September 1, 2006
A lot has been made of Fox News reporter Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig and their “conversion” to Islam just prior to their release in Gaza by Islamobot terrorists. They were abducted at gunpoint from a Gaza street and held captive for 13 days. As a condition of release, they were forced to don robs, read from the Koran and “convert” to Islam. Naturally, they recanted their conversion upon being released but they have been roundly criticized by some Christians who saw the move as selling out.
First of all, I have no idea what religion either of these gentlemen is, or whether they're even religious at all. What I do know is they did what needed to be done to survive. Some Christians who have called my talk show say they denied Christ. They've also compared their actions with the martyrs of the early church. Let's sort through some of this, shall we?
It's a bit of a stretch to say that going along with some nut cases and reciting some gobbledygook is denying Jesus. Stark comparisons have been made with the female student at Columbine who, upon being asked if she was a Christian by the shooters, answered in the affirmative and was summarily executed. Perhaps this is parsing words but she was asked a direct question whereas Centanni and Wiig were not.
Be that as it may, how many of us would stand on principle and have our heads cut off? Many of my listeners said they would do just that but if they were placed in the very same situation I doubt they would react much differently.
Comparing the actions of two journalists to the actions of those early founders of the Christian church is a bit unfair, too. Those early martyrs' actions served to galvanize an entire religion. Without such action, the Christian religion might never have gotten off the ground. That was hardly what was at stake when these two journalists were asked to “convert or die.”
That's not to say that there isn't a time and place to stand up – and yes, even die – for your religion. When your religion is at risk of being exterminated by some mad regime then drastic times call for drastic measures. Churches went underground during the reign of the Soviet Union as they have done in communist China . Few are willing to proclaim their faith on the street corner because they know they'll be jailed or killed. Are they wrong not to do that? Certainly not. They understand that declaring their faith in public would not be heroic, it would be foolhardy. These Islamobots certainly want to exterminate all other religions but a handful of radical looney-tunes calling themselves ‘ The Holy Jihad Brigades' or some such nonsense as that hardly constitutes, in and of itself, a threat to Christianity.
As the old Kenny Rogers song goes: You gotta know when to hold ‘em/Know when to fold ‘em/Know when to walk away/And know when to run. Or, as the old saying goes: Discretion is the better part of valor. There's a time and place to die for your beliefs. I believe dying at the hands of some wacked-out fanatic when just telling him what he wants to hear will save your neck is a waste.
I've heard and read all the Bible verses from those who believe the first chance you get to die for Jesus you should take. However, the overriding message I take away from the Bible and my religion is that God has given us life. It's precious and it should not be squandered.