I C H A B O D
News of the Eternal Insecurity of Believers for Backsliders
Volume 2, Number 29, 15 August 2002
Edited by HP Opus for Fellow Servants of Christ
URL: http://fellow-servants-of-christ.0catch.com/
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ICHABOD THEN...
And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed
from Israel; because the ark of God was taken... (1 Samuel 4:21)
Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do
the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick
out of its place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:5)
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...ICHABOD NOW
(Godforsaken since 11-Sep-2001)
-- I would refer you [Major] to the visit the President took
to a mosque on September -- I think it was the 17th. Within one
week of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,
and in Pennsylvania, the President visited a mosque here in the
Washington community to send a signal that ISLAM IS A PEACE-LOVING
RELIGION. And throughout the various meetings that the President
had with members of Congress, even in the week prior to that,
right after the attack, the President urged members of Congress
to remind Americans that Arab Americans love our flag just as
much as anybody else and that ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE. ...I
THINK ALL AMERICANS, VIRTUALLY ALL AMERICANS, AGREE WITH THE
PRESIDENT ON THAT POSITION. Anybody who doesn't is stating an
unfortunate view. (US Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, "Press
Briefing by Ari Fleischer, The James S. Brady Briefing Room,"
Office of the Press Secretary, 25 February 2002, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/20020225-16.html)
-- *LESTER: Ari, both The Washington Post and Fox News reported
this week that an Islamic school just outside Washington is using
a textbook with the statement -- and this is a quote -- THE
DAY OF JUDGMENT CAN'T COME UNTIL JESUS CHRIST RETURNS TO EARTH,
BREAKS THE CROSS AND CONVERTS EVERYONE TO ISLAM, AND UNTIL MUSLIMS
START ATTACKING JEWS -- end of quote. How does this fit in
with your claim that ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE? *MR. FLEISCHER:
Lester, nothing that you will be able to cite as any individual
case is going to change the President's view that ISLAM IS A
RELIGION THAT REPRESENTS PEACE. *LESTER: Does this sound peaceful?
*MR. FLEISCHER: I think when you look broadly at any society,
you're going to find individual statements, no matter where they
are, that reasonable people disagree with, and disagree strongly.
(US Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, "Press Briefing by Ari
Fleischer, The James S. Brady Briefing Room," Office of
the Press Secretary, 28 February 2002, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/20020228-6.html)
-- I represent a great nation, and Russia is a great nation.
Both of us share a lot. We've got a big resource base. We've
got people who are very smart. I remind Vladimir Putin that the
great resource of Russia is the people of Russia. The resource
of this country is the brain power of this country. And when
they get the system right, that encourages individual growth
and entrepreneurship, that brain power is going to flourish,
and so will commerce, and so will opportunity. And while that
happens, both nations must respect the multi-ethnic character
of our lands. That, too, makes us great. And how we promote that
multi-ethnicity, and how we respect human rights is another way
we'll be judged by history. We'll be judged by history on how
we defend our freedoms. We'll be judged in history by how we
help our people prosper and grow. AND WE'LL BE JUDGED BY HISTORY
AS TO WHETHER OR NOT WE DEFEND THE UNIVERSAL VALUES THAT ARE
RIGHT AND JUST AND TRUE. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THAT COMMITMENT
TO THOSE VALUES. I appreciate your stance for freedom. I
appreciate your love of your country. I APPRECIATE YOUR UNDERSTANDING
THERE IS A UNIVERSAL AND GRACIOUS GOD. May God bless you all.
May God bless Russia. And may God bless the United States. Thank
you very much. (Applause.) (US President George W. Bush, "Remarks
by the President to Community and Religious Leaders, Spaso House,
Moscow, Russia," Office of the Press Secretary, 24 May 2002,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020524-12.html)
-- YOU KNOW, IT'S INTERESTING, THERE IS A UNIVERSAL GOD,
IN MY OPINION, and the first conversation I ever had with Vladimir
Putin was about God -- in Slovenia. It was a way that we -- we'd
never met each other, and the first discussion we had was about
our personal beliefs. I appreciate you hear me say that I appreciate
the fact that our country prays for me and Laura. And I do. I
do, I feel the prayers of the people. And so THERE IS A -- I
THINK THAT THE ALMIGHTY IS IMPORTANT -- OBVIOUSLY, IMPORTANT
PART OF MY LIFE, BUT VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE LIFE OF OUR COUNTRY.
(US President George W. Bush, "President Bush, President
Putin Discuss Joint Efforts against Terrorism: Remarks by President
Bush and Russian President Putin in Photo Opportunity - Calgary,
Kananaskis, Canada," Office of the Press Secretary, 27 June
2002, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020627-3.html)
-- ...ECUMENICAL OR INTERFAITH EFFORTS...HAVE BEEN BOLSTERED
BY PRESIDENT BUSH'S CALLS FOR TOLERANCE SINCE THE SEPT. 11
TERRORIST ATTACKS... ...the interfaith efforts emphasize
common values... (Alan Cooperman, "New York Lutheran Leader
Suspended: Synod Seeks Pastor's Apology for Praying with 'Pagans'
after Sept. 11 Attacks," WASHINGTON POST, 06 July 2002,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30501-2002Jul5.html)
-- THE PRESIDENT BELIEVES VERY DEEPLY THAT ISLAM IS A RELIGION
OF PEACE. ...AND THE PRESIDENT KNOWS THE PEACEFUL INTENT
OF THE ISLAMIC RELIGION. (US Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, "Press
Briefing by Ari Fleischer," 01 August 2002, Office of the
Press Secretary, The James S. Brady Briefing Room, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020801-4.html)
-- I want to play a piece of videotape from President George
W. Bush, and here's what he says about Islam. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ...WE SHARE THE
SAME HOPE FOR A FUTURE OF PEACE. WE HAVE MUCH IN COMMON
AND MUCH TO LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER. (US President George W. Bush,
videotaped in "CNN Crossfire: McAuliffe Slams Bush; Should
UNC Teach Koran to Freshmen?" Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson
as co-hosts, CNN, 12 August 2002, http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0208/12/cf.00.html)
-- People ask me what they can do in the war against terror.
My answer is, love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved
yourself. People say, well, I can't do everything. I know you
can't do everything, but you can do something to help change
America one soul, one conscience at a time. And that's what's
taking place in this country, it really is. Many people stepped
back after September the 11th and said, what is -- what's our
life worth? I mean, how do we fulfill a full life as an American?
More and more people understand that being a patriot is more
than just putting your hand over your heart and saying the Pledge
of Allegiance to a nation under God. They're saying -- more and
more people understand that serving something greater than yourself
in life is a part of being a complete American. And as more and
more people do that, as more and more people choose to mentor
a child, as more and more people help feed the hungry, AS
MORE AND MORE PEOPLE GO TO THEIR CHURCHES AND SYNAGOGUES AND
MOSQUES AND HEAR THAT UNIVERSAL CALL TO LOVE A NEIGHBOR, AMERICA'S
CULTURE IS CHANGING. AND AMERICA ITSELF IS CHANGING. ...LISTEN,
OUT OF THE EVIL DONE TO THIS GREAT LAND IS GOING TO COME INCREDIBLE
GOOD, because we're the greatest nation on the face of the
earth, full of the most fine and compassioned and decent citizens.
May God bless you all, and may God bless America. (US President
George W. Bush, "President Talks Homeland/Economic Security
at Mt. Rushmore: Remarks by the President on Homeland Security
and the Budget," Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, Office of
the Press Secretary, 15 August 2002, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020815.html) |