The words of Amos
who was among the seers of old
which he saw concerning America
in the days of George W Bush.

And he said
The Lord roars from Washington
and bellows his voice from the heartlands;
the marketplace mourns,
in city and suburb the peoples tremble.

Thus says the Lord
for three transgressions of Al Qaida, and for four
I will not withhold the law of the harvest;
they shall reap what they have sown
because they send suicide bombers around the world
killing innocents by the tens and hundreds and thousands,
blaspheming my name by their terrors,
training their young to hate the infidels whom I love,
therefore they will be hunted as wild beasts in the wilderness,
their terror turning back upon them as a boomerang.

Thus says the Lord
for three transgressions of North Korea, and for four
I will not withhold the law of the harvest;
they shall reap what they have sown
because they pervert priorities
in starving their people as they fatten their military
threatening their neighbors with nuclear weapons
as they posture in pompous parades.
Therefore I will isolate them from their brothers and sisters
and their people will suffer from deprivation of body and soul.

Thus says the Lord
for three transgressions of Iraq, and for four
I will not withhold the law of the harvest;
they shall reap what they have sown
because their leaders grasp absolute power
executing those who oppose their regime
building palace after palace for themselves
while depriving the people of needed food and medicines
playing cat and mouse with international inspectors
seeking weapons of mass destruction.
Therefore grievous want will come upon the land
and terror from the skies will threaten them.

Thus says the Lord
for three transgressions of Israel, and for four
I will not withhold the law of the harvest;
they shall reap what they have sown
because they cease not to settle land which is not theirs
smashing houses which they did not build
and vineyards which they did not plant
sending tanks to crush dissent
killing those who dare to stand in defense of their homes.
Therefore they will be terrorized by suicidal bombers
striking now here, now there, with much wailing in Jerusalem.

Thus says the Lord,
for three transgressions of Palestine, and for four
I will not withhold the law of the harvest;
they shall reap what they have sown
because they fail to walk in the way of nonviolent resistance
taking up arms and bombs in seeking to defend their homeland,
because they turn their children into terrorists
striking randomly those they have been taught to hate.
Therefore the cycle of vengeance will continue
bringing tank after tank into their towns, and rivers of tears into their streets.

Thus says the Lord,
for three transgression of America, and for four
I will not withhold the law of the harvest;
they shall reap what they have sown
because their leaders seek not the counsel of their Creator
as they press their will upon the nations of the world with bribes and bombs
taking superpower to themselves even as they strip away the powers of the people
in the name of Patriot Acts.

Hear this word, O people of America,
you who have been blessed of all the nations of the world
with spacious skies and amber waves of grain,
with productivity and affluence,
and with many churches and much religious activity.
Hear this word, O people of America!
I am holding you accountable for what you do and what you fail to do.

Woe to you who sell the needy for a stealth bomber,
and the poor for a pair of guided missiles.
Woe to you who stretch yourselves on fancy beds
and eat rich foods from well-stocked supermarkets,
who entertain yourselves with Reality TV
but who close your eyes to the reality of the homeless in your back yard
who do not see, and seeing not, care not
that your brothers and sisters are hungering for jobs and food and full humanity
Woe to you who do not rise up in a massive voice of protest
when your legislators appropriate billions on billions for weapons of mass destruction
as they cut back the millions needed for education, health and human services.

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and bring the poor of the land into ever greater economic captivity.
I will not forget any of your deeds.
Shall not the land tremble when the accounts are settled?

Hear this word, you who love to say "God bless America!"
How can I bless you when you curse those of my children
who call me by another name?
How can I bless you when you fly your messengers of death
in all my skies, dropping bombs wherever you will?

Woe to you who glibly say
We want God's justice!
We want God's truth!
We want God's judgment!
Why should you desire God's judgment?
It is piercing and not pleasant
as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him
or sought shelter in his house from the rain and a tornado struck.
Is not the judgment of the Lord without partiality?

Woe to you who couldn't imagine that God's judgment
should ever come to America,
you who support the fighting of wars in far-away places
but to whom it was inconceivable that war should ever come to your front porch.
Your 9-11 wake-up call could have been a repentance call
as in the words of the ancient Chronicler
"if my people who are called by my name
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face,
and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
But I do not hear such prayers from the lips
of those who say, "God bless America."
Instead I hear self righteous words of arrogance
words which are a stench in my nostrils.
Hear then the word of the Lord
I am sick and tired of your solemn assemblies and pious poses.
Take away from me the noise of your God-and-Country songs
Your devotion to your tribal gods -- the twins Mars and Materialism --
wreaks havoc on the earth and smells to high heaven.
I do not accept your worship of the bottom line
and your faith in Might-Makes-Right is an abomination.

Thus spoke the prophet Amos in his visit to America
Then some citizens of the right came to John Ashcroft saying
Amos has conspired against America. He is guilty of treason.

And Amos said
I am a patriotic ambassador of the God of all the nations.
I see across the centuries the working of the God of all creation
This is my yearning for you, O people of America!
Let justice roll down like water,
and righteousness like a mighty stream!
Seek good and not evil, so that you may live!
Hate evil and love good!
Establish justice in your courts and legislative halls!
Live out the beauty of your pledge of liberty and justice for all!
Beat your swords into plowshares and your spears into pruning hooks!
Learn to study war no more!

And Amos said:
O people of America, are you not like the people of Iraq to me?
Are you not like the Chinese and Koreans and French and Germans and Russians to me?
Are not the Christians and Muslims and Jews and Buddhists all alike to me?
Am I not the God of all the peoples?
Does not my judgment and my love hover over all?
Is any exempt from my truth or my grace?
Therefore thus says the Lord:
when you are ready to hear my word and to do it,
in that day I will renew the falling cities,
and raise up the ruins of the world
Behold the days shall come
when cities and nations shall be rebuilt
and peoples shall live in justice and in peace.
Thus says the Lord your God. Amen.

-- Peter Ediger (peterediger@paceebene.org) lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he works with the ministry of Pace e Bene (www.paceebene.org).