A return plug...

Some time ago I made an online "plug" for www.jihadwatch.org a site run by an often vilified but genuinely skilled American collector of stories and information about global efforts by various Islamic groups to promote thier faith by violent action. These stories are very often not covered by mainstream American journalists and when they are they're usually full of euphemisms like "insurgents" or "militants" to soften the viciousness of individuals and groups now waging war against any culture, even Islamic ones, that refuse to submit to their understanding of Muslim faith.

But www.jihandwatch.org is a must see www site if only to get an idea of the scope of what people of all faiths are up against when it comes to the global vision of hard line Muslim groups. To know the times is to see things as they truly are and then work to overcome them by the force of good. We need to see the panorama of these groups, individuals, and acts to remove the blinders from our eyes and come to terms with some very horrible "might be's..." if thier dark dreams become reality outside of narrow pockets of the world.

Yet panic or blind hatred would not be the order of the day. Our Lord promised us that we would have troubles in this world but to not be afraid because he had overcome it. So we need to see all things truly, not just the gruesome outworking of fanatics but also the very much more real assurance that the Kingdom of God, beset about throughout history, is still the final destiny of the universe. And we need to fight as we should, not so much in the military way (although we do have the right to defend the powerless against agressors) but in the way of Christ himself who instructed us to overcome evil with good. The most effective witness for the Christian way of life is simply and always a Christian who, God giving him strength, actually lives as a Christian.

So learn and become aware. Dismiss the haters that sometimes crop up in the comments section of www.jihadwatch.org and are usually promptly removed when discovered. Gain knowledge not for the purpose of mindless speculation or mongering in conspiracies but rather for the purpose of knowing that which we have to face in this day. Then, in the middle of this darkness, light your Light, the Light which we were recalled again this Pascha, the Light that shines in the darkness and has never been overcome by it.