Friday, May 28, 2004
I was mulling over writing down some thoughts about John Ashcroft's press conference where he discussed our coming "Summer of Terror." (Isn't that just like America to come up with a catchy title for our fears? "Summer of Terror" -- it sounds like a new Disney World ride.) Anyway, I remember Ashcroft spoke about the threat to the G8 Summit in Georgia in early June and the threat to the Republican and Democrat Conventions in Boston and New York. I remember that he showed seven pictures of wanted terrorists and he told us to be on the lookout.
Do you think I could find a transcript of his speech? I'm good at finding things on the Internet and in this case I even stooped to going to the White House site and looked under National Defense and Homeland Defense... nothing. It was so easy to find Al Gore's speech, which was so much less important, perhaps the Homeland Security Department and the Justice Department really are struggling.
I found this description of the speech from Command Post and I found this frightening post from Jeff Nyquist, but why John Ashcroft's speech isn't plastered all over the Justice Department site, or the Department of Homeland Security Site or the White House site... I just can't explain.
But anyway, my thought was that we are not very likely to ever have peace on Earth, good will toward men because, in the end, what use would there be for Heaven if the world wasn't fallen? But if such horrible things happen, Christians need to display their virtues, their courage, their fortitude, their temperance, their prudence all the more. If ever such massive attacks as Jeff Nyquist fears come about, we'll need to put the golden rule to work like never before.
There will probably be no occasion for just or courageous acts in the next world, but there will be every occasion for being the sort of people that we can become only as the result of doing such acts here. The point is not that God will refuse you admission to His eternal world if you have not got certain qualities of character: the point is that if people have not got at least the beginnings of those qualities inside them, then no possible external conditions could make a 'Heaven' for them.
-- C.S. Lewis again, from "Mere Christianity"
Update: OK, here's the transcript I was looking for.
Do you think I could find a transcript of his speech? I'm good at finding things on the Internet and in this case I even stooped to going to the White House site and looked under National Defense and Homeland Defense... nothing. It was so easy to find Al Gore's speech, which was so much less important, perhaps the Homeland Security Department and the Justice Department really are struggling.
I found this description of the speech from Command Post and I found this frightening post from Jeff Nyquist, but why John Ashcroft's speech isn't plastered all over the Justice Department site, or the Department of Homeland Security Site or the White House site... I just can't explain.
But anyway, my thought was that we are not very likely to ever have peace on Earth, good will toward men because, in the end, what use would there be for Heaven if the world wasn't fallen? But if such horrible things happen, Christians need to display their virtues, their courage, their fortitude, their temperance, their prudence all the more. If ever such massive attacks as Jeff Nyquist fears come about, we'll need to put the golden rule to work like never before.
There will probably be no occasion for just or courageous acts in the next world, but there will be every occasion for being the sort of people that we can become only as the result of doing such acts here. The point is not that God will refuse you admission to His eternal world if you have not got certain qualities of character: the point is that if people have not got at least the beginnings of those qualities inside them, then no possible external conditions could make a 'Heaven' for them.
-- C.S. Lewis again, from "Mere Christianity"
Update: OK, here's the transcript I was looking for.
