A controversial new poll hit the news early yesterday:

“The study found that among the nation’s younger Muslims, 26 percent say homicide bombings can at least rarely be justified ‘in order to defend Islam from its enemies.’”

You have to ask yourself about the question that was asked.  How was it phrased?  The reason that I wonder about these things is because of the public reaction during the trial and sentencing of Eric Robert Rudolph, who was responsible for bombing a Birmingham abortion clinic among other things.  I remember very well the letters that were written to local newspapers, including The Birmingham News.  I remember people talking about how the doctors were killing babies and how they got what they deserved.  I wonder what percentage of Christians would say that killing might be rarely justified in order to kill a true enemy of God.  Don’t get me started on what percentage of Christians are die hard supporters of the death penalty– not because it’s the law, but because they believe that the accused truly deserves to die.   They are, after all, evil.

If were you faced with pure evil and there was no question, and it threatened to destroy the very fabric of Christianity, is there any possibility that it would ever be justified to kill someone?  How do you answer that?  Let me turn this one around for the atheists.  If you child were in danger…?  What would it take to answer the question in the affirmative?  Is the killing of another human being ever justified?  Can someone get me the latest polls on the Iraq War and tell me what the current percentage in support is?

My question was answered within mere minutes.

“…Campbell County authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having several homemade bombs in his car. The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service [of Rev. Jerry Falwell].”

I might add that one of those protesters just happened to be Fred Phelps.  You might know him as the guy who likes to protest funerals of dead soldiers and hold up signs that read “Thank God for IED’s”.  And this is the funeral of Jerry “Kill Them All in the Name of the Lord” Falwell.  A man who himself encouraged such views among (dare I say) roughly 26% of Evangelical Christians.  The student who was arrested attended Falwell’s own Liberty University.

I should also mention that I originally planned to make this my first post on The Gun Toting Liberal, but Gunny beat me to it and pretty much had the very same reaction.