Opus 2013-135: Headlines: Are We the Chosen People?

One of the misconceptions that Christians often have is that the United States of America is God’s chosen nation, that somehow we have replaced Israel as God’s chosen people.  While I would agree that we have been blessed by God, we are not the New Israel.

However....  We may be coming to a day when we get that title in a way we do not want it.  The recent bombing in Boston could be the beginning of a change bigger than 9/11.  If this is an isolated event, life will go on as usual.  We will forget and go back to our pleasures and ignorance. 

But what if this is the first act in a play that began in 630 when Mohammad began to dictate the Koran?  What if the call of Jihad, the rationale for terrorism, is being heard in such a way that no corner of our Republic is safe?  This is what I mean about being the New Israel.  Israel faces the potential for a Boston on a daily basis.  They have done so for decades.  In the face of brutal fanatics and murderers they have done a miraculous job of hanging together as a society and attempting to maintain the rule of law.  They have set an impressive example of how to deal with the forces of evil.

Are we the New Israel?

If Boston was just the first pitch, how will we respond as the attack continues?  Imagine living in a country where terrorists can strike anywhere.  Imagine that tomorrow you turn on the news to find that the monthly assembly at your neighborhood middle school had a bomb go off when the kids were packed in tight.  Imagine the day after Thanksgiving when the crowd at the door of the local Walmart is decimated by a suicide bomber.  Imagine an unclaimed purse under a pew going off at the second service in your church on Easter morning.

Will we respond with courage and determination?  Will we refuse to be cowed and broken.  Will we go on with life knowing that the only answer to terrorism is courage?  Will we refuse to be terrorized or will we cry out for a police state with no freedom of movement and no liberty?

I hope this was a one time event perpetrated by a couple of crazy people.  If not, I hope we are as noble as the current Israel as we join them as targets for hatred.

homo unius libri