The Grapes of Wrath

In the gospel of Matthew, Chapter Seven 17-20, Jesus says "In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit...Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits."

This passage immediately follows Jesus' earlier imperative that we must not store up for ourselves "treasures on earth". Here he is teaching in true Rabbinic fashion - providing commentary on the sacred scriptures and prophecies, especially those prophecies that told of false prophets emerging in the Last Days. What he imparts to us in this passage is perhaps the most intelligent and logical gem of advice ever uttered on the subject of character evaluation - we are to examine the fruits of peoples' lives in order to understand the condition of their hearts. Unfortunately in these turbulent times, the rotten fruits of many are all too plain to see.

Yesterday in London, the world had yet another chilling opportunity to see the fruit of the enemies of the Western World. What, you might ask, was this fruit? Two cars packed full of industrial-strength explosives, backed up by a meticulous plot to immolate hundreds of human beings. These killers were attempting to announce to the world their denial that those innocents in London were treasured children of God, worthy of the sacrifice of the Son of Man. Instead, they revealed their belief that those civilians were nothing more than means to a desired end. That end, of course, being the triumph of radical Jihadist Islam, a theocratic objective that is rejected by even the majority of mainstream Muslims. This is the fruit of our enemy. Let us beseech the Lord that he may transform the hearts and minds of these people so that they may understand that service to the one true God is to be found through healing and humble supplication on behalf of others, not in the "slaughter of infidels" and in brash statements of arrogance.

The U.S. government and its ambassadors have certainly committed their share of tragic mistakes. From the failure to demonstrate the awesome power of the atomic bomb to the Japanese government prior to its tactical use on a civilian target, to the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, to the base acts committed at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, we have had anything but a flawless record. Yet to this day I still firmly believe that the majority of our government's offices are occupied by men and women adhering to what is known as positive realism: the belief that history is dynamic and that the lives of the world's citizens can be improved and impacted through sacrifice, generosity, service, and humility before the Almighty. Subsequently, good is being done in countless places around the world, though it may not be reported in prime time headlines on CNN or Fox. I will take the fruits of our government, tradition, and leaders over those of our enemies every time.