Posted on 10/25/2003 4:47:53 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Is this how the Bush White House hopes to win hearts and minds in the Islamic world? By supporting a small-minded general with a schoolboy's view that his God can beat up their God?
The Bush administration's hatchet men (and women) have been quick to browbeat critics of the reckless invasion of Iraq -- questioning their patriotism and even accusing them of treason. But there has been no reprimand of Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, a high-ranking Pentagon official who has ridiculed Islam as "Satan" and dismissed Muslims as idol worshippers.
Instead, defense chief Donald Rumsfeld is conducting a low-profile "internal investigation" of Boykin's speeches, while praising the general's "outstanding" military record. But there seems little to investigate. Boykin's comments are on the record (and first reported by military affairs analyst William Arkin, writing in the Los Angeles Times).
If anyone has given aid and comfort to the enemy, Boykin has. During the past several months, the general -- who is deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and charged with finding high-profile targets, such as Osama bin Laden -- has appeared in conservative Christian pulpits around the country, often in uniform, to declare the war on terrorism a "spiritual battle." His foolish, bigoted remarks will be repeated ad nauseam on Arab TV and used to buttress the view of Islamic extremists, who insist the United States has launched a latter-day crusade against Islam. (If you listen to Boykin, perhaps we have.)
Last January, speaking of the search for Somali warlord Osman Atto, Boykin told a congregation that Atto had appeared on CNN to taunt American soldiers, declaring that "Allah" would protect him. (Atto was later captured.)
"Well, you know what?" Boykin continued. "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."
On other occasions, Boykin has said: "Satan wants to destroy this nation, he wants to destroy us as a nation, and he wants to destroy us as a Christian army."
And in a particularly bizarre episode in June 2002, he showed a congregation photographs of Mogadishu, Somalia, taken from an Army helicopter in 1993, shortly after the disastrous mission memorialized in "Black Hawk Down." Back in the United States, he said, he had the photos blown up and noticed what at first seemed a dark blemish over the city.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Boykin told the church, "this is your enemy. It is the principalities of darkness. . . . It is a demonic presence in that city that God revealed to me as the enemy."
Let's leave aside, for a moment, the question of whether top-secret intelligence-gathering should be in the hands of a man who sees the mark of Satan hovering over Mogadishu. There are other equally troubling facets of Boykin's beliefs.
They are clearly at odds with his commander in chief, who has tried to discourage the view that the war on terrorism is a clash between Islam and Christianity. As he encountered skepticism -- and sometimes outright hostility -- on his recent tour of Asia, President Bush insisted that his administration is not anti-Muslim. "Americans know that these terrorists are hiding behind Islam in order to create fear and chaos and death," he told reporters.
Boykin's remarks contradict -- and perhaps overwhelm -- that message. Indeed, for a ranking military officer, his beliefs are surprisingly benighted.
"It is not a matter of worshipping different gods," said Richard C. Martin, Emory University professor of Islamic studies. "The Arabs who are Christians use the word 'Allah' for God. We start out with the notion we are not talking about three different religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) with three different gods."
Boykin can hardly hide behind his right to free speech; the oath of military service constricts that right considerably. Besides, the Bush administration has had no trouble ousting other high-ranking officials who contradict its public message. Bush should promptly demote Boykin and lose him in the anonymous Pentagon bureaucracy, where his ignorance will do less harm.
Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Sundays and Wednesdays.
Leftist big-city newspapers have no shame.
This is from a presentation to the FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, BROKEN ARROW, OKLA., JUNE 30, 2002. Bear in mind, in a church one would expect to hear about the spiritual aspects of any given subject. That is why many go to church; to consider how our spiritual lives interact with our worldly lives.
"And then we began to see this face the face of Osama bin Laden. And finally we said, 'There's the enemy. That's our enemy. That's the man that hates us. And all of those that follow him."[PICTURE OF PRESIDENT BUSH] "And then this man stepped forward. A man that has acknowledged that he prays in the Oval Office. A man that's in the White House today because of a miracle. You think about how he got in the White House. You think about why he's there today. As Mordecai said to Esther, 'You ave been put there for such a time and place.' And this man has been put in the White house to lead our nation in such a time as this.
"But who is that enemy? It's not Osama bin Laden. Our enemy is a spiritual enemy because we are a nation of believers. You go back and look at our history, and you will find that we were founded on faith. Look at what the writers of our Constitution said. We are a nation of believers. We were founded on faith."
[PICTURE OF SATAN] "And the enemy that has come against our nation is a spiritual enemy. His name is Satan. And if you do not believe that Satan is real, you are ignoring the same Bible that tells you about God. Now I'm a warrior. One day I'm going to take off this uniform and I'm still going to be a warrior. And what I'm here to do today is to recruit you to be warriors of God's kingdom."
To the GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH, SANDY, ORE., JUNE 21, 2003To the FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, DAYTONA, FLA., JAN. 28, 2003
CELEBRATE AMERICA EVENT"And we ask ourselves this question, 'Why do they hate us? Why do they hate us so much?'
Ladies and gentlemen, the answer to that is because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian. Did I say Judeo-Christian? Yes. Judeo-Christian.
"That means we've got a commitment to Israel. That mean's it's a commitment we're never going to abandon.
"Go back and read the history books. Go back and read what the early founders of this nation said about Israel, about the Jews. John Adams wrote extensively of, he called it the Hebrews, the contributions they had made to our concepts of liberty and the importance of their contributions to the founding of this great nation.
"Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin each, independently, when asked to come up with a national symbol for this new nation, both came up with a national symbol that reflected on our Jewish heritage.
"One had Moses standing over the Red Sea with his staff and the water parting.
"The other had the Israelites coming out of bondage in the desert being led by a ball of fire. They recognized the importance of our relationship to the Jews and to Israel. Ladies and gentlemen, we will never abandon Israel, we will never walk away from our commitment to Israel because our roots are there.
Our religion came from Judaism, and therefore these radicals will hate us forever."
"There was a man in Mogadishu named Osman Atto. You see him in the movie ["Blackhawk Down"], smoking a big cigar and talking philosophically. How many of you have seen the movie? Acting like a big shot. Well let me tell you something. That's not what Osman Atto did. The reality was Osman Atto was Aideed's closest ally. He was Aideed's top lieutenant. He was a multimillionaire financier for Aideed's clan. And we knew if that if we could capture Osman Atto and take him away, that we could destroy Aideed's network. So we went after Osman Atto about two weeks before the battle.... We went after Osman Atto. We got into a terrible fight. And I'm sad to say a lot of Somalis were killed as we went after Osman Atto.To my mind, Gen. Boykin represents exactly the type of person I want assuming a leadership role in our defense against the stated declaration of war against us by the extreme, radical members of "the religion of peace." The first amendment to our constitution protects us from abridgments to the free exercise of religion. This applies to the private lives of all citizens, even those in the military.But we missed him by seconds. He walked out of the facility that we raided, he walked down the street and blended in with the crowd and we missed him.
"And then he went on CNN and he laughed at us, and he said, 'They'll never get me because Allah will protect me. Allah will protect me.'
"Well, you know what I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol. But I prayed, Lord let us get that man.
"Three days later we went after him again, and this time we got him. Not a mark on him. We got him. We brought him back into our base there and we had a Sea Land container set up to hold prisoners in, and I said put him in there. They put him in there, there was one guard with him. I said search him, they searched him, and then I walked in with no one in there but the guard, and I looked at him and said, 'Are you Osman Atto?' And he said 'Yes.' And I said, 'Mr. Atto, you underestimated our God.'"
Just think, If Jungle Jerry Boykin was on inactive duty, he'd have time to pursue other activities.... Thanks for the swell idea!
Same ole Same ole b.s. story....
Jesus said of Himself that He is God
If you have seen me you have seen THE FATHER
I and the father are one
Christians belive in the Tri-Une God ..three in one
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
Islam claims that Jesus is not God ...That God has no Son...and that Jesus is the equal of Mohammed their pedophile murdering plundering terrorizing prophet..
The "Moral Equivalancy" of Jesus to Mohammed ....IS A LIE....
Islam claims Jesus was not crucified...was not resurected from the dead...did not ascend to Heaven and is not returning to Judge both man and angels
Most importantly Islam does not believe that a saving relationship with Jesus Christ as the only appropriation for sin is necessary to live after death..
When looking at the other various attributes of the Muslim version of God it is quite easy to see many many differences between their version of god and the One True God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from whom King David is directly descended ,and for Christians, from whom Jesus of Nazareth..the Christ is also descended (on his mother's side ..of course :))
So who is the god of Islam?
The woman from Egypt who worshipped the false gods of Egypt (which later became greek an roman gods) was Hagar...she was the servant of Abraham's wife Sara
Sara was thought to be barren ..she was concerned that her husband would have no heir and have to leave all to a trusted friend...she convinced Abraham to take Hagar her servant and through her have an heir...
Hagar gave birth to Ishmael...who was Abraham's first born..and in line to rule over the Hebrews God however had other plans and blessed Abraham and Sara with a son..Isaac..
It is to Isaac's line that all the covenant between God and man is made...and eventually to Christians in Christ the Savior..
Upon Ishmael God laid a curse ..that though his descendants would be many in number... "His hand would be against every man and every man's hand against him"...
Mohammed himself while having his "religous experience" from which the Koran was written believed at the time he was being attacked by a demon...one of his wives suggested to him that this was in reality an Angel and not a demon and therefore he should heed what this creature spoke..
If the god of Islam were the same God of Israel then in order to be right with the true God Islam would not only be allied with Israel it would be her most staunch defender...instead of trying to destroy her and kill every Jew and Christian on the earth or convert by torture ,death threats, murder, rape ,extortion ,and terror...
Their deeds and actions prove exactly who "their" version of God is...and it is not of Israel or Christ...but of the devil...plain and simple...
imo
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