Wednesday, November 7, 2001
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Wednesday, November 7, 2001 |
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Despite politically correct propaganda, we really are engaged in a religious war By DOUG PATTON "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32 (KJV) There are those who will accuse me of narrow-minded insensitivity for what I am about to write. They will call me a religious-right bigot. So be it. I've been called worse. It is time to proclaim a truth that has needed to be said for some time now, but never more desperately than since Sept. 11, 2001. Conservative writer and commentator Ann Coulter was dismissed recently from her position as a columnist for National Review for daring to write that we should conquer the Arab world and "convert them to Christianity." While I cannot share Ms. Coulter's enthusiasm for a 21st Century Crusade Christ never converted anyone at the point of a gun I understand her frustration. Like her, I have grown tired of hearing that Islam is a peaceful religion that has been perverted by those who have declared a "holy war" against us. In a commendable effort to prevent retaliation against Americans of Arab ancestry, the powers-that-be have bombarded us with the message that "terrorists practice a twisted version of Islam." Perhaps, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say, and precious few American Muslims have been publicly vocal in their condemnation of the attacks on their adopted homeland. Meanwhile, many in the Middle East embrace this violent interpretation of how their beliefs should be practiced. Islam has kept the Arab world in economic and cultural darkness for a thousand years. Conversely, the United States of America, the most prosperous and free nation the world has ever known, a nation into which most of the rest of the world is constantly trying to gain entry, was conceived out of Judeo-Christian principles and teachings. It was not created as a theocracy, but there is no denying that it sprang from Biblical roots. In fact, there are no other roots from which our system could have sprung. Despite the anti-Christian propaganda we have had to endure for a generation from feminists and the ACLU, no religious doctrine on earth is more freeing than that of true Christianity. It is Christ whose teachings have set captives free for 2,000 years. Americans have not always practiced His truth, but it was the great lessons of the Bible that served as the inspiration for our Founders to proclaim that "we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights." There are millions of Arabs in the United States. They are here for a variety of reasons. Some have converted to Christianity and for that reason alone fear for their lives in their native lands. There are others who have come here pursuing a far better economic life for themselves and their families. These people have enjoyed the fruits of our culture while clinging to a form of their own religious beliefs. Under our system, that is their right. Then, as we have learned with a jolt in recent weeks, there are those who are here on a mission. Their sole purpose is to use the freedoms guaranteed in our divinely inspired Constitution to destroy us. American Christians have watched as our beliefs have been mocked and ridiculed for decades. We have seen our right to practice our religion in the public square curtailed repeatedly by our own government. Yet, our leaders bend over backward to defend the religion of our sworn enemies while refusing to do everything in their power to identify those who would kill us, for fear of being accused of racial profiling. It is the first duty of our federal government to protect our borders, yet at this time of war, when our enemies continue to plot and execute their terror within our own borders, we wring our collective hands over whether or not to suspend retaliatory attacks during Ramadan in order to honor an entire month of Islamic religious observances. Furthermore, we deliver yet another slap in the face to our only true Middle East ally, Israel, by proclaiming to the world that we intend to reward our enemies by supporting one of their main goals, the establishment of a Palestinian state. There is indeed such a thing as holy war. Our enemies have sworn to destroy everything our Judeo-Christian culture represents. They hate us and they hate God, and if civilization as we know it is to be preserved, they must be destroyed by whatever means necessary. It is time once more to allow the truth to make us free. [Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a speechwriter and policy advisor for federal, state and local candidates and elected officials. His work appears in various newspapers and on numerous web sites, including GOPUSA.com, AmericasVoices.org, EnterStageRight.com, EtherZone.com, SIANEWS.com and ConservativeThought.com. © Copyright 2001 by Doug Patton.]
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