If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
Tomorrow marks the eleventh anniversary of the heinous attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the thwarted fourth attack that ended up in a field in Pennsylvania. Let’s all stop to remind ourselves how fleeting our freedom is and how easily it is attacked by the destructive forces of Satan’s armies of evil.
Let’s all honor the memories of those killed on that horrible day by lifting up their families in prayer. Let us also pray that nothing like this is allowed to happen again.
Sometimes I hear people say that as Christians we should forgive and forget. We should not condemn these terrible, cowardly acts but should put them in the past and move on.
We need to differentiate between our positions as Christians and as citizens. As Christians, we are called upon to forgive sinners. But as citizens, we are called upon to be diligent in pursuing the welfare of our nation.
Yes, we should forgive any sinner who confesses and repents of his sins. No matter what those sins might be. However, even God doesn’t promise to forgive those who neither confess nor repent of their sins. See my post on 1 John 1:8 & 9 for more on this subject.
Since none of the perpetrators behind this atrocity have been even the least bit repentant, I see nothing in God’s word that says we should forgive them. The same goes with this army major at Fort Hood who massacred all those people. These jihadists claim to be acting in behalf of the god Mohammed told them to worship, and they see no reason to repent. As long as that’s true, I see no reason to forgive.
Even if we do presume a Christian obligation to forgive, that obligation would be from individual Christians to individual sinners. As a nation—and as citizens thereof—we have no such obligation. In fact, we have an obligation to hold suicide bombers who survive their missions, saboteurs, mass murderers and other who commit atrocities against our nation accountable for their actions.
We also have an obligation to try to protect our nation and its citizens from future attacks by such people. If we have to use mild forms of torture such as waterboarding in order to gain the intelligence needed for that protection, I think we have both the right and the duty to do so.
What do you think about our rights and responsibilities with regard to defending our nation? Let us know.
Have a New Testament passage or concept you’d like to see discussed here? Maybe something you’ve never quite understood. I’d love to hear from you about that, too. I’ll try my best to explain it.
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David N Walker 
Thanks for this post David. Like millions before me and since, I took an oath to defend our freedom with my life. It has not fallen to me to pay that price but many have paid that price and continue to do so. Since I was a child I have understood that they have paid for our freedom. The only way I can repay my brothers and sisters that have gone before me is to seek a more just world and to oppose despotism in all it’s ugly forms regardless of how it may be disguised. To do less would leave me with something less than freedom.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, I too hold these truths to be self evident.
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Not to get involved in a political discussion. So much we don’t know. And we all have opinions. I’ve opted to focus on the power of compassion, and gratitude for today. In memory of: http://tinyurl.com/9unxsxv A story worth reading.
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I agree about refraining from political discussion, Karlene, but I don’t think an overt attack against our sovereignty is really a matter of politics.
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It’s time to pull the troops out of Afghanistan. Why are we staying if those we train only turn their guns (provided by the US taxpayer) on the very men (US soldiers) that train them. We also need to bring every piece of equipment (no matter how large or how small) home. We’ve left too much of our equipment behind in so many foreign places and it’s now being used to kill us and our military. We borrowed money to fight this war and continue to pay contractors that owe billions of dollars in US taxes. Why? These wars have been going on longer than any man has been on earth. We will never set anyone free and soon, we’ll be prisoners also. Sound harsh–I don’t think so. As our government continues to drawdown our military–we–the United States of America can expect to be attacked on its own soil. As for forgiveness – I agree with your assessment – No, I will not forgive.
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Thanks, Sheri. I think we’ve screwed up every war we’ve participated in since World War II, unless you want to call our invasion of Greneda a war. That one worked out pretty well. We got in, and we got back out.
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David, how about we stop our dependence on foreign oil? The people responsible for those heinous attacks don’t care give a hoot about the West or your Christian ideology. They don’t. They see us as their enemy much as you see them as ours. I’d like to stop giving billions of dollars to countries that hate us. What are you driving these days? Something to think about. 😉
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Thanks for your comment, Renee. If our government would quit putting impediments in the way of petroleum exploration, pipelines and refineries, eliminating our dependence on foreign oil would become a viable goal. Hopefully, that will become a reality one of these days. Meanwhile, I don’t think the answer is to keep raising fuel economy requirements to the point where cars have 10 horsepower engines that won’t even go up a hill.
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When it comes to war I agree with William Tecumseh Sherman. I would leave our oil for last. That does not mean that we should be as wasteful as we are with it. Of course reducing petroleum consumption means that in addition to reducing energy usage we must accept other sources of energy.
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I agree with you completely.
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Thanks, sweetheart.
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