The War on terror:

 

This past year has been an intense one. Even if you don’t have cable either there are multiple outlets in which you’ve heard about the Boko Haram militants attacked a bus in Cameroon. The kidnapping of 40 people from Nigeria.  The Boko Haram militants opening fire on Nigerian villages killing upwards of 2000.  The bombing in Orakzai Pakistan killing 4 thanks to the Taliban. A suicide car bomber killing 4 in Mogadishu. Two suicide bombers attacked a mosque killing 25.  A car bomb in Yemen killing 38. The shooting in Paris in January at the newspaper killing 12. A ten-year-old girl detonated her suicide vest in Nigeria killing 19. In the Ukraine, a rocket was fired at a bus killing 12. In the Philippines 67 were killed when the local police had a clash with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the list goes on.

Want to know something? That was just half of January of 2015. Check out this page for a full list of terror incidents of 2015.

 

Scrolling through this whole list I see one common thread. Islam. Yes, I said it; most of these attacks were done by Islamic extremists. This leaves my heart confused. This leaves my head confused. I’m not confused as to why they’re doing this, however. Essentially they’re following their scriptures just like Christians follow their Bible. It’s just that their scriptures are wrong and Allah is NOT the God of the Bible. This leaves me confused as to how I feel about this war on terror.

 

 

On one hand, I see it from a Biblical perspective:

 

 

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of ALL the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

 

This passage tells me that we should be witnessing to EVERYONE.

 

Mark 12:31 “And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

 

So who is my neighbor? Again, EVERYONE.

 

Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

 

Romans 13:10 “Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails”…

 

Ephesians 4:2 “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

 

1 John 4:7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

 

So we can see that we’re supposed to love EVERYONE. Even the Islamic terrorists, who hunt, kill, behead, mutilate, rape, and persecute believers and anyone else who does not bend a knee to Allah and the Quran.

As believers, we have the confidence in the Lord that He will protect us. It says so:

 

1 John 5:18 “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

 

Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

 

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

 

Philippians 4:13 “ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

 

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

 

It’s pretty simple, isn’t it? We’re to love others, knowing that the Lord will protect us until our time on earth is done. It IS simple right? I feel a little conflicted.

 

 

The Political Perspective:

 

I stand for the United States of America where each state has the power to protect itself and the Federal government is a safety net to the authority of the state, not an all-ruling power. We’ve lost that concept.

 

I think that each person should have the ability to carry a firearm without a permit, as stated in the 2^nd amendment. “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” –Robert Heinlein.

 

I think drugs should be legal. The federal government shouldn’t be able to tell me what you can and can’t put in your body; however, you should have to be accountable for your actions if you hurt someone during that situation.

 

I think education should be a state-led program like the constitution said it is supposed to be.

 

I think the federal government needs to be taken down a few notches and the states need to unite against the dictatorship and regain their backbone and their freedom.

 

All that being said I think that we should have closed borders completely. If you want to come to this country then you should do it the right way and assimilate properly. If I move to Japan with the intent to live there permanently then I need to learn their customs, their language, their everything! Why should coming to the United States of America be any different? You shouldn’t get catered to because you came to this country illegally. You shouldn’t get welfare if you aren’t willing to work a “dirty job”. We’ve lost our work ethic. The Church as a whole has lost its vision for the poor, widowed, destitute, etc. Welfare isn’t the government’s job actually. It is the church’s responsibility. If the church would step up, maybe there wouldn’t be such a veteran homeless situation or so many welfare junkies.  Just a thought.

 

Are closed borders and an extensive vetting process Biblical, though? I have no idea. I’m confused.

 

 

The American Dream Perspective:

 

 

Ever heard of Emma Lazarus? Her name rang a bell recently in the back recesses of my mind. She was an American Jewish poet born in New York City in the 1800s. She wrote a sonnet that dons the bronze plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It goes like this;

 

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-toss to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

 

If that doesn’t say, REFUGEES, I don’t know what does. America was founded by people who left their own country due to oppression. They were oppressed and persecuted because of their faith. Sound familiar? Granted those in the 1700s weren’t Islamic militants, but oppression has a wide definition. Who are we as American’s to say that other oppressed people can’t come and find refuge within our borders?

 

A Facebook friend posted this to their status yesterday, “Lots of opinions flying around. I might as well toss mine in the ring too. Just setting aside politics for a second to dwell on this… “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

 

I’m going to take a wild leap and say a majority of Americans wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the above sentiments.

 

And back to politics, a common complaint is our current homeless rates; they are OUR (THE PEOPLE) responsibilities, not the governments’. The more we rely on the government to take care of us the more we allow them to dictate us.”

 

She literally took the words right out of my mouth. The more we rely on the government the more we allow them to dictate us. Read that last sentence again and really let it sink in. We, as Americans, have become lazy, complacent, and entitled. We forgot what it means to work hard and make our own way in the world. We’ve forgotten what it means to be proud of what you have because you EARNED IT! We let the government get involved in private American affairs and they’ve taken a mile where we gave them an inch. We let them tell us that they know better because they live in a fancy house and make a lot of money. We need to get ourselves back to a place where we are willing to get dirty and work hard for what we want.

 

Can we mix all of these?

 

The question of the day is this; can I have all of these mixed thoughts/feelings at the same time? Do I sound contradictory? Do I sound confused? Well, I am. Is it wrong to block women and children, refugees, from seeking aid from our country? I don’t know. I think my biggest issue with the refugees is that the News Media spins it so badly. There’s no real truth out there. We have left-wing politicians saying that it’s all women and children. Then we have the right-wing politicians saying it’s all military-aged dudes. How are we, as the American populous, supposed to know what the crap is really going on?! How are we supposed to truly judge if this is the best option for America? If this is the best option for the refugees? The Islamic State is wreaking absolute havoc over in the Middle East and Europe. Who am I to think that innocent families can’t come here to protect their women and children? But if they’re Islamic families are they really innocent when their scriptures say to kill the infidel? Which is a good chunk of Americans?

 

 

I don’t know. My heart is at war with itself. The Andriod brain inside me (as my husband calls it) is spinning and this information does not compute. My heart hurts for those who are being slaughtered by the hundreds by the Islamic Extremists. But selfishly I don’t want that kind of bloodshed on my county’s soil. Is that wrong? I don’t know. I’m conflicted. I feel for those families in Paris who lost loved ones. But on the other hand part of me thinks “What did you expect?! You opened your borders and have super strict gun laws! This was bound to happen!… oh yeah, let’s create a silly little hashtag to make everyone feel better about what happened. That’ll fix the problem.” NO, IT WON’T! Common sense will fix the problem. Is this the right perspective? I don’t know. My heart is at war.

Cheers,

Nila