With the brutal murder of American ambassador Chris Stevens, along with three other American diplomats, our nation has been plunged into a new 9/11 crisis. As we watch these events unfold, we are simultaneously exposed to a bloviating lap-dog-media which remains fixated on arguments concerning the proper rhetorical methods and means by which politicians should respond to such a crisis; but, as usual, they are missing the larger point. The 9/11 of 2012 is not about what politicians might say within the first 24 hours of the media news cycle; nor is it about a shoddy movie which critiques the life of Muhammad; instead, it reveals the bad fruit of our nation’s commitment to a dangerous passivity, weakness, and spirit of appeasement – one that is dedicated to the practice of placating our sworn enemies, and not asking questions later. America’s foreign policy motif has become entirely obsequious, being unwilling to stand up against our growing enemy: Islamic jihad. Whatever takes place in the days and weeks to come, it must be understood that we have helped to create much of the unrest that we now face. The so-called Arab spring has not been a liberation movement for peaceful democracies, but is becoming a means by which whole nations are becoming swallowed by Islam. And whenever any criticism is leveled against the religion of Islam, our politicians and diplomats seem to be more eager to deride our 1st amendment freedoms rather than punishing murderers. It is painful to watch our nation’s leaders repeating some of the worst elements of human history, but they are indeed doing this. The nation of Judah was sacked by Babylon by way of the foolishness of king Hezekiah, who, 125 years earlier, sought to placate his Babylonian visitors by exposing his nation’s treasures and secrets:
And Hezekiah…showed them[1] all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them. 2 Kings 20:13
From this one act, Judah’s future was sealed with this dark prophecy:
17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. 2 Kings 20:17
Hezekiah’s attempt to appease and placate Babylon only served to guarantee Judah’s future demise as a nation. Simply put, the lessons of history should remind us that weak leaders beget nothing but endangered nations and citizens. Sadly, this present administration’s repeated pattern of appeasing our enemies has only served to embolden them to future and further hostility. Rulers who make choices for their own political expediency and gain fail to see that their actions go well beyond the next election cycle or campaign stop. Sadly, their self-absorption makes them numb to the fact that what they do, or fail to do, does have an influence on the policies and practices of our nation – even its safety within an increasingly dangerous world.
In the end, our greatest enemies are right here among us.
[1] Representatives for Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon