Recently in terror Category

As soon as I heard about the shooting in Oak Creek WI, my stomach knotted.

My first impulse is to try to bring together people of faith to stand watch outside the worship spaces of our neighbors, but almost immediately I realized the problem:

I look like the shooter.

I look similar to the people who have tried to drive out Sikhs, Muslims, and people of other faiths. I claim to follow Jesus, the same as many of those people who have shouted hateful messages.

I look like the kind of person who threatens families at worship.

Because of this, a line of people like me may look more threatening than reassuring. And it would be easy for someone who looks like me to stand in our midst.

To many, my white face is the face of a terrorist,

I am not satisfied with merely typing words in the safety of my home, hoping to persuade people to be more kind, loving, and accepting. But my knee-jerk reaction to put myself in harms way, between those who hate and those the haters would seek to harm, runs the risk of causing more pain.

To those who look like me: what ideas do you have to ensure the safety of our neighbors?

To those who follow Jesus: how can we take up our crosses for our sisters and brothers of other faiths?

Most importantly, to those who look different from me, and those who believe differently: how can I help? What can I do to make you be and feel safer as you worship? It is to you I need most to listen.

After the events of September 11, 2001, there were some who associated Islam with terrorism. There were some who asked "Where are all the so-called 'good' Muslims? Why aren't they condemning these attacks?" Of course, there were many Muslims who condemned the attacks, but the faithful - a minority in the United States of America - were not heard above the outrage of the majority.

Now we have a report of an alleged plot by a Christian cell:

DETROIT -- Nine alleged members of a Christian militia group that was girding for battle with the Antichrist were charged Monday with plotting to kill a police officer and slaughter scores more by bombing the funeral -- all in hopes of touching off an uprising against the U.S. government. - AP

So the logical next question is:

"Where are all the so-called 'good' Christians? Why aren't they condemning these attacks?"

Let us see the Christian churches take a stand, shoulder-to-shoulder, condemning this type of behavior as antithetical to the way of Jesus. Let us hear the united voices of the faithful.

As a majority, the silence so far has been deafening.