'Adopt a terrorist for prayer,' site urges Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is among the people listed on the
website for prayer 'adoption.' February 25th, 2011 06:00 AM ET 'Adopt a terrorist for prayer,' site urges By Katie Glaeser, CNN Could you pray for people who planned bombings, carried out shootings and terrorized civilians? A movement in the U.S. is asking Christians to do just that. At atfp.org, Christians are asked to "adopt a terrorist for prayer." A quote from the Bible on the site urges visitors to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." "Where is the Christian response to terrorism?" the site says. "If the struggle against violence done in the name of Islam is primarily spiritual, then defeating it requires a spiritual response." Adopt a Terrorist For Prayer (ATFP) spokesman Thomas Bruce tells CNN the site's main goals are to teach people how to pray for their enemies and to spiritually reform the terrorists. While the idea of praying for your foes isn't new, Bruce says his team created the site in hopes of transforming the war against terrorists. "We've been fighting this for about 10 years with material means, and it hasn't really changed the nature of it," Bruce says. "By bringing spiritual perspective to it, and as the Lord answers some of those prayers, it could and should hopefully have a profound change on the viciousness of the conflict we're in." The ATFP site lists 165 people available for "adoption," most of whom are designated by the FBI and State Department as terrorists or sponsors of terrorism. Just sign up, scroll through the list and choose which individual you'd like to pledge to transform through prayer. CNN could not verify the authenticity of all the names listed on the ATFP site. Some terrorists have more sponsors than others. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been adopted by 13 people, while Detroit underwear bombing suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab has just eight. All of the people listed have ties to Islam. We ask Bruce why that's the case. He says while he's considered adding Christian or even eco terrorists to the list, they "aren't a big threat to national security, our way of life, or our freedom. We should pray for them too, but the movement doesn't threaten existentially our existence the same way the Islamic terrorists do." Bruce has been intimately involved in the conflicts of the past decade. While he was toying with the idea of the site a few years ago, he was called up as a U.S. military reservist. His passions collided when he was sent to northern Iraq to work for one year as a chaplain. "It's really important to service personnel to do their service for their country without dehumanizing the people who are trying to hurt their country," Bruce says. The perspective Jesus brings, he says, can help soldiers deal with the enemy with dignity and treat them as fellow human beings. And that's the thought that carries over to his work with ATFP. "Even once someone is captured, they might not be a threat nationally any longer but they still have value to God, and we'd still like to see them changed," he says. But ATFP has its critics. Some people say terrorists don't deserve their prayers, and others just mock the idea. "I think the ridicule comes from people who don't believe that spiritual things are valid, and prayer is a valid way to address problems," Bruce says of critics. The former military chaplain says he would like to see groups in other nations start similar initiatives, but that for now he just hopes this movement spreads throughout the United States. "It's not just the terrorists who are in bondage to an evil system. Christians can be in bondage to an evil system, too," he says. "Part of the struggle is to be liberated from that evil system, and that's what we believe Jesus Christ helps us to do." ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
