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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (94718)	4/18/2003 9:16:18 PM
From: JohnM	Respond to of 281500

Only certain convictions are courageous, I guess -g- Do you have a comparable story to this one. We can see.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (94718)	4/18/2003 9:59:29 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

> Why is it, I wonder, that we haven't heard anything about Franklin Graham's 'courage of his convictions'? Because he hasn't walked in front of Ali's mosque to preach. When he does, which I truly hope he will <vbg>, then I will praise him for his courage. ST

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (94718)	4/18/2003 11:36:29 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 281500

Nadine, now I see, a religious crank: washingtonpost.com <Several Muslims who work for the Department of Defense had urged the Pentagon chaplain's office to disinvite Graham because he has called Islam a "very evil and wicked religion" bent on "world domination." Graham made no mention of the controversy, and there were no protesters inside or outside the 270-seat auditorium during the Good Friday prayer service. Most of the attendees appeared to be mid-level civilian and uniformed personnel, with a sprinkling of senior officers but not the top brass. Army public affairs officers prevented reporters from interviewing Graham or members of the congregation. Graham began with a patriotic message. "We look back at the events of the last few weeks, and we come today to thank God for this nation, the freedom that He has given us and the principles on which this nation was built," he said. The rest of his 10-minute sermon was on Good Friday's standard theme, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. "He's alive. He's risen. And friends, one day He's coming back -- and I believe He's coming back soon," Graham concluded. contd...> What was his act of courage? Standing in front of some armed Moslems in Mecca, shouting at them that they are heathen barbarians or what? The Founding Fathers, many seem to have forgotten, were strong on separation of church and state. There was a good reason for that. The blokes who established the USA were, I suppose, as religious as the bulk of people of the time, so it wasn't that they were atheists, Moslems or Branch Davidians. They presumably recognized the hazards of bringing the supernatural and superstitious into the temporal realm. No wonder most people in the world are nervous about the American Religious Crusaders! They are maybe going to force the second coming on the rest of us whether we like it or not. It seems that being a Christian will be as much of a career-enhancing move as being a Baathist in Saddam's era or red book waver in Mao's. Clinton used to piously, but hypocritically, clutch his Bible while hoping for fellatio in the cloisters. Politicians doubtless wear their religion on their sleeve as an essential vote-catcher. Pass the Bible! Mqurice PS: I suppose what actually happened was that Christians could choose to attend and all that the military did was make facilities available to those who wanted to go. Fair enough. I hope US soldiers don't have to check their brain at the door and can follow their philosophical foundations provided they don't conflict with their job description. That's part of freedom.