So while scrolling through all
of the responses to the shootings in Florida, I have found the typical
get rid of guns, get more guns, it's the Muslims, it's not the Muslims
banter. There are the various insults, profanities and the typical name
calling. None of which is actually helping anything. It does seem to
make people feel like they are important and accomplishing something
though. So maybe that is a good way for them to vent their anger.
However, once in a while some individual who seems to believe in the
greatness of their intelligence will bring up the supposedly brilliant
argument that Christians are just as violent as Muslims. This argument
is often strengthened by pointing out that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis
were "Christians." While I sit dumbfounded by the absolute ignorance of
this argument a couple of thoughts occur to me.
First, the truth
is Hitler did use Christianity in his evil. The Nazis did, in fact,
cause many of the churches to join Hitler in his perverted beliefs by
using German pastors as tools for his political aspirations. HOWEVER!!!!
There was a sizable group of Christian pastors and leaders from all
over the world who stood strongly, openly and vocally in opposition to
Hitler and his agenda. Men like Dietrich Bonhoeffer. (I would suppose
many reading this may not know this man. It would be wise for you to
look him up) These men and woman actually gave their lives attempting to
take down Adolf Hitler. They recognized the real problem and
sacrificially set out to do something about it. They realized that the
Christian faith was being perverted and used as an avenue for the
propagation of evil. They weren't quietly sitting on the sidelines but
boldly standing against, being imprisoned for and giving their lives for
the mission of stopping this tyrant. It was never the Christians who
were behind this evil, it was Hitler and the Nazis.
It is true
that there will always be a perversion of the Christian faith, but there
will always be a strong outcry from those who truly know the Word of
God.
So, my question is for those who claim Islam is a religion of
peace. Where is the huge groundswell of Muslim believers who are so
strongly standing against this perversion of their religion? Where is
the voice of the resistance? I don't see it. I do realize there are a
few voices here and there but where is the organized voice of the
peaceful Muslim? Most of what I see is an immediate running to a
microphone to tell people they are not allowed to believe that Islam is a
religion of hate and violence, while commenting on yet another act of
hate and violence perpetrated by someone who claims Islam as their faith
and yells “Allahu Akbar” while carrying out the act. The anger gets
directed at the victims, their families and all of the Americans and
others who are wondering why these Muslim believers keep killing us.
Somehow their actions are the fault of those who would even dare ask the
question.
Are ALL Muslims violent extremists? Absolutely not! I
do not believe, in any way, that all Muslims are violent extremists,
but the fact is, there are terrorist attacks occurring consistently that
are either directly linked to, or at least inspired by, the radical
Islamic belief system. Somehow and in some way those who believe their
religion is being hijacked need to stand up in mass and put an end to it
or at least vocally oppose it.
Now, let’s move back to Hitler
the “Christian” and his Nazi “Christian” cohorts. When logic and good
sense ruled in the world, evil was met by a resolve to destroy it. No
one ran around blaming the weapons Hitler and the Nazis used to destroy.
MILLIONS of Jews were killed in the Nazi gas chambers. You did not see
people running around claiming there needed to be a ban on gas chambers.
Why? Gas chambers were not the problem. Hitler was the problem. The
Nazis were the problem. I want to be very clear about something. What
I’m about to say is not because I am either in favor of or against the
second amendment and the access to guns. So PLEASE keep the gun
arguments out of this. That is not the point of THIS post. If you wish
to argue about gun control there are many other posts that are not hard
to find today.
What I know is the problem is far bigger than guns. Not one single
person was killed on 9/11 because of a gun. In Israel, they are facing
terrorist attacks on a very regular basis. Many don’t know this because
they are, apparently, too busy to pay attention. What is the weapon of
choice in these attacks? A Knife. These attacks are happening often.
There aren’t as many people killed in these attacks, but the frequency
with which they are occurring is leaving just as much damage. Just last
week Yazidi woman were burned to death because they refused to be raped
by their captors. In the last few months a Jordanian pilot was placed in
a cage and burned to death. Others were placed in cages and lowered
into water. Christians were forced to kneel on top of bombs that were
buried in the ground. Bombs exploded! Christians dead! People EVERY DAY
are being crucified, burnt, blown up, thrown off of buildings, drown and
beheaded. These people are Christians, Muslims, Jews, Palestinians,
Hindus, Buddhists, gays, straights, woman, men and children. What is the
one thing all of these evil and disgusting acts have in common? It
wasn’t guns. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out the common
denominator. And another question; Why no massive outcry on facebook and
twitter in support of these lives? The silence is deafening. I think
the real answer to that question may be very telling. (Excuse me your
hypocrisy is showing)
Also, the young man who attacked the nightclub was, apparently, known by
the F.B.I. since 2013 to be tied to terror and acquainted with a man
involved with suicide bombings. (When a background check was done for
his “so easy to purchase” guns, why wasn’t this information available to
the seller? A different question for a different post) How many people
have been killed by Islamic terrorist suicide bombings in, let’s say,
the last 5 years? HUNDREDS!! My point is that you can ban “assault”
weapons if you want. It won’t make a difference. You can ban all guns if
you want. It won’t make a difference. Those who have a core ideology of
killing people they hate will always find a way to kill people they
hate. While we argue about guns and things maybe we could take a moment
to remember that there is an entire branch of Islam that believes they
are called, not to prevent war and death, but to provoke a war in order
for their “Mahdi” or their Messiah to show up and rule over a new
Islamic kingdom. For those who think I don’t know what I’m talking about
please study it out yourself. If starting a war through violence and
hate is your core belief you cannot negotiate peace. They are going to
kill and believe they are doing it for God. All Muslims DO NOT believe
this way, but there are many that do.
I realize the knee jerk reaction to ban guns is strong when emotions
are running high but we must honestly face the fact that the guns
weren't the cause of the senseless violence in Florida. The guns were
tools used to carry out an act based on the true cause which was a
theology of hate, probably reinforced in the mind of someone who wasn’t
mentally stable to begin with. This is not a pro or anti gun statement,
this is a statement of truth. His guns were tools just like gas
chambers, hijacked planes, bombs knives, fire and water. Again, this is a
much bigger problem than guns.
I’m not against peaceful Muslims
and their freedom to worship. America is, at least at the moment, a free
country with the freedom of religion. While I believe Islam is a false
and deceptive religion I will not oppose those who wish to practice it.
Muslims have every constitutional right to worship as they wish. At the
same time, I will boldly proclaim my belief that Jesus Christ is the
only way to Heaven and others can accept or reject that message. What I
do adamantly oppose is any ideology that condones the murder of
Americans or anyone else because they refuse to convert to their
perverted ideology.
Hitler and the Nazis had to be defeated. The
United States and the rest of the civilized world stood up and declared
we are going to put an end to them. The true Christian church stood up
and said Hitler and the Nazis need to be stopped. They unified and said
we are going to stand against evil in the world and eliminate it. We
cannot continue to use the actions of people who are determined to kill
in any way they can to justify political agendas that, at their core,
are not the problem. It is high time that America and the rest of the
world step up and with one united voice say enough is enough. I hear
politicians; both democrat and republican talk a big game about stopping
radical Islam in the world. However, at the end of the day they send
out a few “strongly condemn” tweets and then go back to their
fundraising and campaigning and fail to make a real stand. This is not
helping either
In the end though, it doesn’t matter what politicians do because the
real problem is not political. We can fight wars, kill terrorists and
imprison sympathizers. It is the number one job of our government to
protect the people. It is their responsibility and they must do that in
ways that are very difficult and costly. However, war, death and prison
will not stop hate. Why? Because our world is broken. The problem is
that men’s hearts are desperately wicked and full of sin. It may seem
like too simple of a thing to say but it is true. I am going to go to my
grave proclaiming that there is an answer for the sin and for the
destructive hate. The answer is Jesus Christ. In the Word of God He is
called the Prince of Peace. It is only in Christ that hearts can be
changed. Hatred is turned to love and war is overcome by peace. Most of
the world will mock and reject the gospel message of Christ. It doesn’t
change the truth of the message. However, there will be a day when
Christ comes and sets up a kingdom that will reign in worldwide peace.
That is the only time we will actually have an opportunity to see peace
on Earth. When you are overwhelmed by the circumstances of the times,
turn to Christ. He is your answer. Accepting Christ may not bring peace
to the world today, but it will bring peace to you and there will be a
day when you will see peace in the world.
Finally, my heart goes
out to the families and friends of those who were lost at the hands of
this murderer. I choose not to see those who were killed as “those
gays.” These were real people with real families and friends who loved
them. We cannot allow them to be perceived as nameless and faceless
individuals. I see them as fellow Americans, as human beings, and as
people who were loved by God. I do not accept that this was an attack on
“The Gay Community.” There are times when we may discuss and debate our
different "communities" and beliefs, but there are times when we need
to stand together. This is one of those times. This was an attack on the
fellow citizens of my country. We are all Americans and this was an
attack on all of us. There is no excuse and no justification for what
happened to them and we should all do our own part to try our best to
keep it from happening again.
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