…is it because President Trump a follower of Sun Tzu?
The Chicago Tribune article titled, Trump puts lives of US troop ahead of his ego, reported a columnist statement. “Trumps decision to stand down rather than initiate a military strike is perhaps the most significant event of his presidency.”
The Purpose of This Post
Is to question if Trump knows himself and our enemies better than his predecessors and millions of USA voters.
Proverb – Sun Tzu
“Know yourself, know your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles without loss.” (Su Tzu)
Definition of an Enemy (Merriam-Webster)
1: one that is antagonistic to another
2: something harmful or deadly
Sun Tzu Article Statement
The only way to know others is to simply to begin by understanding them and their points of view – and not in the heat of battle try to find out as their defenses as they will be up and you will be in a position to lose and they at that moment will likely know much more about you.
King Solomon
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (Proverb 18:2)
What’s My Point?
The news this week is focused on Trump and Iran.
All week long the news pundits and politicians have been giving their opinions and commentary, yet none of them had any direct access to the military information which Trump discerned to make his decision.
Trump and his advisors appear to have known that when he made the decision to kill the Iranian General that Iran leaders who seek revenge because that is what Islam believes must be done according to their religious beliefs.
What happens next appears to be a choice only Iran leaders must weigh know that they know Trump’s decision to leave the choice to them the consequences of choosing to war with the USA.
In other words, he knew both himself and has revealed who is the real enemy funding and instigating terrorism in the Mid-East better than most American politicians and news media pundits and was prepared for Iran to engage in an act of revenge according to their religious beliefs.
In My Opinion
Most Americans have absolutely no idea what Islam teaches their followers.
Most Americans have absolutely no idea what Christianity teaches its followers
If only we would spend time to find out both of these religious beliefs instead of listening to other people’s opinions, would we understand why there is so much conflict taking place between various Islam religious sects, or other religions, and political beliefs. Some of which are driving them to follow various leaders who use religion beliefs or political ideologies they value to their own and their Nations detriment.
For example, Christians might not understand that Islam teachings include a duty and a reward to paradise if they engage in violence against non-believers of Islam.
And Christians may not understand the different reason when and why to turn the other cheek according to this article statement.
“Turning the other cheek does not imply pacifism, nor does it mean we place ourselves or others in danger. Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek is simply a command to forgo retaliation for personal offenses. He was not setting government foreign policy, and He was not throwing out the judicial system. Crimes can still be prosecuted, and wars can still be waged, but the follower of Christ need not defend his personal “rights” or avenge his honor.”
Frankly, in my opinion, if you consider the opening Sun Tzu proverb and relate it to the present political divisiveness between the Democrats and Republicans, consider this.
We Americans are our own worst enemies because too many people are either giving or listening to opinions about Iran or President Trump without having any understanding about the different points of view between Christian and Islam religious beliefs or the USA Constitution.
As for those who are atheists or have no religious beliefs ever been taught or because they have no understanding who or what to believe, they are wandering around like sheep following the sheep in front of them and listening to the music of Pied Pipers who led rats to drown themselves.
Or in other words, if we do not know our enemy, or ourselves, and are giving opinions, without understanding, we are fools according to King Solomon’s above Proverb 18:2.
The questions we should ask ourselves in the USA is this. Are we our own worst enemy if we cannot understand who or why American Troops are being killed in the Mid-East for the last two decades or why we are even engaged in a war instead of being at peace in the world with people who have different points of view, religious or political, than ourselves.?
Until we voters understand and wise up to know ourselves and who are our real enemies both in the USA, the Mid-East, or the world, we will lose a hundred battles and incur hundreds of losses according to Sun Tzu.
And waste our time listening to opinions from various news sources leading us around like sheep.
If Interested
Read the Source links below.
You Decide
How much understanding should we have about Islam to be at war with them in their countries?
How much understand should we have about Christianity Wisdom and Love in our lives and countries?
Is the real reason our point of view different from our enemies have anything to do with both ourselves and our enemies having never been taught to understand how wisdom and love in the Bible. Wisdom and love that will lead to peace and joy in our lives if only we and everyone in the world cultures would believe in the commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill?
Regards and goodwill blogging.
Source Links
Sun Tzu
Turn the Other Cheek
https://www.gotquestions.org/turn-other-cheek.html
Previous Post – What is a Not a Religion
https://rudymartinka.com/2019/03/16/king-solomon-what-is-a-religion/
What is Not a Religion
https://rudymartinka.com/2017/04/02/king-solomon-on-punishment-for-fools/
Time to Outlaw an Islam Religious Practice?
Psychology – Are You Your Own Worse Enemy?https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anxiety-files/201710/are-you-your-own-worst-enemy
Chicago Tribune – Dahleen Glanton https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/dahleen-glanton/ct-dahleen-glanton-donald-trump-iran-troops-20200108-trcm556y2ncupopf4ykwgjs37e-story.html
Rudy u Martinka 
I have a question/observation for you, Rudy. We know that Christians of the past (the Crusades, etc.) and now (neo-Nazi’s, far-right, etc.) have promoted violence to assert their beliefs. Islamist sects not only lash out against Christianity, but also between each other. Hindu sects grapple against each other in India. Why is it that Judaism seems to not assert their religion violently into the world? Ok.. they carved out and have defended their nation… but I am not personally aware in hearing that any Jewish “nutjob” has shot up any place of worship or otherwise engaged in any overt terrorist acts anywhere in the world. Why is that you think? I have no answer as I am not Jewish. Just wondering what they might be doing “right”.
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Doug
Interesting question you posed which I interpret might be something the USA needs to ponder about a similar topic I have written posts.
For example, as you know I am a proponent of school choice or school vouchers. I brought up the question how many people jailed in the USA attended a private religious school vs. a secular public school.
I know very little about Jewish religious beliefs which may be very similar to Christian beliefs except they do not believe Jesus Christ to be the son of God. Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet instead of God.
The only reason I read the Koran was because we have been at war with mainly Islamic believers for close to two decades. The Koran give wonderful advice but in my opinion, because of the verses that instruct Islam to believe in violence as a duty to spread Islam, their beliefs change from being a religion to a political entity as I explained in my series of posts that relate to the USA allowing Islam to be a religious tax deduction.
In other words, we are in a war with people of a different religious and political views than our own.
Instead of sending armies to war with terrorists using bombs and shooting bullets at each other, in my opinion, every religious leader should be sitting down together and speaking and teaching each other to quit listening to “nutjobs” as you described, and figure out how-to live-in peace and prosperity together.
Sounds idealist or does it address the real core problems in our world? That either teaching our children it is okay to kill to enter paradise, or not teaching them to kill people because it violates the fifth commandment and could wind them up dead, or crippled for life and perhaps being judged to a hell when they die.
In Chicago, based on the number of killings in the past two decades, more people have been killed than in the Mid-East wars.
Mainly because no one is teaching children the religious beliefs our Nation was founded on because according to SCOTUS is unlawful to teach because it is a religious belief.
Wise or foolish, you decide.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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Great observation Doug and concern.
The short answer: ‘the righteous tend to life’ so says the Hebrew scripture- as opposed to slaughter and death.
Like David over that exaggerated oaf Goliath- Israel while being small/ is so much larger in ways that really matter.
The contrast could not be clearer. While there may be religious zealots of every stripe/ Christians do not blow people up/ and some take seriously ‘love thy neighbor.’
But this does not preclude war. A nation must defend itself if it wants to survive/ and sometimes this means death/ but not wholesale murder.
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One of the more definitive reasons for combat-related PTSD among the military is the contrasting morality about killing. Most military members were raised spiritually on the Bible teachings, of which “not killing” is a HUGE precept. Yet we send them overseas and place them in harms way, fully expecting them to kill or be killed… and trying to assign it as some “non-declared war” defense of America, when no one is, in fact, marching down Main Street USA to threaten our way of life directly. They are there for the most part on policy decisions alone… and even to that aspect, there are rules of engagement to limit conduct on a battlefield. Make war, but let’s keep it clean… nut philosophy. So, if our guys have to pull a trigger they have to weigh the legal aspect. No wonder we have PTSD suicides.
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Doug,
Most psychologists concur than having religious beliefs serve to instill courage.
I am no authority to judge why PTSD is more prevalent today the soldiers in WWIi, my generation. Perhaps the same lack of being instilled with a religious values in childhood.
Perhaps a study to determine how many suffering PTSD went to private religious schools vs. secular public schools might provide insight?
Regards and goodwill blogging
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I think a larger question might be, how come this doesn’t affect ALL combat veterans.. and just some? Oddly, if we determined that, then future soldiers would be selected from that category.. and that in itself a form of discrimination.
Regardless, the religious up bringing has a measure of PTSD trauma responsibility, albeit not entirely.
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Doug,
You stated: “Regardless, the religious upbringing has a measure of PTSD trauma responsibility, albeit not entirely.”
Do you have any proof based on a scientific study to prove having a “religious upbringing” has any measure of PTSD trauma responsibility?
Most solders in the army enter by their own choice since there is no draft. Again, I wonder how many in service who suffer PTSD went to a private religious school vs a public secular school?
As for people whose parents chose to have their religious values taught to their children in a private religions school, the real discrimination is a result of parents not being able to afford to send their kids to a private religious school because they did not have the financial means.
In other words, the law is discriminating against religious parents who want to send their kid to a private religious school but if they do, they have to pay two tuitions, private and public school from their taxes.
In my opinion, kids who have been sent to a private religious school are blessed to have parents who either can afford or sacrifice financially to pay two tuitions. .
Thanks for your comments.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
If Interested
https://rudymartinka.com/2019/12/25/king-solomon-blog-child-therapist-wisdom-or-folly/
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Oh.. you are correct in having me clarify the “religion is responsible” comment. It’s “responsible” from the standpoint of contributing to the personal moral conflict of killing in war that can lead to PTSD because we are taught that killing is against a Commandment. I wasn’t suggesting religion was responsible in the negative sense. War itself is the true villain in cases of PTSD for sure. But the fact we go to war to kill conflicts with our moral training of what is right and wrong. In other words, if one had zero spiritual training and goes off to war to kill, that “might” be less likely to have the moral shock & awe that might lead to PTSD.
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Doug,
I maintain that the majority of Chicago killings are the result of zero spiritual training.
As for PTSD being more of a factor because of religious beliefs, I would concur only that there is a difference in religious beliefs and denominations..
For example, Muslims suicide bombers willingly give up thier lives to kill many innocent victims
Christmas lay down there lives willingly to save another,
Save or destroy difference as Colorstorm explained.
In other words, there is a difference in religions or political entities as I explained.
Regards and goodwill blogiging.
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I’m primarily addressing the difference between your point: that Israel is not a country known for bombers wearing vests. They have no crusade except to defend herself-
As to America’s wars- they are not theocratic in nature/ so it’s not difficult to see the lack of contradiction when asked to ‘kill.’
Remember the executioner who was ordered to behead the Baptist? He did what he was told-
Yet, Christians and Jews alike have no mandate to remove heads. Is there any thing such as a good war?
Probably not, but without the exceptional intellect and restraint of the Jewish nation- they would long have been history.
It’s understandable that per capita- we are speaking of one powerful country.
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Not sure how anyone’s human intellect would differ given intellect is not a trait exhibited by race.. or religious beliefs. The difference might find a clue in the question as to being Jewish is racial as well as spiritual. Which then suggests a more cultural application. Just speculating. We may be talking a specific mindset given the millennia of persecution. But it still doesn’t explain why random mass shootings, even if we assign a mental health component as part of the shooter’s compulsion to violently lash out like that, where are the Jewish “nutjobs”? I mean, statistics alone should suggest Jewish folks should be included in this violent demographic. I might look into this further.
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Someone,
Good luck attempting to find any scientific studies to compare private religious school students to public school students that pertain to ‘nutjob” behaviors by governmnet agencies.
Makes me wonder if they are afraid to because it is not politically corrects or perhaps embarrassing to liberals..
Regards and goodwill blogging..
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Of course intellect is more obvious in certain races. How could any fair minded person argue otherwise.
I already proved the Jewish mind/ Hebrew tradition has a ‘mind’ to tend to life.
The monsters with lesser intellects prove they are butchers and not intellectuals.
You have heard of the wisdom of Solomon. Wisdom unmatched. The good kings of Israel? Power unmatched.
Can I direct you to the incomparable Dr. Cyril Wecht. A forensic medical man who tears to shreds all opposition- without notes.
Then there is Paul/ once Saul- his epistles are proof of the only true God above all- and argues logically, forcefully, truthfully, and honestly. There is no other work of pen that can batch the book of Romans. (So said some Harvard men years ago)
Anyway/ to deny that the Jewish mind is equal to all others Doug- is to miss entirely what I said earlier about physical size and a mind and heart tuned correctly.
Apples are not oranges- and I suggest you listen to ANY mus-lim leader- pick one- pick the best- and honestly compare him to a statesman such as B. Netanyahu-
now tell me intellect is equal.
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You’re confusing the ability to be intellectual with the acquired prowess to display intellect from education. The “more obvious is certain races” is all about the degree of a culture that values formal learning and because some races tend to fall into disproportionate disadvantages to an education, followed by non-cultural mechanisms in which appreciates the display of that education, It’s not at all racial as a human trait.
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Doug
There have been numerous indoctrinations to claim racial superiority. (Hitler)
Problem is if you are Christian, you are taught to believe God created all creatures and I do not know of any Christian contemporary dogna or teaching that teaches one race or soul as being superior to another.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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Sorry Doug- I cant agree. Education does not change what is innate. Do you think the beheading beasts will play nice once they become ‘educated?’
It is racial. And this does not make me racist. Numbers and facts don’t lie.
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The beheading beasts will continue to behead until their culture dominates and controls the entire world. That is their dogma. That is their dna.
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John,
Sad most people do not understand or believe your above comment.
If interested, I understand and said the same thing in relation to today’s news.
https://rudymartinka.com/2020/01/11/king-solomon-blog-iran-unintentional-worry-or-be-happy-conundrum/
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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not to mention PTSD blogs on the Internet.
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Colorstorm
Wise comments in my opinion.
Regards and goodwill blogging
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I would like to address the subject of “Opinions” since you mentioned it.
Part of the problem with American Christianity is that there is no longer much discernible cohesion between members of the different religious cults, sects and denominations on what the founding principles teach. It seems that today most of the people professing to be Christians that I have encountered have the idea that it is completely acceptable and workable for each member of a religious organization to have their own individual interpretations of Scriptures and it doesn’t matter to them whether or not each Christian believes the same things, in the same ways as other Christians. This leads to total confusion.
It is the same with American Politics. I think I can safely guarantee you that the so-called “Average” American doesn’t have a clue as to how our government works, the History of it, the make-up of it or even an understanding of the basic founding documents.
In the same manner that 7 out of 10 American Christians are thought to have never read their Bible completely through at least once in their lifetime, I am persuaded that a similar number of Americans have never taken the time to thoroughly inspect the documents on which our government is founded.
Whether this apathetic situation is deliberate or whether or not the individuals are too lazy to learn — or whether or not they are dumb as a box of rocks — or whether or not they are too self-absorbed to even care about such things ….. I do not know the reasons but I suspect it might be that most people of the so-called “Lower Classes” in America (The class of people who make up most of the population) are interested entirely in self-gratification and nothing else matters to them. (Get high, get someone into your bed with you , Find something to eat, Discover a warm place to defecate …. I think these are the basal motivating principles on which a large percentage of the population lives out their daily lives.)
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John
In my opinion, the main reason is the best time to reach kids Solomon wisdom is when they are young and the reason they were born is to be rewarded with far greater pleasures in the next life.
Thanks for you thoughtful comment.
Regards and goodwill blogging
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