May 23, 2005
The Two-Front War
The past several months the press has been fixated on presenting news
stories that highlight examples of abuse by American forces against Arabs.
The slightest indication that we have done something wrong triggers a
stampede of reporters wanting to cover the infraction.
The abuse of detainees is nothing to take lightly. The Abu Ghraib prison
scandal
was a black eye on the U.S. military. So far, six soldiers have pleaded guilty or have
been found guilty of mistreating prisoners.
Last week, a remorseful specialist Sabrina Harman reflected on her
actions: "As a soldier and military police officer, I failed my duties and
failed my mission to protect and defend," she said. "I not only let down the people in
Iraq, but I let down every single soldier that serves today."
The Defense Department is doing its best to ensure that justice is served on
all military members who abuse prisoners; however, the general view in the
Arab world is that America is a heavy-handed player in the Middle East.
In our battles against Islamic insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have
defeated them at every turn. In every major campaign, the rebels have lost hundreds
while our side has only suffered a few dozen losses. When it comes to the propaganda
of war, however, we have not seen the same level of success.
Our problem is that we are fighting a war on two fronts. We have Islamic
militants seeking to destabilize Iraq and the Middle East, and we have the
liberal media back here at home doing its best to hinder the war on
terrorism.
Since the beginning, the press has been doing everything in its power to
undermine the operation in Iraq. The proof is in how the liberal media covers
the conflict. Its endless search for dirt is what got Newsweek into
hot water.
When reporters heard from an "unnamed source" that interrogators were
desecrating the Koran to get prisoners to talk, the story was too good to pass up. The magazine's handiwork triggered rioting in Afghanistan and other countries and at least 15 people died. After the damage had been
done, it was learned that most likely no such abuse of the Koran had taken place.
The Pentagon's main spokesman, Bryan Whitman, called Newsweek's story
irresponsible, saying the magazine "hid behind anonymous sources which by
their own admission do not withstand scrutiny. Unfortunately, they cannot
retract the damage that they have done to this nation or those who were
viciously attacked by those false allegations."
Another good indication of the liberal media's bias came when a British
tabloid published photos of a half-naked Saddam Hussein in his prison cell
and doing his washing. The sight of Saddam Hussein in his undies was not
something a person would want to view while eating breakfast.
Because Hussein is in U.S. custody, the press naturally questioned whether the
photos would inflame the Arab people and further damage our reputation.
Because Hussein was a brutal ruler, it's pure silliness to suggest that he
might have any base of support.
When I was in the Middle East, I was amazed at the availability of American
media in the region. Many of the newsstands sold Time and Newsweek, and the
cable channels carried several U.S. networks.
I strongly believe that the activities of the liberal media are some of
Satan's greatest tools in controlling the affairs of this world. The average
Christian's inability to see the press for what it has been all the more of
a bonus for the forces of darkness.
-- Todd
Terry's Interview on "Revelations
Our rr family and friends responded with hundreds of "reviews" on the NBC series "Revelations," following my solicitation of those reviews.
I can't thank you enough for your help. I submitted a large sampling of those reviews to the editor of "Radar Magazine," a recently established New York City publication with --in the case of this story-- links to the NBC publicity department.
I hope to do a review of the mini-series in a future "Nearing Midnight" update.
To see the interview, which is on the magazine's website, go to:
http://www.radaronline.com/web-only/the-third-degree/2005/05/hollywood-ending.php
Jane Fonda Saga
A friend dropped by yesterday. He has retired and moved back to the town in which he and I grew up. I had not talked with him since our early college days, except during the phone conversation when he called me several days before our reunion. Instantly, the warmth of close friendship was there while we embraced in a hug we would have never considered in those earlier years so long ago. A handshake simply would not do.
So much had happened to us both. The visit was, for me, very moving. I believe it was the same for Mike. Reluctantly, he opened up about his time spent in Vietnam. He was a second lieutenant in an Army Ranger unit that was charged with probing the jungles, trying to pinpoint the location of the Viet Cong.
It was during the course of our conversation that I was brought full-circle in a troubling, recurring dream. Since first learning of the death of Mike’s and my mutual friend, Bryson, the dreams have haunted my nights. This isn’t unusual for me, as I still dream vividly about two roommates who died soon after we parted. One was Freddy, my college roommate in 1961-62, and Barry, my U.S. Air Force roommate in 1968. Both drowned--Freddy while wading a creek (he couldn’t swim, and slipped into a deep hole). Barry died while crossing the Mississippi River on a ferry boat full of work-commuter cars, when the ferry got in the way of a freighter near New Orleans. They are still with me in my memories –always with my efforts in my dreams to forewarn them that they must avoid water, that they are destined to die if they don’t.
It is the same with Bryson. Except, in my dreams about him, I had no solid basis upon which to warn him. I was never exactly sure how he died –only in general reports of how it happened.
Then Mike’s bombshell –rather, mortar shell. Mike was only a few feet from Bryson when it happened, Mike said. “You could hear the whump! whump! whump! of the incoming," he said. "We dove for whatever shelter we could find. When I looked up, I saw Bryson. He had been blown into a sort of creek. I ran to him, pulled him out, talked to him, trying to get him to respond. It was no good. He was already gone…”
Bryson, Mike said –and I had heard this before—was packed, ready to leave for the U.S. that very day, having served his time. He would have gone to White Sands to work on special projects because he was a brilliant student in physics and all those things I certainly don’t understand.
So, why was he serving in the Army infantry, in Vietnam, as a second lieutenant? I don’t know, but I suspect it was totally his choice to do so before settling into a government job, which he could have had, preempting his having to serve in a combat role. Bryson was that kind of guy. His choice wasn’t stupidity; it was his strong sense of duty and honor. His love of country. I knew him, so can say that without reservation.
I suspect that the hauntings of the dreams stem from somewhere deeply within my soul. I never witnessed to any of them that Jesus Christ is the only Way to God the Father. Although they were Americans, raised in a land where they had many opportunities to know Christ, I didn’t witness to them. I will take that knowledge with me into eternity. Even repentance of that lack of witness for Christ cannot assuage the sadness of the thought that I might not see them ever again, except, perhaps, as a witness at the Great White Throne. My prayer is, of course, that each found Jesus without my help. I know of an absolute certainty that Jesus wanted them to spend eternity with them.
Mike’s and my conversation turned my thoughts, also, to the news story I had just that morning looked at on the “Rapture Ready News” section of raptureready.com.
The posted item read: “Fonda distances herself from 'fundamentalists.'"
We remember the actions of the actress who came to be known as “Hanoi Jane” when she visited the North Vietnam capital, and who laughed and joked with North Vietnam Army officials while she looked through the gunsight of an anti-aircraft gun that had reportedly just been used to bring down American aircraft.
Jane apparently repented of that action in a wide-ranging interview in the 2000 July-August issue of Oprah Winfrey's magazine, "O."
She said: "I will go to my grave regretting the photograph of me on an anti-aircraft gun, which looks like I was trying to shoot at American planes," she said. "It hurt so many soldiers. It galvanized such hostility. It was the most horrible thing I could possibly have done. It was just thoughtless."
She is, of course, correct that it was a horrible thing. But, it wasn’t the most “horrible” thing she could do. The most horrible thing would be to reject Christ as Savior.
Jane had, not long before making the statement of repentance for the Hanoi incident, professed her faith in Christ. The conversion, according to reports, was the result of the actress’s chauffeur witnessing the Gospel to her during the many trips the two took together.
Now it is reported that Jane has distanced herself from “fundamentalists.” She apparently claims to be a "feminist” Christian and considers the Bible a “metaphor.” She says that she reads extra-biblical gospels, and is still searching for a church.
"I don't want to offend anyone," Fonda said. "But I believe people have different ways of approaching The Word. For me, it's metaphor, written by people a long time after Christ died. And interpreted by specific groups. I read the gospels that aren't included in the Bible. These make me feel good about calling myself a Christian. What we are seeing today are policymakers who say they're Christians" (Source: WorldNetDaily, May 14, 2005).
Still, Jane’s life comes down to politics at the core of her soul, apparently. Her agonizing search for peace reportedly goes back to her years as a little girl. She once told her father, the famous Henry Fonda, that she wanted to go to Sunday School to learn about Jesus, and that a neighbor had invited her to go to their church. Jane said that her father ridiculed her for such foolishness.
One can’t help but wonder how foolish Jane’s Dad considers seeking after Christ at this moment…
Jane’s chauffeur and her neighbor from long ago have my greatest respect. They witnessed, recognizing the opportunity the Holy Spirit brings into the Christian’s life. Whether Jane truly accepted Christ, God only knows. I certainly pray that is the case.
There is nothing we can do more vital –more imperative—than to witness when the opportunity is presented. This is for Ms. Fonda, and for the rest of us: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8-9).
Another exhortation from Jesus about witness: “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:33).
Paul the Apostle gives further instruction through his actions: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
While we watch for the approach of the day of Christ’s calling believers to himself, let us witness, unashamedly, so that we will hear our Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21).
--Terry
