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Anonymous

I put this together after hearing and reading some of the stuff going around that worries me....

Recent terrorist events have prompted a rash of anti-Moslem sentiment. I would urge everyone to stop and think before letting unfocused emotions rule our actions. Such sentiment resulted in the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans during WWII following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Our national conscience is still suffering from that episode.

There are almost a billion Moslems in the world. Does anyone really believe that ALL of them are terrorists? If so, we're in grave danger! Timothy McVeigh was an American. Does that make ALL Americans terrorists capable of blowing up buildings?! Shall we kill all the people whose last name is "mc"something? All of us want to see justice brought to those responsible for the attacks in New York and Washington, but venting anger on an entire religion is not the answer.

The Moslem "Bible", the Koran, does NOT condone suicide. There are extremists that DO advocate suicide (and not just in the Moslem culture), but the vast majority of Moslem religious leaders and ordinary Moslems do not accept this as a way of life.

I'm an ordinary American, one of European descent. When I see our country threatened, I react. When I suspect that Moslem extremists are responsible, I feel an urge to bomb something or someone. When I see anyone with a dark complexion I pause and wonder if maybe...? I have to force myself to think in a logical fashion.

In addition to being an American, I also happen to be a Christian. I am of the firm belief that being a Christian is NOT a noun or a label. Otherwise, I am a Protestant Christian just like those in Northern Ireland, because that's what a label is. I don't condone terrorizing Irish Catholics or anyone else.

To me, Christianity is a verb. If I label myself a Runner, does that make me capable of running a marathon a day? Hardly. Being a runner is also a verb. Some days, running is easy. Some days, running is harder to do. Some days you can run a lot. Some days you don't run at all.

As a Christian, I have good days and bad days. Some days it's easy to be a Christian because life is good: it's a beautiful day, everyone you know is healthy, no one crosses you. Other days, you forget who Christ is and take his name in vain. That's because we're human. Thank God for forgiveness.

Being a Christian means being conscious of our human nature and trying to overcome it with God's help. This week it's hard to be a Christian. We need to remember that it's OK to feel anger, suspicion, and confusion but we also need to "exercise" our Christianity. We need to ask for forgiveness and give forgiveness. We need to be living examples for Christ.