Christian Peacemaker Teams - An Expected Outcome - And The Journal of Tom Fox

Several months ago when terrorists kidnapped a Christian Peacemaker Team, I wrote that they were stupid to go into a war zone. High, lofty ideals mixed in with people who hate them simply because they're westerners. Tom Fox, the American member of that team, was found dead this past week. His hands and feet were bound, he had been tortured, shot in the head and chest, wrapped in blankets and black pastic bags and left in a garbage dump. This is from The Washington Post:

Fox, 54, was the only American in a group of four Christian Peacemaker Teams members taken hostage last year by a previously unknown group, the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. . . .

Fox worked with families of incarcerated Iraqis, often serving as the only link between them and their families on the outside, said Paul Slattery, a member of his support group from Langley Hill Friends Meeting. Fox also escorted shipments of medicine to clinics and hospitals and worked to form an Islamic Peacemaker Team.

I admire the team's motivations and ambitions. I am incredibly sorry that he lost his life in such a barbaric and undeserved manner. The news reports tell us that he knew of the dangers he faced. He kept a blog "Waiting in the Light" - the last entry was November 8, 2005. Here is an entry from August 30, 2005 that is indicative of his politics:

We have seen again and again in the last one hundred years the evolution of warfare to the point now when the first two parts of war that have been in play for centuries, that of middle-age men sending out young men to fight and die to keep the middle-age men in power, has added a third component. Still the young fight and die to retain the power of the middle-age men but now most of those who lose their lives in the conflict are women and children.

So the Islamic Taliban leaders sent their young men to run planes into the Twin Towers and Pentagon in order to keep themselves in power? And George Bush responded to that threat to keep himself in power? On August 18, 2005 he wrote:

We must come from a spirit of love and compassion to help our leaders and many of our fellow citizens come to see that if we truly love God then we must make a drastic change of direction in the course of our country. The only way we will gain respect is by showing it to others, even those we disagree with. The only way we will gain love is by giving it to others, even those we disagree with. Love of country must always be subordinate to love of God. Love of country alone sets us on a course towards the disasters that have befallen other counties over the centuries.

The LA Times reported the Christian Peacemaker Teams' reaction:

"We mourn the loss of Tom Fox, who combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone," Christian Peacemakers said in a statement posted on its website.

I agree with Fox and the Christian Peacemaker Teams on many of their beliefs. However, God is NOT in everyone. At least not a God of love and peace. And the United States is the bastion of freedom and non-oppression that people from all over the world strive to reach. Despite what you read and hear via the MSM, people die every day trying to get to the United States from other countries.

Love of country also involves protecting ourselves. Because we "ignored the bad behavior" of the Islamic terrorists in the past, they became bolder and more aggressive. There ARE evil people in the world. There ARE evil religions in the world. Put the evil people with the evil religion and you get Islamic terrorists who don't care whether you want peace or war. They don't care if you have love in your heart for them. They don't care if you see God in them. We have seen documented plans for further terrorists attacks in America. Terrorism is becoming an ever stronger force in our world. Their plan is to take over our country and make it a Muslim country. Seeing in real life the Muslim plan of society makes that a completely untenable idea. We MUST defend ourselves and our freedoms.

Yes, Tom Fox's ideals were admirable, but I believe they were unrealistic and unworkable. Thank God for our military and for President Bush who are making sure that people like the Christian Peacemaker Teams have the freedom to continue in their bubble of delusion; and who are working against tremendous pressure from within our own country to make sure that the Islamists who torture and kill such gentle-hearted people are stopped.

Other information on this topic: The Christian Peacemaker Teams site, Tom Fox is remembered by friends, News story information, CBS News

Others writing on this topic: The Autonomist, Michelle Malkin, Gina Cobb, Media Lies, Rhymes With Right, Mudville Gazette, Dr. Sanity

Linkfest Haven Links: Basil's Blog, TMH's Bacon Bits, Stuck On Stupid, Adam's Blog, Is It Just Me?, The Real Ugly American, The Uncooperative Blogger, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Blue Star Chronicles