Here's a Netfriend's response to

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/1411.htm

Shalom!

Rowland Croucher

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Who died at bali??? It was a nightclub in a 3rd world country. A nightclub where indonesions wernt supposed to go but instead rich westen tourists chasing alcahol sex and drugs. These were not noble upstanding people hard at work for their families like the september 11 victims. These wernt good ambassaders for australia. These were cultural imperalists exploiting the 3rd world country making the indonesian women prostitutes and enjoying sex and drugs and alcohol at cheap 3rd world prices.

Sorry to say this and some of you will be angry with me for saying it but I know lots of people are thinking it and someone has to be brave enough to say it. I live in australia and I know what everyone in australia knows that pople who go to nghtclubs in bali are not good wholesome pople they arent noble people they are the peolple aussies are ashamed of admitting they are. It is terible they died but it is also terrible what bali had become and someone has to be brave enought o say it.

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What an amazing bit of twaddle! I don't think this statement has got anything to do with bravery. I think there is another emotion involved, one called "fear".

Let's look at the so-called logic. There is a distinction made between the terrorist attack in Bali and the ones on September 11. A moral distinction is made between the victims in each instance. Yet this moral distinction will not stand up. To begin with, those at "hard work" in the Trade Centre may well have included those trading in investments in those very night clubs in Bali! Yes, foreign investment is encouraged.

But let's take the elements of supposed lack of "wholesomeness": The people were having a holiday, they were not hard at work. ... The taking of a holiday (derived from "holy day") is a prescription of God's Law. Failure to do so resulted in severe penalty in the Old Testament. So it is failure to take a holiday which is a sin, and not the other way around. Sometimes people "hard at work" commit this sin of failing to take a holy day and the damaging flow-on effect to their families and society is enormous.

The people were drinking alcohol. ... Well, Jesus drank alcohol and made consumption of such part of the Lord's Supper - a holy meal.

The people involved themselves with prostitutes. Well, Jesus reminded the Pharisees that tax-collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom of heaven before them, so lets not make any assumptions about moral worth here. There are no doubt more prostitutes in New York than in Bali, so there must be plenty of customers in New York.

We know nothing about the relative moral worth of those killed on September 11 and those holidaying in Bali. Such appraisals are the prerogative of God alone. Such a claim made about those killed in Bali is offensive in the extreme.

I do not believe that Greg Lanski could even convince himself of the truth of his recent statement. Those with a good memory will remember his own words to this list. I quote him from 12th September, 2002:

"Its sad people died in New yourk [sic] last year but why do there [sic] deaths mean more than the deaths of anyone else.[sic]"

It would appear Greg Lanski's appraisal of people's deaths is quite inconsistent, a strong indicator of their lack of solid rationale. Such arguments were condemned by Jesus (see Luke 13:4) and are usually borne of fear. If we believe that we can blame the victim - find them guilty of deserving their fate - we can delude ourselves into believing we have some control over such random and horrific acts of violence and can protect ourselves. Such arguments belong with those like, "good women don't get raped" - in the bin!