In the wake of  Israel’s predawn raid Monday of a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed at least nine activists, Israel is now facing condemnation, protest and anger from Europe and the Arab world, AP reports.

The greatest backlash came from Turkey, which was once Israel’s closest Muslim ally. Turkey has described the raid as “state terrorism,” and has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel and called off military exercises with the state. Ten thousand protesters marched in front of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, chanting “Murderous Israel you will drown in the blood you shed!”

The flotilla of ships were headed towards the blockaded Gaza Strip, carrying tons of aid and 700 pro-Palestinian activists when Israeli naval commandos rappelled off helicopters and stormed the ship while it was still in international waters.  The confrontation ended with at least 10 activists killed, most of whom were from Turkey.

Israel claims that it only opened fire after its commandos were attacked by the activists who had taken weapons from the Israeli soldiers, while the activists abroad say the Israeli forces opened fire first.

The raid has sparked anger from many other countries in the Middle East, such as Iran and Jordan, calling the attack an “inhumane act” and a “heinous crime” respectively.  The European Union called the event an excessive use of force and the Gaza blockade “politically unacceptable,” as many of the activists aboard the flotilla were from Europe.

The White House has cautiously issued a statement saying “The United States deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained, and is currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”

U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting later Monday to discuss the incident.

While America fights two wars this Memorial Day, comforts grieving families whose sons and daughters made the ultimate sacrifice, battles economic problems at home, and grows increasingly concerned about Korean peninsula tensions, I am reminded again of Russell Kirk’s slim volume The American Cause. Reading Kirk, I am convinced that Christians bear the greatest responsibility for defending American civilization from the threat of radical ideologues at home and abroad.

Concerned about evidence that Korean War (1950-53) POWs were “easy targets of Communist indoctrination,” Kirk wrote his little classic in 1957 to teach American servicemen the basic principles of American civilization. He believed all Americans need to understand the principles that make our country exceptional in order to defend her vigorously abroad and at home. Publishers reprinted The American Cause in 1966 during the Vietnam War and again in 2002 following the 9/11 attacks. In this age of the modern Tea Party, Intercollegiate Studies Institute research suggests we may be even more susceptible to indoctrination by foreign and domestic radical ideologues.

Kirk wrote, “Civilization grows out of religion: the morals, the politics, the economics, the literature and the arts of any people have a religious origin. . . . And in America, it is the Christian religion.” Moreover, Kirk defines the American cause as the “defense of principles of a true civilization.” If Kirk is right that America’s greatness flows from the Christian religion—and I believe he is—it is evident that Christians must bear the weight of perpetuating and defending America. And we must begin at the beginning by understanding how Christian teaching connects to the founding principles of our country. This will take some work, some study, some homework, and we can begin by reading The American Cause. It’s an easy and short read.

Kirk cautions that we not make an idol of the USA, and become jingoistic and the self-appointed “keepers of the world’s conscience.” But it’s clear he thought we should work to preserve, protect, and promote the Christian ideals that make American society thrive, such as belief in an unchanging God who made people in His image and entitled to life, liberty, and the protection of their property; punishing actions that violate these inalienable rights; an understanding that mankind and societies are not perfectible through government tinkering and revolution; recognizing that leaders who think otherwise are dangerous ideologues; tolerating other religious faiths and valuing liberty of conscience; and cultivating free and orderly markets to improve the human condition.

Defending America begins with understanding her Christian foundation and that America, its faults notwithstanding, is the greatest society the world has known for upholding human dignity. As America battles foreign enemies and domestic ideologues this Memorial Day, understand, Christian, that you and I bear a great responsibility for defending this nation and we owe a great debt of gratitude to those whose graves are decorated today.

“And you . . . he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him . . .” (Colossians 1:21-22).

Quick! What image flashed through your mind when you read the words above, about being presented holy and blameless? Did you think future fulfillment or present fulfillment? Did you think of (A) a radical transformation, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet sound? Or did you think of (B) steady growth in practical godliness that you can experience now in 2010, then 2011, then 2012?

If you thought “A,” then you also probably thought of a few other things: “Christ will do it automatically apart from my striving”; “I’m saved by grace, not works”; “There is not much progress to be made here, but it’s OK because I’m saved.”

No one entertains these thoughts consciously or so crassly. But if your reading of Scripture puts off all the good stuff till the end, there will tend to be an unconscious passivity and complacency.

If you read Colossians 1:22 and thought “B,” then you were mightily encouraged, emboldened, and energized. You read that verse as a promise of the power you have—NOW—in being “in Christ” You read it as a disclosure of God’s heart toward you and present desire for you. You thought of all the verses that declare the resources available in the Resurrected and Ascended Christ. Here are a few of the verses that came to mind:

Ephesians 1:3-6; 3:16-20; 4:11-13; Philippians 2:12-15; 2 Peter 1:3-8; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13; Galatians 3:3; 5:22-23; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 7:1; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:3-4; Romans 5:17; 6:4, 6-7, 11-14, 18-22; 12:2; Titus 2:11-14; Revelation 2:7.

It is astounding what a different Bible version “A” is compared to version “B.” It’s like we’re not even reading the same Bible. It’s like we’re not even living the same life.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.

Happy Memorial Day!

Random question of the day: If you could say anything to the U.S. troops, what would you let them know?

My answer to yesterday’s question: I would rather lose my old memories. Who knows, the new ones could be better.

Remember: This is our daily (except for Sundays) open thread, where you can 1) answer my question, 2) talk about something else, or 3) say something truly encouraging to the commenter before you.

Here it is, Rants! & Raves!, your weekly opportunity to sound off about the week past.

Remember the rules:

• A Rave! is something that happened during the past week that you’re pleased about and is signified by the word “Rave!” and/or an appropriately peppy emoticon (see Website Help to learn how to use emoticons, aka “smileys”).
• A Rant! is something that happened during the past week that you’re ticked off about and is signified by the word “Rant!” and/or an appropriately grumpy emoticon.
• You may Rant! about something a person said, did, or wrote, but you may not Rant! about generally disliking a person. IOW, no personal attacks allowed.

Have fun!

Good day!

Random question of the day: Would you rather lose all your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

My answer to yesterday’s question: I don’t know yet.

Remember: This is our daily (except for Sundays) open thread, where you can 1) answer my question, 2) talk about something else, or 3) say something truly encouraging to the commenter before you.

As a child of the 1980s, television viewing brought me the joys of blue people (think Smurfs, not Avatar), a computerized, talking, black Trans Am, and, of course, the A-Team.

Some of these characters still live on in our pop-culture memory files, coming back out as “inside joke” phrases and gags that leave our young children wondering what mom and dad are laughing about — (i.e. “Where’s the beef?)

Gary Coleman, the child star of the hit 80s sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes”, died today at the age of 42. Much will be said and is being said about the tragic path that marks the life of so many child actors once their careers end. Mr. Coleman’s life was certainly one trial after another, especially with the lifelong medical problems he faced.

It is said that Coleman wanted people to know him for something other than the “Whatchu talkin’ ’bout?” cuteness of the Arnold Jackson character he portrayed. I may have only known him in this singular role, but count me as one of those children of the 80s who mourn today’s loss of an old t.v. friend.

Click here for a look back at the news of the week, colorfully illustrated by some of the best editorial cartoonists in the business: Chip Bok, Steve Breen (winner of last year’s Pulitzer Prize), Steve Kelley, Michael Ramirez, and Gary Varvel.

This creative cadre of cartoonists offer a unique, colorful, often humorous, and sometimes poignant perspective of politics, the economy, world events, and more.

The American death toll in Afghanistan reached 1,000 right before Memorial Day weekend, AP reports.

After President Obama stepped into office, he has been shifting the attention away from Iraq to Afghanistan, where there are currently about 94,000 troops on the ground.  The increase in troops have also resulted in an increase of casualties: More soldiers have been killed in the past 10 months than in the first 5 years of the war.

…A fight that has become ‘Obama’s war’ now faces its greatest challenge – a high-risk campaign to win over a hostile population in the Taliban’s southern heartland.

More casualties are expected when the campaign kicks into high gear this summer. The results may determine the outcome of a nearly nine-year conflict that has become the focus of America’s fight against Islamist militancy.

Obama promised to review the war’s progress at the end of the year and believes that he will be able to start bringing troops home next summer, however some wonder if mid-2011 is too soon to turn the tide of the war.

The basics of the life and death—on Wednesday at age 97— of Art Linkletter were widely reported in the mainstream media. That’s only fitting, as he did more than just about anyone to shape the form, if not the content, of modern media. His House Party program began on radio in 1944 and moved to television in 1954—where it stayed until 1969.

That program made Linkletter one of the most famous men in America to baby boomers and their parents. But he actually had been on television since the late 1940s. Many families in the post-war era got their first TV sets and could pick up Art Linkletter and little else. Indeed, if the word “television pioneer” can be applied to anyone, it is Linkletter.

But the mainstream media tended to neglect Linkletter’s behind-the-scenes role in the rise of the conservative movement. He was an entrepreneur and free-market advocate who made millions in television, and millions more outside of medium, as the author of 20 books, several of which were national bestsellers (Kids Say the Darnedest Things and Old Age Is Not for Sissies), and in business ventures that ranged from commodities trading to hula hoops.

His public persona, as an affable TV host, was mostly apolitical through the 1940s and ’50s. But he was a supporter of Ronald Reagan through the ’60s, and his image took on a new dimension when his daughter died of a drug-related suicide in 1970. He spoke out more forcefully against drugs and against what he called the “moral decline” of the country, and President Nixon appointed him to an anti-drug commission. He put his money and his celebrity status to work for conservative causes and the Republican Party. When the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) began to champion liberal political causes, he became a spokesman for a conservative alternative to AARP called USA Next. He also served on the board of Pepperdine University, a Christian college in Malibu, Calif., near his home.

When he gave speeches to conservative groups—which he often did—he was usually introduced to audiences, many of whom were too young to see him in his heyday, by a reel of TV clips showing him with Reagan and other conservative icons. These clips established his conservative “bona fides” and invariably “fired up” the groups. But the speeches themselves were the true “highlight reel.” Into his mid-90s, he would speak in a forceful and polished tone, for a half-hour or more, with no notes whatsoever. He reveled crowds with anecdotes of Reagan and the early days of television, but—in true show-biz “leave ’em laughing, leave ’em crying” fashion—he would close with words of appreciation for the group he was speaking to, and he would exhort them to even greater sacrifice and commitment.

Linkletter himself, who was abandoned as an infant and adopted and raised by a preacher, was self-effacing about his accomplishments. He often said his greatest achievement was his 74-year marriage to wife, Lois, who survives him. By Hollywood standards, or any other, it was a rare feat, indeed.