A Paper Tiger

kind of appalled at the number of people (especially “Christians”) celebrating, specifically, the killing and death of a man. i’m glad that a leader of a group of killers is no longer leading, but i’m not celebrating that we sent a group of our killers to kill.

last night i read a sort of life story of Osama, and Sarah and I watched a Tedx talk on (basically) the sociology of Christian america vs Muslim middle east. I gained a bit of perspective and here’s what I’ve concluded:

Osama was a kid once. He grew up and saw america putting a heavy (military) hand into his home country and other largely Muslim countries because that’s where the oil was. he saw Christian’s denouncing his god, calling it false, while they sent their Bible toting soldiers, who prayed to their own God for protection and success, in to kill his countrymen that wanted to fight to get americans out.

We see the fanatical nutjob Muslim’s on tv and the internet, the ones that claim all americans anywhere should die because they are infidels. They see the fanatical nutjob Christians who say they must reject their faith and that we need to fight all Muslims and we are justified in doing so.

We know that most of us don’t really mind if the muslims kinda just do their thing with allah, but that “most of us” doesn’t have a media presence. I’m betting that most of the muslim population out there doesn’t really mind if we just kinda do our thing with God, but that “most” doesn’t get media coverage either. or build websites promoting a big “chill out and get along” message. we find the al qaeda recruitment sites and see the beheadings and just get so mad. they see us training kids to be Christians and soldiers (endorsed by the army, so it seems) and they find so much hate for mulims in this country. and they still see our tanks sitting outside their homes. and they just get so mad about it.

(boy i really only intended to write that first paragraph, this has snowballed)

here’s the wrap up. if tomorrow an al qaeda operation were to somehow take down a top u.s. military leader, a bunch of muslim’s would celebrate, and we would see that and be so angry and feel so justified at launching a counterattack right away. but we wouldn’t see the bunch of muslims shaking their heads at this violence and killing that’s probably costing them more strife than it’s gaining them.

today a lot of muslims are seeing americans (we’re probably all lumped together as Christians) cheering and praising the death of a muslim man, but they probably aren’t going to see the ones shaking their heads at this violence. and they’re going to feel so mad and so justified in fighting back.

it’s a funny thing how you get a little afraid for your own safety and that fear quickly becomes anger at that threat and then suddenly it just feels “right” to take steps to eliminate what you’re afraid of instead of doing anything else.

and for the Christian that asks “what else could we have done?”… well i think you’re small minded and only depend on what you can come up with and accomplish on your own strength. sorry folks. Osama could have been saved too, not by a plan of man but by a plan of God, and that would have done the world a whole lot more good than killing him did. too bad we barely know how to listen to Him and His plans.

and end rant.