Crusader War College

I am in a bit of conflict regarding praying for the "Christian" "Peacemakers" hostages:

• Given the post below, there is no doubt that the hostages, and the group that sent them, classify as fools. Thus, one could be justified in praying that justice be done: they have been accusing america of being something they are not, and they, in turn, are being accused of being something they are not. With no regard to prudence or wisdom, they put themselves into a situation that begged for this result.
• On the other hand, there are indications that these people arranged this little sideshow to highlight their cause. I never heard of this organization except via a church member: a liberal professor whose sister is in the organization, and who does not hesitate to use any opportunity to state his politics. (I, in turn, never hesitate to respond in kind to his provocations.)
• On the third hand, they ARE accused of being something they are not, and I sympathise with that, regardless of the fact that these people are the ones throwing false accusations about.

My, my. What to do?

I have DEFINITELY decided to do the following:

• I will NOT GLOAT. That will just jinx the entire situaton, leading God to deliver them JUST to stop me from gloating. On the eternal scale of things, my behaving rightly is worth more to God than correcting these bozos.
• This is NOT a problem. This is an OPPORTUNITY: rest assured, "Christian" "Peacemakers" is definitely seeing this as an OPPORTUNITY, even though the hostages don't feel that way.
• Because these are fools, I will NOT respond in a way that makes me like them. To me, this means evading responsiblity and throwing blame onto someone else for one's own shortcomings.
• Because these are fools, I will respond in such a way as to make sure they don't come away thinking that they are better than they are.

To me, at this moment, the optimal solution is to pray that the hostages are kept safe UNTIL AND DURING THEIR RESCUE BY AMERICAN AND IRAQUI FORCES. It goes without saying that we should also be praying for the safety of the rescuers as well.

My wife one time read me a summary of a top 10 Men's tennis player: His forehand stunk. His backhand was atrocious. His serve middling. Always won games.

I was puzzled until my wife read the rest of the article: the guy was a brilliant stragegist and had great placement. He was able to analyze what the other player didn't like, AND GAVE THAT TO THEM. He was beaten only by players who had NO weaknesses that he could leverage.

This strategy will work in this situation as well. "Christian" "Peacemakers" has kindly told us what they don't want by their demanding that no actions be taken to save their people when they are taken hostage. ERGO, we do what they don't want us to do. This has many advantages:

• It grabs the spotlight away from "Christian" "Peacemakers" and puts it on our terrific armed forces. They'll hate losing it, and they'll hate even more where it goes.
• It has all the delicious POISON that makes the parable of the Good Samaritan such a kicker: The people that "Christian" "Peacemakers" despise the most are the ones that help them when they are in trouble.
• Even if this is a charade to puff the terrorists ("kidnap us, threaten to kill us, and then release us! It'll be great publicity!"), they can't really SAY anything if they are rescued and the guys they dealt with get killed or captured.
• Imagine the sheer torture that "Christian" "Peacemakers" will endure deciding if they have to say "thank you" to their rescuers: If they do, it certainly won't sound sincere. If they don't, both God and man will despise them. Ingratitude never was a sin in Islam, but the last time I looked, it still was in Christianity.

Praying for a successful hostage rescue is the best option at this moment, and one I will follow.