Tolerance Unto Death

When I heard the news about the attacks in Paris yesterday I was intially shocked, saddened and then not long after filled with cold anger. It reminds me of the same feelings I had after 9/11.

We've know about these fanatics for years, but have drug out this conflict for far too long. I'm tired of seeing the world's best trained and equipped soldiers reduced to beat cops serving as targets for terrorists. The horror of Paris yesterday proves terror is a moment away for anyone in the US or Euorpe. Enough is enough. I want unilateral action from NATO; go into these countries, not to occupy but perform a much needed surgery.

"And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." - Matt 5:30

This isn't just about Paris either. While the number of deaths in the coordinated Paris attacks is very high (averages between 3-8 deaths per attack) Unfortunatly, its a relatively small incident statistically. No Joke, I went and compiled this data from the US Department of State.

  http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/index.htm

Bear in mind, this data only goes back 7 years, does not include 2015 (not yet available) and much of the Iraq War. Nearly 150,000 deaths. A quarter of a million people wounded... better put maimed, disfugured, tortured. But numbers don't give the full picture. Check out this website to see a list of every attack and a brief summary of the suffering of God's childern, (our brothers and sisters) so far in 2015.

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/attacks-2015.htm

I know this site looks like some crazy right wing propaganda, but I checked the numbers and their data checks out. They report 32,007 deaths in 2014, the US Department of State shows 32,727. Both the site above and the USDS make the disclaimer that their numbers are conservative as reporting on incidents in many of these regions is not always complete.

For some perspective, the US lost 116,516 in WWI and 58,209 in Vietnam. While the comparison is between American Military deaths and world-wide numbers; should it matter? The world is shrinking. Travel, immigration and technology make all of us more connected than ever before and the terrorists know no borders.

Ever since 9/11 I've wondered when we might see an attack like what happened in Paris here in the States. When will I worry about going to the mall or an NFL game? The day seems to have come. As I said before, we need to unilatterally go into these countries with all nations willing to fight and show these punks their hypocritical and sadistic ideals will not be tolerated. Time to let the sheepdogs do their job, without the shackles.

If you've seen this film, you'll understand the bumpersticker: God bless our troops...especially our snipers. I grateful for men like Chris Kyle that sacrified not only for the safety of my family; but for the hope of a better life for those in the Middle East... espeically women and childern. In laying down their lives willingly they emulate the Jesus Christ. But what about turning the other cheek?  A post on the Cripplegate gives five resons why Christians are not pacifists. I found the following quote spot on:

"Christians are to bear the sword because we love our neighbors. There is a hierarchy of love. We love God. We love our wives, followed by our families. We love our church. We love our neighbors. We love our enemies. But if our enemy attacks our neighbor, it is our duty (out of love for our neighbor) to intervene and protect innocent life."  Are Christians called to pacifism? 

From an LDS perspective the War Chapeters in the Book of Mormon also support and show men of God taking up arms in the defence of their families and those who cannot defend themselves.

Alma 43:47

Alma 48:23-25

Alma 60:28

In his excellent book Wild at Heart, John Eldredge says the following about why God made men the way they are.

"Capes and swords, camouflage, bandannas and six-shooters—these are the uniforms of boyhood. Little boys yearn to know they are powerful, they are dangerous, they are someone to be reckoned w ith. How many parents have tried in vain to prevent little Timmy from playing w ith guns? Give it up. If

Onward Christian Soldiers

you do not supply a boy w ith weapons, he will make them from w hatever materials are at hand. My boys chew their graham crackers into the shape of hand guns at the breakfast table. Every stick or fallen branch is a spear, or better, a bazooka. Despite what many modern educators would say, this is not a psychological disturbance brought on by violent television or chemical imbalance. Aggression is part of the masculine design; we are hard wired for it. If we believe that man is made in the image of God, then we would do well to remember that “the LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name” (Ex. 15:3) ... The universal nature of this ought to have convinced us by now: The boy is a warrior; the boy is his name. And those are not boyish antics he is doing. When boys play at war they are rehearsing their part in a much bigger drama. One day, you just might need that boy to defend you. Those Union soldiers who charged the stone walls at Bloody Angle; the Allied troops that hit the beaches at Normandy or the sands of Iwo Jima— what would they have done without this deep part of their heart? Life needs a man to be fierce—and fiercely devoted. The wounds he will take throughout his life will cause him to lose heart if all he has been trained to be is soft."

I get it that truly going after these scum-bags would be costly in terms of the economy and lives. But if we are going to keep up the world's best military; and make it a signifcant part of our economy, we may as well use it to defeat a blantantly evil enemy. Perhaps I'm just fired up today, but I will be paying attention in the elections to come for those who support the defeat of these murderers.