The "21"

Where do we go from here?

How does mankind move forward when 21 Christians, followers of the Prince of Peace are murdered...no, slaughtered precisely because they are Christians?  Slaughtered by members of the "Religion of Peace" in the name of Allah the moon god and the prophet/pedophile/bandit Muhammad as they tried to make a living as laborers in Libya.

I have watched Islam for almost 30 years, watched it metastasize and grow, cancerous and malignant into something that re-defines the word barbarity.  I am stunned beyond the capacity for rational thought, spun into a world of pain and confusion I never knew existed, scrambling for answers to questions I can barely assemble.

The discord, dissonance, derivative responses and deliberate deception from all quarters is almost overwhelming, What I thought I knew, that gut feeling that all you know must be true has been tossed to the four winds, scattered with no immediate means to gather them up again in a coherent form.
I am trying to see this through different lenses, so I can get order from chaos.  My theological training and upbringing, my Jewish heritage and acceptance of Jesus as my savior all tell me that Islam is not the benign, peaceful and tolerant religion akin to the other two Abrahamic faiths.  The Qur'an, as read with a critical eye in the doctrinal arena does not in any way comport with the Bible or Torah (OT) except in the fact that the Qur'an can be divided into two distinct readings: verses based in Medina and verses based in Mecca.  As with the Bible, there can be two different yet connected books but only one that is used and accepted as binding and correct for the times.  We do not follow the OT regarding killing Jebusites, or wiping out an entire city because they were sinners (Sodom and Gomorrah) yet the Qur'an calls for open-ended and continuous warfare against unbelievers until "religion is for Allah alone".

This theological certainty, upheld as correct by all schools of Islamic jurisprudence and Al-Azhar University makes it very difficult to address the need for a reformation within Islam.  If the recognized leaders of Islam would re-open the concept of "Ijtihad", where Islamic scholars and leaders assemble and reinterpret, re-evaluate and re-certify the basic tenets and teachings of Islam, bringing Islamic thought, practice and doctrine in line with the time period occuring at that time, Islam 2.0 in its truest sense could happen.  In other words, Islam needs a reformation to throw out the dangerous, embrace the peaceful and do it in a way where it has effect and enforcement.
There have been questions about poverty, disenfranchisement and marginalization of Muslim immigrants in European countries.  There is concern about toppled governments becoming more Islamic (the sharia law) with Western powers being blamed.  I listen to these voices, trying to make sense, if there is any to their arguments and rhetoric.  In this line, there is little if any truth to the claims that being poor or lacking in opportunities causes Muslims to attack their host country.  If that were true, every time a beheading occurred the rational given on the video would be about the evils of the slums, or lack of jobs, or complaints of no social clubs where young Muslims can go to get a leg up in society.  No, the complaint is always about the incursion of Western powers, the killing of innocent women and children, and that the West has declared war on Islam.

Then there is Islamophobia.  The great bugaboo of rational and honest discussion about the texts and teachings of Islam.  It is the only way to immediately shut down any conversation about Islam, and always from those who have the most to hide.  Many have bought into this false claim, noting that any criticism of Islam or Muslims is nothing but the worst sort of behavior, an irrational response to a peaceful people who just want to get along.  It encourages and supports the victim status Muslims now enjoy, enabling the censorship of any speech that is seen as demeaning, derogatory or insulting to Muslims or Islam.  It is, in effect the realization of the Goebbels Derivative; repeat a lie often enough and eventually it becomes a truth.  Also research Saul Alinsky for details on shutting down conversation you don't want people to hear.

The media will not tell the truth about the genocide of Christians in the Middle East, always referring to the jihadists as anything but what they call themselves.  Militant, attacker, extremist, terrorist, whatever name you want to use is fine as long as there is no way to attach the name to Islam or Muslims.

I ask; who exactly murdered the "21"?  Was it those pesky Protestants?  Bothersome Baptists?  Mean Mennonites?  Which group had the most to gain from killing Christians in the Middle East?  Who has a recorded historical and doctrinal hatred of Christians and Jews?
From our dear world leaders, the answer is...not Islam.

Where do we go now?  If it is not Islam, and no one is willing to identify the motivation that drives our enemies to attack us, what chance do we have to survive?  Who do we point a finger at?

We don't, and that is what bothers me the most.  It should be obvious to anyone that Islamic doctrine, as upheld by recognized Islamic leaders and practiced by some Muslims is the most dangerous threat the globe has ever faced.  This idea is, fortunately beginning to take hold among the masses, but there is still a long way to go before there is any chance to stop the march of the caliphate into Europe, and then the West.

We may not wake up in time.

I bleed for the fallen 21, my heart is ripped from my chest for the 21, I weep buckets for the 21.  I know not their names, only their faces; frightened, calm in prayer, detached, they all resonate deep within me.  They are my Christian brothers, murdered solely because they practiced a faith not allowed in the new Islamic caliphate.

I do not know what to think.  I pray for guidance and understanding, but it does not come easily.  I hear the voices of reason but cannot make out what they mean.  I cry out for light, I am handed only darkness.

Where do we go from here?