The e-mail that I received actually comes in two parts. The first part is commentary from a secondary, tertiary, or quaternary sender (I am unable to discern which applies). The second part is a letter from "Skeet," recounting his (or her?) impressions of a recent trip to Egypt and Israel. About 3/4 through the letter is a paragraph about how Barack Obama is really a Muslim.
Now, I believe the matter of the religious affiliation of Sen. Obama has sufficiently been laid to rest for most Americans. But that doesn't prevent outside influences from reviving and sustaining a low level of Christian
Here is the first part of the e-mail, followed by my reply:
From: voloz@juno.com
Subject: Israel/Egypt
I don't know how much of this is true, but I still do believe Obama is muslim. This is a note from a person from Lubbock who just returned from Israel / Egypt . Certainly gives us lots to think about.
Dear voloz@juno.com,
My aunt has been sending me chain e-mails for years now, and while most of them go directly to the trash, I do occasionally open them. This is one such e-mail, and I am disappointed by its contents. I am fully aware that this e-mail did not originate with you, so you should send this on back up the chain to its author, Skeet.
The e-mail message is unethical and misguided. However, you are guilty of promulgating it, even if you did not write it. I do not appreciate you trying to mislead her, and in turn, mislead anyone else she forwards the message to, including myself. Please do not forward any such e-mails to my aunt again.
Thank you,
*Letitia (last name withheld)*
This is the letter from Skeet, followed by my letter in response:
Dear Friends,
We are home. I am home with this flu that is going around. I had it before we left and got it again in Eygpt. I have really been sick. Sure is a waste of time.
Our trip was physically very hard. I lost 10 pounds and got sick. I am glad I went, but would not go back to Egypt . It is a dirty, ungodly country. The smog in Cairo Egypt was terrible. There are 17 million people in that city and they just throw their trash in the streets. The Nile River is polluted. I don't know how such a people who built the pyramids regressed like they have. If the Arabs take over America , we will be a slum. And the noise pollution was terrible. They chant their muslim prayers all day.
Our tour guide was a Christian, and he was a fine young man, but the ungodliness of the population is everywhere. It was a real example of the difference of 'light' vs 'darkness.' Jesus is truly the Light!
Israel was clean and wonderful. We could eat the food and drink the water. They were kind and loved us. They may not believe in Jesus but you can tell that God is in that land. It snowed in Jerusalem while we were there and it was cold, but we still toured. The Sea of Gallilee was stormy and we went out on a boat a short distance, but came back to shore. The Bible is absolutely true about the fact that you cannot be out on the Sea of Gallilee in a boat without the danger of dying. We were amazed at the big waves and wind on that Sea or lake.
The weather cleared in Israel at the end of the week and we went to the Temple Mount on a beautiful morning. It was a time with the Lord. We stood at the Golden Gate where Jesus will return. It is sealed because the Muslims are concerned He will return! They even have one of their graveyards outside the gate thinking no King will come through a graveyard. But Jesus is coming! It shows the muslim are concerned and may believe there is a possibility He will come. I stood and looked at that Gate,and was very moved to think I was standing at the very place where Jesus will enter Jerusalem again!
We did go into Bethlehem . We had to let our Jewish guide out of the bus, and our Arab bus driver drove us through the security gate. That high wall that you have been hearing about on TV is there, dividing Palistine and Israel . We then got a Christian guide when we got into Bethlehem . I was there twice before, once in l980 and again in l999 and there is a stark difference in Bethlehem since the arabs have taken it over. There were hardly any tourists. We ate in a cafe on the square where I ate before which was packed with tourists, but today it was vacant except for us. They have killed their tourist trade. The Christians in Bethlehem asked us to pray for them, because they had no income now. The Arab men on the manger square glared at us. We did not feel safe and clung together. There were begger boys everywhere. They hate Americans and Israel !!!!
There is so much I could say about this trip. It has changed my life in some ways. I look at the lostness of the arabs and the darkness. I look at Israel ; that tiny country amidst such turmoil. If America does not continue to support, Israel I believe God will judge us severely as Americans. The Israelite soldiers were such fine young men and women. They are clean and disciplined and have great love for their land which is something that is missing in America among some of our youth. I rode back to Lubbock from Dallas on airline with an American Air Force career soldier. He said the Israelite pilots were the best in the world. They can fly planes like no one else!
Lastly, we were asked everywhere about the Presidential race in America . There was great interest. The Jews came up to us and asked us many questions. They said they do not want the Clintons again. They warned us that Obama is a muslim, not a Christian. In Egypt , the Arabs said the same thing to us; they said Obama is muslim and they are amazed that Americans would consider electing a muslim President of America!!
I came home loving America even more! Our country is a 'light on a hill.' Our streets are clean. There are no chants all day. People are kind and take their turn. People over there pushed into line and were rude. They have never heard of the Golden Rule. They will stomp all over you if they want to get in line. I can see now why Jesus' words of loving your neighbor and doing unto others, what you would have them do unto you, were strange words to the lost. We take our Christian heritage for granted here in my opinion. We have sanctity of human life. In Egypt , the Arabs don't have any hope so I can see why they would bomb people and commit suicide. They smoked cigarettes everywhere! I could not breathe in Egypt and I think that is why I came down with the flu again. The smog was so bad at the pyramids, I could tell I was getting sick. I would gag on the fumes.
We need to pray for America and this election every day.
God bless, Skeet
Dear Mr. Skeet,
Welcome home from your trip to Egypt and Israel! I found your assessment of life in the Middle East both fascinating and troubling at the same time. I urge you to think aboutthe impact of what your words have on all those who have had it forwarded to them from a friend or family member. Your letter does double duty. It serves to both accuse Barack Obama and disparage the Arabs you encountered on your trip.
First, I do not believe for one moment that Barack Obama is a Muslim, for the simple reason that he is not a Muslim. You might make a better case branding him as a black liberation Marxist, an image that he seems unable to reject.
If people in other countries believe that he is Muslim because there are Muslims in his family and that he lived in Indonesia for a time, they have a right to be mistaken. But we do not. It is decidedly a very unethical (and hence, un-Christian) thing to do to bear false witness about any person, especially to mislead another to vote a certain way. The truth is enough to warrant alarm about Barack Obama's aspiration to be President. We do not need to add falsehood to bolster the chances of his defeat at the polls. That is another politician's realm, and she is doing a fine job of lying without anyone's help.
Next, while I appreciate your observation of the poor living conditions and what I interpret as visible spiritual depravity in Arab-controlled territories in the Middle East, you assign motive for bombings as "Arabs don't have any hope so I can see why they would bomb people." That is very poor logic indeed, and erroneous, as the primary motivation for terrorist bombings comes from a particular understanding of jihad, a far cry from hopelessness.
As Christians, we ought to see that their greatest problem is not that they smoke cigarettes, pollute, and hate Israelis. They do not know the love and grace of God. Aside from the shock and disdain for the Arabic parts of your trip, I detect little pity or compassion for the Arab people in your letter. While they may look as depraved asthey are, we must not forget but for our external trappings (generally clean streets and orderly public behavior, as you have pointed out) we are equally as dark and depraved and in dire need of grace ourselves.
Finally, I hope during your days overseas that you were able to show some kindness to a Muslim man and give him a reason to rethink the general attitude toward Americans. I would hope that no illness, fear, or hostile looks from Muslims would prevent your great faith and evangelistic zeal, if not for their sakes, for the Lord's. What a shame it would have been to miss so many potential opportunities to be Jesus to people in such need of Him.
Remember that the comfortable life you now appreciate to a greater extent is by blessed circumstance only. Consider if God were to send you to Egypt to live for the remainder of your life. Would you love it then?
Yours truly in Christ,
*Letitia (last name withheld)*
Now, I did consider that "Skeet" is possibly trying to punk me, in which case, I would not have bothered to restrain myself from unleashing the satirical monster in me. Note that even the sender also expressed doubt in its authenticity. Nevertheless, there are many unsuspecting Christians like my aunt who would take this e-mail seriously, and so I felt I must keep a reply on the level as much as possible.
Feel free to discuss.
No comments:
Post a Comment