The War on Terror -- Tristi's Take

Ever since terrorists flew their hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and crashed in Pennsylvania, patriotism has taken on a whole new face. And it will never be the same again. We've been engaged in a war in the Middle East and right now, to continue or not continue that war is a major political hot button. The next presidential election will largely be decided by the opinions of the voters toward the war -- the candidates have made their stance and we'll be voting for the person whose ideas most closely coincide with ours, on the topic of war as well as other platforms.

From my perspective, the war on terror must never be stopped.

I struggle to understand the mindset of people who think that if we just pull out of the Middle East, the problem will go away. It's not going to go away. It's going to get worse and worse, and if we pull out, we're giving the terrorists free rein to do whatever they want to do. They're not going to say, "Oh, wasn't it nice of the US to pull out? Let's do something nice for them and stop killing people, and then we can trade friendship bracelets and have a sleepover and giggle about crushes." It's not going to happen. The terrorists have determined that they are going to kill all the infidels in the world. By their definition, I'm an infidel. My children are infidels. They're not going to be happy until I am dead, until my children are dead, until every person on this planet who does not believe the same way they do, is dead. There's not going to be a sleepover, folks.

There's another aspect to this war that I rarely see mentioned, but to me is screamingly obvious.

Revelations 16:16: And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Ezek. 38: 16: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Joel 3: 14: Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

Zech. 14:2: For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Luke 21: 20: And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Each of these scriptures refer to the end times of the world, and to the winding up battle which will take place in the valley of Armageddon. Which valley is located in Israel. It has been prophesied since the beginning of time that just before the coming of the Lord, two huge armies will gather at Armageddon and battle to the death. The coming of the Lord will bring an end to that battle. Prophets throughout the ages have seen this battle in vision. Many have written about it. John the Revelator saw it. Nephi saw it. Regardless your denomination, if you're Christian, you have heard this prophecy.

And yet I am constantly hearing members of the Church say, "I wish this war would just end."

I say in response, "I'm excited for the Savior to come again."

And they look at me with confusion. They don't get the connection.

It's not hard to connect the dots. The war on terror and all the things that are currently taking place in the Middle East are the precursor to the upheaval that will take place and usher in the battle at Armageddon. That battle is not going to sneak up on us. What, we're going to wake up one morning and poof! Thousands upon thousands of soldiers will suddenly have magically appeared in the valley, ready to duke it out? Of course not. It will be built up to slowly. First this political decision, then that one, then this war, then that one -- step by step leading up to where the battle will be a natural next step. Everything we're experiencing now is a piece of the puzzle.

Put simply: The war on terror is part of the Lord's second coming, and if we were to somehow stop the war, it would delay the second coming. However, we cannot delay it. The time has been decided. Therefore, we cannot stop the war. That's it in a nutshell.

I'm not saying that I'm crazy about this war -- I hate war of all kinds. But I will say this -- we cannot withdraw our armies and let the terrorists win. And there is no way on this earth that we can stop the tide from rolling in. We are in the end times of the world. The Savior will be coming soon. The signs are coming thicker and faster. Rather than ranting about things we can't change, let's concentrate instead on preparing -- you know, that preparation we've been told repeatedly to make?


Meggido, looking toward the valley of Armageddon