Refusing to Choose is a Choice

As I type these words to you our country is either in a war or we aren’t, depending on who you are talking to and what day of the week it is. For those who say we are in a war, it’s against ISI, or ISIS, or ISIL. The latest faces of evil have changed their name more often than that rapper Snoop Doggy Dog, who became Snoop Dog, and then Snoop Lion and is currently calling himself Todd. I could probably find some humor in that any other time, but not right now. I’m deadly serious about what I want to say today.

By any name, the terrorists behind the execution of two of our American journalists, a British aid worker, and ten thousands of other men, women, and children in the middle east are heinous murderers. They may be divided on their designated title but they are stone cold clear and united to a thug on their mission: to kill anyone who gets in their way of establishing a global Islamic caliphate ruled by sharia law. That may sound like a preposterous goal to our western ears, but our opinion doesn’t faze their focus.

I hear many of my fellow Americans protesting that they are weary of war. I’m with them. If only war would grow weary of us. Amen? You and I can distance ourselves from the news and the numbers and it won’t change the reality. The killers aren’t at all tired of killing.

Frankly, the whole thing reminds me of the times I’ve talked to people who claim they aren’t religious, as if they can choose not to engage and that be the end of it. If that’s you, friend, I hope you’ll hear me out today. Refusing to acknowledge that you have an enemy of your soul, doesn’t negate the devil’s existence– it just provides him and his legions cover to advance.

I’ll close with the words of the prophet Elijah, “How long will you hesitate between two sides? If the Lord is God, follow Him.”