Unresonable

To clarify on yesterday's post, I should no way imply that those who are 9/11 conspiracists are the only ones who want to live in a comfortable, luxurious lifestyle. Most of us do. What I failed to clarify is that theirs is a viewpoint radically different from what the real world is presenting us. They believe that the terrorists are not an overt threat and can be dealt with. As I said, they do not want to believe otherwise, because that would interfere with their ideal life. I, too, want to continue living my ideal life, but my outlook on the world is far different from theirs. I look at the world and I see people who cannot be reasoned with. The thing that bothers me is that no one should be suprised by the existence of people that cannot be reasoned with!

I say this because just about any debate in which one or more parties feels strongly on opposing points of the issue should illustrate this. Consider the ID/evolution debate. ID purports to have evidence that debunks evolution, and no one who adheres to that ideology will be convinced otherwise. For those like me, anything ID supporters say is just misinterpretation or deliberate manhandling of facts to twist things around to a meaning the facts never pointed to. They are never going to convince me otherwise; I am never going to convince them otherwise. Granted, we can have a debate in sane, rational manner, but my point should be clear.

Now, when you have a party that is totally convinced you are an infidel and are causing no small amount of corruption in the world, and there is no way to convince them otherwise, what do we have? Most people don't view us in the United States that way, but the sect of Islam that is waging jihad against us does see us as a great evil in this world. That doesn't make us evil, but it boils down to the question:

Who do you fear most? The 250 lb weight-lifter who is trying to steal your loaf of bread, but knows he's doing wrong, or the 125 lb woman who believes, wrongly but with all her heart, that you have kidnapped her child?

Because the terrorists believe with strong conviction that the United States must be destroyed, there can be no compromises with them. Any compromise reached will either be one-sided submissal on our part, or reneged on their part. That is the reality of the situation.

Some will say that it is not the Christian thing to do to take the fight to the terrorists, hunt them down and kill them or imprison them. These people will say we should turn the other cheek, as Jesus taught us, and forgive our enemies. But that is not taking his lesson to heart. When Jesus said to turn the other cheek, he meant that we should not lash out in revenge. Forgiveness means we do not act punitively. We can still defend ourselves for just causes, as long as we are not seeking vengeance or acting with hatred in our hearts. We can still punish a crime, as long as we are seeking to dissuade and correct, not simply hurt and grind under our heels.