Yesterday, our Ambassador to Lybia was murdered along with three other members of the diplomatic mission to that country. They were murdered by a mob of angry Muslims. Why were they angry? Because there was a bad movie made by an independent film maker in the US that shows Mohammed in a poor light.
So, of course, these peace loving people who begged us for help when they were fighting to get rid of Momar Quaddafi, stormed the embassy walls and murdered our Ambassador.
Our embassy was also attacked in Egypt, one of the strong holds of The Arab Spring. The country where men attacked Lara Logan and later attacked their own women for daring to ask for voting rights, stormed our embassy compound and attacked our personnel. They destroyed our flag.
I am currently in an online discussion with a man who thinks I am a man as well. I went to the YouTube video to see what the fuss was about and posted that any culture that thinks it is ok to kill someone over a movie that disrespects that culture or that cultures religion is not one that deserves any respect. His argument?
Christians were horrible to Muslims in the middle ages.
Christians commit sin.
My response? When an argument has to rely upon actions taken 500 to 1000 years ago to make its point that what is being done TODAY is ok, it is a very weak argument. And two - anyone can look at the beliefs of Catholics and see we do not justify pedophilia, murder, rape, torture or violence. Any Catholic who engages in these actions is committing a sin. They are not being good Catholics.
This man declares that these murderers do not follow their holy book. Balderdash. The Koran does ok violence against infidels. But the broader argument is Islam has no central authority - so the Iman that tells a crowd to rape and murder women asking for voting rights does so under the cover of HIS authority and anyone who does NOT do this is a bad Muslim, and visa versa.
The best part of this discussion?
I have a feeling that if he found out I was a woman, he would stop talking to me.
Please keep the families of those murdered by these people in your prayers.
3 comments:
Leslie,
Thank you for saying his full name in the title of your entry, “Christopher Stevens,” a real person and not another disembodied statistic.
I have been around this culture that you mentioned for over 34 years. I had to learn their customs, rituals, and the way they do business. When I was 16 years old in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, I learned two very important lessons. One: I was an infidel. Two: They don't think they are going to a better place when they die, they KNOW. These two facts allowed me to scale my expectations suitably to interact with them more or less successfully. Had I not decided to accept these facts, things would have been different. Different wasn’t good, I saw the results of different; deportations, imprisonment, theft, whipping posts, and the like.
I have heard it said “blood is thicker than water.” Today’s intelligentsia would have me believe that this is an artifact of past centuries, that we are more intelligent, enlightened, egalitarian and sophisticated than those people of history. This assertion has not been proven, IMHO. My experience tells me that blood is indeed still thicker than water. I am a Catholic, Big C, little me. My God keeps me right sized, and mostly sane, striving for that goal of Christ. A never ending journey to the Morning Star, a class I will never graduate from. But I really think He also wants me to keep my eyes open too.
Thank you again for sharing your insights and life with us, Leslie.
Robert
the like. Its tough over there.
Praying for their families and friends, and for our country.
My heart is sorely troubled. I am afraid for our people overseas.
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