I sure wish the victims of OKC's bombing were getting two million each, as those in NYC will. But what do you think of replacing WTC's twin towers with beams of light? They reach a whole lot higher up than one hundred twenty stories, shining some 40 miles out I've heard tell. That would be clear beyond the atmosphere and into space, wouldn't it? Of course the International Space Station is orbiting several times that far out, but what a sight it would be to see if those beams could reflect off it. I remember reading science fiction writer Arthur C. Clark's claim, a few years ago, that it would eventually be possible to erect structures tied at the top to a satellite fixed in space. That seemed outlandish then, but these beams (light sculpture) may be the prelude to such exhaulted architecture. A space vehicle atop the spacescraper would have to orbit at the same speed as earth's rotation to remain stationary. Just think of taking an elevator all the way into outer space, instead of flying a shuttlecraft. If 50,000 people worked in the World Trade Center, then think how many more could work in such supertowers. In fact, they would be a link to cities in the sky; especially now that those astronauts aboard the International Space Station are learning how to live in that strange environment of weightlessness.

Homosapiens have proven to be the most adaptable creature of all the species on this planet. So the demolished WTC is now resurrected in such far-reaching light as to point our way forward, as I see it. Yet an account on MS-NBC Sunday night of that death pilot for the leading flight 11, Muhammad Atta, described him as a student of architecture who came to hate skyscrapers. They were symbolic to him of western power and influence that was filtering into his Islamic world. He'd lived in Geeza, a suburb east of Cairo, Egypt, where high-rise apartments began to block the view of those great pyramids. So like the other fundamentalist Muslims, who joined in that 9/11 raid of terror, he sought to throw history in reverse and keep it locked down by a literal interpretation of the Koran. He hated the west. Thus, as one commentator said of the WTC, it was for him "the heart of the beast." His behavior even became emotionless according to several witnesses, as he functioned like a robot. The week and a half before 9/11 he met in Las Vegas with his associate and fellow plotters for a "last supper" together in America's sin city. So their willingness to become martyrs evidently set them free of the moral constraints, even of their own Islam, which prohibits drinking, gambling or illicit sex. Have you noticed how that often happens to those who are so absorbed in the pursuit of their own "noble purposes?" A sort of god-mania seems to take over and make them feel above all right or wrong. I wonder if all those Muslims named Muhammad (however spelled) should seek to change their names (including Muhammad Ali going back to Cassius Clay). In my encyclopedia there's a long list also so named. But where it once meant, "praised" in Arabic, Atta and associates make it now sound like a betrayer. As Judas became one of the Twelve while treachery was in his heart, so Atta and his associate moved from Paris to Florida acting friendly and belonging here: "sleepers" in disguise until 9/11. Then they came out of the woodwork stabbing us in the back, not with mere daggers but with our own jumbo-jets loaded full of volatile fuel plus innocent passengers. I've read more than one appeal on the Internet by awakened Muslims calling out for Islam to draw away from Muhammad and the Koran that he wrote, because it contains so many contradictions and more so because his life recorded in the Hadith shows such violence toward others after he had gained power. Of course they insist he was only human, in contrast to what Christians believe about Jesus. But why then should Muhammad be an example at all? Is it to mimic the Gospel? Islam means submission and a Muslim is one who submits. When you read the New Testament you learn to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ (instead of Allah). The Koran names Jesus as a prophet of Allah, though it declares Muhammad as the final and greatest one. Christians know that Jesus was the true and final prophet of Yahweh, but was far more also. He was and is the Savior sent from heaven, GOD's only begotten Son, Jn.3:16, and is seated the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us when we pray in His name. He is also the full and perfect revelation of GOD, who is supreme love as well as almighty power: GOD's power is His love and that love is His power. Thus He created everything that is, and gave His son for Muslims as well as for Christians; for Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, and the whole human race "that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." And the final return is getting near as we see so much conflict with Israel.

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