Dear Gary and whoever
else is on this email thread:
I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing
Afghanistan back to the Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk
Radio today, allowed that this would mean killing innocent people,
people who had nothing to do with this atrocity, but "we're
at war, we have to accept collateral damage. What else can we
do?" Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether
we "have the belly to do what must be done."
And I thought about
the issues being raised especially hard because I am from Afghanistan,
and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've never lost track
of what's going on there. So I want to tell anyone who will listen
how it all looks from where I'm standing. I speak as one who hates
the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind
that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New York.
I agree that something must be done about those monsters.
But the Taliban and
Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They're not even the government
of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics
who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal
with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think
Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think "the people of
Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps."
It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with
this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators.
They would exult if someone would come in there, take out the
Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed
up in their country.
Some say, why don't
the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer is,
they're starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering. A
few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000
disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no
food. There are millions of widows. And the Taliban has been
burying these widows alive in mass graves. The soil is littered
with land mines, the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets.
These are a few of the reasons why the Afghan people have not
overthrown the Taliban.
We come now to the
question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. Trouble
is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it already. Make
the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses?
Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done. Eradicate
their hospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them
off from medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already
did all that.
New bombs would only
stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Would they at least get the
Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban
eat, only they have the means to move around. They'd slip away
and hide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans,
they don't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But
flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike
against the criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it
would only be making common cause with the Taliban--by raping
once again the people they've been raping all this times. So what
else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true
fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in
there with ground troops. When people speak of "having the
belly to do what needs to be done" they're thinking in terms
of having the belly to kill as many as needed. Having the belly
to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent people.
Let's pull our heads
out of the sand. What's actually on the table is Americans dying.
And not just because some Americans would die fighting their way
through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout. It's much bigger
than that folks. Because to get any troops to Afghanistan, we'd
have to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The
conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim
nations just stand by? You see where I'm going. We're flirting
with a world war between Islam and the West.
And guess what: that's
Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants. That's why
he did this. Read his speeches and statements. It's all right
there. He really believes Islam would beat the west. It might
seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into
Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the west
wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people with
nothing left to lose, that's even better from Bin Laden's point
of view. He's probably wrong, in the end the west would win,
whatever that would mean, but the war would last for years and
millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly
for that? Bin Laden does. Anyone else?
Tamim Ansary
An editorial written
in 0972
A TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED
STATES
This, from a Canadian
newspaper, is worth sharing.
America: The Good
Neighbor
Widespread but only
partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable
editorial broadcast from
Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator.
What follows
is the full text of his
trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:
"This Canadian
thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most
generous and possibly the least
appreciated people on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and,
to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of
the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars
and
forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today
paying even
the interest on its
remaining debts to the United States.
When France was in
danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who
propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled
on the
streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit
distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in
to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by
tornadoes.
Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan
and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars! into
discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing
about
the decadent, warmongering Americans.
I'd like to see just
one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion
of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other
country in
the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed
Tri-Star,
or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do
all the
International lines except Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other
land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the
moon? You talk about Japanese
technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy,
and you
get automobiles.
You talk about American
technocracy, and you find men on the moon -! not
once, but several times - and safely home again.
You talk about scandals,
and the Americans put theirs right in the store
window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are
not pursued
and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them,
unless they are
breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and
pa at home
to spend here.
When the railways
of France, Germany and India were breaking down through
age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania
Railroad
and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old
caboose. Both
are still broke.
I can name you 5000
times when the Americans raced to the help of other
people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone
else raced to
the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help
even during
the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have
faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired
of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this
thing with
their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb
their nose at
the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope
Canada is not
one of those."
Stand proud, America!
Many of you will have
received a copy of the article by Gordon Sinclair, the Canadian
radio newscaster. He wrote and broadcast this in 1973, six months
after the end of the Vietnam War and during a time when pundits
were analysing the US's role in that conflict and being strongly
critical.
On June 5 1973, Canadian radio commentator Gordon Sinclair decided
he'd had enough of the stream of criticism and negative press
recently directed at the United States of America by foreign journalists
(primarily over America's long military involvement in Vietnam,
which had ended with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords six
months earlier). When he arrived at radio station CFRB in Toronto
that morning, he spent twenty minutes dashing off a two-page editorial
defending the USA against its carping critics which he then delivered
in a defiant, indignant tone during his "Let's Be Personal"
spot at 11:45 AM that day.
The unusualness of
any foreign correspondent -- even one from a country with such
close ties to the USA as Canada -- delivering such a caustic commentary
about those who would dare to criticize the USA is best demonstrated
by the fact that even thirty years later, many Americans doubt
that this piece (which has been circulating on the Internet in
the slightly-altered form quoted above as something "recently"
printed in a Toronto newspaper) is real. It is real, and it received
a great deal of attention in its day.
After Sinclair's editorial
was rebroadcast by a few American radio stations, it spread like
wildfire all over the country. It was played again and again (often
superimposed over a piece of inspirational music such as "Battle
Hymn of the Republic" or "Bridge Over Troubled Waters"),
read into the Congressional Record multiple times, and finally
released on a record (titled "The Americans"), with
all royalties donated to the American Red Cross. (A Detroit radio
broadcaster named Byron MacGregor recorded and released an unauthorized
version of the piece which hit the record stores before Sinclair's
official version; an infringement suit was avoided when MacGregor
agreed to donate his profits to the Red Cross as well).
Sinclair passed away
in 1984, but he will long be remembered on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian
border -- both for his contributions to journalism, and for his
loudly proclaiming what no one else at the time would stand up
and say.
Sinclair's article
was timely, even though in its anger he was not entirely accurate
in his main contention - that America had stood alone always -
and it helped some Americans sort their perspectives into some
sort of order after many of them had questioned the reason for
their involvement of what they perceived as a foreign war, and
questioned their role, and many of their own nation had become
outspoken critics of their involvement in the war.
What he many believed to be true at that time, in the heat of
the moment, has not remained true, if ever it was, for many nations
have stood side by side with the US in many conflicts and suffered
just as much as has the US, their allies.
As then, the US does not stand alone today. Great Britain is
closed today, and a three-minute silence has already been kept
nationwide, as your friends and sympathisers, including British
Muslims, British, Jews, British nothings, rich and poor, those
from every political persuasion, and Britons from almost every
part of that once extensive Empire that is now resolved into the
British Commonwealth of Nations, stood silent except for their
weeping, and showed their solidarity with the American people.
Yesterday, at the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace,
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II ordered the military band to play
the USA's national anthem, an unprecedented event.
From a news letter I am on
September 12, 2001
HORROR
The world reels in shock, horror and disbelief
over yesterday's horrific terrorist attacks on
the United States.
I watched in stunned silence planes crashing
into buildings, the World Trade Center
collapsing, parts of the Pentagon burning and
more. My mind tried to understand the distorted
image of God that would cause young men to think
that if they killed and were killed in His name,
He and they would be glorified. I couldn't.
The suspected members of the Muslim faith are
not the only one with blood on their hands. Over
the years Christians have committed their share
of atrocities, including the many crusades. I
don't say that to minimize the horror of
yesterday's evil, but to help us look at our own
past and recognize that we are not so different.
Neither God, nor man, is brought glory by
violence. The only one glorified by these kinds
of acts is Satan. He will laugh and rejoice as
our stunned horror turns to anger and then to
hatred.
How do we react to such horror? My human
response is to say of those responsible we nuke
them until they glow in the dark and then hunt
them at night. Somewhere deep inside though, the
Spirit says no.
Justice and mercy are God's to dispense. Our
role is to lift up all those affected in prayer.
Even the perpetrators of this evil need prayer,
perhaps more so than those who died yesterday.
This situation is in need of divine healing. The
wisdom of Solomon would not be sufficient to
resolve this matter. Only God himself can do it.
God makes a promise to the people of Israel that
is applicable to us today:
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 will I hear
from heaven and will forgive their sin and will
heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my
ears attentive to the prayers offered in this
place. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 NIV
If the body of believers world-wide turns to Him
in earnest, repentant prayer for all those
involved, and seek forgiveness for our own sins,
He will bring the healing.
Will you join me in praying?
Until next time, may you feel His comfort as you
deal with this tragedy. May He bring healing and
forgiveness, may we all be forgiven for our
disobedience and sin.
God bless.
Kevin
Check out our website at http://gleanings.jesusanswers.com
NOW that the President has called us to pray. NOW that the
Congress has called us to pray. Now that our Governor has called
us to pray. Now that the City Mayor has called us to pray. Now
that the "liberal" media and most other branches of
our American society have called us to pray..
AND NOW that our churches are assembling in special prayer....
"Honorable" Justices of the Supreme Court, I have only
one question..
Would it be okay to pray in our schools???
God Bless,
Angelfairy/Diana
Church and State now united
Churches United In 1 God ........And 1 Country ........All
Faiths And Cultures !
This Is America , The Way It Should Be In Peace Time !
God Bless America !
Pray Angels ......
Cast Satan Into The Fires of like He Brought Upon Us ~ His Home!
an awesome happining in our country and around the world.....
atical from netscape.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Americans Pack Churches to Pray
Clutching patriotic flags and prayer books, Americans filled
churches
Sunday, struggling to comprehend the terror of the week before.
``God Bless America'' mixed with gospel music. Images of the
destruction
in New York and Washington flashed on some sanctuary walls. Ushers
in
one church distributed tissues to weeping parishioners.
Many ministers said attendance rivaled that at Christmas.
``America will never be the same,'' said the Rev. Cecil Williams
of San
Francisco's Glide Memorial Methodist Church. ``Never.''
About 250 members of the historic Parish of Trinity Church
Wall Street, in
the shadow of the World Trade Center, moved services to a Roman
Catholic shrine a block from where the twin towers once stood.
Trinity is now filled with ash and shards of glass. Children
were filing into
the parish preschool when the first plane struck Tuesday. Stunned
rescue
workers staggered into the church moments after the crash.
``Human words are inadequate, and so we come together to turn
to the
word of God,'' said the Rev. Samuel Johnson Howard, vicar of Trinity,
an
Episcopal parish dating back 300 years.
New York Cardinal Edward Egan celebrated Mass for hundreds
in the
majestic St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan, urging parishioners
to
commune with God to ease the grief of the past six days. The crowd
stood and applauded when Egan thanked rescuers and lauded Gov.
George Pataki and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who attended the service.
The
two political leaders hugged during the ovation.
St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Oklahoma City, a block from
the site of
the 1995 Murrah federal building bombing, held special services,
just as it
did days after the tragedy there.
In Alexandria, Va., the sound of patrolling helicopters could
be heard
above the Fairlington United Methodist Church, two miles from
the
Pentagon, one of the terrorists' targets.
The church was built for military families stationed nearby
during World
War II. A white pentagon, representing the military building,
stood in one
corner of the sanctuary.
At the Church of the Nazarene in Augusta, Maine, a flutist
played ``The
Battle Hymn of the Republic'' while images of the devastation
were
projected on a wall.
Ministers saw lessons in the outpouring after the collapse:
to value family
and friends and be kind to strangers. The attacks also posed
a challenge,
they said, to stay hopeful when bitterness threatened to consume
the
nation.
``God's love and our hatred cannot coexist in our hearts,''
said the Rev.
Charles Kullmann of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New
York.
``Jesus came to save all sinners, even terrorists.''
Deborah Welsh, a flight attendant on hijacked United Airlines
Flight 93,
which crashed in rural Pennsylvania, was a member of the choir
at the
Roman Catholic church. Choir members pinned pictures of Welsh
to their
clothing. The hymn after communion was ``America the Beautiful.''
``It has been a bitter week for all of us,'' said the Rev.
Paul Brooks, of First
Baptist Church of Raytown, a suburb of Kansas City, Mo.
Many pondered the war ahead.
``As the father of four sons, I don't want to sacrifice their
lives for this
injustice. And yet there must be a right for this wrong,'' said
Brad
Sampson, who gathered with tearful Mormons in Logan, Utah.
Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, leading services
for more
than 6,000 at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
in
Washington, read a letter from Pope John Paul II, saying he hopes
Americans will take solace in their faith and reject hatred and
violence.
One of McCarrick's relatives is missing in the World Trade
Center
wreckage.
Tyson Cobb, outside the Glendale Presbyterian Church in Los
Angeles,
said he was troubled about responding to the carnage.
``Having three kids, it makes me really angry, but I don't
want to
perpetuate the violence to where we're going to escalate it and
threaten
more families,'' Cobb said.
The Rev. Susan Gaumer of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in
New
Orleans blamed the assaults on fanatics who perverted the Muslim
faith.
Many Muslims around the country have been the target of revenge
assaults since Tuesday's destruction.
``We, too, Christians and Jews, have our fanatics, and we
have had for
centuries,'' she said.
Throughout last week, including Friday's national day of remembrance,
mosques and synagogues held memorial services for their congregations.
On Sunday, religious leaders from Lebanon to Australia also
organized
special worship. Many countries lost citizens in the attacks.
The head of Lebanon's Maronite Church, Cardinal Nasrallah
Sfeir, in a
special Mass condemned the ``heinous crime'' against the United
States.
In Dominica, a Caribbean island nation of 75,000, the government
declared
a national day of prayer Sunday.
The pope offered ``my heartbroken and shared thoughts'' to
Americans
and prayed that victims' families would find comfort. He urged
restraint in
efforts to find the terrorists.
Before the pontiff arrived in Frosinone, 50 miles southeast
of Rome, a
local choir sang ``Blowin' in the Wind'' and waved an American
flag.
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
[] ____
¸...¸ __/ /\____
,·´º o`·,/__/ _/\_ //____/\
```)¨(´´´ | | | | | | | || |l±±±±
¸,.-·²°´ ¸,.-·~·~·-.,¸
`°²·-. :º°
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»
When satan comes knocking at your door, just say,
"Jesus, will you get that for me."
I agree with you wholeheartedly. So many people are awash in
the pain and grief of this past week that it is easy for some
to fall prey to misdirected hatred and vengence. People want
to put a face on an enemy can they see and fight. When they can't,
they fill that face in with generalities of race, nationality
or religion.
The enemy is not one who stands out while walking amongst us.
The terrorists did not wear a certain style of headdress, bear
a certain mark or even necessarily originate in any one country.
They blended in with us..walked our streets, slept in our houses,
sat in our schools, lived among us unseen. The enemy does not
draw attention to themselves.
The enemy was consumed with a hatred for us based on their own
biases, generalities and bigotry. Hatred is a highly contagious
disease that we must each, individually, fight against. Let us
not fall prey to the same disease that bred the terrorists. We
will exact justice, not revenge for these acts. We must make
certain to find out who is really responsible so that they can
be punished and prevented from comitting atrocities upon any one
else. And in the end they will have to face the ultimate judgement
for all eternity. Our enemy is not the person who looks or dresses
different than us. The enemy will be the one that no-one notices.
So I pray that we will be kind to one another and remember that
we are all victims in this crime.
Keep up the good work Mike...I support you all the way! God bless
you and your wonderful family.
Sincerely,
Joey AKA Praisesinger
San Jose, CA
My Words
Well I'm on the Soap Box again.
Many of the angry hateful people have already left the list.
Most had to tell me they were leaving using "An Eye for An
Eye" quotes. May God have mercy on their souls. If you are
going to quote old testament laws, then you should be prepared
to fallow ALL the laws rules and sacraments. This is the same
attitude the Pharisee has.
Jesus said Mathew 23
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay
tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye
to have done, and not to
leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make
clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they
are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the
cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are
like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within
ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye
build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of
the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would
not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the
children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of hell?
Fighting an invisible foe is not an easy job, but it is one
America will have to learn. So far it has caused tempers to flare(many
of my own members have left because I am too lax), People started
hoarding Gas, and food last night. Some stations doubled their
gas prices; and still lines formed. Anger flares, I ask extra
prayer for US Arabic's and
Palestinians; they didn't do it.
I have received two letters saying we should declare war on
any nation, or race that had anything to do with Monday's tragedy.
May God have more grace on them than they have on others.
I pray that we take a look at history. Let this generation
be more merciful than past generations. I remember the photos
of the Japanese holding camps. Yes we took care of their needs,
just like we do our pets. As I grew up in a post- World War 2
era, I remember dreading the Friday night and Saturday Movies.
I would give a sigh of relief when they ran Cowboy and Indian
movies; Indians were bad anyway. They massacred all the settlers.
But if they ran WW2 movies I could count on getting into a fight
because the Germans were bad. I'm 1/2 German; it must be the top
half because that's where their fists always landed. Lousy Krauts.
Stop and think a minute. Unless you're full-blooded Indian,
your ancestors came from one of those nations. At one time or
another we fought with all of them. And if you are an American
Indian; well you know what's said about them.
So where does it stop my friend. It stops with YOU and ME!
We can Choose to hate the Palestine people, and or Iranian, Iraqis,
and all the others in the middle east; or we can choose to make
war against the Principalities of darkness. This will be done
with Prayer, Fasting, Love and Understanding. This is a MUCH harder
battle because you can't reach out and slug them.
I agree we should re-structure airport security, and other
places. And if we find out who the REAL criminals are, take appropriate
action. BUT till, after and during those times, Love one another,
regardless of national heritage. This is a time to show your Christian.
Let God judge the soul.
Put God back in "God Bless America"
Mike
Some are bitter
We'll go forward from this moment
by Leonard Pitts Jr. of the Miami Herald
"It's my job to have something to say. They pay me to
provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the
American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears
sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the
only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown
author of this suffering.
"You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.
"What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's
attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it
you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you
failed."
"Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned
your cause."
"Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve."
"Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together."
"Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome
family,afamily rent by racial, social, political and class division,
but a family none the less. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending
tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's
revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're
wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and
material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life
with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally
decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle
to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming
majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving
God."
"Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all
of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed,
we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals."
"Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are
in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful
thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that
this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't
the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of
the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death
toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of
terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the
history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been
bloodied before."
"But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody
and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its
bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last
time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused,
we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked
by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any
cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice."
"I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know
my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me.
It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future."
"In the days to come, there will be recrimination and
accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed
this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening
again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking
basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened,
sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined."
"You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent.
That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who
don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put
on hold."
"As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn,
and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish."
"So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It
occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths
of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received.
And take this message in exchange:
You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of.
You don't know what you just started."
"But you're about to learn."
Here is another side
Here are a few thoughts:
We live in a multi-cultural society. It is our job as Christians
to love our neighbors. Some of these neighbors are Arab or Muslim.
It is our job to love them. Even if they are involved in any way,
our job is to love them. If they are involved, it is the FBI or
CIA's job to get them. It is our job to love them. Last night
I talked to a Christian friend who has Palestinian neighbors.
He said that since this all happened, no one has come in or out
of their house and they did not send their children to school.
I told him it is his job to go over and offer them greetings and
comfort.
To keep my own counsel, our local donut shop is owned and
run by a Syrian. I normally don't go there (donuts not too good
for my fast expanding waistline) but this morning I went and greeted
him in Arabic. (I have an Arabic vocabulary of about 5 words)
and bought a bunch of donuts just to let him know I do not discriminate
against him because of his heritage. I asked him how's he doing
and he seemed to appreciate my concern. And as the normal Christian
life goes, I did not have enough money to pay (he doesn't take
credit cards). So I have a debt there and will need to return
to pay the remainder and again show the love of Jesus.
