9/11 Memorial: Which God to Pray To?
By John Shores ~
My sister is torqued about a civic ceremony to pay homage to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. It's not just that only the families of the dead were invited and that the first-responders were not (to be honored in a separate ceremony later) but she is outraged that no religious leaders were invited to offer up prayers. For this she and my father have commented about about the shallowness of the souls of the event organizers.
Aside from such attitudes being contrary to anything Christ ever taught, what flummoxes me is this; what kind of lunatic would pray to any God who didn't show up on 9/11? Let's take a look at a wee bit of religious history:
One could make the argument that the Judeo-Christian God brought down the twin towers except that the devout followers who affected this travesty worshiped Allah who, apparently, is sort-of but not really the same chap.
So, we are left with a quandary; do we invite the religious leaders of the Judeo-Christian God to offer prayers at a memorial service? Well, why would you? If he was responsible for the deaths, what kind of comfort could he offer? And if not, what's the good of asking for comfort from a God who was bested that day? If God could anesthetize Adam enough that Adam didn't wake while a rib was being extracted, how hard would it have been to put the terrorists to sleep before they worked their nefarious scheme? I mean, really!
It seems to me that, logically, the only deity that has a right to be prayed to at any ceremony referencing 9/11 is Allah. To be consistent with Biblical teaching, one must admit that Allah was smiting mightily that day (even Elijah would have shrugged a couple shoulders and called this a fair cop) and was with his devoted followers. But, offering up a prayer of thanksgiving for the deaths of the infidels at a ceremony in New York probably wouldn't be very politically expedient, would it?
Seems to me that it's a good thing no religious leaders were invited.
Aside from such attitudes being contrary to anything Christ ever taught, what flummoxes me is this; what kind of lunatic would pray to any God who didn't show up on 9/11? Let's take a look at a wee bit of religious history:
- - Noah: God committed genocide by flooding the Earth
- - Sodom and G: God wiped out a couple cities without any assistance
- - Egypt: God plagued a nation into submission
- - Jericho: God leveled a city with sound waves produced by his devoted followers
- - Elijah: God heaved fire onto an altar and the prophets of the opposing team were summarily executed as a consequence
- - Luke 13 - The Tower of Siloam fell and killed 18 people; an act attributed to God
One could make the argument that the Judeo-Christian God brought down the twin towers except that the devout followers who affected this travesty worshiped Allah who, apparently, is sort-of but not really the same chap.
So, we are left with a quandary; do we invite the religious leaders of the Judeo-Christian God to offer prayers at a memorial service? Well, why would you? If he was responsible for the deaths, what kind of comfort could he offer? And if not, what's the good of asking for comfort from a God who was bested that day? If God could anesthetize Adam enough that Adam didn't wake while a rib was being extracted, how hard would it have been to put the terrorists to sleep before they worked their nefarious scheme? I mean, really!
It seems to me that, logically, the only deity that has a right to be prayed to at any ceremony referencing 9/11 is Allah. To be consistent with Biblical teaching, one must admit that Allah was smiting mightily that day (even Elijah would have shrugged a couple shoulders and called this a fair cop) and was with his devoted followers. But, offering up a prayer of thanksgiving for the deaths of the infidels at a ceremony in New York probably wouldn't be very politically expedient, would it?
Seems to me that it's a good thing no religious leaders were invited.