The ISIS.
To be honest, I am not completely sure how Christians should respond
to the group called ISIS, beyond that our efforts should be based in combating
hate with love. For I am very far removed from the suffering
Iraqi/Syrian Christians are facing and so I am not the one to offer a concrete
solution. I just pray that God will support and strengthen the Christians of
Iraq and Syria, that global Christian organizations may be able to find a way to
aid our brothers and sisters, and that the warring nations may learn war no
more!
Violence is a cycle. Hatred begets hatred, violence begets violence, terrorism begets terrorism. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Any response to ISIS (or any conflict), for the sake of practicality, must be based in nonviolence. As Martin Luther King said:
Violence is a cycle. Hatred begets hatred, violence begets violence, terrorism begets terrorism. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Any response to ISIS (or any conflict), for the sake of practicality, must be based in nonviolence. As Martin Luther King said:
“Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate and toughness
begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in
destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality
enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe and
you do that by Love.”
When trying to deal with ISIS, it should be remembered that violence is what probably created groups like ISIS in the first place. Violence comes in a never-ending cycle. One group commits violence against another because it feels it is justified, and the other returns that violence in self-defence. The cycle goes on and on forever in series of related conflicts.
The twentieth century was just one big example of the cycle of violence. The First World War caused the Second, which led to the Cold War, then proxy wars (Vietnam, Korea, etc.), the War on Terror, and so much more. It was Western occupation of the Middle East after WWI that started the ball rolling. The carving up of the Ottoman Empire created new nations not along their true religious, language or ethnic lines, overthrew others, and later the funding of violent fundamentalists and dictators to fight our enemies of the moment. All of that violence and exploitation has now come back with its latest incarnation; ISIS. For the same once happened in Latin America, there we were so scared about “Communists” that we aided dictatorships and they in turn their death squads.
As Christians, when it comes to dealing with ISIS, we have to ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” It’s a pretty corny statement to some but I like it and it is true. To be a Christian I believe it literally means to be a “Christ-follower”. Doing what Jesus would do is one of the most fundamental aspects of true Christianity.
Jesus’ knew very well what religious and ethnic persecution was like. Jesus’ was born into a community that had just experienced yet another failed attempt at independence and was again under the thumb of an empire. Jesus’ himself was executed as a part of that occupation, at the hands of the Roman military. It would have been very easy for Jesus to command his followers to violently revolt, but he didn’t. Instead, he left us a New Testament that continually mentions the values of peacemaking and loving your enemies, and those values continued on into much of the early church, though corrupted by some. As Christians, we have to remember Jesus’ and our Father GOD’s ethic of love.
One final thought though if I may; I find it strange how when they first came out as ISIS, that this abbreviation also stands for an ancient Egyptian god. Like their day dreams of a Caliphate of Islam, they did not seem to think their name through either, now they call themselves ISIL or the Islamic State. Again as I said before, I just pray that God will support and strengthen the Christians of Iraq and Syria, that global Christian organizations may be able to find a way to aid our brothers and sisters, and that the warring nations may learn war no more!
I pray in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that the families affected by ISIS be given strength during this difficult time. Also, I place the ISIS group into your hands my LORD GOD to deal with as only you know how too; in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit I pray – Amen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwzItqYmII
Richard…
I Pray that Jesus Christ show great mercy 2 all Ppl of the Mid East. Pray 4 ISIS 2 stop their psychotic blood spilling & follow Jesus Christ! Amen...
When trying to deal with ISIS, it should be remembered that violence is what probably created groups like ISIS in the first place. Violence comes in a never-ending cycle. One group commits violence against another because it feels it is justified, and the other returns that violence in self-defence. The cycle goes on and on forever in series of related conflicts.
The twentieth century was just one big example of the cycle of violence. The First World War caused the Second, which led to the Cold War, then proxy wars (Vietnam, Korea, etc.), the War on Terror, and so much more. It was Western occupation of the Middle East after WWI that started the ball rolling. The carving up of the Ottoman Empire created new nations not along their true religious, language or ethnic lines, overthrew others, and later the funding of violent fundamentalists and dictators to fight our enemies of the moment. All of that violence and exploitation has now come back with its latest incarnation; ISIS. For the same once happened in Latin America, there we were so scared about “Communists” that we aided dictatorships and they in turn their death squads.
As Christians, when it comes to dealing with ISIS, we have to ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” It’s a pretty corny statement to some but I like it and it is true. To be a Christian I believe it literally means to be a “Christ-follower”. Doing what Jesus would do is one of the most fundamental aspects of true Christianity.
Jesus’ knew very well what religious and ethnic persecution was like. Jesus’ was born into a community that had just experienced yet another failed attempt at independence and was again under the thumb of an empire. Jesus’ himself was executed as a part of that occupation, at the hands of the Roman military. It would have been very easy for Jesus to command his followers to violently revolt, but he didn’t. Instead, he left us a New Testament that continually mentions the values of peacemaking and loving your enemies, and those values continued on into much of the early church, though corrupted by some. As Christians, we have to remember Jesus’ and our Father GOD’s ethic of love.
One final thought though if I may; I find it strange how when they first came out as ISIS, that this abbreviation also stands for an ancient Egyptian god. Like their day dreams of a Caliphate of Islam, they did not seem to think their name through either, now they call themselves ISIL or the Islamic State. Again as I said before, I just pray that God will support and strengthen the Christians of Iraq and Syria, that global Christian organizations may be able to find a way to aid our brothers and sisters, and that the warring nations may learn war no more!
I pray in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that the families affected by ISIS be given strength during this difficult time. Also, I place the ISIS group into your hands my LORD GOD to deal with as only you know how too; in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit I pray – Amen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwzItqYmII
Richard…
I Pray that Jesus Christ show great mercy 2 all Ppl of the Mid East. Pray 4 ISIS 2 stop their psychotic blood spilling & follow Jesus Christ! Amen...
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