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The Amazing
Ignorance of Some "Great" World Leaders
Once
again we are poised on the brink of another potentially major
military episode in the Middle East. After several years of cease
fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border, Hezbollah guerillas moved
into Israel and captured two soldiers. Israel, obviously provoked
into rage, began immediate retaliation by firing back into Lebanon.
As of this writing, Lebanon has suffered the most fatalities,
at about 200, compared to about 30 in Israel. However, there is
no doubt that this attack was initiated by Lebanon, and at the
moment, there is no end in sight, with Israel amassing troops
on the Lebanese border, preparing for a possible ground invasion.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Anan called for an immediate
cease fire in the Middle East, but the United States opposes this,
insisting that such action would result in no way for Israel to
defend themselves.
There are times when I stand absolutely amazed at the sheer folly
and denial of truth by many world leaders. There are large numbers
of governmental leaders over the world, and here in the United
States as well, who are simply blind to the truth of the nature
of the world’s evil adversaries. Such leaders honestly believe
that there is absolutely no world problem that has to be resolved
militarily. They believe that if one goes about working hard to
build an environment of trust and meet the deep basic needs of
all parties, even ruthless aggressors, one can always establish
peace through diplomacy between warring parties. These foolish
leaders simply refuse to believe that some men are so selfish
or so evil that they will refuse any diplomacy, and will not stop
aggression for any reason, until they destroy the object of their
hatred, and then they will find something else, or someone else,
to hate. Certainly, negotiations should be used, and diplomacy
should be tried. Hopefully, there will be many occasions when
peaceful settlements can be achieved without warfare. However,
there are some world aggressors who are so selfish and so ruthlessly
evil that they will never negotiate, except for the purpose of
stalling, buying time, or winning false trust on the side of their
enemies, making their conquest that much easier. Men such as Adolf
Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Slobodan Milosevic, and Saddam Hussein
are demon possessed. They are snakes that can never be charmed,
bloodthirsty men who will never be satisfied until they have murdered
every person who would conceivably oppose them, their power, and
their desire. Any soft-hearted or well-meaning politician who
believes such an evil leader can be turned for the good through
diplomacy is either naïve beyond description, or else plays
the part of a complete fool.
Why do we have so many people in world power who are so blind
that they believe we can be totally pacifist in our approach to
world conflicts? Our modern and postmodern world system teaches
that there is no such thing as sin. They believe that all men
are fundamentally good. They believe the only reason men act “badly”
at times, is because of educational ignorance, impoverishment,
or psychological or environmental malady, or all of the above.
Therefore, if we can dig deep into a wicked leader’s problems,
or into the problems of his society and solve such ills, then
we can turn him into a nice person. However, the Bible firmly
tells us that men are not like this. “For all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God,” and “There is none
righteous, no, not one,” Romans 3:23 and 3:10. Men and women
of the world are not basically good; we are all steeped in sin,
with no way out except through Jesus Christ.
I applaud the efforts of Condoleezza Rice and other world leaders
to try and help establish a peace in the Middle East; by all means
we should try to negotiate a settlement. However, it will never
happen, if I understand biblical prophecy correctly. Even apart
from that, I am convinced that diplomacy would never work, because
many Palestinian leaders, and many other Arab and Muslim fundamentalists,
are filled with hatred, wickedness, and violence and want to see
nothing less than the total destruction of every Jew on earth.
God help us in these last times to understand the truth and not
be fooled by such idealistic and false beliefs about a fake goodness
in fallen mankind. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in
the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless
as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)
James Sanders
Pastor,
sandersjc@yahoo.com
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