Public Ire Worries Ex-Hostages

Just a few days ago, 19 South Korean Christian missionaries were released by their Taliban kidnappers after six weeks in captivity. During that time, two of their number were killed by the captors. You would think that with their release, they would be ecstatic; but you would be wrong. Instead the headline in the newspaper this morning reads, "Public Ire Worries Ex-Hostages."

Yes, they are worried. They are worried because much of the world seems to be against them. They have been under intense criticism in their home country because people say the government has been saying all along that Afghanistan is a dangerous place and that they shouldn't go there. The fact that they did anyway means that, apparently, they're worthy of no respect.

Secondly, as a direct result of their kidnapping, people say, the South Korean government was "forced to negotiate directly with the Taliban" for their release. This is obviously a bad thing because the Taliban is no longer the recognized government of that country. In fact you could refer to them as an insurgency, a group of Islamic extremists, or terrorist group.

The article goes on to mention that in their first media interviews since their release, the hostages "apologized for causing trouble".

This story interested me, firstly, because it seemed to me right away that ex-hostages of a terrorist group should not need to worry about any reactions by the public upon their safe return. Secondly, this was a group of suburban Christians who had volunteered to go to the country as a group, and were on their way to give aid in Kandahar when they were abducted. This was their crime, helping poor and displaced Muslims in a foreign country.


Backward Thinking
As to the first point, their government said this was a dangerous country, and it is. They recommended the group should not go there, as they should. The U.S. State Department, I'm sure, says the same thing. However, this group's motives were pure and holy. They obviously believed they had an obligation as Christians to help others in need, and believed so strongly in this duty that they had to make the trip. May God bless them for it. Come to think of it, the fact that we aren't reading a story about 21 (instead of 2) Christian martyrs today indicates to me that God already has blessed them for it. If more Christians around the world acted as strongly as this group did, it would change the world. Whether you or I would be willing to do what they did or not, we should not criticize their decision to go because it was love for their fellow human beings that compelled them to do so. Their decision was righteous.

As to the government being "forced" to negotiate with the Taliban, this is a bunch of garbage. What this whole episode shows us so obviously is that the Taliban are, in fact, a bunch of thugs and nothing more. Governments have no business negotiating with thugs. Instead they should seek out and kill the thugs as they free their citizens from illegal captivity. This is why the U.S. military is still in Iraq: there are too many thugs running around over there killing and terrorizing innocent, peace-loving people, and they must be stopped. You don't negotiate with terrorists; you kill them.

One other aspect of this story that I haven't heard reported anywhere is the fact that it is still illegal in some Muslim countries to proselytize Christianity, or even to convert from Islam to Christianity. In fact, I posted a blog entry last year about a Christian convert who was brought into court on just these charges, convicted, and sentenced to death, despite being given the opportunity during his trial to renounce his Christian beliefs and "revert" to Islam. Only a letter-writing campaign by Christians in the U.S., followed by quick diplomacy and a flight out of the country, essentially into exile, saved this man's life. No articles I have read remind readers of this fact, nor question why it was that a group of 21 Christians, as opposed to some other group, were targeted by these Islamists. Forget about outrage for the missionaries; where is the outrage in that?