Reddy
regarding the old_Bible you threw away and the rather loose 'quote' about God instructing the destruction of a whole people. We need to clarify something.

No well informed Christian to my knowledge uses 'specific historical events' from the Old Testament context as '2006 commandments' or.. examples to follow.

We cannot look at what God did then, and say "Ah HAH ! see what God did to the evil Canaanites, clearly these are commands for us to follow"...nope. wont happen.

This is why I am never worried to debate the Old Testament. There is absolutely NO command from God based on those events to embark on war against any people today.

You mentioned 'some God..eh'.. well, yes indeed He IS some God, who will only accomodate human waywardness for a time and a season. There comes a point where mankind 'crosses' an irreversable barrier and becomes unable to turn back. Only God knows the heart. But its also possible for a whole people to be in this condition. Archeological excavations have shown up to 20,000+ corpses of Canaanite babies sacrificed to pagan gods. God judged them.

While I realize fully that the idea of God judging mankind for our sin is unpalatable to the modern mind, it is nevertheless a reality both then and now.

That aside, in contrast to the 'ABSENSE' of justification Biblically to fight wars in the name of Christianity, it is not so with Islam.

There are specific COMMANDS and DELIBERATE "justifications" for Muslims to fight in the name of Allah and their religion.

Muslims glorify Mohamed as the 'best example' and I just expose the full picture of this example for the evil that it is.

This is what I am taking great pains to point out, as it is a near and present danger to our own security and well being.

We urge people to follow Christ, his example and teaching, and to do such is safe, there is no "Christian" war possible on that basis.

Dear Strewth
I must say I'm kinda warming to you through your posts. You are without doubt entertaining in the extreme.

Please bear in mind, that my posts are not neccessarily (unless stated) expressing 'Christian' views on some matters, I speak in a purely human mode at times, taking the mindset of say the Israelis as people under threat.

Its most difficult to speak of such situations in a 'Christian' manner without seeming like the wimp of the century. On a personal level, I live in the sermon on the mount, as far as possible desiring to show Gods love for sinner and saint, and I would differentiate myself from the 'Hamas gunmman' as an example, by assuring you that I don't have any personal animosity towards Arabs, as they seem to have toward Jews and Israel. If I found one bleeding and dying, I'd do my best to help him. "Love your enemies", in contrast to Zarqawi and company who "carve" slowly the heads off 'infidel' victims, in accordance with a specific Quranic verse.

But on matters such as Gaza/Israel, I speak from Romans 13 (you need to read this)which refers (at that time) to a pagan Emporer, and his responsibility to militarily defend the state. The principle applies to any "Emporer" including mr Bush as far as I can see.

Scrutinizing the specific incident at Gaza beach, will not be very fruitful unless you believe that a long protracted propoganda war will win the day for Palestinians. Hardly likely. You might discover "It was an Israeli Shell"..... so ? You just read/heard about an Israeli settler murdered by Palestinians.. so ? Such incidents are not very relevant to the big picture.

My 'Final Solution' is to move all Palestinians from Gaza to Arab Islamic countries as per previous post. In the long run its the best and most merciful solution :) "New life, peace, safety"...sounds pretty good to me.

David

I am at a loss why you think Israel under threat?

Is it because the Israelis dispossessed the original inhabitants of Palestine, then keep them in a suppressed stateless position, continue to steal their remaining lands with 'settlements', carry out military incursions at the smallest provocation, use them as a source of cheap labour and reject outright their attempts at democracy?

All this from the only nation in the mid east that has nuclear weapons... your statement needs a critical examination.

And you, you christian, want to dispossess them even futhur.

Tell me were you a public servant in Australia that oversaw the removal of Indigenous people from their homes?

To David. I knew that would rev you up. But no matter how you duck and weave, your God was a very naughty boy according to today’s standards.

To Mr Strewth.

Totally eradicating an enemy population does have it’s merits, Mr Strewth. And I for one would not blame the Israelis for practicing a little “Final Solution” of their own, given the level of threat to their people from the Palestinians. Why should you object to that? After all, that is exactly what the Arabs have in mind for the Jews. But the Jews have been on the receiving end plenty of times before, and they are not having any more of that.

So, if any Arab army succeeds in getting any foothold on Israeli soil, the Jews will drag out their Jericho IRBM’s and it will be goodbye Damascus, goodbye Baghdad, Goodbye Tripoli, goodbye Tehran, and goodbye Riyadh. They almost did that in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and it was only because the Yanks and the Russians both warned Israel of immediate retaliation from Soviet ICBM’s, that a large part of the Middle East today is not a giant sheet of glass.

But the Israelis made their point, and the Yanks and Ivans both collaborated to stop the Egyptians and Syrians from making bigger idiots of themselves before things got right out of hand.

Get it through your tiny head that the Israelis have no intention of going anywhere. Israel is a country which has no natural resources at all, and it exists primarily upon the enterprise and intelligence of it’s people. Long after the Arabs have squandered their own fabulous oil resources and gone back to living in mud huts, eating dates, bonking their cousins and waiting for Allah to solve all of their problems for them, the Israelis will still be one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world.

My goodness. You are one sick puppy, red. An intention to nuke all and sundry is a sign of ..."enterprise and intelligence"? Palestinians a threat to Israel? You're as deluded in your way as Bamboozled. Still, at least you're beginning to open up and that's the first step towards healing. Would it help, do you think, to discuss your personal trauma with me in more detail? I'm more than willing to listen.

To Mr Strewth.

And the point you wish to make about the Arab-Israeli conflict is....?