OK, as requested yesterday here are some very
early, very preliminary thoughts on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS).
The depths of the depravity of man have no limits. When man sinned in the Garden of Eden we were
all destined to have a sin nature. Some
of us seem to be able to better control our sinful actions while still others
seem to find no limit to the evil that they can attain.
ISIS cannot possibly expect the majority of the world, the
majority of humans, no matter what their religious belief, to agree with their
tactics and actions. How can anyone not
be appalled, hurt, devastated and brought to their knees in prayer by the
innocent slaughter (or extermination or execution, you pick the term) of over
1,000 unarmed men who happened to be at a training facility to learn how to
protect their fellow citizens. These men
with their hands tied behind their backs were killed with no mercy.
So, what should the world’s response be? It should be to take action, my opinion. The world should come together and agree that
this type of evil cannot be tolerated.
Yes, I quoted Luke 6 yesterday in a previous blog and stated
that we should love our enemies. Now
let’s look at Romans 13 to see our governments role. In Luke 6 we have our personal response to
evil. In Romans 13 we have the ruling
authorities (government) response to evil.
One is called to love their enemy and provide them mercy. The other is called, “the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
(verse 4b).
In regards to ISIS, I think we can all agree that their
actions are pure evil. As such our
ruling authorities must act, must respond, must intervene, even if that means
with deadly force to protect the innocent.
It saddens me that we have to put good people in harms way
because of evil people. But I think that any military person would agree that
they would take the fight to those who are innocently killing hundreds, even
thousands, of innocent civilians.
For the person who asked why I didn’t address ISIS while
addressing the unrest in Ferguson, MO., well, you are right, they both need to
be addressed. There are so many evil
things going on in our world that we can’t take a back seat to any of
them. I see Ferguson, MO., as my personal,
Luke 6 responsibility. I see ISIS as our
ruling authorities, Romans 13 responsibility.
Oh, and one small side note. What does the U.N. have to say,
here is a post from June 16, by Jim Hoft, The Gateway Pundit;
ISIS terrorists exterminated hundreds of
Shiites in a mass grave in Iraq this week. They trucked them to
a ditch and shot them dead.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the recent
upsurge of violence in Iraq Monday and called on the terrorists to respect
international humanitarian law.
India.com
reported:
A statement
issued by Ban’s spokesperson on Sunday night stated that reports of mass
executions by ISIL were deeply disturbing and underscored the urgency of
bringing the perpetrators of such crimes to justice, Xinhua reported. ”The
secretary general warns against sectarian rhetoric that could further
exacerbate the conflict and carry grave implications for the entire region,”
the statement said.
Calling on all Iraqi leaders – political, military,
religious and community – to ensure that their followers avoid acts of
reprisal, Ban urged them to “coalesce behind an inclusive national security
plan as well as political and social measures aimed at addressing, on the basis
of the constitution, the substantial threat to the country.”
“The secretary general once again urges the
international community to unite in showing solidarity with Iraq as it
confronts this serious security challenge,” it said.
“He calls for full respect for international
humanitarian law and human rights law in efforts to counter terrorism and
violence in Iraq.” The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) stands ready to
assist the government and people of Iraq in overcoming the crisis, Ban added in
the statement.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/06/united-nations-calls-on-isis-to-respect-international-law-while-un-baghdad-staff-flees-to-jordan/
I was a bit surprised yesterday when the United Nations
Secretary General had a comment on Ferguson, MO. I’m glad he spends more time on ISIS than on
Ferguson, but his desire for both is peace and humanitarian treatment of
all.
Here now is the U.N. General’s comment yesterday regarding
Ferguson, MO.;
(CNN)
— The United Nations secretary-general issued a statement about the events in
Ferguson, Missouri, on Monday, saying that he “hopes local and federal
investigations will shed full light on the killing” of teenager Michael Brown.
Ban
Ki-moon called on authorities to ensure that people are able to assemble
peacefully and urged law enforcement to abide by U.S. and “international
standards in dealing with demonstrations.”
–From CNN’s Richard Roth
So, what can our personal response be about the crisis in
the Middle East regarding ISIS?
Prayer! We also can exercise our
responsibility to God’s word from Romans 13 and submit to our governing
authorities and pray for them as, ‘they will be held accountable’ by God for
their actions as his appointed authorities (Romans 13:1)
Again, these are just some preliminary thoughts.
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