He asked me, "Is God a terrorist"?

Question

While I passed out flyers in downtown Los Angeles yesterday, a sinner got ugly and tried to analogize between God and people like Osama Bin Laden.

He felt that when God told Pharoah, Let the Hebrews leave Egypt or something bad will happen to Egyptians that compared to people like Yasser Arafat saying to Israel, Let the Palestinians have their own country or something bad will happen to Israelis.

To me these are very different questions. But I thought you on Yahoo might help me formulate a better response.

To me,

1. God is Good. His actions are without sin. The terrorists are evil. They act from evil motive. So no comparison there.

2. The Egyptians did not follow God's law. They supported the Pharoah. In contrast to cases like the Twin Tower attacks and suicide bombers, where the innocent victims bore no relation to the governments attacked.

3. God can grant eternal life to people he kills. When a terrorist kills someone unless already saved, they are just dead.

"the palestinians and muslims in general won't stop until there is not a jew left on the planet." I do not equate Palestinians and Muslims in general with terrorists. I equate people who throw bombs at innocent people with terrorists.

"not all muslim asre terorists nor is GOD A TERRORIST!" I agreed.

"arrogant to refer to this other person as a sinner" I think equating God to a terrorist shows a fundamental lack of understanding what it takes to be saved. But in the end, God judges, not I. And if I am wrong then I pray that God help me to understand my own sin and to forgive me for it.

"Can you honestly say that a family in Palestine, trying to eek out a living and keep a modicum of human decency is evil?! What kind of Christian are you?!" No, that family sounds like farmers. But if one of them straps on a bomb and blows people up with it, then I think he is a terrorist. As to what kind of Christian I am? An imperfect one.

Answer 1

Have you read this book and what are your view or answers to the list below from this book?

The Truth About Muhammad
by Robert Spencer

Meet the real Muhammad:


Muhammad's bizarre reaction to his first "revelation": "I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself"

The heretical Christian who convinced Muhammad he was a prophet – and may have taught him his erroneous views of Christianity

Islamic borrowings from Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism – and Muhammad's enraged replies to charges that he borrowed material rather than received actual divine revelations

The "revelation" that allowed Muhammad to marry his beautiful daughter-in-law

The strange incident in Muhammad's life that makes it virtually impossible to prove rape in Islamic countries today

The real "Satanic Verses" incident (not the Salman Rushdie version): how Muhammad's attempt to win over his opponents ended with his saying he had been inspired not by God, but by Satan

How the Qur'an's teaching on warfare against unbelievers developed – with constant war to establish the hegemony of Islamic law as the last stage

The first year of the Muslim calendar: not when Muhammad was born or became a prophet, but when he became a warlord

How Muhammad used the graphic lure of Islamic Paradise to urge his warriors to fight furiously to extend his rule

"Kill every Jew who comes into your power": why Muhammad became so angry with both Jews and Christians – with disastrous consequences that are still playing out in the world today

The momentous command by Muhammad that led to good being identified with anything that benefited the Muslims, and evil with anything that harmed them --without reference to any larger moral standard

Muhammad's child bride – and the terrible consequences his marriage to a nine-year-old still has in the Islamic world

"This is the caravan of the Quraysh possessing wealth. It is likely that Allah may give it to you as booty": how Muhammad gave divine sanction to the Muslims' bloody raids

"War is deceit": the permission Muhammad gave his followers to lie in order to gain an advantage over their enemies

How Muhammad broke the principal treaty he entered into, again setting a pattern for Muslim states thereafter

Muhammad's commands to his followers to wage perpetual war against non-Muslims, including Jews and Christians

Muhammad on women's rights: women "are prisoners with you having no control of their persons"

"If justice is not to be found with me then where will you find it?" Why Muhammad still stands for Muslims as the supreme model for human behavior

"I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula, and will not leave any but Muslims" – and other statements by Muhammad that contemporary jihadists take very seriously

Islamic tolerance? The onerous tax burden and other discriminatory regulations mandated for non-Muslims under Islamic law

How Muhammad ordered the killing of apostates from Islam

The massacre of a Jewish tribe by Muhammad that was invoked by modern-day jihadists at the beginning of Israel's July 2006 operations against Hizballah in Lebanon

"Embrace Islam, and your lives and property will be safe": Muhammad's threatening letters to the rulers of the lands around Arabia

Muhammad's frequent avowals that the Muslims would overcome the empires bordering on Arabia and one day stand as masters of the world

"I have been made victorious with terror" – and other statements of Muhammad on his deathbed

Six steps that American leaders can and must take in order to protect our nation from Islamic jihad terrorism

Answer 2

It's a lame and silly comparison that shouldn't trouble you so much. God created all and is in charge of the life and death of all at all times. He doesn't compare to anything or anyone on earth. He is not bound by our wisdom or reasoning or even our sense of what is "fair." Since he possesses all wisdom and knowledge and is completely perfect, he can demand whatever he wants from whomever he wants, and we trust that he is always true to his perfect nature.

Terrorists are human beings trying to take power for themselves (that of life and death) that belongs only to God. If they need to compare Yasser Arafat to someone, let it be to earthly rulers, kings, or military leaders, but not to God. We could have some more serious, challenging discussions about war and killing within the bounds of Scripture.

My questions for the man on the street: What are the things that Yasser Arafat has created from nothing? Who are the people he has raised from the dead? When did he get the power to forgive sins? What are his plans to bring all of Creation back into perfect order? He is not God. He is merely a man--a sinful man.

Answer 3

Your statements here are far too black and white for me. They negate basic humanity. So as much as I know this will raise the ire of Americans...

Terrorists are just like you. They're human beings. It is your challenge as a Christian and a human being to find out why they feel it's necessary to behave in such an unconscionable fashion. There IS reason behind it if only we took the time to look. From there, some fundamental understand can begin to take place that will enable everyone to address the horrendous grievances these people have. Grievances so huge that they feel the only way they can get anyone's attention is by strapping explosives to their bodies so they can blow themselves up along with as many innocent people as possible.

Can you honestly say that a family in Palestine, trying to eek out a living and keep a modicum of human decency is evil?! What kind of Christian are you?!

Answer 4

Wake up! The world is not black and white, you cannot draw lines in the sand like this. I agree with some of the above responses, your argument is simply your belief, and in no way provable. The comparison is not good, but yours are not much better. And yes, just to begin with, call this person "...a sinner..." like that seems blatently arrogant, and quite rude. Are we not equal? Are we not (by your faith) all sinners? Just for the sake of it now...Merriam-Webster online defines a terrorist as "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion ". By this definition, a lot of people can be called terrorists: the Us government certainly, in a number of situations, consciously and unconsciously, and yes, it would seem God too. [It is taught that above all else you should fear God, though in a respect for his sublime nature, you love him also.] By this definition some might take it literally and say, God is a terrorist, but most people realize the term is to be used within reason. [It has a very derrogatory implication, obviously, for anyone.] So think it through, and analyze for yourself accordingly.

Answer 5

The actions of God are the actions of a terrorist. He punishes people for not conforming to his rigid rules. He kills people who are not Jewish. He kills Jews who disobey his laws. He uses the threat of Hell to make people act as he wants.

1) "God is without sin." this is your opinion. Having an opinion does not make it true. Having faith that something is true does not make it true.

2) Did the Egyptians have a chance to follow God's law? If God is all powerful and without sin, then he obviously made it completely obvious to the Egyptians that he was the one, true God. The problem is that it isn't obvious that the Christian God is the one, true God or if there *is* a God.

3) It takes being saved to have eternal life under this God? What about the people in the past who were not exposed to God? Why are these people condemned to the lack of eternal life? It sounds as if your God is a arbitrary and pathetic God who only cares about being obeyed.

Answer 6

On the grounds that they have to answer 100% honestly. To Rush Limbaugh- do you really really believe all this crap you spew daily. I mean really. To Obama- What were you thinking........on, oh so many things. DADT, DOMA, Cap and Trade, That last stimulus package that no one had time to read. But they signed it lickety split, Government health care, I guess he's never known anyone on Medicare or SSI or a Veteran, or he would know how well the government handles health care. And yeah while your at it showing Aimee B that birth certificate can I take a peek at it too. LMAO...........Just feeling a little anti-politician today I guess. MP: Hot, not Texas hot. But hot! L

Answer 7

I could go into a bunch of "GOD verses the scum of a human Bin Laden" but I won't. I will simply say that GOD is GOD and his word isTHE word.You do not question Him. He is such a supreme being that we cannot even begin to understand everything about him, we are not on the same level of thinking that He is. Hopefully if we "play our card's right" we will one day we will be in a position to understand.We are children of GOD. we are supposed to do what we are told!So if you run into this unreasonable fellow again,just say to him in your most christian tone, Buzz of Buzzare Breath and turn the other cheek!LOL GOD Bless

Answer 8

God is LOVE. If a person does not love themselves, they cannot love God, or anybody else. It sounds as though the person you met fits that category. I have a sign on each back, side window of my car. It simply reads, "Jesus loves you." You should see the reaction of people who are displaying road rage. The calm down pretty quick. Spread the Gospel anyway you can. By the way, death does NOT come from God, it was brought into the world by Satan after Adam and Eve screwed up. When Jesus died on the cross, He gave us victory over spiritual death. When He returns, it will be over physical death.

Answer 9

Anyone who takes chances with the lives of innocent people to get what they want is a terrorists. This includes people like Osama GWB and anyone who supports his so-called war on terror that has now killed over a half million innocent people.

Anyone who supports these types of actions Muslim or christian fits into my view of evil quite well.

Think about it?

Love and blessings Don

Answer 10

1. So it's OK for someone to kill your children - as long as he is "without sin" (whatever the hell that means.)
2. How about the innocent Egyptian infants? How could they "follow God's laws?"
3. I'm sure that made the Egyptian mothers feel better. "God killed all our first born, but they are in heaven." (By the way, where does it say they went to heaven?"

Answer 11

Sorry, that guy was dead on.

God hardened pharaoh's heart and then slaughtered all the firstborn in Egypt. Obviously all the firstborn in Egypt didn't have anyhting to do with the slavery of the jews. So god slaughtered to change one man's mind (pharaoh) after ensuring that his mind wouldn't change!!!

That is exactly what terrorists do, except they can't harden our hearts