“Turn the Other Cheek” and the Violence of Shari (Christians strike back)

pontifications ^ | 02-21-06 | Alvin Kimel

[Nihil Obstat]

One of our local priests is from Nigeria. He is young and he is an outstanding preacher. He tells us a lot of stories of muslim persecutions, about people being killed just for being seen with bibles or crucifixes, or even killed for being near the mosque on Friday without going inside. His little town has produced something like 7 seminarians and 4 priests in just the last few years. The church can grow when it is persecuted. God bless them and protect them.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Anyone in a position of authoriy (including all elected and appointed officials and the fathers of familes, at least) have th eobligation to protect the people who depend on them. This is not retaliation---- retaliation is forbidden. ALL noncombatants must b protected. ALL captured and disarmed enemies must be treated decently. But what is needed is straight-ahead justified defense, using force, including potentially lethal force.

In the long run, the Muslims must turn aeway from their belligerent doctrines and be converted to Christ (as must we all.) They will do so through the love of Christians. Butin the short run, assaults on the innocent must be forcibly stopped.

[SaltyJoe]

Rules of Engagement must be clearly understood by families and individuals using firearms and other self-defense weapons. The aim is intent to defend over intent to kill.

When the defender uses lethal force to stop an attack, it means that all other available methods to halt the attack have been exhausted.

Communicating the will to defend will deter attacks and even save aggressors' lives who may have had a will to spawn mayhem.

[son of caesar]

Congratulations to you, you are one of the select few who have common sense when it comes to Gods word. The very idea that Gods followers stand by like cowardly little sheep is beyond revulsion. God demands that you do nothing to taint his spreading of his word, but that does not mean you must be murdered. Where this misundestanding of Gods words came from is very clear to me. It can only have come from satan. God tells his children constantly to fight the evil doers, yes, God even instructs us to put on armor for this fight.

[Redcloak]

It is an unfortunate truth that there are too many Christians who selectively read the Scriptures. They accept Christ telling us not to respond in kind to insults, but ignore Him when He tells His followers to arm themselves against a criminal attack. They accept "Thou shalt not kill", but ignore passages where God commands his followers to kill evildoers. This failure to take a serious look at the Bible hurts them most when an unbeliever points to these passages as contradictions. Had those Christians spent more time studying these passages, they'd be able to respond in seconds explaining why they're not contradictions at all. (i.e. "Thou shalt not kill" should have been translated in the KJV as "Thou shalt not murder". Extra-judicial killing is banned; not killing in general.)

[son of caesar]

Sir, I do commend your bible knowledge regarding the issues you mentioned. ABSOLUTELY, the thou shalt not kill is false and nothing more than a satanic lie. You are correct, it is thou shalt not murder. Furthermore, God clearly defines murder also, He leaves nothing to chance with his instructions. We too have vipers in our midst who would prefer to change Gods words to suit their purposes. God will deal with them at the appropriate time. You are also quite correct regarding the favorite passages of the Godless that they use to quote. It is doubly sad that a professed believer should be able to clear these matters us correctly, yet so often only adds to confusion.

[sionnsar]

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[xJones]

Thanks to both of you for a very good set of posts. You know, if we followed the extreme interpretion of "turning the other cheek" and "thou shalt not kill", then Christian Americans should never have served in our armed services. For instance, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, all American Christians should have stayed home in prayer meetings, and let the Japanese military run loose across the Pacific. Just let them have the Hawaiin Islands and anything else they wanted. We wouldn't fight because we were too busy turning other cheeks while millions were being slaughtered/enslaved due to our scriptural interpretations.

This fight, of course, is a civil war between the muslim northern Nigerians and the Christian southern Nigerians, but it is the same old war between darkness and light. Christian Nigerians have every right, even a duty, to stand up for their families and defend countless other Nigerians from muslim rule.

It is easy to take scriptures out of context and fulfill that old saying about the Christian that was "so Heavenly minded that he was of no earthly use.":)

[LibreOuMort]

Brother, you err. To stand by and allow an evil to continue is to be complicit in its work. Christians are to RESIST evil, and in some cases that means by force. Nowhere in scripture (not even from the mouth of Jesus) does it say we are to submit to evil and allow ourselves to be murdered. Please, take time on your knees and consider what you would do if face with a murdering hoard of Muslims trying to attack your basilica and to burn down your home with your family inside. Stop, be quiet before God, and ask Him for wisdom.
Might I suggest that when you are done with that, you take the next plane to Nigeria and offer assistance?

[The_Reader_David]

No, it is you who err.

We honor the martyrs. Many, many saints there are who chose to triumph over evil by imitating Christ in His passion. The Church, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, triumphed over the Roman Empire, and made it her own nation by imitating her Lord, not by taking up arms against the evil of Nero, of Diocletian and the other persecuting Emperors.

Few indeed are those we call saints, who died in battle. St. Lazar and those who perished with him on the Field of Kosovo, a sainted king who perished by the sword of Penda of Mercia (whose name escapes me), and a handful of others (some of us commemorate St. Harold, Last Orthodox King of England). Few even are the saints who were warriors: St. Constantine, St. Olaf, St. Vladimir, St. Aleksandr Nevsky, St. Tamara of Georgia are all that come to mind beyond those already listed.

And yet, the few warrior saints there are, sometimes showed their sanctity in their battles: St. Tamara rode into battle at the head of her army, and brought many of the Muslim hill-tribes around Georgia to Christ during her reign in the 12th century, St. Aleksandr Nevsky defended Holy Russia against the Teutonic Knights and triumphed over them by God's help in the Battle-on-the-Ice.

As I said there is a balance, but the balance tips to the martyrs, to imitating Our Lord, and to a third course: fleeing from evil. The Fathers of the Church counsel us to flee from evil rather than fight or seek martyrdom. Too often those who seek martyrdom have not the grace to attain it. And yet, as I wrote before, the Church has never forbidden the laity to go to war, and has prayers to bless their arms.

[son of caesar]

Thanks for your excellent and very astute post also. You mention the Japanese and of course we could mention countless other agressors. I always ask people of all faiths about this attitude toward submission to other men vs. submission to their God. I just cant seem to get a real answer from the ultra religion types. So, your post is right on. They think they are heavenly, so they wont do much here on earth anyways. But I have news for these types, they will be called on the carpet for their shenanigans and will pay dearly, very dearly indeed.

[The_Reader_David]

Charming, Norman 'bishops' with clubs.

St. Harold, Last Orthodox King of England, pray for us sinners.