BY RUSSELL TURNER
WHO’S FANNING THE FLAMES
In January 11th issue of the Tulsa World I read an opinion piece directed at Oklahoma State Representative John Bennett from Sallisaw, Oklahoma. On the opinion page, roughly one half of the page was devoted to a graphic of flames with a header proclaiming ‘Fanning Flames.’ In my opinion the author, Mike Jones, an Associate Editor for the Tulsa World, is accusing Representative Bennett of being unfair to the religion of Islam. While Mr. Jones is entitled to his opinion, we need to remember he is just one person and there are other opinions concerning the actions of Representative Bennett.
We humans have many strengths, but at times we can also be very naïve; we could learn a lot by looking at some not so distant history. Before World War II a British diplomat named Neville Chamberlain foolishly trusted Adolph Hitler and proclaimed to the world that he had secured a peace treaty with Hitler. He even flaunted the treaty and told of the integrity of Adolph Hitler. History later proved what a fool Chamberlain was for trusting Hitler, his peace treaty and the paper it was written on was about as useful as an old Sears and Roebuck catalog in an out house.
It is about time that the civilized world wakes up and sees who is committing the barbaric acts across the globe. It is young Islamic males who are blowing up buildings, posting beheadings on the Internet, committing genocide on Christian Communities, etc. Even with all of those atrocities the mainstream media wants to handle the Islamic faith with kid gloves. In the opinion piece it was claimed that the Christian Bible promotes violence more than the Koran. The prophet Mohammed is very clear on the treatment of anyone who does not believe in Islam, there is nothing about accepting others beliefs or being tolerant. I agree that there are some violent passages in the Bible, but being a follower of Jesus Christ I prescribe to his teachings. One passage comes to mind where a woman who was guilty of adultery was brought before Christ. The woman’s accusers told Christ that according to the laws of Moses the penalty was stoning. Christ’s answer was profound but simple; ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’
I have talked to John Bennett at length and I have found him to be an honest and sincere man. He is a veteran and has put his life on the line to defend this country. While I do not know the background of Mike Jones, I wonder if he has put his life on the line to protect our nation or if he just uses a poisoned pen to attack someone who sees the whole picture? Being naïve is the easy way out; we need more men like John Bennett and a whole lot less of men such as Neville Chamberlain. The thugs and murders killing innocent people in the name of their god, not John Bennett, are fanning the flames.
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