[ATOMIC_PUNK]

You have to do what i did ! Get out of the 24 hour news rage spend time talking about it instead of dwelling on it stop yourself from changing the subject when talking about tea or roses or anything .....

You have to learn to control all of it or it will eat you up inside and before long the outside will show it!

God bless you and prayers to you

[Cindy]

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: "ATTACK ON AMERICA!"
http://www.truthusa.com/911.html

[Cindy]

SNIP: "Myself, I am becoming paralyzed with worry and fear and finding it hard to think straight. My work and livelihood is severely impacted because of all the time I spend obsessively reading, discussing and thinking - looking for a "way out" but not finding one. I wonder if my vocal defense of Israel, on the Internet and in personal encounters, is doing good. I wonder if it is time to start thinking about a "reverse Exodus". But maybe there will be a miracle? Maybe there is something we can say or do to change the Muslims' minds? Maybe-"

Prayer is powerful but only if we pray.

Many of us on FR have been following world events from September 11, 2001 and what may happen on/before/after September 11, 2003. We have gleaned a lot of info as well as personal opinions.

Knowledge is powerful --- but only if we use it.


Bottom line: Worrying won't change a thing.

[John Valentine]

You are not a whining crybaby.

You are a sane man trying to understand a social phenomenon that is literally insane by design.

The radical islamists value ignorance because from ignorance comes dependence, and from dependence comes obedience. And obedience is the core value of Islam.

In traditional Islam, as practiced by sane human beings, this obedience is obedience to the Will of God, and sane people know that this can only be imperfectly known by human beings, and that the struggle to understand the will of God can last a lifetime.

In radical Islam there is no question about the Will of God. It is exactly what the Imam in charge says it is, and nothing else. No individual interpretations allowed. No thought encouraged - only unquestioning obeience, now perversely obedience to the Imam, who alone can explain and interpret the will of God. This is insane, as it provides no feedback from the real world.

And now, even such slime as Osama bin Laden is considered an Imam by these pitiful creatures.

What to do?

Your despair is understandable, because there is no cure for this sickness, this murderous insanity, except death.

And that cure is precisely what we have planned for them.

[kayak]

Psalm 27

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation;
        Whom shall I fear?
        The LORD is the strength of my life;
        Of whom shall I be afraid?
        ²When the wicked came against me
        To eat up my flesh,
        My enemies and foes,
        They stumbled and fell.
        ³Though an army may encamp against me,
        My heart shall not fear;
        Though war may rise against me,
        In this I will be confident.

        ⁴One thing I have desired of the LORD,
        That will I seek:
        That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
        All the days of my life,
        To behold the beauty of the LORD,
        And to inquire in His temple.
        ⁵For in the time of trouble
        He shall hide me in His pavilion;
        In the secret place of His tabernacle
        He shall hide me;
        He shall set me high upon a rock.

        ⁶And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
        Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
        I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

        ⁷Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
        Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
        ⁸When You said, "Seek My face,"
        My heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek."
        ⁹Do not hide Your face from me;
        Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
        You have been my help;
        Do not leave me nor forsake me,
        O God of my salvation.
        ¹⁰When my father and my mother forsake me,
        Then the LORD will take care of me.

        ¹¹Teach me Your way, O LORD,
        And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
        ¹²Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
        For false witnesses have risen against me,
        And such as breathe out violence.
        ¹³I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
        That I would see the goodness of the LORD
        In the land of the living.

        ¹⁴Wait on the LORD;
        Be of good courage,
        And He shall strengthen your heart;
        Wait, I say, on the LORD!

[dennisw]

Far better than being a happy idiot.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

And round and round I go. This is extremely unhealthy. Anyone who wants to call me a whining crybaby, go ahead, I don't care. If you can say a small prayer for me, please do. And please pray for the lives of innocents everywhere.

You aren't "a whining crybaby" whatsoever, IMHO.

A man (or woman) would have to be made of stone -- or, if a Democrat, have a head made of stone -- not to have been transformed, now and forevermore, by the events of 9/11; and (more recently) by the ongoing slaughter of blameless Jewish toddlers and other non-combatants, in Israel. These are horrific times; and they will, in all but the soulless, occasion feelings of genuine horror.

As an American and a Jew, I, too, have lost more than one (formerly) close and dear friend, over the past two years-plus, re: the twin issues of America's war vs. terrorism, and Israel's battle for simple survival. I've heard people whom I once considered sober and rational, overall -- their liberal political leanings notwithstanding -- blithely parrot rancidly anti-Semitic memes, and then (attempt to) defend same with the loutish canard: "... I'm not anti-Semitic; I'm anti-Zionist." I've listened, stunned speechless, as (putative) grownups I'd known for decades suddenly began whinnying intellectually incoherent jibber-jabber about "empire" this and "blood for oil" that and yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah.

The far left, in this country -- and, increasingly, that's all there is to the left any longer, really; just its (formerly) most whacked-out, (former) fringe element -- has, IMHO, been driven barking mad by the very notion of no longer being in a position of total and unchallenged political power. They can no longer even attempt civil, reasoned debate in defense of their various positions. Everything is fascist! and nazi! and evilevilevil; a comic book view of life, where everyone is either a SuperFriend, or else a charter member of the Legion of Doom -- no middle ground, no exceptions.

(Just a few weeks back, in fact: I had a man with whom I'd been friends since the early '60s, in grade school, shock me with the bland assertion that -- in voting conservative -- I was [and still am] "supprting the cause of true evil in this world." This is, mind you, a college-educated man, with multiple degrees, and thirteen published books to his credit... and he's bleating sheeplespeak at me, for heaven's sake!)

All I can suggest, ultimately -- and this is cold, scant comfort, I know -- is: be strong. Be true... to your principles, and to yourself. Seek out whatever emotional comfort you can, in the presence of the politically and intellectually like-minded.

I can't imagine that things won't get darker, still, before they (eventually; hopefully) get lighter... but: the most important battles, I genuinely believe, are the ones demanding the most from us, in whatever coin of hardship or sacrifice ends up being the assessed cost.

A final, personal aside -- and please don't take this badly; I mean this only in the kindest, most solicitous sense -- if you're feeling gravely, profoundly depressed: please, PLEASE seek out and talk to a professional. I've suffered from chronic depression, myself, for over three decades... and, believe me: Zoloft saved my life, all right...? :)

Chin up. You're among kindred spirits, here.

[hellinahandcart]

My work and livelihood is severely impacted because of all the time I spend obsessively reading, discussing and thinking - looking for a "way out" but not finding one.

I've been there myself for much of the past two years. I'm still on the net too much, but this past spring I realized I just couldn't take the 24-hour news channels anymore, they were either putting me into defense mode with all the Breaking News alerts, or whipping me into a frenzy with all the shouting. So I turned them off, most of the time.

I also try to read more humor while here on FR, it really does help.

You would probably do well to have a little less "input" while you process all the other stuff. There's such a thing as being overstimulated. Take a break and make sure that, for a little while, you read or watch nothing that isn't fluffy and innocuous.

[spodefly]

"In an insane world, the sane man must appear insane." -- Mr. Spock

[marbren]

God keeps his promises. Things will get worse before they get better. The world will turn on Israel. Israel's salvation will come from God. If the USA turns its back on Israel we are doomed.

[jaykay]

This is the most bump worthy item I've seen in quite a while.

---

Religeon of peace alert.

[hellinahandcart]

And is there any way you can get out of Germany? That has to be an isolating experience as well...

[Russell Scott]

God is getting ready to send an anointed Army of Super Saints, "the church which is his body", into this world. They will be in his resurrected image and likeness, that can contain the fullness of God. When they sweep through the Middle East, all good hearted Muslims will hear their call, and enter the Kingdom. The hardcore hate filled murdering types, who will not repent, will be swept away. A thousand years of peace, prosperity, love, and joy for will begin. The future is very bright if your faith is in God and his plans, not man and his history of failures under the "prince of the power of the air", Satan, since he fell for his lies in Eden.

[Grim]

This is one of the most beautiful and sincere essays I've ever read on Free Republic. Thank you for sharing your heart. You're a talented writer.

I've heard Islam described as 'spiritual communism.' How can any organization, let alone a religion thrive by promoting hatred? If they ever prevailed by such a path, what kind of society would they build? One 'ruled' by hatred? Haven't we had that since the beginning of time?

Ironically, the jews and muslims have a similar view of the nature of god, namely as a majestic, powerful, yet distant being.

It was Jesus, unique among all the world's religions, who introduced the notion that god has the heart of a parent toward his children. That being the case, it's only logical that god would only desire his children love one another.

Some christians believe that god will intervene in some final "last days" strategy and save us all. Personally, I believe it's up to the children to bring the other children around.

Is love more powerful than hatred? Here is the final test for mankind to find out. If not, all is lost.

As a practical matter, then, I think religious leaders and scholars, must get together and work to find common ground. There should be an unending conference of religious scholars toward this end. Islamic scholars should be invited to discuss with christian, jewish, buddhist and others. The results should be published and insights gained taken back and shared with congregations. This obviously cannot be done by force or motivated by hatred.

Only through interreligious dialogue will the bridges of understanding begin to emerge. We simply cannot bomb the entire Islamic world into submission. We have to reach out.

In conclusion, what I'm saying is that I believe the problem is ultimately ideological in nature. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all agree that there is only one God. If moslems and jews and christians would pray together, I'm sure God would gladly answer with a vision that would transform humanity.

[mrtysmm]

With the anniversary coming very shortly, many are going through terrible times. Reliving the trauma of the day and changes that day made for so many....the world is a very place. Love and prayers to all who have and are suffering.

[LibWhacker]

I am more of an absolutist than you are and came to terms (of sorts) with Islam some time ago, not that that helps me worry any less about it. I believe we are witnessing the beginning of the final chapter of a great clash of civilizations despite all the pollyannish PC denials to the contrary. I believe it will be a fight to the finish and that there can be no truce.

The civilized world is completely incompatible with Islam. We cannot accomodate their views. They cannot accomodate ours -- or anyone else's. The survivor of the clash will determine the course of human history from roughly this time forward. The loser will play no part in the remainder of that history. The only question for me is will America realize it in time to save herself? I do not know, but am fairly pessimistic about the outcome because of all the democrat traitors in our midst.

[marbren]

There is hope. It is a free gift from God. I have this hope. I will live forever in peace.

[Movemout]

I do not question your sanity. I share many of your thoughts and worries. I have dealt with it in my own ways. One of the most important, to me, is to remind myself that if the world erupts in a total orgy of killing, then I will take up arms and do what is right until I am dead. I am comfortable with that idea since I spent many years as a military professional. It may not be as comforting to you.

[LadyDoc]

I agree with the others.

You need to pray.

Now, maybe you don't believe, but "belief" in the US often means a fuzzy emotion. It is not. It is the intellectual decision that there is a larger reality, and that someone else is in charge, and that in the long run things will work out for the good.

When I was in college, the "cold war" was assumed to be lost, and anti US sentiment was rampent. Students loved red China, Cuba, and felt communism was the way of the future. But when I expressed my worries to a friend from India, she pointed out that people just won't live forever in a tyranny, and that in the long run they will express themselves to be free and raise their children in peace. It took India 300 years to decide to do this against the English, and that undoubtably the Russians etc. would also do this. And she was right: Twenty years later, people stood up and said no, and the berlin wall fell.

ALL countries have a tradition of folk tales where God (or someone else in charge) helps those fighting against tyranny. The bible is full of it. The ancient tales of India tell of this. Europe is full of such tales, such as Robin Hood.

It is telling that the "book of the century" according to a British poll was not the nihilistic PC books but the book "the lord of the rings" which tells of a group that opposed tyranny.

So if you don't believe, or can't pray, you might study history and learn the lessons of the past, or read the stories that tell of a long struggle of humans who long for justice and freedom. And you will find that these tales echo the idea that we live in a terrible world of suffering, but that there is joy in the morning.

And there is someone or something in charge that helps us so that the evil will not prevail.

[LadyDoc]

I should also add: you might also see a doctor.

Some people have obsessive/compulsive tendencies. This personality makes people good business people. But under stress, it can become exaggerated into a chemical imbalance.

Then we see the vicious circle of worries consuming a life, and then the daiy living deteriorates, which increases the worried. Certain medicines can help break the cycle, not to "tranquillize" a person, but to make the person more in charge of his/her life, i.e. more normal. It is a fine line. We have tranquillizers that make people not care about anything, but a good doctor rarely uses them. We usually need to find something that makes a person be normal, i.e. their normal self, just like medicines help an arthritic function normally, not be a superathlete, or a diabetic to be able to function.