Winning The "Holy War" Of Love & Charity

http://www.beatboxer.com ^ | 4-26-2003 | Danney Ball

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Muslims & Christians: Winning The "Holy War" Of Love & Charity Instead Of Buying Gold Plated Guns Of War Let’s Use The Money To Help The Homeless And Hungry An Op-Editorial By Danney Ball

After recently viewing scenes on the nightly news of the many Christian organizations lending a hand in war-torn Iraq and then seeing some scenes of piles of cash and gold plated assault rifles being discovered in various places in that far off country, I got to wondering ... With all of the riches in Arab countries where the predominant religion is Islam, what kind of charity work are those wealthy lands of oil and opulent palaces doing for other nations? Are they using some of their money to help less fortunate people? Are they sending aid to the homeless and the needy in countries like the United States of America?

Doing a little research on the Internet and reading a few periodicals caused me to pose this question: Is it time for a "holy war" of love & charity in the world. The next logical question is:

Who will join this effort in the name of helping people everywhere? I keep hearing that Muslims are a peaceful generous people. I’m getting tired of those who insist that all they want to do is kill infidels. I say let’s put this to a test. Could it be that they would jump at the chance to prove where their heart really is … and make an effort to win this war on poverty though sacrificial giving to those who need help in America?

Now I am sure there must be charity organizations supported by the wealthy Arab states in the Middle East, but I must confess the only news I found was a few stories relating to how some Muslim charities assets had been linked to supporting terrorists. Then there was this sentence in an article posted on the webpage of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, "American Muslims take seriously their duty to help other Muslims around the world." What is this? Are they saying that Muslims only feel a duty to help other Muslims?

As long as I have been a Christian, which is over 50 years, our church has always given money to help people of other countries. Literally every country on the face of the planet that we were allowed to enter has been helped. No country was left out because of their religious beliefs. We called it missionary work.

Many poor members of our church gave sacrificially that others could eat, have food and medical care and of course hear the Gospel where it was allowed to be preached. I still to this day can not understand countries who do not let their citizens select what religion to adopt. Just as much of a mystery is why anyone would settle for an ideology simply because they were born into it. How can you choose where there is no choice?

So to the oil barrens, rich princes, and wealthy religious leaders of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Syria, Qatar, and other regimes I say let us begin to see which of our counties can outdo the other in the area of giving to help put an end to hunger and homelessness. Might I suggest a first place to begin would be a gift of say 10 Billion dollars or so, to Habitat For Humanity so we could build some affordable housing for the homeless of America … and contrary to popular belief there actually are kids who go to sleep at night hungry in the United States … will you help us?

No reason to get uptight about preachers like Franklin Graham who are just doing what preachers do - preach. You may not like his rhetoric but at least he is putting his time and money where his mouth is – he is working hard not just to give folks options as to their beliefs, but to put food in poor peoples mouths and clothes on their back. How many rich oil princes of the middle east will do as much for poor Americans?

So who will be the first Muslim group to answer the challenge? This new "holy war" will be about one thing only - to see who can out give the other in love, peace, and all of our worldly goods. It is evident that there is not a lack of money. It seems it is just being spent on a few of the worlds rich Arab rulers. Yes, it is an idea whose time has come … a “holy war” between all of the religions of the earth to see who can win at giving, to see who can outdo the other in living up to the “Golden Rule”. We know Christian organizations are sending millions around the world. If I’ve missed something here, I wait to stand corrected.

If anyone has information I’ve overlooked please let me know … or will this continue to just be a one-sided effort?

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Danney Ball is a candidate for the U.S. Senate in California http://www.beatboxer.com info@danneyball.com