Re: An alternative response (long rant)

After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury." And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.' Therefore her plagues will come in one day--death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.' Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like this great city?' They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.'" Revelation 18:1-19 * * * * * * * I don't want to appear insensitive to the horror which has visited America. There are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of orphans and widows today who a week ago had husbands, wives, parents. But if Osama bin Laden was responsible for this atrocity, then I'm afraid it's a case of American foreign policy finally hitting home. Osama bin Laden was armed and trained by the CIA throughout the 1980's. The tactics he was taught to use against the Soviet Union were those of a terrorist, simply because there was no way Soviet tanks and troops could be beaten in conventional warfare. This unspeakably evil act would not have occurred without the aid of the American government. Americans have been funding "state-sponsored terrorism" with their taxes for decades: the Contras in Nicaragua did not limit their victims to the Communist regime, CIA-trained death squads were operating in several Central American countries during the 1980's, Saddam Hussein was supplied by the U.S. and other Western democracies with "weapons of mass destruction" when his country was at war with Iran. Only God knows how many innocent lives have been lost as a direct result of American action. And now there is talk of attacking a sovereign nation because they will not comply with an extradition request until they're satisfied that the accused is guilty as charged. Do I believe that Afghanistan would ever willingly release bin Laden? That's not the point. The point is, America is bound by the rule of law just as much as any other nation under God. To act in an arbitrary manner without regard for international law, to launch an attack on a foreign country without a declaration of war, an attack which will surely result in the deaths of non-combatants: women, children, civilians, people with no power to control their destiny... However much I may mourn the tragedy which took place on Tuesday, if America carries out on its threat, it has become that which it seeks to destroy. In his address in the National Prayer Service in Washington on Friday, President Bush vowed to "rid the world of evil." This is a very scary statement. If you closed your eyes and imagined an Arabic accent, it could have been Moammar Qadafi, Saddam Hussein, or Osama bin Laden declaring war on the "Great Satan." We rightly condemn the fundamentalist mindset which fuels much terrorism in the world today. But what happens when our own leaders have the same mindset? The world will not be rid of evil until our Lord Jesus Christ returns in triumph. Perhaps that time has come. God only knows! God sent prophets to ancient Israel to call them to repentance. When they refused, He raised up Babylon to destroy Jerusalem. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, `You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.' But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?' Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.'" 2 Chronicles 7:12-22 Billy Graham spoke at the same service on Friday. He emphasized that America needs to turn to God. America needs to grieve, to mourn, and to repent. May we all hear his words! And may God help us if we don't. May God bless America. For all her sins, she is still capable of doing much good. In spite of the startling similarities between New York City and "Babylon" I honestly do not believe we are there yet.