GLOBAL TERRORISM The Moral Linkage By Dr. Robert Gange PART 1 - THE ROLE OF GOD ======================== ATTACK ON AMERICA ----------------- On September 11, 2001 two commercial airplanes were hijacked by Islamic terrorists and, with passengers on-board, deliberately flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. Both flights originated at Logan International Airport in Boston. A third plane flew into the Pentagon but a fourth, intended for the White House, crashed instead near Pittsburgh due to courageous passengers fighting the terrorists. Within minutes, high temperatures from burning jet fuel caused the twin towers to collapse, killing almost 3000 innocent civilians-- mostly Americans, but also citizens from about 80 countries. Hundreds of fire fighters, police officers and emergency care workers also died when one-million tons of steel and concrete buried them alive as they worked to save others. That evening President George W. Bush declared that America was now at war against international terrorism. There is nothing anyone can write that can adequately describe the horror of these tragedies. Nor can words possibly convey the extent of the human suffering, sorrow and loss that was caused by these insane and evil acts. And as time passed, one word began to be heard above all others: "Why?" Why had this happened? Why would anyone do such a thing? Why would people commit such inhumane and horrible deeds? Why? MUSLIM TERRORISTS ----------------- As information later became available through the news media, America learned that 19 demented Islamic despots had deliberately sacrificed their lives in misguided compliance to a non-existent deus whom they believed wanted America destroyed. Even worse, later information disclosed that these evil men were part of a much larger group of terrorists in networks extending across 60 countries, and composed of some several hundred thousand Islamic extremists. Fueled by crazed passion and a warped sense of Islamic destiny, these terrorists perceive Mohammed's writings (the Koran) to mandate deeds of inhumane savagery so demonic, as to stem from the pit of hell itself. Lathered by misguided frenzy, these Muslim extremists view America as "the Great Satan," terrorists as "holy warriors," and Allah as "commanding" every kind of atrocity and abomination that their twisted minds can hallucinate. MORAL DECADENCE --------------- America's moral decadence was debated long before September 11. Abortion for non-medical reasons of convenience, the ban on prayer in public schools, removal of the 10 Commandments from government buildings, public acceptance of homosexual behavior as a legitimate alternate life style, and legalization of hard-core pornography from "sea to shining sea" all contributed to the growing perception that something was morally wrong in America long before the Twin Towers were ever destroyed. In hindsight, we know that each of these moral compromises helped reinforce Islamic extremist belief that the "Great Satan" was contaminating their holy lands, and that "Allah" was commanding them to stop it. Here then, is at least one moral component to the September 11, 2001 tragedy viz., Islamic extremist resolve to remove Western contamination from their "holy lands" by eliminating the moral decadence that they believed the "Great Satan" America was infusing into their culture. Yet in seeking to destroy America, on September 11 these terrorists mindlessly slaughtered about 7000 innocent civilians from some 80 countries. In doing so, they became the very evil that their warped minds sought to eliminate. THE QUESTION OF JUDGMENT ------------------------ In the wake of America's recovery, two prominent American clergymen made comments that implied the September 11 incident may have been linked to another moral issue-- that of America's moral decadence. Their remarks suggested that God may have used the horrible senseless massacre of September 11 to judge America, and may have even played a role in its advent. Although they later rescinded their comments, the thought that they kindled, and that later rose to national prominence raised this question: Had God stopped protecting America? This question was discussed in the church, in the press, and on numerous TV talk shows: Had God judged America? Of course in itself, this question invites several other questions. For example, Did God ever protect America? And if he did, why would He stop protecting America now? And beyond this, How could a loving God allow innocent people and children to suffer and die? These and related questions are often asked when calamity occurs. But they are often asked by people who are uninformed about the God of the Bible. Not only do such questions create conflicting answers, but they bring as many opinions as there are people to voice them. The opinions differ because we each perceive "god" as sharing our moral views. Since these views differ among people, so too do the "gods" we believe share them. MANY GODS MEANS MANY OUTCOMES ----------------------------- Ignorance of the Bible's teachings invites moral relativism and, with it, the freedom to create our god in whatever image we envision him to be. If one's god is loving while another's is harsh, then this latter god is seen by the person who creates him to do harm that another, more loving god would never be seen to do-- at least in the mind of one who creates him. Since there can be as many gods as people who create them, the question as to whether or not god would judge America has, in the last analysis, as many answers as there are people. However having said this, there is of course, the God of the Bible. This is the God of the Hebrews-- the Holy One Who gave the world Ten Commandments embedded in writings that have not only remained unchanged over 5000 years of human record, but with prophecies confirmed by historical and archeological evidence uncovered IN the past 150 years. THE HOLY BIBLE -------------- Although written on three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe), in three languages (Hebrew Aramaic and Greek), and over thousands of years by people of widely diverse economic, social and educational background who lived and died before others were born, nonetheless the Bible's message brings supernatural coherence in three parts: (1) The Old Testament says man has an incurable human sin problem, but that God has a solution. (2) The Gospels' announce God's provision for sin arrived, and His Name is Jesus Christ. (3) The Epistles (Books after the Gospels) reveal Christ is Coming again to eradicate evil on earth. That's it. That's the Bible. Regardless of one's religious beliefs or view of Christ-- He's its Centerpiece. His Passion is outlined in Isaiah 53, details of His Crucifixion are peppered throughout the Psalms, and the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah's Coming are identical to the New Testament prophesies of Christ's Second Coming. Moreover unlike any other human who walked the earth, Christ not only claimed Deity-- but provided "proof" by bodily rising from the grave 3 days after being publicly put to death. Of course many if not most of us reject this claim. But virtually all skeptics fail to examine its historical warrant. In point of fact, it is as secure as history can make it. Here's an uneducated Beggar who never traveled more than 200 miles from where He was born, and yet the Y2K crisis forced an entire world to spend one-trillion dollars just because He was born (the zeros in 2000 trace to Christ's birth). Even Mohammed walked in Christ's Shadow (the Koran was penned 640 AD). ONE TRUE GOD ------------ But why reference geological, archeological and historical evidences that support Bible credibility? And what has any of this to do with God's possible role in the September 11 incident? The answer is that these evidences point us not to a whimsical parade of anemic deities as numerous as the human conjectures that spawn them, but instead to an all-powerful, Holy, Just and Eternal God who made heaven and earth and the life they contain. In speaking of Himself, the Bible (Isaiah 43:13) records: "Even from eternity, I am He; I act and who can reverse it?" This is the God of the Bible-- a Divine Being Who instructs a moral code of absolute do's and don'ts across hundreds of generations of mankind. In history the Bible is an anvil that has withstood thousands of years of hammers. The hammers are gone, but the anvil remains-- and it offers us well-defined, unique, unambiguous, time-tested moral rules that can be rationally applied to investigate the question of God's role in the events of September 11. Thus the question before us is this: Did the God of the Bible Judge America on September 11, 2001? LOVE OR WRATH? -------------- But even here we encounter confusion, due to the popular practice of selecting those Bible passages that describe God one way, while ignoring other Bible texts that paint a different portrait. In John 3:36, for example, the Apostle John warns of God's wrath yet provides assurance of God's Love in 1 John 4:8. Is God a God of wrath, or Love? Wrath lends support to the belief God judged America September 11, whereas Love makes us ask: How could God have let this happen? After all, does not God have power to do whatever He wants? But this same Apostle also writes (1 John 3:3-4) that God is pure. If God can do anything, why does He not rid the world of the sin that He hates? One answer is that many of us see God as a placid halcyon. They conceive of God as some ill-defined wimp whose love becalms Him into accepting human sin, no matter how abominable. This view not only teaches that God played no role in the September 11 tragedy, but that His Love prevents Him from ever inflicting harm on human beings. God is seen here as tearfully sitting on the side-lines, grief-stricken at the horrible pain and suffering unfolding before His eyes, as His Love embraces the decision of 19 terrorists to willfully inflict harm on their fellow human beings. But does the Bible describe God with Love so vast as to render Him accepting of anything and everything we do? God is indeed a God of Love. But there is another side to His nature. The God of the Bible is also a Holy God (Isaiah 6:3) whose Love can never embrace what His Holiness must condemn. Moreover, the God of the Bible testifies that He is the only true God: "I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God" (Isaiah 45:5). If, therefore, we seek to learn whether the God of the Bible judged America on September 11, we must abandon our intuition, and study what God reveals about Himself and His judgments in the Bible. DOES GOD KILL THE INNOCENT? --------------------------- Most Christians believe they know the God of Scripture (the Bible) and say: "No, God did not judge America on September 11." They argue that innocent people were killed that day, including toddlers, and that God would never do such a thing. But does this view align with what the Bible teaches? From our human perspective, this argument seems perfectly reasonable. But should we conclude that the God of the Bible did not judge America because innocent people died? The answer is no. Consider what God reveals of Himself in Scripture: "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to thousands who love me and keep my commandments" (Exodus 20:4-6). Although nothing in this text implies that God judged America, it does teach that toddlers and infants can be the innocent victims of the sins of past generations. If this be true, how can one cite the deaths of innocent people to conclude that God did not judge America? Did not innocent Egyptians suffer plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and even death of their firstborn because of Pharaoh's sins (Exodus 9:14-16)? Were not innocent people including the sons and wife of Jehoram also struck down when the Lord punished him for his sins (2 Chronicles 21:12-15)? And what of God's wrath against Judah? The Scripture says that He "spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar" (2 Chronicles 36:15-17). Are we to believe that innocent people didn't die when God uprooted the entire nation of Israel (2 Chronicles 7:19-22)? Or consider Deuteronomy 28:15-68). Innocent women were ravished (v.30), and innocent children were eaten (v.53-55). Moreover, verse 59 reads: "the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses." Were not such descendants innocent? CAN MAN FATHOM GOD? ------------------- Clearly these verses do not say God judged America at the World Trade Center on September 11. But what they do show is that the idea should not be dismissed because innocent people including toddlers (and even some infants) died in that horrific incident. God is God, and no human being can rationally question Him. Doing so is not unlike goldfish questioning a nuclear test-ban treaty in Geneva. All we know is that in the Bible, Judgments by God reach across sins of past generations to impact the innocent. But how can the destruction of innocent people be reconciled with a God of Love? And how can a God Who is Love punish children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation? The Bible's answer is as unexpected as it is complex. The text as quoted is incomplete. The actual text reads: "to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to thousands who love me and keep my commandments". The Bible seems to divide mankind into those who hate God, and those who love Him. But it goes further. It reveals that God is able to see things in the future we can't-- much like having Xray vision of the root of two twigs covered by snow in the mid of winter; one root an apple tree, and the other a bramble bush. Here on earth we humans must wait till Spring arrives for the snow to melt, and then see which twig grows into what. Not so with the God of the Bible: "for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad- Jacob I loved but Essau I hated" (Romans 9:11-13). Here God declares His love and hatred for two people who are not yet born! Although God's Choice of Jacob over Essau is vindicated by the decisions each later made, their existence as people illustrates a basic revelation of the Bible viz., the existence of good and evil. HUMAN DEPRAVITY --------------- Jews, Christians and Muslims each accept the existence of good and evil. However they differ in its origin, character and application. Their response also varies: Christians emphasize mercy; Muslims stress justice, and Jews respond with both. Nonetheless general agreement does exist on a related revelation penned by David: "I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5). This text echoes events found in Genesis (the Bible's first Book) known as "the fall of man"-- events that help explain the apparent conflict between the Love of God, and His wrath. In Genesis, God creates man perfect (Genesis 1:27), grants "Adam" broad freedoms throughout a flawless garden (Genesis 2:16), and then instructs him how to avoid death (Genesis 2:17). But an evil intelligence (Genesis 3:1) called Satan or the devil (Revelation 12:9) deceives Adam into disobeying God in a way that now brings sin to the world (Romans 5:12) by the means of human flesh (Romans 7:14-25). Since Adam was created perfect, he was free to choose wrongly-- but he was not under compulsion of his flesh to do so. However, as a result of what he did, all humans are now conceived (by sperm) into a state of depravity (Psalm 51:5). However, since Jesus was virgin born (Matthew 1:18, Luke 1:34-35), his flesh (Hebrews 2:14) was free of sin (Hebrews 4:15. This is why Satan "has nothing" in Jesus (John 14:30). But all of this brings us to the following quagmire: How can man be depraved (Romans 3:10-18), and yet be created in the Image of God (Genesis 1:26)? We are thus confronted with not one-- but two dichotomies: The first that of good and evil, and the other, that of God's Image and man's depravity. What is the doctrine of "depravity?" And what does it have to do with the September 11 WTC attack, and the question of God's possible role in the tragedy? The doctrine of human depravity states that given the right circumstances, man is capable of the most vile acts imaginable. The senseless slaughter of innocent men, women and children at the WTC by 19 Islamic extremists is the most recent example of its validity. In Part 2, we examine the reason for the existence of good and evil, and the paradox of humans that are created in God's Image, but yet born into a state of depravity.