9/11 Déjà vu

                                      9/11 Déjà vu

    With the recent explosion of terrorist activity in Iraq it is easy to get a déjà vu feeling.  It was only recently that I realized how dangerous fundamentalism is. Many people got a déjà vu feeling on 9/11 thinking back to the original attack on the World Trade Center in February 1993.  The truth is that 9/11/2001 was not the first time Americans had been attacked on 9/11 and massacred by religious fanatics.  On 9/11/1857 a wagon train passing through Utah was massacred at a place called Mountain Meadows, Utah and ended in the death of over 120 men, women and children.  Most of them were from Arkansas. A group Mormon militia tried to make the massacre look as if the Mountain Meadows Massacre was done by Native Americans. It took almost twenty years before anyone was punished for the crime.  In February 1877 one man was shot by a firing squad after being tried for the crime.

     Another act of religious extremism was the Oklahoma City Bombing in April 1995.  It occurred on the second anniversary of the Waco Massacre conducted by Federal Agents on 19 April 1993.  Again many innocent victims were killed.  While the bomber was later captured, tried and given the death penalty for his deeds.  The government tried to say it happened because of the acts of people who felt the Federal Government was or is out of control. The real question is was the government out of control.  Many people did not followup on those events.  When taken to court the Branch Davidians were acquitted of any crime.

    The point I am trying to make and not doing it very well, is that a small group of people with a twisted view of the fundamental values of a religion may perform acts that go against the views of the majority of people in that religion and society in general.  Fanatical Fundamentalist often hi-jack and pervert the religion they say they believe. They then twist those beliefs to justify any number of crimes.  Claiming they are performing all the acts in the name of religion.  In reality they are simply using their religion to try and put themselves above the law they claim to believe. 

     This has happened in any number of religions over the history of mankind.  At some point the true followers of the faith have to stand up and take their faith back and take on and punish those who are trying to commandeer their faith.  The question is when will those forces rise up in Islam and rein in the terrorist who say they are speaking for the majority.

      Our involvement in Iraq was initiated under what has proven to be faulty grounds.  In January 1961 shortly before leaving office President Eisenhower warned America about the rise of a potential military industrial complex that would endanger our government and our way of life.

       It certainly seems America has reached that point in time.  The reduction or shutting down of the military industrial complex would or will lead to widespread unemployment.  Providing supplies for the military creates jobs.  The question is have we reached a point where our Congress has been bought by the financial interests of those industries.

        Our interest in the Middle East is certainly nothing new.  Remember the verse from the Marine Corps Hymn, the line that goes “Shores of Tripoli.”  That goes clear back to the 1700’s and the fact that after we gained our independence from England they no longer protected American shipping in the Mediterranean Sea.  It was that very fact that led to the creation of our Constitution and our Navy, not the revolutionary war as many believe.  They both happened in response to actions in the Middle East. A very good book that makes that clear is Power, Faith and Fantasy by Michael B. Oren.  This book gives the history of the U.S. in the Middle East and it is not boring reading.  It is one of the best books on the subject I have read.

       My post of January 18, 2012 called, "Iran, The Whole Story" gives a summary, which is mostly based on the book. It attempts to explain why we find ourselves in the middle of the Middle East mess.  In my opinion we need to return to the Monroe Doctrine and exit the Middle East.  A policy that Nikita Kruschev used to his advantage in the confrontation with America during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Which was a classic chess type move that made the U.S. agree to remove its missile bases from Turkey. Is it any wonder Russia is upset we are trying to put the missiles back in Europe and on their doorstep.

     

       In an effort to get down off my soap box I would like to end the matter with this statement.  American Christians need to rise up and take our nation back from the forces that are slowly tearing it apart.  We also need to encourage those who follow the faith of Islam to stand up and take their faith back from those forces that have perverted and hijacked their faith.  If both groups fail to do so we are headed towards the end of the world as we know it.

      The Bible says the truth will set you free.  It is time for people to stand up see the truth of the situation in the world in which we live.  Then they need to demand the changes that will defuse the situation.  Without that happening we are doomed and we are living in the time that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16:4.  In simple laymen’s terminology, “It is almost time to go home.”

     In Hosea 4:6 it says,” My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge”

It also says people will turn their back on God’s Word and in turn he will come to a point where he will turn his back on mankind and let them have what they have earned.