Excellent post over at Not Proud of Britain…
“With hindsight, when would the authorities have arrested Mohammad Sidique Khan or ‘Sid the school assistant’ as he was known? As he headed towards Kings Cross on July 7th or sometime earlier when his intentions were still far from certain?” – Snafu
I think this pretty much sums up the whole problem with The War Against Terror (TWAT) and our current governments obsession with micro-managing our lives, and locking up people before they have (potentially) committed any crime.
There are 2 certainties here; number one, there is no person, scientist, government, computer or spirit on earth that can predict with 100% accuracy that someone is destined to commit a crime or turn into a terrorist. Secondly, every human being alive has the potential inside themselves to commit good or evil.
The bible, and indeed nature, tells us that we are inclined towards evil, and that good is only achieved when we overcome our own evil (selfish) desires. I wont get into it here, but anyone who wants to argue with me on these points can feel free to leave a comment and I will respond.
The only being that knows whether we will do right or wrong is God. So why doesn’t God intervene and stop these things? If Sid Khan was ‘destined’ to become a suicide bomber, why did God allow him to carry out his plan? Well, there are 2 answers. The first is if God was to start interfering with our lives, interfering with our decisions, good or bad, then where would it stop?
We know Sid Khan was basically plotting to murder people. What if God had read Sids mind when he started planning this? What if God just ended Sids life as soon as the thoughts began? Is there anyone who can tell me they haven’t thought about ‘murdering’ someone in the heat of the moment. Even spoken the threat out loud “I’m going to kill him…”? If God interrupted to take out any person who ever issued a threat or thought about doing wrong, I’m pretty sure people would start dropping dead everywhere, in the street and at work. If God did this, sure we would be safe, but there would be no people at all! We wouldn’t have had these people either:
Mother Teresa
Alfred Nobel (Nobel Peace Prize)
Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams
St Paul
Since we know suicide bombers believe they are doing Gods work (just as Saul of Tarsus did), we can assume they also prayed to God, even before they carried out their malicious acts. What is to say that God has not already tried to appeal to these people on their way to the target?
Regardless, one thing the bible does make clear is that God could remove those destined to do evil, even stop them from being born. By his grace, he doesn’t, he allows them to live being patient. In other words, giving them a chance to repent and escape their destiny.
Abandon All Fear 