U.S. Lowers Alert Level



When I was in the military some twenty plus years ago for a year I was stationed in Turkey. It was a difficult time and terrorism was a real threat. Twice in the year terrorist his members stationed with me--killing five of the one hundred of us stationed there.



Every Friday our commander would give us a report, as I remember it from the CIA. What I also remember is that the threat was always perceived to be higher around Moslem Holy Days like Ramadan and the Hadj. What I also remember is that nothing ever happened around these holy days. But in the minds of the government spies, who I now perceive to think of religion in negative terms, holy days were prime time for the possibility of fanatical acts.



It is wrong I think to think of terrorists as devout Moslems or devout anything else. The hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Centers and Pentagon seem rather secular on the face of it--soldiers fighting for a cause not a religion. Yet we insist on labeling them by their religion.



Most of us cringe when the tables are turned. Some nut kills a doctor and then is identified as a conservative Christian. Suddenly the press paints innocent people praying the rosary or handing out prolife materials--genuine Christians who love life as terrorist. We know that is a lie!



Christian's don't kill--nuts do! Christians don't kill their unborn, their elderly, their undesirable nor their enemies. If they follow the teaching of Jesus they love their enemies, forgive their abusers, and worship God alone not their position in society.



Following Christ is difficult. It requires death but not of someone else but of our own ego. "We are fools for Christ's sake," St. Paul preached. Are we?