Adopt A Terrorist For Prayer!!!

Could you pray for people who planned bombings, carried out shootings and terrorized civilians? A movement in the U.S. is asking Christians to do just that.

No

At atfp.org, Christians are asked to “adopt a terrorist for prayer.” A quote from the Bible on the site urges visitors to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

CNN Link

Adopt A Terrorist Site Link

Really?.....Why waste your time praying for this scum,if your gonna pray for anybody christians, why not pray for US/UK soldiers in the middle east instead!

Forgiving them is pretty much a requirement of the Christian faith isn't it?

Mark 11:25
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

(Romans 12:19-21) Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Headnote: I am not religious.

Why does it make any difference to you for what someone prays, as long as it's private (even though there are strength in numbers, but also considering one should privately pray).Without going into the reasons i despise organized religion and the hypocrisy involved, there can be nothing wrong with praying for one's enemies, which is one of the things the bible--and your quotation--mentions. It's not that people would be praying for them to "get off" or whatever, it's purely, i think to pray for them to either turn to god, turn their lives around, renounce their old ways of behavior and/or thinking.

Granted, many Christians pick and choose which passages of the bible they will read, acknowledge, and follow, but i think it a good thing for people to pray for their enemies and those that are criminals, terrorists, etc. Something that gets me, though, is all these people only praying for people they know, people they know who are sick, their country or their soldiers, etc, and to me it's selfish, in a sense. People rarely pray for the millions of destitute people around the globe because they could care less about they: they want what's good to come to them and those with whom they have contact, and never for the people who might also need prayer, but who are unpopular with society, etc.

Whenever i hear of a person who, say, prays for the murderer of their child or something similar, that strikes me as a very decent and worthy person. And not that they are praying for leniency or punishment, but praying unselfishly for the person his or her self.

What harm does praying for a terrorist do to you (or anyone)? It's quite the opposite of aggressive mentality and crusading with a sword or sending soldiers to kill, it's peaceful.

Even though i do not "pray," maybe it'll catch on. It might make some improvements in our society and in the world, and perhaps make people more tolerant instead of constantly condemning and trying to force people to conform to what they think is how people should behave, act, speak, etc.



That's my perspective.

reply to post by Liquesence


Dont get me wrong,it doesnt make any difference to me,i think the concept of prayer on a whole is a complete waste of time,i just think these people should just be forgotten and left to rot or better yet put to sleep!!!

Originally posted by lektrofellon
reply to post by Liquesence

 

Dont get me wrong,it doesnt make any difference to me,i think the concept of prayer on a whole is a complete waste of time,i just think these people should just be forgotten and left to rot or better yet put to sleep!!!

Therein lies the problem.

What one believes is generally fine.

Now, i am going to broaden this a bit from the strictly "terrorist" to the "violent criminal," because there is essentially no difference. That is what generally happens to violent criminals (some, not all), they are thrown in prison, forgotten, and left to rot. Granted, some feel this is exactly what should happen, but some also feel this is inhumane and could be considered torture, regardless of their crimes.

As for "terrorists," it doesn't seem like individuals are named, but terrorists as a "group," in which case condemning, forgetting, and leaving them to rot doesn't really fit into the rule of any kind of law because there has been no legal proceedings. If they had been found, tried, and found guilty then they would be no different than a violent criminal, in which case see the first paragraph. If they should simply be "put to sleep" without a trial, they says a lot of (negatives things) about ourselves; if they should be put to sleep after being found guilty, well that's another thing entirely.

That is your opinion, of course, to which you are entitled. I have mine, but i try to be a little more ethical than "lock 'em up, throw away the key and let 'em starve," even for those are clearly guilty. But that's just my opinion. *shrug*

Heck, even the term "terrorist" is relative. While we're at it, we should pray for terrorists US presidents and government who have started wars and dropped bombs upon end, or the cops who terrorize using strong-arm tactics, etc... Or we could just forget about them or better yet let them rot.

Sometimes we should do what is right, even if that is unpopular, and not stoop to the same levels as those we condemn. And i do not mean what we think is right (because that is purely based in opinion), but what is ethical.

Peace.