WHERE IS WISDOM?

Dr. Sami Boulos     

Once a young man called Solomon was made a king of one of the great kingdoms of the ancient world. His father who was one of the greatest leaders of men was still alive when he made him king. He gave all the advice that a loving father could give to his beloved son. But the young king did not feel equal to the task ahead of him. And because God loved him and his famous father, He appeared to him in a dream and asked him what he wanted God to do for him. This was an amazing offer which never happened before or after that.  Solomon did not take long to decide what he wanted, and asked God to give him wisdom so he can figure out what path to take when he is confronted with the great problems that awaited him. He felt so inadequate and helpless when he was faced with so many problems which were thrust on him at this young age. And God was pleased with him because he did not ask for the mundane things that fascinate young people, and gave him the wisdom that he asked for. The Bible tells us that as a result Solomon became the wisest man who ever lived and was so successful that his fame spread to the far corners of the world and thousands came from far away places to witness his wisdom.

As we look at today’s world we find that kind of wisdom is fading in our lives at a horrifying speed. We find another kind of wisdom built upon selfishness and arrogance which became the rule by which people are living today. We find rich people steeling from the poor, we find greed and the love of money rampant in the world. We find corruption and dishonesty widespread and become the devastating disease that infects millions. We find fathers killing their children, mothers smothering their newly born babies to death. We read about grandmothers killing their innocent grandchildren, and grandfather sexually abusing their young and helpless granddaughters. We find parents raping their own daughters and ordering them to kill the children who are born to this criminal relationship.

When this happens we look for an explanation that makes sense. We look for some wisdom which we seek to convince ourselves that the world is still a rational place which is essentially good. But we find none.

On Monday April 16, a deadly rampage took place on a college campus in Virginia . A South Korean boy named Cho Seung-Hui whose parents came to this country to begin a new life for themselves and their two children a girl and a boy, did something terrible that nobody did before. He planned and meticulously prepared a killing campaign against his fellow students.

This didn’t make any sense to his parents who toiled and worked hard to give their son the best chance to make it in their new home. When their son made it to Virginia Tech they sighed a sigh of relief and felt that finally their dream is on its way and that its fulfillment is a sure thing. They never expected to be rudely awakened by the nightmare that happened on that day when they heard and saw on television their son killing 32 people before killing himself. 

The question that was on every lip and lurked in the minds of all those who heard the news or saw the portfolio that that young man sent to NBC was WHY?  Many saw a mentally sick person, but sick people get drunk and jump from a bridge, or kill somebody, not 32 of their colleagues. When CNN asked Nikki Giovanni, the celebrated poet who taught Cho, she said,” I have taught troubled youngsters, I have taught crazy people. But it was meanness that bothered me. It was a really mean streak”. In 1950 a man with the name Charles Starkweather went on a similar killing spree. Bruce Springsteen sang a song as if the killer were singing it. He sang,” They wanted to know why I did what I did. Well, sir, I guess there’s just a meanness in this world”.

NO WISDOM HERE AND NO RATIONAL ANSWERS. ONLY MEANNESS.

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More Terror Issues

by:  Deborah Metri     

Six men have been arrested for terror related incident emanating out of an alleged plot to enter a military base in New Jersey , Fort Dix , and kill as many of our soldiers as possible. I will provide my thoughts

with the limited amount of information that is being made available.

First of all, it is essential to realize that all men were born overseas and that one man was described as a naturalized citizen. I do not know how long he has been a naturalized citizen. He may have entered the

United States as a young child with his family or he may have recently acquired United States citizenship. I would certainly be interested in knowing if the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services office at

DHS dropped the ball, or if they had no way of knowing. Similarly, two of the men have been described as being resident aliens. I am similarly concerned as to how and when they were given resident alien

status. Finally, we know that 3 men are described as being illegal aliens. The obvious question is how did they enter the United States ?

It is also important to realize that all six men were described as being roofers. They were apparently working in the United States . One of them also had a job as a pizza delivery man, and he understood that

this job would provide him with unfettered access to the military base and other venues where he could do surveillance, hiding in plain sight. This goes back to the issue I have been adamant about, when the

President says that illegal aliens do the work Americans won't do, so we need to allow aliens who want to work to do so, I have asked, what does a terrorist do days before an attack? The answer is, he goes to

his job, in this case as roofers or a pizza delivery man!

A final thought: the President wants to make it far easier for refugees from Iraq to be admitted to the United States . While I am certainly sympathetic to the plight of refugees, I do not think we should be

shortcutting the screening process by which we admit such people to make certain that we do not turn this humanitarian effort into one that will endanger our security! Once again, we have been given graphic

evidence that we are at risk by not creating secure borders and a secure immigration system.

I will have more as the story evolves and we have more information.