The Life of Christ

I think the most important aspect of Jesus' life was that most of the things he did was in his last three years of his life, and throughout his first thirty years he didn't do anything too significant. When Jesus is mentioned, he is mentioned at his birth and at and right before his death. Not many things about him are mentioned in his middle years. Jesus is very interesting because he performed many miracles but the miracles he performed mostly were to other help individuals, not himself because he is the human form of God. Also, he didn't want to be regarded as the Messiah but insisted that he was an ordinary man and wasnted to carry the word of God and express it to the world, since that was his job.
One of the scenes in the middle two pages is his power over the elements. Jesus had power over the elements because of his power from God and ability to perform miracles. Also, Jesus was an amazing and mystifying man during his lifetime and it would be pretty lame if the weather got in the way of his job, healing people, forgiving sins, spreading the word of God, etc. One of the other images is Jesus healing the sick. In this case, he healed a man and gave him the ability to walk again. By doing this, Jesus showed the mercy of God and how God is able to help people out if they show faith in him. This is one of the aspects of Jesus' job on earth.
Caring for the outcasts- In Jesus' time on earth, he was very compassionate by healing the outcasts and especially those with leprosy. His healings showed the compassion of God and how God cares for everyone. Many people were considered outcasts, and once they were healed of "cleaned" then had to have confirmation from the temple that they were cleaned. After a while, everyone heard about Jesus and went to him for cures.

The Incarnation

1. Incarnation is the belief that God came to earth as a man through the human form of Jesus. It was the God who enabled Jesus to heal, restore and forgive people. The presence of God in Jesus' life made God and Jesus one, where Jesus was both truly God and human.
2. "The angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God"
This quote is relating to Mary I think and talking about how the future Jesus will be both God and human. The angel is telling Mary the power and capability Jesus will have in his life, such as restoring and healing the people since he is the son of God. The part of about the Holy Spirit coming upon you refers to Jesus and the shadow part refers to the God's power and protection in the coming of Jesus.
3. Some of the significant roles women play in Christianity are caring for others and in the work of salvation. For instance, the women looked after Jesus when he was born, and it was the women for who the Lord first rose to after three days since his death. They have played a profound role in Christianity through thier faithful obediance to God and being the mother of the Savior.
4. One point I found interesting is the Roman poet Virgil, someone I have never heard of before. Virgil was around just before the early Christian at about he same time as Augustus and wrote of a king who turn the age of iron into the age of gold. Meaning that he will bring peace to nations and many more things. Some people relate this to Jesus. Another point I found interesting is the dove as the symbol of the holy spirit, which is the third person of the trinity. It is the sign of peace between humanity and God, and it refers to Jesus as the new declaration of peace.
These are interesting connections!

Christianity Overview

Christianity- Christianity began in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and recognizes that Jesus was the human form of God for restoring God's power and effect in the world from his teachings, healings and for forgiveness of sins. The Christian belief that Jesus was both God and man led to the basic doctrines of 1. Incarnation (God was present in every aspect of Jesus' life). 2. Christology (the two natures of the present and divine are always present in Jesus). 3.  The Trinity (God is revealed through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). 4. Atonement (Jesus' healings and restorations is done for everyone who has faith in God).

The Early Church- The body of Christ in the second century ended up in Roman Catholicism with strong chains of human authority such as a pope, bishop, priests, monks, nuns etc. Other denominations also tried to retain the model of the body of Christ, with equal parts under one head. Christianity began as a small movement but gradually became the religion of the Roman Empire. 

Divisions- Christianity has many denominations, since Christians have a hard time agreeing on their faith and practices. The Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed appeared as true statements of belief. The main major divisions that appeared were between Eastern and Western and Orthodox Christians, the Orthodox Christians who reject the claims of the Bishop of Rome. Orthodox Christianity is also made up of Russian Churches, while Western Christianity was divided in the Reformation and Reform churches divide into other denominations (Lutheran, Baptist etc.). 

Christian Life- The involvement of Christian Churches has led to different ways of worship, through various ways of practice and different orders. Schools have been set up and Churches have become centers for music and art. Christians also celebrate other lives of people besides Jesus through prayer and worship, (basic principles for Christian life). Christians also dedicate themselves to bring education and help the poor in order to heal the world. 

4 different positions concerning U.S. involvement

Position 1:

Author: David Kilcullen
Main argument: The U.S. should send more troops to Afghanistan

- The U.S. needs to hold off the Taliban and Al Qaeda to prevent another 9/11. U.S. and NATO forces have not been successful in holding off the Taliban in the past.
-The U.S. should remain in Afghanistan even if it results in loss of lives and high financial costs. They should address the tribal areas where the Taliban are hiding out. The U.S. should also strengthen Pakistan from terrorist threat.
-They should focus on protecting the Afghan people and develop thier security and living standards.
-There is no military solution.

Position 2:

Authors: Michael A. Cohen and Parag Khanna
Main argument: Shift the military effort to Pakistan

-U.S. should increase the number of troops in Pakistan. More Taliban members are located in Pakistan and Al Qaeda can never build effective infrastructure in Afghanistan.
-U.S. should continue drone attacks against Taliban leaders. The Pakistani's have better intelligence which may improve strikes.
-The U.S. should not focus on re-building Afghanistan and support Pakistani's armed forces. They should also focus on tribal areas.

Position 3:

Author: Tariq Ali
Main argument: Focus on regional negotiations instead of a military solution

-The U.S. should withdraw from Afghanistan to make peace, since there are many problems going on such as killing innocent civilians in airstrikes, which cause more Afghans to turn to the Taliban.
-Afghans don't like being occupied. Countries who've invaded Afghanistan in the past such as the Soviet Union have not been successful. The Taliban is growing which will cause more stress on the U.S. troops.
-The U.S. should withdraw and put in a regional pact to guarantee stability in Afghanistan. Other countries could help support the U.S. with this such as Pakistan, Iran, India, Russia and possibly China.

Position 4:

Author: George Will
Main Argument:Withdraw U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan

-The U.S. should withdraw because the War has gone on too long and the U.S. would need thousands of more troops to keep fighting.
-Job programs and loval government will cause people to move away from the Taliban.
-Afghanistan has never had an effective government because it is corrupt.
-Opium is a way many Afghans make money, and if opium production should be stopped, how are people going to make money and what is going to replace it. There are also 4,000 Marines in the Helman province of Afghanistan, which is not a lot of marines to stop opium production.

Children of the Taliban

1) The children of Pakistan and Afghanistan join the Taliban for several reasons. The first is because they get indoctrinated when they're young. The Taliban teach them that suicide bombings are alright because they are dying for their cause and will go to heaven if they do suicide bombings. Many of the kids are attracted to guns and sometimes want to join the Taliban because of that. Others join the Taliban because they're mad at the Americans for bombing thier villages. In the video, "Children of the Taliban," one of the 14 year olds family member's died in a bombing, and he was supporting the Taliban because he wanted revenge on the Americans and was willing to do a suicide bombing. When the boys in Afghanistan reach their teenage years, they have to go to madrassas, where they learn to memorize the Koran and learn to get trained for military attacks.

2) The war in Pakistan has impacted children by the Taliban being against girls attending schools. The Taliban have destroyed schools so girls won't be able to attend them. They also made almost all the children very fearful of them. For example, the two girls who were at their school which had just been destroyed were very afraid of the Taliban and didn't to be seen going to school of else the Taliban would punish them. The terrible acts the Taliban do such as killing people publicly on the streets and hanging them is very traumatizing for the children.

3) The military offensive by the Pakistani and U.S. drones has not been very effective. The soldiers are dropping bombs into villages which are killing more people than they want. They are trying to target the Taliban but the Taliban are blending in with the villagers and when bombs get dropped on villages, many innocent civilians are dying which makes the family members angry at the Americans. The family members are then more reluctant to join the Taliban. One of the teenagers in one of the villages by the name of Wasifullah was angry at the Americans for killing one of his family members in an air strike, and was willing to do a suicide attack for the Taliban. This particular kid is very extreme compared to others kids his age, but several hundred of these kids could definitely cause lots of damage and problems.

4) The Taliban continue to grow because the Taliban can convince the children to join them. The Taliban use the madrassas to teach kids to memorize the Koran and learn about bombings and military tactics, and young kids can easily be brainwashed into doing these things. The madrassas are effective because any boy from any family can go to one, which is one of the reasons the Taliban continue to grow.

With the Americans bombing villages, the people in the village will most likely turn against the Americans because their village was destroyed by the Americans. The Americans are occupying Afghanistan which causes some people to turn against them because they think the Americans are constricting their freedom. If the Americans continue bombing villages, more and more people will turn against them which causes the Taliban to grow and become stronger.

Obama's strategic plan

1)President Barack Obama just announced his plan for Afghanistan. Obama plans to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in order to install more force into Afghanistan. He will do this pretty soon, sending the first of the forces maybe by Christmas Day. Although he wants to intensify the attacks on the Taliban, he is also planning to try and make Afghan cities safer and build up the Afghan army. Obama is hoping to train the Afghan forces so when the American troops begin leaving Afghanistan in 18 months, the Afghan forces can stand up and deal with the Taliban.

Obama also stated that Pakistan was an issue. He said that the U.S. should help the Pakistanis in holding off the Taliban. He is also putting pressure on the Afghan government and leader, (Karzai) to not make as corrupted. The exit strategy was an estimated 30 billion dollars for the first year of pulling out American troops.

2)I personally think Obama's strategic plan is the best option. Instead of bombing a lot of villages and hunting down the Taliban and Al Qaeda everyday, it would be best to start building up Afghan forces and the government because the U.S. can't stay in Afghanistan forever. Although doing this will be difficult, it is the best option because hunting down all of the Taliban and Al Qaeda is extremely difficult and we hadn't been able to do this in the past few years. If we begin helping build up Afghan forces, this may help some of the Afghanis think positively towards the Americans instead having the Americans keep bombing villages and causing young Afghans to support the Taliban becuase they lost a family member in a bombing. As far as the exit strategy goes, I think it is the best option to slowly begin pulling out in 18 months because if we pull out now, the whole country will collapse and the Taliban could easily take over and cause lots of problems. Even though building up Afghani forces will be difficult, it will be one last push to make Afghanistan stronger and put Americans at a better time to leave instead of right now.

The problems the U.S. forces face in Afghanisthan

The U.S. forces face many problems in the war in Afghanistan today. The first major problem is the geography the U.S. troops are in, such as the tribal areas (Korengal valley) where the Taliban are hiding out. The troops have had a difficult time finding the Taliban because there are few roads, and Taliban blend in easily with the hillsides. Some soldiers say they are like ghosts since they are hard to find because they don't where formal uniforms. The territory of the tribal areas are too big for the troops to find the Taliban. In addition, the Taliban know the tribal areas really well the the U.S. troops don't know the area that well which creates a problem. The Taliban can also cross the border into Pakistan since the Korengal valley in right on the border.

The second problem is the people who live in the villages. When the U.S. troops ask these people where the Taliban are hiding, the people won't respond because they are fearful of what might happen to them if the Taliban found out that they told American soldiers information about there whereabouts. The Taliban installs fear into the local people in the villages which makes them not want to share any information the the American troops.

The third problem is the growing and strengthening of the Taliban. The Taliban are harrasing and intimidating NATO forces. They are able to make revenue by selling opium. Karzai's government does like the Taliban using opium in order to make revenue. The Taliban are able to grow with thier opium money and cause more problems for the Americans and NATO forces.

The fourth problem is who is in charge. When the U.S. invaded in 2001, they moved the Taliban aside and didn't replace them with a government. Creating a stable government will be very difficult because of the Taliban, Al Qiada and bandits who roam in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is very poor and the infrastructure needs improvement. It is difficult for the U.S. to fight the Taliban, improve buildings and the government and fight in an enemy territory all at the same time.