Convert Or Die?

There are times that I catch a bit of Fox News programming and every time I do I wonder why I bother. It seems that so little of it is news and so much is opinion. What I saw the other day still has me wondering. Phil Robertson, the head of the Duck Dynasty clan was on with Sean Hannity. There is quite a pair to draw to and nothing that is said should be considered actual news. Mr. Hannity decided to get Mr. Robertson's opinion on events occurring in the Middle East and what he thought should be done. Don't be fooled by either one of these two men. Mr. Hannity and Mr. Robertson are not stupid. You don't get to be the head of a multimillion dollar business or host of a network television show if you are stupid. That being said having intelligence does not prevent you from making stupid statements. You may think I have made some already and many will think I have by the time they get done reading this.

Phil Robertson is entitled to his opinion on any subject he wants to talk about. I will defend forever his right to say those things. He is a United States citizen and has freedom of speech guaranteed by our constitution. Mr. Robertson commented the other day on this program that those folks who belonged to ISIS were following the "Evil One" and that they loved death. He went on to state that they should be converted or killed. Since he had his Bible out I'm going to assume he thought they needed to be converted to Christianity or killed. Am I a little confused here about Christian beliefs? Wasn't the message of Jesus tolerance and love? Turning the other cheek? Compassion? Kindness? Make no mistake about my position on ISIS. They need to be dealt with and if killing is the answer then that's what we have to do. But it seems to me that Mr. Robertson has just moved Christianity down to the level of the ISIS militants. There actions have shown a distinct pattern of behavior that shows they take convert or die seriously. Does Mr. Robertson also favor us taking a few captives and beheading some of them? It sounds like Old Testament Christianity. You know that whole eye for an eye thing. The Old Testament law. One of my problems with that is how do you pick which of those laws to follow? There are those who say modern Christians don't need to follow all the Old Testament laws. For those who believe this I offer the following. Deuteronomy 29:19 "If anyone should think to himself 'I will do well enough if I follow the dictates of my heart.' Yahweh will not pardon him. His wrath shall burn against him. And all the curses written in the book will come upon him. Yahweh will single him out for misfortune and blot his name from under heaven." If you are going to use the Bible as your moral guide you need to understand what it says and what it requires of you. Mr. Robertson is free to profess his convert of kill position but please don't profess to be a loving Christian. What other things call for nonbelievers to be put to death? Fornication, homosexuality, idolatry??? Maybe it's time for those "true believers" to go back to their roots in the Crusades. Deuteronomy 13:13-15 "If you hear that in one of the towns, there are men who are telling people to go and worship other gods, it is your duty to look into the matter and examine it. If it is proved, you must put the inhabitants of that town to the sword. You must lay the town under the curse of destruction, the town and everything in it. You must pile up all its loot in the public square and burn the town and all its loot. That town is to be ruin for all time, and never rebuilt."

Intolerance breeds intolerance. The solution to the problems in the Middle East is not additional intolerance, hatred and killing. It is the inclusion of all groups in a government and society that allows all equal freedom and opportunity. When those things are brought to fruition then groups like ISIS will not be able to poison the minds of the ignorant and dispossessed with the message of hate. There may be some killing along the way but refusal to convert should never be an excuse to kill another human being.