Recently I was so frustrated that I quickly jotted down a political satirical essay just to vent, my husband and son thought it should be posted on both fb and here on the forums. So, I'm experimenting with you all. This piece is intended only as a vent and a conversation starter......
The other day, my daughter posted this gem....Another Christian terrorist is shooting up an abortion clinic. Moderate Christians, do something about your religious extremists.
I thought she might have a point, so I looked for the most Christian extremist group I could find. Let me tell you about the ordeal, it was really heroing.
It all started as we were heading to Church on Sunday morning. The air was cool and the sky clear, all in all a beautiful day to be alive. We had left the house without a care in the world, after all, where we live, terrorists are not too interested because they couldn't produce mass panic. It would be good territory for a terrorist camp wanting to instruct their young people in how to be a terrorist, how to be suicide bombers, how to recruit young people to their cause, even how to teach them to murder and rape like we keep hearing about in the news. So I thought about the admonition to focus on the terrorists in the Christian community, you know the extremists.
We turned down a dirt road and that is when things began to get frightening. I had never thought about the Christian extremists before, how truly dangerous and threatening they were, but there it was, plain as day, real threats from the most Christian extremist group I know, a horse and buggy going down the road at a good clip, a father, mother, and 3 children waving at us as they headed to their morning meeting. How dare they be so threatening as to drive their horse on the same road we were driving on, much less wave a friendly greeting, how could they be so suspicious. Suspicious, that was the word of the day. In our current society, the muslim draws suspicion, not condemnation until there is no longer a threat. So I asked my husband to do the only thing a good citizen could do in the case of Christian Extremists...turn around and follow them to see what they were up to.
We followed them to a farm house not far away where other such folks were gathered. Fear seized me because we all know that it is the Christian extremists that are posing the most danger to our safety, right? After all, they wear clothes that identify them as extremists. Their attire would allow them to hide weapons such as guns and bombs. There were children around, they must be teaching them to be terrorists, how to rape, murder, and how to be offended if someone looks at them suspiciously. In fact, our fear was so great at this point that we thought best to drive on by and leave them so that we were not beaten and beheaded for having different views than they do about God and how to live our lives.
After our own worship meeting, we headed home down the same stretch of road. That is when we really began to fear for our lives. You see, these people who drove horses and met on farms and wore clothes that could hide things, were now walking in a group of youth, like a gang. Terror, that is all I can say, sheer terror struck us as we began to realize just how dangerous the Amish can be. Even in the heat of summer, they wear long sleeves, and their woman....they wear bibs and aprons and bonnets that can conceal weapons. Don't even get me started about the vehicles that they drive, I mean, have you ever in all your life seen the damage that a pile left on the road by one of their horses can do to a car if you aren't aware that they are there? We affectionately call them "road apples", but after realizing how dangerous the Amish can be, I think a new term might be in order. It's horrifying, simply horrifying to think about how dangerous the Christian Extremists really are.
There is a reason why Muslim extremists are targeted for scrutiny when it comes to terrorist activity and it isn't because they wear burkas or have places of worship for their god. It isn't because they have different religious views, or because some random stray unfortunate soul goes psycho and decides to shoot people and call it holy and just. No, they are targeted because they are known for their violent behavior and everyone who identifies themselves with these groups should without offense expect to be scrutinized until they are found to be no threat. It's the world we live in.
The Amish have a reputation for working hard and doing quality work, The reputation is the result of repeated behaviors. My aunt was told once to put the Amish name on something she made and she would double the amount she got from it. The Amish have a reputation and if I identify with them that reputation also is applied to me. No muslim in our world today should be offended when they are scrutinized because they identify themselves with a known terrorist group. People who hire the Amish for a job, expect them to do the job well and to do it at a reasonable rate because that is their reputation. We in our area, expect to see Amish drive their horse and buggy down the road and meet at farm houses for meeting and even participate in house and barn raisings, because that is the reputation they have. They have a reputation for being friendly, kind, not dangerous and threatening, hard working, and not a threat at all. A lone Amish who does not work hard or doesn't participate is not considered a condemnation on the whole community. Likewise, the muslim extremists have a reputation, it is a reputation for terrorism and if there is a lone Muslim who doesn't participate in terrorism, it doesn't mean that the muslim extremists suddenly lose their reputation, that takes the entire group to change. Likewise there is a difference between a lone church or mosque being extremist and a whole group, spread across a nation or world who align themselves with radical ideas and lifestyle beliefs. In fact, a local small group of extremists that are centered in a local church or mosque is easy to control and express our disagreements with. It is when that group becomes wide spread and tries to cause terror and chaos wherever they go that we have a problem on our hands.
So next time you see a group of Christian extremists walking down the road in their blue shirts and dark pants and wide brimmed hats, be cautious, you never know just how dangerous that Christian extremist group can be. After all, the suicide Amish bombers are always in the news, aren't they?
The other day, my daughter posted this gem....Another Christian terrorist is shooting up an abortion clinic. Moderate Christians, do something about your religious extremists.
I thought she might have a point, so I looked for the most Christian extremist group I could find. Let me tell you about the ordeal, it was really heroing.
It all started as we were heading to Church on Sunday morning. The air was cool and the sky clear, all in all a beautiful day to be alive. We had left the house without a care in the world, after all, where we live, terrorists are not too interested because they couldn't produce mass panic. It would be good territory for a terrorist camp wanting to instruct their young people in how to be a terrorist, how to be suicide bombers, how to recruit young people to their cause, even how to teach them to murder and rape like we keep hearing about in the news. So I thought about the admonition to focus on the terrorists in the Christian community, you know the extremists.
We turned down a dirt road and that is when things began to get frightening. I had never thought about the Christian extremists before, how truly dangerous and threatening they were, but there it was, plain as day, real threats from the most Christian extremist group I know, a horse and buggy going down the road at a good clip, a father, mother, and 3 children waving at us as they headed to their morning meeting. How dare they be so threatening as to drive their horse on the same road we were driving on, much less wave a friendly greeting, how could they be so suspicious. Suspicious, that was the word of the day. In our current society, the muslim draws suspicion, not condemnation until there is no longer a threat. So I asked my husband to do the only thing a good citizen could do in the case of Christian Extremists...turn around and follow them to see what they were up to.
We followed them to a farm house not far away where other such folks were gathered. Fear seized me because we all know that it is the Christian extremists that are posing the most danger to our safety, right? After all, they wear clothes that identify them as extremists. Their attire would allow them to hide weapons such as guns and bombs. There were children around, they must be teaching them to be terrorists, how to rape, murder, and how to be offended if someone looks at them suspiciously. In fact, our fear was so great at this point that we thought best to drive on by and leave them so that we were not beaten and beheaded for having different views than they do about God and how to live our lives.
After our own worship meeting, we headed home down the same stretch of road. That is when we really began to fear for our lives. You see, these people who drove horses and met on farms and wore clothes that could hide things, were now walking in a group of youth, like a gang. Terror, that is all I can say, sheer terror struck us as we began to realize just how dangerous the Amish can be. Even in the heat of summer, they wear long sleeves, and their woman....they wear bibs and aprons and bonnets that can conceal weapons. Don't even get me started about the vehicles that they drive, I mean, have you ever in all your life seen the damage that a pile left on the road by one of their horses can do to a car if you aren't aware that they are there? We affectionately call them "road apples", but after realizing how dangerous the Amish can be, I think a new term might be in order. It's horrifying, simply horrifying to think about how dangerous the Christian Extremists really are.
There is a reason why Muslim extremists are targeted for scrutiny when it comes to terrorist activity and it isn't because they wear burkas or have places of worship for their god. It isn't because they have different religious views, or because some random stray unfortunate soul goes psycho and decides to shoot people and call it holy and just. No, they are targeted because they are known for their violent behavior and everyone who identifies themselves with these groups should without offense expect to be scrutinized until they are found to be no threat. It's the world we live in.
The Amish have a reputation for working hard and doing quality work, The reputation is the result of repeated behaviors. My aunt was told once to put the Amish name on something she made and she would double the amount she got from it. The Amish have a reputation and if I identify with them that reputation also is applied to me. No muslim in our world today should be offended when they are scrutinized because they identify themselves with a known terrorist group. People who hire the Amish for a job, expect them to do the job well and to do it at a reasonable rate because that is their reputation. We in our area, expect to see Amish drive their horse and buggy down the road and meet at farm houses for meeting and even participate in house and barn raisings, because that is the reputation they have. They have a reputation for being friendly, kind, not dangerous and threatening, hard working, and not a threat at all. A lone Amish who does not work hard or doesn't participate is not considered a condemnation on the whole community. Likewise, the muslim extremists have a reputation, it is a reputation for terrorism and if there is a lone Muslim who doesn't participate in terrorism, it doesn't mean that the muslim extremists suddenly lose their reputation, that takes the entire group to change. Likewise there is a difference between a lone church or mosque being extremist and a whole group, spread across a nation or world who align themselves with radical ideas and lifestyle beliefs. In fact, a local small group of extremists that are centered in a local church or mosque is easy to control and express our disagreements with. It is when that group becomes wide spread and tries to cause terror and chaos wherever they go that we have a problem on our hands.
So next time you see a group of Christian extremists walking down the road in their blue shirts and dark pants and wide brimmed hats, be cautious, you never know just how dangerous that Christian extremist group can be. After all, the suicide Amish bombers are always in the news, aren't they?
