Martyrdom – or child sacrifice?

Father forgive them....they think like children.

In my work within prisons and in my personal life I have had
experience with people who have 'lost the ability to hope that things can
improve or get any better'. For these people, who have over time and through
disappointment somehow become isolated from vital hope, suicide becomes not only
palatable, it provides an enticing option.

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old, he will not depart from it". Of course this principle can
work negatively in reverse as well! The Jesuits paraphrased the Proverb "Give
us a child until the age of seven -– and we'll have him for life".

The same principle is at work every day in the minds of the
many brainwashed little ones, growing up amid the new culture of fear and
hatred in what are known as the Palestinian sectors of Israel. This new
culture comes out of the trauma of the Aqsa Intifadah -– the name given to the
new uprising. Whilst similar in many respects to the intifadah of 1987-1993,
this struggle is characterised by a large degree of hopelessness and mistrust.
It is almost like de ja vu, with hopeless disappointment blended to the
psychological mix: this time around the Palestinians do not trust that history
will redeem them, they now have little faith in Yasser Arafat as a saviour
figure. Only a warped understanding of the plight of the Palestinian people
exists in the minds of the young ones -– in which Israel, the aggressor, has no
redeeming characteristics, she is only a torturer and murderer, who bulldozes
down their homes and destroys the possessions of the Palestinian people. The
Palestinians are only seen as victims in their little minds; they have played no
part in bringing this situation down on themselves.

Infuse to this cocktail of fear and confusion dogmatic
religious concepts and promises of reward for 'escape', and little children
who should be enjoying playing and laughing, full of life and future -– are
instead eager and ready to give their lives up for the cause of shahid -
martyrdom.

One of the major psychological evils to come from the asqa
intifadah is the serious erosion of the strong patriarchal culture, where
fathers are seen as the providers of protection -– these children have entered
the isolated zone of hopelessness and despair, even their fathers cannot help
them.

An article from Time magazine, 20 August 2002, reads,
"...'In their games, children identify with the martyr,' says Dr Eyyad
Sarraj, a psychiatrist who heads the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.
Psychologically, he says, 'they have left their fathers for martyrs.' A cult
of death has appropriated a Palestinian generation, but a deep fear underlies
it. Today, according to Sarraj, 35% of Palestinian children wet their bed, up
from 7% before the Intifadah. Sarraj estimates that 30% of children suffer from
post-traumatic stress."

With this in mind, let me remind you of Proverbs 22:6 once
again. In an alarming sense, the extreme and fatalistic Muslim teachings fused
in the minds of these young ones could easily be renamed 'Child Sacrifice'.
When children begin fanaticising with dreams of helping their own people, by
strapping bombs around their waist and blowing up the enemy, we have severely
dysfunctional individuals.

Inside Israel Newsletter, September 2002, "Martyrdom
or Child Sacrifice -–

...Throughout the Arab communities of Israel, the West Bank
and Gaza, the children who have died as homicide bombers, have their pictures
displayed with all the adults who are revered as martyrs for Allah...

Can a child indoctrinated with hatred for the Jew from a very
early age make an intelligent, rational decision, to end their life and the
lives of as many Jews as possible? Not likely. Then where does the
responsibility lie? With the parents and the culture...

Are the homicide bombers that are classified as adults,
adults in age and size only?...

Child sacrifice is not new to this area of the world. When
Israel entered the Promised Land, after 40 years in the wilderness, God warned
them of the dangers of taking up any of the religious practices of the previous
inhabitants. He spoke to this specific problem by declaring:

'And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through
the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD'
- Leviticus 18:21

'There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his
son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a
soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer.' - Deuteronomy 18:10

And as could be expected in the mixed world of western
tolerance and experiential thought, Islamic evangelism is taking place all over
the world -– and with marked success as westerners convert to the Muslim faith
in record numbers. Immigration into western countries with the Islamic gospel
has been effective - Patrick Ikiua's article in the September Omega Times 'Strangers
in our midst' provides useful insight. "Biblically we are called to love
strangers who dwell amongst us, they shall have standing that is equal to our
own:

Leviticus 19:34: "But the stranger that
dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love
him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your
God."

There is however a rider to the Lord's instruction to the
Israelites, by being treated as an equal all strangers become subject to the
laws and social mores of the land. It does not state that strangers be accepted
with their differences, in fact the requirement to abide by the laws of the land
is emphatic for all peoples both native born and aliens:

Leviticus 18:26: "But you must keep my decrees
and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of
these detestable things."

Inside Israel Newsletter, April 2002, "Unbelievable to
the civilized mind -–

...Glenn Seilig, an investigative reporter for WTWT Fox
Channel 13 in Tampa Bay, Florida, has drawn attention to a children's program
shown each week on Palestinian TV called, Jihad for Kids or The
Children's Club. Seilig reports that the program is 'complete with
puppet shows, games, songs and a very chilling message.' Seilig has a video
tape of one edition of the program in which a little girl sings in Arabic the
following message:

'O sing, my sister, constantly about my life as a
suicide warrior.

I forsee my death, but I march quickly. Am I afraid? Life has
little value because I'll return to my lord and my people will know I am a
hero. (This message is repeated again and again in the song)

in battle dress.' " This whole report is available on
the Internet at http://wtvt.com/investreptr/jihad.html

In our western countries, conservative teachings on the Koran
are being propagated to help explain an alternative or moderate view of the
Muslim faith. In the US -– a new book 'Approaching the Qu'ran' is one
such piece of teaching literature on the Islamic holy book. I have not yet
viewed the book, which apparently omits whole sections which relate to Muhammad's
calls for violent action or the concept of holy war.

On talkback radio and often in conversations I hear people
confusing Allah of the Muslims with Yahweh of the Hebrews (and the
God of the Christians)...can I state clearly once again - they are not the same!
They are both revealed in their respective manuals for living -– and
Allah looks nothing like Yahweh. I know I am appearing to be intolerant in an
age of ridiculous and insincere PC hullabaloo but gullible people need to get
their feet firmly planted back on terra-firma comparing apples with apples...before
looking at the magnitude of this issue. Obviously, there are in the community
lovely moderate Muslims and dangerously extreme Muslims -– and the same applies
within Christianity. I know some who remind me of Christ Jesus -– and some who
are so intent on being vindicated, focused on 'being right' they look
nothing like the Christ; 'by their fruit you will know them'. The
issue is not about varying degrees of interpretation of the Koran or Bible, but
two very different God's, with absolutely different plans for the lives of
people.

I pray for the Palestinians -– that God will show them
mercy. These children are brainwashed and 'do not know what they are doing'.
Many of the adults are brainwashed and 'do not know what they are doing'. I
pray for the Jews who largely 'do not know what they are doing' -– other
than surviving. I pray that they come to a knowledge of Jahweh, and return to
Him.

In God's letter to the captives in exile, many of whom had
no doubt given up hope of redemption long ago, Jeremiah 29:11, God speaks words
of hope -– "For I know the thoughts I have for you saith the Lord, thoughts
of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end".