Nine/Eleven

9/11, it doesn't matter how you write it down, it sounds the same.  You will almost certainly remember where you were when the news of the World Trade Centre, Twin Tower attacks broke across our TV screens. I remember clearly where I was, and the questions which rushed through my mind as I watched rerun after rerun of the fall of the mighty twin towers. I thought another type of World War, I thought Islamist extremism. I also thought America would respond immediately in retaliation.

I was right in 2 out of 3. The USA did not take an immediate knee jerk reaction, but weighed up the evidence, and then acted. We all expected they would, after all they had every right to take revenge on those who brought this evil to their sovereign soil. Eleven years on, and the feelings of the survivors, and their families stay raw. How can you move on from such an evil act, brought on 3,000 innocents, by equally evil men? God must have known the heartache man would bring on man when He granted us free choice. We cannot and must not blame our God for the evil done in another name. We are given the ability to choose to accept good, or reject it.

If you want to get all theological about it, both the Christians and the Muslims claim to worship one true God, but it cannot be the same God, can it? In all walks of life there are extremes, and that goes for all religions, however, we must not lose sight of some obvious characteristics as we watch the 9/11 memorial services and cast our minds back to that time. Things like, ordinary Muslims dancing in the streets of their Islamic cities when they heard the news. Have you wondered why? Things like the long delay before any reluctant regret was spoken by the Arab nations. Have you wondered why? From that day to this, when there is a terrorist outrage somewhere in the world, who is usually (not always, but mostly) responsible? Have you wondered why? Have you wondered why the photos of the Islamist zealots show men with beards 'which you can grip with the fist'? The proportion of Islamist terrorism in the world far outweighs that of any other world group or religion, by far. Have you wondered why?

The old saying goes, “Don't ignore the obvious”, so let's not bury our heads in the sand as we try to understand. We have a problem. That's you and me. That's Christians, Jews, and even other Muslims who don't live up to the ideals of a 'more correct' or radical Islamist Muslim group. Remember, Al Queda also killed many Muslims in the Twin Towers, while they were making an attack on 'the West'. Have you wondered why? There is more than one definition of Jihad, and it covers communities as well as nations. There is such a thing as 'social Jihad' where Islamic teachings are being used alongside our own laws. That's Sharia Law, and is already happening in some vulnerable towns and cities in England. There is always the nice face of the Imam as he explains the benefits of Sharia, but a nice face does not always speak the truth. That is also true for Christianity. However, we must go back to the basic teachings of each holy book. The Koran is a very different book from the Bible, written some 500 years after Christ, where Jesus is reduced to a good teacher, and another prophet takes His place. The Koran affords the suicide bomber a guaranteed place in Heaven, and security for his family, the Bible does not. The Koran teaches that war and violence is acceptable and necessary to promote Islam, but the Bible's overriding theme is Love.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph 6:12.  

When you see those still grieving as they remember the victims of Islamic Extremist Terrorism, think on the very different worldviews of these very influential Faiths, and ask yourself why?