Nigeria: Muslim Hordes Mass Slaughter Christians - Atlas Shrugs
There is supposed to be a picture of dozens of bodies laying on ground, with machete wounds that were charred because the Christians outnumbered the Muslims and dared to elect a Christian president.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Fighting the Civil War
I had a revelation in the last few days, which was somewhat humbling. It is always embarrasing to see yourself do something for which you have judged others. Seeing yourself more clearly can be hazardous in areas of pride.
For several decades my mind and soul have been overwhelmed by/deluged with the presence of those who refight the American Civil War in their minds. Reading many tomes about specific battles, they examine the battle tactics, the choices of the generals, and so on and so forth until they convince themselves that they could have won if only. Then they deny the evil inherent in their side's position, that they were fighting in order to subjugate others.
States' rights they declare. Yes, one may grant but rights to do what? To own slaves is the historical answer. Our Congress fought over this in the 1850's to grant new states the rights, but balanced how many of which type each state could be so that they would not overwhelm the strength of either side. Finally, one has to say, do you not comprehend that the Almighty made a judgment, that your side must lose. The blood and lives lost purged our country of the evil it had done. And freed many from oppression that it not continue. If it seems that incontrovertible evidence is that a general should have won, but lost, does it not seem likely that God must have willed it?
Anyway, as much as I have abhorred those who cannot accept their side lost, I have at times wanted to scream your side lost, deal with it. (In truth, my great grandfather was named after the president of the losing side, so I know what side my family embraced.) That is not to say that I do not believe righteous men were on the losing side as well as the one that won. Yes, some were Christian believers of such faith that they were described with much good will and loyalty for their behavior.
Nevertheless they lost. While I do NOT believe that every side that wins is righteous, this particular time I do. It has happened in history, and was even prophesied in the Bible that God would use wicked nations, fierce and practicing hideous ungodliness, to chastise the godly who had slipped in following all His ways. It was to cause them to repent, to seek Him, to more fully obey.
Anyway, as I was writing about the Kafar, about their trials, about the evil of the Muslim raids and invasions, I realized that this was my Civil War. My war that was so unacceptable that I studied the battles. If the Muslims were so outnumbered for so long, how did they win? How could the Almighty have allowed it. Certainly the evils described in the Koran imposed upon those who would not convert, were also hideous. The oppressed called out for justice.
My writings, my arguments wrestle with these issues. I want to influence those who do not see them. How can you be so blind I want to ask. The answer I come to is this, the arguments are already out there. If you read your Koran, you are responsible to know that some say they have an intercessor, who is Jesus. That we claim Him to be the Son of God. That He was sinless, and did great deeds, miraculous ones to prove His authority.
If you can read that it is okay to take a man's wife and make her your concubine, and your conscience doesn't worry over that, then you are responsible for chosing to agree with evil. If you can punish one whose conscience does not allow submission by enslaving his children, after killing him, or read about it and not cringe, then you have problems. I do not have to write further. Perhaps I will, but it is unnecessary.
So for me, I have to question, do I have to wrestle with battles, and suras? Does it change anything? It does not change the past. Whether it will change the future, remains to be seen. But this frees me. I do not need to repeat the frustrations of the descendants of the Confederates. I will free my soul by refusing to be burdened down. It happened. I will have to trust the Lord's wisdom in allowing it.
I have discovered that some of the monks traveled as a result to European sites. The Lord Jesus told his disciples to take the message to the rest of the world. Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world, they were told. And He also told them that oppression would come. Not just to them, but to Israel because it had rejected Him. A couple of decades later, the fall of Jerusalem did occur. But before then, the Christians had been forced to flee.
Persecution enabled the Church (the Body of Christ) to accomplish its mission. The Romans had, because of the Pax Romana, been a conduit of spreading the gospel over the known world. But they had suffered attacks by pagan tribes, and were still under assault in the parts that had not yet fallen. But the Near East and Northern Africa were repositories of Christian faithful who for centuries had fought for orthodoxy. By spreading them, He allowed the message to return to the west what was being lost.
I also discovered that two of the most formidable enemies of Mohammed, Abu Sufian and his uncle Abbas, ended up having their descendants take over the movements. The first were caliphs in Damascus, the other in Baghdad. The men who fought because they did not want the trade hurt by the fanatics, ended up with their descendants having much greater trade, and their tribes expanded.
Abu Bekr and others made rules, not to attack or afflict the monks as the Muslims spread their faith. Not all followed those teachings, but some protections were supposed to be there. Christian tribes were to be left alone if they paid the jizyah. These also have been ignored from time to time, including horrible oppression in the last few years. But there has been some protection over the years, so cooler minds did work at times. This helped me to accept the Lord's decisions.
Anyway, it is what it is. Now it is time for me to love. For fighting does not always produce benefit, but love always does. Won't say it was a catharsis, but it did lighten the burden. I do not need a civil war to fight.
For several decades my mind and soul have been overwhelmed by/deluged with the presence of those who refight the American Civil War in their minds. Reading many tomes about specific battles, they examine the battle tactics, the choices of the generals, and so on and so forth until they convince themselves that they could have won if only. Then they deny the evil inherent in their side's position, that they were fighting in order to subjugate others.
States' rights they declare. Yes, one may grant but rights to do what? To own slaves is the historical answer. Our Congress fought over this in the 1850's to grant new states the rights, but balanced how many of which type each state could be so that they would not overwhelm the strength of either side. Finally, one has to say, do you not comprehend that the Almighty made a judgment, that your side must lose. The blood and lives lost purged our country of the evil it had done. And freed many from oppression that it not continue. If it seems that incontrovertible evidence is that a general should have won, but lost, does it not seem likely that God must have willed it?
Anyway, as much as I have abhorred those who cannot accept their side lost, I have at times wanted to scream your side lost, deal with it. (In truth, my great grandfather was named after the president of the losing side, so I know what side my family embraced.) That is not to say that I do not believe righteous men were on the losing side as well as the one that won. Yes, some were Christian believers of such faith that they were described with much good will and loyalty for their behavior.
Nevertheless they lost. While I do NOT believe that every side that wins is righteous, this particular time I do. It has happened in history, and was even prophesied in the Bible that God would use wicked nations, fierce and practicing hideous ungodliness, to chastise the godly who had slipped in following all His ways. It was to cause them to repent, to seek Him, to more fully obey.
Anyway, as I was writing about the Kafar, about their trials, about the evil of the Muslim raids and invasions, I realized that this was my Civil War. My war that was so unacceptable that I studied the battles. If the Muslims were so outnumbered for so long, how did they win? How could the Almighty have allowed it. Certainly the evils described in the Koran imposed upon those who would not convert, were also hideous. The oppressed called out for justice.
My writings, my arguments wrestle with these issues. I want to influence those who do not see them. How can you be so blind I want to ask. The answer I come to is this, the arguments are already out there. If you read your Koran, you are responsible to know that some say they have an intercessor, who is Jesus. That we claim Him to be the Son of God. That He was sinless, and did great deeds, miraculous ones to prove His authority.
If you can read that it is okay to take a man's wife and make her your concubine, and your conscience doesn't worry over that, then you are responsible for chosing to agree with evil. If you can punish one whose conscience does not allow submission by enslaving his children, after killing him, or read about it and not cringe, then you have problems. I do not have to write further. Perhaps I will, but it is unnecessary.
So for me, I have to question, do I have to wrestle with battles, and suras? Does it change anything? It does not change the past. Whether it will change the future, remains to be seen. But this frees me. I do not need to repeat the frustrations of the descendants of the Confederates. I will free my soul by refusing to be burdened down. It happened. I will have to trust the Lord's wisdom in allowing it.
I have discovered that some of the monks traveled as a result to European sites. The Lord Jesus told his disciples to take the message to the rest of the world. Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world, they were told. And He also told them that oppression would come. Not just to them, but to Israel because it had rejected Him. A couple of decades later, the fall of Jerusalem did occur. But before then, the Christians had been forced to flee.
Persecution enabled the Church (the Body of Christ) to accomplish its mission. The Romans had, because of the Pax Romana, been a conduit of spreading the gospel over the known world. But they had suffered attacks by pagan tribes, and were still under assault in the parts that had not yet fallen. But the Near East and Northern Africa were repositories of Christian faithful who for centuries had fought for orthodoxy. By spreading them, He allowed the message to return to the west what was being lost.
I also discovered that two of the most formidable enemies of Mohammed, Abu Sufian and his uncle Abbas, ended up having their descendants take over the movements. The first were caliphs in Damascus, the other in Baghdad. The men who fought because they did not want the trade hurt by the fanatics, ended up with their descendants having much greater trade, and their tribes expanded.
Abu Bekr and others made rules, not to attack or afflict the monks as the Muslims spread their faith. Not all followed those teachings, but some protections were supposed to be there. Christian tribes were to be left alone if they paid the jizyah. These also have been ignored from time to time, including horrible oppression in the last few years. But there has been some protection over the years, so cooler minds did work at times. This helped me to accept the Lord's decisions.
Anyway, it is what it is. Now it is time for me to love. For fighting does not always produce benefit, but love always does. Won't say it was a catharsis, but it did lighten the burden. I do not need a civil war to fight.
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