The Friend of My Enemy is My Enemy
TimeWatch Editorial
December 16, 2015
Listening to Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on Morning Joe yesterday, I was taken back to an article: The Friend of My Enemy is My Enemy, written by Thomas Crown on the “RedState” Website, January 22, 2015. Dr. Sachs is a Top Vatican adviser, a special advisor to the United Nations and is also a director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Dr. Sachs wrote an article entitled “A Call to Virtue” on May 18, 2015. In this article, Dr. Sachs reveals that Pope Francis would challenge the idea that:
“In the United States, we learn that the route to happiness lies in the rights of the individual. By throwing off the yoke of King George III, by unleashing the individual pursuit of happiness, early Americans believed they would achieve that happiness. Most important, they believed that they would find happiness as individuals, each endowed by the creator with individual rights.” Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, A Call to Virtue” The National Catholic Review, May 18, 2015
Cliff Kincaid’s article on the “Accuracy in Media” Website entitled: “Liberal Academic Says America’s Founding Document Outmoded” May 18, 2015, says that:
“Top Vatican adviser Jeffrey Sachs says that when Pope Francis visits the United States in September, he will directly challenge the “American idea” of God-given rights embodied in the Declaration of Independence.” “Liberal Academic Says America’s Founding Document Outmoded” May 18, 2015
Dr. Sachs was right. Peter Baker and Jim Yardley on September 24, 2015 in their New York Times article: Pope Francis Challenges Congress to Heal World’s ‘Open Wounds’ reported that:
“Pope Francis , the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, challenged Congress and by extension the mightiest nation in history on Thursday to break out of its cycle of polarization and paralysis to finally use its power to heal the “open wounds” of a planet torn by hatred, greed, poverty and pollution.”Pope Francis Challenges Congress to Heal World’s ‘Open Wounds’- New York Times, September 24, 2015
So when Dr. Sachs says something, perhaps we should pay attention. He began his appearance on Morning Joe, discussing the Climate Change Agreement in France. Then Joe Scarborough asked him about ISIS, and the gains that have been made in the fight against the Islamic State and the Diplomatic possibilities. Dr. Sachs was quoted as saying the following.
“I think basically, the game is, fighting Isis is everybody’s second priority not the first. But everybody agrees that you have to fight Isis, so Russia, China, United States, the UK, France, and the P5 of the Security Council, could all agree, and let’s do that. What we have been doing is focusing on the things that we don’t agree on, making it impossible to get that coalition.” Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Morning Joe, December 15, 2015.
When asked specifically about two of our allies in the region, Turkey and Saudi Arabia and the effectiveness of diplomacy, He replied:
“Without the diplomacy you cannot solve this problem, the diplomacy is there, but it is our ally that is supporting Isis. Does that make sense?” Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Morning Joe, December 15, 2015.
If what Dr. Sachs said is true, then the friend of my enemy should be my enemy. He is not the only person who has made that point. Dr. Rand Paul the junior U.S. Senator for Kentucky, writes in his Time Magazine article, “Punish Those Who Fund ISIS” on Time Magazine:
“ISIS’s reserve of an estimated $2 billion makes it the world’s most well-financed terrorist organization. Airstrikes have impacted ISIS’s oil trade, but there’s one form of funding we can put an immediate stop to: donations from citizens, purported nonprofit groups, and governments or private sources in Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia , Qatar and Kuwait . A reportfrom the world’s foremost international body on terrorist financing, the Financial Action Task Force, concludes that ISIS is using grassroots donations through the Internet and that foreign donor support will become more critical as other funding streams are stunted.” Dr. Rand Paul, Time Magazine, “Punish Those Who Fund ISIS,” Time Magazine
It is obvious then, that there is more to this than has been revealed. It is hardly surprising that the conflict continues unabated. The hidden hand that controls the action continues to manipulate the circumstances to its advantage, while the world waits with bated breath for the next catastrophic event. So very often, we believe that we are smart enough to control events, when in fact, events control us. A simple life, governed by straightforward decision making, is by far the safest choice. James 4 and verses 7 and 8 delivers clear counsel:
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
Cameron A. Bowen
