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70 Islam -- A Peaceful Religion?

It is clear that the present crisis in the Middle East and the terrorism threatening the West
will only be truly resolved by swift and resolute action to remove the principal sources of instability
in the region: the terrorist groups and numerous radical Islamic governments -- the regime of
Saddam Hussein, to name one. The leadership shown by President Bush and Prime Minister Blair
throughout the present crisis is a very hopeful sign for its expeditious resolution.

However, the deeper lesson for the West is that even if Osama bin Ladin and Saddam
Hussein and his regime are destroyed, the threat of militant Islam will not disappear. Islam is mani-
festing itself as a vast pagan religious wedge to disrupt both the spiritual and temporal aspects of
Christian civilization. A demonic force is in ferment of which governments and authorities in the
West have no comprehension. The West will do most for true world peace if it looks to its
SPIRITUAL as well as material defenses and prepares for a very long haul.

After all the insistent talk of American decline, it has become absolutely clear again that by
comparison the Germans and Japanese, who have been blown up to appear as the new economic su-
perpowers, have failed the basic test to deter the further spread of Islamic terrorism, the machina-
tions of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Ladin, and preserve international order.

The United States is still number one when it comes to the dispatch of large military forces
around the globe -- witness the recent elimination of the radical Islamic regime in Afghanistan. It is
the actor dominating the world’s stage and robustly displaying its Samson-like strength in the day
of YEHOVAH’s preparation. America is once more taking on the role of the “world’s policeman;”
a title fitting for the leading Israel nation -- passed on from Great Britain to the United States several
decades ago. The scriptural description for the servant nation, or “daughter of My people,” is given
by the prophet Jeremiah: “I have set thee for a strong tower and a fortress among My people, that
thou mayest know and try their way” (Jeremiah 6:27).

This reality was revealed in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when President Bush res-
olutely took the necessary steps to put in place the power YEHOVAH God has given us to defend
and preserve our way of life based on His Word and Law. YEHOVAH God has set the United
States as a STRONG TOWER and a FORTRESS among the nations to defend liberty and freedom
under the Divine Law. May YEHOVAH God grant us the determination and moral fortitude to
carry forth our Divinely appointed role as His servant people, Israel.

Quote from a 1989 Feast Sermon

“JESUS...this God-Being that emptied Himself of His power, of His immortality, came and
He gave His life for us. We can’t even understand what that means...how, an immortal Being
that is self-existent, could COMMIT SUICIDE, if you will, could come and die, and give
His life for what is a lessor being (you and me). It is well beyond my comprehension! But He
did...”

COMMENT: “Beyond comprehension” is right!! To believe that an immortal, self-existent
God can die defies all logic and is NOWHERE supported in the Bible.

The Berean Voice July-August 2002