Puppets on a String
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. - 3 John 11
How can people perform acts of evil and violence in the name of God?
We may be cheering in the streets now that the second suspect has been taken into custody, but is the terror really over? We can hope that it is, but what will be the lasting imprint of this bombing? What is the profile we will create in our minds to help us know whom to avoid, or who may be the next terrorist?
Today's reading warns us not to imitate what is evil, and that sounds too obvious to give it much thought, but what does it mean to do evil?
What I find scary is the thought that some may not see the terrorist act of this week as evil. Listening to all of the experts interviewed on CNN, I heard more than one rationalization for this act, as if the murders were justifiable.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a terrorism expert interviewed by Fox News speculated on when and how these brothers were recruited into terrorism. Do we really believe good people have to be recruited into evil? Aren't we being a bit naive to think everyone sees right and wrong using the same yardstick? When I turn yo Scripture for help with this, I see a long history of getting it wrong when it comes to thinking we know the will of God. Sure, we attribute to God's all that happens, as if we are puppets on a string, incapable of cutting loose and doing our own thing.
I don't think we should rush to celebrate the end of terrorism. We haven't changed in thousands of years, and we are probably not going to find a way to get on one page and see the truth any time soon. The thought that some of us can see the will of God and others cannot is dangerous, don't you think? Meybe we should all assume that none of us have it 100% right. Then, maybe we can get together and open our eyes as one people God loves. What will life be like then?