In the Face of Terror

In this time of crisis, we must be thoughtful and compassionate. It is thoughtlessness and a lack of compassion that lead to the bloody acts in San Bernardino. Being reactionary is easy, being patient and Christ-like is more difficult. It is in the face of adversity that we must ask ourselves what makes us different from our enemies. It was not that long ago that Americans decapitated our enemies and placed their heads upon village gates. Colonial governments once paid Americans to scalp our enemies for profit. It was not long ago that our soldiers wore the ears of our enemies as trophies, that our citizens would tear babies from a mother’s arms and kill them to watch her suffer. Crowds of Americans once delighted in lynchings and the suffering of the victim’s loved ones. Are we a better nation now because we kill by remote control? 

Can we be a nation that adheres to Matthew 5:39? Can we do as Christ asks us? Are we able to face our enemies and ask them to strike us again? We know that as adults, we are asked to make decisions we would never have been capable of making as children. As a nation, are we able to be more than adults and be more Christ-like? Are we able to show compassion when reason and emotion commands us to strike back? 

Americans do not see themselves as turning their backs on victims of violence, but yet that is what half this nation’s governors are doing when they deny refugees. Americans cherish our First Amendment right to worship; is this any time to demonize 1 billion faithful of any religion, no matter what a numbered few of them have done? Are we more American or more Christ-like by doing so? I think not. Fear is natural, but we are called upon to be more than just afraid. Anger is natural, but we are called upon to be more than angry. The wisest decisions won’t be made by reacting quickly or irrationally, that is who our enemies are, that is what leads to terror.

Now is the time for America to show who we really are and why we are better than the terrorism we seek to eliminate.