Quote from Forum Archives on September 14, 2001, 5:53 pm

Posted by: mestes <mestes@...>

Amen,
dana

> BreakPoint with Charles Colson
> Commentary #010914 - 9/14/2001
> Overcoming Evil with Good: A Test for American Christians
>
>
> Sher Singh was born in India and has lived in the
> United States for two years. On Wednesday, when his
> train from Boston to Washington, D.C. stopped in
> Providence, Rhode Island, he was arrested --
> suspected of involvement in the terrorism that rocked
> the country on Tuesday.
>
> Alerted by television reports, a crowd gathered
> outside the train station. As police led Mr. Singh
> from the station the crowd whooped and jeered. "Kill
> him!" yelled one man. "You killed my brother,"
> shrieked another. Mr. Singh, who had absolutely no
> connection with the terrorism, is a Sikh and wears a
> turban, a long beard, and a ceremonial dagger
> strapped to his shoulder.
>
> Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. In Chicago a
> crowd marched on a local mosque shouting, "U.S.A.!
> U.S.A.!" Someone threw a fire bomb at an Arab-
> American community center in Texas. Arab Americans
> have been assaulted and harassed across the country.
> A nineteen year old in Chicago commented, "I'm proud
> to be American and I hate Arabs and I always have."
>
> Evil, in this world, begets more evil. It's self-
> perpetuating. And we're already seeing that in the
> rage against Mr. Singh and people like him. By sharp
> contrast, Paul wrote to the Romans: "overcome evil
> with good" [Romans 12:21].
>
> One of the reasons I believe the Christian Gospel
> couldn't be a made-up religion as some people think,
> is that it tells us to do that which is contrary to
> our human nature. When evil is done to us, the human
> instinct is to respond with evil. The result is that
> evil triumphs. In this case, if we responded to the
> terrorist attacks with evil, the terrorists would
> win. But the Gospel tells us to act exactly contrary
> to our own nature, to respond to evil with good.
>
> The most powerful example of this principle I know is
> Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, a Catholic priest in Poland in
> the early 1980s. The pale, gaunt priest had a two-
> fold message: Defend the truth, and overcome evil
> with good. People responded and overflowed his
> church. The secret police followed him everywhere. He
> began to receive threats and, finally, one night
> after celebrating Mass and preaching, Fr. Jerzy
> disappeared.
>
> About ten days later, as 50,000 people came to Mass
> and to listen to a tape of his last sermon, they
> heard that his body had been found in the Vistula
> River -- badly mutilated by torture. The secret
> police braced for an uprising. But on the day of Fr.
> Jerzy's funeral, the huge crowd that walked past
> their headquarters bore a banner and shouted what it
> said, "We forgive." Fr. Jerzy taught them well.
>
> Only Christians, men and women who are touched by and
> understand the present reality of the Cross, can
> possibly overcome evil with good. And if we don't, no
> one else will. Rage and anger will carry the day and
> the terrorists will have won.
>
> This doesn't obviate the government's use of the
> sword, of military force to swiftly and
> proportionately respond to these terrorist attacks.
> We must do that, and our government will. But, as the
> nation's anger rises, there is a great test for
> American Christians: Can we live by the Gospel? Will
> we love our neighbors -- even those who look, sound,
> or seem like those who so ruthlessly attacked us.
>
>
> For further reference:
>
> "Arab-Americans Attacked, Threatened. The Washington
> Post Online, 13 September 2001.
> (www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24685-2001Sep13.html)
>
> Colson, Charles with Ellen Santilli Vaughn. The Body:
> Being Light in Darkness. Dallas: Word Publishing,
> 1992 (pages 211-214).
>
> "Providence Police Detain Amtrak Passenger." The
> Providence Journal, 13 September 2001.
> (www.projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/extra/terror/06164801.htm)
>