Several years ago, I heard that within the Muslim religion, the pig is such an unclean animal that anyone who touches a pig, or anyone who eats any kind of pork product, willingly or unwillingly, is condemned to hell, with no hope of redemption.
On Friday evening, authorities finally captured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two men suspected of planting the bombs that were detonated at Monday’s Boston Marathon. This coming about 18 or 19 hours after the other suspect, his older brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a gunfight with police.
Monday’s bombing angered me, just as it did everyone else in America. I have absolutely no tolerance for terrorists of any kind. My anger has been so strong that I have thought that, if Dzhokhar is a radical Islamic jihadist, as it seems his brother was, this is what they should do with him: Presuming he is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for his involvement in the attack, someone should open a can of SPAM and force him to eat it. Just shove it down his throat. Then he will die knowing that he is going to hell.
But then I had to catch myself, knowing that this is an entirely wrong attitude for me, as a Christian, to have. Jesus died for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev just as much as He died for me. Let me put it another way. I deserve to go to hell just as much as Tsarnaev does. No, I’ve never killed anyone. No, I’ve never sought to kill, hurt, maim, and terrorize thousands of people by planting a bomb in a highly populated area. But I am a sinner. I have a natural tendency to break God’s laws, and I have broken God’s laws—many times. For that, I deserve to go to hell, just as the Tsarnaev brothers deserve to go to hell; just as each of us deserves to go to hell.
The real difference between me and a terrorist is not that the terrorist has killed, or sought to kill, as many people as he can, while I have not. The difference is that I have accepted Jesus as my Savior. I have been made a recipient of the unconditional grace of God. A terrorist like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to my knowledge, has not.
Therefore, rather than wishing hell on this man, what I should be doing is praying for his salvation. I ought to pray that somehow, some way, he might be exposed to the gospel and believe in Jesus Christ.
This does not mean that if he ever did become a Christian, I would then feel he should be spared of whatever sentence, including the death penalty, is placed on him if he is indeed convicted of this heinous crime. The reality of God’s forgiveness does not negate the consequences of our actions. King David committed adultery with Bathsheba. Then he tried to cover it up by having her husband murdered. When confronted with his sin, David repented and sought forgiveness. Through the prophet Nathan, God essentially said to David, “I forgive you. You are now once again in right standing with Me. However, you still have to face the consequences of your actions. Some very unpleasant things are about to happen in your life.”
Therefore, if this man is convicted and even put to death for involvement in this act of terrorism, regardless of his religion, justice will have been served. In that, I will find a sense of satisfaction, and I think rightly so. But I need to guard myself against finding any kind of pleasure in the thought of anyone going to hell, no matter how much of an enemy he has proven himself to be.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Liberal Media Blaming Right-Wing Extremists
I’d be a lot happier not listening to the news. A pundit news correspondent on MSNBC said that we have no idea whether the two suspects in the Boston bombing were either 1) Domestic right-wing militia-type people, perhaps upset about something like what happened in Waco, TX in 1993, or 2) Affiliated with an international terrorist group.
What angers me about this is the assumption that if these individuals are domestic terrorists, then they must right-wing extremists. God forbid allowing for the possibility that they might have liberal political viewpoints. And, of course, it is absolutely impossible that these men might have voted for President Obama in the last election. Democrats—people with liberal viewpoints—just don’t commit this type of crime.
Could these men be right-wing radicals? Sure they could. My point is that we do not yet have any idea who they are or what kind of political views they have. Nor do we have any idea whether or not the bombing was even politically motivated.
The fact is that there are some members of the liberal media who cannot resist taking advantage of the opportunity to blame this event on right-wing extremists. They are trying to secure support for the Democratic Party in future elections. “Vote Democratic. Vote Liberal. After all, it was members of the right-wing movement who committed this crime.” They want you to associate these terrorists with conservatism. Even if it is a very loose association, they want you to make that association and use it to reject the Republican Party and conservative ideals.
Admittedly, and proudly, I am a political conservative. But my goal here is not to convince you to vote conservatively. My goal is to convince you to not let yourself be influenced by the media pundits who want to plant in your head the assumption that any domestic terrorist is, by default, a right-wing extremist. My goal is to encourage you to think for yourself. If you are a Democrat, you have plenty of reasons for it. You don’t need associating domestic terrorists with the right wing as a reason to reject the Republican Party. And if you’re a Republican, you’re not likely to buy into this garbage anyway. If you’re a moderate, be smart. Think rationally. The next time you vote, vote for the candidates with whose political views you agree. Don’t reject any particular candidate because you heard that these terrorists were of a certain political mindset.
What angers me about this is the assumption that if these individuals are domestic terrorists, then they must right-wing extremists. God forbid allowing for the possibility that they might have liberal political viewpoints. And, of course, it is absolutely impossible that these men might have voted for President Obama in the last election. Democrats—people with liberal viewpoints—just don’t commit this type of crime.
Could these men be right-wing radicals? Sure they could. My point is that we do not yet have any idea who they are or what kind of political views they have. Nor do we have any idea whether or not the bombing was even politically motivated.
The fact is that there are some members of the liberal media who cannot resist taking advantage of the opportunity to blame this event on right-wing extremists. They are trying to secure support for the Democratic Party in future elections. “Vote Democratic. Vote Liberal. After all, it was members of the right-wing movement who committed this crime.” They want you to associate these terrorists with conservatism. Even if it is a very loose association, they want you to make that association and use it to reject the Republican Party and conservative ideals.
Admittedly, and proudly, I am a political conservative. But my goal here is not to convince you to vote conservatively. My goal is to convince you to not let yourself be influenced by the media pundits who want to plant in your head the assumption that any domestic terrorist is, by default, a right-wing extremist. My goal is to encourage you to think for yourself. If you are a Democrat, you have plenty of reasons for it. You don’t need associating domestic terrorists with the right wing as a reason to reject the Republican Party. And if you’re a Republican, you’re not likely to buy into this garbage anyway. If you’re a moderate, be smart. Think rationally. The next time you vote, vote for the candidates with whose political views you agree. Don’t reject any particular candidate because you heard that these terrorists were of a certain political mindset.
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