Sunday, May 15, 2011

Witness

"To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda or even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery; it means to live in such a way that one's life would not make sense if God did not exist."


- Emmanuel Célestin Suhard

[From "Verse and Voice," May 12, 2011, a service of Sojourners via sojo.net.]

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't Sojourners another of those pseudo religious left wing marxist groups?

Anonymous said...

That's really profound.

Anonymous said...

Must be so easy living in a worldview that allows one to instantly categorize people into good/bad, right/left, etc. Tell us how you do it, Anon 3:20. Please..

Chris said...

Everybody, save yourself some time by checking out Larry's April 8, 2011 blog.

I understand George Soros contributes to SoJo. Wallis denied it at first but then admitted it. I think that's all one has to know.

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:50, your writing is eerily similar to LJ. Why don't you just sign as LJ

Larry James said...

Chris, no surprise here. Jim Wallis is a personal friend with I usually agree. He is not, however, the demon you want to make him.

BTW, Anon 7:35, I sign for what I write. For the record in this case, I agree with Anon 4:50's sentiment.

Chris said...

Larry,do you deny he took contributions from sugar daddy George? If not, what do you think of it?

I wouldn't say he is a demon, just a radical "distribute the wealth" socialist, self- described Marxist, who is trying to further his cause through the avenue of religion.

Just because he's your personal friend does not make his ideas right.

Lorlee said...

And even if he took money from Soros, it doesn't make him wrong. Simply look at what he says with an open eye and an open heart and judge it on its merit.

One wonders how you feel about people who are supported by Kochs.

Anonymous said...

Who is supported by the Kochs?

Larry James said...

Chris, I don't doubt that Mr Soros provided funding for Sojourners. If so, that simply indicates that he cares about the problems associated with poverty, as do I. I would gladly receive a donation from him to CitySquare!

Anyone who works in this sector for very long soon realizes that the scale of the problem cannot be explained simply by failures in personal responsibility. Systemic forces are in play. Soros and others believe that systemic change is in order. Jim believes that as well.

The entire "redistribution of wealth" conversation has become largely a red herring. All policy distributes wealth up or down the economic ladder. Today it is flowing upward at a rate unrelated to work expended/performed by those at the top. The result is crushing poverty at the bottom, thanks to scarcity of living wage jobs and failing benefits. We've been here before in this nation.

"Religion," better faith comes into play here because the texts of our faith have a great deal to say about the issues of justice, compassion and oppression. The abuses on Wall Street come to mind just here. Wallis sees that. I have no idea about Soros and his faith; but I certainly see it too. It is not about Marxism. For many of us--growing numbers of us--it is about Jesus, but it always has been about him.

belinda said...

thank you Larry

Chris said...

Larry,if you think George Soros cares about people in poverty, it's obvious you don't know the first thing about him. He has ruined millions of lives. He is an evil man. He ownes the Democratic Party and Obama. Please educate yourself. Actually, I think you know more than you let on about him.

Anonymous said...

Sorry. I forgot to sign. I was Anon 4:36.

Anon 7:35: It is strange that you see conspiracy all over the place and think LJ would comment on his own blog without attribution. Could it be because you comment multiple times in support of your own comments without attribution? Since you won't name yourself, even with a pseudonym, we'll never know. Or maybe we do.

Ken
Dallas

Anonymous said...

Gosh Ken Dallas, you are brilliant!

Larry James said...

Objective sources for us, Chris?

Larry James said...

Amazing to me how few comments are on the content of the post. Most take the conversation toward Jim Wallis and ignore the challenge of the thought of the quote. Are we after truth? Or, do we seek a quick "win" for our team?

Chris said...

Larry, I have read a couple of books and many articles about George Soros. The books are:

It's Not Easy Being God. by Joy Tiz
The Real George Soros


The Shadow Party by David Horowitz and Richard Poe

What's amazing to me is that you aren't a fan of Wall Street, you apparently are a fan of Soros, and yet Soros made his billions as a hedge fund short seller, engineered the economic collapse, and looted every portfolio that had exposure to the stock market.

He is also an unrepentant Nazi collaborator. Lest you say that happened when he was 14, he has said in recent years that he had no remorse about what he had done.

Soros and his collaborators have an anti-capitalism agenda,an anti-industrialized nation agenda, and a far-left liberal, Marxist radical agenda. His puppet is Barack Obama. His goal is to bring down the USA.

Anonymous said...

I think I've missed something here –It seems to me that the quote, which I thought was profound, has to do with our influence being less about what we say and more about how we live. And the mystery is how can a person live a life that causes people to take notice. It has to do with living a life beyond what we as humans are capable of – and the only explanation for the quality of the life lived is the existence of God. What does that have to do with George Soros?
Ann

Anonymous said...

Lines on a chalk board, Ann. "Connecting the dots." You clearly don't watch enough Glenn Beck. Chris, on the other hand, watches too much.

Ken
Dallas

Anonymous said...

Larry seems to think that Soros cares about people in poverty which is far from the truth. He contributes to a variety of left-wing organizations merely as a smokescreen to his real agenda.

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:08:

As Larry and Ann have suggested, let's try to remember where this started: with a quote by Emmanuel Célestin Suhard.

How you and Chris leap to the idea that Larry is saying anything at all - pro or con - about Soros is truly a mystery.

It's all just Beck logic, which is to say no logic at all.

Ken
Dallas

Chris said...

Ken
"......it simply indicates that he (Soros) cares about the problems associated with poverty as do I. I
would gladly receive a donation from him." LJ

The goal of Soros is to bring down the country and LJ would gladly accept a donation from him.

Are you aware that Soros is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews and then took what valuables he could find? Are you aware that he is responsible for the fall of the currency of several countries? Are you aware he funds extreme left-wing organizations that work against our country? Are you aware, through the organizations he suppports that he is running a "shadow government."

and yet, Larry James would gladly accept money from him?

Anonymous said...

Chris:

Forgive me if I take anything you say with serious scepticism. You also accuse Obama of "working to bring down the country." Your conspiracy theories are run amok. There is something dark and sinister around every corner.

The idea that Soros, who profited hugely from the freedoms this country offered, now seeks to "bring it down" is inherently implausible. And strangely, the entry in Wikipedia, a generally neutral source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros) says nothing about him being "responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews." You just don't like his politics.

Again ... too much Beck, too much Fox.

And the only reason LJ said anything about Soros is because you brought him up, getting off topic and plunging down rabbit holes as usual.

Cheers!

Ken
Dallas

Chris said...

When Soros was a teen, he worked for the Nazis, rounding up Jews everyday for the trains. They delegated this murderous task to Jews who were willing to do it to survive another day at the expense of their neighbors. A case might be made that he was trying to save his own life, however, when asked in recent years if it was difficult, he replied, "Not at all, if I wasn't doing it, somebody else would. I had no sense of guilt."

One famous quote of his is this:

"The main obstacle to a stable and just world is the United States."

That statement, along with his push for an "open society" and his contributions to hundreds of far out left organizations and his hatred of George Bush leads me to believe that he doesn't have the best interests of his adopted country at heart.