Opus 2015-11: Headlines: Facing Truth and Restraining Hatred

It is hard to miss the iceberg that France it being forced to acknowledge.  Of course the iceberg is the desire of Islam to conquer the West and it’s willingness to kill and destroy to bring us to our knees.  Some people refuse to see reality until it is too painful to ignore.  France may have reached that point.  I doubt it, but I can hope.  Will the rest of the world learn from the pain in Paris or stand around with their fingers in their ears singing “Kumbaya”?

It is hard to admit uncomfortable truth that demands action.

It is even harder to find a reasonable, rational, retrained response that does not destroy our culture as fast as the sword of the enemy.  There is more than one way to kill a culture just as there is more than one way to kill a hostage.

We in the West, who have a heritage of Christian values, need to respond.  We need to respond with strength and determination.  That will involve violence and focus that we normally avoid.  It must be measured, though.  It must not be a seeking of vengeance and reprisal to try to wash away the pain caused by the purveyors of terror.

If we want to remain free and moving forward we must not loose our reason for response.

There is a reason why the Bible says,

(Romans 12:19 KJV)  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Revenge tends to be a cycle that destroys the avenger.  It escalates into a never ending round of murder and destruction.

But that does not mean we go to turning the other cheek as a society.  It means that the governments step up and do what Paul tells us is their responsibility in the next chapter of Romans.

(Romans 13:4 KJV)  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

The government has the responsibility to act against evil.  You may be a part of the response if you are in the military.  As an individual you are to turn the other cheek.  As a culture we are to response with violence.  That is what a sword is for, violence.  That is what evil demands, violence.

Notice another point in this verse.  Violence is to be against “him that doeth evil.”  As much as Christians may disagree with Muslims, we do not have a divine mandate to kill people because they are Muslims.  We may consider them “evil” in the sense of being anti-God but they are not doing evil.  The Muslim terrorists may think it is okay to kill everyone who disagrees with them.  That is one of the differences between us and them.  It is an important difference that must not be abandoned out of pain or anger.

The West needs to wake up.  It needs to respond.  It will require violence.  It must be restrained.  It must focus on the evil doers not the entire Middle East.

Hard?  Yes.  But that is the demand of truth and righteousness.  No one ever said it would be easy.

homo unius libri.