A friend asked "Does Love allow a good fight?" I answered "...yes, Love DOES allow a good fight. (See Jesus. Temple. Moneychangers.) Although, I deeply believe that most of what most people call "righteous anger" is, underneath, just envy, judgmentalism, and arrogance. A masquerade.
But, back to the point: Eph 6 armor is for offensive operations, moving forward. Jesus said we would break the gates of hell. Etc etc. All this requires an offensive, an attack, against evil and its manifestations. It is The Good Fight.
Also, we have doctrine & philosophy of "just wars." I happen to believe those principles are valid, and ultimately rooted in Scriptural principles of the Good Fight.
So, a logical conclusion, that I just came to, is that, yes, a new round of Crusades would be justified and a good thing. We would be fighting the Good Fight against a particularly violent strain of Evil.
Q: "To what end? For what objective? Conversion? Forced conversions don't work. It removes free will. They have to own it and choose it. The only way to do that is to expose the bankrupcy of Islam. How?"
A: A "forced conversion" isn't really a conversion at all. It's behavior, & Scripture is pretty clear that behavior changes alone won't save you. I'm not sure you really can "expose" Islam as bankrupt. Robert Goddard, at One Cosmos ( http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/), has some recent posts about Liberalism-as-religious-belief, and he strikes a chord with me.
"To expose as bankrupt" means, I think, that we can logically discuss the merits and deficiencies of a particular belief. The problem is, the belief exists independently of any logical argument. Think of your own conversion: did the weight of logic come before or after you believed? Did you come to follow Christ because you saw the logic of Creationism and the vapidness of Evolutionary thought? I know I didn't. I BELIEVED, because my spirit was moved. All the education & logic stuff came later. Religious belief is partly mystical and you can't reason with that.
Creationists have for years been "exposing as bankrupt" hardcore evolutionary thought. Yet, those who believe in evolution still believe. Why? Because they want to. And, from the evo's POV, they believe my beliefs are bankrupt. But they still are unsuccessful in "converting" me. Why? Because my beliefs are rooted in my spirit, not my logic. (Just like theirs, although a decidedly different spirit.) [an aside: this is the biggest reason I think that the "debate" over Intelligent Design is a waste of time. One, logical, "scientific" arguments are, I believe impossible (you can't test either theory), and two, each camp's beliefs are rooted not in educated mindset, but in voluntary, spirit-borne belief. My belief in creation by a Creator is a spiritual decision, not a logical one.]
So, back to your question "How?" I have a double-minded answer: One, you can't. God has made some people for destruction, and some have voluntarily seared their consciences so that they are doomed. They are led by the Enemy, willingly follow, and are gone.
Second, and I think the better answer: Pray. Pray. and Pray some more. Only God can change their hearts (their heads will follow), but I believe that we who believe must "activate" God's power to reach these people.
I'm convinced that worldly, conventional solutions will simply never work.
Ok, now up for air........... |
May. 19, 2006 - Good to find you blog