Written October 10, 2004

  Yusef Islam, formally known as Cat Stevens, was denied entry to the U.S. recently. Homeland Security gives us only Orwellian answers as to the reasons for his being on the ever-expanding No-Fly List. Basically Homeland Security is saying, “We don't have to tell you anything, we're not going to tell you anything, and, if you don't like it, that's tough.” They say that the fact that Islam is a Muslim convert has nothing to do with their decision. From every perspective except Homeland Securities, it appears that a mistake has been made

  During the second Presidential Debate George Bush was asked, “What three mistakes have you made as President?” He admitted to none! Four years and no mistakes. It's incredible! He's obviously better than God. Of course that's the Christian God; the one and only one he claims to pray to every day. Christians, worshipers of Jesus Christ, claim that the only way to eternal salvation is through Christ. Anyone who fails to accept Christ as his savior is doomed to eternal damnation. Tell that to Mahatma Gandhi!

  In a recent Larry King Show on CNN, Larry asked, “ Why so much anger in the world today?”

  The Reverend. R. Albert Mohler Jr., President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, had this answer, “I think here you have a situation in which you can look back to the pages of the Bible and find in the book of Genesis where Cain killed Abel, the very beginnings of violence, one human against the other and I think it's reducible to the one very short explanation, which is sin. The moment we rebelled against our creator, enmity and hatred entered human existence and I believe it will continue unfortunately and regrettably until the Prince of Peace comes to settle peace and until then I think we have to expect there will be enmity, war, hatred, and we're going to have to do our best to tell the truth in the midst of this.”

  A little latter King asked, “Let's say you're a citizen of Iraq, nice guy, hard worker, you lived under Saddam Hussein, you had no choice. One day, a bomb comes from the United States, good people, nice people, wiped out your home and family. How are you supposed to feel?”

  Mohler answered, “I suppose you would feel very much under attack and threatened. It goes back to whether war is ever justified. In our very best, in other words, when we're trying to do our best to do what is right, we're going to mess up. That's why we need a very strong understanding of sin. That's why even in a war, fighting for a righteous cause, there are going to be horrible things that will take place. That's why we can't glory in war.”

  King later asked Deepak Chopra, the world-renowned spiritual adviser and best-selling author,  “What do you think?”

  Chopra replied, “What do I think? I think our ideas about God are based on primitive ideas. We haven't kept up with what evolution has to say, with what science has to say. Certainly there is evidence that there is an underlying creative intelligent principle at the heart of nature. But to say my God is ethnocentric, bigoted, racist and prejudiced against your God is not to really understand the true nature of reality. We're still very tribal in our understanding of God. As you said a little while ago, the history of war is also the history of religion. I think God gave humans the truth and then some diabolical force said, let's organize it and we'll call it religion.”

King asked Dr. Mohler, “The hijackers on 9/11 believed in their religion as strongly as you believe in yours. How do you respond to that? They gave their life for their beliefs.

Dr. Mohler: “I understand they were fervent believers. If the strength of belief is the test, then everyone from Kamikazes to the secular ideologues would be understood as people of faith.

King: “So what is the test?”

Mohler: “The question is whether we've got it right. On the basis of God's revelation and scripture, I have to take my stand as a Christian on the truth claim that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the light and no man comes to the Father but by Him and I have no right to negotiate.”

Now I'm not trying to single out Dr. Mohler, it's just that his opinion represents to a tee that of so many American Christians and particularly the cadre surrounding President Bush. They have no intention to negotiate with anyone. President Bush says he will not negotiate with terrorists and a terrorist is anyone he decides to call a terrorist. Bush and the Christians say, “Its our way or no way.” You can imagine how people of other faiths must feel.

The result of all of this is that a very large percentage of the World's population holds the United States in very low esteem, and for many, out and out hatred of anything American.

Bush tells us that the War on Terrorism could last a long, long time. With his attitude, it will last forever! The only way to win this war is to negotiate. The U.S. must have the courage to sit down, face-to-face, with its' self-described enemies and be willing to talk.  The U.S. has to ask why do so many people distrust them. The U.S. needs to make intelligent decisions based upon understanding cultural differences. To eliminate negotiation from the equation extends indefinitely the time of war. It plays perfectly into the hands of those who hate the U.S. the most.

While I'm on the subject of religion, I am compelled to remind everyone that, if there is a God, there can be only one God. The God of the Christians and the God of the Muslims is the exact same God. The only difference is in the way that God is worshipped.

When people go to war and say, “God is on our side,” the only losers can be the people. God does not choose sides.

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