STOP HATING

A good friend of mine recently made the bold statement to “Stop Hate of all kinds, against everyone” as protest to a rather sinister graphic.  Following is the graphic in question:

Figure 1 http://zapaterolandia.blogspot.com

I have to admit that I was led to take her comment under significant advisement.  Alas, I am constantly drawn back to something I heard from “Bibi”, Israeli P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu citing a quote from former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir: “If the Arabs would put down their weapons, there would be no more violence.  However, if the Israel Defense Force would put down its weapons, there would be no more Israel.”  For more on the one-sidedness of the Middle East conflict, see my Blog “Where is home” [http://dabauzstake.blogspot.com/2011/10/where-is-home.html]  And that leads me to both my query and the quandary I feel we all face.

First my “query” – Part one: “is the goal or objective of stopping hatred of all kinds, against everyone even possible, or even plausible?”  Notwithstanding the fact that each of us has control of but one person, which would take this ideal straight into the realm of impossible, there are those who insist that we should nonetheless try.  And now for Part two: “at what cost do we pursue this mutuality of not hating?”

When we look at the situation in the Middle East, if one were to develop his or her opinions based solely upon the input of our “western media”, one can hardly be blamed for thinking it both possible, and even perhaps quite plausible I suppose.  Alas, our western media is actually quite remiss with respect to the issue of reporting on Israeli / Palestine Authority (PA) Middle Eastern issues.

Take for example the events of just the past 45 days, or so.  During one recent four or five day span, the Terror organization Hamas, provided backing and hardware for a daily bombardment of rocket fire into civilian areas of Israel.  Rocket fire that entailed scores of attacks each and every single day.  Killing several, wounding scores more, and yet hardly a word was heard over Television or Radio broadcasts, nor was there any printed matter reporting on the attacks.  Yet as tragic as this is let one lone five-year-old child, who was being used as a human shield by some Hamas coward in Gaza, become wounded from Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) retaliatory fire, and the news of Israel’s brutality is all over CNN, ABC, NBC, BBC, CBC, CTV, Global, even Fox and Sun News.

When this writer considers the sheer gravity of the situation between the PA and Israel, the answer to the query seems to be clear.   There is a slim possibility, with a highly implausible outlook for success at stopping all hatred.  Add to this mix, the horribly skewed media reporting, and the outlook for the possibility drops from slim to very remote and, as for the plausibility this too drops from highly implausible to not plausible. 

I can already hear some of you saying, (thinking) ‘yeah, that’s the Middle East, what about here, at home in Canada, the US, the UK, or Australia etc., “the west”?  Can’t we all just get along, and stop being so damned hateful towards Islam?’  Well in the three (3) days that have passed since my friend presented me with that challenge, statistically speaking, Islamicism and her many Terror counterparts have shed the blood of 15 more innocent people(Infidels), source http://www.thereligionofpeace.com.  Almost 18,000 Deadly Terror Attacks since 9/11, in just 10 years.  That’s roughly five (5) deaths per day folks!  Simply put, I do not think T'is possible to “Stop Hate of all kinds, against everyone.”

With respect to Part two of this query, at what cost, do we pursue these lofty goals?  Given that each of us is able only to control the behaviour of one person, that being our selves, not only is the objective a virtual impossibility the cost in terms of human lives lost would be staggering.  Why staggering, in terms of human life cost, might you ask?  Simple, Islam shows absolutely zero regard for human life, more on this later.

And now for the quandary we all face; oddly the quandary is not one of ‘to hate or not to hate’ Islam, per se.  Rather the quandary is how to strike that balance between being a ‘people pleaser’ and doing what is right.  IE kowtowing to the expectations of friends and /or associates, with extreme views on opposing sides of a volatile issue.  One where people either on the one hand call for us to “make love not war man” vis-à-vis 60’s styled love-ins, or on the other hand call for the whole-sale obliteration of Muslims; and doing the right thing.  What is the right thing?  The right thing is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone including members of Islam.  Obviously sharing Christ with those who know Jesus by His Arabic name, Isa can be difficult if not problematic.

Isa, as the he is known in Arabic, to the Muslim is not God.  He was a prominent man, a prophet of the god Allah, nonetheless just a man.  Islam views Isa as a man who pointed to (points to) the greater prophet of Islam, the one the only, the misogynistic paedophile Mohammad.  He (Jesus / Isa) to the Muslim is not the Son of God, nor was he born of a virgin, certainly Christ is not God to the Muslim.  Essentially Islam is pretty messed up. 

The god of Islam, Allah, is not god or even a god at all.  Allah is one of thousands of tiny rock Idols which had been worshipped by a host of wandering nomadic Arabic tribesmen, well that was until Mohammad realized some 1,400 years ago that the Arab people could accomplish so much more if only they were united.  Thus, united they became, under the banner of Islam.  And the god of Islam, Allah, hates all of human kind.  He (she??) has absolutely zero regard for human life; none for the life / lives of the Infidels, and not even the lives of members of Islam.

Fact is folks, Jesus Christ is God, He created you and He loves His creation.  Don’t believe me?  That’s okay, I did not make the claim, Jesus Christ did!  And no I am not talking about “hey Zeus”, from Greek mythology, but Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach.  God loves His creation so much that “… he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16 NIV]  His love for His creation is so great that He is not willing that any (nope, not even one Muslim) should perish, “…not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 [Peter 3:9 NIV 1984]  Having said that, Jesus also makes it clear that there is but ONE WAY to get in right standing with God, and that is through Him: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  [John 14:6  NIV]  Ah, you say that you know that there is but one God, and I say good, “..Even the demons believe that--and shudder.” [James 2:19 NIV]  But do you “know” Jesus Christ?

At the end of the day folks, there is but one way to know peace on this earth, ergo only one-way for “everyone to stop hating everyone else”.  It sounds perhaps a little cliché alas; “Know Jesus, know peace whereas no Jesus, no peace”  How does one get to “know” Jesus?  Simple, invite Him into your heart, as Jesus says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” [Revelations 3:20 NIV] How can we be assured that this Jesus stuff means anything, well because the Bible tells us so.  The Apostle Paul wrote:

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” [Romans 10:9-10]

And for those of you who say to me, I can’t be bothered reading the Bible, it’s confusing or it’s a waste of time, may I draw your attention to what the Bible says about wisdom: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” [Proverbs 9:10]

Well, that’s it again, Da Bauz’s take on the “why can’t we all just get along” love fest notion.  Read your Bible, pray to Jesus Christ, and most importantly give Christ your heart and “give God a chance”!