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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Suma who wrote (51382)	7/20/2004 10:29:32 AM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

When I read Jim's post, I thought much the same. One sentence that I found of particular interest was this: what they overlook is that the challenge of evangelizing and conversion is made horribly difficult when we are killing so many of their young men, women, and children without remorse Yesterday, I scanned a few threads on S.I. when I had a little time in the evening, and happened to come across this post on the Moderate Thread. Message 20322108 The article was probably posted to show how good it was that this boy was saved (the young Palestinian boy who was stopped at a checkpoint and found to be wearing explosives). However, one thing that struck me was that, in the interview, the young man stated more than once that the reason he decided to volunteer as a martyr was because of killing of friends or family members: JR: When you put on that belt did you really know - as a 15-year-old - that you were going to go and murder people, that you were going to go and cause great suffering to mothers and fathers, that you were going to be a mass murderer? Did you really know that? Hussam: Yes. Just like they came and caused our parents sadness and suffering they too should feel this. Just like we feel this - they should also feel it. and Then he took me to another guy who put the bomb belt on me and they took pictures of me. The pictures were on the day before. Of course he asked me a lot of questions. He asked me who I was and why I wanted to do this. I answered all of his questions. I told him I wanted to do it because of my friend who was killed and he agreed to let me do it. and JR: What was the main reason for you deciding to become a suicide bomber? The one reason in particular. Hussam: The reason was because my friend was killed. The second reason I did it is because I didn't want to go to school. My parents forced me to go to school and I didn't feel like going. JR: Are you saying that one of the reasons you wanted to become a suicide bomber was because you didn't like your teacher? Hussam: That and because of my friend Sabih, who was killed. Now, it's very obvious that the boy was young and impressionable, and the part about hating school sounds extremely juvenile, but all the same, the level of conviction about wanting to go through with the attack because a friend was killed was obviously a powerful motivation for his actions. That said, I find it very puzzling that, in the case of Iraq, some people in the U.S. just don't seem to "get it" that killing thousands of Iraqis has not exactly endeared America to the general population. The long term consequences of quite randomly wiping out a few thousand people as collateral damage in the War on Terror doesn't seem to have "clicked" in the minds of many Americans. I have no idea why that should be. Is it because some Americans consider themselves to be "intrinsically good folk" who feel that because all of the killing has been justified in the attempt to "do good " that it's okay? Do they somehow feel that the Iraqis will (rather mysteriously) intuit that all of the superfluous killings were actually for a "good cause" so there's no reason for these people to feel angry and that everyone in Iraq should just "hurry up and get over it". Weirdly enough, this does seem to be the prevailing belief of a certain portion of the American population. Very odd indeed... especially considering how America continues to rage on about 9-11 and getting its pound of flesh in revenge for the deaths of 3,000 citizens. Very interesting state of affairs indeed.

To: Suma who wrote (51382)	7/20/2004 10:31:52 AM
From: Jim Willie CB	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

DO NOT regard that post as a slam or denial of Christianity I just believe many of them are employing severe black & white thinking, refusal to investigate, and few evangelical opportunities as more important than killing innocent people Christians will earn much ire and hurt their cause by their support of this president he has duped them I am a Christian, but I do not employ their type of thought process this is far more than good vs evil the Bible teaches that all humans possess good and evil that means we Christians, we US leaders, we Army rifle carrying soldiers, we all must subdue our evil tendencies I have a basic question for my Christian friends IF A SAFE HOUSE IS DESTROYED, WHERE 2 KILLERS ARE KILLED, 2 OF HIS ADULT FRIENDS WHO AIDED HIM ARE KILLED, AND 4 OF THEIR CHILDREN ARE KILLED, IS THAT A SUCCESSFUL MISSION ??? and then... IF THE CNN, FOX, NYTIMES REPORT IT WITHOUT MENTIONING THE 4 CHILDREN, IS THAT PROPER REPORTING ??? he has attended church far more often AFTER occupying the White House than before his constituent groups are fewer than in 2000 only the extremists support him, mainly because they dont have much depth it has become loyalty prevailing over principles party over truth all we need now is for Bushy to ..... - claim rising Iraqi insurgency is a sign we are winning - urge us to commit more troops so the dead did not die in vain - deny that we have too few troops to secure anything, even while employing tens of 1000's of mercenaries - boast that oil production is brisk, when it is below pre-war levels - and to state that no funds devoted to Iraq have been stolen Bushy supporters have trampled on the truth they take a page out of Orwell's "1984" ... which his supporters never read / jim