It has now been five years since The Day That Everything Changed. For those five years God has protected us. He has used our President, our military, the FBI, the CIA, Homeland Security, and countless others whose names we will never know to do a marvelous job of keeping this nation safe.
It has now been five years since The Day That Everything Changed. For those five years God has protected us. He has used our President, our military, the FBI, the CIA, Homeland Security, and countless others whose names we will never know to do a marvelous job of keeping this nation safe.
The question for us today is, "Where do we go from here?" What can we do ensure that, although hundreds of thousands of fanatics go to sleep every night dreaming of killing Americans, no attack on America ever occurs again?
The experts seem to believe that is impossible. Whenever military or intelligence analysts are interviewed, they say that, "It's just a matter of time" before we are attacked again. They seem to be saying that we've been "lucky" so far, but eventually, with so many Islamists dedicating their lives to our deaths, some of them will get through and do damage to our great nation again.
I'm sure you have heard the saying, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." To which I would add, the more we as a nation pray, the luckier we will be in terms of safety.
I certainly don't have all the answers, but there are a few common sense things that we can do to ensure that never again will there be another 9-11.
First, we need to pray. Prayer works. I'm sure some of you are saying, "Why didn't prayer work on September 11, 2001?" The simple answer is that people weren't praying for our nation as they should have been prior to 9-11. Certainly prayers were offered for our nation's protection by some. But the Bible talks about effective prayer as being "fervent" prayer, heartfelt prayer. Following 9-11 there was a lot of fervent prayer going up to the Father, and it continues today. Not a week goes by in our church when we don't pray for our nation as a body of believers, and I know the same is happening in thousands of other churches across the country. And it is working. I believe that is the main reason why there has not been another attack on America.
Second, we need to come together as a nation. Whether we like it or not, whether the left-over hippies of our nation want to believe it or not, we are a nation at war. This nation has always drawn together in times of crisis. That has been our greatest strength. Yet the leftists are using the War on Terror to try to make political points, ignoring the fact that the world is watching us. If the terrorists see us as divided, we will be less safe, because they will see that as a weakness which they can exploit.
Third, we need to realize that we have a leader. In times of crisis, every nation needs a strong leader whom everyone recognizes. I am getting so tired of hearing the Democrats whine that Bush isn't really our president. Get over it! Regardless of whether or not you like the decisions of the Supreme Court, a much Higher Authority has set Bush in his office. The Bible says that the powers that be are ordained by God. That means that no man can lead unless God allows it. Now, I don't pretend to understand His reasons for His choices. I had several serious conversations with the Lord about Bill Clinton, for instance. But I never whined that he wasn't "really" the president because he didn't get a majority of the popular vote. (He actually received a smaller percentage of the popular vote than Bush did.) I wasn't happy that he was President, but I accepted God's will and prayed for him as the Bible told me to. I wish the Democrats could do the same. Read my lips: "Bush is the president. If you care anything about our nation, unite behind the leader God has provided us for this perilous time."
Fourth, we need to keep on working hard so that we can keep on being "lucky." There is a tendency to get complacent when bad things don't happen for a while, and to let our guard down. We need to fight that tendency. We have done a lot of things right since 9-11 which have contributed to our safety. We need to continue to do those things, and we need to learn new, innovative ways to protect our land. And we need to always stay vigilant. This is not a Six Day War such as the Israeli's fought against the Arabs. This will soon be a six year war. And it may well become a sixty-year war.
Fifth, we need to understand the hatred that faces us. The left is trying to convince us that the Muslims and Arabs hate the United States because Bush has gone after terrorism in Iraq. What idiocy!! If Iraq is the problem, why did they attack us on 9-11? Why have they been attacking our citizens, our military bases and our embassies for decades? The leftists really need to get a new slate of theorists before they issue their party line; preferably ones who know how to use reason. I will be writing more about this in coming weeks, but the bottom line is that the Islamists have always hated us, and will always hate us, no matter what we do! They cannot be reasoned with! Bin Laden made it clear in an interview a few years ago that the only way America can stop the terrorist attacks is if we convert to Islam. That ain't gonna happen, so they will continue to hate us. Get used to it, and stop blaming the president for something that has been going on for centuries.
Sixth, the president needs to totally change his attitude towards immigration, legal and illegal, and the nation needs to get behind a new, tough attitude towards immigration. I don't know whether he is trying to get along with the left, or if he really believes his way is right, but the way he is leading on this issue will lead us to ruin. Look at France. They have allowed the kind of uncontrolled immigration that our country is now allowing, and they are about to become a Muslim nation. We need to stop ALL illegal immigration immediately, and deport illegals instead of supporting them. We also need to severely limit the number of legal immigrants until law enforcement and immigration can get a better handle on which immigrants are coming here to join terrorist cells. And we need to stop all immigration from Arab and Muslim-controlled nations. Before you crucify me, ask yourself if we would have (or should have) allowed ANY immigration from Japan or Germany during WWII. Then remember that the hundreds of thousands of people who were dancing and laughing and rejoicing five years ago today when the Twin Towers fell and the Pentagon was attacked, were dancing and laughing and rejoicing on Arab streets in Muslim countries.
I am not a philosopher. None of these six actions suggest deep thinking on my part. They are simply common sense. So I guess the question for today is really, "Why is common sense so uncommon?"
Dr. Tom Barrett has been an ordained minister for 30 years. He has written for local and national publications for most of his life, and has authored several non-fiction books. He has been interviewed on many TV and radio programs, and speaks at seminars nationwide. Tom is the editor and publisher of Conservative Truth, an email newsletter read by over fifty thousand weekly which focuses on moral and political issues from a Biblical viewpoint.
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