Posted on 08/27/2006 8:48:04 AM PDT by TaxachusettsMan
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Two FOX News journalists were released by their kidnappers Sunday, nearly two weeks after they were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Steve Centanni, 60, and Olaf Wiig, 36, left Gaza and have since crossed into Israel after their release. The men left Gaza through the Erez border crossing.
The freeing of Centanni, a correspondent, and Wiig, a cameraman, ends the longest-running drama involving foreign hostages in Gaza.
The two journalists were dropped off at Gaza City's Beach Hotel by Palestinian security officials and appeared to be in good health. A tearful Centanni embraced a Palestinian journalist briefly as he entered, then rushed upstairs as Wiig followed.
Centanni, in a phone interview shortly after his release, said "I'm fine. I'm just so happy to be free."
He recounted how he and Wiig were pulled out of their car on August 14 and taken at gunpoint into another car. The kidnappers blindfolded them and handcuffed their hands behind their backs with plastic ties. They were then transferred to another car and driven to a building that they later learned was a garage.
"We were pushed down onto the dirt-covered concrete floor and we were forced to lie face down with our handcuffs on," Centanni said.
"Olaf was in the same room with me. Our shoulders were wrenched back, very painful."
Both of the men were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint, Centanni said.
"We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint," Centanni told FOX News. "Don't get me wrong here. I have the highest respect for Islam, and I learned a lot of good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the hell was going on."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Oh by the way....
Is "staying alive" the most important thing we're asked to do as Christians?
Aren't there just a few passages in the Bible about the merits of maintaining your faith in the face of any threat?
If they don't do something just as publicly to confess the lie then they remain liars.
Wishing you a long and happy life. Be optimistic. The mind is a wonderful thing.
Many in countries overrun by Islam have been put to the sword rather than convert, and many succumbed to the temptation.
"I suspect that is NOT the message Christ was sending when he fortold of Peter's thrice denial."
Perhaps not. From my own understanding of that particular incident, the lesson is that humans are weak and subject to human frailty. That even includes the disciples of Christ.
Jesus forgave Peter, and Peter did much work afterwards for Christianity, ending by being crucified himself.
If Peter, the Rock, could fail to acknowledge Jesus at a critical time, then does it not stand to reason that others might do the same to save their own lives, as Peter did?
No, actually, I think I have it pretty well understood. The core of Christianity is that human beings are unable to resist sinful behavior. It is impossible for them. Jesus' function was to expiate the sinful nature of humanity by dying as a sacrifice for humanity.
Peter failed. Peter was forgiven. We all fail, according to the Christian doctrine, and we all may be forgiven, through Jesus' sacrifice.
If I have something wrong there, let me know...
"I just turned 65, surprised to have made it this far, concerning family genetics and my issues."
Well, I'm just 61. Both of my parents are 82, and are quite active and healthy. I plan to enjoy the next 21 years very much, and am certainly in no hurry to give those 21 years up.
It's a little odd to hear someone say that someone who is 60 has only a short time to live. I'm sorry for your ill-health.
Read my page and it may explain why they were forced at gunpoint. Nothing new about that.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
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What part of this do you disagree with?
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Matthew 10:31-33 (King James Version)
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
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I'm sure your private interpretation will lead you to the correct response.....
Nothing like judging someone when you have no ideal of the ordeal he went through.
I'm not about to second guess some civilian guy who has been held captive under life threatening conditions.
Seems that you do, however.
I'd like to think that I could do what it takes to resist coercion like this but I also don't really want to find out.
So unless you're willing to find out, maybe you should exchange the judgement for compassion.
I guarantee all of the FReepers currently blasting Centanni would do the same thing if they were in that situation.
They can be as righteous as they want behind a computer safe in their homes. If they had psychotic murderers pointing guns at their heads they would "convert" to Islam too.
I'm quite disgusted that "Christian" FReepers have the audacity to attack Centanni instead of the Islamofascists who kidnapped them. And I challenge everyone of them to go to Palestine get kidnapped and see if they have the "Faith" to stand up to these thugs.
It's crystal clear to me. I always knew there will be many end-time martyrs, not that I presume to know where we are in the timeline.
I don't romanticize martyrdom at all, hope I don't have to be confronted with that test, but would like to pass it, family or not.
My faith is not some game. I don't care if Peter denied Christ three times or not. He did not convert to any other religion. He got another chance. I might not.
"Yet Peter denied Jesus not once, but three times, then went on to found a church, if I'm not mistaken. You're being very selective in your reading, I fear."
You presume that your interpretation of Peter's actions negate the previously cited passages?
Do you not suppose Peter's subsequent repentance and Christ's forgiveness maintain the integrity of the Biblical admonitions?
As you all sit in the comfort of your homes, in your easy chairs listening to TV and typing away on your wireless computers, it's nice to know you'd all know what you'd do if you had a gun to your head. Unfreakingbelievable. By the way, I don't believe ONE of you would not do exactly what Steve did. NOT ONE;
Post of the year!
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