Congressman Jim Moran has written a thoughtful and courageous op-ed piece in today’s Washington Post that speaks to our duties as patriotic citizens and evangelists. He’s talking about the debate over where to relocate the 241 foreign nationals being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and/or where to put them on trial.
Here’s a portion of what Jim wrote: Like those in any other congressional districts, we Virginians would rather not have terrorism suspects held and tried in our back yard. Often, though, doing the right thing is neither popular nor convenient. Alexandrians are civic-minded people and are ready to do their duty if it serves the greater good. They have shown this public spirit time and again. Zacarias Moussaoui, who participated in planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon, was held and prosecuted in the Alexandria courthouse. Others who have been brought to justice in the court include the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh; Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad; and spies Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames. Taking the easy route and joining the chorus of those crying "not in my back yard" is appealing. But that's not the Alexandria I know and have represented in Congress for nearly 20 years. I am confident that if asked to step forward, Alexandria would demonstrate resolve for a higher purpose, echoing John F. Kennedy's call to accept the challenge presented because it is what happens to be right and good for our nation.
I agree with Jim Moran. We should accept these prisoners if the Obama administration asks us to do so. We can also look at this responsibility to accept Guantanamo detainees as part of our call as Christians. In the book of Matthew (Chap. 25), Jesus talks about how the King of glory will separate the sheep from the goats at the end of time.
Jesus said: Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
My friend Bud Hart is active in the Kairos Prison Ministry here in Alexandria and can tell you all about what it’s like to serve the spiritual needs of incarcerated men, women and children, their families and those who work in the prison environment.
We are called to be patriots and evangelists. Let’s respond with full hearts.
-- Pat Jones
2 comments:
Bud Hart is a saint. I read Jim's editorial this AM also. I agree with him. Having known the consequences of prior "terror" suspects at the Det. Ctr., I am certain we as a community can handle this. (I am not referring to traffic and security inconvenience.) Thanks for your take on this Pat.
I was driving with my daughter in the car recently and we found ourselves behind a truck with a personalized license plate that read "70TYMZ7." When I realized what it meant, I turned to her and said, "Look at that! Do you know what that means?" "No," she said. So I explained that the Old Testament taught "an eye for an eye," but that Jesus changed everything when he taught that we should forgive 70 x 7 times - which, I believe, is actually the Hebrew representation for an infinite number.
I am amazed when I read national news coverage that reveals how unforgiving and closed-hearted so many Americans are about the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? What if we started thinking of them not as detainees, but as human beings who were unlawfully detained and possibly tortured? Are they not entitled to the rights afforded every other person arrested in this country? Once they begin enjoying those rights and the truth is revealed, we may find that it is far more appropriate for US to be asking some of them for THEIR forgiveness, rather than the other way around.
P.S. Bud Hart is my father.
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