Posted on 03/11/2006 8:19:32 AM PST by 68skylark
The body of Christian Peacemaker Teams activist Tom Fox has been found in Iraq, according to the BBC.
The US State Department says an American who was among four peace activists kidnapped in Iraq last year has been killed. ... Fox, 54, had been working with Iraqi human rights organisations for the past two years. The four men were travelling with Canadian-based international peace group Christian Peacemaker Teams when they were seized by a group calling itself the Swords of Truth.
It is abundantly clear from the Christian Peacemaker Team website that they could hardly have done more to declare their sympathy for the Muslim world, the Palestinian cause or their distaste for America. A less haggard Tom Fox is shown holding up a sign protesting the construction of an Israeli barrier in "Palestine". There's a statement abhorring the publication of the Jyllands-Posten cartoons, which says:
We, the members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq, are disturbed by anti-Muslim cartoons from twelve different artists published in September by Denmark's daily paper the Jyllands-Posten. The publisher claims the freedom of speech to publish the cartoons, but we believe they are only spreading hate and bigotry. To those who believe and act as if terrorism is an essential part of the Islamic faith, we say No! Stop! We cannot stand by and remain silent when our gracious Muslim brothers and sisters are being defamed.
Tom Fox wrote a couple of articles setting out his goals. In Why we are here?, Fox said:
As I survey the landscape here in Iraq, dehumanization seems to be the operative means of relating to each other. U.S. forces in their quest to hunt down and kill "terrorists" are as a result of this dehumanizing word, not only killing "terrorist", but also killing innocent Iraqis: men, women and children in the various towns and villages.
It seems as if the first step down the road to violence is taken when I dehumanize a person. That violence might stay within my thoughts or find its way into the outer world and become expressed verbally, psychologically, structurally or physically. As soon as I rob a fellow human being of his or her humanity by sticking a dehumanizing label on them, I begin the process that can have, as an end result, torture, injury and death.
"Why are we here?" We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exists within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls.
Fox was not oblivious to the fact that terrorists in Iraq killed innocent people too. Or that his life was in danger at terrorist hands. He could offer no definite answer to the question he himself posed: "How do you stand firm against a car-bomber or a kidnapper?" But he was sure of one thing: fighting was always the wrong answer.
Clearly the soldier disconnected from God needs to have me fight. Just as clearly the terrorist disconnected from God needs to have me flee. Both are willing to kill me using different means to achieve he same end--that end being to increase the parasitic power of Satan within God's good creation. It seems easier somehow to confront anger within my heart than it is to confront fear. But if Jesus and Gandhi are right then I am not to give in to either. I am to stand firm against the kidnapper as I am to stand firm against the soldier. Does that mean I walk into a raging battle to confront the soldiers? Does that mean I walk the streets of Baghdad with a sign saying "American for the Taking?" No to both counts. But if Jesus and Gandhi are right, then I am asked to risk my life, and if I lose it to be as forgiving as they were when murdered by the forces of Satan.
I knew a man once who rushed to church in tears of gratitude over the fact that he didn't have to kill someone. It was at the height of Ferdinand Marcos' power and his secret agents were taking a tremendous toll of the underground. Two men in this mans' cell had disappeared. The first had taken a Greyhound-type bus to the Cagayan Valley and had never gotten off. Another had gone by outrigger from Luzon to the island of Mindoro, where it was said, he had been killed on a beach upon landing by a .45 pressed to his nape as he walked unsuspectingly on the sand. The suspected betrayer was a small, bucktoothed man with almost childish enthusiasm for basketball, given to hysterical fits of laughter. But he was certainly the informer and had to die before he betrayed a third. As it happened, someone else killed the informer and man whose job it was to shoot him was everlastingly grateful that God had arranged for the cup to pass away. Someone else had done the deed and he could go from out the darkness of the Marcos dictatorship with only sweet memories upon his soul.
The question that always bothered me was whether that person -- or any man -- had any right to expect someone else to do the dirty job for him. Can we ever simultaneously acknowledge the necessity of a deed and the absolute immorality of doing it? That in a nutshell is the Problem of Evil: that evil exists and that by and by we will have to face it. The question Tom Fox should have posed is "how do you stand firm against a car-bomber headed straight for a schoolbus?" And if you say, "shoot to save the children" ask yourself if it ever justified to be glad that God had sent someone else to shoot the bomber and go hell in your stead. Tom Fox stood for his beliefs to the bitter end. And now the men who killed him are out there, waiting to kill again.
Logical results of a lifetime of Starbuck's liberalism and self delusion. Conservatives say "Don't put your hand in the meatgrinder, Don't put your hand in the meatgrinder", etc. ad nauseaum, but nooooo.
There is no other way to put it, this approach to islamic culture as if it were not, well, what it clearly demonstrates it is, daily, in blood and misery...
Come off of it, these guys went to Iraq and dies for their beliefs, I am not a pacifist but to say they were taking the 'easy route' while they are in Iraq and you're over here opining on a website about how lazy they are is really sad..
God rest his soul. He tried to make sense of something beyond his beliefs, and died trying to bring peace to those folks who do not understand what peace really is. Another victim of radical Islamic fanaticism.
Pacifists are morally blind, they see all war as bad and nothing is worth fighting for- even freedom.
These guys never thought they'd be killed. They acknowledged the possibility, but never thought it would happen. After all, they were "peaceable," and surely everyone would respect that.
So totally, totally wrong.
or...............
"Those who know not, and know not that they know not = shun them."
No, we have to put the responsibility on him, too--ultimately, he was the victim of his own naive worldview.
This is not living and/or dying for a truth, strongly believed.
This is a carrying out of an expression of hatred.
No need to read past post #2.
Myself, I have zero empathy for Fox himself, but a little sympathy for his family. For his compadres, let the course of events repeated again and again be their warning.
Darwin Award nominee.
I can look at the Mennonite community I grew up in and see its many Christian features, things like self-control, kindness (especially if someone was sick), being at peace with one another... all good things. And you know, it really was very rare that there were violent crimes committed, or cases where the police had to be involved.
However, applied on a national scale, it begins to break down because someone does after all, need to be a policeman in order to defend the community. And to rely on non-Mennonite cops (though of course the taxes paid entitle them to just as much protection) to defend your Mennonite community seems to be passing the buck a little bit.
Well if you're calling me a chickenhawk, I'll have to gently disagree with you. On the other hand, you make a great point about how these "peace activists" were willing to put their lives on the line in a way that few people -- on either side of the issue -- are willing to. Whatever else we can say about Mr. Fox, he was one hell of a brave guy.
Good comments -- thanks.
As a Christian I do not understand pacifism either. I suspect that many times it is rooted in bad (liberal) theology that ignores the moral civil government's imperative to protect the weak with force. War is not always immoral or un-Godly.
As skylark said, I believe pacifists can exist only because once upon a time brave men fought and died. Their own existence is, therefore, illogical.
The mistake he may have made in honoring his faith was whether or not he stood by Christ and professed His deeds.
If he denounced violence but bowed to his Islamic oppressors then he abandoned his faith.
Christians are called into service. They may even become martyrs (not suicide attackers, but missionaries who may be persecuted) for their faith.
I cast no judgement, I was not there, but if he thought he could serve as a "mediator" with a decidedly AntiChristian faith (the only religion that acknowledges Jesus and denies Him at the same time), he was misguided.
I think you're right. On the other hand, I hope I don't seem to be saying that pacifists aren't entitled to their beliefs. Any religious belief, other than my own, seems a little illogical to me. And just as I like it when people to have a certain amount of respect or tolerance for my beliefs, I'm willing to give respect and tolerance to others for their beliefs.
Definitely a leftie idiot.
Gracious mudslimes delivered a gracious murder.
This is the issue Just War Doctrine was developed to answer. Under that Doctrine, killing someone to prevent him from doing evil is not in itself evil. As St. Agustine put it, "Let necessity, not thy will, slay the enemy." That is, don't kill the enemy out of rage or hatred or vengeance, but out of necessity only. Granted, the enemy is just as dead, but the soldier/policeman/defender doing what is necessary is not guilty of any evil.
Now if we could only get a few million more like-minded leftists to follow suit.
Must have the same disorder as that enviro-weenie who got himself eaten by bears.
"From useful idiot...trip," what a great line! The only way I could attempt to improve it is to to say, "dead no longer useful to anyone idiot...trip". I shall remember your line and bring a smile to those around me.
From his post it seems he's saying "I always thought pacifists were lazy, but this guy obviously wasn't so maybe he was just anti American to his death.
By the way,what were this guys beliefs? Pacifism? I hardly think so as Muslims are killing innocents for the sake of killing innocents, (like the act of killing this guy). Americans didn't kill him but he seems to think we're bad and the one's who killed him are good. These people he wanted to protect are killing fellow Muslims to cause a war amongst Muslims. The guy was either deceived or just stupid.
Its like PETA member who gets gored and trampled by the bull for sitting inside the arena at the rodeo. Hard to feel sorry for the guy.
The model set by Jesus is hard to live up to.
Biblically generations lived under slavery and we are called upon to turn the other cheek. Evil will dominate if we do not resist violent invaders.
We can be tolerant of those with other faiths but Islam is intolerant by nature. The only coexistence with Islam is under Islamic rule and even then they only "tolerate" Jews and Christians (people of the book have a second class status in their civilization). Infidel who follow Hinduism, Buddhist, Atheism, or other faiths are at the bottom of Islamic society. There are no equal rights. I see no reason to "respect" supremacists.
Islam wages war across many continents and against many faiths. It is NOT a war over oil, Israel, or Imperialism. They wage a holy war (jihad) as they have waged for centuries (sometimes as a hot war and sometimes as a cold war). As they seek to establish Islamic law (or separate but equal legal systems) they seek to establish Islamic societies in the the West and Far East. They don't assimilate, they infiltrate. However, they don't denounce those who "hijack" their faith (why should they, they aren't "real" muslims, yet obviously the Danish cartoonists were targeting ALL muslims and not just radical "non-muslim" muslims).
I would see no reason to respect the religion of Nazism or its prophet Adolph Hitler, as the neo-nazism would be sure to profess. Both Islam and the Nazi Order are political ruling systems.
For pete's sake! American peacenik goes to Iraq to talk with homicidal Muslim lunatics while he wears a sign on his back that says, "American Peace Moron. Please behead me." He is killed. World "can't understand how this happened." What am I missing here? This guy was like a turtle trying to cross I-95 during mating season.
my thoughts too ...Grizzly Man is a wonderful metaphor
RIP. I disagree with what these guys said, but this guy did put his money where his mouth was, and paid the price. I only hope it was worth it for him. Prayers for his family and friends. It must be really hard for them.
That's a good point.
But if Jesus and Gandhi are right, then I am asked to risk my life, and if I lose it to be as forgiving as they were when murdered by the forces of Satan.
"Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy"
--The Outlaw Josey Wales
Good picture.
I think he must have believed them when they said, "I like you. I'll kill you last".....
Apparently he can indeed remain silent; forced into that silence for an eternity by the dark forces he so innocently wished to protect. His lack of understanding was so great that he could not comprehend the vile nature of the perverse religion he was so diligent in defending.
Those who share the victim's delusions will no doubt continue to make excuses for the filthy psychic disease that is Islam. They will try to shift the blame to "the Jews", or "oppressive American foreign policy", and will ignore the history (such as problems the US had with the Islamic Barbary pirates long before we even had a fully formed foreign policy, let alone before the state of Israel even existed).
What we in the West need to realize is unfortunately something that our own psychic disease, multiculturalism, prevents us from recognizing. The problem is not with "Arabs" (a people that history shows are every bit our intellectual equal when not burdened with the disease of modern Islam) or any other group, the problem is that not all cultures, not all philosophies, and not all religions are equal; nor are they deserving of equal respect.
The victim in the article was correct in at least one perspective that these people really are our brothers and sisters, and as human beings they deserve respect; a respect often missing from the reactionary pseudo-conservative side which, sadly, sometimes descends into irrational racism, but a respect that is ALWAYS missing by those on the left. If the dead pacifist was really a "Christian" as the name of his organization would suggest, then how it is possible that he would be willing to allow those "Muslim brothers and sisters" to remain in their dark spiritual prison of Islam?
If they were suffering from some bacterial plague would we not give them antibiotics out of respect for the microorganism? Or would we be so stupid to suggest that the plague was a "bacteria of peace" and try to make excuse after excuse for it, insisting as victim after victim fell to the pathogen that such deaths were the exception rather than the rule?
The pathologic nature of Islam is self-evident, and as long as we are in denial of this fundamental fact no ultimate solution to the conflict in which we currently find ourselves will ever arise. Islam is the deadly mote in the eye of our brother, but multiculturalism is the beam in our own.
You state your case with stronger words than I'd be willing to use. But on the other hand, I can't really disagree too much.
Pacifists are smarmy and self-righteous. They think their moral code is higher than anyone else's. They think that not doing anything is morally better than doing something. It is an eastern religion sort of mentality, I think. And oh so wrong about the evil lurking in every heart.
That Quaker kind of thinking ignores Original Sin.
It's like the libs in San Fran, who, after 9/11 were reported to have said, "It will never happen to us. WE didn't vote for Bush."
hellO.
So naive. (And I don't say that to diss them; that's just what they are.)
Romans 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.
7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Gotta go now; before I do, allow me to say that this is a wonderful thread. Thanks to all for your excellent comments.
Thanks for the quotes. I wonder -- does this mean the American colonists we wrong to rebel against the King of England?
Great post. During WW2, Orwell wrote that to be a pacifist was to be objectively for Nazi victory. That was not opinion, it was logical fact. Similarly, to be a pacifist today is to be in favor of Islam's victory over civilization. It is an anti-Christian belief. That Orwell tract ought to be updated and recirculated.
Great point. I'm glad someone reminded me of the Orwell quote -- that's right on target.
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