Sunday, September 19, 2010

A matter of instinct.


Whether or not any “religion” has the right to build a house of worship, in one place or another, really isn’t the issue. What is at issue, is what we believe to be inherently dangerous. Each person is designed, unless those wires get crossed through brainwashing, to an instinct for self preservation. This design is built into our DNA. We don’t choose it, but we can abuse it.

My personal belief, as a Christian, is that there is only one way for a person to be allowed access to the kingdom of heaven. Life hereafter. That everlasting life in the presence of God. Other religions have their beliefs on the afterlife, and they are entitled to them. They are entitled to worship the god of their choice …in peace. Hear me again, “in peace”.

Christians, generally exhibit grace in reference to another religions belief. We are charged by our holy scriptures to pass on the good news of hope that the Bible ensures, but it is out of love, not hate. We pray for our brothers and sisters who are lost because we know that unless, or until, they are “found”, they are doomed to an eternity in hell. Exactly what hell is, I couldn’t tell you, beyond an everlasting separation from God. That, in itself, is enough.

I’m not preaching here, believe what you want. I pray for all the lost that they might be found. Look to any Christian, and they will be glad to give you the good news. Here’s my point.

Whether you accept it or not, we are a Christian nation, founded on principles as described in the Holy Scriptures, which is the Bible, and the Living Word of God. Any truthful venture into our history will prove this. One only has to read the documents on record signed by our founding fathers to know what they had in mind for the direction of this country.

As a Christian nation, we exhibit a tolerance for any other belief. The principles of scripture mandate that there is freedom of speech, freedom of inspiration, freedom of life. God wants that for all of us. That’s why the Statue of Liberty still stands tall. We accept other religions, other faiths, other creeds, other nationalities into our fold with joy, it’s what makes us diverse, and strong. Provided however, their intent on coming here isn’t to take over, and hammer us with their personals. To isolate themselves into enclaves of intolerant behavior, utilizing the benefits of our free state to further their goals of religious, and political conquest.

Taking all this into account, the Islamic faith is no different. They have a right to believe as they wish, and to worship as they wish. But when they turn to me as a Christian, call me an infidel, unfaithful to God, and tell me I must convert to their form of religious faith, or die, we have a problem.

The Islamic faith, as a whole, I believe to be peaceful. But even the moderate side of Islam is intolerant to the basic freedoms of race, and gender we hold true. By my belief system, they are all lost, and should be prayed for. So if they die in that peacefully ignorant state, while it brings the sadness of understanding the full portent of that ignorance for eternity, and that it could have been otherwise, I certainly don’t want to kill them for their belief. That would endanger my own salvation, for eternity.

However, when you factor in this whole extremist faction of Muslims, we are talking a different story entirely. These fanatics are the living, walking, breathing manifestation of intolerant evil incarnate. They don’t care who we are, how we live, or what we believe excepting that it isn’t how they do. They see us as an entity of life that must be exterminated at all cost, even to that of their own life.

Our scriptures say, “There is no greater love than that one would give their life for another.” It is honorable, commendable, brave, and loving of human life, to throw oneself on a grenade, step in front of a bus, or give the life of flesh, in order that another might live.

It is abhorrent to all that is sacred in the life of any reasonable, civilized human being to blow oneself up in order to kill as many innocent lives as possible out of an intolerant hatred for another’s faith.

Now, we are back to where I started. My instinct, born of my DNA, fabricated by the very Hand of God Himself, tells me that to turn my back on the seemingly innocent building of an Islamic house of faith, at that given spot, and to believe that it is merely coincidental that that is where it has been randomly chosen to be built, is foolishness of the highest and greatest degree.

Search again history. Any, and every time an Islamic venture has been successful, the very first thing done is to build a mosque on the sight of the victory. It’s as much a symbol of their right to possession as the posting of the American flag on uncharted soil. We put a flag on the moon as a symbol of our success in conquering space. We put flags on the peaks of the worlds mountains to symbolize our conquering the elements. They build a mosque to symbolize their accomplishment in successfully terrorizing this country on 9/11. They see that act as a victory, hence the mosque.

Peaceful expressions of faith are tolerated. I can even turn my cheek to the backhanded slap of contempt that the yapping of their imams represents. Certainly the balled up, scimitar wielding fist, swung at our collective throats, is an entirely different story. Think what you want, this is not a peaceful expression of faith, and goes way beyond our expected tolerance for religious expression. It’s kind of like a foreign flag waving over the court house square…completely unacceptable. Liberally step aside for it if you will. However, God gave me a brain, and He gave me a heart of passion to express what I think, and believe. He also gave me an instinct for survival. That instinct is screaming.

I think I’d rather error on the side of caution, and be ready for the tanks in the street, than passively sit by the wayside and watch my country be taken down by a cleverly worded abuse of the freedoms this great country has been a bastion for. I don’t see much of liberty in the lifestyles of Islam, fanatical or otherwise. I’ll have nothing to do with it. Although I have studied more in-depth into the Muslim culture, all I ever really needed to know about Islam I learned on 9/11. There is no right way to do wrong.

As for me and my house…..