It could happen to any of us, anytime, in any public place. Terrorism does not discriminate. It's victims are Christians, Jews, persons who identify as LGBT, and anyone else the Muslim faith/the Koran itself or individual radicalized Muslims deem for their purposes to be an "infidel." Yes, Islam targets LGBT people and believes the homosexual person is beneath them. Still, any non-Muslim who is an affront to their beliefs and who does not accept Sharia Law is a potential victim. No act of terrorism or new victim should come as a surprise to us anymore. Men of the ilk of those who have been worked up into a frenzy sufficient to make them fly airplanes into buildings in the name of an alleged "god" will do anything to anyone.
Quran (9:14) - "Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people." Humiliating and hurting non-believers not only has the blessing of Allah, but it is ordered as a means of carrying out his punishment and even "healing" the hearts of Muslims.
Quran (9:20) - "Those who believe, and have left their homes and striven with their wealth and their lives in Allah's way are of much greater worth in Allah's sight. These are they who are triumphant." The Arabic word interpreted as "striving" in this verse is the same root as "Jihad". The context is obviously holy war.
Quran (9:30) - "And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!"
Courtesy of: http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/violence.aspx
A religious understanding which presents "Allah" or "God" as one calling for the murder of the innocent simply because they believe differently is both irrational and incompatible with the Judeo-Christian tradition. Christians do not, and have never, believed in this. Even in the time of the crusades and the inquisition, Christians have not attributed the thirst for the blood of the unbeliever to God. Remember Regensburg? They proved the Pope Emeritus' point for him by rioting the next day. Seeking blood in the name of God is irrational. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the soul.
http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg.html
If this is Allah, he is not he God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, nor the God of the New Testament.
Our politicians (we no longer have statesmen), including the presumptive Democratic nominee, keep telling us that these violent individuals, who carry out acts of terror in American soil, are "lone wolves" and "self-radicalized," as if they reach the conclusion to kill all on their own. How, then, do we explain the coincidences - same faith, same demographics, same overseas connections, same "Allahu Akbar" cries, same insanity - between different terrorists.
"By definition, "lone wolves" are not part of some global network you can detect and disrupt." - Matt Yglesias
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/06/problem-with-clintons-intelligence-surge.html
This is the focus of the Left in American politics today: downplay the influence of radical Islam on terrorists and re-direct our attention on gun control. However, the connection of so many terrorists to the Muslim faith through attendance at Mosque services as well as their ties to their ancestral homeland by definition makes them part of a "global network." They frequent the same places and get their ideas form the same sources. They are not lone wolves. They have been radicalized by the version of Islam that they have encountered, which has formed them into jihadists. The Orlando shooter is reported to have gone to Mosque services three times a week - frequent for any religion. His parents immigrated from Afghanistan, where 95% of the people support Sharia Law. There was a formation in certain ideas happening from an early age.
Ms. Clinton said: “The Orlando terrorist may be dead, but the virus that poisoned his mind remains very much alive." http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/hillary-clinton-orlando-mass-shooting/486860/ Absolutely. What is that virus? It's not Christianity, nor the defense of God's definition of marriage, nor Catholicism, nor Republicans or Democrats, nor mere homophobia, nor the second amendment, nor reasonable and legal immigration. The virus is a faith and philosophy that instructs its followers to kill the unbeliever. If this is not "true Islam," let "true" Muslims" prove it and fight against the radicalized version. Until then, we are left to wonder.
Christians did not do this by being faithful to God. While we assert that homosexual activity is a sin, so is murder. Every human life is sacred and each person is to be respected. One's orientation is not sinful, since morality deals with actions and not feelings or capacities. The ACLU is a scourge on our nation. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/the-aclu-says-christians-caused-the-orlando-shooting-57439/ They even use the opportunity to pretend they were right and have all the answers. Such arrogance.
The solution is not gun control because terrorists do not need to buy guns legally; guns, knives and explosives can be supplied to them through sources other than gun stores. The solution is careful monitoring of immigration and allowing law enforcement to be more specific in their investigations. Maybe it's time to profile a bit: middle-aged, middle-eastern men who have ties to countries which harbor terrorists and who seem unusually interested in weapons and flight schools, for example. So often, the clues come out after the killings.
The first step is to have a leader who is neither intimidated by nor complicit with radical Islam. President Obama's lack of action on terrorism leads to one of those two possibilities. I'm not sure which is worse.
We all need to abandon the false world-view in which all religions are the same and face the facts about those who see Christianity as their enemy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/06/13/florida-catholic-bishop-it-is-religion-including-our-own-that-targets-lgbt-people/ Christianity, by remaining true to the Bible, does not target the LGBT community. No where in Scripture or Tradition is there a condemnation of the human person for being who they are. It's our actions that have consequences.
We need to escape the fantasy world of welcoming every immigrant without due process of law and concern for national security, pretending all religions are the same, and blaming American values for the terrorist threat. Instead, we need to focus on understanding the threat, identifying the threat and neutralizing the threat.
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