The phrase “strength is in diversity” is said in many places for many different reasons. It is one of the key tenets promoted by the moralists of our United States culture. It is in the air these days. It sounds noble. It sounds correct. It sounds Christian. It is, however, as a statement by itself, not true.
Where this becomes most evident is when diversity itself becomes the goal. Inclusion and exclusion by groups that value diversity above all else are often based on shallow and meaningless characteristics. The much more profound merits and character of the people themselves are ignored. It’s a cheap replacement for a noble and holy valuation of all people on their intrinsic, created selves.
Strength is in unity. This truism stands alone much better. Unity of purpose, spirit, and values has strength beyond the common. When the souls of a group are knit together in a communal struggle to achieve an outcome, the sum is greater than the whole. This is because the synergy of effort increases inertia and multiplies the effectiveness of their force.
There is often wisdom found in diversity, and through that wisdom, strength is increased. Diversity of thought, opinion, and perspective increases the base from which an individual or group can operate. Apart from unity of will and purpose, diversity does nothing. A man of two minds does nothing. He sits and vacillates. I admire the ability to make up one’s mind, act on the decision, and yet learn and adjust with changing circumstances, without doubting oneself. God can use a person like that.
I find the passage in James quite interesting in the context of this conversation.
[Jas 1:5-8 CSB] [5] Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God — who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly — and it will be given to him. [6] But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. [7] That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, [8] being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
Why would the Lord give things to a person who does nothing with them? What would the Lord expect him to do with it? He’s not stupid. Wisdom is given to those who will do something with it. Servants/Stewards who are faithful and active with what they already have.
Outside the context of unity, diversity is meaningless. The differences are just crayons in a box. Yay. They aren’t doing anything. Yet, in the hands of an artist with vision and purpose, each color becomes important, and a beautiful piece of art is accomplished.
My reason for thinking on this subject is that the church I attend is currently wrestling with what to do with the diversity of thought and yet no unifying mission. It’s a study in what happens when this is true. As stewards of the Gospel and obedient practice, we are responsible for, and hold value. We act, though, as if we don’t know what to do with it. We fluctuate with the times, and people easily come and go from the membership. Unfortunately, our youth find it just as easy to go elsewhere as it is to stay.
We, as a group of believers and as individuals, say we want to be guided by the Lord. Yet we don’t seek His face for direction. We also don’t try very hard to do anything on our own because we are afraid of putting our faith in our own efforts.
Where to from here? I don’t know. I’m included in the we. I’m as indecisive as they come. From where comes purpose? From where comes a single mind? From where comes decisiveness? All good things come from the Lord. Will He give us what we need? Should we ask Him?
Eph 2 is a wonderful parallel text to the first half of Romans 8. Christ fit both the old and the new together. He is the cornerstone of the kingdom of Heaven. Everything hinges on Him. He fulfilled the law and made it possible for us to do the same. Only through His Spirit and through His Spirit we fulfill the law and we are fellow citizens with the saints and the household of God. No longer is there enmity. We are free to become righteous. We no longer need to sin. There is no longer the need.
We can change. We may change. It is possible for us to change. We can change through His Spirit. We can change through the power of the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and brought new life. That power. That life. That very same Spirit enlivens and powers us today. That is the grace of God. That power. That life. It is the grace of God in our lives. We may change because our why can change. The reason why we live. The reason why we strive. The reason we want to change can change. It no longer must be about ourselves. It may be about Him. It must be about Him. That change changes everything.
No longer are we slaves to what we were. We are free to change. To become righteous. To become better. To become more like Him. Not because it is about us any longer. But because it is about Him. We are able to move forward and change. Change because it is who we are becoming. We are becoming more like Him. Jesus embodies perfection. We don’t want to be like Him because we want to be perfect. We want to be like Him because we are now a new creation and we are now meant to be like Him. We may be like Him. Let this same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus…
[Phl 2:5-11 CSB] (5) Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, (6) who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
(7) Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, (8) he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross.
(9) For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
(10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth —
(11) and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The struggle will be with us to the end of this life.
There are times in your life when you spend time thinking about what your priorities are and what you want out of life. Sometimes those times come unexpectedly and other times they come after an event that reminds you that life on earth has an expiration date.
This week some of my family went to a funeral for a man that we have known and have worked with for 20 years. He was an older gentleman and his passing wasn’t unexpected or a surprise. He was 84 years old and had a family of 15. He had 105 grandchildren and I am guessing there will be a few more added to that number. I have to wonder what legacy Dan Detweiler will have. In 4 generations, will anyone remember that he existed? Will they know what sort of man he was? Will they even care?
Do you know what sort of man your great great grandfather was? You had a bunch of them. Do you know any of their names? Do they matter to you? Have you ever wondered what sort of men they were? What about their wives? You wouldn’t exist today if it wasn’t for them and yet they most likely never crossed your mind.
Do you want to be remembered? Do you want to leave a legacy? Do you need to be remembered to leave a legacy? Do the decisions you make have any importance? Does it make a difference if you make good or bad decisions? Who is affected by those decisions?
I think they matter. I think every decision you make has long reaching implications. This should not paralyze you but make you free to live life joyfully. You matter. We all matter. That is why the work of Christ in your heart is so important. That is why Jesus came to die for us. Because we matter. The world will tell you that you do not matter to anyone but yourself and you need to make sure you are happy because nobody else will. They will tell you that you are alone and you need to make your own way. Is that true?
No person lives alone to themselves. Every moment. Every motivation. Every purpose. Every beat of your heart is affected by someone else and every beat of your heart affects someone else. In countless ways and in boundless measure you matter. We all matter. That is why it is important that you make good choices. We need to live for good. We need to leave a good mark in the world we live in. We need to let the work of the Trinity work His wonderful work.
We all know this. We want to do this. We want to be good and we really to take ourselves as good. We know the motivations of our hearts and we know the things we intended. We judge ourselves as needing only a bit more work and then we are perfect. We know this is laughable but we still believe it.
What messes us up is the fact that we do not exist in a vacuum. We are surrounded by good and evil influences. Depending on your circumstances you will generally think that the world is either a fundamentally good or a fundamentally evil place. What is difficult is to believe that the other might be true. That the world might be different than we perceive it. That we do not have a complete understanding of Creation. That there are things that we cannot explain. That we might be wrong in some way that matters. That we may need to repent. To change.
One fundamental understanding we need to have is that our hearts are wicked. Among others, here are some clues to that truth.
Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Mark 7:21-23 – For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Romans 1:21 – Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 3:10-18 – As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips: Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Matthew 12:35 – A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Psalms 51:5 – Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Psalms 118:8 – [It is] better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
I want to focus on one of those verses for a bit. Matthew 12:35. Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and was warning them to repent.
[Mat 12:33-37 KJV] 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by [his] fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
This gives us another clue to the nature of our hearts. We do have a choice about what treasure is there. The CSB translation of this verse, Mat 12:35 “A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.” We can choose to put good or evil material there. Through the work of Christ, we have that option. That ability.
What is in your heart? Have you been putting good treasure there? How do you put good treasure there? Do you consider the things you read? Do you consider the things you listen to? Do you consider the choices you make on what media you will consume? When was the last time you chose to not consume something because it was unhealthy? What about the thoughts that you dwell on? What about the friends that you choose? Do they affect the decisions you make? Who do you let tell you what is acceptable and good? Do you consider?
I will tell you that reading the Bible, praying, and fasting are the best ways to build good treasure in your heart because those things are good. There are other good things that you have opportunities to do. As you do those things, you are putting good things in your heart because those things are good. What you choose to do with the time you have is what determines what is in your heart.
Where do you want to go? Are you bent toward evil? Do you want what is good? Is your heart in a good place? How can you tell? I will remind you that you are not alone in the world and that is why it matters. You are not alone. Every choice you make will affect someone else in some way. Even the thought life and emotional life you lead matters.
If you are not in the place you want to be, I recommend doing something about it. If you believe there is nothing you can do about it, you are believing a lie. The grace of God will enable all who want to know Him. It is a divine promise.
[Jer 29:13 KJV] 13 And ye shall seek me, and find [me], when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
[Zep 2:1-3 CSB] 1 Gather yourselves together; gather together, undesirable nation, 2 before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning of the LORD’s anger overtakes you, before the day of the LORD’s anger overtakes you. 3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who carry out what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the LORD’s anger.
[Luk 11:9-13 CSB] 9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 “Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? “
1. Memories of his father with his face hidden behind a camera. The present and the real are distorted by the preparation for the future. Time is distorted by time. Memories of memories. The reality of the future constantly and starkly stares one in the face. Choices, paths, diversions, and surprises are normal and required. The effects of numbing oneself from reality result in weakness, apathy, and frustration of fulfillment. Hollow emptiness. Cavernous souls are in constant need of amusement.
2. Constant persuasion by desire, lust, wishes, drive, greed, and need, numb the touches of eternity and blind us to the reality of the unseen and the unknown.
Exhaustion of both mind and body has hidden visions and dreams and detached us from the winds of heaven, driven us into retreat, and weakened our souls to the point of devastation. It is no wonder that the rallying cry of our leaders is fear and dread. “Death, death reigns” they cry and we die for lack of food. Self-fulfilling prophecy. Doom brought by the pronouncement of it.
3. Live! Love! cries the Almighty. I won. The battle is over! There is no need for defeat or fear! Triumph is in your hand to claim. Power is mine to give! Arise I say and walk. Open your eyes and see! Listen for my song, my call to your soul to happiness and joy. My heart is full of goodness toward you and my desire is your best. I have created you – I can heal you. Come, come to me all who labor. I will fill and restore you. My kiss of love is the seal of your soul and the breath of your life. I am full and have no need. Turn. Turn to me and be with me.
“The game is played, not to protect the rules; rather, the rules are made to protect the game.” – Ravi Zacharias in Recapture the Wonder
Often when people are confronted with rules, especially rules that do not make sense, they rebel against them in some fashion or another. It is also a nearly universal problem that if one does not understand something, it must be stupid or useless. Because of this, when we disobey a rule that doesn’t make sense it doesn’t really feel like we are rebelling when in fact we are.
How a person relates to rules tells a lot about them and is most likely an indicator of a lot of things that he would never tell you to your face.
The longest game in history is life and everyone is playing.
The sheer stupidity of mankind shaking its collective fist at its creator can only be explained by the nefarious evil known as the “great lie” that was told to Eve. She was told that knowledge would make her a god. Mankind still believes this today and is in the process of testing all of the rules that were handed to them by preceding generations. We believe that if we “figure it out” we can make our own rules and thus be gods. This makes sense if you are believing a lie.
A false rule.
The only absolute is that there are no absolutes. Thought experiments filter down to actions that result in mass destruction, chaos, pain, and misery and are blamed on the personal evil of one person or another. The confusion stems from the results of the experiment because the facts are looked at through the filter of “the great lie.” We hate the truth. We think it limits us so we bash at it, bloodying our hands and hurting ourselves but never budging the wall.
There is a God.
And we are not Him. He gave us enough rope to hang ourselves or help ourselves. If you believe that Christ is the Son of God and that He can forgive you of your sin you are suddenly winning the game. There is nothing you can do to win, except to believe. And when you do this, the rules no longer apply because the only reason the rules exist is to make everyone who believes “the great lie” lose. When you enter the Kingdom of Heaven you Honor the King and by doing so you renounce the “great lie” and you are justified – pardoned from the guilt that is heaped on you by the rules. The crazy thing about Honoring the King is that you end up obeying the rules because that is who He is and that is how you honor Him because the rules are a revelation of truth. It is the nature of the beast. If you are not Honoring the King and you are trying to win the game by yourself, you are still believing “the great lie.”
“Love the Lord thy God” is the greatest rule or the rule that all the other rules are bullet points of. “The most irresistible force in the world is love and the most vulnerable.” – Ravi Zacharias in Cries of the Heart
So the rules protect you from the “great lie” and allow you to play the game of life for real
Things have not changed here. Everyone is hoping that the peace talks will succeed. Hoping and praying for a miracle. No one is sorry for what has taken place so far. The same people that have been chased from their own homes are not hesitant to chase others from their homes.
If there is nothing that comes from the peace talks that satisfies everyone, soon, Kenya will definitely go through round two of all the violence.
A news article that caught my attention:
NAIROBI, Kenya: (Associated Press) Kenya’s opposition on Wednesday threatened mass protests within a week if the government fails to start work on changing the constitution to pave the way for any type of power-sharing government.
Parliament must convene within a week to enact constitutional changes that will be needed to restructure the government in a way that will divest some of the power from the presidency, said Anyang Nyongo, secretary-general of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement.
“If that does not happen, ODM hereby gives notice that we call our supporters to mass action within one week,” he said.
Another senior party official, Najib Balala, said any such action would be peaceful. However, previous political protests have turned violent and deteriorated into ethnic clashes.
Weeks of violence sparked by the flawed Dec. 27 vote have left more than 1,000 dead and forced some 600,000 to flee their homes.
NAIROBI, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Kenyan elders have demanded a goat from President Mwai Kibaki as compensation for an alleged assault by First Lady Lucy Kibaki, local media said on Sunday.
The government denies the allegation by member of parliament Gitobu Imanyara who had threatened to sue Kibaki’s wife. Imanyara said he was assaulted last month at State House.
The Sunday Standard newspaper said a council of traditional elders, the Njuri Cheke, met on Friday and decided to take up the legislator’s case.
“They have demanded a fine of a he-goat and an unreserved apology from the First Family.” The paper said the elders wanted the matter resolved according to Meru tribal customs.
Kibaki is wrestling with a crisis over his disputed re-election that has triggered widespread ethnic bloodshed.
The Presidential Press Service said Lucy’s lawyers would take action against Imanyara’s “wild allegations”, which it said bordered on character assassination, blackmail and were part of a wider political scheme aimed at tarnishing her office.
Kibaki’s wife is known to be fiercely protective of her husband and has courted controversy several times. In December, local media said she slapped an official who called her by the name of a woman widely reported to be Kibaki’s second wife.
On Monday, Kibaki is expected to meet chief mediator Kofi Annan again, and also U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose visit is meant to shore up the Annan-chaired talks aimed at finding a solution to the Kenyan crisis. (Reporting by Daniel Wallis)
I find something like this is, at the least, interesting. If high Kenya government officials are so concerned about a slap on the face and a goat… What are the chances of them being able to reach a peace deal?
For the last several days, things have been generally quiet here in Nakuru. But there is no reason to believe that things are peaceful. Everyone is on edge, scared, wondering what the next disaster will be and where. Rumors of planned violence abound.
There was another Minister of Parliament killed on Thursday. He was shot four times in the head by a policeman, within 36 hours of the first one. These events are highly suspect in the eyes of the opposition as being straight up assassinations. The policeman that is being charged with the murder is scheduled to be tried in the High Court of Nakuru. Yesterday, when they read him the charges, he expressed surprise at being charged with murder. Oh and get this, in an “unprecedented move” the media was not allowed to be present in the chamber for the charge or the cautionary statement. I am smelling the proverbial rat.
The killing of the MP sparked more riots and unrest in the towns of Eldoret and Kisumu. We have another mission compound in Kisumu, so it was really unsettling for the missionaries that were caught away from home. Some of them even had to spend the night out in the country-side because it was not safe to go into town. There were “thousands” of people on and alongside the road. They covered the road with stones in order to make it impassable. Here is a picture taken by one of the missionaries from Kisumu, showing the road before it was cleaned off.
Sometimes you wonder if Mr. Kofi Annan and the other peacemakers are kidding themselves. Sometimes you wonder if Democracy will ever work for a nation that has tribes and all of the prejudices that come with tribalism. Sometimes you wonder if mankind is any different than it was 4,000 years ago. The hoodlums don’t care if the person that they are killing is their childhood friend, or even a child for that matter. Killing him only because his name is not right. The official statistics put the death toll in the hundreds. I would not be in the least surprised if it was actually in the thousands. I have heard too many stories of bodies lying around, getting eaten by dogs.
How can you have peace in your country if no one in your country has peace in their heart?
Here is a riveting account by a missionary in Kisumu, Kenya on January 31, 2008. Dear all,
I feel indebted to all of you who have shown interest and concern to at least brief you on some of the details of what happened today.
This morning I picked up Evans at 7:00 and took him and his wife to the Kisumu airport to fly to Nairobi to begin cancer treatments. They ended up getting bumped because of a problem on the plane. By noon I was ready to head out. I planned to make 4 stops this afternoon.
Stop one was at Sylvanus and Perez. They had five self supporting children living in Nakuru. Now they are either back in Sylvanus’s compound or on their way back. Currently they have 17 people in their compound. Three of the children had all their belongings burned by the Kikuyus last week.
I listened to Caroline, a daughter, relate here narrow escape from a huge crowd of Mungiki killers. Others were being killed just near to where she was running but somehow she managed to escape. She thinks they didn’t know she was a Luo. It was the kind of story that books are made of.
I was almost ready to leave when Perez overheard a phone conversation between Sylvanus and someone else. She quickly informed me that town is in an uproar. Almost immediately I got calls from others telling me the same thing. I decided to make a dash for home, hoping to get there before the road blocks keep me out.
As I sped toward home some bikers motioned me off of the road. Others motioned me on. I came within about a mile of town when I saw a huge crowd. I pulled off of the road trying to determine what to do. As i paused a public transport van veered into an off road opposite from where I was parked. Several young guys lobbed rocks at his rear window.
I quickly decided to get out of there. I retraced my steps back to Sylvanus’s, arriving without a problem. They were very happy to host me and assured me that my vehicle and I are safe there. I was given ugali and scrambled eggs. I waited there until about 4:30, thinking that probably I’d end up spending the night there. I kept talking with others via phone trying to assess from a distance how town was. Bernice informed me that there were many gunshots.
Around 4:30 pm our gateman called and said the road is starting to open up. He was on foot and was assessing the situation for me. He called and said that vehicles are passing and that I should come. I agreed to meet him and then take him with me through the worst parts.
I was not expecting what I saw.
I had imagined a road that was basically open with a few road blocks pulled off to the side to allow traffic to pass. What i saw was basically road blocks the whole way in to town. The road was covered with big rocks. Vehicles were burning/smoldering on the road. And people by the thousand. They were manning the road blocks and only letting people through if they pleased.
Jackton (gateman) was worried but told me to drive slowly and let him talk to the people. I felt hesitant but proceeded. It was basically a gauntlet of hundreds of frenzied young Luo men carrying machetes, pipes, clubs. They came up asking for money, yelling, threatening. Jackton sweet talked our way through the first road block. From there we encountered groups of young Luos every 10 feet or so. They were still throwing rocks on the road. The road was impassible but we were able drive beside the road. We were following a “press” vehicle. They seemed to have some tolorance for the press so I kept tight on their trail. One by one we worked our way through the crowds and road blocks. Sometimes they had to move stuff to allow us to pass.
It was not a joke. I did not feel overly fearful at any time. Not sure how to explain that.
Finally we got through the last road block. It might have taken 10 – 15 minutes to go through the whole ordeal. At one point riot policemen were footing it on the road. They had guns but they looked quite stressed out. After they cleared one road block, the crowds simply put it back in place. We passed a number of burned vehicles, huge amounts of rocks on the road, burning tires etc.
I was very glad to be home and I think Bernice was glad too… unless she was faking it ; )
Thanks for all your prayers.
I’m thinking that maybe tomorrow I’ll do bookwork at home…
What happened in Kenya is that the elections were flawed and there are currently two men who claim to be the rightfully elected President of Kenya. The incumbent (Kibaki) is from the largest tribe in Kenya which are the Kikuyu. The opposition (ODM) is led by a man by the name of Raila. ODM is a coalition party comprised of almost all of the other major tribes,which are the Luhya, Luo, and the Kalenjin.
According to government statistics, the main groups are — Kikuyu (22 percent); Luhya (14 percent); Luo (13 percent); Kalenjin (12 percent); Kamba (11 percent)
The fighting started because the opposition is positive that Raila is supposed to be the president, but Kibaki had already sworn himself into office within an hour of the announcement of the results. Sadly that reason was only a excuse to get started. The political stalemate has lasted long enough that the fight has taken on its own life, and has evolved into a tribal war that stems from resentment from things that happened 49 years ago while Kenya was still under British rule.
The Kalenjin tribe is claiming all of the Rift Valley Province to be their own, and of course the Kikuyu are disputing that. The problem is that while the Kalenjin are vastly outnumbered by the Kikuyu, they are fearless and heartless, and the Kikuyu are deathly afraid of them and run from a direct fight with them. But the Kikuyu are taking their anger and frustration out on the friends of the Kalenjin, which only makes the Kalenjin even more angry.
This all came close to home last Fri and Sat. Friday night there were church members that were chased from their homes and on Saturday there were mobs and some major fighting very close to our compound here in Nakuru. We even heard some bullets flying overhead. One thing that we are thankful for is the fact that the ‘bad guys’ don’t have guns, only the Police and military have them, which gives a definite upper hand to the ‘good guys.’ The weapons of choice are machetes, sticks, spears, rocks, bow and arrows, and such like medieval weaponry. But things are continuing in a downward spiral. Just this morning (12:30 am) a Minister of Parliament was murdered as he arrived home in his car.
Pray for us as we make decisions and pray for the Kenyan people as their lives are shattered.
There was a lot of fear coming up to the elections that the situation would become very volatile and that there would be a lot of violence. But I am writing this on the morning of the second day after and there is not much happening. It looks like the previous president will be “unseated by the polls” which would be a first for Kenya.
Parliament was shaken up though. Sixteen of the MPs that were running for reelection were left out in the cold. Including the former Vice President. And the former minister of roads. Yay!
Now, lets see if these people keep their promises.
Wow, looks like the extremists are not above killing their own countrymen in this perverse way. Of course, I knew that they do stupid stuff like that but it still amazes me. I wonder if the bomber will still get his 70 rewards? He didn’t kill any infidels.
It’s amazing what deluded people will do. Would you blow yourself up for the sake of anything that you believe? Now these guys are doing it for the sake of a really bad cause, would you give your own life for the sake of a really good cause?
The world thinks that Bush is a gun slingin’ cowboy that wants to have his own way. The witch doctors in Guatemala are planning to purify the ancient site that he is planning to visit, because of the evil spirits that he will bring. Is he really all that? I mean, c’mon guys, do you really believe all that crap?
