Another Evangelical Voice We Need to Hear Regarding 9/11

This past Friday, I posted an article regarding misplaced anger that many people in our country have (especially in the Christian community) that Islam in general was responsible for 9/11 and not just Muslim extremists/terrorists.

I experienced this misplaced anger firsthand during my previous church appointment when a Muslim community desired to build a mosque in our area a couple of years after 9/11. A church located in the general vicinity where the mosque would be located made hundreds of phone calls to residents of the community to warn them that a Muslim presence in the community would potentially lead to more terrorism.

After writing a letter to the editor of the local newspaper that this particular church's anti-Muslim position was not a view that was held by me or by many other Christians within my denomination, I ended up receiving some letters in the mail from citizens who read my editorial stating that I was blind to Muslim propaganda.

As this misplaced anger continues to rear it's ugly head from time to time, particularly around the 9/11 anniversary, thank God for people like Dr. Ben Witherington, an evangelical New Testament bible scholar who offers this voice of reason in a recent post on his excellent blog on Belief Net.

On 9/11, we remember those who lost their lives and their surviving family and friends, and the police and fire fighters who risked their lives. We pray for peace in a world in which terrorists would do such horrible acts of violence, and pray for our global leaders as they pursue justice and peace in our broken and torn world.

And yesterday on the 9/11 anniversary, I gave thanks to God that I was part of a church that took gifts of appreciation to our local police and fire departments to let them know that we were thinking of them and supporting them in their vital work in our community.

Last but not least, on every 9/11 anniversary, I think about a member of my previous church whose brother died in the World Trade Center. As a way of responding to such a painful event in the life of their family, the following year, they chose to help build a home for an impoverished family in Mexico in loving memory of her brother.

They chose to respond in this way because as Christians, we are called to the way of the cross and to the way of sacrificial love.

Misplaced anger doesn't do any good. But the way of the cross makes all the difference in the world.