“And in this country of intense religious fervour, many believe that to be a ‘jumper’ was to choose suicide rather than accept the fate of God — and suicide in whatever circumstances is considered shameful or, indeed, a sin that will send you to Hell.”
These people were murdered just as plainly as if they had stayed and burned to death. That they were going to die was not in question. The only question was in what manner. One last choice in life, breathing clean, clear air or suffering the flames inflicted upon our national soul by followers of a murderous cult of death.
How anyone can fault them for their choice is beyond my understanding. Until we are faced with the same horrible choices, we cannot know how we would choose our last moments. I doubt that I would choose to stay and burn to death. I believe that I would say one last prayer to my God along the lines of asking forgiveness, and that He take my soul into His loving embrace. Then I believe that I would step off the ledge.
I pray that these jumpers had that relationship with the one true and living God and had the time and prescence of mind to say a prayer before making one of the most horrible choices that anyone could be faced with.
God Bless the 9/11 families.
According to The Word, the only deciding factor in where they spend eternity is whether they were trusting Christ as their Savior. Christ paid the price for ALL the sins of EVERYONE who ASKS Him for forgiveness, including if they made a last-minute desperation plunge to escape that conflagration in the Towers.
God isn’t trying to KEEP US OUT of Heaven; He’s trying to GET US IN! And while faith in His Son is required, it only takes an amount of faith like “a grain of mustard seed.”
Remember the thief on the cross alongside of Christ? Technically, he didn’t even ask for SALVATION. He just said, “Lord, remember me......” And Christ replied, “Today you will be WITH ME IN PARADISE.”
And what of the OTHER perp on the OTHER cross, who was mocking and smart-mouthing? He COULD HAVE had forgiveness, too; IF HE’D ASKED for it.
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.”
I think you’re right. I would have talked to God and asked him to hold me in His arms and to protect my family and then stepped off the ledge, too. I liked the end of the article where the author says that the jumpers may have saved lives by spurring people in the lower floors to evacuate rather than stay and wait for help.