Two Serial Killers Welcome Smiling Pope

Home-Run Giant Ignores Tiny Muslim

On April 21, 2008, the day after the pope departed Yankee Stadium for Rome, I became very upset as I was reading the morning news in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Four divergent events suddenly converged in my mind to become a virtual toxic mix.

Circumstance One: Two Serial Murderers

When I happened to view detailed television accounts of how calloused serial murderers are capable of providing themselves slick excuses for why it is okay to end other people's lives and be a serial murderer, a new reality became exceedingly clear to me. Allah Himself and His Now Risen Messiah must certainly view both George Bush and Dick Cheney as calloused serial murderers.

Hundreds of thousands have been their victims in Iraq as their calloused policies have relentlessly killed and maimed. On the very same day as the Pope's departure, Phil Donahue of pre-Oprah Winfrey fame was being interviewed on Seattle television. It broke my heart as he vividly described how he had recently visited a veteran from Iraq who was mostly forgotten and now paralyzed, lying in a veteran's hospital.

With the realization of how most of us keep out of our minds the horrible reality of the suffering that is taking place in Iraq, my imagination put together a disgusting scenario that may help us remember a paralyzed soldier rather than just hearing about one more paralyzed victim of the Bush/Cheney/Wolfowitz/Chalabi war.

Please picture in your mind Dick Cheney and George Bush carrying an automatic weapon and a large sledge hammer into a Washington D.C. college dormitory room. There they order at gun point a healthy young man to lie face down on the floor. Then, each calloused leader delivers one violent blow to the student's vulnerable spine with the large sledge hammer. The horrible picture of that unforgivable act of savage violence of smashing his spine would never leave our minds. That disgusting scenario is not far fetched when it helps us realize the unnecessary violence that these two men, who feel that they have both the right, the means and the authority to generate in Iraq, force Iraqis, Americans and others to endure.

Circumstance Two: One Smiling Pope

Yes, the world's revered leader of over one billion in the Roman Catholic Church has again and again sincerely, verbally and in writing condemned the injustice of the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq. Regretfully, mere words are extremely cheap. In contrast, the vivid actions of a smiling Pope accepting the smiling welcome of George Bush in a celebratory atmosphere of pomp and ceremony are much, much stronger than words and reveal a truly shameful and hypocritical reality.

Even more shameful, if that is possible, was when this supposedly “opposed to the war” Pope appeared to deeply appreciate the extremely hypocritical send off speech of our smiling Vice President Dick Cheney, who repeatedly called the Pope, “Your Holiness” and requested his prayers. What kind of example was this for millions of roman Catholics and others to see? That this Pope is so willing to accept such hypocritical words from the two virtual serial murderers and accomplished men of blood?

Does not the Pope's publicly consorting with these two amoral men of violence who parade as pretend Christians, make a sham out of the Pope's own audacity? He publicly lectured Muslims on Islam being only a religion of violence, implying that it is Christians, not Muslims, who now and in history have taken the high road while it is Muslims who take the low road. Please get real, Mr. Pope.

By consorting publicly with George Bush and Dick Cheney you have made a horrible error in judgment. You have allowed these two brazen, amoral, slick professionals to cleverly manipulate you and the entire Roman Catholic Church to be complicit in the immoral massacre in Iraq.

Circumstance Three: One Tiny Muslim Victim

The day after the Pope departed, reading about the horrible suffering of one small nine year old student at a small boarding school added to my concern about the negative direction in which our world is heading. The tragic story further burdened my already burdened heart.

A boy named Coli had been given over by his father to the marabout (Microsoft Dictionary: an Islamic Holy man) in order for him to be taught the Quran each day. The boy did memorize the Quran for about two hours each day. But for nine hours he was required to beg on the street corners from passing motorists.

Though Coli's hands could barely reach the middle of the car window, if he did not reach his goal of 72 cents each day, which he often did not, he was severely punished. He was doused with cold water and then whipped with an electric cord. This punishment was in addition to being required to sleep with a crowd of boys, many younger than him, in filthy conditions on a mat on a concrete floor.

Understandably, he finally ran away from the school. Instead of a happy ending to the story of this dreadful situation in Dakar, the Seattle Post Intelligencer ended the sad article with an epilogue, “Soon after Coli left, his marabout traveled to Ginneau Bissau. He angrily demanded to know why Coli had run away. Ashamed, Coli's father vowed to make up for the boy's bad behavior. He is sending the marabout two more sons.”

Circumstance Four: An Angry Home Run Giant

In stark contrast to the extreme poverty in the former story, the greed and selfishness in the next news article I read left me nauseous. I expect my negative reaction was amplified by reading this vivid story of such extreme human selfishness and thanklessness so soon after feeling so angry and helpless to do anything to help the exploited Coli's of our often cruel world. Seeing the photograph of him in the paper crying uncontrollably in his sister's presence further broke my heart. And, knowing there are so many like him in the world's cities who the wealthy and powerful totally ignore, leaves me with a very helpless feeling.

There is nothing to be gained by naming this virtual giant, a thirty-nine year old multimillionaire baseball player who is one of the top home run hitters of all time. But he had not had even one hit in his last thirteen times at bat and was rapidly loosing his value to his team. So, his manager informed him that he would be playing less than he had in the past. Yet, he would continue to collect his money on his two year eighteen million dollar contract, at the same rate as previously agreed. Rather than accepting the reasonableness of this decision by the manager, the already wealthy former star player became quite angry that his sports career was being interfered with. In fact, it was reported that he was so angry that he refused to shake hands with his teammates after they won a close game.

In our traditional way of thinking, there at first appears to be nothing that would link this selfish, wealthy pro ball player to the impoverished, abused, exploited, Muslim boy. Nor does there appear to be anything that would tie the two alleged serial murderers who welcomed the Pope, or to the revered Pope himself, to the suffering nine year old. But in the sight of God, there is. And, in the sight of the Risen Messiah who has been appointed to be the final Judge of us all, there is a definite link.

Circumstance Five: Our Messiah's Ominous Final Parable

Though this fifth future circumstance is as real as sunrise or sunset and as real as the air we breathe or the water we drink, its lesson is consistently avoided and denied in most of our thinking. We desperately attempt to avoid the sober implications of its teaching like we would avoid the plague.

Our Eternal Destiny

When our now living Messiah was on this earth he told many parables, or stories, which contained valuable lessons for us. We ignore the truths emphasized in those parables at our own great peril. Fittingly, the final parable he told was about the responsibility that each of us has to aid those who are in some type of need, especially when we have the potential to lay aside our natural selfishness and meet the need. Significantly, He linked our willingness to take that important step with where we will choose to spend our eternity.

Will we be with the now risen man from Bethlehem? Or, due to our greed, lethargy, selfishness and don't care attitude, will we ignore our God ordained responsibility to do what we can and must do to aid those who are in desperate need, such as the one particular tiny boy who was exploited by the evil madrasa.

Think about it. There are an estimated 7,600 boys like Coli who are forced to work the streets of Dakar by begging so that corrupt people often hiding behind religion can exploit these helpless youth. But according to our now Living Messiah, there is a stern reality that we must face. If we are able to provide help for the suffering and choose not to do so, it is as though we have personally rejected the Living Messiah. Consequently, due to our rejection of him and those in need, we are making our personal choice to spend our entire future eternity separated from his blessed presence.

Perhaps I am wrong about the apparent selfishness of the wealthy home run giant. Perhaps quietly behind the scenes he is as dedicated to using his vast wealth to help those in need as he is in furthering his own baseball career. But for every wealthy person in this world, and for those of us who have very little material wealth, if we ignore the cries of the needy Coli's or even ignore the cries of our own families, we are making a horrible choice. According to both the Holy Quran and the vivid teaching of our now Risen Messiah, we have exchanged an eternity of blessing for the transitory, deceitful, quickly passing comfort of this world. If that is our foolish choice, we will have an eternity to ponder and regret the horrible choice we have made.

As for those who go even further than the tragedy of denying others our compassion, those who choose to bring suffering and unnecessary bloodshed and death to others instead of compassion and blessing, please stop and ponder how miserable their lost eternities will be. For, if withholding acts of compassion results in dire consequences, please consider this: How much more serious will the consequences be for the powerful person who ignores civilized restraints and deliberately delivers bloodshed, agony and death on the innocent?

The Messiah's Warning

To the compassionless, “Then they will answer him,' When Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or in prison and would not help you?'”

“Then the King will reply, 'I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me. These, then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life.” Matthew 25