#3 Soph Journal 9-11 Blog : Post comments by October 13
Listen carefully to this video of Mr. Jerry Falwell (it appears below), a minister and founder of Liberty University; and Pat Robertson, a former minister and televangelist, speaking two days after the 9-11 catastrophe (the text of the video appears below).
Both men had (Falwell is deceased now) strong, conservative, religious opinions. For instance, both men decried the fact that prayer could not be said in public schools. The ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union, the group to which the men refer] fought to keep prayer out of public schools, so they were seen as religious enemies by Robertson and Falwell. This is just a brief summary to explain the political and historical context of the two men's words.
Robertson and Falwell are firm believers in God's providence--God as the provider and God as the punisher, too. They are not unlike the early Puritans in this way.
Here is a transcript of the video (with some additional words before the video begins):
JERRY FALWELL: And I agree totally with you that the Lord has protected us so wonderfully these 225 years. And since 1812, this is the first time that we've been attacked on our soil and by far the worst results. And I fear, as Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, said yesterday, that this is only the beginning. And with biological warfare available to these monsters - the Husseins, the Bin Ladens, the leaders of ISIS--what we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be minuscule if, in fact--if, in fact--God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.
PAT ROBERTSON: Jerry, that's my feeling. I think we've just seen the antechamber to terror. We haven't even begun to see what they can do to the major population.
JERRY FALWELL: The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this.
PAT ROBERTSON: Well, yes.
JERRY FALWELL: And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way--all of them who have tried to secularize America--I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen."
PAT ROBERTSON: Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda at the highest levels of our government. And so we're responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And, the top people, of course, is the court system.
Here's a link to the video (IPad users) or PC users can watch below
Here's a link to the video (IPad users) or PC users can watch below
Here's the video:
Respond to one of the three prompts:
1. Do you agree with or disagree with Falwell and Robertson? Explain your answer in a thoughtful response. Specifically agree with or refute specific ideas that they expressed in this video.
2. Relate a personal story in which you believed God played an important role in answering a prayer.
3. Discuss an incident that occurred in American history where someone, or some group of people, were persecuted for their religious beliefs OR for not having any religious beliefs. Explain your feelings on this incident.
As always, write a minimum 200 word response.
3. Discuss an incident that occurred in American history where someone, or some group of people, were persecuted for their religious beliefs OR for not having any religious beliefs. Explain your feelings on this incident.
As always, write a minimum 200 word response.
posted by JTF @ 10:07 PM
87 comments
87 Comments:
I do not agree with Robertson and Falwell at all. For starters, they are saying that God allowed these people to do what they did. God did not make people attack America on September 11, they did it on their own. I do not believe that God would be angry and punish anyone or inspire anyone to do anything like that. It also does not make logical sense when the man brings up that abortionists, separating religion and state, feminists, and members of the lgbt community are to blame for God's anger. God should be viewed as a loving father, not a vengeful ruler.
The men also seem to be blaming the entire population where the people who did 9/11 came from. If one group of extremists decide to do one thing, it should not reflect the views of the entire culture, country, or religion. These men's view seem to be very old, times have changed, people are actively fighting for equality between all races, sexualities, and genders. Robertson and Falwell seem to be the type of people who are against that. I feel that all people deserve to be treated the same way and I don't understand why some people think that religion is an excuse to treat some people as less than them. God accepts all. To be a true Christian the only requirement, I believe, is to be a good, and nonjudgmental person.
3. Throughout hundreds of years in American history, Catholics have suffered many forms of persecution. American Anti-Catholicism has its roots in the Reformation. When early groups of Englishmen, mostly Protestants, started their colonies, they brought this hate along with them. Many colonies including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, passed laws banning Catholics from holding any kind of office unless they renounced the Pope and his teachings. Maryland and Pennsylvania were the only two colonies to allow Catholic freedom of worship by enacting toleration laws in their favor. In the Nineteenth century, Anti-Catholicism reached a new peak by Christians because of the numerous immigrants coming in to the United States. This new feelings towards Catholics were lead by Nativism men including Lyman Beecher Horace Bushnell. Beecher's best known book Plea for the West, urges Protestants to shun Catholic settlers in the West. Anti-Catholicism was wide spread in the Twentieth century; anti-Catholics including the Ku Klux Klan, believed that Catholics were incompetent in government affairs. They even burned a cross in front of the Church of the Little Flower in 1925. Anti-Catholicism were made present during presidential elections. John Kennedy was harshly criticized for his catholic faith because people thought that he would take orders from the Pope and not the American people. While these feelings may not be intense today as they once were, Catholics are still persecuted for their beliefs in abortion and same-sex marriage.
3. Throughout hundreds of years in American history, Catholics have suffered many forms of persecution. American Anti-Catholicism has its roots in the Reformation. When early groups of Englishmen, mostly Protestants, started their colonies, they brought this hate along with them. Many colonies including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, passed laws banning Catholics from holding any kind of office unless they renounced the Pope and his teachings. Maryland and Pennsylvania were the only two colonies to allow Catholic freedom of worship by enacting toleration laws in their favor. In the Nineteenth century, Anti-Catholicism reached a new peak by Christians because of the numerous immigrants coming in to the United States. This new feelings towards Catholics were lead by Nativism men including Lyman Beecher Horace Bushnell. Beecher's best known book Plea for the West, urges Protestants to shun Catholic settlers in the West. Anti-Catholicism was wide spread in the Twentieth century; anti-Catholics including the Ku Klux Klan, believed that Catholics were incompetent in government affairs. They even burned a cross in front of the Church of the Little Flower in 1925. Anti-Catholicism were made present during presidential elections. John Kennedy was harshly criticized for his catholic faith because people thought that he would take orders from the Pope and not the American people. While these feelings may not be intense today as they once were, Catholics are still persecuted for their beliefs in abortion and same-sex marriage. I feel that this is ironic because America is the land of the free; yet, Catholics were persecuted for hundreds of years. I also feel that Christians were the ones doing these hateful actions towards Catholics and we all believe in the same God and the same central beliefs.
A famous group of early American settlers who were persecuted for their faith was the Puritans. Initially, the Puritans belonged to the Church of England. However, these English Protestants separated themselves because they wanted to "purify" and reform the doctrine and remove any traces of Roman Catholicism. Therefore, in 1630, thousands of Puritans moved to the colonies of North America to achieve religious freedom. Once there, the Puritans formed their own religious movement. Ironically, the Puritans forced out two of their leaders for religious intolerance. The first to be expelled in 1636 was Roger Williams. He preached that the colonists should buy land from the Native Americans and that the government should not punish settlers for their religious beliefs. As a result, he was arrested and he fled to Massachusetts and later established the new colony of Rhode Island. Two years later, the Puritan leaders banished Anne Hutchinson, the Puritans' first female religious leader, for leading religious discussions. As a result, she and her family also fled to Rhode Island.
In my opinion, it seems ironic that the Puritans left England for religious freedom and in turn, they banished people of their own religious faith in the colonies. Although the Puritans belief system was formed in good faith, they ultimately betrayed many of their followers.
I think God plays an important role in everyone's lives, whether he or she is a believer or not. My cousin Michelle is someone who I feel has been greatly impacted by God. Almost a year and a half ago, Michelle gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Da Vinci. She did not have a job or a lot of money, and was on her own for the most part. She moved in with her stepdad and he helped her raise her son for the first year of his life. Six months ago, she moved in with her sister, her sister's fiancee, and their son who was barely a year younger than Da Vinci. Everything seemed to be looking up for Michelle. One morning, everyone was sitting in the family room and my other cousin, Melissa, went in to check on Da Vinci. She walked into his room and found him blue and unable to breathe. They called 911 and he was taken to the hospital. Da Vinci had passed away, and as hard as it was to accept, our family had to plan the funeral. A couple months later, Michelle got the report back on what happened to her beloved child. Da Vinci had a heart condition that was unable to be seen in a regular check up, and unless he was experiencing unusual symptoms would have gone unnoticed. Around that same time, Michelle and her boyfriend received the wonderful news that she was expecting again. A little boy who was to be named Declan. I think this was God's way of saying that although bad things happen and everyone can have bad days, good things are just around the corner and hope is something to never give up on or take for granted.
In this segment regarding the catastrophe of 9/11 which was the first attack on American soil, Falwell and Robertson state their strong conservative religious beliefs on the topic. Both men are firm believers in God's providence, and they view God as a provider and punisher. Falwell states,"God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us what we deserve." This statement shows that both men feel strongly that our sins and wrongful actions make God mad, and we are being punished through horrible events. Robertson and Falwell agree that the abortionists have to bear some burden for this event because God will not be mocked. "When we destroy 40 million innocent babies we make God mad," states Falwell. Instead of putting some blame on the people who committed the crime/action and their mental state, Falwell and Robertson say that the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this event because it's through the way people live their lives that everyone else has to suffer for their sinful actions. The most shocking statement from this whole video is when Falwell says,"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians who are actively trying to make an alternative lifestyle helped make this happen." I disagree with Falwell and Robertson when they blame people who have different views and lifestyle choices than what they believe is "acceptable." It seems that these men are not afraid to condemn people and make others feel insignificant. Falwell and Robertson's views remind me of Jonathan Edward's sermon when he states that we are sinners in the hands of an angry God. These three men are trying to tell others that if we continue to secularize America and allow people to commit sins, then we are all to blame. I do not agree with Falwell and Robertson because when referring to scripture we are told to hate the sin but love the sinner. This phrase explains that we must show mercy and kindness to others who have sinned, and we should not condemn them for their poor decisions. People must learn to accept others who have sinned, and not persecute them for their mistakes.
I strongly disagree with the statements made by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson that God was allowing America's enemies to attack the country on 9/11. These two men were past ministers who thought they knew why the terror attacks happened. They believed that God was punishing America for doing things like taking prayer out of public schools. Their way of thinking was that God is a vengeful God, who will destroy people who go against his will. This is a very Old Testament way of thinking. God, as he is known in the New Testament, is very loving and forgiving towards the people of the world. He always wants us to come to him at our best, and at our worst, for loving comfort and guidance. The idea that the errors of the American people would anger God to the point of hurting us is a very deluded image of Christianity. The organizations they were criticizing had nothing to do with the attacks. The attacks would have happened no matter what, because America is a symbol of freedom in the world. Therefore, it makes no sense for organizations like the ACLU to be blamed in a conversation where they are talking about 9/11 and God. I disagree with how they said God was releasing his wrath on 9/11, but I agree that it is bad for America to become less religious. Without religion, there will be no moral boundaries to prevent this from happening again, this time from within America itself.
I agree with Falwell and Robertson on the matter discussed regarding 9/11, shortly after the catastrophe took place. Falwell talked about how the attack could be minuscule compared to what the terrorists could do in the future, since the "monsters" had biological warfare as a weapon. He also brought up the topic of how God was being left out of public schools, which Falwell believed was one of the contributing factors that enabled the attack to happen. He said that, "we deserved" the 9/11 attack, as Americans, since we were killing millions of innocent babies, ignoring God in public schools, and actively trying to make an alternative lifestyle. Falwell specifically called out the pagans, the abortionists, the feminists, the gays, and the lesbians, saying that they enabled God to "lift the curtain" and let these terrorist attacks proceed. He said that he believed that God had protected America for so long, since it had been 225 years since an invasion of American soil had took place. I believe that Falwell accurately depicted exactly what was going on during the time of attack of 9/11, and correctly called out the instigators. People weren't in touch with God and were trying to secularize America, until the fateful day of 9/11 took place.
1. I do not agree with what he says about how it is the gay/lesbian/pagan/abortionists fault. I don't think it would be fair to blame them for that. They were not the cause of the attacks so why do you feel like you need to call them out for that. Granted they might not being doing what you want them to do or be who you want them to be but, that isn't really your decision.
2. Last year my religion teacher told me to pray for one of her friends who was going to have this very painful and long surgery. He was going to have part of his leg taken out and made into his jaw. It would take almost 14 hours to finish the surgery. As soon as she told me about him I prayed for him every day. Someone going through that shouldn't be alone and my teacher said that when he had the surgery he felt the prayers. As if he could feel everyone praying for him. She told us the surgery went as planned and he is still in recovery but, I still pray for him.
3. The Salem Witch Trials from 1692-1693 where 20 people were executed. It may not seem that prominent but religion had a major impact on this historical event. The church had such a big effect on this period that there were rules they had to follow. Such as no music, and no toys because they were considered a waste of time. Many of the witches were burned at the stake. They were executed in God's name. They were considered to be insane and killed. It was the law to attend church in the 17th century. They believed that only God was able to work miracle's so they were killed. It is ridiculous what happened back then. Innocent lives were killed because of some ridiculous excuses made by the witnesses. This whole incident could have been avoided if they weren't so scared of the devil.
Mr. Jerry Falwell, a minister and founder of Liberty University, and Pat Robertson, a former minister and televangelist, spoke two days after the 9/11 disaster. They believe that because of the lack of religion in the U.S., God allowed for our nation to be attacked. I both agree and disagree with Falwell and Robertson's points. I agree that the nation as a whole should become more religious. The country lacks faith. I have a friend that goes to public school, and in that school when reciting the pledge of allegiance she has to skip over the line "one nation, under God". It is ridiculous that the nation that is literally "under God" has to ignore it in order to not offend others. I do not agree with Falwell's statements that God is "punishing" us. God does not harm the nation purposely. I do believe that having a more religious nation could make us stronger. The United States would benefit from some faith. Falwell tends to point the finger at certain groups when addressing the downfall of the U.S. It is wrong for him to look at federal court system, abortionists, or lesbians and gays and say "you helped this happen." There is no one specifically to blame. If religion became a more open and accepted topic, a lot of problems could be solved. Therefore, I do not agree on Falwell's specific points about religion in the U.S., but I do agree on the overall topic of needing religion in order to become a great nation again.
Falwell and Robertson speak about the terror and the chaos that the day of 9/11 brought to America and the American people. They both unitedly believe that the reason this has happened, and in the future will happen again, is because the exposure and the appreciation of God in today's society is not enough nearly where it should be. Although this may seem a bit vague and confusing, I do agree with what these two have to say. Our land, our freedom, and our ability to live in the beautiful country that we call our home is all because of God's gift to us. Since the beginning of our independence from Britain, God has blessed us and looked over us to keep us safe. However, he is angered when the people who he protects and looks after betray his teachings and beliefs. And it isn't the fact that we as a whole have betrayed him and he therefore sends a terrorist attack to our country; that isn't what they are saying. But as we stray from God and throw him out of our sight and welcome these, as Falwell states, "alternate lifestyles", we begin to release God from our mentality. Falwell says, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle..." By taking God out of the school systems and allowing beliefs to enter our minds that completely denounce the teachings of God, thats when his protection and his looking over us as a whole will begin to corrupt, and eventually lead our country into things such as the massacre that happened on September 11, 2001.
I completely and totally disagree with the views of those ignorant men. It baffles me why first of all, someone would decide that "hey, let's blame one of our nation's greatest tragedies, not on the people who caused it, but on---and get this, the groups that don't practice religion the way we think they should." And secondly, why those me think that they are any better than the terrorists, because although they did not kill hundreds of Americans, they are still condemning those who do not believe in what they do, just like the terrorists. A few questions I would like answered by these men are, 1) How do abortionists have ANYTHING to do with 9/11, 2) How do feminists have ANYTHING to do with 9/11, 3) How do homosexuals have ANYTHING to do with 9/11, etc. I think my most important question though, would have to be this: If you are so willing to pin this on the anger of an entity that 's existence no one can prove, who would you blame if religion wasn't your scapegoat? Then what would you use to attack those who's thoughts and actions you find distasteful?
In this video I also find it funny how they glorify America, as if it is the only country deserving of a god. They act as if we deserved this attack, as if those people needed to die to account for those whom this god hates. They act as if people who have committed no crime whatsoever need to be responsible for the biggest crime against our nation. As I've said before, How can they blame a god, and yet not consider themselves responsible in turn?
My opinion regarding the discussion on the causes of 9/11 with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson is that I disagree with some of
the things that were said, however; overall there were things I agreed with. I agree with Mr. Falwell when he said that the
abortionists, the pagans, the gays, and the lesbians pretty much caused God to get angry and made 9/11 occur. I agree with
him because God felt that there was too much evil in the United States with all the abortions, bisexual people, and pagans. So
God decided to create the catastrophe to let us know that there is too much evil going on. Having babies aborted is a great
sin. God created life and it pains him when he sees us destroy it. Regarding bisexual people, God made man and woman not
man and man or woman and woman. God made a man and a woman for a reason. It is just like the story of Noah’s Ark. How
God destroyed the world with water because of the evil the world was consumed with. I disagreed with Mr. Falwell when he
included feminism in the list of people that caused God’s anger. I believe that God always wanted women to be equal to men
when I first read the creation story with Adam and Eve. God made women from the rib of men to show that women and men
were equal. God could have made women from the upper part of the body of men, which makes women superior. God could
have also made women from the lower part of the body of men, which would have made women inferior to men. But God
ultimately decided to create women from the center of the body, which makes the two beings equal. I truly believe that
feminism was not part of the reason why God was angry. I just wish that we could have done the right thing and prevented this
horrible catastrophe.
My opinion regarding the discussion on the causes of 9/11 with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson is that I disagree with some of
the things that were said, however; overall there were things I agreed with. I agree with Mr. Falwell when he said that the
abortionists, the pagans, the gays, and the lesbians pretty much caused God to get angry and made 9/11 occur. I agree with
him because God felt that there was too much evil in the United States with all the abortions, bisexual people, and pagans. So
God decided to create the catastrophe to let us know that there is too much evil going on. Having babies aborted is a great
sin. God created life and it pains him when he sees us destroy it. Regarding bisexual people, God made man and woman not
man and man or woman and woman. God made a man and a woman for a reason. It is just like the story of Noah’s Ark. How
God destroyed the world with water because of the evil the world was consumed with. I disagreed with Mr. Falwell when he
included feminism in the list of people that caused God’s anger. I believe that God always wanted women to be equal to men
when I first read the creation story with Adam and Eve. God made women from the rib of men to show that women and men
were equal. God could have made women from the upper part of the body of men, which makes women superior. God could
have also made women from the lower part of the body of men, which would have made women inferior to men. But God
ultimately decided to create women from the center of the body, which makes the two beings equal. I truly believe that
feminism was not part of the reason why God was angry. I just wish that we could have done the right thing and prevented this
horrible catastrophe.
I disagree with Falwell and Robertson. The idea that certain people helped God punish us in the form of slavery is something that I completely disagree with. I think that this would have happened if these people that Falwell mentioned didn't exist. I'm a believer in the idea of free will, and Bin laden and all these people that attacked us on that day did it completely of attacking our country. I don't think that 9/11 was an example of God punishing us because God would punish the whole world if he did punish us. I don't believe that God would punish one specific country, he would punish the whole world. I also disagree with the fact that gays, lesbians etc. are the reason that this happened. Just because it is against our religion to do that stuff and to live the lifestyle, doesn't mean that we were punished for it. One of Gods greatest gifts to us is the idea of free will where we get to live the way we want to. So all of the groups of people that Falwell mentioned are living their free will and doing what they want to do. I don't think it's right to blame them because they are different and had nothing to do with the attack.
After reading this transcript I was honestly so outraged. These men are completely discourteous, and they act very immature about the whole situation. Both Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson blame 9/11 on abortionists, feminists, and the LBGT community. These people are not even related to the concept of 9/11. Apart from this they also outright say that they are trying to lead an alternative lifestyle. This statement makes me so mad, because these PRIVILEGED, CISGENDER WHITE MEN complain that these separate groups of people are actually trying to be different, and viewed that way. I am just going to put it plainly; people CAN abort, people CAN choose not to be part of a sexist world; and people CAN be whoever they feel they are. Religion SHOULD NEVER force others to feel opposed or make them bend to the will of God or any gods. I am so tired of seeing people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson on the news or in the media. They need to grow up and learn that there are many more components in this world than what they believe, and they need to accept that. One question for them would be. what if you were a minority and you were constantly mistreated, how would you feel then? They need to be courteous and treat others like actual people too, and actually be mature for once.
Topic #1
There are certain parts of what Falwell said that I do agree with, but for the most part I do not agree with what he is saying. For example, the video begins with him talking about how the attacks could only be the beginning of worse things to come. That is a reasonable statement which is something that I agree with. He said that with the biological warfare, the people who attack the United States have much more devastating options, which I agree with too. The advancement of technology in today's world leads to more devastating attacks on American soil. Then he goes on to say this, which I do not agree with:
"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays
and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the
ACLU, People For the American Way--all of them who have tried to secularize
America--I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen."
The reason that I do not agree with this is rather obvious I think. How did any of those groups, who were just fighting for their rights, have anything to do with a horrible terrorist attack? In what way did any feminist or other groups help with the attack. The answer is, they did not. That's where I disagree with what they are saying.
Throughout the existence of America many people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs or not having any religious beliefs at all. Back when Columbus came to America and the 13 colonies originated, at first, all colonies were ran by the mother state which was England. Since England was the head of the colonies, they thought they could enforce the Anglican Church religion 4,000 miles away. Most colonists would go on and follow this religion. However, there were separatists aka the pilgrims who wanted religious freedom from the England church. Many pilgrims were persecuted due to themselves simply just wanting religious freedom from the England church. This disgusts me to this day because I feel that if a single person wants to believe in someone or something that is different from your views then he/she should be aloud. Now this occurred back in the 1600's but it still is very upsetting that people lost their lives just because they didn't want to practice a certain religion.
I am unsure how to follow the logic or process the ideas behind the opinions given by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. What happened to the American idea of free belief and religion? Just as people are able to believe in God, why aren't people allowed to believe in many gods or none at all? I understand that keeping the religious practice of prayer out of public schools may be considered offensive, but, as stated before, not everyone believes in God. Besides, there are religious schools you can choose to send your child to anyway. Above all other points, I am utterly confused by the statement that pagans, abortionists, feminists, and the homosexual community have something to do with the terroristic attacks. Do these two men believe God is punishing America for allowing such groups to be sheltered in the country? Why should these people be condemned because they are different, or because they have different values? Christianity states that God made all people in his image, so why are all of these people excluded from that principle? I am unable to understand or accept these statements made by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson because they seem entirely unjust and hypocritical.
America has gone through many hard times with war and government. One serious threat that happened to the United States was 9-11. After the disastrous event occurred it scarred the people and had them wondering who was to blame. In the youtube video it shows religious views on the reason why 9-11 happened and who they believed was the cause of it. This video was taken just two days after the catastrophe and has two ministers, Mr. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson speaking their opinions. Personally, I agree with some of the main points that they talk about. I understand how they believe that the main cause of 9-11 was because of the occurrence of the American Civil Liberties Union restricting all prayer from public schools. Many do not understand that our very own country, the United States, was founded under God. God has protected us and kept us safe, ever since 1812, 9-11 was the first time America was ever attacked on their own soil. People want to live in such free societies without God and they do not seem to understand all the mock we get from other countries with our alternative lifestyles. I agree with Mr. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson's views in the youtube video and how they believe that with God diminishing in America it causes opening for attacks from other countries.
I agree and disagree with some of the things Falwell and Robertson talked about. I agree that is was wrong for God to be taken out of the federal court system, public square and out of public schools. However I disagree that “God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us what we probably deserve”. I myself do not believe in abortion however I understand it is an option and people do it, and I firmly believe that God would not punish them with an attack on the country because he thinks he's being “mocked” and he would forgive anyone who wanted it and not take out his anger on them. I also think it was wrong of them to call out and blame the pagans, and feminists, and gays, and lesbians for the attack on 9/11. I believe that there is nothing wrong with any of these people and nothing wrong with them trying to make a life for themselves. I believe that God accepts anyone who wants his love and acceptance not matter their religion, or sex, or the people they love. I think that God is happy that people are standing up for what they believe in and he'd never punish anyone for being themselves. God had nothing to do with the people who attacked our country, the people who attacked and continue to attack our country and many others our the angry people who are mad about the freedom that people have to believe in what ever they want.
I strongly disagree with the majority of Falwell and Robertson's very conservative opinions of the reasons that the attacks of 9/11 took place. "The pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians", in Falwell's opinion, are the ones to blame for "God's wrath". It is not right to place the burden on people you don't even know and claim that you are better than them - no one is perfect. He obviously thought that he had no part in making God disappointed - and that is not true because every human, no matter their religious status, sins. Falwell thinks that those who are gay, lesbian, or a feminist are trying to secularize America. Being gay or advocating for female rights is not doing anything against God. It is not disrespecting His name, it is not shunning His word, and most importantly, those are NOT practices that disrespect our faith. Falwell also states that he thinks God is "lifting the curtain and allowing our enemies to give us what we deserve." If God was punishing sinners for taking Him out of their lives, why would he JUST punish America? Falwell and Robertson agree on the fact that America, in being "punished" with a terrorist attack, is getting what it deserves. This statement is truly disrespectful to the victims of 9/11 and their families, because no one deserves to be tragically killed in an awful way like that. Those victims did not take the blow for the countries sins, and the many lost lives of that sad day should be respected. Falwell and Robertson, throughout the video, are quick point their fingers at others for inviting God's wrath, but don't think about how their words might actually be displeasing God.
God has been a part of my life ever since I can remember. Every night after my mother would read me a story, we would say a bedtime prayer. I would pray for every member of my family, all my friends, and then I would have a special prayer every night for a person who needed it. My mother used to tell me, "Say a prayer to God, and he will answer it." Well I used to pray about everything, I would pray about my best friend's, cousin's dying goldfish or that when I ripped off my band-aid it wouldn't hurt. Six-year-old me knew there was a God because he always answered my little, tiny prayers. Despite all my constant reassurance that there was a God, I had never been in the presence of God. That all changed when I was twelve. For the past four years I have been going to Fellowship of Christian Athletes Gettysburg Lacrosse Camp. I play for the regional and national teams, FCA is a huge part of me as a player and as a Christian. At the end of every camp day we have a camp get together. All campers file into the theatre and we dance, sing and worship. My first year at camp I didn't really know what to do, I had never been to an open worship like that before. Every night I got a little more comfortable with dancing and singing and by the last night I was dancing like a fool. The last night was the most important to me. The last night was the night that I truly felt the presence of God. Our speaker Dan Britton never ceases to move me, no matter what he is saying, but that night in particular everyone in the room was moved to tears. For two hours we sang and prayed, and Dan spoke, he told us that God loves us unconditionally. He told us that we are fighters, we have to fight for our faith, we have to fight to play the sport we all came to camp for. "But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life." Hebrews 10:39. My favorite verse because it tells me to keep pushing and never give up. That night we all fought for our faith and it paid off. One hundred people crammed into a tiny theatre all laid hands on each other and prayed, and we knew God was there. He was hearing us, and it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders knowing that God was there for me, knowing He would always be there for me
I disagree strongly with Falwell and Robertson. In the video, they are basically saying that the reason that terrorists attacked America is because we are forgetting and getting rid of God in our every day life and that this is our punishment. They say that the attack is at the fault of everyone who doesn't believe what they believe, which includes "the pagans, the abortionist, the feminist, and the gays and lesbians". Isn't that the mindset of the terrorists who attacked the twin towers though? I don't think that they realize that America is supposed to be a "melting pot" and that the people that live here all have different beliefs. They blamed non-Christians for the decisions that people across the planet made. They also go on to say that "when we destroy 40-million little innocent babies, we make God mad". The terrorists attacked us for various reasons, but I don't think that one of them is because we have planned parenthood centers. I don't agree with Falwell and Robertson because if God is supposed to be forgiving and loving than I do not think that He had anything to do with the terrorist attacks on America. Keeping God out of public schools is not a sacrilege, it is America trying to accommodate to all of the non-Catholics in the American population.
Robertson and Falwell believe that God is lifting up a curtain that unveils impurities of people in America, making enemies of our nation, a cause of 9/11. God answers prayers in many ways and was there any possible way we could have prayed to God to prevent this day we will forever remember. God has acted in many mysterious ways including answering prayers of many. In my experience, one of my prayers that I feel was answered was of helping my great-uncle continue to fight through his cancer. I vividly remember the week it all happened like it was yesterday. On Monday night, November 4th, my uncle was diagnosed with cancer. He was supposed to have three months to live at least. We (my family) feel that him knowing he had cancer felt there was no urge to fight for his life anymore, taking his three months down to a few days. I found out that he only had a few days left to live on Wednesday, November 6. I prayed like crazy that he would get better and his health would increase again by some miracle. I prayed so much those few days and on Friday he past away. I know it seems that my prayers didn't work because it didn't last but to me it did. That Friday, my parents had tickets for the family to see Jim Gaffigan live at the Bob Carpenter Center. I prayed before the show for his health and that he would live at least through the show, and he did. I don't know why I prayed that specific thing, but I just know that it worked because he lived through the show. I think I prayed that because I didn't want to feel guilty that I was laughing while he was suffering. But I feel that it did work, I don't know if it was a coincidence or not but I don't care if it was. But as soon as we got home around 10:30 at night, the phone rang and in my heart I knew it was the call. My dad answered the phone and I asked if it was Rosie (my uncle's daughter-in-law). When my father nodded his head yes, my mom gave me a big hug because all knew what that call was. He had past. Even now, I feel like my prayer to God came was answered. Yes, my uncle didn't live as long as I wanted, but the life of another person when they are dying from cancer, is not held in my hands. I do not get to choose how long they get to live for nor does anyone else but God.
While respecting their right to their own thoughts and speech, I disagree with Falwell and Robertson. I believe that their notions are very inappropriate and offensive to be discussing so quickly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. While they have every right to broadcast their beliefs, I feel that they are looking at the world in an archaic way. They believe that religion, specifically their own, should mingle with everyday life, not discussing the possible consequences. Including public prayer in public schools funded by the government, which is a secular being in its own, can cause conflicts and prejudice. I don't think that they considered that consequence of letting prayer stay in public schools well enough. While I do agree that private prayer and religious attire should be allowed in public schools as it is a part of our religious freedom, I do think public prayer should be kept separate from public school activities to help prevent seclusion or other possible strife. It is not supposed to be an act of hate, it is just the opposite: an act of protection.
I also believe that Falwell and Robertson are largely abusing the 9/11 terrorist attacks to broadcast their beliefs about the American Civil Liberties Union and others they disagree with as to try to make Americans think that those people are bad and causing the United State's atrocities. They have a notion that God is punishing innocent people for the so-called wrongdoings of others. It is offensive at the least and making their religion one of hate and pain. They are trying to scare people into believing in God and his power and I believe that that is simply not right.
I do not agree with Falwell and Robertson that gods providence made the 911 attack not as bad as it could have been. I disagree that we made god mad by taking the prayer out of public schools because freedom of religion and separation of church and state.I also strongly disagree that feminists and gays helped make the 911 attacks happens because they made God mad. When my grandmother was sick my mom went to church and prayed for her to get better and a couple weeks later she did. Although I don't believe that prayer is what cured her it could have been gods providence looking out for her. Charles the great or charlemange forced everyone who was conquered into christianity. I feel that this is completely wrong because religion should not be forced on anyone.
When I look back and think about the conversation between Falwell and Robertson, I can wholeheartedly say that I agree and disagree with some of the points that were made in their conversation. No matter what, I will always be one hundred percent against abortion. I agree with Falwell and Robertson when they say that God should be angry when 40 million innocent little babies are destroyed. These babies never even got the chance to live. They didn't get a say in whether they survived or not. I always get so angry whenever people talk about abortion because I am strongly against it. The other point that was made is that God has protected us for years. Not just the United States, but everybody around the world has made some pretty bad mistakes recently. Maybe some of these mistakes is the reason why bad things happen and that God is mad. I believe that we can all start working together to fix and change these mistakes though. However, I don't believe that feminists, gays, or lesbians are the reason that God should be angry at us. They are not the reason that 9/11 happened. Gays and lesbians are always judged by everybody, but they are people just like every one of us. They never did anything wrong; they are just being themselves. Watching this video has brought a lot to my attention even though it was made years ago. I still believe that we can improve on some of the points that were made in this video and make our world better.
When I look back and think about the conversation between Falwell and Robertson, I can wholeheartedly say that I agree and disagree with some of the points that were made in their conversation. No matter what, I will always be one hundred percent against abortion. I agree with Falwell and Robertson when they say that God should be angry when 40 million innocent little babies are destroyed. These babies never even got the chance to live. They didn't get a say in whether they survived or not. I always get so angry whenever people talk about abortion because I am strongly against it. The other point that was made is that God has protected us for years. Not just the United States, but everybody around the world has made some pretty bad mistakes recently. Maybe some of these mistakes is the reason why bad things happen and that God is mad. I believe that we can all start working together to fix and change these mistakes though. However, I don't believe that feminists, gays, or lesbians are the reason that God should be angry at us. They are not the reason that 9/11 happened. Gays and lesbians are always judged by everybody, but they are people just like every one of us. They never did anything wrong; they are just being themselves. Watching this video has brought a lot to my attention even though it was made years ago. I still believe that we can improve on some of the points that were made in this video and make our world better.
In this video of Robertson and Falwell's discussion which was held two days after 9/11, the two men exchanged thoughts on how the United States government effects religious beliefs. In this case, a point was brought up about public schools and prayer. The government, specifically the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) fought for a point to say children and/or adults could not pray at public schools. Both Robertson and Falwell decried that action and said that God has protected us for hundreds of years, and that 9/11 was the second time the United States has been attacked on its own ground. Both men agreed that the United States probably deserved the disaster of 9/11 and that God is "lifting the curtains" and allowing these things to happen. I agree that diminishing prayer from public schools is wrong and that children and adults should have the right to pray for their own specific beliefs. Even if it means there should be rooms for people to pray in. But in the case that the ACLU was stating I believe it is totally wrong. Falwell's statements on God allowing disasters to occur such as 9/11 for purposes that we deserve it, I do not agree with. I would say that things such as 9/11 happen and allow the United States to open its eyes but I do not think that God would allow something that size to happen to get a point across. I agree with allowing public school kids and workers to pray, and disagree with the point that God is "lifting the curtains" and allowing disasters to happen on purpose.
Falwell and Robertson make very narrow-minded comments toward the attacks on 9/11. I personally do not agree with their opinions on how God punishes us. Jerry Falwell says that God is allowing for some horrible people to hurt others. I believe that God would never allow such evil to attack innocent people. He loves each and every thing he created. Both men then go on to agree that that was just a minuscule attack and that they would just get worse. Jerry Falwell also begins to justify his opinion by saying that people who believe in and get abortions should take blame for the attacks as well. He says that they are mocking God. I disagree with this statement because although we shouldn't kill God's creation, he still loves us. God is very forgiving and would never seek revenge. He would never intentionally hurt anything he created. Also, he says that people with different sexual preferences are to blame. This is an outrageous comment and he would be criticized greatly if he said that in today's society. They cannot help how they feel and do not have any impact on the evil that comes into our world. God would never outcast them or punish them. None of these innocent people have anything to do with the attacks. I think that what these men had to say about this event and their views on the way people live are terrible. They need to see that God is extremely loving and forgiving and would never hurt anything He made.
The Holocaust was a persecution and mass execution against around six million of Jewish people. The event was led by the Nazis beginning in 1933 and continuing until 1957, when the last camp for recovering Jewish victims was shut down. The Nazis were trying to eradicate all Jewish people to have a "master race" consisting of the German. Although mainly targeting the Jewish population, which stood at nine million people in 1933, the Nazis went after many other groups of people including the Roma people, the physically or mentally disabled, and the Slavic population. Concentration camps were used to inhabit captured people and eventually murder them using gassing facilities. On May 7,1945, the German Nazis were forced to surrender to the the Allies. Many survivors were put in "displaced persons" camps, or DP camps, the recover. Hundreds of thousands of Jewish survivors emigrated to Israel while other emigrated to America or other nations. I feel very upset and scared about this event. I am upset that so many innocent people had to die for no real reason and it scares that it even happened. If it happened in the past, it is possible that it could happen again. It also scares me that it really wasn't that long ago. It only ended seventy years ago. I know there are many horrible things like this happening in different parts of the world that we may not even know about regarding things like religion and race and I think that it should be stopped as soon as possible.
In my opinion these men are casting blame on people in a very generalizing way. The God I believe in is not a wrathful, punishing God. He is a loving, compassionate, and forgiving God. I do not believe God caused 9/11 to punish us. I also do not believe feminism is a sin. I believe men and women should be treated as equals and it is very myopic statement to say that believing in this is sinful. In the bible women had very big roles in the discovery of Jesus' body. I also do not believe that loving someone no matter your gender or theirs is sinful. Jesus' whole message is love your neighbor and in my opinion these men are casting the stone as if they have never sinned. I also believe abortion is very controversial and even though I wouldn't have an abortion I don't think we can tell someone that has been raped they have to have that child. But, this is all my opinion and that is their opinion but I don't believe what so ever that God would tell these radical, insane men to murder thousands of people, including innocents, to punish our nation because of sin.
From the moment he was born, my cousin, Alex, was a fighter. He was born with very serious complications; he had a hole in his heart. The moment he was born, he was rushed off to undergo open heart surgery. Thankfully, Alex lived and continued his life being one of the happiest babies I've ever seen. However, when he was only six years old, the hole in his heart re-opened. He had to go back to the hospital, which was probably one of the last things he would have wanted. I was eleven at the time, and I remember it all too well. I prayed every night that he would be okay and that there would be no surgical complications. I definitely think God heard my prayers because such a serious surgical procedure as that could have had a number of bad outcomes, but everything went very smoothly. Alex survived the surgery and recovered quickly. Such a miracle as that was definitely a work of God. For a little boy like Alex to have gone through open heart surgery twice in his short lifetime is truly amazing. Today, Alex is a happy twelve year old who loves watching football and playing baseball. He also has a younger sister, named Natasha, who is six. I love both of them very much and I am so thankful that they are both happy and healthy. But most of all, I am thankful that God answered my prayers during that period in our lives.
Jared Wilson
American lit, green class
Gods province response (#3)
A Sonoma State University student was ordered to remove a cross necklace by a supervisor who thought other students might find it offensive, in a case that prompted even one campus official to speculate that “political correctness got out of hand.” Jarvis said she is a devout Catholic and she wears the cross as a symbol of her faith in Christ. “I was offended because I believe as a Christian woman it is my prerogative to display my faith any way I like so long as it is not harming anyone else,” she said. “I was very hurt and felt as if the university’s mission statement – which includes tolerance and inclusivity to all – was violated.”
My response to this is that it is a horrible thing for someone to make people hide their beliefs. It’s unfortunate there are university officials out there who think that it’s okay to tell Christians to hide their faith, but would cringe if somebody said the same thing about hiding someone’s pride in whatever political or cultural affiliation they may have. She wasn't wearing the cross as a fashion statement, but she was wearing it as a sign of faith. And who ever thinks that is a bad thing, needs to get a new outlook on life.
Meaghan Kane
Honors American Literature
Green
12 October 2015
Blog #3
I am picking prompt number one. I strongly disagree with everything Falwell and Robertson said in this video. I believe that the 9-11 attack had nothing to do with God. This devastation was not in any shape or form connected with a punishment from God. In the video, Falwell states God is punishing us because of schools taking God out of the system, feminists, other types of religions, and people loving each other of the same sex. I strongly believe that every man and woman alive should be a feminist. It is 2015, women and men have and are gradually gaining equal rights. I don't know who these men think God is, but he would want men and women to be equal. At least, in my opinion he would. I also strongly believe that all people should be able to love who ever they want. Love is love and that is exactly how it should be. If we didn't have skin, we would all be skeletons; therefore, that is how we would see each other. In schools, some parents don't want their children to be taught in a certain religious environment. That is everyone's own prerogative. As for the religion, nobody should even care what everyone else's religion is. We should all focus on ourselves and learn to support each other without agreeing with one another. In conclusion, I completely disagree with this video. There is no rhyme or reason the 9-11 attack occurred. It happened because there are hateful people in the world. Hopefully, one day, we will all be able to get along.
In life, we go through things all the time where there is nothing else to do but pray, and in that specific moment we become depending on our faith of God to help us. No matter how big or small and no matter how serious or silly the prayer is, God always answers in which He believes will benefit us. As for us, we play an important part in this faith in God. Do we open our eyes to see how He answers the prayer, or do we close them and only focus on if God answered the prayer just the way we wanted Him to. Once you open your eyes, you will be able to see how truly tremendous and loving God is towards us. As for me, the first time I opened my eyes in a desperate time for any blessing God could give me, I saw how He worked things out. One summer I was playing basketball for my travel team when I broke my collarbone in the middle of my game. Now even though I was playing basketball, lacrosse was about to start in less than a month and it was my important sport. I just remember crying from the pain and from the thought of me not being able to play in my most important recruiting season. All that went through my head was that I wasn’t going to get recruited to the colleges I wanted to go to and that I wasm’t going to be able to play the same ever again. When I went to the doctor the day I broke my collarbone, they said that I wouldn’t be able to play again till at least a month and a half. Those words just kept replaying through my mind, all I could make from it was that I would miss half of my summer season for lacrosse. Through this tough time for, I started praying and praying to God to heal me fast and make me even better than before. About three weeks later, I went to the doctor and they said the x-rays showed great progress of healing and didn’t know how my bone was healing so fast. Worrying I would rush into rough activity, the doctors told me to still wait it out before I could play again. Another week went by of worrying, praying to God, and healing before I went to the doctors. The day my summer lacrosse team started their season, I went in for my last check up and the doctor told me that it was truly a blessing from God that my type of fracture was healed this fast and I was released to play. Everything made sense when I was leaving the doctor’s that day. God opened my eyes and I could see how He was looking over me the whole time I was injured. I would’ve never been able to make such an incredible recovery in that amount of time if He didn’t help me. When I started lacrosse again, I worked through the bumps of not playing in a while, but by the time of our first tournament I was starting as if I was never injured.
During the Puritan era some women were punished sometimes to death for being suspected of practicing witchcraft, which of course was different than their strict religious beliefs. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson explain in the interview that 9-11 was God punishing us for not obeying his guild lines. The Salem Witch Trials were similar because the Puritans believed that God was unhappy with the accused 'Witches' for practicing and believing in a different lifestyle. They also are alike by them both being tragic events in our history. I feel that the Puritans were not very fair to these women and were blaming God for them being so judgmental. Just because they were a little different than the rest of society shouldn't mean that you should punish them for it. Everyone is different and I think that everyone should be treated with the same level of respect. Some people in today's society sometimes question why things happen to them and others. While back in the Puritan society people came to the conclusion that anything that happened to them was a gift or punishment from God. I think that some question of why things occur can be helpful but I don't think that it should ever result in the loss of a human life. I don't believe that either event was a result of God's wrath but rather the lack of compassion and love for each other.
I disagree with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson because their accusations do not seem true according to my beliefs. I believe, in modern times like today, that looking back on what I know about 9/11, I see it as a terrorist attack and no correlation with God. Now, this may be due to the fact that I am more of an Agnostic than a Christian, but I try to stay open minded. I can see how a Christian can relate this to being a sign from God telling us to stop abortion or get rid of all the homosexual groups in America because that is what they read in the bible. Jerry Falwell states that he is accusing Secular people for this disaster on American soil because it is making God angry. I most definitely do not agree with the idea that our own Americans, being Secular or not, would have anything to do with a terrorist attack from people who share almost no beliefs with Christians. In my point of view, a terrorist attack from Muslims does not have anything to do with how Christian people in America make their god happy or unhappy. I, myself, do not see a relationship between the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and God.
2. I believe that God played an important role in answering one of my prayers in May of 2015. My brother, JP, was sick, but we were not sure what exactly was wrong with him. He was jaundice, which means his skin had a yellow-orange tint to it, and had achy pains in his stomach and all over his body. We were very worried about him because we didn’t know what was happening. He went to school and everyone said he looked scary because the whites of his eyes were yellow and so was his skin. He went to the hospital immediately because he was very worried what was wrong with him. I heard this news after school and I was so scared for JP that I prayed to God that everything for his health would be alright. The next day we found out that my brother had Hepatitis A. This form of hepatitis is the one you get from unclean food and results in a liver infection. We were confused why he got it because he was acting perfectly normal before he was diagnosed. But we soon remembered that about a month ago he had what we though was a stomach virus but really was food poising from unclean seafood. There were no medicines to take for Hepatitis A so JP just had to wait until the infection was gone. After many blood tests and liver ultrasounds, he was finally cleared. My family and I were so thankful that what JP had wasn’t that serious because in the moment of confusion we really thought it was something bad. I truly believe that God answered my prayers for my brothers health and I thank God every day for what a healthy family I am blessed with.
Being baptized for me as I grew up wasn't ever anything I was excited about. My older brother had been baptized when he was a baby but I never saw any point in it. As I got older, I learned more and more about religion and what it meant to be a true Christian. When I started high school all of my friends were in confirmation classes or in the process of being confirmed. It seemed like the kids didn't really want to be there they just did it because everyone else was. One day, one of my freinds was telling me about what they did in the classes, and for some reason I was actually excited. I told my mom that I wanted to go and see what the classes were like. The next week after I had went to the class, I ended up signing up at our church for baptism/confirmation classes. I loved the whole process and I'm so glad that I got to learn everything I did about religion. I believe that God was with me through all of it, and that was my main reason for being baptized.
In the past year I believe I have been involved in an instance when prayer has helped my family. In Fall of last year My PopPop had problems with his gullbladder and had a giant mass or tumor in his stomach. He was in the hospital for a long period of time waiting for surgery on his gullbladder because the he could not the tumor removed without this surgery. My whole family was praying for him everyday. after his surgery was successfully completed he had to go to a rehabillitation center before he could have his tumor removed. After he was done rehab he went to the hospital to determine how to remove the tuumor, and it was gone. the doctors were astonished. I believe this happened because of prayer.
9/11 Response
2. I haven't really ever had a specific prayer answered, but I think God saved my family from distress and extreme grief one time. My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer for the second time back when I was 9. It was a hard time for my family between the stress and financial cost of it. My grandmother had to retire from a job she loved and was restricted from doing laborious tasks. One of the only things she could do outside was garden and take care of my sister, cousin, and me. We convinced her doctor to let us all go on a trip with her to Maine a few months before her treatments started. She never got to go though. About a week before we left, she suffered a heart attack and died. The doctors just said her heart was healthy and couldn't give a cause for the heart attack. My mother said God didn't want her to go through all the treatments. My mother now says how she got the easy way out, seeing all of her friends' parents going through this, by bypassing all the chemo and meds that would restrict her from enjoying her life. I feel that God saved us all from the pain of slowly seeing her leave and I'm almost grateful at times. She stayed happy through her last days.
I think God played an important role in answering a prayer when my twin cousins were born. Everything was healthy and perfect up until my aunt went into labor. The doctors told her that her boy, Max, was breached, so they decided to wait a few hours and see if anything would change. My whole family prayed and prayed that everything would be alright. After a few hours, the doctor came back and checked both the babies heartbeats. Max's heart was not beating. Everyone in the room was crying and could not contain themselves. The doctors took my aunt into emergency C-Section. They first took out the girl, Livie, who was beautiful and healthy but no one could even celebrate because they were so sad about Max. But, when they took out Max, he was perfectly fine. He had a heartbeat and nothing was wrong with him. To this day, the doctors have no idea how he survived; It was a true miracle. This shows that God can do amazing things for people. My family prayed very much for God to save my cousin, and he did. I have heard many stories of babies surviving against the odds in a completely miraculous way, and along with every story is a family who prayed their hardest to God to help them in their time of need.
Falwell and Robertson present the view of God as a provider but also as God as a punisher which is called God's providence. They also state that the ACLU and other groups like pagans and abortionists have helped cause the 9/11 attacks. I disagree with these views. People have been given free will and its that free will that makes people choose to do their action. The terrorists chose to crash those planes into the world trade centers on 9/11 due to their free will, not because God sent them. Every person is judged by their own actions not by the actions of a whole. The groups that Falwell refers to (the pagans, abortionists, and others) did not have anything to do with the attacks on America. Nine-eleven happened because of the support of countries that were enemies of the terrorists, the nearby presence of U.S. Troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as their motives. Views of some groups may have been a motive but the main idea is that Al Qaeda attacked us because of U.S. military presence in the Middle East. Falwell said that "with biological warfare available to these monsters, what we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be minuscule if in fact God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us what we deserve." I agree that with biological warfare being available to these terrorists that we could face more destruction and attacks on America. But I disagree with the statement that "If in fact that God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us what we deserve." Again, humans have the ability to choose what they want to do. Humans, being infallible, don't always choose the right thing to do. These terrorists chose to attack America with their own mind sets and chose to kill thousands of innocent people. It wasn't God punishing us, it was humans using their own free will.
Falwell and Robertson present the view of God as a provider but also as God as a punisher which is called God's providence. They also state that the ACLU and other groups like pagans and abortionists have helped cause the 9/11 attacks. I disagree with these views. People have been given free will and its that free will that makes people choose to do their action. The terrorists chose to crash those planes into the world trade centers on 9/11 due to their free will, not because God sent them. Every person is judged by their own actions not by the actions of a whole. The groups that Falwell refers to (the pagans, abortionists, and others) did not have anything to do with the attacks on America. Nine-eleven happened because of the support of countries that were enemies of the terrorists, the nearby presence of U.S. Troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as their motives. Views of some groups may have been a motive but the main idea is that Al Qaeda attacked us because of U.S. military presence in the Middle East. Falwell said that "with biological warfare available to these monsters, what we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be minuscule if in fact God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us what we deserve." I agree that with biological warfare being available to these terrorists that we could face more destruction and attacks on America. But I disagree with the statement that "If in fact that God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us what we deserve." Again, humans have the ability to choose what they want to do. Humans, being infallible, don't always choose the right thing to do. These terrorists chose to attack America with their own mind sets and chose to kill thousands of innocent people. It wasn't God punishing us, it was humans using their own free will.
Many times in life, you will have very important prayers that you profess to God. You feel like some aren't ever going to give you an answer or any feedback but then there are some that return to you with such deep meaning or connection. I have faced a lot of struggles in my life in which I have had to turn to God for help and guidance. Many of them God has guided me through immensely, for example when I was seven. I was in the hospital a lot and had to get surgery. I was so scared and my friends and family prayed for me through all of it. The prepping, the procedure, and even the recovery. God helped everything go smoothly and helped me wake up safely. I am so thankful for his guidance and love that he granted me with. Without it I don't know where I would be today. God answers everyones prayers in time in a variety of ways whether its a sign or a communicative gesture, he guides us through our lives. I believe God played such a large role in this time in my life and I am grateful he answered our prayers.
I think that God plays an important role in everyone's life and has a huge impact also. About eight months ago, one of my good friends who's only a senior in high school was in a car accident. He was in a coma for about two weeks and no one knew what would happen when and if he woke up. This was very scary for me and for everyone because it all happened so fast. While he was in a coma I prayed for him everyday. In every class he was my special intention during prayer. I went to the hospital almost everyday after school to go sit with my friend, his sister, and to be there for her. One day at the hospital, everyone in the waiting room held hands and said a prayer together. You could feel the faith and support in the room. When he finally woke up after about two weeks, I was amazed and so grateful. I believe that everyone's prayers for him are what helped him wake up and slowly start recovering. Even though I believed in God before all of this, my faith was even stronger after. I truly believe prayer is what saved my friend. He is still recovering now, and still has a long road of recovery ahead of him, but he's fighting and God is still answering everyone's prayers for him to get 100% better.
I completely and utterly disagree with these two men. Their biased and uneducated views were honestly very insulting to me and the entire video made me pretty angry. Their entire point that 9/11 was God punishing America is completely absurd. 9/11 was caused by the terrorist group Al Qaeda and no one else. Not feminists, not abortionists, not lgbt+ people, and not God, just an extremist terrorist group. It is extremely disrespectful to blame such a terrible event as 9/11 on people who were in no way involved and it just shows your ignorance in doing so. These men were very biased in everything they said in their points on how God was punishing us because of people who aren't Catholic were especially ignorant. Americans can be of a different religion or no religion at all, Americans can be gay or transgender, and Americans can have different views then you, but that does not make them bad people and deserving of punishment. I really hope that more and more people can one day come to understand this and not blame terrible happenings on groups of people who happen to be involved in something that is considered against their religion
I disagree with Falwell and Robertson because it seems as if they are blaming God for 9/11 happening. They are talking about not talking and preaching about God anymore in public places and schools. I think this is wrong in my opinion because they are talking about taking away the privilege of praising God in schools and public places. When Falwell says, "When we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad.", he means that our actions have made God mad at America. He's implying that God let 9/11 happen to us because o our actions and sins. I also disagree with another one of Falwell's statements. Falwell says, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle...-all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'." I disagree with his statement because I think it is unfair of him to blame a variety of minorities in America for such a terrible event in our history. I believe that God accepts everyone and that it wasn't the sins of Americans that caused 9/11.
I disagree with Falwell and Robertson because I don't think God would punish a huge group of people with such a tragic thing. I don't think it was anyone's fault that an event like this happened. Falwell and Robertson should not blame any certain group of people or the public schools because they took religion out of them. Not every student that goes to public schools belongs to a certain faith. It is different if you go to a religious school and having religion classes. The LGBT community, abortionist, pagans, and feminists aren't the reason for the events that happened on 9/11. Also, Falwell and Robertson shouldn't blamed the whole religion and the people that believe in that faith because in the Islamic religion it is considered a sin to kill/hurt any living creature. Falwell and Robertson shouldn't say that God was punishing us because of particular people.
In this video two commentators express their opinions as to why such a devastating act of terror occurred on September 11th. They believe that these attacks were allowed or guided by God. I disagree with this statement for multiple reasons. First, these attacks were planned, performed, and carried out by a terrorist organization called Al Queda. I believe that God has not had nor ever had any relation with such an evil and chaotic group. Secondly, I don't believe God would commit such an unwarranted, and heartless act on an innocent group of his beloved people. Another statement of the commentators that I disagree with is there belief that the cause of these attacks should be blamed on specific groups with different beliefs than theirs. These groups were named as: lesbians, abortionists, gays, feminists, and pagans. The commentator blames abortionists for making God angry by killing millions of innocent babies. By this logic it wouldn't make sense for God to kill so many innocent people on that September day. Another reason I disagree with this statement is because many of these groups innocently live their lives everyday no matter how different their views and beliefs may be. I disagree with these commentators because God is just and reasonable and would not attack his innocent children or allow innocent religious groups provoke him.
A personal story of mine where God played an important role in answering a prayer is when my older brother had surgery. He was admitted to the hospital one day and we discovered that he needed surgery. My whole family was stunned and very concerned. We turned to God in these days of intense worry and stress. We prayed for the doctors to take care of him and for his surgery to be a success. After an intense surgery my brother emerged from this close call. My family thanked the doctors and God for watching over my brother in such a grave time.
An example of a religious group being persecuted for their beliefs was the Jews. The Jews have been persecuted for their religion all throughout history; The most recent time being the holocaust. This was a time where the entire Jewish race was hunted down, tortured, and killed. Although the the Nazis, the persecuting group, was unsuccessful in their attempt to wipe out the Jewish race they made a devastating affect on the group. I feel great sorrow and pain for the Jewish race. They were treated as less then human and shown no mercy by the ruthless Nazis. The holocaust will always be one of the most devastating and horrific events in history in my eyes. There can be no compensation, and no understanding for what has been done to the Jewish community during the holocaust.
My family has many times when God has shown an influence, but there's one time that I can remember clearly. My older sister was in college, and we were going to drive down to Virginia to see her ballet recital. Two hours into our six hour drive, my dad started to notice that the car was not steering as well as it should. We continued driving for about an hour until we saw a Pepboys was nearby. At this point it was getting fairly late, so we decided to leave the car at Pepboys and go eat dinner. By the time we had finished, it was nine 'o clock and the car was still being worked on. When we had asked what was taking so long, they told us that the radiator pipe was severely rusted, and could burst at any moment. They said that the car was not safe to drive, and that we should find somewhere to stay the night. So we were stranded in Virginia with a three hour drive home and a three hour drive to our destination. To make matters worse, there had been a Gettysburg re-enactment, so all of the hotels were full. The whole situation was looking fairly bleak, so I decided to pray. When I had finished, my dad said he heard a voice in his head telling him to ask the technician off the record if we could drive home. The technician said that it might not be safe, but the car might be able to drive home. I feel that if I had not prayed, we might not have made it home that night.
I disagree with what Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell believed to be the reasons for the incident on September 11, 2001. They placed the blame for a terrorist attack from people across oceans on innocent people in this country. My faith has taught me that God is forgiving and I do not believe that because there are feminists, gays, and lesbians in our country that people died on 9/11. Pat Robertson said ,"And so we're responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And, the top people, of course, is the court system." I do not believe that individuals deserve to die because the court systems have secularized America. Also, my faith teaches me that God is merciful, meaning that God does not waste away lives like terrorists. When talking about all these groups Jerry Falwell said, "I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen." He makes himself sound like he is better loved by God than everyone he blamed. God loves every human fully and equally. Also, if he believes that those peoples sins angered God, are his sins not taken into count? I think Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell's statements were extremely offensive and do not represent God as the loving God that he is.
An incident that occurred in America that caused a group of people to be persecuted for their religious beliefs was 9-11. On September 11th, 2001, two separate planes crashed into the World Trade Center and caused the building to collapse and be destroyed. The horrendous action was carried out by a Islamic extremists group, al-Qaeda. After this attack many people began to blame and stereotype the entire Muslim faith as the reason for the attack. Although in reality it was only a small group that committed the horrible act of terrorism. From that moment on many people stereotyped and treated all Muslims differently. My feelings on this incident and how it affected the Muslim society, is that the response from many people was extremely ignorant. Many people categorized the many by the few, and just wanted to find a scapegoat and a reason this incident occurred. When in reality they had a detrimental impact on people who did nothing wrong at all. The act of terrorism that occurred was horrible and cowardly. To harm and kill thousands of innocent people is unspeakable, but to stereotype the entire Muslim culture was not the correct way to handle the situation.
) One tragic incident where people were persecuted because of their religious beliefs was the shooting at the college in Oregon. This was a recent incident where a man came in to a college classroom and lined up the class to ask if they were a Christian. If the person agreed to being a Christian he would shoot them. Nine people were killed in this shooting. If I was in the position of any of the students alined, I would not of hid the fact that I am a Christian because I do know there is a time for everybody to die, and I would rather die feeling good about my faith in God rather than dying with no faith in the Lord. I feel to hide my religion just means I am afraid of showing my love for God. One thing God does say in the Bible is "deny me before men, I shall deny him also before my father who is in heaven". I believe showing your love and faith in God will reward you in the end.
An incident in America where people were persecuted for having a religion is the recent slaughtering that took place in Oregon on October 1, 2015. It was an ordinary day of school for the students at Oregon's Umpqua Community College but would turn into a catastrophic event in American history. While attending an afternoon class, a man by the name of Chris Harper Mercer pulled out a gun and killed 10 of his fellow classmates. This incident occurred because of many causes. These include the fact that he had serious mental issues and didn't have any friends and he had a lot of anger built up. But I believe that the main reason was that he was an atheist and hated people that were different. Right before he started to pull the trigger Mercer asked who believed in God and told those that raised their hands that they were going to see God in a few seconds. One person made it out alive to tell the story of what happened but even she was injured from the massacre. Stories like these almost make me sick to my stomach because people are judged for their beliefs and have to pay a very high price for that. In our world, you should be able to believe what you want to believe but obviously, that is not the case.
In my opinion, America has not seen much progress in any fields of society recently. I completely agree with the words of Mr. Falwell and Robertson, maybe not as much as Mr. Falwell and Robertson do but I do believe in what they are saying. The two men seem like very strong believers of the Christian faith and I do believe that most of what they are trying to say is true. I do believe that as a society were are not progressing to become better people and I do believe that people sins will not be forgotten in the eyes of God. Yet, I would not go as far as to blame specific people's sins for terrorist attacks but I would say that God does remember our sins and eventually those sins can come back to haunt you. As a nation of United people I feel that we need to make a change for the best to become what we are trying to strive for. When we become better people, better things will happen. Whether God has an influence on our consequences or not the light will overcome the darkness in these situations.
No, I do not agree with Falwell and Robertson, that saying that everything that angers God about America is the reason for 9/11. He said "And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way all of them who have tried to secularize America I point the finger in their face and say you helped this happen." He is saying though this that because we are taking God out of everyday life and people wan to do things against the bible that he sent the terrorists to make 9/11 happen. Our god is forgiving and merciful he wouldn't send terrorist to kill innocent people. and most likely there were people as religious as Robertson as well. I personally think 9/11 was just act of hate from the terrorists. this has nothing to do with god's plans for America. If it was there probably would have been something similar to happen since the gay marriage laws have recently been past in America.
During my lifetime, God has been able to play an important role in almost everything. One of the most memorable situations is when my grand mom was in the hospital after being diagnosed with lung cancer. She is one of the strongest women I know and this diagnosis came as a major surprise to my family. The doctors told us they found they the cancer very late saying if my grand moms body was giving out and failing on her. After hearing about this horrible situation, all I could do was pray and hope she could beat it. When I first saw my grand mom, she did not look too good but she still had a smile on her face which I found most endearing. I asked her why she was so happy, and what she said I will never forget. She said, "What more can I ask for, I got my whole family in one room, even Danny (my uncle), and the strength of God is with me." After some time enduring chemo and radiation, the doctors told us my grand mom is now in remission. That then and there, I realized that God had truly answered my prayers and my thanks is unending.
I believe that God is looking over everyone. There has been many moments in my life where I think God is with me. The one that stands out the most to me is when my granny was going into surgery a couple years ago. It was a rainy day and very gloomy out and I was home waiting to hear the news on how she was doing. I was very nervous because how big and important the surgery was. My mom wasnt home because she was waiting to at the hospital, so she wasnt there to calm my nerves and my sister was very little at the time and she didnt really know what was going on. Since I didnt really know what to do with myself at this time I thought it would be good to pray for her and hope that everything goes smoothly. To me thats the best thing you can do is pray. It turns out after I did that the skies opened up and there was sunshine, not a dark storm cloud in the sky. I got the news that my granny was going to be okay and have a speedy recovery. To this day I believe that God had me in his mind that day and did everything he could to help ease the worry I felt.
There are many horrifying events that happen in this world today. There are natural disasters, war, murder, and more happening every day. I believe that God plays a role in what happens in our lives every day. What ever God is, they have a belief system that no one knows about. They condemn people to do horrible and disgusting things every day such as manslaughter and committing horrific crimes and I don't think I will ever understand the reason for that. I believe that if God has a lot on their plate. They cannot devote themselves to one prayer a day, so they created angels for each and every person on the planet. Even if a person does not believe in God, they are still appointed an angel. God gives the angel a piece of themselves, a holy piece that makes them able to communicate with us and help with our problems. This is only something that can be bestowed upon a true angel. This is how many people's prayers are answered. Of course not all prayers are answered because of the selfishness of the prayer but if an angel has any questions they ask their superior, God. There is a lot more to explain but there really is no explanation for everything. I believe that all prayers in one way or another will be answered.
I personally don't agree with Falwell. Falwell states that he believes that 9/11 was caused by gays, lesbians, and abortionists. He feels that God was punishing us for people trying to change. I was raised catholic so when i was younger i was taught that God has a plan for everyone. I believe that even if God hadn't intended for things to happen like they did, he wouldn't send people to attack because of that. Falwell puts the blame on those who tried to change what they believe and follow. I don't think that you can really put the blame for 9/11 on any one person or someones beliefs. Everyone is going to have their own beliefs and therefore i don't think anyone should blame something like 9/11 on just the idea that it is God punishing us for different people changing what they follow.
There have been many scenarios where many people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs or lack of them. One specific scenario is the shooting near Roseburg, Oregon. This shooting happened at Umpqua Community College on the first of October in 2015. The shooters name was Christopher Harper-Mercer, who was a twenty-six year old student at the community college. He walked in to one of the classrooms where he would then proceed to shoot eighteen people, which consisted of one assistant professor, and 17 students. The assistant professor and eight of the students were fatally wounded, with the other nine being injured. He would then have a police shootout with 2 other cops. He was wounded by one officer, then proceeded to shoot himself, taking his own life. But one thing that Harper-Mercer did when in the process of shooting the people was that he would ask each person what religion they were. If they said the wrong religion or did not answer in time, they were shot. If they answered right, they were spared. This brought up controversy with religious rights, along with gun laws and restriction. I feel that this was a very horrible thing to happen, and that it sparks up controversy about religious toleration and views of having religious beliefs.
I disagree strongly with everything Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are saying. Not everyone believes in God, so not everyone wants to go to school where they teach about God. This is why they have taken God out of some schools. We cannot force people to believe in God. I do agree that it is not right to have abortions, but this is not one of the reasons that the events on 9/11 occurred. "And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad." Jerry Falwell said this. Christians believe that God is loving and forgiving, so why would he send a plane into a building and kill thousands of people? I also do not agree that people who are gay and lesbian were a cause of the attacks on 9/11. Just because the Catholic Church doesn't believe in same sex marriage doesn't mean that they can go around saying these things about gay people and lesbians. I don't believe that the 9/11 attacks occurred because God was mad at gays and lesbians. It is not Jerry Falwell's place to tell people who they can and cannot love. It is very disrespectful for them to say these things and I completely disagree with all of it.
I disagree strongly with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson's statements. They state that God made 9/11 happen as a punishment for us, because we made God angry by practicing abortion, banning prayer in schools, secularizing the American government, and practicing amoral lifestyles. They name "the pagans, the abortionists, the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians"- basically everyone who disagrees with their beliefs- as the ones who brought that upon America. I do not believe we were attacked because we give women the right to choose or non-Catholics the right to have their religions too. America is supposed to be a haven of freedom, and not everyone in this country has to agree on everything all the time. The separation of church and state exists for a reason, and that reason is that not all Americans are Catholic. Some are atheist, some agnostic, some Jewish or Buddhist. The idea that God would kill thousands and people and destroy families because people lived their lives a different way is ridiculous and false, in my opinion. 9/11 was a horrible tragedy, and I believe our loving God would not do this to his children.
I strongly disagree with Falwell and Robertson's opinion on why 9/11 happened. They are placing the blame on people that are gay and different then what society has made to be normal. They are both saying that since people are gay, abortionists, feminists, or pagans that they are disappointing God and he is punishing us. While I don't agree with some of the ideas of those people I don't blame them for the horrible terrorist attack on 9/11. These two men are placing blame on people they don't know just because those people don't believe in the same things as they do. It is not right to say that 9/11 was Gods way of punishing us because some people are different. God is forgiving and loving and saying that he punished us is wrong. We are supposed to love our neighbor not blame them for a terrorist attack because they are gay it believe in different things. These men are saying that this is just the beginning of something big. If I survived attack on 9/11 and just days after find out that people are placing blame on innocent people I would be furious. I think that if you are goi g to go on television and state your opinion on a very sensitive topic or event you should make sure that you are not offending anyone first.
One of the main reasons America is the way it is today is because of religion. Religious freedom is why many of the colonies were founded and yet still many people are persecuted for what they believe in. For example in the last school shooting, the shooter was asking each victim if they were christian. Those who stood up for what they believed in and were not afraid to speak out were shot. Even though we still hear stories in the 21st century religious persecution is not new to America. Even before the thirteen original colonies declared independence, religious toleration was shaping America. Colonies like rhode island and Pennsylvania were known for their religious toleration. Some colonies were formed because individuals were kicked out of their old colony because of their religious beliefs. People like Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams believed in making America better place free from religious persecution, leading to the part of the constitution that separates church from state making America truly and asylum for many. Which is why it is even more heart breaking today when we hear stories of shootings due to religion and people being treated unfairly because they are different.
1. I disagree with Falwell and Robertson and I think it was extremely wrong of them to blame abortionists, feminists, and other american groups for what happened on September 11, 2001. Yes, I do believe that taking God out of public schools and out of public squares is wrong, however I do not believe it has anything to do with that devastating terrorist attack. What happened that Tuesday was horrible but i don't think God or any higher being had anything to do with it. I believe it was out of pure evil that Osama Bin Landin flew those planes into our buildings.
2. One personal story I have about God answering a prayer was when my father had a heart attack. I heard that my father was being taken into surgery for a very serious heart attack and I remember hearing the surgeons say to my mother that they weren't sure if he was going to make it. For those 2 hours he as in surgery I remember praying nonstop asking God to get my father through this. My dad pulled through and he is now perfectly healthy as if it never happened. I truly believe God heard my prayers and answered them that night.
3. The Holocaust is one incident in American History where a group of people were persecuted for their religion. During the Holocaust, Jewish people were killed and practically tortured just because of their beliefs. Every time I think of Word War II I am overcome with a feeling of confusion. I don't and i don't think I every will understand why millions of people were killed because of their beliefs. Thinking of all of those innocent people that lost their lives because one man didn't like their beliefs is so wrong to me and makes me very upset.
I completely disagree with what Mr. Falwell and Mr. Robertson said. I feel that God does affect our lives in many ways but I don't think that he supports American-hating groups. The terrorists that attacked us weren't against Christians or any exact religious group. They just hate our government style and because the people are the government they hate us all. There was no other reason for the attack other than pure hatred and planning. As we all know, Christians and those who do things that are against Christian morals and values exist within all different parts of it the world. If God was disapproving of our works and wanted to punish us, would he only attack one place that doesn't hold every offender? Would he make some of the attacks miss? I feel that this is just a case of people filled with hatred aimed at Americans. It is quite a shame but the only ones to blame are the terrorists and our people aren't the issue
I disagree with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson because their accusations do not seem true according to my beliefs. I believe, in modern times like today, that looking back on what I know about 9/11, I see it as a terrorist attack and no correlation with God. Now, this may be due to the fact that I am more of an Agnostic than a Christian, but I try to stay open minded. I can see how a Christian can relate this to being a sign from God telling us to stop abortion or get rid of all the homosexual groups in America because that is what they read in the bible. Jerry Falwell states that he is accusing Secular people for this disaster on American soil because it is making God angry. I most definitely do not agree with the idea that our own Americans, being Secular or not, would have anything to do with a terrorist attack from people who share almost no beliefs with Christians. In my point of view, a terrorist attack from Muslims does not have anything to do with how Christian people in America make their god happy or unhappy. I, myself, do not see a relationship between the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and God.
In this video we see these two ministers of high popularity discuss the results of that horrible day in september of 2001. These two men put the blame for all this on the gays, feminists, abortionists, and other people who have made an "alternative lifestyle". I found what they said to be incredibly rude and uncalled for. This video was from just four days after the attacks occurred. Hundreds of people were still mourning the loss of their families and millions all around the U.S grieving that something like this could happen. I believe that this broadcast should not have been shown on live TV. I think anyone who thinks that God would punish us by killing 2,977 is very disturbed. I have been raised to be a catholic for fifteen years and I strongly disagree that God would "open the gate" so that Americas enemies could attack us. No man or woman should sit by and say "I told you so" as millions of people are devestated because of terror. No american should say that another American died because of the lifestyle they live. I suppose people also believe that the Sandy hook shooting was fate? Or the movie theater shooting? Is that our punishment for not living a life that others condone? I believe that those who attacked America in 2001 were sick people and have no connection with God. Let alone so good of a connection that he would allow thousands of innocent people to die.
There are many instances of religious persecution in the U.S. One of
these in recent history was the Oregon State University shooting. This was
a shooting where the shooter chose his victims by their religion. Also my
feelings on this incident were that this man was insane and should not have
been out in public. Also I think that he choose the wrong people to be mad
at, because Christians are some of the nicest and helpful people in the
world. I also believe that the reaction to this should not make this man
famous or considered a martyr. Also I believe that this event should not
lead to people talking about gun bans. I don't think that this attack was a
result of people not following God's rules. Also this was not about one
religion fighting another. That was what I thought about this event.
I don't totally agree with what Falwell had to say about that topic. I believe that abortions gays and lesbians are sinners as because in the bible it says a man and a women should marry, but saying that this is the reason 9/11 occurred is just absurd. What caused 9/11 was the just plain out evil, and those people had an irrational view on our way of life. That is not gods way of punishing us. The reasons these things happen is because of lack of God not because of him. As many view homosexuality as a sin and abortion a sin that did not cause 9/11and terroristic
attacks. Evil people who think they have the power to decide who should die because of there viewpoints on things like religion are the problem in this instance. People who believe they are above the power of God are the true sinners. Many people say terrorists do these thing because God told them to do it. I believe why would a just and good God want to take away innocent lives and put fear in people. As Falwell had some points that I agree with I disagree with the thought that gays and abortions helped 9/11 happen. When really it was just pure evil that made it happen.
I believe God looks out for everyone, wether or not you are in need of him. In 2013 during the summer, I was in desperate need of God's help. This was the summer that my grandfather was really struggling with his cancer. My grandfather and I had a bond that wasn't usual. We shared many interests, and we spent a large amount of our free time riding our horses together. Not only was he a great companion, but in my book he was my idol. He was a very strong human being and survived many years longer than he was told he would. It must of been heart crushing to him when every time he was struggling the doctors said he only had days to live. The last time he got really sick, no one seemed to be able to help him. I was crushed and I would pray that when he passed away it would be peaceful. I thought that he had hone through enough struggles in his life wondering everyday if it would be his last. I couldn't imagining knowing you were dying but having no clue when the moment would come. My grandfather deserved to die in peace. Fathers Day 2013, I went over to his house later on in the day and gave him a poster I made with a bunch of candy, not to mention candy was his favorite thing. It felt so nice to finally see him smile when I showed him, not too long after that he fell asleep, with us all sitting there. My grand mom was really upset however, so we let her spend some alone time with him. After about two hours she came out crying, she said he stopped breathing and he wasn't responsive. Everyone was terribly upset, but I knew it was the right time, I was happy the time came so he didn't have to struggle any longer, I was also haply that his last moments awake were filled with joy and love. Thats when I knew God was real and he had answered my prayer.
I disagree with Falwell and Robertson. The idea that certain people helped God punish us in the form of slavery is something that I completely disagree with. I think that this would have happened if these people that Falwell mentioned didn't exist. I'm a believer in the idea of free will, and Bin laden and all these people that attacked us on that day did it completely of attacking our country. I don't think that 9/11 was an example of God punishing us because because bad people do terrible things all the time and sometimes bad things are just a part of life and we as human have no control over them. I don't believe that God would punish one specific country, or city, or any singular at all, if he were to punish humans he would punish the whole world. I also disagree with the fact that gays, lesbians etc. are the reason that this happened. I understand it is against our religion to have these interests and attractions and to live this completely different lifestyle, doesn't mean that we or any of them were punished for it. One of Gods greatest gifts to us is the idea of free will where we get to live the way we want to. So all of the groups of people that Falwell mentioned are living their free will and doing what they want to do. I don't think it's right to blame them because they are different and had nothing to do with the attack.
I do not agree with what the two men are saying about 9/11. God would not allow such destruction on so many people. He pushes for love and only good to come our way. God was and never will be the reason for anything evil in this world, and I do not think it is right to say he was the cause of 9/11. That was simply an act of the devil. To think that anyone could ever even think about terrorizing a large number of people like that. Killing hundreds and thousands of innocent people just because you dislike the ways of their country. Yes, many people were killed that day and that is tragic, but I am more than sure that God led them to heaven, where they deserve. God is the reason for a lot of things but only good things. His purpose is to look over us. We are his creation and I can not see why he would ever look to kill off his creation. I believe God has the power to choose an outcome for a situation but sometimes the devil wins, and there's nothing we can do about it. The events that happened that day are truley very tragic but it is in the past and as much as we wish we could change the past, we can't.
9/11 was a tragic day in American history which shook and scared people everywhere. In the video I had just watched a man talks about God’s role during the tragedy that took place on September 11th. This man expresses his conservative views on the topic, and goes on to blame many people for angering God. He blames pagans, abortionists, feminists, and the gays for forcing God to unleash his anger on the American people. For many years, people have turned to God in time of fear, and that is just what this man did. He didn't think that God would cause this to happen unless there was something really wrong in world. He targeted the people who have created liberal views and lifestyles that were different of his own, then incriminated them on national television — and this was wrong. I don't feel that that his own views are wrong (everyone is entitled to their own opinion), I feel that he dealt with them in the wrong ways. Newspapers and news shows aren't supposed to force opinions on their listeners; their role is to give a non-discriminatory, fact based article so that their audience can create their own opinion about the subject at hand. I can understand why the man said what he said, i do not necessarily agree with it, but who am I to say that it is wrong.
I agree with Falwell as well as disagree with him. I agree with him that abortion is wrong and so is taking God out of all the public schools because "it will offend people". I also disagree with him at the same time dealing with the issues of gays and lesbians. Although I don't agree with it, it is not my place to say whether it is right or wrong. I believe God has played many important roles in my life and my family's life. This is mainly with my well being. I believe God has answered many of my prayers to keep my family cancer free as well as my friends. God has provided for me and given gifts that I can't even begin to praise him for. These include great family and friends. Persecution of religion has been around since before God even walked the earth and still does. One of the most prominent acts of persecution in American history is when the Pilgrims came over to escape the Church of England. Some of the early leaders of America claim in recently discovered journals about how they weren't actually Christian. They confessed this saying they just said this to become elected and to please people due to the persecution of some religions in a so called "religious" country.
A major time in my life when God helped me and answered my prayer came two years ago. My grandma was in the hospital, and things weren't looking great. She had a breathing problem, and she could never catch her breath. She was admitted the hospital, but nothing seemed to make her feel better. The medicine they gave her not only did not work, but it was making things worse. Times were hard, so my family turned to prayer. we prayed hard that she would be okay, and that she would get out of the hospital and back into her home. Soon, the doctors tried a new medicine on her, and things started to get better. She was finally able to start breathing normally. After that, she spent some more time in the hospital getting tested to make sure she was alright. Finally, she was allowed to return to the comfort of her home. Things were starting to get better for her. Even though she still has breathing problems, and she still struggles to this day, God answered our prayers that month. God has helped her to fight off these illnesses and has helped her stick around a little longer.
I completely and hundred percent disagree with what Falwell and Robertson said. They were absolutely disgusting me. America is a free country, which means we have the right to have a religion or to not believe in anything, to choice to be straight or gay, and anything else we want. These things do not make us bad people, just different. I believe that no God would ever punish people with a tragedy as terrible as 9-11 so I completely disagree with Falwell for saying that America brought this on themselves.
When my pop pop was diagnosed with cancer the first time I prayed everyday that the chemo he was being treated with would kill the cancer and that he would be okay. The cancer did go away and he was blessed with many more years of a healthy life. I believe my prayers and my families prayers helped him through his illness.
After listening to the topics talked about I disagree with the majority of the video. I believe that God shouldn't be taken out of public schools and squares isn't right but I don't believe God or any other religious being had anything to do with what happened on September 11, 2001. I think that expressing your passion for God and religious views should be allowed anywhere public. I disagree with Falwell and Robertson and their views of blaming abortionists,feminists, gays, lesbians and other American groups for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I believe that even if these social groups didn't exist everything would've happened the same. They had nothing to do with the attacks that happened they are just trying to be themselves or do what's right for them. I don't think God caused the terrorist attacks to punish the human race and their choices. I don't think everyone has to agree with abortion, feminists, or the gay community but the least you could do is respect their choices. God accepts anyone with love and would never punish someone or kill and hurt hundreds of people. I believe that evil was the reason those planes were flown into the buildings.
1.) I disagree with the opinions of Falwell and Robertson's opinion of why God is punishing the country with the terrible terrorist attacks of 9/11. I don't think God is taking his anger out on those who are responsible for taking religion out of public schools or the abortionists, feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who live in this country trying to make a normal lifestyle for themselves. Falwell and Robertson are also contradicting themselves with the fact that they are blaming others for God punishing America when they could be a part of the problem as well. In James 4:12 the writing states, "There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?" I think that if God were truly punishing America he would also be punishing those who speak against there neighbor and according to the parable of The Good Samaritan, everyone is our neighbor. I truly don't think that 9/11 was God's way of punishing America because there were good people who lost their lives in this tragedy and families, who did nothing wrong, were also affected by this because they lost their loved ones.
I disagree with most of the video. The 9-11 attack was not due to our beliefs or religions we practice in this country, including Christianity. The primary purpose of the attack was to protest our policies toward the Middle East. Specifically, Osama Bin Laden was very upset with the United States permanent military presence in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. He was particularly unhappy that US personnel were stationed in Saudi which houses the holy Muslim cities of Meca and Medina. Churches and other religious symbols were not attacked. The world trade centers and the pentagon were attacked since they are symbols of America’s financial and military dominance. Jerry Farwell’s assertion that God allowed this terrible act to atone for American society’s view toward abortion or our sins and other grievances is just downright wrong. God did not allow this act to punish America anymore than he allows terrible mishaps to occur everyday to good people. To suggest that America had this coming and God allowed it because of our behavior is to suggest that anyone that succumbs to cancer or dies in an automobile accident had it coming to them due to their ungodly and sinful behavior. Furthermore, it suggests that God sanctions and approves of these unfortunate mishaps. Not true.
I strongly disagree with Falwell and Robertson. God did not do 9/11 as a punishment. God gave us all free will to do whatever we want whether it is right or wrong. God does not directly punish a nation for us to allow ourselves to have our own freedoms like gay rights, free religion, and abortion. If God is punishing us for having a right of freedom then why isn't he punishing other countries like middle eastern ones where they attack and nation for no reason. I believe in God but i do not believe in the idea of being allowed to pray in public schools or the court system. I believe this solely because it just isn't fair to those who don't believe in God. When this country was founded it was agreed that we would have a separation of state and religion. We are not doing a great job of that because God is on our dollar bill and in the Pledge of Alledgiance. I know that if our country had another religion on the dollar bill and in the Pledge, i wouldn't even want to say it, because it's something that i don't believe it. I think that conservatists like Falwell and Robertson should keep any type of religious views out of their political opinions, do to the fact that America was made to separate religion and politics.
Personally I don't agree with the two men Robertson and Falwell very much. Mainly because they said that God had let the people commit those bad things. I know that God didn't force the terrorists to attack New York/ America. They did it on their own free Will. It was their own decision. Honestly, I don't think that God could be angered to the point where he force the people to do something like that. I also think that there wasn't a good reason at all to blame the abortionists, lgbt, or even saying that it was separating the church and state. I fully believe hat everyone has their own opinion, and God created them to be like that. God should be viewed as the holiest everlasting father. Also another point in which I disagree with the men is that they blamed the whole population native to the terrorist home. They had nothing to do with that. In my eyes human beings should not stereotype anyone else because of 1 stupid thing someone did. That is ridiculous. I fully disagree with almost everything they said, because I know that God doesn't look at people for race, wealth, beliefs or etc. because he created them to be their own unique person.
II strongly disagree with everything these men are saying. I believe this is a very naive way of thinking and these men are very small minded. This mass killing of innocent people purely because someone else did something wrong is not an act of God. It is an act of evil and there is no justification for it. Not to mention people who abort they're babies are not horrible people. Humans have always killed humans, violence
has always been apart of our world and millions of people have died from things that have not concerned them such as war and terrorist attacks. Woman having control of they're bodies and accepting that they are not ready to bring a child into this world does not justify God to punish so many innocent people. Being of another religion other than Christianity (pagan) is also okay. People have the right to worship whoever they want. What the believe in is they're business. Sometimes that does not determine if that person is a good person or not. Just because someone is atheist that does not make them a bad person. Same goes with a person who is Catholic, going to church and believing in God does not automatically make you a good person. The bible says all men were created equal. Being a feminist is being someone who fights for woman's equality. To be equal to men. All humans are equal. The bible is a firm believer in that. Being a feminist is not something to be punished. Also being of a certain sexuality does not condone such a tragedy. Who you love and who you go home to is you're business. It is not hurting anyone and not causing any harm, regardless what your opinion of it is. When they claim to be such holy men but carry so much negativity and point their finger at other people as if it's our fault is ridiculous. All men (not just people of other countries or religions) have the capability to harm others.
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