Pay tribute here and answer this question?

Question

I'm talking about 9/11 - pay tribute to all the poor souls who perished six years ago including the poor souls in the aircraft. And remember the Fire Department guys, nobody braver...

And answer me this: should we pray for the souls of the terrorists on board who caused the planes to go down? Should selfish cowards be included in forgiveness? Someone said to me that they should, but I find that something I can't come to terms with. I think the bible mentions all sins will be forgiven, but surely that act was driven by selfish evil, for the self to be glorified in eternity and all that stuff. How can it be forgiven?

Answer 1

Exactly! You've just described perfectly my feelings about the Inquisition and the Crusades, too!

Answer 2

After my shock and grief turned to anger six years ago, I thought the best idea was to find the people who dreamed up that horrid scene and let them take a little walk through the streets of Manhattan. An eye for an eye. I know - that's awful. It's hard for others to even imagine how the minds of people who do such things even operate. They don't understand us, either. I do know that God will judge their hearts, not their minds or deeds, when the time comes. I don't know if I can forgive, and I know I'll never forget (unless I develop Alzheimer's). I've heard it said that if we make it to Paradise we'll all be in for three surprises. #1 We'll be surprised that we made it. #2 We'll be surprised to see who else is there. #3 We'll be surprised to see who is not there. The wages of sin is death, and those guys weren't born perfect. I haven't prayed for them before, but I have prayed for the victims' families. Praying for somebody who has already died seems pointless, perpetrators or victims, but those who survived need all the encouragement and compassion we can muster.

Answer 3

Aesthetics of Hate - Machine Head, pays tribute to Darrel Dimebag plus it's an awesome song Hatebreed

Answer 4

Their souls are already taken care of and there is nothing you can do to change that, with prayers, tears or angry words. You can only choose your own thoughts and possibly touch the lives of others with your actions, so that their thoughts are altered, hopefully in a possitive way. You do not have to forgive, but what power these people have over you, even now, as you are so angry (It seems...)?
When you forgive, you heal yourself and then you start to understand why the pattern of events occured. Then you can change the present and the future, but never the past. Surely you do not want to be swollowed up in a ball of firey hate like these people.....you don't want to become like them.....? It is a quick way to war.

Deepest and sincere regards to you and everyone affected by 9/11.

Answer 5

We can never forget the brave men and women who acted against the terrorist death squads that day. Especially notable are those who brought down the plane in Pennsylvania, saving many lives in Washington, D. C., and the firefighters who died saving those trapped in the Twin Towers. I pray for every innocent person killed that day, that God will forgive their sins and give them eternal peace and happiness with him.

As to the terrorists, no, I do not pray for them. Even Jesus, at the Last Supper, said, "I am not praying for the world" (John 17:9). He prayed for the soldiers at the crucifixion because they did not know what they were doing; they thought Jesus deserved to die, and were simply carrying out their duties. But he did not pray for those who plotted his death.

Forgiveness of sins requires repentance. The cowardly murderers who took thousands of lives to terrorize the West into submitting to theocracy and second-class citizenship were proud and defiant in the service of their false god. Now they are in hell, the final justice of a life in the service of death.

Answer 6

You have to forgive to be forgiven and man that's a tall order sometimes. When you mind says kill them all and let God separate the good from the bad.
Still that's what God wants and we must obey so I forgive them and I pray as the martyrs that are in heaven pray How long before you revenge our blood oh Lord? For vengeance is His not mine.
I don't have to like them. I don't have to trust them. I don't even have to acknowledge their existence but I can't make them go away.
If I have to be a Christian warrior to survive this world then at least let me wear the Armor of God with the Two Edged Sword in my hand.
Pray for them? Why? It's too late to change their destiny. But ours requires forgiveness first.

Answer 7

Hi and good morning....Jesus had stated' Love thy enemy' so with this in mind one should love thy enemy for what they do even though they have committed wrong upon you. God does forgive your sin/sins but I feel that God only forgives if one is sincere in asking for God's forgiveness. These terrorists that committed this horrific crime against our nation has the right to be forgiven by God if they repent and have seek-ed out a priest for God's forgiveness. These terrorists committed a 'mortal sin' which is severe in God's eyes. Now the belief in the Catholic Church practice that there are two sins that one commits. A venial sin and a mortal sin. A mortal sin is defying God's Law such as one of His Commandments. A venial sin is an act or action that was unintentional such as gossiping. A mortal sin is an act or action or thought that was committed intentional. Such as Thou Shall Not Commit Murder in which these terrorists had done. It was planned and premeditated. Now these terrorists if they want forgiveness from God needs a priest to ask God for His forgiveness. If not they will be condemned to Hell for all Eternity. Now this is the belief of the Catholic church. Now I imagine these terrorists had their own religion and it probably was not of the Christian faith or the Catholic faith. If they believe in their God I imagine they also have rules to follow to be forgiven I just don't know of their religion and what it pertains to. If one is a true Christian and believe in their faith and in God then one would pray for the terrorists sins that they had committed. Remember Jesus asked His Father to forgive the Romans at the time of His death for the sins that they had done against Him. So if he can pray and ask His Father to forgive those that persecuted Him then we as Christians and others alike can pray for the souls of these terrorists. Only God can forgive, He is our Judge. We can ask God to forgive but unless these terrorists are sincere they will not be forgiven. This is my opinion. Have a very blessed day!

Answer 8

As hard as it is, we should pray for the souls of those who were flying the planes that day. I know that we are angry and feel that it should not have happened, but in the eyes of God, each person is still His child. They are our brothers and sisters, no matter the evil they do.

I don't believe that what those men did was right. But if you look at it from their perspective, in their minds they were doing it for their God. Though I don't believe ANY God would encourage that selfish, evil act, in their eyes it was a religious act. They will still have to stand in front Him one day and say, "We did it for you!" In my mind He will say, "WHAT? Do you really think that was OKAY?" They will be judged by God. It is not our place to judge. We should pray for their souls only because it is what God would have us do.

Answer 9

You raise an interesting point, and it's a debate my wife and I have had several times, though not regarding terrorism, but other heinous crimes, such as rape, child pornography, etc. Here's the thing. While we are on this earth, our mission as Christians is to put out the Word of God, and gather souls unto Christ. While on this earth, people have the choice whether or not to follow God, the same as they have the choice whether or not to rape, pillage, and murder. It is our commission to help them while they are here. Once they're beyond our sphere of influence, they have to stand in front of God on Judgement Day, when every idle word will be judged. If they have truly repented and turned to Christ, they will be spared, but if they had repented and turned to Christ, they would not have flown airplanes into buildings and murdered hundreds of people. The only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, but to be forgiven, one must repent.

Answer 10

To the 343 Firemen that lost their lives at the Beginning of the War, you are not forgotten. Your deaths will not be in vain. In our Departments we wear the number 343 on our helmets in remembrance. Your names will be long remembered after the names of the cowardly attackers are forgotten by the world.

God Bless their Families.

On behalf of Fire Departments around the world. Especially the Men and Women of the Departments in Perry County ARKANSAS.
Submitted by Chaplain Robert M. Paris
Perry County Chaplain.

If anyon wants the list of names I can send it to you in a file.

Answer 11

I am not religious in the slightest, so I won't be praying. As for the forgiveness part, it is not my place. I was not affected personally by 9/11.

There are acts of cowardice and inhumanity every day. I think as human beings we are all capable of great kindness and compassionate as well as savagery and pain. We all need to strive to be better people and think of how our words and deeds impact on others.

Religion is a tool to control and manipulate people. It dictates how you should think and act. I believe that education, and public life is no place for religion of any kind. It is a belief and personal.