The face of evil


Update: July 13


Yesterday a colleague at work showed me a video of the use of an improvised explosive device (IED). The video had two parts. The first was a short overview of the device and the vehicle in which it was hidden. In the second part, the device was detonated as a caravan drove by. The explosion engulfed two vehicles - the target vehicle and the one with the bomb. My colleague told me that this was the "cleanest, least gory" of the videos he's seen. I did a Google search for IED videos and found others. He's right, this one was the least gory. These videos exist because al-qaeda leaders require proof that people were killed. Otherwise, they will not pay the $15-$25 fee for setting off the bomb.

The video disturbed me because of the deaths of the innocent. It disturbed me even more because of what I heard on the soundtrack. In the first part, the voice of the cameraman (who also set off the bomb) could be heard, quietly saying one of the few phrases that I can understand in Arabic: "**** is great." (I refuse to dignify the name by writing it.) It is the battle cry used in "Holy war." I asked my colleague, "I'm about to watch someone die, aren't I?" In the second part of the video the voice continued its mind-numbing mantra, "**** is great." The chant became more strained, more intense. In the stress and adrenaline of the moment, he chanted "**** is great! **** IS GREAT!" He was committed to the deed. The convoy approached. The vehicles disappeared in a ball of flame.

I was overwhelmed by the evil I had just seen. A man, bent on murder, repeated a prayer over and over again. A prayer to justify cold-blooded murder. A prayer to justify a murder that, in his eyes, would please ****. A prayer to justify murder to make him a "holy warrior." A prayer to kill his conscience. A prayer of hate. A prayer of death. A prayer to Satan, no matter who he may have thought he was talking to.

Jesus said, "The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly." The Bible commands that we put away "anger, rage, malice. " In spite of this command, I found myself hating. It's hard not to. In my emotion, it seems the choice is either to fear or to hate. For once, Yoda is right: these are both the path to the Dark Side. "We wrestle not with flesh and blood."

We are engaged in a war of ideas, of truth, of life vs death. No, I'm not talking about that war overseas. This war is much bigger than that. Perhaps we need to review our mission and get back to it. The Prince of Peace commands it.

[ *** No, this isn't a commentary on the President's course of action. I wrote about that two years ago. ***]

Update July 13: A friend of mine wrote an email to me: "Wow. Very thought-provoking. I was actually afraid to leave a comment on the blog, but I do appreciate you writing it."

Posted: Thu - April 6, 2006 at 07:07 AM           | |

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