Army chaplain leads prayer for Fort Hood suspect

Associated Press ^ | Nov. 8, 2009 | ALLEN G. BREED

[Free ThinkerNY]

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - Soldiers and others are attending church services at Fort Hood, Texas, and in neighboring Killeen to pray for the man authorities say went on a shooting spree and to honor the victims.

An Army chaplain exhorted worshippers to pray for meaning in the worst massacre on a military facility in the United States.

Col. Frank Jackson expressed frustration Sunday as members of the sprawling Army post "search for motive, search for meaning, search for something, someone to blame."

He urged the congregation to "focus on things we know."

[null and void]

It wasn't

terrorism-terrorism...

[loboinok]

God did not ALWAYS turn the other cheek.

I agree. Turning the other cheek is an individual Christian response to being insulted by an open-handed slap, not a national response to being attacked.

[silver charm]

We pray for our enemies to renounce their evil and to willingly and gladly except Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Satan and his demons are what they are. There is no choice no free will for them and they are incapable of being anything other than what they are. Evil wholly directed at all that is good and righteous.

A muslim is able to see the error of his faith. Whether he will is another matter. Satan and his minions have no such choice.

I pray that the whole muslim world sees the error of their ways and repents. While I praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

[American Constitutionalist]

Agca is behind bars now, he was no more threat to POPE JOHN PAUL II ... POPE JOHN PAUL then could pray for him and meet him in safety.
If you were being chased by your enemy with the real threat of them killing you, what are you going to do ? stand there and pray and let them kill you ? ...

[American Constitutionalist]

So I guess, if you had the wherewith all and the means, and the power to do so, if you were in Nazi Germany during WWII would you have just let the Jews get on the trains ? or fight the Nazi's ? and just “ PRAY FOR THEM “ ?

[American Constitutionalist]

" One cheering factor is he can’t plead ‘temporary’ insanity since he’s been writing and speaking about doing this for what, years? "

Also ?

He was a PHYSIOLOGIST


Talking about a slick used car salesman selling a used car, a physiologist pleading insanity, yeah, right, that will go down real well with the American public....

[American Constitutionalist]

Obama will grant him a pardon,,,
Do you actually think Obama and Holder was going to persecute those Black Supremest Black Panthers who had clubs sitting outside those voting polls last year ?

[American Constitutionalist]

How can it be foresight when liberals are so predictable ?

[Melas]

There seems to be a disconnect here. My father, a WWII vet saw no moral dilemma in killing the enemy and praying for his soul. Likewise I’d have no problem in pulling the switch on Hasan and praying for God’s mercy at the same time. The two need not be mutually exclusive.

[txhurl]

Psychiatrist. Able to write scripts for God knows what kind of drugs.

Plus he had, what, two dozen rounds left? Pretty sure it could be proven he wanted to kill at least 60 people.

Think how horrible it must be to have to administer care to this murderer.

[American Constitutionalist]

Then there, we would agree on that, ... but, if someone was coming after me with the real threat of killing me, I am NOT going to sit there and pray for them, maybe until AFTER they are in jail and pose no threat to anyone.

[American Constitutionalist]

Also, I don't know believe that GOD will hold me or anyone accountable if they find in their soul not the will to pray for this terrorist.... this is not a “ losing your salvation “ issue here.

[reagan_fanatic]

The prayers should be for Hasan’s victims, not for Hasan.

He has made his choice willingly, and that choice is to follow satan’s religion and murder innocent people. He’ll get his reward when he dies. Not one word of support should be offered to him.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

As you’d note from my other posts on this thread, if you cared to look, I’m not advocating against the use of weapons in defense of self or in defense of others. I am advocating for the parallel and appropriate use of another weapon as well.

Theologically speaking, there’s good support for my position:

o Pope John Paul II, ENCYCLICAL LETTER EVANGELIUM VITAE (The Gospel of Life), 1995:

“There are in fact situations in which values proposed by God’s Law seem to involve a genuine paradox. This happens for example in the case of legitimate defence, in which the right to protect one’s own life and the duty not to harm someone else’s life are difficult to reconcile in practice. Certainly, the intrinsic value of life and the duty to love oneself no less than others are the basis of a true right to self-defence. The demanding commandment of love of neighbour, set forth in the Old Testament and confirmed by Jesus, itself presupposes love of oneself as the basis of comparison: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mk 12:31). Consequently, no one can renounce the right to self-defence out of lack of love for life or for self. This can only be done in virtue of a heroic love which deepens and transfigures the love of self into a radical self-offering, according to the spirit of the Gospel Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:38-40). The sublime example of this self-offering is the Lord Jesus himself. Moreover, ‘legitimate defence can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another’s life, the common good of the family or of the State.’ Unfortunately it happens that the need to render the aggressor incapable of causing harm sometimes involves taking his life. In this case, the fatal outcome is attributable to the aggressor whose action brought it about, even though he may not be morally responsible because of a lack of the use of reason.

o Martin Luther (Plass, p. 243, WT-4, 4342, WT-2, 1815).

“Yes, indeed! In that event [if I was attacked by robbers] I should be the authority and wield the sword, because no one else would be near to protect me. I should strike as many dead as I could and thereupon receive the Sacrament and should consider myself to have done a good work. But if I were attacked as a preacher for the sake of the Gospel, I should fold my hands and say, ‘Well, my Christ, here I am. I have preached thee. If my time has come, I commit myself into your hands.’ And thus I should die.”

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"There seems to be a disconnect here. My father, a WWII vet saw no moral dilemma in killing the enemy and praying for his soul. Likewise I’d have no problem in pulling the switch on Hasan and praying for God’s mercy at the same time. The two need not be mutually exclusive."

Precisely. Thank you.

[American Constitutionalist]

It's not just self defense, if some Christians don't have the will to pray for this Muslim terrorist, I do not believe that GOD will hold them accountable and it's not a issue of losing one's salvation.

[Nosterrex]

If you have ever had experience with military chaplains (I was a Navy chaplain), you would know that they come from various denominations. Some of those denominations do not even have a seminary. I have run into some very odd chaplains. There was one chaplain from a Progressive Black denomination that hated all white people. Some of the female chaplains were into Gaia worship. Nothing that a military chaplain says would surprise me. I would definitely NOT be leading a prayer service for the murderer at this time. That is totally insensitive to the victims. I could see someone praying that Hasan would repent of his sins and believe in Jesus Christ, but you would get court martialled for such as prayer in the military.

[frogjerk]

I believe in turning the other cheek because Christ commands us to.

That being said, what is going on right now has nothing to do with this command. We are to defend the innocent against unjust aggressors otherwise known as Islamic extremists (which is a group much larger than many of us want to admit and getting bigger everyday due to the appeasement movement headed by the current occupant of the White House).

[ViLaLuz]

“We DO need to prayer for Hasan. We need to pray that he repents of his sins. If he doesn’t, then HE’LL have to answer for that before the great Throne of God, but we will have done our duty as Christians.”

Amen.