Misers of Life

November 18, 2001

by John F. Schmidt

"Muslim religious writer accuses Westerners of being pro-life." That could have been the headline, but it wasn’t. Dr. Aballah Al-Naggar, a religious columnist for the Egyptian government daily, Al-Gumhuriya, recently wrote of the difference between a "Muslim believer’s approach to death and that of his enemies." This fascinating article goes on to describe the "believers in Allah" as being unafraid of death, and viewing jihad "as a profitable bargain, selling their lives to Allah to get paradise in return."

Al-Naggar observes concerning us: "Yet their enemies (enemies of the Muslims) protect [their] lives like a miser protects his money. They do not give their lives easily; they do not enter into battles looking for martyrdom; they do not act in order [to attain] martyrdom." He further notes that Westerners "protect all kinds of life, even if it be a life of humiliation and misery." I didn’t realize that we were so transparent; or that our values were so radically different than those of the Muslims. One can almost see Al-Naggar scratching his head in puzzlement.

This Muslim writer has put his finger on one of the wonderful ideas that forms Western thought. We are pro-life in our foundational principles. The concept is not limited to the pro-life, anti-abortion movement: we are pro-life in general. We favor life over death. We presume life is a gift, and identify with the old saying ‘where there is life, there is hope.’ So we intervene in pregnancies to fix baby’s hearts while they are still in utero; we go to extraordinary measures to discover ways to prolong life even in desperate cases. We create health-restoring drugs and medications to prolong life or add to its quality; we err on the side of life and liberty in legal proceedings. Every step of the way, our society is built on the concept that life (and liberty) is a gift from God. We are answerable for it, and there is great hope for the future because it’s in the hands of a beneficent Deity. Even though many of us have forgotten the reason we believe that way, we still honor and live out this concept.

The Muslim worldview (at least from the point of view of the writer quoted) is radically different. To him, Muslims elevate death and suicide to a virtue if it occurs in the process of killing infidels. He actually considers it martyrdom to give one’s life in the act of violently subjugating those of a different belief. It could be termed "salvation by suicide." That is precisely the motivation of those who piloted planes to kill thousands of innocent people on September 11.

Yet, upon close examination, this propensity to give ones’ life purportedly in the service of Allah is seen to be demonically selfish. Killing unbelievers to achieve heaven is not the work of one who loves others, or even Allah - it is the action of one who loves himself only and supremely. This unholy and abysmally selfish motivation has been further corroborated in news reports of one young Palestinian who blew himself up in an Israeli bus, killing himself along with a number of innocent people. His father proudly proclaimed himself envious of his young son because he was going to paradise to enjoy 70 virgins forever. Suicide and mass-murder is exalted as a means to achieve maximum sex in the afterlife. How tragic!

No wonder the Egyptian author is so puzzled by us. As far as we have strayed from our Judeo-Christian roots, we are still a shining city on a hill - envied and hated by the pro-death crowd both foreign and domestic for our propensity toward life and hope rather than despair, slavery and death.

And it all springs out of our religion. Don’t you love the irony of this? Our enemies testify of something totally characteristic of us that many in our own culture are strenuously trying to deny! It’s worth noting that we, too, honor those who give their lives for God and Country, but there is an enormous difference between Judeo-Christian and Muslim motives in giving up one’s life. We honor those who give their lives in the service of others and for a greater good. Recall those who fought with the hijackers and crashed their plane in southern Pennsylvania rather than see many innocent lives and American cities devastated. Those were noble deaths.

We also honor those who, when confronted with the choice between saving their own lives or giving them in defense of, or for the preservation of others - choose to give their lives that others may live. We remember how Air Florida flight 90 crashed on January 13, 1982 into the Potomac River alongside the 14th street bridge in Washington, DC. A man got out of his vehicle and climbed down the embankment. Seeing survivors weakly clinging to the wreckage in the icy, swift water, he swam out and repeatedly helped survivors to the bank. He gave the life jackets and floatation devices dropped to him so others could use them. Swimming back and forth, he saved five, but finally was overcome by the cold and slipped beneath the waters himself. That man was a hero.

In contrast, Bin Ladenites are the worst sort of selfish criminals, taking their own lives and murdering many others with them to achieve some personal salvation and paradise. No words suffice to express the contempt these people deserve for their incredibly selfish, unloving and uncaring acts.

Do you see the difference? We give our own lives only to preserve others; they take any number of innocent lives for only one life - their own. It is an Islamic version of the me-first, me-only culture.

In the final analysis, our Western culture is ennobled by a fundamental understanding that still profoundly influences our collective lives and institutions: ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ Indeed, One has truly come and laid down His life that all men may live. None can attain paradise by ignoring Him, or by violating this fundamental Truth. Dr. Al-Naggar is right. We are misers of life. Because God has declared all lives precious, not just our own.

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John F. Schmidt has written numerous articles over the last decade. Politically, he is an Alan Keyes-type Republican. Along with his wife, he has organized voter drives in Pennsylvania, and been active politically since the 1990 elections. His livelihood, until recently, was spent in automation engineering for a large global equipment manufacturing company, specializing in coal mining. WANB in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania hosted Schmidt's weekly talk radio program "Issues and Answers." His writing is intended to relate the headlines of today to the foundation of eternal truth - the Scriptures. He currently resides in Palm Beach County, Florida. Visit his website at: Inalienable-Rights.org

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