Heath Rada
By Michael Braun, News-Press.com (Fla.).
Terrorism here and abroad and all the fallout from those acts can’t be allowed to hardened hearts and overrule the teachings of God that promote peace, justice and love.
That was the message provided to the members of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fort Myers on Sunday by the highest official of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Dr. Heath Rada.
Rada was the first moderator of the PCUSA General Assembly to visit the 550-member congregation on McGregor Boulevard.
“I think he reflected very solid PCUSA principles,” said Rev. Dr. Jeffrey DeYoe, who leads the local church. “I think what stands out was he was very reflective of the fact that Presbyterians find themselves in different places on the issues.”
Rada, who has served as president of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., and as CEO for The American Red Cross in Virginia, spoke during his sermon on the shooting in Bakersfield, Calif., last week as well as the activities of terror groups such as ISIS.
“What’s happening right now is so fresh and people are reeling. They don’t know what to think,” he said. “The PCUSA has traditionally been a church calling for peace, justice and love.”
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As the PCUSA as an entity continues to morph into what I will call ‘neo-Quakerism, or a more pacifist sect, the concept of the statement, “reflective of very solid PCUSA principles” need some deconstruction. I would posit that solid PCUSA principles are not so much solid as it is a quivering mass of acceptability or sentimentalism, with the constancy of Jello.
And that is the essence of the Quaker-Unitarian box the denomination finds itself in. In the never ending efforts not to insult its overly sensitive partisan base, it really cannot call an Islamic Fascist Death Cult, by any real name or that which is descriptive, so it falls back on the usual call for more gun control laws or points on immigration policy. As if the global war with Islamic terror is a figment of imagination or some right-wing plot to further debase the liberal establishment.
He is to be credited with the admission that yes, there is no “PCUSA” response to these matters, and to assert anything to that effect is a lie, at best. For a Moderator who began his term on a 12 month apology and explain tour on why the 2014 GA adopted antisemitic polices towards Israel, he enters the last chapter, much like his denomination, tired and in need of rest.
Today, 74 years was Pearl Harbor, at dawn we slept. History is never kind to those who wish the world a certain way and live in that fantasy. 1200 still on the Arizona would remind us hope is not a policy or sentimentalism a theology.
You are right, sir.
Christians should not be naïve about the true nature of the Muslim religion. Whereas Christianity values love, peace, and life, Islam values hatred, war, and death.
The goal of the Muslim religion is to convert the entire world to Islam. Muslims view Jews and Christians as “infidels” who must be converted to Islam or suffer death The Koran requires Muslims to convert Jews and Christians to Islam. If a Jew or Christian fails to convert, then it is the duty of every Muslim to kill every Christian who fails to convert.
It should be obvious to all that anyone who holds such a belief system is a threat to every Jew and Christian. The Muslim religion is fundamentally incompatible with Judaism and Christianity. Whenever and where ever Muslims reside in close proximity to Jews and Christian, conflict is guaranteed. It has been this way for 1,400 years and it has not changed.
As the population of Muslims in the United States increases, the threat to Christians will increase. This has been the history all over the world. There is no reason to believe that things would be different here.
Terrorists favor soft targets where people are not armed and can offer no resistance. The San Bernardino affair occurred in a government building where firearms are prohibited and is a soft target. The affair in San Bernardino, California on 2 December 2015 was an attack by Muslims on Christians at a Christmas party. It cannot be seen as anything other than an attack by Muslims on Christians who were celebrating the start of the Advent season.
Christians at worship in our churches are at risk of an attack by armed men and women intent on killing as many Christians as possible. Although this has not yet happened here in the United States, it has happened in foreign countries, so it may be only a matter of time, before a church is invaded and attacked.
The enemy is amongst us and can fall on us at any time. We need to be aware of the risk and take appropriate precautions. Being armed in church and/or having armed guards outside may now be appropriate.
We should “love our neighbor as we love our self” and we should “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”, however we should not be ignorant of the risks.
Beheading is the traditional way to dispatch “infidels”, but some Muslims apparently now favor AR-15s.
I agree.
If you read the “Outlook” or other PCUSA web/blog sites you would summize the greatest existential crises facing the denomination is the great carnival-barker Trump who identifies himself as a Presbyterian. With the expected blow-back and spleen venting as to how he could be excommunicated for his verbal transgressions. If there is one amendment to the Constitution the PCUSA wishes just would not exist, other than the Second, is the 1st and the matters of free speech or expression.
So what is the message, brand, or even response of the PCUSA in the face of terror? As it finds itself unable to string Islamic or terrorism in the same sentence, it seeks a national conversation on Gun Control ,which is how liberals want to talk about religious bases terror. But much like their grand discussions on Sex and family 2006-12, or race post Ferguson, those discussions only happen in the safety and security of their own salons and tenured academia.