The Moral Bankruptcy of America’s War Machine and Greed-Driven Politics
Another Sunday Silver Sermon
"Om Mani Padme Hum"—the jewel in the lotus—resounds as a call to awaken compassion, wisdom, and unity in the heart of every being. This ancient mantra is a beacon of peace, a prayer for the transformation of suffering into enlightenment. How starkly it stands opposed to the policies and practices that have come to define the modern American state: a machinery of war, financial manipulation, and systemic exploitation grinding the innocent between the millstones of inflation and taxation.
“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” —Vladimir Lenin
But in America, it is not only the bourgeoisie who suffer this fate. The villagers, the workers, the ordinary people—those who labor in the fields and factories, who nurse the sick and teach the young—are caught in the relentless jaws of economic policy. Currency debasement, a silent thief, erodes their savings and purchasing power, while inflation creeps unseen, a hidden tax that diminishes hope and hollows out the future.
The Federal Reserve’s policies, wrapped in the language of stability and growth, have led to a cycle where the rich grow richer, and the poor are left to bear the cost.
Meanwhile, the United States wages war across continents. Since 1991, it has launched at least 251 military interventions, according to the Congressional Research Service—a staggering tally of violence and upheaval that has left millions dead and tens of millions displaced. The Costs of War Project at Brown University estimates that the post-9/11 wars alone have cost the nation $8 trillion, with at least 4.5 million lives lost and 38 to 60 million people forced from their homes. These numbers are not abstractions; they are mothers and children, elders and infants, entire communities reduced to dust and memory.
And as the bombs fall and the debts mount, the corridors of power echo with the clinking of coins and the whispers of deals. We see a president whose family business flourishes amidst the carnage, striking lucrative deals for golf resorts in Qatar and luxury towers in Dubai, even as American foreign policy bends to the interests of those who can pay the price. Access to power is auctioned off—$5 million for a private audience with the president, $500,000 to join an exclusive club where policy is shaped behind closed doors.
In just six months, Trump’s net worth has soared by 40%, much of it tied to self-minted cryptocurrencies and foreign ventures. The line between public duty and private profit has been erased, replaced by a pay-to-play regime where the highest bidder writes the rules.
In this valley of dry bones, where hope is withered and the spirit is crushed, we recall the vision of Ezekiel:
“Son of man, can these bones live?... Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ... I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.’” —Ezekiel 37:1-14
We are a nation of dry bones, our vitality sapped by endless war and the ceaseless churn of capital. Yet the promise remains: that breath, spirit, and hope can return. That we can be restored—not by violence or greed, but by compassion, justice, and the stillness of true understanding.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” —Psalm 46:10
Let us be still. Let us remember the mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum. Let us choose the path of the jewel in the lotus—the path of compassion over conquest, wisdom over wealth, and unity over division. For only then can these dry bones live, and only then can our nation be healed.
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