What Makes Us Valuable?

There is no one of us whose life is too flawed with sin to be used by God. Our value comes not from who or what we are, but from what God makes of us.

Donna, a missionary in South America, quoted in Voices of the Faithful with Beth Moore, compiled by Kim P. Davis

On Being Non-Politically Correct

”…large numbers of students either parrot the PC line or (more often) quietly avoid contradicting it. Yet political correctness looks a lot stronger on the surface than it really is. The truth is, its strength (intimidation) is also its weakness – because most people don’t really believe in it. … The gods of secularism and political correctness are nothing compared to the God of Israel. They can only intimidate us if we let them - if we forget who our God is and what He does.”

Matt Kaufman (from "Power PC") quoted in Abby Nye's new book Fish Out of Water: Surviving and Thriving as a Christian on a Secular Campus.

The Sound of Thunder

In Elizabeth Peter’s He Shall Thunder in the Sky*, intrepid Egyptologists, Amelia Peabody Emerson and her family, must deal with the events surrounding the Turkish plot to take Cairo from the English in the opening years of World War I. Peter’s feisty heroin needs all her skills as a criminologist as well as her archaeological ones to survive the 1914-15 season. In the depths of the novel is a reference to jihad to free Egypt from colonial control. It was a timely reminder that the roots of today’s conflict with radical Islam are long and complex.

Having peeked my interest I did a little research on the history of jihad. While the term goes all the way back to the founding of Islam, the jihad called for by modern radicals is far different than that of early thinkers on the Islamic law. Pulling together personal devotion and cultural responsibility with a political agenda that is anti-colonial and anti-western, modern proponents of irregular, terrorist warfare have thrown aside the ancient rules of combat Islam had embraced for more that a millennia. Putting the events of the last decade into an historical context is a start in making sense of the seemingly senseless acts of radical Islamic terrorists. While the logic of such leaders as Osama bin Laden may seem twisted and sick to the western mind, it makes convincingly clear sense to his followers. They classify all who disagree with their beliefs as infidels and apostates who must be removed from power before true Islamists can reclaim what is rightfully theirs.

Who said history was dry and irrelevant? For more on the history of jihad try Michael G. Knapp’s article, "The Concept and Practice of Jihad in Islam" which gives a good survey of the topic (from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania web site). Want to dig deeper? There are many good books on the subject that your local reference librarian will be happy to help you locate.

*The Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters incorporate mystery, romance, and history in a cleaver, entertaining blend. To keep all the characters straight it is advisable to read the books in sequence. He Shall Thunder in the Sky is the 12th in the series and was published in 2000.