Don't fight ISIS - Islamic radical terrorist love them!

I just read an article written by JR Vassar the lead pastor, Church at the Cross, Grapevine, Texas.  He claims, “I am saddened by the tendency of some Christians to call for the sending of missiles upon our nation’s enemies more than to pray for the sending of missionaries to the hardest places.” When is he leaving for Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan? I am capable of praying for both.

He admits, “The Islamic State is a horrific evil and must be stopped. The destruction it is bringing on innocent life and human civilization is heartbreaking and should fill us with righteous indignation. Likely, it will take the international community to defeat the Islamic State, and it will almost certainly mean military conflict.” Who does he expect to volunteer for the military conflict non-Christians?

He is, “… grieved that some influential pastors and Christian leaders eagerly call for the bombing of regions that will inevitably lead to the destruction of human life (innocent image-bearers who suffer as collateral damage), and do so without tears and a broken heart.” I do not know of any Christian leader that would call for the bombing of ISIS if they thought there was another way.  I also do not think any Christian leader has ever called for the destruction of ISIS without having a heavy heart when doing so.

He suggested we, “Pray for our enemies and desire their salvation.” He claims God would want us to show them mercy and give them an opportunity to repent. He knows that is what God would want us Christians to do. If he believes in the literal translation of the Bible he must know that God called for the destruction of innocent women, children and animals of the Israelites enemies. I do not believe in the literal translation of the Bible so I think it was more the men of Israel that wanted their destruction, rather than God, but they may have thought that was what God wanted them to do.  The same as Reverend Vassar thinks he knows what God wants us to do as it pertains to the terrorist. If God wanted the enemies of the Israelites destroyed, but does not want our enemies destroyed does that mean God loved the Israelites more than He loves us?

He went on to write, “Our call is to follow the command and example of Jesus who told us to love our enemies and pray for them, and who himself laid his life down for his enemies, even praying for their forgiveness as they killed him. Again, if we are calling for missiles, but not praying for missionaries, we have lost touch with the heart of God.” I am sorry, but I am not prepared to have my throat cut by the followers of ISIS and honestly I do not think he is either. It is easy for him to write or say the things he does from Grapevine, Texas. I guess if his wife and children were caught in a terrorist situation he would prefer to allow them to be slaughtered than try to kill his enemy.

Jesus was not fighting a foreign enemy He was trying to reform His own people – the Jews. Jesus did not have a military, but he had no problem displaying his anger in the temple turning over the tables of the money changers. King David had a military given to him by God and he certainly used it. If we are going to use Biblical comparison King David and his enemies are more like our enemy ISIS and Muslim terrorist than Jesus and His enemies. If it was Protestants and Catholics (Ireland) fighting over differences I would agree with Reverend Vassar, but it is not. It is good versus evil!  

He admits that as we pray to God we know there will never be peace on this earth, “…we know that ultimately complete peace and justice are a world away, in the new heavens and new earth.”

He says, “We do not need to fear Muslims, but love them, befriend them, and seek to share the good news of Jesus with them.” I do love some Muslims, those that are not trying to kill me, my caregiver is Muslim.

I probably have more experience dealing with Muslims than he does, since I have lived on the Island of Mindanao in the Philippines for the past ten years. I live in Davao, but I am not about to travel to Cotobato or Sula where Muslim terrorist are kidnapping foreigners regularly. I welcome him to come to Southern Mindanao at any time and love the Muslim terrorist and the Communist insurgents to the peace table. The Philippine government has been trying to do it for thirty years and have failed.

 “We are not Americans first, but Christians first. We belong to a kingdom that is not of this world — a kingdom with no boundaries or borders. We may disagree on policy or diplomacy, but infinitely more important is that we agree on Jesus, his rule, and his great love for his people and for this world. We don’t have to be divided by our lesser loyalties when we are united by our greatest loyalty.” This all sounds good, but it is not realistic when it comes to dealing with terrorist in 2015. I do not think God intends for us to let Islamic terrorist cut our heads off, destroy our religion, invade our country and not resist.

I think a diplomatic solution would be impossible with groups like ISIS or other groups of Islamic Muslim Terrorist. Reverend Vassar wrote Jesus faced radicals and He did not try to kill them if I am not mistaken Jesus was killed.  Jesus knew pain, suffering, persecution and terrorism first hand is Reverend Vassar willing to do the same, is he willing to sacrifice his family without a fight, I am not.

If men like Reverend Vassar had reached out to the young men that make up ISIS and other terrorist groups a decade ago maybe we would not be in the mess we are in today. I think Reverend Vassar should consider that perhaps the church failed in reaching out to the Arabs in the Middle East.

Paul was once a terrorist killing Christians just at ISIS is doing today and he came to accept Christ as his Savior so there is hope. But, who is willing to go today and try to convert ISIS members. Is Reverend Vassar willing, if not he should not be so asking someone else to.

Jesus’ way of putting His enemies in their place was by shaming them. How does Reverend Vassar propose that we shame ISIS?

Christian leaders should have taken more seriously education reform, business opportunities, economic reforms and employment opportunities in Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Africa and Afghanistan and maybe there would be no ISIS today. Was Reverend Vassar pushing for those reforms prior to now?

I am not Reverend Pat Robertson and I do not say, “Convert or die”. I would like to see them convert to Christianity, but that is not a requirement for me to have peace. But, I do not think it is possible for us now to love the members of ISIS to a negotiated peace. I say that because they are telling us, “Convert or die”.

The Iraqi Christians since 2003 until about 2014 were known for being passive. They finally realized they could no longer be passive and stay alive. Unfortunately they began to stand up for their religious liberty and their freedom too late. Are Americans being ask to do the same by religious leaders like Reverend Vassar? Are we going to wait for ISIS to tell us to convert, pay a tax or die as they did the Christians in Mosul? Did not Obama take the passive role and allow ISIS to grow stronger, accomplish more evil and kill more Christians?

I am not for the destruction of ISIS only because they are killing Christians. I am for the destruction of ISIS because I am against any group of people that practice genocide against a weaker group of people.

ISIS is nothing more than a gang like those in any large city in the United States that kill people in order to expand their territory.  They both are criminals (terrorists) who are determined to murder people in order to gain control. They must be stopped and I truly believe God condemns their actions.

I do not believe God expects us to only pray and take no defensive action against them. Most of us do not sit back and refuse to work and expect God to feed us. Most of us do not refuse to take preventive action to maintain our health simply because we believe God can heal us. Most of us would not sit down on the couch and watch while a robber took our belongings and possibly raped our wife and do nothing but pray. Why do some Christians expect us to only pray and take no military action to protect our families, neighbors, country and us?

I believe in prayer and I have no doubt that pray is powerful, but I also believe God expects us to take action along with prayer. Why don’t we just stop being charitable and pray to God to take care of the poor, orphans and widows?  

Donald Trump's Muslim proposal may help him and not hurt him.

Nearly every politician from both parties have been critical of Donald Trump for suggesting closing the U.S. to all Muslim immigrants until the officials can get a handle on the Islamic terror threat.  Sounds like a good suggestion to me. If the back room power bosses of the Republican Party, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and the other Liberals think they will hurt Trump by attacking him I think they may be wrong. Let’s get real Trump’s supporters are primarily white, conservative, Christians. I doubt if many Muslims, Blacks or Hispanic will be supporting Trump regardless of any statement he makes. Therefore Trump’s remarks may help him instead of hurt him in the primary elections, but the general election will be a different animal. No other Republican is standing up to Obama on the terrorist issue as Trump is.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Tuesday called Trump a “carnival barker” who should be disqualified from running for president, along with any GOP candidate who doesn’t denounce his remarks. I do not think Donald Trump or his supporters care what one of Obama’s paid hacks says. Josh Earnest says what Obama and his advisors tell him to say. He is not paid to think for himself. Josh Earnest remarks may help Trump in the polls.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Trump’s remarks go against what the party stands for. I wish Paul Ryan would explain to us what the Republican Party stands for, because I no longer know. As far as I can tell the Democrats and Republican stand for the same thing. The Republican House and Senate have demonstrated they will not use the power of the purse to block or change Democrat (Obama) programs.

The National Republican Committee Chair said, “I don’t agree with Trump. We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism, but not at the expense of our American values.” It seems obvious to me Reince Priebus has lost touch with what American values are.  

A majority (56%) of Americans agree that the values of Islam are at odds with American values and the American way of life. It appears to me that American voters are fearful about terrorism and are willing to do anything that they think might make us safer. I think more conservative Americans at this time would agree more with Donald Trump than with Reince Priebus, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Linsey Graham and Dick Cheney are saying.  That is certainly what the polls reveal.

A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll released Tuesday revealed that even if the GOP establishment successfully ends Trump’s White House bid, 68 percent of his supporters would vote for him as an Independent, 28 percent said they wouldn’t and the rest were undecided. I tend to believe for the first time in my life I would support an Independent candidate. I would support an Independent Donald Trump because I do not think he would let the Republican and Democrat elected officials push him around and if they tried he would go public as Reagan did and they would not risk that.

Trump’s high poll numbers survived the attacks he received for making inappropriate statements on Mexican immigrants, questioning the heroism of Sen. John McCain as a prisoner of war, and suggesting that Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly was menstruating (I am not sure that is what he meant) when she asked him tough questions (I think unfair questions) at the first Republican primary debate. He could survive this last comment that has brought on a media storm as he has others.

If Donald Trump should continue to carry the support of the Republican voters and the Republican Party sabotaged his Presidential possibilities I think they would be guaranteeing a win for the Democrats and most likely Queen Hillary.

How fast the Democrats forget their past. Don’t they remember the Iranian hostage crisis? President Carter banned all Iranians from entering the U.S. unless they opposed the Shiite Islamist regime or had a medical emergency. Some argue that Trump’s plan is different because it bars members of a religious group. I believe the Shite Islamist regime in Iran was and is an Islamic Radical Muslim Religious regime ran by Imam’s.  Donald Trump’s proposal certainly seems similar to me.

 “The Secretary of Treasury and the Attorney General will invalidate all visas issued to Iranian citizens for future entry into the United States, effective today. We will not reissue visas, nor will we issue new visas, except for compelling and proven humanitarian reasons or where the national interest of our own country requires. This directive will be interpreted very strictly,” Carter said in 1980. In addition, the Carter administration began a thorough campaign to deport Iranian students who had overstayed their visas.

The Carter move was aimed at protecting American lives and was not very controversial at the time. Donald Trump’s proposal is aimed at protecting American lives and would not be that controversial if not for the Democrat, Liberals, media and the Republican establishment in Washington D.C. that want to stop Donald Trump.  I think if Donald Trump’s plan was carried out sensibly and diplomatically it would not be controversial with most American.

One media outlet was concerned that CAIR had been offended because the Director of the MUSLIM organization, Ibrahim Hooper said, “We’re entering into the realm of the fascist now.  It should be disturbing to all Americans that the leading Republican presidential candidate would issue essentially a fascist statement.” I am not concerned with what CAIR thinks, since I do not view them as a moderate Islamic group. I am more concerned as to why some are more concerned about what CAIR thinks than what the majority of American thinks.

Journalists have stated that Less than 24 hours after Mr. Obama (in a speech from the Oval Office) urged Americans not to overreact to the terrorist massacre by Islamic extremists in San Bernardino by vilifying Islam and he praised the patriotism of millions of Americans Muslims Mr. Trump called for an entry bans and forced registration of Muslims which will set off a backlash from moderate Islamic Muslims. Perhaps if Obama did not try over and over again to make Americans look like the bad guys in the Radical Muslim Terrorist crisis Donald Trump would not have to propose what he did.

The media has begun to take a tougher stand against Republican front-runner Donald Trump after his campaign promise to keep Muslims out of the country as a means to stop the terrorist threat of ISIS. There have been other times when the press leaned harder on Trump when they thought he had made statements that would disqualify him only to find his statements helped him in the polls.

The Philadelphia Daily News put a photo of Trump with his arm raised in a “Sieg Heil” salute on its front page with the headline “The New Furor.” Michael Days, the editor-in-chief of the tabloid, said he decided to go with the image after receiving outraged texts throughout the day about Trump’s comments.

It was reported, “On the 74th anniversary of the surprise Pearl Harbor attack by Japanese warplanes that brought the United States into the Second World War that Mr. Trump’s anti-Muslim accusations stirred dark memories. Not since then, when tens of thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry – including citizens – were rounded up and forced into internment camps has a major political figure in the United States called for imposing discriminatory treatment on the basis of religion or race.”

I believe Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat, was President at the time of the Japanese interment and he personally called for it to be done. Then and now are two different times. I would have disagreed with Roosevelt’s decision because the U.S. was not threatened by Japanese Radical Terrorist living in the United States. 

One liberal article stated, “Some Republicans have been stoking the smoldering embers of anti-Muslim fervor in the United States since Mr. Obama launched his bid to replace former president George W. Bush. Mr. Obama, whose Kenyan father and Indonesian stepfather were both Muslims, spent some of his childhood in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, and has been openly accused of being a closet Muslim by some right-wing Republicans.” I believed Obama was a Christian and I do not recall his father or stepfather ever being on a ballot in the United States so the religious preference of his father or stepfather is of no importance to me. I think the majority of American’s accepted that Obama was a Christian. Lately, I have begun to wonder and I think others have to if we could have been wrong due to Obama’s constant attack on America, Americans and particularly American Christians.  The article even stated “Donald Trump hates Muslim.” I may be wrong, but I have never heard Donald Trump say he hated anyone. I did hear him say that a lot of Muslims around the world hated Americans.

Liberal articles have used Donald Trump’s statement claiming that many Muslims danced and celebrated on rooftops in New Jersey as New York’s World Trade Center’s twin towers burned and collapsed against him. Frankly, I believe Donald Trump was incorrect or exaggerating when he made the statement. I am sure there were Radical Islamic Muslims in every state that were pleased to see the terrorist win one against the United States.

If Donald Trump did lie when he made the statement it pales compared to Obama’s lies – if you like your doctor you can keep him, Bengasi was caused by an anti-Muslim video, the I.R.S. did not discriminate against conservative organizations and all the other lies he has told the American people. It is not right, but all politicians make statements that they think will win them votes when speaking to a particular group of people.

Gulf News, a Dubai-based English-language news outlet took the opportunity to seize on Donald Trump’s remarks and added to them by stating; “Trump’s solution would be to bomb the hell out of ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.”  I really do not care what the Middle East Muslim media says. If Trump was elected and ordered more effective bombings it would be better than what Obama has done over the past seven years. It seems to me there are Muslim groups in the Middle East fear a Donald Trump administration. They certainly do not fear Obama or the Democrats.

I read, “If you’re a bigot, redneck or white supremacist voter in the US right now, you gotta love Donald Trump. But it you’re a Muslim, an immigrant, a Mexican or Black, then you had better be afraid — very afraid.” I am not a bigot, redneck or white supremacist and I might support Donald Trump. I certainly would fear Donald Trump less than I do Islamic Muslim Terrorist. I do not think any Muslim, Mexican or Muslim need fear Trump if they are here legally and obeying the laws.

Liberals have never been a supporter of Bill O'Reilly on FOX News Channel, until he slammed Trump’s commentary as a "racist diatribe," saying that even former Vice President Dick Cheney was “disgusted” with Trumps statement.  Cheney, speaking on a radio show said Trump’s plan to ban all Muslim immigration, “… goes against everything we stand for and believe in. Religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from.” When someone seems to agree with the Liberals they forget all the times they have said Bill O’Reilly did not know what he was talking about, but all of a sudden he has become an expert and they are quoting him as if he is a prophet.

Dar al-Ifta, Egypt’s official religious body, echoed Cheney’s statement on religious freedom in the U.S. The organization issued a statement saying Trump’s commentary was “… totally erroneous” and that “… such hostile attitudes towards Islam and Muslims will increase tensions within the American society of which Muslims represent around 8 million peaceful and loyal American citizens.” Many thought the San Bernardino Radical Islamic Terrorist and his family were peaceful and it does not appear they were.  I really did not expect a Muslim Middle East religious group to support Donald Trump or his latest comments.

They went on to say, “It is unfair to punish all Muslims because of a group of extremists whose criminal actions are repudiated by Islam,” I do not think all Muslim should be judged by a few radicals, but I do think those that are not radical should be taking the fight to the radicals and not expect non-Muslims to do it for them. I also do not think Egypt is doing such a great job controlling the Islamic Muslim Radicals in their own country so why are they trying to tell us how to deal with our problem.

Donald Trump’s words were more in your face, but are they that far off from what the other GOP candidates who are criticizing Trump have said about Syrian refugees, Muslims, and immigrants.

A short term ban on Muslim visa’s, since the present visa program is not working, sounds reasonable to me. We have got to do be better than what we're doing. Muslim or other people that travel to terrorist countries at the moment should be vetted more than any others and we should have a moratorium on anybody that has been in any terrorist country or anywhere where terrorists are based.

Once we get a workable immigration/visa program we could resume issuing visas to Muslims and I think that is exactly what Trump wants to do. Obama recently said if any Republican has a better idea on a deal with Iran then let them propose it. Donald Trump thinks he has a better idea on Muslim visa and he proposed it and Obama and his henchman did not consider it at all, instead they immediately attack Trump. 

Bill Clinton returned the Democrats to power with some radical ideas for a Democrat – he favored the death penalty and he wanted to drastically reform welfare. Clinton won the election because on every issue that the Republicans had hoped to dominate—balancing the budget, welfare, crime, immigration, and taxes—Clinton staked out a strong centrist position early on. Clinton knew what Americans wanted at that time and he won.

Could Donald Trump win the nomination by adopting some Democrat ideas, by not being as conservative as some in the Republican Party want him to be and by giving Americans what they want at this time?

I have said before I am confused when it comes to the 2016 election, In the back of my mind I cannot ignore that maybe Donald Trump does not want to be President; maybe Trump wants the Republicans to lose the election; maybe it would be more profitable for Trump if Hillary and Bill returned to the White House, instead of a Republican. Donald Trump is a businessman and profit is the world he understands. Trust of any politicians is difficult for me in 2016.

I do not think an Independent Donald Trump could win a National election, but I do believe it would guarantee a loss for the Republican Party. I do not think the Republicans have anything to gain by trying to sabotage Trump’s campaign.  The latest Bloomberg poll shows almost two-thirds of likely 2016 Republican primary voters favor Donald Trump's call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S., while more than a third said it makes them more likely to vote for him. An online Bloomberg poll showed 37 percent among all likely general-election voters support Trump’s controversial Muslim visa proposal.