Avoiding Hell

I have been following the Ft. Hood murders from Brazil. It is interesting to see the way these events are covered in another country. For most, americans are people who are suffering and need compassion. For some, americans are violent and in love with guns. For others, americans are a culture in decline. For a small few, americans are getting what they deserve.

One thing that never comes up in the news report concerning radical Islam here or from the USA is the question of hell and how a radical Muslim thinks he can avoid going there.

Most people in the USA hardly believe in hell these days. Even evangelical Christians hardly talk about hell. People in radical islam clearly believe in hell, talk about it repeatedly and want, at all costs, to avoid it.

I remember reading a comment from C.S. Lewis that I have never forgotten. He said that people in England and America stopped burning witches at the stake many years ago. For some this is a sign of human progress and enlightenment. For C.S. Lewis it was more a sign that people in the USA and England don't believe in witches any longer. He went on to say that a return to truly believing that the woman next door can curse and kill your children would start the fires sooner than we think.

I found it interesting that the man who killed the Fort Hood soldiers went to strip clubs before he went on his killing spree. Here is a man who is desperately trying to please God and end up in heaven. Even so he is taking his last moments indulging in behavior his religion condemns. This man is in trouble if he does not find a way to cover his sins.

What this says to me is that this man was down to his last hope of heaven which would be to kill God's enemies to prove his worth to God and guarantee heaven instead of hell. He could not live up to his religions basic laws against lust and liquor so only a radical action of submission to his God could guarantee heaven.

I don't think we will understand radical Islam until we understand that they truly believe in hell and we as a culture in the west do not. If we believed in hell like they do and we thought the only way for those desperately trying to avoid it was killing God's enemies, I believe we would be surprised just how quickly the gun sales would go up in the west.

When the choice in man's mind is heaven or hell and not just the USA against its enemies, you can be sure people who believe in hell will choose avoiding hell and going to heaven over an oath to defend their nation.