Solomon said: Proverbs 26:3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool‘s back.

You cannot persuade a fool, because he has no capacity for reason. You might as well reason with a horse or an ass. Islamists will not be reasoned out of their hatred for America any more than white supremists in Alabama could be reasoned out of their hatred for blacks. Because their hatred was not based in reason, but in emotion, it was impervious to reason. The emotion was fueled by years of nurture, hundreds of stories and anecdotes. Only new stories and anecdotes can change the emotion. Even scenes of blood and carnage will not change the emotion, but will re-enforce it.

The old South was changed by young white men who fought in WWII next to comrades who were black. It was changed by young white men and women who attended schools with blacks and became friends. It was changed by young Christian white men and women who worshipped together with blacks and attended evangelistic and mission meetings with blacks. Most of all, it was changed by black men and women who refused to hate, but loved their white neighbors, and repudiated the black radicals who wanted revenge and nursed their hatred.

The Civil Rights movement succeeded in America because it was rooted in a fundamental principle of justice: men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There were blacks who realized that they could achieve dignity, not by debased their white neighbors, but by treating them as they wanted to be treated. This principle is greater than written constitutions, precedent law, and statutes. Jesus enunciated this principle when He insisted that ceremonies such as the Sabbath be observed in such a way that people be treated at least as well as an ox that fell into a ditch. People are more than oxen and should be treated accordingly. No ceremony, religious or otherwise, can trump this principle. How dare the Pharisees criticize Him for healing a man on the Sabbath Day! The dignity of man required healing, not leaving the man in misery because of some misplaced and corrupted idea that dignity requires the status quo. The dignity of the Iraqis required the removal of Saddam and the healing of the nation, just as the healing of Germany required the removal of Adolph. Victory in WW II was a proud and heroic achievement for America, who sang during that conflict, "Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition" becasue Americans have always been very practical people, and realized that praised the Lord required the passing of the ammunition.

If Europe still chaffs over the memory and brutality of the Nazis, wait until their Islamists extremeists among them gain ascendency. Even the Nazis didn't send little boys and girls on suicide missions. Remember that less than ten percent of the old Soviet Union were communists. A dedicated minority will always prevail over a majority that has no idea what it believes. But Christianity will revive in Europe in spite of the eulogies given for it.

Even though Christians have very often forgotten this principle and have brutalized others, yet it remains at the core of Christianity, because the Bible teaches that man is created in the image of God. Although it is often obscured by heresies such as evolution and political systems based upon evolution, when Christianity revives in the world and returns to its core values--as it always does because of the resurrection of Christ--the dignity of man is also restored. Liberty and freedom break forth again as the dawning light dissipates the darkness of the night. Because man is in the image of God, He finds himself in God alone. This is the strength and the glory of Christianity. We pray that such will be the case in our day.

It is this principle that must prevail in Iraq. Much, much more than winning an election is at stake in Iraq. If 9/11 did anything, we hope and pray that Americans will realize that we have from God a most precious and fragile gift: the right for every man to stand tall and free and be as holy before God as He chooses to be. If we lose these things, we will be very poor indeed, and the world will be darkened for many, many years.

New York Daily News - Ideas & Opinions - Editorials: Courage & sacrifice in war zone Iraq: "And so they are hellbent - and bent for hell they surely are - to prevent the U.S. from planting the seeds of a free society in Iraq. A flowering of human rights and equitably distributed oil income in the despotic deserts would put the lie to everything they stand for.

That's why, more than ever, the struggle in Iraq is greater than a contest over a single country. It is also why the entire nation of Iraq must now be recognized as a war zone, as dangerous as any battlefield and requiring stepped-up aggression and vigilance."