____________________ "Christians need to be prepared to protect themselves against such attacks; policemen cannot be everywhere all the time and can generally only clean up the mess after such a tragic event," he continued. "Christians must not think that justice must be ignored because of their faith. The Bible is quite clear that God has instituted civil government as the Minister of Justice and the Church as the Minister of His Grace. These authorities, instituted by God, have different functions, but both operate under His perfect commands found in the Bible." ____________________ Friends, I agree that Ms. Assam is a hero for stopping a mass-murderer with deadly force. I don't even give a damn whether or not her gun was legal (as it most likely was). Those things are not an issue in my view. It is the bigger picture that emerges here that is of concern. At one level, the bigger picture -- as described in this article -- is this: * Christians are being encouraged to think that they have become, as a group, the target of terrorism. A few incidents have occurred that give this viewpoint real weight, the weight of a 'body count of innocents'. As a result, Christians are being openly encouraged to arm themselves, vigilante style, and assume responsibility for law enforcement. * I'm not saying this line of thinking doesn't make any sense. Indeed, what is frightening is that it does seem to make sense, not only to Bible literalists, but to anyone who fears random attacks against themselves and their family. The first question I'd like to raise is this: Why are these gunmen being called 'terrorists' rather than 'deranged gunmen'? In this case, for example, his motivation seems to be that he was rejected from some church program. So it seems that he 'lost it' emotionally, and went on a rampage. There is no indication that he was part of some organization or 'cause' that wants to 'attack Christians'. Indeed, he himself seems to be a disgruntled Christian, a 'sheep of their own flock', albeit a black sheep. How can the word 'terrorism' be applied to this situation? Are we to say that all crime, no matter how motivated, is 'terrorism'? Are we to conflate common criminals with 'Al Qaeda'? Whose interests are served by spreading this kind of muddled thinking? The second question I'd like to raise: Where is this kind of intentional confusion likely to lead? If we note that Christians, of the variety we are talking about here, are generally what we would call 'right wingers', then this muddled thinking seems to move us in the direction of developing 'armed, organized, zealous, right-wing vigilante bands' in our midst, with public and police approval. Whose interests are served by encouraging such developments? For those of us who have seriously studied the rise of Nazism, and who have studiously watched how the Bush administration has been systematically copying Hitler's techniques for installing fascism, questions like those above lead to a quite different 'bigger picture'. The creation of right-wing, zealous, extra-legal armed groups (storm troopers) was an essential component of Hitler's rise to power. The intentional destruction of the German economy, carried out by Anglo-American bankers, was also an essential component, creating a climate of fear and desperation -- fertile soil for the Nazi movement. And who funded the Nazi movement? -- the same Anglo-American bankers who bankrupted Germany in the first place. Another central component in the rise of Nazism were false-flag events (the Reichstag Fire, a fake "Polish invasion" of Germany, blaming the wrong parties for Germany's ills, etc.) Does anyone begin to see a pattern here? Who is it that has destroyed the American economy, bringing it to the verge of the kind of collapse Germany experienced?...it turns out to be the sons of the same Anglo-American bankers who promoted fascism in the first place. It is those folks who pull the strings from behind the curtain, who have de-industrialized America and Britain, and who have made the decisions to empty our treasury into Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Who is it that controls the mainstream media, which never looks beneath the pathetic cover stories of all of our false-flag events, which bombards us with the Big Lie of a mysterious 'Al Qaeda' boogyman, which doesn't object to the destruction of the Constitution, and which spreads fear and desperation in every newscast?...again, the controllers are the same bankers, indirectly through their various dependent cohorts. Who is it that funds the right-wing think-tanks and foundations who have been instrumental in creating America's fundamentalist movement? Who is it who also created the Islamic Jihad movement? Again, it is the same bankers, through direct funding, and through their many indirect methods food for thought, rkm -------------------------------------------------------- Original source URL: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59138 FAITH UNDER FIRE Hero guard: 'It was me, the gunman, and God' Woman who ended carnage: 'I knew what I had to do' Posted: December 10, 2007 7:29 p.m. Eastern By Bob Unruh © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com DENVER The female security guard who shot and stopped a gunman at a Colorado Springs church yesterday is crediting God for helping her to resolve the threat by killing the assailant. Jeanne Assam was hailed by Pastor Brady Boyd with saving many lives in her quick response to gunshots fired at the New Life Church. "I give the credit to God, and I mean that, I say that very humbly, God was with me the whole time I was behind cover," she told reporters. "It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God." Assam indicated she felt weak as she approached the gunman, since she had been fasting. "My hands weren't even shaking. I knew what I had to do," she said. "This has got to be God, because of the firepower that [the gunman] had versus what I had was God. I did not run away, and I didn't think for a minute to run away. I just knew that I was given the assignment to end this before it got too much worse. I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me." Assam said she's drawn her weapon countless times in her previous work in law enforcement. But she said she's never had to fire before. Two teen girls were killed by the attacker in the church parking lot, and two other people were injured in the attack by a gunman identified as Matthew Murray, 24, of Englewood. Authorities in court papers alleged he had been dismissed from a program at the evangelical Youth With A Mission missionary training program in Arvada, Colo., several years ago. Police confirmed the attack started at the Arvada training center very early Sunday, where a man apparently seeking a place to stay appeared. He pulled a gun and shortly started firing. Authorities said Tiffany Johnson, 26, of Minnesota, and Philip Crouse, 24, of Alaska, were killed and two others injured. Murray fled, only to appear 12 hours later at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. The attack started in the parking lot, where Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachel Works, 16, were shot and killed, police said. Their father, David Works, 51, was reported hospitalized with gunshot wounds in his abdomen and groin, while Judy Purcell, 40, was wounded in her shoulder, and Larry Bourbannais, 59, was wounded in his arm. They both were treated and released. Boyd said Assam probably saved 100 lives, and police confirmed the attacker's backpack contained clips that could have held more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition for the assault weapon he carried. Charl Van Wyk, who is credited with saving parishioners' lives when he fired back at terrorists in the St. James Massacre in South Africa, says Assam should be honored. "The woman who saved lives should get a medal," Van Wyk told WND. "Having gone through such a catastrophic experience, my heart goes out to the family, friends and colleagues of those who were murdered and injured at the two church attacks," said Van Wyk. "Christians need to be prepared to protect themselves against such attacks; policemen cannot be everywhere all the time and can generally only clean up the mess after such a tragic event," he continued. "Christians must not think that justice must be ignored because of their faith. The Bible is quite clear that God has instituted civil government as the Minister of Justice and the Church as the Minister of His Grace. These authorities, instituted by God, have different functions, but both operate under His perfect commands found in the Bible." He told how on June 23, 1978, terrorists murdered nine British missionaries and four young children, including a three-week-old baby at a mission in Zimbabwe. "It is worth noting that the only British missionary at the Elim Mission Station who had a firearm he owned a .38 revolver was the only survivor! Being cowards, the terrorists left him alone, preferring defenseless victims. The first the armed man knew about the attack, was when he woke up the next morning to find the base deserted. He later discovered the bodies of his fellow missionaries on the sports field," Peter Hammond writes in the introduction to "Shooting Back The Right and Duty of Self-Defense," which is Van Wyk's own story. VanWyk's book tells how he was sitting in the St. James Church in Cape Town, South Africa, during a worship service, when parishioners were attacked by terrorists. "They opened fire with automatic assault rifles and threw hand grenades between the congregation members. Eleven people were murdered and over 50 injured. I returned fire with a .38 special revolver and the attackers immediately fled the scene," he said. Assam, without any sleep and clearly visibly shaken 24 hours after the confrontation, told reporters she wanted to extend sympathies to the families of the victim, as well as the gunman. "I mean that very sincerely," she said. "I heard shots fired. It was chaos. There were a lot of people in the church," she described. "The halls cleared out, and I saw him coming through the doors. I took cover, waited for him to get closer, came out of cover and identified myself, engaged him, took him down," she said. Church officials said they have a contingent of volunteer security officers because of the high profile of the church. "Obviously if we had not had an armed person on our campus, 50 or 100 people could have lost their lives," the pastor said. In a commentary for WND, Van Wyk expressed condolences for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting but noted that state lawmakers there had, in effect, created a gun-free zone by banning weapons on school campuses. "There is a striking paradox associated with mass murders. are far more likely to occur in areas that have been designated as gun-free zones," he wrote. "Worldwide, office buildings, hospitals, convenience stores, TV studios, chain restaurants and day-care centers have all been targets of homicidal maniacs. Mass murders have taken place in such places after they have been declared gun-free zones. "In 1999, John Lott and William Landes published a U.S. study of multiple shooting incidents. They showed that mass shootings occur less often in areas where responsible citizens may carry weapons," he continued. "Do mass shootings ever occur in police stations, shooting ranges or at gun shows? Mass murderers select soft targets for their acts of violence. Expecting a suicidal individual to honor a law prohibiting firearms is sheer utopian fantasy." -- -------------------------------------------------------- Posting archives: http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?lists=newslog Escaping the Matrix website: http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website: http://cyberjournal.org How We the People can change the world: http://governourselves.blogspot.com/ Community Democracy Framework: http://cyberjournal.org/DemocracyFramework.html Moderator: •••@••.••• (comments welcome)
