Prayer Vigil for Refugees

[Sandy]

The orange haired buffoon's plan for eradicating ISIS calls for giving his Russian associates a free hand in Syria. Wonder how Netanyahu and the Israelis like the idea of bringing Russian military forces to their northern border?

[Haruo]

[Jim]

You can try but you can’t compare state-sponsored religiously-based atrocities with those of either individuals or non-governmental institutions, with the possible exception of the Roman Catholic Church and its Inquisitions or indulgences. A few centuries back, it was virtually state-sponsored in some countries, making it a movement rather than a religion. Burnings at the stake come to mind as well as Tyndall’s demise. Salem could hardly be called state-sponsored back in the day, though Christians could be deadly to each other at times. Depending on one’s take about the faith, the Mormons come to mind, as well. Jesus was adamant about having the disciples arm themselves so perhaps he had these things in mind, too. The caliphate is the state-sponsored “religion” of terror today, no matter which country is involved, including ISIS.

[Sandy]

Deutoronomy 21:18-21
Leviticus 24:17-20
Leviticus 21:16-24
Leviticus 26:29
Deutoronomy 28:53-57

The British, French, the US, and the Russians, among others, learned how to exploit the religious differences among Muslims for their own benefit and to maintain control over the region. If you want to get into a numbers game on the inhumanity and atrocities committed in the name of Christ vs. the name of Allah or Mohammed, and consider those things as a core expression of faith, it's basically a tie ball game. There's an old expression, "when the pot boils, the scum comes to the surface." Americans would never put up with the meddling, or the foreign interference and manipulation of Middle Eastern politics that goes on there, but we are perfectly fine with participating in it as long as the dollars flow back. The end result of that interference has been that the extremists come to the surface and become the face of both the state and the religion. There are plenty of Muslim-majority countries in the world that aren't in chaos, confusion or revolt, and which are advanced, economically sound and productive. Jews dwelled in peace and prosperity in Jerusalem through all the long reign of the Ottomans, under Islamic rule. The only time there's been chaos and turmoil is when there is political upheaval, and foreign occupation, so if the US, and its European allies, got out, my bet would be that the war would quiet down and we wouldn't hear about it again.

[Joseph Patrick]

[Haruo]