If only in my dreams…

Have you ever had such a vivid dream that it blurs the line between the fantasy created by your mind and the reality of the waking world? I recall one I had when I was just in elementary. In the dream I owned a first generation transformer whose character name was Megatron that looked like a gun. To this day I honestly cannot remember if I actually owned one and lost it somehow, or if I only dreamt that I owned it. With that as a back drop…

I had an odd dream not too long ago. The content was not as odd as the fact that I remembered it. As with most dreams I came into the middle of a ‘scene’ where a certain person and I had decided to get married. At this point in the timeline she had just come into town and I was trying to get her and her family settled into a hotel. Once that was done I had to leave and finish making arrangements for the place where the ceremony would be conducted. It appeared to be either a hospital or hotel chapel. After that the next thing I recall is that I was fretting about making sure I had a tie to wear with the suit since it was only proper for such an occasion. It was apparently short notice since I was just using the black suit I already had and my mom kept telling me it was OK if I didn’t have one.
I don’t recall if the wedding transpired in the dream since the next thing I remember the wedding was over. I found myself explaining to my new wife that I had to go do something with some friends, which she said she understood. I recall feeling really bad because it was something of little consequence like going to the movies (as if it was an after the fact bachelor party). Then during the activity, a movie I presume, I was fretting to my friends that I should be with her and not them, but they kept saying it was OK because she said it was.
From there it skipped to the next morning and I was trying to get from where I was staying, apparently separately from her,  to where she was staying. The entire time I was trying to get to where she was I was on the phone apologizing because I felt bad and frustrated that it was almost noon and I hadn’t even seen her that day. She in turn kept saying it was OK because she had given me permission to go out the night before.
From there it gets a little fuzzy. I think I finally met up with her and proceeded with another round of apologies, but I’m not really sure. For some reason I half way woke up. In that state between consciousness and sleep I felt confused because I was with her in this extremely vivid dream, but in waking reality I was alone. Falling back asleep I would (in another dream state) look for her almost in a panic. Having found her I would apologize again for being away from her again after just getting married, before waking up again. That probably happened two or three times before waking up altogether.
The sad part is dealing with the leftover emotions. Even though I know it was just a dream the emotions accompanying it were very vivid and they mixed with real, yet unexpressed feelings I have had for her in the past. The mingling of emotions makes it hard to distinguish between the two. Even more so was becoming fully awake and feeling the level of companionship experienced in the dream slowly slip away to the point of almost grieving over its loss.
I know it probably sounds pathetic, but oh well, I guess life goes on and all there is to do is keep plowing through until the emotions fade away (as the usually do) and everything goes back to ‘normal’.

Islam and Muslims

The religion of Islam is one of today’s hot button issues. Dealing with it and its implications poses both political and religious pitfalls, particularly for Christians. Between political correctness, non-discrimination regulations, an extremely litigious society, Christ’s injunction to love our enemies and so forth it is a tough subject to navigate. To help wade through all of it I will take a two faceted approach to dealing with the subject. There is a specific reason why I mention Islam, and then Muslims separately. It is really easy to get caught up in what is done in the name of Islamic faith and get so angry, and at times that includes me, that you overlook the human element: the Muslim. In a long term approach to dealing with Islam we have to separate the individual from belief structure that is used to perpetrate downright evil acts so that we can attain the ultimate goal of reaching the individual Muslim.

I will start with Islam as a belief structure. Although there may be peace-loving Muslims, Islam is not a religion of peace. Take the time to read the Quran and you will see that it is far from being a peaceful religion. Islam means “submission”, literally. Throughout the Quran submission is taught, it is the ultimate, worldwide goal of Islam. One way or another you will submit. You can submit of your own accord having read their scriptures and believed them. If that does not work then they will seek to overpower in any number of ways. One of the ways they are currently using is to literally saturate the population of an area by having numerous children and squeezing out the indigenous population. There are currently places in Europe where the European authorities dare not tread and the only laws enforced are Islamic in nature including cutting off hands, honor killings and so on. If that doesn’t work, there is always Jihad, or Holy War. To deal with Islam we have to use a particular ‘language’: force. It can take many forms ranging from forcefully standing up to the encroachment of Islamic tradition and law, to outright military retaliation. Islam is a belief system that relies on intimidation and fear to achieve its goal of submission and it teaches its adherents to use any means to that end. One example that comes to mind is that they are free to lie, so long as it is to an ‘infidel’. That is why I would not want an Islamic individual to be on a jury, a witness in a trial or anything else that requires and oath to tell the truth, since they can get around the oath with the simple justification that it was made to an ‘infidel’. One of the reasons I advocate the use of force toward Islam is that it does not play well with others. Almost every other religious belief structure on the planet allows for coexistence with others to one degree or another. This is not the case with Islam; again, its end game is universal submission. They may tolerate others in a culture where they are not the majority, but as soon as they are the majority they forcefully impose their will to the exclusion of everyone else. As an example: here in the United States we tolerate Muslims proselytizing others, in my opinion to our own detriment. The same courtesy, however, is not extended in Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Afghanistan where you can be imprisoned or executed for doing so. That being said, the point is that the only way to keep Islam from encroaching and taking over is to forcefully stop it or at a minimum contain it.

As a further example, if you examine the history of the Marines it is intertwined with what might be called the early stages of our war on terror. The Marine Corp. anthem reads “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli”. The shores of Tripoli are where the Barbary Pirates were defeated by the marines sent by Jefferson. Previously in 1785, Muslims captured two American ships. Jefferson met Tripoli’s envoy in France and subsequently reported to Congress: “The Ambassador answered us that it was…written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged Islam’s authority were sinners, that it was their…duty to make war upon them…and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners.” That behavior does not reflect a ‘religion of peace’ and is as good a reason as any to stop it in its tracks. It is the antithesis of the ideals on which our country was built.

Now I will deal with Muslims. Particularly as a Christian I have to make that distinction. Even in the Old Testament when Israel was dealing with the surrounding idolatrous nations there was a two faceted approach. The other nations were not to be tolerated on a political and religious level, although those were usually one and the same; and there were wars waged to that effect. However, there was also a moral code given in which the “alien” was to be treated fairly. Here are some examples:

Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt. Exodus 23:9 (NIV)

Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed. Exodus 23:12 (NIV)

You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 24:22 (NIV)

In the same light I believe that although we are not to give way to Islam, we need to deal with individual Muslims on a different level. We should treat them with respect, fairness, hospitality and so on. We as individuals should give them no reason to hate Christianity and/or America. Sadly we as Christians and Americans, and I will indict myself as well, fail to demonstrate a lifestyle that would attract those of other belief systems. They typically want nothing to do with us because of all of the garbage that we put up with in our society. To some degree I can see why they would not want the influence of western cultures and their negative effects (e.g. pornography, abortion, homosexuality, divorce, etc.). We as individuals have

to rise above those things and do our best to exemplify a godly life to them so that they can be reached, whether it is culturally or religiously. Make no mistake, I am a Christian and therefore I believe even Muslims need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to avoid eternal damnation, but the principle still applies regardless of whether you are a Christian or not.

The truth of the matter is that the best individuals to reach Muslims are Muslims. Although the effectiveness of going to their home territory could be disputed, some have come to us, and I believe reaching the Muslim population here is paramount, so that they can then take the message to their own people in a way that fits into their cultural context. With that in mind we should not be afraid to interact with those in our midst that are Muslim. Talk to them, engage them, befriend them, and above all go out of your way to be hospitable!

Mistaken Identity

Recently I was at a local gun show helping run an informational table for our local militia. While taking a break and walking around the rest of the show I was stopped by an older gentleman who thanked me for my service.

I admit I was not only caught off guard by his comment, but I was also somewhat embarrassed. It hadn’t crossed my mind that I would have been mistaken for active military, as I was wearing the woodland pattern BDUs which are no longer used by active military. I made sure to explain that I was part of the militia and had not served in the military, although a number of our members have. I thanked him for the sentiment and invited him to visit our table.

Sadly there are certain segments of our society that demean and despise the members of our military and would have been offended at the mix-up.

As for me, to be honest, I was embarrassed that I could not say I had served my country.

To those of you that have served or are serving, thank you for your service, we owe you a debt of gratitude.