Easter
: I had a bad moment at church this morning, Easter morning. I choked for a moment in the middle of singing the Hallelujah Chorus as I thought of the families of the victims of 9.11 at the same time that I was suffering my every-Easter doubts about resurrection and life everlasting and the very foundations of this day and this faith.
I've learned to live with these doubts. I measure the gap between doubt and certainty and call that faith. I'm not sure about this mystery, never have been, never will be (until I die). I choose to accept it, on faith.
But today, it hurt again to think about those people who fell and burned and crashed on 9.11 -- for my doubts, my failure of faith, meant that I was not sure whether there was any comfort for them and their families in an afterlife, in meaning. I felt as if I failed them.
And as I kept thinking about this and about all the victims in this war -- the innocents in the Middle East who have been blown up merely for the sin of living -- I realized, as I often do, that if it were not for the resurrection and a belief in the afterlife and a few other fine points of theology, I might as well be Jewish (and this is why I have always wondered why Christianity separated itself so far from Judaism and its traditions; why do we not celebrate Passover together?). 9.11 made me feel closer to them.
Part of me wishes that we could send everyone in the Middle East to their rooms together until they can get along together -- and leave us in peace. But, of course, the rest of me, the sane part, realizes that they can no longer be left to their own devices and that the time has come to take action and take sides. I choose to get past history -- for it's hard to decide how far back one has to go to decide who started this fight: to 1948 or to the pharoahs? I choose to judge the players on their actions today. I choose to ally myself with other victims of terrorism against terrorism.
The Passover murders are Easter murders as well. That is a lesson for today.
: David Warren arrives at the same place -- namely, Jerusalem -- from a different route.
My mind cannot wander to Jerusalem this year, without feeling a deep solidarity with my Jewish brothers and sisters, in Israel, under daily assault from suicide bombers, and in the shadow cast by a horrible war -- the backward shadow of a war that is approaching. I pray for the Muslims, too, with all who stand at Heaven's Gate, who must walk through "the valley of the shadow of death."
But for the Jews I pray in solidarity, for they are once again under attack, not because there is a war, but because they are Jews.
After the Holocaust we vowed, Never again. Have we already forgotten?
It is time for all Christendom to remember, Never again. That we will not stand by, as Jewish people -- as pregnant mothers, children, teenagers, old women and old men -- are selected for extermination. That we are not indifferent in this matter, that we are not neutrals as between the victim and the murderer. That as Christians, and in the name of Christ, we stand by our brother and sister Jews.
Amen.
Jonestown: Jerusalem
: Arafat is looking like a cult leader, pure and simple. He reminds me of Jim Jones in the days before Jonestown, all paranoia and wishful martyrdom. Listen to Arafat on Arab TV:
...we ask Allah to grant us martyrdom, to grant us martyrdom. To Jerusalem we march – martyrs by the millions. To Jerusalem we march – martyrs by the millions. To Jerusalem we march – martyrs by the millions. To Jerusalem we march – martyrs by the millions...
Jones destroyed his people, more than 900 of them, having them commit murder and suicide for him. Is that what is to become of Palestine?
Suicide murderers
: My worst fear, the one I've dared not say aloud -- for fear it would actually happen -- is that a suicide bomber and then another and then another would strike the U.S. as they have Israel. Our crowded targets are easy to imagine: We gather in such large numbers and, conveniently, we do it at icons of American culture and plenty. The devastation would be huge. The ease with which this could be done frightening. The terror unimaginable.
But now Thomas Friedman has said it aloud in a column warning that we -- yes, we -- must stop the Palestinian suicide murderers or their tactic, their crime, their evil will spread even here. Friedman says the Palestinians are "testing out a whole new form of warfare, using suicide bombers — strapped with dynamite and dressed as Israelis — to achieve their political aims. And it is working." His warning reaches a fevered crescendo:
Let's be very clear: Palestinians have adopted suicide bombing as a strategic choice, not out of desperation. This threatens all civilization because if suicide bombing is allowed to work in Israel, then, like hijacking and airplane bombing, it will be copied and will eventually lead to a bomber strapped with a nuclear device threatening entire nations. That is why the whole world must see this Palestinian suicide strategy defeated....
The Palestinians are so blinded by their narcissistic rage that they have lost sight of the basic truth civilization is built on: the sacredness of every human life, starting with your own. If America, the only reality check left, doesn't use every ounce of energy to halt this madness and call it by its real name, then it will spread. The Devil is dancing in the Middle East, and he's dancing our way.
It already is spreading. Look at yesterday's news, bringing Islamic suicide murderers to
India. What is to stop it from traveling here? Is it just that Saudi terrorists -- our tormenters -- prefer big bangs and they're the ones going after us? Are the Palestinians using up all their lone bombers at home? Is it just a matter of time?
Note well the warning -- the bald threat --
Charles Johnson -- the Web's leading watchdog vs. Arabs -- found in the
Boston Globe from the head of Arafat's Fatah, who said:
"Only the Americans can stop this massacre. They can stop the massacre with one phone call. If there is harm to one hair of the head of Arafat, the United States should protect its interests all over the world. We are not like bin Laden, but we have our own style."
Their own style has been quite clearly demonstrated in Israel: They use their own people, their own women, their own children, for God's sake -- they murder their own -- to murder their enemies.
Glenn Reynolds takes that as an opportunity to rattle some American sabre: "We've got our own style, too, buddy." But note our style: We bomb the bejesus out of the bad guys. That's how we got the Taliban and bin Laden out. Is that we are prepared to do here? How are we going to halt this evil? For we must.
: Another attack at an ambulance station, this by a 17-year-old. And another killing 14 at a mall.
Easter
: I had a bad moment at church this morning, Easter morning. I choked for a moment in the middle of singing the Hallelujah Chorus as I thought of the families of the victims of 9.11 at the same time that I was suffering my every-Easter doubts about resurrection and life everlasting and the very foundations of this day and this faith.
I've learned to live with these doubts. I measure the gap between doubt and certainty and call that faith. I'm not sure about this mystery, never have been, never will be (until I die). I choose to accept it, on faith.
But today, it hurt again to think about those people who fell and burned and crashed on 9.11 -- for my doubts, my failure of faith, meant that I was not sure whether there was any comfort for them and their families in an afterlife, in meaning. I felt as if I failed them.
And as I kept thinking about this and about all the victims in this war -- the innocents in the Middle East who have been blown up merely for the sin of living -- I realized, as I often do, that if it were not for the resurrection and a belief in the afterlife and a few other fine points of theology, I might as well be Jewish (and this is why I have always wondered why Christianity separated itself so far from Judaism and its traditions; why do we not celebrate Passover together?). 9.11 made me feel closer to them.
Part of me wishes that we could send everyone in the Middle East to their rooms together until they can get along together -- and leave us in peace. But, of course, the rest of me, the sane part, realizes that they can no longer be left to their own devices and that the time has come to take action and take sides. I choose to get past history -- for it's hard to decide how far back one has to go to decide who started this fight: to 1948 or to the pharoahs? I choose to judge the players on their actions today. I choose to ally myself with other victims of terrorism against terrorism.
The Passover murders are Easter murders as well. That is a lesson for today.
: David Warren arrives at the same place -- namely, Jerusalem -- from a different route.
My mind cannot wander to Jerusalem this year, without feeling a deep solidarity with my Jewish brothers and sisters, in Israel, under daily assault from suicide bombers, and in the shadow cast by a horrible war -- the backward shadow of a war that is approaching. I pray for the Muslims, too, with all who stand at Heaven's Gate, who must walk through "the valley of the shadow of death."
But for the Jews I pray in solidarity, for they are once again under attack, not because there is a war, but because they are Jews.
After the Holocaust we vowed, Never again. Have we already forgotten?
It is time for all Christendom to remember, Never again. That we will not stand by, as Jewish people -- as pregnant mothers, children, teenagers, old women and old men -- are selected for extermination. That we are not indifferent in this matter, that we are not neutrals as between the victim and the murderer. That as Christians, and in the name of Christ, we stand by our brother and sister Jews.
Amen.
Jonestown: Jerusalem
: Arafat is looking like a cult leader, pure and simple. He reminds me of Jim Jones in the days before Jonestown, all paranoia and wishful martyrdom. Listen to Arafat on Arab TV:
...we ask Allah to grant us martyrdom, to grant us martyrdom. To Jerusalem we march – martyrs by the millions. To Jerusalem we march – martyrs by the millions. To Jerusalem we march – martyrs by the millions. To Jerusalem we march – martyrs by the millions...
Jones destroyed his people, more than 900 of them, having them commit murder and suicide for him. Is that what is to become of Palestine?
Suicide murderers
: My worst fear, the one I've dared not say aloud -- for fear it would actually happen -- is that a suicide bomber and then another and then another would strike the U.S. as they have Israel. Our crowded targets are easy to imagine: We gather in such large numbers and, conveniently, we do it at icons of American culture and plenty. The devastation would be huge. The ease with which this could be done frightening. The terror unimaginable.
But now Thomas Friedman has said it aloud in a column warning that we -- yes, we -- must stop the Palestinian suicide murderers or their tactic, their crime, their evil will spread even here. Friedman says the Palestinians are "testing out a whole new form of warfare, using suicide bombers — strapped with dynamite and dressed as Israelis — to achieve their political aims. And it is working." His warning reaches a fevered crescendo:
Let's be very clear: Palestinians have adopted suicide bombing as a strategic choice, not out of desperation. This threatens all civilization because if suicide bombing is allowed to work in Israel, then, like hijacking and airplane bombing, it will be copied and will eventually lead to a bomber strapped with a nuclear device threatening entire nations. That is why the whole world must see this Palestinian suicide strategy defeated....
The Palestinians are so blinded by their narcissistic rage that they have lost sight of the basic truth civilization is built on: the sacredness of every human life, starting with your own. If America, the only reality check left, doesn't use every ounce of energy to halt this madness and call it by its real name, then it will spread. The Devil is dancing in the Middle East, and he's dancing our way.
It already is spreading. Look at yesterday's news, bringing Islamic suicide murderers to
India. What is to stop it from traveling here? Is it just that Saudi terrorists -- our tormenters -- prefer big bangs and they're the ones going after us? Are the Palestinians using up all their lone bombers at home? Is it just a matter of time?
Note well the warning -- the bald threat --
Charles Johnson -- the Web's leading watchdog vs. Arabs -- found in the
Boston Globe from the head of Arafat's Fatah, who said:
"Only the Americans can stop this massacre. They can stop the massacre with one phone call. If there is harm to one hair of the head of Arafat, the United States should protect its interests all over the world. We are not like bin Laden, but we have our own style."
Their own style has been quite clearly demonstrated in Israel: They use their own people, their own women, their own children, for God's sake -- they murder their own -- to murder their enemies.
Glenn Reynolds takes that as an opportunity to rattle some American sabre: "We've got our own style, too, buddy." But note our style: We bomb the bejesus out of the bad guys. That's how we got the Taliban and bin Laden out. Is that we are prepared to do here? How are we going to halt this evil? For we must.
: Another attack at an ambulance station, this by a 17-year-old. And another killing 14 at a mall.
...
