YOUR TURN, NH:Misguided patriotism and reprisal have no place in America

HAVING DEVOTED 28 years to service in the United States Navy as a lawyer, I spent my professional life in support of both the rule of law and the law of war. Now as the dean of the law school at Franklin Pierce Law Center, I look at the beginning of the first war of the 21st century from a different perspective.

I have great concern for the 100 or so foreign students there, many of them Muslims from the Middle East (and some of whom are Christians from the Middle East), all of whom chose to come to America to study. I was lucky enough to have been born here and I admire their ambition in leaving family and careers behind to come to a country which has prided itself for being a melting pot for over 200 years.

What’s the real reason we are so offended by the horrific crimes that have been perpetrated on all of us? It’s not just the loss of life, awful as that was. It’s not even the unmistakable sense of a loss of innocence and attendant change in our lives and lifestyles. What really offends us, even those of us who were fortunate enough to have been spared harm to their loved ones, is that these dastardly deeds were committed against wholly innocent people. People died who didn’t know their killers and surely hadn’t done anything to provoke them. Now we all must live in fear. That simply isn’t civilized. It’s dishonorable.

Now suppose you are a Muslim, at Pierce Law or elsewhere in the United States. Perhaps you have lived much of your life in the United States. Maybe you were born here and you’re as American as anyone else. It doesn’t really matter. If you are innocent, if you haven’t done anything to hurt or threaten anybody, you deserve to live in peace. You deserve to live without fear of mindless reprisal for something terrible that you had nothing to do with. Indeed, you were as victimized by it as anyone else.

Many Muslims in America are being doubly victimized right now. They live with the fear that we all have as the future gradually unfolds to become the present. But they also fear the thugs who, in the name of misguided patriotism or as a reaction to their own fears or perhaps just for sport, cause discomfort to innocent Muslims living in America in a wide variety of ways.

Other than degree, what’s the difference between mindlessly killing innocent people and mindlessly terrorizing innocent people? If I intentionally frighten you because you’re wearing a scarf or turban, or because you look Middle Eastern to me, I’ve engaged in the same demented thinking that resulted in all those horrible deaths of those wonderful lives.

As Americans, we must not permit that kind of misbehavior. We can’t tolerate it or we won’t be any better than those we condemn for tolerating terrorists. There is really no point in fighting injustice if we practice it. It’s not just preserving and protecting the lives of those of us living in America that justifies going to war and killing other people. It certainly isn’t our economy or creature comforts that we must preserve and protect by war. That rationale is merely selfish. What makes war a worthy endeavor is safeguarding our way of life, freedom, democracy and respect for human dignity. Those are the things that justify war. Only those warrant taking and giving lives.

The President has made it clear that we will take strong and decisive action in response to the events of Sept. 11. We should be equally strong and decisive in ensuring that we don’t besmirch what we are fighting for by thoughtless, mean-spirited actions here at home. It is beneath the people who are privileged to live in the greatest country in the history of humankind. The memory of those brave souls who died at Yorktown, Gettysburg, St. Lo, Midway, and who will die at as yet unidentified battlefields in the future deserves nothing less.

Now, more than ever, we must not only be the “home of the brave,” we must also be the “land of the free.”

— John D. Hutson is the dean of the Franklin Pierce Law Center and was the judge advocate general of the Navy from 1997-2000.

It's time for some clarity on the matter of religion.

A religion specifies two things: a myth and an ethic. The myth is the story of the intentions and deeds that link us to the higher world of Deity and its Creation of our universe. For instance, the Christian myth runs from the Judaic backstory of Creation, through the Deluge and the wanderings of the Jews, and up to Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross and His Resurrection. The ethic is the set of moral strictures and compulsions the religion prescribes: the "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots" it directs its members to observe.

One of the great and instructive things about the enduring religions of the world is that, despite considerable variation among their myths, their ethics are remarkably consistent. In effect, the Ten Commandments dominate all of them -- and not because they all derive from the original source of the Commandments, Judaic ethical monotheism.

Religions that preach an ethic opposed to the Ten Commandments -- that is, opposed to nonaggression, honesty, reverence for higher things, fidelity, and the restraint of envy -- have been many. Not one has survived.

I'm not surprised, and you shouldn't be, either. The Commandments codify the requirements of Man's survival and flourishing. Without going into details, history indicates that it's either respect for (and a pretty good adherence to) the Commandments, or terror and squalor and a war of all against all.

Islam is a simplified offshoot of post-Roman Monophysite Christianity. It eventually absorbed the Monophysite sect in its entirety, except for the North African Coptics. At times, its adherents have practiced conversion by the sword, and have sanctioned the use of violence against "the infidel." In effect, they set aside one of the Commandments -- "Thou shalt not kill" -- for the purposes of religious expansion.

I have heard some good and serious people say that Islam of our time has outgrown that phase, that it is now as nonaggressive as Judaism and Christianity. I'd like to believe that, but I'm not sure that I can. The Qu'ran contains too many exhortations to wield fire and sword against the infidel for me to be happy about it. Then we have the mysterious silence of leading Islamic figures in the West over the events of Black Tuesday.

A lot of people point to the Book of Leviticus and say that many of the same objections apply to the Judeo-Christian religions, all of which honor the Bible. Yet Christianity has explicitly rejected the bloody extremes of Leviticus (e.g., the death penalty for adulterers and homosexuals), while Judaism, though reluctant to reject any aspect of its written canon, has quietly dropped them. The West needs assurances from the Islamic world that Islam will similarly disavow the use of violence as an element of religious observance.

Ultimately, when a religion's ethic leaves off exhorting the private conscience to reverence and self-discipline, and takes up the cry of violence to spread the faith, it ceases to be a religion and becomes a political movement. The time has come for Islam to declare itself: will it swear to be a good and peaceful member of the world community of faiths, or will it embrace politics and claim the privilege of wielding force against those who do not bow to its dictates?

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com

If you are a Muslim you believe what the religion teaches. It teaches death to the infidel. The infidel is defined as anyone who has not accepted the Muslim religion. How can they condem Muslims killing the infidel when their religion teaches that it is the most holy thing a Muslim can do?

Don't be confused by the people that say Muslims are inclusive. All religions at their start are inclusive, because when they are founded they have only a handful of followers. Such people quote the early pitch not todays reality. As Religions grow and continue to make converts they stay open and inclusive. But when a religion is also a government they have a problem. A religion-government becomes responsible for the "Health" and 'Welfare" of its believers. The question "Why does Allah let us be poor while the infidel is rich?" ...gets hard to answer peacefully.

When a religions believers are much poorer and worse off than other religions they have to find a reason to explain it to followers. It is hard to convert members of a better off Religion to be a poor and helpless religion. The religion stops growing from converts. They can breed followers but not convert many.

Religions take two approaches to this problem. They promise a fantastic heaven where the earth is just short test before eternal paradise. Secondly they create an evil enemy who is providing for the rich people. In middle east religions this evil enemy is called Satan. Satan is very useful and in some religions there are many satans to hate and kill

Thus to Muslims the United States and its people are the GREAT SATAN. Satan's people are not taking Allah's test. The great satan's purpose is to tempt the devout to not take the test. Remember Satan is both the people of our nation and its government. Our government and our people are infidels and both are followers of statan.

Since we are the creatures of satan we must be killed. There is no negotitation with satan. Satan must be killed. They just lack the means to do it.But if they try hard enough Allah will make them powerful enough to kill all satans. Then this earth will be like heaven, for there will be no Satans.

To ensure that they promise that anyone who dies killing satans, will be rewarded with instant heaven. All his sins will be forgiven and he will be in paradise forever. They couple with this very strict controls on their followers. They must pray 5 times a day. Women are surpressed completely. Women will try to stop killing. They can not be allowed to have any influence on society.

Thus to Muslims all christians and atheists are the infidel. We are the agents of statan. We are satan.

Think a moment as a Muslim is taught to think. If satan reaches out his hand in friendship, how should a Muslim react? If satan offers a Muslim food, clothing, wealth, position, or fame what will a believing muslim do?

It seems so simple that even a liberal could figure it out. We only have 8,000 years of history to guide us. As Grandpa used to say, if we had only been down this road a few hundred times we wouldn't know where to turn.

If we don't learn from History... WE DIE FROM IT.

To win a holy war you must kill the religion.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.