Tim Wildmon

AFA president

November-December 2001 – As it was with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November, 1963 so it will be with September 11, 2001. We will always remember. We will never forget. We will always recall with clarity what we were doing, where we were, and who we were with when we first heard the news that America was under attack.

I was at work in the hallway when my dad said a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Like a lot of people, at first, I thought it was a terrible accident. I rushed over to a television. Just a few minutes later millions of Americans watched in absolute horror as the second jet flew into the other tower dooming thousands of people. 

“This is not happening,” many of us thought. It was something out of a Hollywood action movie. In a word, it was surreal. We all knew then that this was no accident. Our country was under siege by demented terrorists. Our lives would never be the same.

In the weeks that followed I read many columns about what motivated the terrorists. One of the best analyses I ran across was written by Dr. David Reagan, founder and president of Lamb and Lion Ministries. Dr. Reagan offers these three primary reasons for the attacks on America:

1. America’s support of Israel. 
2. The nature of Islam. 
3. America’s rebellion against God. 

On the first point Dr. Reagan writes: 

Since the United States has been the only nation willing to stand behind Israel, the Muslims believe that if they can make that commitment painful enough for us, we will abandon Israel. 

On the second point he says: 

But [the first point] ignores a deeper source of the hatred that Muslims have toward the United States. The fact of the matter is that if Israel were to disappear from the world scene tomorrow the Muslim world would still hate America with a passion. 

That’s because Islam is a cultural religion whose purpose is to impose by force, if necessary, a Seventh Century Arabic culture on the entire world. The truth is that Islam is a virulent form of cultural imperialism. This is very difficult for Westerners to comprehend. For example, Christianity is ‘supra-cultural’ in the sense that it allows people to live, dress, and eat in accordance with the culture in which they exist. Not so with Islam. Islam regulates every aspect of life to the point that culture, religion, and politics are inseparable. There is no separation of the mosque and state in Islamic nations.
There is not one Islamic nation where democracy exists. Freedom of religion is non-existent in the Islamic world. No Islamic state will allow the open proclamation of the Gospel. Jews are an anathema. 

Islam by its very nature is incompatible with modern life and democracy. The United States is viewed as the ‘Great Satan’ because we lead the world in technology and we are the major advocate of democratic principles. We are considered to be the most important threat to the purity of Islam.

…[America is] in the process of jettisoning our Christian heritage. Christian leaders are denying the fundamentals of the faith. Political leaders have been determined to convert us into a secular society. Americans have responded by embracing a hedonistic lifestyle. In the words of Judge Robert H. Bork, ever since the mid 20th Century, we have been “slouching towards Gomorrah.” … I therefore see the attacks as a spiritual wake-up call from the Lord. 

A week or so after September 11, I had had enough of the news and decided to watch a baseball game on television while I ironed. (You’ve heard the phrase life goes on. Well, for me, ironing goes on regardless of what happens in the world.) 

One of the broadcasters, Bob Carpenter, began to talk about St. Louis Cardinal outfielder J. D. Drew and what a devout Christian he was. He described Drew as a quiet and humble young man who was often found reading his Bible at his locker before the games. That’s when the second announcer, former big league all-star pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, chimed in, “Well, Bob, we are all reading our Bibles more nowadays with all that has happened to us.”

I thought to myself after hearing this, I hope you are right, Rick. I surely hope that good will come out of this bad news. And if God uses September 11, to draw more people to Himself, and draw American Christians to a closer, more sincere walk with Him, then our country will be stronger after we get through this sad chapter in our country’s history. Let’s all hope and pray so.