>Salman Taseer, the governor of the Punjab Province of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, was assassinated this week by his personal body guard, Malik Hussain Qadri. Qadri, who has been given a hero’s reception for his “assassination”, fired 26 holy bullets into Governor Taseer (the photo on the left shows Qadri being draped with flower wreaths as he enters the court house).

The reason Qadri the assassin pumped those 26 projectiles into Taseer and the reason so many Pakistani Muslims are celebrating Qadri is that Gov. Taseer, although Muslim, had been educated, influenced and liberalized by the West. For instance, Taseer had particular trouble with the Blasphemy Law, which he was campaigning against. The Pakistani Blasphemy Law punished by death anyone who spoke against Islam or any of the prophets.

Gov. Taseer used the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was sentenced to death for blaspheming Islam as an example of why he was campaigning against the law. Although Taseer believed Bibi should be punished, he argued against her execution, stating, “”It’s a law which gives an excuse to extremists and reactionaries to target weak people and minorities (Christians)” he explained. “I mean, no big, rich, powerful man has gone in under the blasphemy law. It’s only poor people.”

Gov. Taseer was an Islamic liberal … influenced by the Western world and effectively silenced by 26 loud pops from the hand of his body guard, Malik Qadri.

Now, of course, me and you — unless you’re a fundamentalist Muslim — probably look at this whole situation with a sense of repulsion. And I think you should, but the funny thing is, I know many Christians would love to make America “The Christian Republic of America” and they would love to have similar laws enacted for the glory of God, the holiness of his Name and the defense of his Kingdom.

I know many Christians who, deep inside, are jealous of what the Muslims can do. I mean look at the way they’ve effectively controlled their people. The Islamic leaders speak, and most everybody listens. The Qu’ran is adhered to with reverence and people are justly punished when they disobey the laws of the Qu’ran. I think, secretly, many Christians would love to be able to copy what the Muslims have done in Pakistan and Iran and use that template here in America. I mean, what faithful Christian wouldn’t want to silence the likes of heathen Perez Hilton and atheist Richard Dawkins?

Heck, Tucker Carlson is a Christian and he wants Michael Vick executed. I know many who want Barack Obama executed. And if some of these Christians had their “Christian Republic of America” … who knows, they might just have their way … if they could only learn from the Muslims.

Christians aren’t jealous of the religious beliefs of Islam, they’re jealous over the power Islam wields.

Okay, here’s what I really think:

Christians need to make the choice whether they want power or love. I know, these two ideas aren’t totally mutually exclusive, but when it comes to Jesus and politics, they almost always are. Some Christian’s God very much resembles Allah, but when we look at Jesus (the representation of the Christian God), its hard not to see that power just wasn’t his thing.

I know … I know, I’m not going the way of the Mennonite here and saying that Jesus is divorced from politics … quite the contrary. It’s impossible to separate the historical Jesus from the politics of his day (this is a great discussion for another blog). Nearly everything about Jesus was political, but his was the politics of powerlessness, of love, of sacrifice and of liberty. And his law was the law of love.

There will be Christians who are secretly jealous of what the Muslims have accomplished for righteousness and power, and some Christians who will feel called to embark on a holy war against unfaithful liberals, but I can say with confidence, Jesus isn’t jealous. That’s not his kingdom.

The info tidbits I got from CNN.

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