No, not the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, but the post that I published here on September 11th, this year! For some reason (I would be grateful if anyone could e-mail me with a solution - please use the e-mail address above), this blog no longer seems to accept comments, and has not done so for a considerable length of time. This means that there were no comments directly to the blog. However, I made the same point on a number of Facebook pages, and was castigated (albeit, mildly!) for my lack of compassion. At least one brother in the Lord has been treated in much the same way for having made similar points.
However, the news reports that Daesh (aka ISIS) are crucifying thousands in Syria surely makes it clear that, as I have stated often, compassion must be tempered with discernment. Daesh have made no secret of their willingness to 'use' the genuine refugees as a 'cover' for them to infiltrate Western Europe. They will, undoubtedly, claim to be Syrian Christians fleeing persecution in order to be welcomed by their intended victims. This is, to Muslims, "taqiyya" - the use of deceit to gain an advantage over one's enemies. Muhammad declared, as a justification for murdering unarmed prisoners after offering them safe passage, “war is deceit”. (from the Hadith - collected sayings of Muhammad).
The tradition continues. On May 10th, 1994, just a few months after signing the Oslo Accords (September, 1993), the late Yasir Arafat addressed an assembly of Muslims in a Johannesburg mosque where he justified his actions by explaining:
“This agreement, I am not considering it more than the agreement which
had been signed between our prophet Muhammad and Quraysh.” And he concluded by calling on the worshipers “to come and to fight and to start the jihad to liberate Jerusalem.”
What did he mean? He was referring to Muhammad having signed a 10-year truce with the Arabian pagan Quraysh tribe
in the city of Mecca (the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, 628 AD). At the
beginning of the second year of that ten-year period he found a pretext
to justify breaking the truce. He pounced on the Quraysh in a surprise
attack, conquered Mecca and defeated the Quraysh, who were not prepared
for more hostilities since they were honoring the 10-year accord and
assumed that Muhammad was too. Since then this agreement between
Muhammad and the Quraysh has been an example for Muslims world-wide of
how to trick the enemy in wartime. In other words, Arafat explained to
his Muslim audience that he gave his word to President Clinton and
Yitzhak Rabin, and signed the Oslo Accords, only because he planned to
annul his commitments and attack Israel as soon as it was expedient for
him to do so. He lied to Clinton and Rabin; but once he was out from
under the scrutiny of western media and in the comfort of a Muslim group
whose support he could assume, he told the truth to his Muslim
audience. Apparently, he was unaware that his speech was being recorded.
The desired policy of many of Europe's 'leaders' (Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is an honourable exception!) of 'open doors' is, of course, simply playing into the hands of those terrorists who wish to make Western Europe part of a worldwide Caliphate - with its inhabitants given a simple choice to 'convert' to Islam; pay a special "subjugation" tax (the jizya); or die!
So - if we are disciples of Jesus, let us "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, ..." (Col.3:12). However, let us neither forget, nor ignore, the words of the Saviour: "... be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matt.10:16). Let us not be so insistent on being the latter, that we fail to be the former!