Theatrical Martyrdom

Posted by Alexis Wallace on June 10, 2010 under Why | Be the First to Comment

Theatrical Martyrdom; Depending on where and how you were raised the title of this message will mean different things to you.

Most Jews and Christians alike consider theatrical martyrdom to speak of the days of the coliseums of Roman Emperor Nero Germanicus, or the executions of Greek King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and other historic tyrants. The theatrics in these martyrdoms would be the public nature in which the executions took place.

But, martyrdom takes on a different meaning with militant Islamic terrorist, who play on the sympathy of the Western world as they strategize to project themselves as brutalized victims of heartless oppressors.

For most of us in the West, it is difficult to wrap our minds around the concept of being raised and trained for martyrdom. We cannot imagine glorying in the thought of our women, children, or even ourselves being used as human shields. The real morbidly fascinating part of this type of theatrical martyrdom, is the gleeful willingness of the shields to be sacrificed for “Allah’s sake”.

Since February of this year, US led, Coalition Troops have reported an increase in this practice by the Taliban that they are fighting in Marjah, Southern Afganistan.

General Mohiudin Ghori, the Senior Commander for Afghan troops in the area, accused the Taliban of placing civilian hostages in the line of fire.

“Especially in the south of Marjah, the enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof or in a second-floor or third-floor window,” he was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. “They are trying to get us to fire on them and kill the civilians.”

Islamic martyrs are called “shahid” the general gist of which the Quran explains as, witnessing to righteousness to the point of death. Nazi National Socialist used the word “blutzeuge” which means “blood witness.”

Nazi philosophers during the Third Reich developed the movement to a cultic religious status and thus viewed “blutzeuges” as martyrs. Today, this word is only used by Neo-Nazis and other far right extremists.

According to an ABC News report (March 1, 2010), Christians are now considered the most persecuted religious group in the world. With the global, rising tide of militant Islamist this is no surprise.

The ABC report stated that in many countries through the Muslim world, religion has gained influence over governmental policy in the last two decades.

The militant Islamist group Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, while Islamist militias are fighting the governments of Nigeria and the Philippines . Somalia , Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen have fallen to a large extent into the hands of Islamists.

Where Islamists are not yet in power, secular governing parties are trying to outstrip the more religious groups in a rush to the right, said the report. This can be seen in Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Indonesia to some extent, and also Malaysia. Even though this “Islamization” often has more to do with politics than with religion, and even though it doesn’t necessarily lead to the persecution of Christians, it can still be said that where Islam gains importance, freedoms for members of other faiths shrink.

There are 2.2 billion Christians around the world. The Christian non-governmental organization ‘Open Doors’ calculates that 100 million of them are being threatened or persecuted.

Martyrdom today is a reality for many Christians. But there is one big difference in martyrdom between most Militant Islamic Terrorist and Judeo Christian martyrs and it is that our Missionaries have not been raised for this purpose. The majority of them were apprehended and did not go looking for their deaths or allow themselves to be sacrificed as human guinea pigs for sympathy.

GAZA FLOTILLA:

Early Monday morning (May 31st , 2010) , the Israeli Defense Force prevented a flotilla of ships from attempting to reach Gaza. The Operation was code named, “Operation Sea Breeze” by the Israeli Defense Forces. Several hundred activists and supplies were aboard these ships. They refused Israeli officers to offload supplies at Ashkelon for transfer to Gaza which was a violation of security protocol on the flotilla’s behalf.

The blockade that this flotilla was hell bent on challenging, has been put in place by Israel and Egypt since June, 2007, after the 2006 Palestinian elections when the paramilitary, terrorist group, Hamas won the government.

This blockade was also backed by the Diplomatic Quartet; the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia. This group was established in Madrid in 2002 by the Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair is the Quartet’s current Special Envoy.

Violence erupted immediately when the Israeli commandos boarded the MV Mavi Marmara, which is owned by the Turkish “charity” group, İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı. The English name for this group is, The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. It has been blacklisted by a number of prominent, international organizations as being an Islamic Jihadist group.

While, in the natural, our hearts go out to the families that lost loved ones in “The Gaza Freedom Flotilla”, as we observe the video of the boarding of the ship and see how the Israeli commandos were immediately attacked; and as we see the list of characters that were and still are strategically behind this theatrical event, we know that it was about far more than just getting food beyond the blockade.

Before the six flotilla’s ships even left for Gaza from Cyprus, with their 663 passengers from 32 nations, their mission was clearly stated, “To directly confront the Egypt-Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.” Carrying food on the flotilla, was only meant to work on our sympathy

Shalom,

Pastor Alexis Wallace

You can find more from Pastor Wallace and the Jewish Christian Network at http://www.shalomcaribbean.com/