Posted on 11/21/2001 7:53:40 AM PST by Jeff Head
This letter/note is to all Muslims, and people everywhere caught up in discussion of and debate regarding the 9/11 attacks in America and what it means about those who perpetrated them or supported them. It is also in response to a Ms. Rini of Indonesia, who posted an article/testimonial about herslef entitled, I am a Muslim Woman.
I was raised to believe in and place my allegiance to God, Family and Country. In that order. My God and the One whom I worship and defer to in all things is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died for all mankind and who will return to this earth someday (I hope soon). He is a God of mercy, compassion and love who taught us to love those who despitefully use us and to turn the other cheek and forgive others ... He also taught that there are times when men, if they do not already own one, must sell their clothing to buy a sword to defend themselves and their free will with.
I was raised to respect, cherish and defend to the death the principle of free will. I have a firm conviction that free will, exercised within moral constraint, is the single most fundamental principle associated with mankind's ultimate happiness and progress. I believe the single most conducive place for the exercise of that principle in the world (despite its faults) is the United States of America, and I have traveled throughout the world in my engineering profession and come to observe and respect many differnet cultures and peoples.
I was taught (by good parents and through my faith) a tolerance for others, a desire to share my faith with anyone willing to listen, and the understanding that not wanting to listen is a perfectly understandable and acceptable right I should respect in others and hold dear myself.
I married in my early twenties and have (along with my dear wife) raised five children (actually the youngest is twelve and not quite "raised" yet). Each of these five, with minor variations, believes as I believe ... and that is good and is one of the things (in my opinion) that will always keep America strong. I am now 45 and just visited my first grandchild, a grandson born to my oldest daughter who is raising him the same way ... so the circle of life and freedom continues.
We abhor immorality, vice and sin. We abhor the threat of force and compulsion even more.
This is because people cannot truly repent and change for the better when coersed, they must freely choose. Hence, in the Christian faith, (wiith very few exceptions) forebearance, persuasion, teaching and the voice of warning are the tools we are taught to use as opposed to secular law, force and compulsion to win the hearts of mankind. This, when coupled with the basic tennants in American society regarding free will that I already discussed have made for the freest, most prosperous and most tolerant nation on earth.
It has also, regrettably, made for a lot of vice, pornograhpy, drug culture, etc. But we continue to work on that through the means I already mentioned, and through wise (and sometimes not so wise) use of laws when those immoral or sinful activities cross the line and begin to infringe (through force or compulsion) on the rights of others.
I hope this gives people a little flavor of what is underlying in "Christian" America, at least from my perspective living in "heartland" America ... particualrly when it comes to our feelings about the horror of 9/11.
This brings me toan important understanding, that is a critical part of my own testimonial that I related earlier ... a part often unappreciated and misjudged and doubted by those (foreign or domesctic) powers and entities who would use compulsion and violence to change the heritage I just spoke of. That is this ... We WILL fight to the death to defend these principles and visit terrible, just retribution on those who try and destroy them.
So, Ms. Rini, understand that there are millions of Americans who believe God is love too and that He loves us enought to allow us to be free and make our own individual moral choices (when not infringing on others) and to seek to influence others through persuasion and long suffering.
I know there are several hundred million Indonesians and that it is the largest Muslim nation. I also know that there are good and bad amongst all peoples, parties, sects, denominations and religions. I believe your testimony about your beliefs and I wish you God's blessings.
At the same time, and this is VERY critical and germaine to the discussion, there are many, many in the Islamic faith (as we see it) who either approve of what happened in America on 9/11, or are unwilling to condemn it. Please, Ms. Rini, write a codemnation of what happened on 9/11 to supplement your remarks. That would immeasurably help most people posting on this forum and all Americans alike.
We Americans, Christian and otherwise, are very disturbed by a general lack of avowed and open condmentation, with no excuse, by Islamic clerics, both abroad and here in our own country. That is the fuel (along with the burning pyre of the WTC and the Pentagon) that is fueling many of the feelings of rightous indignation you see here.
If you and others truly believe that God is love and that He is merciful yet Just, then go with God and distance yourself from these others who will not condemn such atrocities ... because these others WILL feel our terrible retribution. Not a retribution out of revenge, rather out of Justice and a true desire to never see it happen again.
So, again, Ms. Rinin, I am a Christian man. There are millions here like me ... I am nothing special. I believe what I have related to you is something your people and Muslims everywhere need to hear and understand. Please forward it.
Sincerely,
I didn't hear hate myself...perhaps you would care to elaborate?......
Well done on the letter! My response to the local and all Muslims: "You are either with us or against us in this Jihad of ours against terrorism. Also, don't lie to me about we deserved this or the mass murders were due to the poverty we caused. Your Islamic fanatics involved in this mass murder from the Super Rich Saudis, including Saudi OBL to the Super Rich Saddem have more than enough money to prevent any Arabic child from starving. However these people invest in mass murder and death to the innocent instead of feeding their own people!"
Soon the truth of how much so many of your Muslims really hate America/Americans will be out for all to see. Do you want to be on the side that OBL and his Taliban thugs chose? The Choice is yours, and I really don't care. Just make your choice and stand by it!
Justice is being served up, and you are either with us or against. I don't really care! You just let us/me know? The choice is yours like the choice the Talibanis made!
Well said. Hurry back......;)
I condemn all wanton killing of innocents and massacres ... but I also recognize that when one party agresses on another and plunges all into the horror of war, terrible things happen. War is not exacting, it is not forgiving and it is not clinical.
IMHO, once embarked, any unfortunate, unforseen or unitnedned horrors fall right at the feet of the original perpetrators, just like in any crime. If war develops to wholesale, society against society variety, then entire citiies and classes of people end up suffering as they did in WW II. We fire bombed entire cities to break the will of a people committed to a war effort bent on destroying us. Do I mourn that? Yes. Do I abhor it? Yes. Do I blame the B-17 and B-29 pilots or our policy makers? NO, I blame the perpetrators who plunged the world into it with their horror, just as I blame the perps here.
If our side knowingly and wontingly committs atrocities, then I will stand against it. I did so with the entire Kosovo debacle.
At any rate, I have said my piece to you. I am more than willing to let others judge as they will, just as you and I have done.
Now, I am past the time my family is wanting us to leave. So I'll just close with that. I believe my position is clear and I do not apologize for it or feel the need to further defend or explain it to you. Like I said, readers can come to their own conclusions.
Did you want something?
FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC.
More than my own life I value God, Family and my Republic all of which I will defend. Even though it means I will be labeled a "terrorist" in my own country as it's written in an FBI flyer on how to recognize terrorists. Which says people who defend the Constitution against the federal government and the un are suspects.
In my city a mideast man was arrested because he had ID making equipment (one of the things listed in the terrorist manual on smoking gun.com was having multiple ID's)the Islamic Temple here denounced what happened September 11, but when this man asked for counceling from the Temple, they obliged him. Another man bought all the CD players at a K Mart here, the manager thought it was suspicious and wactched him load his van, it just happened to be full of CD players. Thinking it was suspicious she called the police, who called the fbi. The fbi informed her that there's a chip in the CD players that can be used in making a device to shut down electronic equipment, and that this was happening in many places. I asked around and found out about E-Bombs, I don't have the address but all you have to do is type in E-Bombs by Jim Wilson and you'll get the story.
My point is that when, not if the SHTF it would be good for people to know where You stand. Panic will result in terrible things and people will strike at anything that appears to be a threat, even if it's a mild one.
At a unlicensed church conference I attended there was a street Preacher who climbed the flag pole at the state capitol in Ohio to tear down a sodomite flag. He said that God commanded him to. I tired to talk to him to ask him "How do you know when it's God telling you, or your temper?" With other people crowding in and it being lunch time he didn't get a chance to answer me.
Believing as I do about what I see coming, this has been an important question to me. As soon as I asked the question though, this is the answer that came to my mind "When it's for Gods' Glory and not my own."
I hope everyone keeps this in mind, when they're not sure of what to do.
God has never needed us to kill anyone, even though there have been many "religeous" wars. Jesus never asked us to kill anyone in His Name either.
Strengthen your Faith, Protect the ones you Love and Pray for the rest.
Sorry if this appears to jump around and not be related, but I tried to not write a book.
Peace be with You
I condemn all wanton killing of innocents and massacres ... but I also recognize that when one party agresses on another and plunges all into the horror of war, terrible things happen. War is not exacting, it is not forgiving and it is not clinical.
........and this......
IMHO, once embarked, any unfortunate, unforseen or unitnedned horrors fall right at the feet of the original perpetrators, just like in any crime.
...and this........
If war develops to wholesale, society against society variety, then entire citiies and classes of people end up suffering as they did in WW II. We fire bombed entire cities to break the will of a people committed to a war effort bent on destroying us. Do I mourn that? Yes. Do I abhor it? Yes. Do I blame the B-17 and B-29 pilots or our policy makers? NO, I blame the perpetrators who plunged the world into it with their horror, just as I blame the perps here.
.......and this.......
If our side knowingly and wontingly committs atrocities, then I will stand against it. I did so with the entire Kosovo debacle.
.....as well as this.
Cheers, CC :)
BUMP!
You just found someone who knows about fine wines and was ready to pop your cork!
;-)
Say hi to Jared for me and have a happy Thanksgiving. I miss you guys.
I have been a Christian since I was 14 and was raised in a Christian home with the same exact beliefs as you wrote about.Thank you for writing this much better then I ever could.God bless you Jeff and your precious family and grandchild.
I'll try to figure out why I can sometimes see one but not the other.Glad I could help .. I also run into some sites that you can only see if you key the WWW. It is clearly my belief though that this is based on the capabilities of the website doing the hosting. I'm not the tech giant that I would like to be, but I am interested how you confirm this one way or the other....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.