!

Matthew 7:1 is often quoted by many to magically quote the Bible and purportedly show how the Bible defends an issue from attack. In fact, the complete passage is not just verse one but verses one to five and while the passage does deal with judging another person it does not defend issues declared by other Scriptures to be sinful.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged” has been used to defend all types of sinful actions as if we in the human race should not discern between right and wrong or moral and immoral actions as to do this would be “judging another person”. In fact this passage doesn’t argue that the “mote” and “beam” are good and acceptable, but rather that each person should cast out or get rid of the unacceptable “mote” or “beam” from their own life prior to trying to help someone else.

In verse 5, Jesus says “Thou hypocrite” which means that one person is critical of another person while ignoring their own problems. Jesus then states get rid of your “beam” or sin and then you will be able to better see how to cast out the “mote” or sin in someone else’s life. Jesus does not defend either person of their sins, nor does he imply that He finds their actions acceptable. Those using this one verse to support immoral and sinful actions are simply showing their ignorance of the Scriptures and attempting to quiet anyone questioning these immoral and sinful actions. In reality they have become the judge with the “beam” in their eye.

Matthew Chapter 7 Verses 1-5

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Bush to send more troops to Iraq

The popular question today is "What do you think about Bush sending more troops to Iraq?" Often the questionnaire doesn’t even wait for your response but rushes into the usual rant on the President. The ranting usually follows the same line of statements, not questions, "We should never have gone into Iraq.”, or “George Bush lied to us about there being weapons of mass destruction.”

Even an idiot can occasionally make right choices when using hindsight. I think the real question facing our Nation is, are we Honorable, can we do our Duty and do we love our Country? I suggest that many Americans have a greater self love than a love for their country.

It really doesn’t make a difference if we should not have gone to Iraq, nor does it make a difference if we were lied to about the reason for going to Iraq. The important issue is what are we going to do from now forward? I have pondered whether we should send additional troops to Iraq and have come to the conclusion that this decision depends upon another more critical decision. I think the question should be do we pull out of Iraq immediately and leave the Iraqi people to fend for themselves or do we support our troops currently in Iraq?

I believe the honorable thing to do is finish the job in Iraq and not betray the Iraqi people. While much has been made of the internal strife, the majority of the people in Iraq are much like those here in the United States; they want to live in peace. Much of the violence is coming from non Iraqi people coming from Syria and Iran and the weapons are coming from these nations. A total withdrawal of troops will only open the doors for more violence against the Iraqi people.

Additional troops will provide a greater security for our current troops based in Iraq and thus they should be safer while stationed in Iraq. If for no other reason we should support the troops in Iraq and provide them more safety. Some may argue that we should withdraw troops slowly, but under the current circumstances a slow withdrawal of troops will only place our service men in greater danger. Will we be placing more men at risk, maybe, but we will also be providing greater strength to those already under fire and that should also cause a reduction in risk.

Here are some questions to ponder:

Why do the same liberals support the killing of millions of unborn babies but oppose war and the killing of war? During the Viet Nam war the liberal cry toward soldiers was “baby killers”, but somehow it was okay to have abortions?

Why do many of the same liberals go off to other countries to adopt unwanted foreign children but are willing to withdraw the troops in Iraq and let the Iraqi women and children die or be enslaved?

Why has the media and liberal left created a no win situation for our troops in Iraq? We have placed so many restrictions on our troops that in fact we have placed them in greater danger. Our troops not only risk their lives but are also constantly second guessed as to their treatment of the enemy. They often are placed in a greater risk because they fear being imprisoned for a war crime.

Why is it okay for the enemy to purposely kill and maim innocents all the time and yet our men in service face trials back home for minimal killing of innocents?