Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
How the Catholic Church Became a Defender of Islam, And misled Christians in the process - by William Kilpatrick
Friday, September 16, 2022
Front Page Magazine : In the late 1930s Catholic historian Hillaire Belloc wrote:It [Islam] is, as a fact, the most formidable and persistent enemy
which our civilization has had and may at any moment become as large a
menace in the future as it has been in the past…
It seemed an unlikely prediction. At the time, the Islamic world was
practically moribund. A comeback did not seem to be in the cards.
Yet, Belloc was proved right. Within four decades, Islam was once again
a power to be reckoned with.
At one time, the Catholic Church had defended the West against Islam, but by the beginning of the 21st century, the Church had become a reliable defender of Islam against its critics.
Despite abundant evidence to the contrary, Catholic leaders and
educators assured the world that Islam had nothing to do with violence.
They also insisted that “Islam” means “peace” and that “jihad” is an
“interior struggle.” If you disagreed with any of this you were
dismissed as an “Islamophobe.”
What do Muslims and Christians have in common? Here’s the key passage:
They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful
and all powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to
men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable
decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in
linking itself, submitted to God.
Though they do not acknowledge Jesus
as God, they revere Him as prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin
Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they
await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all
those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the
moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and
fasting.
In short, Islam was just like Catholicism…except it wasn’t. The
Council fathers had come up with a list of surface similarities between
Islam and Catholicism, but had ignored the deep differences.
For example, Catholics and Muslims supposedly worship the same God.
And sure enough, the God adored by Catholics is “merciful and all
powerful”—just like the Muslim God. But unlike the Muslim God He is
also a Trinity—something that Muslims vehemently deny. He is also, from
the Catholic point of view, a Father. Again, this is vehemently
rejected by Muslims.
In fact, to say that God is a father is, from the
Muslim point of view the height of blasphemy. Moreover, in Islamic
scripture, Allah is always associated with the Prophet Muhammad. In
fact, when a Muslim avows that “there is no God but Allah,” he is
obliged to add “And Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.” Unfortunately
for the “same God” thesis, the name “Muhammad” does not appear anywhere
in the Bible.