Reply #54: Hugo Chavez has Estrogen! [View All]

[Hidden Stillness]

Hi, omega minimo. I read the transcript posted on reply #1, and the whole speech was actually really great, very clear and specific on many threats posed by Bush in the world, and the world's increasing reaction against it. If you recall, just before that, the talk was of how belligerant and weird Bush was at the U.N.

One thing that non-Christians will have to learn, whether or not they do, is that calling someone "the devil" or "evil" is a serious and commonly thought-of way to describe things. It is not "silly" or "juvenile" or "fake," if the Christian is sincere. This is your perspective, whether considered real and literal, or poetic and symbolic--the word still fits. I have called Bush "that devil" many times on DU, or "that devil bastard Reagan," etc. It is the preferred description. People who do not respect the religious attitude, and call this "a tantrum" or an "overstatement," do not understand what it is that Christians are criticizing. The problem IS evil. This was a report of another speech given by Chavez, to a church audience in the U.S., where Chavez was very popular, again. Chavez is very witty, no getting around that. From http://www.gbgm-umc.org/memorialny/news100105.html :

Venezuela’s Pres. Chavez Speaks at SPSAw
John Collins and Lisa Sullivan Rodriguez of Ossining organized a forum at St. Paul & St. Andrew in September featuring Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The event was packed with peace and anti-globalization activists and community and religious leaders, actor Danny Glover, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, union leaders and senior Venezuelan and Cuban government officials. Here’s a report by Rev. Finley Schaef.
On Saturday evening, Sept. 17, I was privileged to hear Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speak. Methodists should be proud because St. Paul & St Andrew UMC on 86th Street in Manhattan (Rev. K Karpen, pastor) was the host church, and it was packed. Rev. John Collins hosted the meeting. Associate Pastor Emily Peck opened with a beautiful prayer, and then U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx) introduced President Chavez. Chavez himself introduced Bishop Jeremiah Park! We also saw Rev. Chick Straut and many UM laity. (Will Bishop Park's presence be noted on the national UMC website? I think not.)
President Chavez spoke many times of his Christian faith and showed us a small crucifix he carries with him. "I preach the word of Jesus Christ,” he said. “He was a revolutionary. Christ is the good news. A revolt of hope is taking place today - hope for justice. ... Cuba and Venezuela are accused of being a destabilizing force in the hemisphere but the greatest destabilizing force is poverty. ... I reach out my hand in friendship to the Bush administration, even though 'you are the lion and we are the lamb.' ...
“Twenty-thousand Cuban doctors are living in Venezuela among the poor, in the mountains. Fidel told me: 'All right, Chavez, I am a Christian as far as social things go.' ... Medical care for profit is diabolic. We teach social and comprehensive medicine. We will send cheap oil to the poor in the U.S. We will send biochemists to help clean the Bronx River. Our rivers should be clean. In the Bronx today I met the soul of America."
President Chavez spoke for hours to an enthusiastic audience and these are only a few notes. Rev. Jesse Jackson also spoke. Fr. Roy Bourgeois spoke - he is the organizer of the protest against the U.S. School of the Americas, where Latin American military personnel are taught counter-insurgency tactics and torture. He announced that Venezuela is the first country to refuse to send military personnel to this school and others may follow.

(End of report.) Notice that Chavez always carries a Crucifix, and refers to Jesus, the work for the poor, the fight of the oppressed against the oppressor, etc., using religious terms. Recall the "revolutionary" Jesus, from Matthew 21:12-14:

"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
"And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
"And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them."
(...And, it should be noted, didn't even charge them! Like socialist health care!)

This "revolutionary" Jesus is very popular among Latin American Christians, who practice and preach what is called "liberation theology," which has been a great force, and source of hope, for many years now. It is not "the rantings of a brat," but it is the message of a Child.