An open letter to terrorists and those who harbor and support you.

From an American Grandfather.

I am told by the leaders of my government that you are intelligent people. 
In light of your actions, I am having growing difficulty believing that.  At
the very least, it has become increasingly obvious that you lack a
fundamental comprehension of my psychology as an American.

I hear on our news broadcasts that your rage is fueled by my support of
Israel.  It has never been about nationality or religious faith - never about
Jew vs. Arab.  I thought you would finally have understood that when I sent
my children into harms way in order to protect the innocent citizens of Arab
Kuwait from the savage wolf who would devour them for his own gain.  It has
everything to do with the lessons taught to me by my father - and his before
him for many generations before the white man came to this land we call
America.

I have a vivid memory of coming home, as a boy of about nine years of age,
and telling my father of feeling helpless horror as I watched the
neighborhood bully unmercifully torment a boy even smaller than myself.  My
father reflected for a long moment, then quietly inquired of me as to what I
had done about it.  I said that I had watched until it was over and had then
come home.

The look in his eyes penetrated me to my core for he had never looked at me
in that way before.  He said that he was deeply ashamed of me and he sent me
to my room with instructions to think about what had happened.  It seemed
hours before he came to my door.  He sat beside me on my bed and, for a
painfully long while, he said nothing.  When finally he spoke, he explained,
“There will always be among us dishonorable men who are devoid of humanity
and compassion.  They are but naked animals and an empty shell of what truly
is a man.  They attempt to fill their emptiness by the exercise of power over
others, thinking that it makes them whole men.  Often they are enraged that
they do not even understand their own emptiness, what it is that they lack. 
When these men are also cowards, they disguise themselves as sheep among the
flock and attack from the shadows.  This is the vilest form of subhuman
behavior for even animals attack openly when they must attack.

When humanity and integrity are present in a man, he expresses them as
compassion.  When compassion and strength achieve perfect balance within a
man, they manifest as wisdom.  The compassionate man feels the pain of
others.  The wise man protects others from pain.  For, if you watch and do
nothing to protect others, who will come to your aide when you alone remain
and the bully comes for you?

Some things are far more important than your personal safety and freedom from
pain.  If ever again you see someone being hurt, protect him, even if you are
certain to be injured in the process.  Then I will know that I have truly
raised a man. Anyone who understands the impact of this lesson - and how
deeply it runs in he man I have become, will understand my unflinching
willingness to sacrifice my children in defense of Arab and Jew alike when
they are threatened by the bullies and cowards of the world.  And please do
not insult my intelligence with claims of Jewish treatment of Palestinians. 
I am old enough to retain vivid memories of 1948.  I remember the excitement
of the Jews over the prospect of governing “with” them.  Their reaction, and
that of their neighbors, was to attempt to finish what the Nazis could not -

Repeatedly Intelligent men?   I, for one, am stunned by the monumental
stupidity of your arrogance.  Did you actually think that only Americans
would occupy the World Trade Center?  You have but fired the first pitiful
salvo of World War III for the entire world is now preparing to come after
you, your host, your financiers and your supporters.  And please, do not
listen to what I say. You would do far better to watch the sky.

I must say that I owe you a profound debt of gratitude.  Not for what you
have done or what you have unleashed upon the world, but for what you have
accomplished.  For not one among us could have accomplished it.  On Monday,
September 10, 2001, we were a divisive, apathetic nation.  Our young people
had nothing by which to identify with our history or heritage; our people
were divided by factions of religion and skin color; our government was
polarized and paralyzed by political party affiliation, able to agree upon
nothing; the military had difficulty obtaining volunteers and most of us
simply changed TV channels in response to Red Cross pleas for blood
donations.  Your actions have changed all of that in a way that has occurred
only twice before in the history of this nation - once in 1776 and again on
December 7, 1941.  The worst in the worst of Allah's children has brought out
the best in the best of Allah's children and, for this, I thank you.  Since
your cowardly act, Muslim, Jew, Christian, black, white, yellow and brown
have stood shoulder to shoulder for hours in the hot sun to donate blood for
the injured.  Our government has suddenly become totally united in its
purpose.  Our military is having difficulty handling the flood of volunteers
from among our young people.  Our flag makers report that there is no way
humanly possible that they can keep up with the demand - shipments are sold
out within minutes.  You have accomplished a miracle that only God could have
anticipated.

And, it would seem, the hand of God was present even in the date that you
selected for your attack, for you could not have chosen a date more in
keeping with a reawakening of American pride and purpose.  There is in
America a nationwide system for seeking help in times of emergency.  Every
American knows that, when threatened, he can pick up any telephone and dial
911 and help is immediately on the way to assist and protect him.  By
selecting September, (our 9th month), 11, 2001 to exhibit your cowardice, you
unwittingly placed a 911 call that has brought all of America together in a
way that brings tears of joy and pride to my eyes.  No longer is our battle
cry, “Remember Pearl Harbor!”  Thanks to you and your kind it will now and
forevermore be, “Remember 911!” whenever the innocents of any nation find
themselves threatened by cowards with guns.

I do not, for a moment, deny that you hurt me.  Far too many parents and
children now go to bed wondering where their loved ones are.  And, yes, I am
momentarily reeling.  But it is from the sudden realization that I share the
planet with anyone capable of such an atrocity against the humanity of so
many nations.

In his Inaugural Address in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 1961, President
John F. Kennedy said, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or
ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support
any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of
liberty.”  He was talking about the liberty of all men, of all faiths, of all
nations.

You need to understand that the truth of that statement is the very fabric of
who and what I am.  I wish neither to rule nor to inflict injury upon the
innocents of any nation.  I am the lion who sleeps with Gods lambs to protect
them from ravenous wolves that would devour them.  Your 911 call has awakened
the lion and now I hunger for the flesh of wolves.

In closing let me state, Muhammad taught that Allah is a God of love - yet
you have the unmitigated gall to bastardize Islam to suit your own personal,
unholy agenda.  Who now is the infidel?

Sincerely,

The Reverend Charles Stanley
Hertford, North Carolina, USA