Next week, the Christian calendar commemorates the Massacre of the Innocents. As you will recall, King Herod the Great (I hesitate to use that title, but that is how history remembers him) sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to slay every child under the age of 2 in order to "catch" the Baby Jesus and eliminate Him as a threat to Herod's throne. (I have often wondered whether girl toddlers were slain along with the boys -- or even how rough soldiers knew a 2-year-old from a 3-year-old!) The event is often passed over during the festivities of the Season -- but the ancient Church placed it there on the calendar for a reason. I will leave you to contemplate why, in light of what I am about to say.
For weeks -- ever since October 7th to be exact -- I have been contemplating my response to the unprovoked, coordinated attacks by triumphalist terrorists who lately committed unspeakable acts of depravity in the country of Israel (please note: they did not commit these acts on their own soil!). Too many people have sanctioned – even praised – these atrocities, and I was at first speechless at the mindless, animalistic response of so many. But I am beginning to formulate my rejoinder, and here is the beginning:
- v When have you ever seen a baby roasted to death in an oven, and thought it a “good thing”?
- v When have you ever rejoiced to see the remains of a dead, raped woman?
- v Would you sanction seeing a girl publicly beaten and thrown into a car on any street in America?
- v Would you approve of a young, terrified teenager witnessing the deaths of his parents in any neighborhood near yours?
If you are revolted by any of these actual recorded (filmed by the terrorists themselves) acts, why do you not cry out?
Why do you not demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice?
Could it be that the baby’s demise is less shocking to a nation that regularly kills its unborn progeny – and hides these acts behind impenetrable walls of legalese and claims of “women’s reproductive rights”? (Note: The baby’s right to life is never mentioned!)
Could it also be that the dead woman’s defilement is less in your eyes than a porn star’s submission to actual rape (and sometimes, murder)? (After all, don’t we want real-life entertainment?)
Do gang members’ actions hold so much sway with you that “it’s no big thing” if you watch one more bloodied civilian? (You’re not the one feeling the pain, after all!)
Would you stand by if a child from your own children’s school were forced to submit to a beating on the playground – even one that led to death, as recently happened in a school in California?
I will pause to allow you to think about what I’ve just said.
_ _ _ _ _
Now that you’ve thought about how uncivilized all of this violence is, let me ask you a few more questions:
- Who actually killed the dead hostages who are being returned to Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)? Would they be dead – or even in harm’s way – if Hamas hadn’t kidnapped them in the first place?
- v Why do you not see any factories, farms, or businesses among the building blown up by the IDF? (Hint: People deprived of hope are much more malleable in the hands of terrorists, so no entrepreneurial endeavors are allowed in the Gaza strip, despite billions of our dollars invested in “humanitarian aid.”)
- v When have you last seen rocket launchers and suicide vests stored in your church’s fellowship hall or downstairs janitorial closet, as they are in mosques and schools in the Gaza strip?
- v Would you be happy if your local “leader” told you to stay in your house – and not get out of the way of an advancing army – because it would serve your leader’s purpose if you got killed?
Wake up, people – and start to speak out
against this modern-day barbarism! If you were ever repulsed by King Herod's unfathomable murders, you must be repulsed by what happened two months ago!
I will say more another day.
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