Dear Walid,
It's been a while, but I'm here and as eager as ever to respond to your opinions on Israel and Palestine...
Many times I find my self debating Christian believers who object to my writings, that my position on Israel is offensive to Muslims and Christian Arabs. If there such a thing as "Christian Arab" point of view, "Christian Jew" point of view, and a "Christian American" point of view? I guess so.
It seems whenever Christians disagree on certain political issues they would come up with a new points of views. I wonder what is the "Arab Christian" point of view on issues like pre-tribulation or post tribulation? Is there such a point of view? It amazes me how people use more flesh (their own mind) and prejudices and attach it to Christianity. I am an Arab, and a Palestinian, and I'd rather stick with saying that I am a Christian when speaking on The Bible. I do not like this idea of Arab Christian point of view at all. I'd rather use the best of my ability to say and write exactly what I see and understand as to what God said and regardless to whose point of view I hurt. Truth should be truth, it does not matter if it fits or pleases certain political points of view, I do not seek to be politically correct at all, and on the contrary I seek to be absolutely politically wrong when politics disagrees with scripture. ...
First of all, I never said that my opinion was the "Arab" opinion. It just so happened that the Christian I asked was an Arab Christian. That shouldn't be so surprising since I'm an Arab living in an Arab country, right?
Another thing, although my opinion is not the "Arab" opinion, it definitely is the opinion most Arab Christians adhere to (since most of them are Orthodox or Catholic, and you know what the Orthodox and Catholic teach regarding Israel and the Jews – they teach what you call "replacement theology").
... As far as I am concerned when the human point of view does not agree with the Bible it belongs in the trash. And if we take that there is an "Arab Christian" point of view, I would imagine that the majority of what call themselves "Christian Arabs" would hold the point of view on Israel that it should be destroyed. Just look at The Palestinian Charter for yourself and see. ...
I agree that I as a Christian should take what the Bible says, but here's the problem: Whose interpretation of the Bible? My friend, your interpretation of the Bible which leads to your opinions on Israel are new! What I believe in is what all Christians believed in until the 19th century and what the majority of Christians believe in today! I respect your interpretations of the Bible, but they do not give you the right to force them on any Christian by saying that they are what the Bible teaches. Why? Because they are not what the Bible teaches, but what you think by your personal interpretation that the Bible teaches.
... The issue is not what The Bible says but purely a sickness mixed with The Bible and then dare to call it Christian, especially when Christ was a Jew, the apostles where Jews, their message was first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, and the heaven that we are all waiting for has the 12 tribes of Israel written on them. My friend, if you do not like Jews or Israel, you will not like the names on the gates of heaven. To say that you are a Bible believing Christian and hold the position of the Palestinian masses on Israel and the Jews would be in defiance to God and His Word. It is as simple as that. The idea of ignoring Bible Prophecy concerning The Jews and Israel since it is offensive to certain groups is forgetting that the cross itself is offense as well? Why not blot it also to serve certain other groups? ...
I agree that Christ was a Jew, so was his Mother, so were the Apostles, the Prophets and a lot of many good people. But does that give them the right to take our land, kill our people and treat us like trash?
I have no problem with the Jews as people and no problem with their faith. My problem is with the Israelis who take my land and kill my people. I love the Israelis for one reason only and that is because Jesus said, "Love your enemies [Matthew 5:44]". Yes, the Israelis are my enemy. I cannot call the person who does anything of the things they do a friend. If they are indeed "God's chosen people", then they are abusing the privilege God gave them.
As for the prophecies in the Bible, again, according to whose interpretation? Your private interpretation, remember that "no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation [2 Peter 1:20]".
... The idea of ignoring Bible Prophecy concerning The Jews and Israel since it is offensive to certain groups is forgetting that the cross itself is offense as well? Why not blot it also to serve certain other groups? What these groups argue is that it is not essential for salvation, so we must drop this subject altogether, that we must use wisdom, when in reality they are using human smarts and flesh, I know of some who are active witnesses to Muslims, and all I have to say to them is: It's a shame. Especially when it is these kind of views that are the cause of division between Christians and not what the Word of God says. Division is the works of the Devil and the flesh, not God. ...
Usually the person who causes division is the person who comes at a later date with a new opinion which the majority never held to. With all due respect, your views are the new later views thus you cannot say that the earlier views which most Christians adhere too are the views causing division.
Maseehi:
But then I asked some (Arab) Christian friends about their opinion on the Jews and the modern Israel, and they helped me out. As for me now as a Christian, I disagree with you on many issues. The only reason I'm writing this email is because I want other seekers (as I was about a year ago) to know two sides of how (Arab) Christians view the Jews and modern-day Israel. My aim is not to convince you and I won't try to. Each is entitled to his/her own opinion.
[Walid:]
You say that you want them to know the side of the Arab Christian's point of view. Why not just represent your own point of view, many Christians who happen to be Arabs, also have my point of view. Take for example Anis Shorrosh, a good friend of mine and a Christian writer who supports the existence of the State of Israel and declared it in many of his books. The opinions you follow originate from the Palestinian masses many of which put a mask and call themselves Christians when in fact they do not even know the basic principles of Christianity. Take George Habash who is a Palestinian terrorist and a first class mobster, and claims to be Christian, would you say that he has the "Arab Christian" point of view? How about Hanan Ashrawi's point of view who also claims to be an Arab Christian and serves in Yasser Arafat's terrorist organization. Would you say she has the "Arab Christian" point of view? Would you follow their way?
The reason that I didn't represent my own point of view at the time is that I wasn't a Christian yet! I haven't read the Bible and I was searching. That's how I stumbled upon your testimony which caused me to almost dismiss Christianity.
As for Arabs who hold the points of view like yours, they have history and the majority of Christians (especially Arab ones) against them.
As for you doubting the Christianity of people (like George Habash or Hanaan Ashrawi), I wouldn't do that if I were you. Only God knows what every person believes in his heart. You call them terrorists, I call some of them freedom fighters.
Why won't we just discuss our point of views? You also say that you do not want to convince me. However, I want to convince you that your ideas have no basis in history and do not line up with the Word of God "The Bible point of view" as I will show. You seem to say that your mind is made up and you do not want to be confused by my facts, when in the recent past your mind as well as mine were made up that Islam was correct, we both were dead wrong and destined to hell, so why not open your mind a little bit and think with me here.
Mine are the ones with no historical basis?! I don't understand. The viewpoint which is held by the vast majority of Christians today and which was the only viewpoint until the 19th century has no historical basis, while your view point which is barely two centuries old is valid historically speaking...... I'm confused!
I will hit the Canaanite issue above square in the eye, once and forever:
Exodus 33:1-2
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people
you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath
to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'
2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
Clearly, no Canaanaites or Jebusites will remain. Now you can sit here and argue with me, but are you going to argue with God? I would strongly suggest you don't.
Then we go to Numbers 21:2-3
2 Then Israel made this vow to the LORD: "If you will deliver these
people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities."
3 "The LORD listened to Israel's plea and gave the Canaanites over
to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place
was named Hormah".
So there you have it, from God's mouth to your ears. Any questions?
Come on Walid, for God's sake man! You are quoting the Bible out-of-context in order to support your claims. Since you used the Bible and not history, I too will use the Bible and not history to prove that the Canaanites continued to exist in the Land of Canaan.
A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!
... [Matthew 15:22]This verse shows us that the Canaanites still existed at the time of Jesus, which is a couple of thousands of years after the verses you quoted me. I assure you that the Jews didn't destroy the Canaanites after that. Thus where did the Canaanites go? They are partly the ancestors of today's Palestinians.
Besides my biblical references above which addresses this issue, you might still see nothing to prove that the Palestinians of today are not from the Jebusites? Did you do any research on the origin of the Palestinians? The Bible and History as well addresses these peoples, whether they are Jebusites, Cannanites, or Philisteens, as being there no more, finished, and over with, killed, disbursed, and mixed with others to the point that they do not exist any longer. It is a historic and a biblical fact.
No, it's neither a historical not a biblical fact. The fact is the Jews didn't destroy all the Canaanites, the Canaanites continued to live in Palestine after the Diaspora. The Canaanites couldn't have simply disappeared.
Then you mentioned several historical sources which talk about the origin of the people of Palestine. Just for the sake of argument I will assume that you are right. The modern day Palestinians are not the descendants of the Canaanites, Jebusites or any of those people, but they are Arabs and several others who migrated later after Palestine was destroyed by the Romans.
Now, the thing is, legally the land became the land of the Arabs. The Jews were kicked out of there not by the Arabs, but the Romans, and the Arabs came there later. They settled there and had lands, farms, homes, etc... Does this give the Jews the right to return and kick out all the Arabs who have settled there?
Let me give you a parallel example which I mentioned in my fist response but you ignored. The Americas belonged to the Native Americans, but then the Europeans came there, killed a lot of the Native Americans, took away their lands, gold, and farms. They were treated like they aren't humans. But then a couple of centuries passed, the Europeans settled into their new home, they had children there. Do the Native Americans have the right to forcefully kick and kill all non-Native Americans out of the Americas to reclaim their land and property?
Another thing, since we both agree that the Palestinians have Arab roots… Who are the Arabs? They are mainly the descendants of Ishmael. Who was Ishmael? He was the son of Abraham - Ishmael was Abraham’s seed [Genesis 21:13]. To whom was the promise of the land made? To Abraham and his seed, no exceptions [Genesis 12:17, 13:15, 15:18]. Thus now, even from the Bible, the Arabs are included in the promise
We need to look at the log in our Arab eye before we look at the spec in our Jewish cousin. Let us see who kicked who out first and not vise versa as you claim. It was the Arab Nazi-like bursts of brutality, and mass extradition of the Jews from all the Arab lands which forced the Jews to immigrate to Israel. In fact it was the Nazi and Arab hate of the Jews that caused Israel to be created my friend. "Of more than 850,000 Jews in Arab lands fewer than 29,000 remained forced to leave to Israel" (American Jewish Yearbook, 1983, George Gruen, editor, New York). It was pure hate fed through schools and Arab media that caused severe persecution in the Arab world, let me quote a prominent Egyptian writer: "People all over the world come to realize that Hitler was right, since Jews are bloodsuckers" (Anis Mansour 1973). Then one could see the manifestation of evil take place all over the Arab world. In Yemen the Jew who lived there for thousands of years fell under the Omar Charter which called for the severe fanatical edicts of the most intolerant Islamic sects. You must have read the "Omar Covenant" in my book. Even Muslims do not know how to respond to it.
In Adan (Eden) the Arab riots and pogroms erupted in 1947 killing Jews, ransacking houses, and robbed every single Jewish store, and burned or destroyed every Jewish synagogue and home in the country. The only Jews who were spared were at an area called "Steamer Point". They were all forced to leave in 1958.
In Iraq all the Jews were forced to leave between 1948 and 1952 and leave everything behind. Jews were publicly hanged in the center of Baghdad with enthusiastic mob as audience.
In Egypt Jamal Abdunnaser stated: "Our sympathy was with the Germans". During the 6 day war the Jews of Egypt were rounded up and thrown into concentration camps, whipped and beaten constantly, deprived from food and forced to chant anti Israeli slogans. Egypt had no place for Jews.
In Morocco, nothing was worse than the slaughter of 120,000 Jews in 1146 in Fez. in 1948 mob violence and hostilities forced the Jews to leave to Israel.
In Algeria, Jews were accused of sorcery, they were slaughtered and plundered continually. The Algerians were inflamed with Nazi influence, Jewish diplomats were kidnapped and killed. The Jewish population in 1948 diminished in a few months, forced to leave to Israel.
In Tunisia, the Jews had the title as detested "Dhimmi", having to pay heavy taxation, and forced to wear separate clothing different than the Moors, they had to wrap yellow banners around their necks, and the women could never wear shoes, daring to change these rules would result in public stoning. Forbidden to carry arms, repair there synagogues, mass extortion, rape, mass murders and extreme Arabization forced 50% of the Jews to flee to Israel. The other 50% left to France.
In Syria, The status of "Dhimmi" gave the Jew no rights at all, only the right not to defend himself. During 1944 - 1945 intensified persecution of the Jews took place forcing the Jews to flee to Israel. The same status was for the Jews in Lebanon and Libya.
You are wrong here my friend. The Arab "persecution" of the Jews wasn't what forced the Jews into moving to Palestine. Look at the dates of the Arab "persecutions" you gave me, they are all after the Jews entered Palestine forcefully, after the Jews started killing our people. Yes, our people. Your brothers, your sisters, my brothers, my sisters. Those actions against the Jews were wrong, but they were not unprovoked. Remember the Yehida Massacre (1947), the Khisas Massacre (1947), the Qazaza Massacre (1947), Al-Sheikh Village Massacre (1948), Dayr Yassin Massacre (1948), the Naser Al-Din Massacre (1948), the Beit Daras Massacre (1948), the Dahmash Mosque Massacre (1948), and the Dawayma Massacre (1948). Those are just some of the massacres in the late 40's, and the list goes on and on... and is still going on and on and on.....
Besides, we "People of the Book" have had excellent treatment under Islamic occupation compared to the way the Jews are treating the Muslims and Christians in Palestine now, and to be honest, the Islamic treatment to non-Muslims in general has been good compared to how other religions have treated "infidels".
One final point on this, the Jews and Christians have always had the same treatment under the Muslims, yet we do not see the Arab Christians going to an Arab state to establish there separate Christian state, actually we don't see that Arab Christians are complaining in general. Plus, it’s a well known fact that the majority of the Israeli Jews are Ashkanazi (European) Jews, not Sephardic (Arab and Spanish) Jews. So how can the supposed Arab persecution of the Jews force the majority Ashkanazi (European) Jews to migrate to Palestine?
Now I wonder how come you never mentioned any of this in your statements? Could it be that he have been listening to one side of the story. A good judge must always hear the "other" party. Please keep that in mind.
I wonder why you haven't mentioned any of good ol' Israel's massacres in your testimony or book. "A good judge must always hear the "other" party. Please keep that in mind."
So, who forced who out ? Where did you get this statement of which you write "kick out all Modern-day Palestinians". I think I can easily guess the answer to my question, from a well known lie and perversion of history past down by the Arabs who were defeated in 1948, and in 1967, it is called "The political influence of tradition". I was there in 1967 living in Jericho, and have seen with my own eyes what happened, all the people who fled away and ran across the Jordan river was out of pure fear imposed by the Arab Media themselves who told the Palestinians to leave because the Jew will slaughter them. It was pure Arab propaganda against Israel which made the Palestinians leave and out of pure fear, and not the Jews as you put it "kicked out modern day Palestinians". I wonder why you never blamed anything on the Arabs themselves?
Oh really? The Jews wouldn't have slaughtered the Palestinians and never did. Silly me. I wonder why I find this hard to believe, could it be massacres like Dayr Yassin? No! Those are only "pure Arab propaganda against Israel". It's "pure Arab propaganda against Israel" which killed 250 people at Dayr Yassin in cold blood - of them 25 pregnant women were bayoneted in the abdomen while still alive and 52 children were maimed under the eyes of their own mothers, and they were slain and their heads cut off. While the Jewish Agency knew of the massacre while it was going on. However, no one intervened to stop it. Bloody Arab propaganda! I wonder why the Palestinians were afraid...
I do blame the Arabs! They shouldn't have allowed the occupation to take place. They should have stood up, and they shouldn't stay silent. We should wake up! I agree, all the blame is on the Arabs, for they and only they are the ones who allowed the Jews to enter Palestine!
Let me add to my previous statements: The Arabs blame Israel for creating the Refugee problem while it was the Arabs who insisted to keep the camps in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, to use the Palestinians for political exploitation. In 1982: 65,425 Palestinian refugees put in camps in Syria, 123,442 in Lebanon, 192,392 in Jordan, this was reported by UNRWA, while the Arabic propaganda lied and inflated the number to 4,000,000, and ALL who fled on their own will and without any force. Now, please compare with 850,000 Jews actually expelled from the Arab lands, forced to leave to Israel.
"fled on their own will and without any force".... If Dayr Yassin isn't "force"ful enough for you, what is?! Qana, Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, Eretz Checkpoint, Jabalia, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Oyoon Qara, Sabra and Shatila, etc.... Very peaceful and un"force"ful. For God's sake! Tears are coming to my eyes just remembering all these massacres. Allah yir7am arwa7 al-shuhadaa' (God have mercy on the souls of those martyrs).
The Bible sees no difference in the Islamic worship of God than even the ancient Babylonians, they too believed in one God, they tried to reach to that God by there own works (building a tower), God hated that and punished them swiftly. It is not the belief in one God that brings people to God, even the devil believes in one God. You use the word Monotheistic as a reason for God to have patience, well not so with the Babylonians. Also, the God of the Muslims is not the God of Israel, The God of Israel is a Trinity, has a Son, and is a Father, far from Islam's God who is in fact The God of this World The Devil. Are you saying that Monotheism in "The Devil" pleases God? I hope not.
Huh? You have made several mistakes here. First of all, where does the Bible say that the people who built the tower of Babel were monotheistic? Second, where does it say that God hated that? Third, where does it say that God punished them?
I know that the God of Israel is the Trinity, but the Jews don't know that! The God of the Jews is closer to the God of the Muslims than the God of the Christians is.
I didn't mention Monotheism in the Devil! I mentioned the Muslims, they worship the same God I worship. They see him differently but he is the same God. Even the Jews acknowledge that the Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Plus I assure you that there are many Godly Muslims who really love and worship God.
Another thing, can you honestly tell me that the sins of the Palestinians (Muslim and Christian) were greater than those of the Amorites? The Amorites who God waited to fulfill his promise because there sin hasn't reached it's full measure [Genesis 15:16]?
I'd rather stick with God. I will give you a "Thus saith The Lord" point of view: "Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who divideth the sea when its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever. Thus saith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord".
That is how important Israel is. Any questions?
You're giving me a new interpretation of what the Lord thus saith which is barely two centuries old. Israel is important, Christ was a Jew. But now, what is Israel. I will give you what the Bible says using the interpretation which all Christians have unanimously agreed upon until the 19th century and which the majority of Christians today still agree on.
"For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." [Romans 2:28,29]
Thus, the Jews after Christ are Jews only if they are Jews inwardly. You see, after the New Covenant, the membership to Israel was open to the Gentiles. In other words, the true Israel are the Christians. This is not "Replacement Theology", it is fulfillment. The Jews were not removed, but membership was extended to the Gentiles as well.
Your comparison is a bit off, the Jews were persecuted for 2000 years, and almost completely annihilated, 6,000,000 at one deal the Holocaust alone. It is also significant because this extermination never worked and the devil never succeeded. The Jews also were brought back by God to their land, and were revived as a nation. These examples you are giving do not have this important significance that God promised and made clear in the Bible. It also does not relate to our subject. Apparently you chose to pick and choose from my book without examining the biblical facts. Do not forget, it was not only Europe who persecuted the Jews, but our own people (mine as well) in every Arabic and Islamic country, would you like the facts for that? I can give you volumes on this subject.
The persecution of the Jews is irrelevant. Some people can see persecution as a sign of being accursed by God, and others as a sign of being persecuted for their faith in God. In other words, the Jews are either very faithful or very wrong. Meaning, persecution of the Jews by people other than Arabs (since we are discussing Arabs now) proves nothing. By the way, do you know that among the peoples the Jews lived with the Arab Muslims gave them the best treatment?
You say that: "I myself do not believe in any replacements", yet you are unintentionally. Yes you do believe in replacement theology, and it is exactly what you said, let me quote you:
"If you want to take it from a Christian perspective, only the Messianic Jews could be classified as Jews according to the above verse because only the Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the Messiah."
That is exactly one of the definitions of replacement theology, to say that a Jew is only Christians. The verses that you quote pretain to "Spiritual Jews", yet you confused the issues of God's promisses to Jews (Physical Israel, Abrahamic Covenant), with spiritual Jews (believers in Messiah). Please make a point of this as you study scripture and find out God's promisses to the Jews in the Abrahamic Covenant.
I'm confusing nothing. What I'm saying is what historical Christianity says. I believe in what the Catholic Church teaches regarding this issue. You see, the Catholic Church does not teach "Replacement Theology". Replacement Theology is the theology which teaches that the New Covenant replaced the Old one. The Church teaches that the membership to Israel has been opened to Gentiles; the Jews who believe in Christ are Israel, the Gentiles who believe in Christ are Israel. The Jews who do not believe in Christ are not, and the Jews have no advantage whatsoever over the Gentiles because of their Jewishness. This is what Christians believed till the 19th century and what the majority still believes today, please keep that in mind. Your interpretation is a new one and represents only a minority of Christians.
And then you go on and say:
"From a Jewish perspective, the Modern State of Israel is definitely NOT a biblical one."
What do you mean by "Jewish prespective"? Are you following a certain Jewish thought and slapping it as evidence that they are correct and The Bible is not? I hope I misunderstood. Israel in The Bible is first brought back in unbelief, and then their redemption comes. We both agree that Israel does not follow the Messiah, I have already written in my book. In Ezekiel 39:23-24 the God of the Bible sums up the story of Israel: "The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them."
By "from a Jewish perspective", I mean that many Rabbis believe that the Jews should not return to Palestine until the Messiah comes, and that the current State of Israel has no Biblical basis. Some of these Rabbis have said:-
Now, can it be more clear? There need to be little or no interpretation for these verses, they speak for themselves. Israel was unfaithful to God, for that they have been paying for 2000 years, they got what they deserved. Israel was their land which God made a covenant with, and a deal is a deal, especially with God. It does not get annulled no matter how long ago it was made. They came back, and God is going to redeem and clean their hearts.
Again, which interpretation? The one which all Christians believed till the 19th century or your barely two century old one?
Also keep in mind that there is not a single reference in The Bible that addresses Israel as Palestine. Palestine does not exsist in The Bible. God wants the name He chose, and that He will do and did, despite the effort of making a State of Palestine. In fact God knows that we will try to divide Israel into two separate states. He even addresses the issue: "I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land." (Joel 3:1-2). God will cause a final world war just for that reason. Yet you hear so little about these verses I mentioned in my book, and I wonder why we have ignored God's words which were written from time immomorial and I ask: For how long?
"Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;" [Joel 3:4] This is one verse which talks about Palestine.
My friend, I have not ignored the verses in your book, but I'm afraid that you're focusing too much on Bible prophecy. I totally believe that the Bible has lots of Prophecies in it, but we should not focus on them, we should focus on God. Interpreting the Bible verses which contain Prophecy isn't an easy task, that's why the Bible teaches us that "no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation [2 Peter 1:20]". Remember that what you're teaching is contrary to what historical Christianity has taught until the 19th century, and is something which only a minority of Christians adhere to. Plus you are writing and talking about your beliefs as though they were indisputable facts which all Christians have to adhere to – they are not.
Brother, a person can change his name, his religion, where he lives, his friends, maybe even his family, but he cannot change who he is. You are an Arab, and that cannot be changed. You should be proud of it.
The Israeli Jews took our land, killed our people and made them homeless. They still continue to abuse our rights. Such people cannot be "God's chosen people". Please brother, wake up!
I know that this seems strange coming from a person much younger than you, and I know that you have suffered and experienced life much more than I have, but I really urge you to think about this carefully so that the Lord may guide you to the truth.
Il-Rab ybarkak (God bless),
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