Sukkot, ISIS, and a Frightening Decision

Tonight is the Eve of the Jewish Festival known as Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles.  As with Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), this annual celebration has its roots planted deeply in the wilderness wanderings of Israel following the exodus from Egypt.  This Feast is first mentioned in Leviticus 23:33-43.  As part of this remembrance of God's provision for Israel during those 40 years of wanderings, Israel was to live in booths constructed of tree and palm branches.  I have seen some pictures of some incredibly beautiful sukkots today.  The Feast of Tabernacles lasts for eight days.  It is the last of the fall festivals in Israel.  As with all of the Hebrew feasts, this one is a reminder of what God has done in the past and a celebration of what God is doing in the present and a hope for what God will do in the future.  Perhaps we need more celebrations like this in our Christian experience.


I want to share with you two articles I received this morning.  Both were reported on the Fox News website.  The first was titled, "Congressman: 'At least 10 ISIS fighters caught trying to cross into US."  The article can be found at: www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/08/congressman-at-least-10-isis-fighters-caught-trying-to-cross-into-US.  Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, said that he had learned that "at least" 10 Islamic State fighters had been caught trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas.  He had learned this from people at the Border Patrol.  Rep. Hunter went on to say, in the article, "ISIS is coming across the southern border.  They aren't flying B1 bombers bombing American cities, but they are going to be bombing American cities coming across from Mexico.  I know that at least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border in Texas."  He then speculated that if 10 fighters had been caught, how many were not caught by the Border Patrol. 


The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied this claim by Rep. Hunter.  One senior DHS spokesman said, "The suggestion that individuals who have ties to ISIL have been apprehended at the Southwest border is categorically false, and not supported by any credible intelligence or the facts on the ground.  DHS continues to have no credible intelligence to suggest terrorist organizations are actively plotting to cross the southwest border."  A spokesman for the Congressman responded, "The congressman was conveying what he knows - and what he was told.  It make sense that the left hand of DHS doesn't know what the right hand is doing - it's been that way for a long time and we don't expect that to change." 


The porousness of the border between Mexico and the United States has long been documented.  For every illegal who is caught there are dozens who are not caught.  Reports have circulated that radical Islamic terrorists have been in Mexico and the assumption is that some have crossed over into the United States.  Could it be that we will have to fight ISIS or other radical Islamic groups here on our soil?  It certainly is a greater possibility than some might want to admit. 


The second article, also on the Fox News website, is titled, "Commission says Christian business owners should leave religion at home."  The article was written by Todd Starnes, whose book, "God Less America" I have reviewed in a previous blog.  (By the way, it is a must read).  The article can be found at: www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/10/07/commission-says-christian-business-owner-should-leave-religion-at-home.  The article begins, "The Human Rights Commission in Lexington, Kentucky, has a chilling message for Christian business owners who refuse service to LGBT organizations: leave your religion at home.  'It would be safe to do so, yes,' Executive Director Raymond Sexton told me.  'Or in this case you can find yourself two years down the road and you're still involved in a legal battle because you did not do so.'"


"On Tuesday, a Lexington Human Rights Commission hearing examiner issued a recommended ruling that the owner of a T-shirt company violated a local ordinance against sexual-orientation discrimination.  The examiner concluded that Blaine Adamson of Hands On Originals broke the law in 2012 by declining to print shirts promoting the Lexington Pride Festival.  The Gay and Lesbian Services Organization subsequently filed a complaint.  Alliance Defending Freedom, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases, represented Adamson, a devout Christian.  'No one should be forced by the government or by another citizen to endorse or promote ideas with which they disagree,' said ADF attorney Jim Campbell.  'Blaine declined to the request to print the shirts not because of any characteristic of the people who asked for them, but because of the message that the shirts would communicate.'"


What did this ruling require?  "First, Hands On Originals cannot discriminate against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  In other words, the T-shirt company must service LGBT customers - no questions asked.  The examiner also ordered Adamson to attend 'diversity training' conducted by - wait for it - the Lexington Human Rights Commission."  Todd Starnes writes, "Take just a moment and let that sink in - a Christian business owner is being ordered to attend diversity training - because of his religious beliefs.  That's a pretty frightening concept and a mighty dangerous precedent. ... In essence, the Human Rights Commission is telling Christian business owners they have to change their religious beliefs.  It's the idea that the government knows best and Christians must reorient their beliefs." 


Oh the power of a minority - and the LGBT community represents less than 5% of the American population; yet it has enough influence to attack small business owners and giant business enterprises, like Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A.  And the decision, this past Monday, by the United States Supreme Court certainly did not help the conservative Christian cause at least for the immediate moment.  The Court refused to consider appeals from lower courts that had been brought to the Supreme Court.  Thus the door was opened for the recognition of gay marriage in states such as Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Utah.  But I took hope in the article Tony Perkins wrote in his "Washington Update" for the Family Research Council.  "While the Left races to spin the news as a victory for its cause, the reality is that today's announcement doesn't mean that the justices would rule against marriage.  What it does show is that the Court is hesitant to jump into the fray and impose a 'Roe v. Wade' type decision on a nation still sharply divided on the issue. ... If the Supreme Court thinks America isn't ready for same-sex ',marriage,' they're right.  As more states are forced to recognize it, people will see the ensuing attacks on religious freedom.  They'll feel the wedge driven between parents and their children when school curriculum is changed to contradict the morals moms and dads are teaching at home.  They'll shudder as more people lose their jobs because they refuse to celebrate (not just tolerate) same-sex 'marriage.'  Maybe then they'll realize that the true goal is not about the marriage altar - but fundamentally altering society." 


So, we have the threat of ISIS crossing our border intent upon destroying the Great Satan.  Yet, at the same time, we have the decline in morality that is destroying us from within.  Perhaps there won't be much left for ISIS to take.  But aren't you glad that you are in the hands of a great God?  I know that I am!