Chris Broussard

If your neighbor sins, then you also sin. For if you had kept yourself as the Word demands, your neighbor would have been so ashamed on seeing how you live that he would not have sinned. -- Clement of Alexandria (d. 215 AD)

Europeans are thrilled with our presidential selection:   "How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?" the UK-based Daily Mirror asked in a Page One headline. Inside, several pages of coverage were headed "U.S. election disaster." The Independent bore the front-page headline "Four more years" on a black page with grim pictures including a hooded Iraqi prisoner and an orange-clad detainee at Guantanamo Bay. The Guardian led its features section with a black page bearing the tiny words, "Oh, God." Inside a story described how Bush's victory "catapaulted liberal Britain into collective depression." Across Europe, many newspapers expressed dismay at the prospect of another term for Bush, a president often regarded as inflexible and unilateralist. "Oops — they did it again," Germany's left-leaning Tageszeitung newspaper said in a front-page English headline. The cover of the Swiss newsmagazine Facts called Bush's

History Lessons for the Next Term Johann Christoph Arnold The long awaited presidential election is over. The American people have spoken and given our president another four years to govern the country. Unlike the last election, he won the popular vote and now has a clear mandate. And although we have just been through the most polarizing campaign in recent memory, Democrats and Republicans agree on one thing—that our nation now needs to be united. In a recent CNN poll a majority of Americans were hopeful that President Bush would do more to unite our country than to divide it. To do this, he must lead the country in truly seeking God’s will, not his human will. This will require bipartisan action, openness, and even more importantly, humility, prayer, and sacrifice. Although he won the election, there are still millions who disagree strongly with him on many points. Their views must be listened to with respect. Blindly forging ahead with policies that barely half the nation

"We kill at every step, not only in wars, riots, and executions. We kill when we close our eyes to poverty, suffering, and shame. In the same way all disrespect for life, all hard-heartedness, all indifference, all contempt is nothing else than killing. With just a little witty skepticism we can kill a good deal of the future in a young person. Life is waiting everywhere, the future is flowering everywhere, but we only see a small part of it and step on much of it with our feet." - Hermann Hesse, German poet and novelist.

For Jodi, from the Daily Dig : The radical is that unique person who actually believes what he says. He is that person to whom the common good is the greatest personal value. He is that person who genuinely and completely believes in humankind. The radical is so completely identified with humankind that he personally shares the pain, the injustices, and the sufferings of all his fellow humans. For the radical the bell tolls unceasingly, and every man’s struggle is his fight. Thoughts on the radicalism of the wholly committed life.

"This should be the rallying cry of every church, synagogue, and mosque in America: God have mercy on us and our nation and help us out of our need! But he will do this only if we become active. Even if we vote for the wrong party, may every vote this November be seen as a prayer to God for his intervention and his will to be done. If we see our vote in this way, then we will be united as a nation as never before." - Johann Christoph Arnold, author, social critic, and senior pastor of the Bruderhof - an international communal movement dedicated to a life of simplicity, service, sharing, and nonviolence.

From the Bruderhof Peacemaker's Guide : Once upon a time there was a boy named Opherus. He was strong, so strong that he didn't know what to do with all his strength. His father often had trouble finding work for him because, in spite of his good will, he did more harm than his work was worth. All his father’s tools were too weak for his massive arms. By the time he was a young man, Opherus looked like a giant. Exasperated, his father said to him, “Opherus, I cannot be your master anymore. You must find a greater and stronger master to serve, one who will use your strength in a right and proper way.” Opherus left home and went to the king of the land and offered his service. The king was at war and was happy to have such a strong soldier. Opherus served his king faithfully for several years. One day a visitor mentioned the devil to Opherus. When Opherus told the king about the conversation, the king looked terrified. He had to admit to Opherus that he was afraid of the

Sobering. A look at the faces of fallen U.S. soldiers in Iraq: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/iraq/casualties/facesofthefallen.htm Also, a new study puts the number of Iraqi dead at approximately 100,000. It's not a perfect model, but even if it's off by half, that's still 50,000 men, women and children who were shocked and awed. I suspect the number is more accurate than we want to believe.

From SojoMail : "If you enroll as one of God's people, heaven is your country and God your lawgiver. And what are God's laws? You shall not kill, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. To him that strikes you on the one cheek, turn to him the other also." - Clement of Alexandria, an early church father, in Protrepticus, 10

Here it is, folks. The stability of the country is temporarily in our hands. Vote.