Radicalized?

 To Believe

(by R.P.Edwards)

Hear

The lie

And then

Believe

Then actions

Follow 

Though

So stop

The course

With truth

Of course!

Before 

The end

Of you

“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.”
 (Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda)

"So faith comes from hearing..."
(Romans 10:17)

We've heard the terms, "Radicalize" and "Radicalization" in the news of late. These, as you may have guessed, referring to American youth who have latched onto Islamic Jihadist rhetoric (mainly through social media) and, thus inspired, they abandon their western roots and traipse off to the middle east in order to kill and be killed, or worse...to come back home and spread the disease.

Well, hearing and believing is nothing new. It has always been so; from the believed lie whispered into the first couple's ears, to those today who think beheading infidels gets them brownie points with the deity. We hear; we believe; and we act. And, I suppose a term like "Radicalized" is used (as opposed to persuaded, or converted) because it tends to lead to uncivilized behavior, like...cutting off heads.

However--and since I pass by on a regular basis a place of the most hideous doings--may I simply observe that one man's radical view, is another man's accepted practice. In other words, there was a time when chopping little unborn babies to bits and selling their parts (pardon my frankness) would be considered monstrous, but now (as is evidenced by the public's general indifference) it goes on nearly unhindered; week, after week, after week. And why? Because "words" were and are used to persuade, convert, radicalize.

And so, not wanting to leave without a solution, let me finish the scripture begun above: "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17). The Gospel, when unfiltered by wayward manipulators, leads to, yes, godliness. A positive influence. A force for good. And, as we have seen on the international scene, when "vacuums" are created (by the removing of a stabilizer) something far worse may come to take its place. Which causes me to wonder: what if the ten commandments had remained in the classroom? Perhaps the sixth admonition (thou shalt not murder); perhaps this, read over and over through the formative years; perhaps this could have prevented some of the carnage that has happened...and is, most likely, on its recurring way.

Radicalized?
(by R.P.Edwards)

"Radicalized"
A curious term
The civilized hear
And then they squirm
For it means death
Of a gruesome kind
By those who have
An altered mind
But wait a minute!
My pampered friend
It's the point of view
That brings an end
And YOU kill people
The smallest size
So are you
Sir,
Then Radicalized?

****