From the other side of the fence

Marty’s photo of the day #3652: I took this photo while hiking in the rainforest of Malaysian Borneo. At the time, George W. Bush and the Republicans had led America into attacking Iraq without provocation, and only days earlier U.S. soldiers had ripped down Saddam Hussein’s statue. Back home, right-wingers were all over the media, disparaging Muslims; even saying, “The Bible doesn’t tell Christians to kill nonbelievers, but the Quran tells Muslims to kill nonbelievers!” That, of course, isn’t true.

The Bible is quite specific about killing nonbelievers: “But that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.” (2 Chronicles 15:13)

So I took this photo to show people back in the United States what it looks like from the other side of the fence. I was in a remote rainforest, the only American—the only white person—for many miles. And quite by accident, I hiked into what appeared to be a youth camp. Well, you can see how the people there greeted me!