Let’s see if THIS doesn’t get a discussion started!
As an American citizen and patriot, there is no question about it- I have no desire to see my daughters or granddaughters compelled to wear the burhka, or to simply have to make their wardrobe choices on the basis of fear for their physical safety as is happening right now in Scandinavia and other areas of Europe. I have no desire to see them live under sharia law after the American experiment in liberty and self-government has been brought to an end. If there were anything I could do to harm our enemies or support our defenders I would do it. God save us from this.
As a Christian, though, the perspective changes. I believe that our life here is just a preparation for the eternal life that will follow. Now, consider what eternity really means… against the infinite measure of eternity, all merely finite measures are equally- infinitely- small. No matter how old you live to be, the first second of your life is a far bigger proportion of your life than your whole life is to eternity. How much do YOU remember about your first second? Considering that, is there anything in this life that can possibly matter more than what affects our eternal fate?
Humanly speaking, I want my daughters to enjoy lives filled with joy and free of sadness or suffering. But it is also well known that a sheltered, pampered, carefree upbringing can be the ruin of a child’s character, while hardships can build and strengthen it. We don’t always have control over what happens to us- but we have total control over how we respond, and only two responses are ever possible- “THY will be done”, or “My will be done”. Regardless of our circumstances, the first reply conditions us to become fit for our heavenly life- the second reply renders us unfit. Throughout history the Church has survived and even flourished under even the most terrible persecutions when the faithful have answered “Thy will be done”. If America follows Europe down the road of Islamization, what does that matter in terms of our relationship to God and our eternal salvation?
I don’t believe that it does matter at all. In fact, I am a little personally disillusioned by my slowly developing understanding that my personal comfort really isn’t an issue to God. And unfortunately it is an issue to me, still. After all, the Scripture tells that the sparrow falls, and doesn’t say that He catches it. The developing of my character is an issue, though. I find that as the difficulties that I face in my life from day to day seem overwhelming, they are nothing near real persecution, yet I hardly have the fiber to meet the challenge, and sometimes completely fail at at the effort. I am so weak, and I can see that even though I know that I KNOW what is good and true and right, I also see that my strength comes from Him, issue by issue, struggle by struggle, and that I only survive as I depend upon Christ for divine strength.
I think that as Americans we need to do whatever we can to slow down this trip, simply because in human terms, it would be better for us to have more time to climb “to higher ground.” I think it would be better for our young people not to have this “psuedo good” but evil religion to choose from.
My daugher, a teenager, who now lives in Colorado, in an upscale economic neighborhood has some muslim friends. She thinks they are good people. She’s angry that Americans judge these people so harshly. I tried to explain to her that you can’t judge all Americans by it’s worst criminals, so you can’t judge the evil in a religion, and a bent culture at large by a few decent people you know personally. However, she stands firmly that what they stand for is something to desire, something to reach for, something to emulate. That’s very disturbing to me, as a mother, but also to see that as a possible america-wide phenomena that is invasive and destructive to our freedom.
I think that this is just a wonderful topic. Thanks for it’s introduction. I’m interested to see where other people in their thoughts about this.