General Boykin

There's quite the buzz in blogspace regarding comments made by General Boykin regarding his Christian faith as well as his views on Islamic terrorists. The L.A. Times and MSNBC ran the story and it has now appeared in many other locales as well. Apparently these news agencies think the First Amendment only applies to them. As Hugh Hewitt reports, there were out of context quotes and the non-existent quotes surrounding an unspoken word (read: the word "jihad" was placed in quotes referring to the General's views... HELLO MEDIA?! Do you really think people won't connect the quotes used as implying that the General actually used that word?!). What's worse is that now the Dems have jumped on the bandwagon and are taking jabs at Boykin. Reuters reports that Joe Lieberman has called on Bush to condemn Boykin's "hateful remarks," while Rep. John Conyers is quoted as saying "it is outrageous that someone who holds such extreme, closed-minded, zealous views would be allowed such a prominent position in our military." Note the keywords: "hateful," "extreme," "closed-minded," and "zealous." In response to his critics, Boykin has stated, "I do believe that radical extremists have tried to use Islam as a cause for attacks on America. As I have stated before, they are not true followers of Islam. In my view they are simply terrorists, much like the so-called 'Christians' of the white supremacy groups, or extremist (sic) of any faith." We need to understand that what is also at stake here is the ridiculous notion of pluralism in the sense that "all roads lead to God." Boykin, it appears, is a well-grounded Christian who understands that a core element of the Christian faith is its exclusivism. Yet, while exercising his right to voice his opinion he has been deprecated as being hateful, extreme, closed-minded, and zealous. I for one hope that he is hateful - hateful of terrorists intent on killing innocent human beings. I hope that he is extreme - extreme enough to use the means necessary to destroy said terrorists. I hope that he is closed-minded - closed-minded to pluralistic mentalities that have either disregarded or are completely ignorant of the Law of Non-Contradiction. And I hope that he is zealous - zealous in his mission to protect the United States of America.