Tag: Islamic State

Pray for your enemies, advises Jesus in today’s Sermon on Mount selection . . .

Be ye perfect, he also advises. This bothers Fr. Adjuster, who prefers “compassionate,” being nervous about good-better-best thinking, likes to be mushy.

But we are advised to be big boys and girls who can have a goal and work for it, without going all to pieces, when (not if) we fail to achieve it.

Specifically we are to pray for our enemies and persecutors, like Jesus on the cross, “Forgive them, Father,” etc., which is asking a lot.

So pray for the beheaders and crucifiers, Islamic fanatics in Middle East and N. Africa. Pray for their conversion, why not? As we prayed for the conversion of Russia in the ’30s and ’40s. Impossible, you say. Do it anyway, I say.

This says nothing about protecting the innocent by militarily thwarting the fanatics with bullets and bombs, of course, in a just war.

Pretty basic stuff, all this, I agree.

A message in the labeling

Know what you are saying:

“…..These two individuals and many other voices out of the Obama administration refer to them as ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). The group has professed the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and refers to itself as IS (Islamic State). The manner in which we should all be referring to this savage and barbaric group is ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria).

Why should that matter? What are words for?

First, if you choose to refer to this group as ISIL, you have basically rewritten the map of the Middle East and fallen into the trap of not recognizing the existence of Israel and also Lebanon. If you use ISIL you are then validating the Islamic totalitarian and jihadist claim that the modern day Jewish State of Israel is an occupation state and does not exist in the eyes of Muslims.

HT: Reader D.