A skeptical saying goes "Don't believe anything you hear and only
half of what you see." So it surely applies to radio and television.
Since I grew up on the former, which was used powerfully to persuade, I thought
the advent of the latter would be sure to offer greater reality. How could you
doubt what you saw?
Another saying back then was "Seeing` is believing" which went beyond
"only half what you see" and was clearly as naive as "what you
see is what you get."
I watched a TV report from the village that was accidentally hit in Afghanistan
Monday morning and 90% destroyed, leaving so many wounded and dead.
Needless to say, it was terrible to see (though I was suspicious because the
Taliban had allowed the American reporter to come in there).
Monday evening I saw our defense
secretary explaining about a nearby cave full of bin Laden´s explosives that
was hit and likely caused the damage to that village. So whoever narrates the
video being shown can slant it their way.
I trust Secretary.Don Rumsfeld a lot more than the Taliban who have lied to us
so much. Maybe that saying about seeing and believing should be augmented with
"and it’s too easy to see only what you are being shown." Yet now
there’s talk of including some Taliban representatives in a new government,
which recalls how we left Saddam Hussein in control of Iraq back in '91. When
will we ever learn?
That was when I began writing this column ten years ago, though I had no
idea then it would become mostly about world affairs.
Our puppy that we named "Little Critter" was my inspiration and so
the column was just about her, along with my wonderful new wife. We lived here
in WW at the Pinkhouse Cathedral with Little Critter as garden guard and Niece
as "Our Lady of the Flowers." Back then I fondly thought of
myself as Bishop (since every cathedral should have one) but finally came to
accept my true post here as sexton instead. So I’ve keep the lawn mowed and
things in general repair plus helping our lady (and Critter) in their
gardening.
The house was covered with pink asbestos shingles back when purchased, so
we named it by that color while replacing the shingles with light gray rock. If
you’ll read my web page you can see what "Pinkhouse" means to us. And
you might also read the weekly "extra" which I write with more
personal opinion than in print.
The "Democrat" has been good to me, and I’ve liked each
successive editor, four or five now with Mike as tops. Unless the Lord returns
(and we’d better make ready), I plan to continue.
An experience in my childhood has emerged in my mind these last few years. I
was ten (as this column is now) and hadn’t yet learned to ride a bicycle. I
secretly tried getting on my older brother’s, and managed to stay up on it.
Sometime later a bunch of us kids were visiting at a friend’s who lived on the
highway. John(my older brother) had ridden his bike there, so I picked it up
from the driveway that slanted down for about half a block to the road. Then I
got on it and started riding to show them all, but suddenly wondered how I
could stop. The slope caused me to gain speed and no one had told me to just
reverse the pedals to put on the brake. When I saw a car coming I froze, as the
thought rang loud in my head, "You’re going to see God and all the holy
angels." The next day I woke up in Mt. Vernon's hospital and learned I’d
ridden straight in front of that car to be knocked up in the air and come down
hitting the pavement on my head. It took a month or so recovering from the
skull fracture, so I spent my eleventh birthday still in bed. But it was so
good just to have another one. Going back to fifth grade at Lincoln elementary
was extra tough because I’d been a "patrol boy" for getting students
safely across the highway. Now classmates had heard of my own folly. Soon I
forgot about the "voice" I’d heard. But now after a lifetime I hear
it again each time I write this column. I expect to see Christ’s return with
that angelic host and bringing all spirits of the righteous dead with Him to be
joined with their glorified bodies in the final resurrection. "What a day
it will be when my Jesus I shall see: the One who saved me by His grace, and I
shall look upon His face. Then He’ll take me by the hand and lead me through
the Promised Land. What a day, glorious day that will be."
Here in WW we had the opportunity to hear a Pakistani politician speak at
the library Monday morning. Suna explained the complexity of his nation's
situation, but was certain the U.S. was doing just what had to be done. It was
amazing to learn so much detail and be able to ask questions in the two hours
some thirty of us were there. For a man just age 30, he had a marvelous grasp
of political realities among Islamic nations and tribes. He was here to visit
his brother and cousin in WW before going on to Washington DC. Since I was sure
he must be a Muslim, I didn't say "shalom" as I left, but "I
wish you well." "Salaam" wouldn't have been correct either
because he said he was not an Arab and, though speaking seven languages, knew
no Arabic. He was chief of his tribe in the area near Karachi on the Arabian
Sea and was truly a cosmopolitan person who told us that his own people were
the more secular part of Islam. I asked of his attitude toward Israel and he
gave a moderate reply that only asked for Palestinian nationhood. After hearing
so much Muslim outrage on TV, he was a breath of fresh air. His brother Abdel
and cousin Nazi (owner) run the Cherokee Crossing here in WW.
I keep learning more about Islam each day. This morning I read Nehemiah
8:6 where the Israelites worshipped with their faces bowed to the ground. It
was the reading of the Torah by Ezra that so thrilled them, and that's when
they became "the people of the Book." Now it seems that Islam has
taken both cues into its liturgy. We are hearing the word
"fundamentalist" applies to the radical ones. But they all take the
Koran literally as an absolute so far as I get it. What the media are talking
about is the Wahhabi sect, which began in Saudi Arabia back in the 18th
century. It was a movement to purge Islam from such folly as the worship of
dead heroes, building shrines, etc. in order to maintain the sole place of
Allah in their prayers (five times daily). The Wahabbi's spread to Egypt, Iraq,
Iran, Yemen, Syria; all places where Islamic radicals now preach Jihad on the
west.
In fact it began way back when we
supported the Shah of Iran, until Kohmeni replaced him. That's when America got
that title of "the great satan" which has been fed into the religious
schools now run in Pakistan and Afghanistan. So this isn't so sudden after all.
It's just been developing in secret until 9/11. And of course our support of
Israel plays a major role in the hatred. Yet, after the attack we can hardly
afford to give much support of a Palestinian state, because that would say that
terrorism really pays off. Furthermore, our friend Israel could hardly stand
for that to happen since it would mean terrorism ever after against them. Even
if Arafat tried his best to stamp it out, it just never can be done in my
opinion. Hating is so much easier than seeking constructive answers. It's easy
to hate another people who excel in all they undertake. I've read again from
Genesis where Abram's first son Ishmael went away from Isaac, evidently with
anger. It all started because his mother Hagar scorned the barren wife of Abram
when she herself was able to conceive. That brought down Sara’s wrath and Hagar
and Ishmael had to flee into the desert. But God preserved them and Ishmael
fathered twelve tribes just as Isaac's son Jacob would do later. The Koran
claims Ishmael as ancestor of those other descendents of Abraham. And "THE
God" of Abraham is Allah, an Arabic name for the Supreme One.