An expatriate Mormon man, Bill, and his family had moved to Iraq as a high wage earner working for the oil company two years ago. Politics change and ISIS storms the expat compound and captures Bill, his family and several mixed faith American oil co-workers including Muslim believers. ISIS separates the Muslim believers from all the rest.
Bill witnesses several beheadings and tries to comfort those that were shot or had an arm chopped off. He even attempts to use a priesthood blessing powers on his good friends. These friends died anyway even though he blessed them to recover. Bill and his family are praying constantly to Heavenly Father to deliver them from this barbaric group but the heavens are silent. Bill then witnesses his 3 children raped, mutilated and then beheaded simply because they believed in Jesus Christ…and Joseph Smith. His wife is raped before his eyes. She is killed as well.
A few days go by, and more people within the compound are killed, beheaded, and tortured because of their unbelief in Allah. The English speaking ISIS man tells Bill that he will be killed soon. Praise be to Allah.
Finally, bombs drop from the American F-18s. A battle begins and an attack led by the Kurdish forces opposing ISIS creates an opportunity for Bill to escape. ISIS flees in the other direction and Bill runs towards the Kurds fighting force and is liberated. He is taken to the next town and communicates with the oil company. He is then sent back stateside and is in need of some major counseling.
What will Bill think about this experience?
1) God spared me. Thank you Lord. What must I learn from this horrible experience to help better my worship of you? I sure didn’t see it coming in my patriarchal blessing.
2) Isn’t it marvelous that we have eternal families and temples! I love my family and will see them again. Meanwhile, I will do the work for my co-workers that died so they will have the gospel too. Tender mercies of the lord will heal the pain in my soul for my family.
3) Men are evil and Satan has great power over them. Must double my effort in the Lord’s church and if each member does this, the righteousness were grow in the world. Jesus will come and take out Satan.
4) Sometimes the timing for a blessing we really want doesn’t always agree with the Lord’s time. I must ponder this and read the Book of Mormon more to grow closer to the Lord.
5) Hasa Diga Eebowai
6) Muslim God and Heavenly Father really need to talk out their differences and stop killing each other’s believers. Off to the 3 hour church block in the states. Just been called to teach Sunday school to the 7 year olds.
7) Get counseling. Heal the loss with another sealed wife and family. Hold the line. Pray, pay, and Obey and fuck Iraq. No more working outside the United States.
Add your own.
I had a different ISIS related thread I assume was deleted by the moderators because maybe they viewed it as being political.
My hope would be that such a horrific experience could eventually lead Bill to be capable of doing some critical thinking and questioning of religion and the role it plays among cultures of our world.
I would hope that Bill's mythical religious world could change to a world of reality and beauty based on facts and reason. I believe with this mindset change he could find some understanding of what happened to him in Iraq and why, and he could begin to see mythical thinking and religion for what it is, a very dangerous old way of making sense of the world that has been replaced by scientific reasoning, which does offer a way of discovering fact from fiction and offers hope and answers.