Monday, July 30, 2007

Blood of the Martyrs.

If you've been following this story, you'll know that the Taliban have killed another hostage. Al-Jazeera, of course, has video of the hostages.

The breaking news is being covered by the blogs, but I do have some thoughts about this horrible situation.

The first is that in all the reporting of this story, I had to go online to learn that the hostages are Christians, primarily nurses and teachers. I've seen three stories from the AP in our local paper in the last few days, and not one of them mentioned this fact.

Second, let no one doubt what kind of people we are dealing with. Though the liberals would like you to believe otherwise, we are at war with an ideology. They pick their targets according to their beliefs, and they stick at nothing. I don't condemn all Muslims because of the actions of these thugs, but don't believe that they have hijacked a religion. If that is the case, then Muslims everywhere should stand up and loudly condemn such actions. They don't; and the ones that do give half-hearted attempts at best.

Third, pray for the hostages. Most of the ones remaining are women; pray that they will remain strong, setting an example of their faith, and pray that they will be rescued or set free; if not, pray that God will receive them into His arms with love and honor.

Update: Reuters reported a rescue operation, then withdrew the story. The Afghan army has been dropping warning leaflets, but South Korea and the US have ruled out military action. As of yet, the hostages are still alive, though the final deadline has passed.

Keep praying. Maybe someone will do more than drop leaflets.

More info: Predictably, the US media report the Taliban's side of the story.