I was gratified to hear that in a couple more days, there is going to be a massive drop of relief supplies to the people who are starving.

Now more than ever, we need to pray for our country and for all those fighting against terrorism.
 

We pray that You look over our forces. May Good prevail over evil. When all is said and done, may peace and Good rule over the world with Your love and peace.

In Your name we pray.

Amen.
 

Well said. A prayer that should be said across America.

Mark
 

We all need to lift up our voice in prayer to our God. Thanks for the example.

Stephen
 

I'll throw in another "amen". The power of prayer is awesome!
 

In reality it looks more like a surgical operation much like the targeting in the Gulf war. What in the world would we accomplish by bombing the innocent civillians? I truly do not believe that is the case. Right now more than ever the Unites States needs the support of as many Islamic nations as possible, and a blind military massacre is not only morally wrong, and a disgusting thought ( something that these very terrorists regiems would do) but it would cut off any cooperation and support that we may have now and in the future. I hope you understand that most Americans understand that this is not a campaign against innocent people, Islam, Muslims, Arabs, Afghans, or anyone other than those responsible for the killing and terror of innocent people across the globe.

One great thing about our nation is that YOU DO have the right to say what you feel, and think however you may, and I have the right to question, and choose to politely disagree. Remember, blood was shed to give you that right, keep that right, and that is precicely what these terrorists want to take from you ( especially you Lazy Edna since they do not harbor any feelings for equal rights and womens rights)

I commend you on wanting peace, but there is a time to stand up for what we know is right, and now is that time. Again, I hope you understand that this is not an attack on you and your beliefs, but merely an expression of how I personally feel about the concept of passivism. ( spelling?)

WE all enjoy our western freedom, so if you think that we are the villians for striking against these very carefully chosen targets, then imagine what you're world would be like if people like Osama Bin Laden were succesful in eliminating western freedom, Womens rights, liberty, music, dance, ARTISTIC EXPERESSION etc... The people of Afghanistan are starving because of a leadership that has purposely eliminated their hopes of prosperity, and would quickly execute you for writing your opinion in a public form like this wonderful place we call Letterville.

Jeff Bailey
 

I respect your opinion and your intelligence and I always enjoy reading what you have to say, even if I don't always agree with you.

Thank God you live in this country where you can express your opinion and not get your head whacked off for opening your mouth.
 

You must be a very feeling person for your heart to be breaking over the bombings. I'm certain that most of us will agree that it is sad that there must be war.

Bruce's prayer did not ask God to kill anyone, but only for His guidance and protection. And to that I must add an amen. I would like to see this over quickly because I too hate violence. IMHO we had to go.
 

You are correct. I don't expect God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit to kill anyone. Men will do enough of that themselves without getting the Big 3 involved.

The greatest gift God gave any of us was freewill. Freewill to use our skills and abilities for any purpose, whether it be good or evil. Not that evil purposes, I'm sure, is what He had in mind, but it is still our choice.

Going in to Afghanistan and removing evil with surgical strikes and prudence is, in my opinion, justice. Getting the ones responsible for the WTC and Pentagon incidents is justice. Making them accountable for their evil deeds is justice.

Going over there and laying the place to absolute ruin with carpet bombing or nuclear strikes with no regard for human life is vengeance, which I feel is unacceptable.

I feel sorrow for the innocents in all this. I feel sorrow for a population that must live in fear. Fear that the words, thoughts, and feelings that they express could lead to severe punishment (read that death) for themselves and their loved ones. I feel sorrow for a culture that imposes it's automonous will to deny daughters an education and reduces women to second class citizens.

I like the idea that my wife, Dana, can persue her dreams. I like the idea that she can drive a car in public. I like that she doesn't have to cover up her lovely face lest she subject herself to a public beating from the "veil police". I like the fact that she is free to express her thoughts, dreams, and desires. Well, most of the time, anyways! LOL!

So, sara, if you feel compassion for that kind of people that won't allow personal freedom, that won't rest until the world thinks the way they do, and condones random acts of terrorism and violence, I can't get in behind you. I do not understand that line of thinking nor do I ever want to.

But, you know, it is your ability to come here and mock me for expressing a prayer to give protection to the men that are going to die fighting for the rights, as Americans, we enjoy. To mock a prayer asking, that when all is said and done, that peace, love and good will permeate the world.

A couple of weeks ago I might have responded with a scathing reply and called you names and such. I just can't think that way today. It is a peace that comes from a better understanding of my Faith and my Love for God, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

I wish you only the best that life has to offer you, sara.

Have a great one!
 

I don't believe you'll find any of that in my post.

LE
 

I knew this day of retaliation would come but here it is.

I won't be stocking up on canned food or batteries but stocking up on faith. I'm jumping on the Bruce bandwagon.

I pray for peace, but I fully support our armed forces.

I also pray no one ever breaks into my house and robs me ,but If I'm home when they do, I will do whateverit takes to protect my family.

I believe our president has done the same.
 

Maybe "mock" was the wrong word, in your opinion, but I don't think so. I figure I can get into enough trouble for what I do actually say. Why you feel the need to read something that wasn't there is way beyond my comprehension. Must be my lack of a college education. LOL! That's a shame but I know I will get over it.

Praise be to the Lord Jesus. Grant us the strength to carry on in the troubling times that are ahead of us all. Grant our leaders wisdom and resolve, along with a sense of compassion for the innocents, when dealing with the evil that has infiltrated our lives.

May the Love and Peace of Father God, Lord Jesus, and the Holy spirit fill each and every one of us with compassion for one another.

In Your name I pray.

Amen

Have a great one!
 

Her proposal was that we need to gather the pigs. Yes P-I-G-S!!! Muslims hate the very sight of pigs. They beleive that if you are buried or die with a pig your soul will go to hell. If we had boarded some little piglets on the flights on Sept. 11 the terrorists would have aborted their missions to save their souls.

They are also opposed to alcohol. So... let's drop ship about 100,000 pigs. Spike the water supply over there with a few thousand gallons of scotch, get them drunk, then let the pigs loose.

The war would be over in a weekend and there would be NO casualties.
 

That brings back flashbacks of my youth when i used to listen to "War Pigs" by Black Sabbathh...
LOL!

Kinda makes me "paranoid"... I'd hate to have to attend the "electric funeral". They would suffer from the "hand of doom", though. Ol' bin would have to don footwear... i guess it would be a case of "fairies wear boots"... Oh stop! It's early... gotta go to the shop now...

Have a great one reveling in the Glory of "You Know Who"!
 

Didn't know you were a Sabbath fan! Cool! Don't feel so old now!

Never Say Die!

Dan
 

Someday I would imagine christianity, islam, etc will all be viewed the same way we view greek mythology now. All it takes is time. Scientology is looked down upon right now, because there is tangible proof a cut-rate sci-fi writer hacked it out on his typewriter. Given 2000 years of suspended reason, rumors, false prophets and editting by power brokers, I'm sure it can gain a foothold just as the current crop of accepted religions have.

Most every war fought is/was fought in the name of a deity. That, unlike the deities, is reality. And it seems everyone prays to their deity, with hopes he will 'strike down with great force upon thee.." yet in 2000 years he's been too busy to even send a postcard let alone lend a hand, a lightning bolt or divine intervention.

If your vinyl cutter was that dependable, you'd be broke.

I'm rooting for our team but I am not looking for a white guy in a flowing robe that looks like he should be playing lead guitar with the Allman Brothers Band to tip the odds in our favor.

Can we please have a BS board, and leave the sign/graphics stuff to this one?
 

[ October 10, 2001: Message edited by: Deb Fowler ]

Ya know, you're right.

Lets not go after bin Laden and the Al Qaeda. I'm sure somebody in the Twin Towers deserved what they got - perhaps even that little boy. Right?

Lets let the Taliban continue to abuse women. They're just a bunch of cows anyway. We all know they shouldn't have the privelege of having an education and freedom of speech. Right?

Lets not pray for the protection of our men and women in the military working to defend this country. After all, the military is part of the government and we want to be sure to maintain "seperation of Church and State." Right?

Lets impune those who wish to believe in something greater than themselves. They've got to be idiots and morons anyway. Right?

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest thing: The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war is worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares about more than his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. - John Stuart Mill

"The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and the desire for personal independence--these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it." - Albert Einstein

"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." - Jonathan Swift

"Even if one believes in nothing, there are moments in life when one is always of the religion of the temple which is nearest at hand." --HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, book 11, chapter 1

Just a few of my favorite idiots and morons.

[ October 10, 2001: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]

BTW, who are these people who "jump to foolish conclusions that only illuminate their lack of proactive thought processes" that you are talking about?

**********

PS....thanks for the spelling correction. I knew I was spelling "impugn" incorrectly. It just didn't look right.

Also, I consider everyone my "friend". At least until they show to be an enemy. I don't consider you an enemy.

I am curious about something though. I've always wondered why is it that "intellectuals" find virtue in only seeing grey areas. Why is nothing ever "black and white"? Perhaps its because self-proclaimed intellectuals just can't see clearly, blinded by their own indulgent pride.

Just a thought.

[ October 10, 2001: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]

May I ask if there has been any person who has changed their beliefs after reading this entire thread?

Does not matter from which side to which, just kinda curious how powerful this BB is.

BTW, those who know me, know exactly how I feel about this. Those who don't know me, don't need to know.

[ October 10, 2001: Message edited by: coop ]

I'm a converted Black Sabbath fan!

(Still a Christian, & supportive American too!)
 

I didn't know anyone was debating anything. If we are, would someone tell me what it is.

***********

Just wanted to add that I agree with what LE had to say about "god is blessing bombs that are blasting innocent people to bits....". Only thing is that no one said anything like that on this thread.

[ October 11, 2001: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]

I'm bothered by invoking religion in time of war, and especially now. This is not a religious war, at least not on our side. What the current struggle represents to me is secular, rational and democratic Western civilization vs an irrational, superstitious, and authoritarian world-view of those such as the Taliban. By invoking "god" on our side, we risk letting ourselves be drawn into a struggle based on religious doctrine, and that to me is a terrible mistake.
 

(you beatnik - its the beret and beard in your pic)

The "atheist peacenik" was a term used by a war protester describing himself as he was being interviewed on the Jerry Agar Show (radio) yesterday. That's where I got the term from.

As far as invoking God in a time of war, I respectfully disagree with you in some respects. As someone who believes, I see no better time than to call on God. But, I think its wrong on believers to ask God to fight for our "team." I do think it is absolutely appropriate to do what Bruce prayed for earlier in this thread. I can't see why asking God for protection for the troops and that "Good rule over the world" and "grant our leaders wisdom and resolve, along with a sense of compassion for the innocents, when dealing with the evil that has infiltrated our lives" could be such a problem and/or offense for some folk.

What I am about to say is not directed at you, LE or anyone else personally. It is just an observation I have and it is not intended to insult or attack anyone..... I am perplexed at how atheists (for lack of a better word or description - I feel like I'm walking on eggs right now) vehemently oppose mentioning God anywhere in public. I realize we may be perceived as fools (as evidenced at www.atheists.org), but some of the reactions I see from some atheists are one of revulsion and what seems to be fear.

Case in point....Two days after the terror attack, the Breen Elementary School in Rockland, California, a suburb of Sacramento, put up a marquee on school grounds that said "God bless America." Three weeks later, the American Civil Liberties Union send the school board a letter, asking them to take that sentiment down. (foxnews.com) It turns out that a mother didn't like it because it "violated the seperation of Church and State." When the school refused, she called in the ACLU. As of 3 days ago, over 450 calls and e-mails were received by the school in favor of keeping the message up. There were only five requests to take it down.

It bothers me when the majority's choice and desire (which causes no physical or lasting harm) is to be overruled by a minority - especially this small of a minority.

Then there is another school which is refusing to require its students to recite the "Pledge of Allegiance" or to sing the "National Anthem", as required by its State's law, because the word "God" is in them.

Anyhow, I'm probably starting to ramble a bit.

I'm just expressing how I feel.

No harm or insult intended to anyone.

[ October 11, 2001: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]

Thank you. You were absolutely correct. I never asked God to fight for our side. That wouldn't be right.

I remember a minister I used to listen to on the radio said to be careful of what you pray for. It was his opinion that prayers should be thought out and wishes and desires be carefully weighed out. You never know... You just might get what you prayed for.

I did, however, ask Him, two summers ago, to move this big ol' rock that was 39" below grade... right at the bottom of the hole I was hand digging. He failed to act upon that request! I believe it was one of those character building moments we have to have. Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Such is life!

Have a great one reveling in the Glory of You-Know-Who!