Love Thy Prisoner Campaign: Adopt a Jihad Detainee

Uploaded on Jun 22, 2009

Progressives in Boston sign petitions to be pen pals with Guantanamo Bay detainees and put them into their loving homes.

NJO: Title, video and blurb from James O'Keefe's YouTube account VeritasVisuals. It takes place at Boston Pride 2009. The guy with the screwy-up face is Ben Wetmore, the tall guy with the grey cap is of course James O'Keefe, and I believe the guy with the sailor hat and sunglasses is named Anthony Pombal.

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Ben Wetmore
Anthony Pombal

Ben Wetmore posted the video to his blog (mirrored here) on the same day it was uploaded. The comments from the blog post provide insight into the thinking behind the project, so here they are:

Comments:

Convservative Christian said...

Just because someone was picked up and put in Guantanamo, does not mean they are terrorists. As Christ instructs, we are to love even our enemy. As Americans, we ought to especially care for the wrongfully imprisoned, those who have never been given a trial, those who have never been charged, those against whom no evidence has been brought. What do you propose? That we keep them locked up forever and never tried?

September 16, 2009 at 7:35 AM

. said...

Conservative Christian, I think this is where Christianity descends into insanity. I agree to love thy neighbor, and even love thy enemy, but the largest misnomer possible is that you have to 'turn your cheek' to every act of aggression. If that were true, then let a molester violate a child, let a murderer kill your family. Christians can kill with a clear conscience when the cause is just. You can care about someone and understand that there's no room in this world for them. The Christian crusades are the best example of this, and the world would be a better place if Mohammadism had been wiped off the map. The answer short of that is certainly not to let them into your home, and write loving letters to them. The answer is to have a damn spine, a backbone, kill the enemy, hope for the best, and convert those who are able to be converted. Walking into your murderer's sword on some misguided interpretation of Christian pacifism is not noble, it's suicidal. Charles Martel was a great Christian conquerer.

September 29, 2009 at 4:49 PM

Conervative Christian said...

By your response, you still seem to assume that just by being in Guantanamo, you are guilty, even without a trial. Some of these prisoners were just kids when picked up, some of them are Chinese dissidents picked up in the border region between Afghanistan and China, Although China considers them terrorists, that does not mean we, as Americans ought to. Also by your response you seem to assume that everyone killed in the Crusades deserved to die, even the Orthodox Christians mercilessly slaughtered by the Crusaders? Perhaps you should be a bit more thoughtful about who you wipe off the map and not assume that just because your sword has found its way into their gut, they must be guilty. At least you ought to do a little research into who all is being held at Guantanamo before you decide there is no room in the world for them.

October 25, 2009 at 7:46 PM

Ben said...

alright, well let's turn it around, are all the people in Guantanamo innocent? Would you house one who is guilty and released on a technicality? "Christianity" too often gets defined solely by weakness, by this mindlessness which says "help everyone always" and forgets that there are some people who have to be fought, otherwise you turn into a pacifist, a lamb for the slaughter. I don't think that everyone the government locks up is guilty, but I think that those who blindly advocate for shutting down Guantanamo are motivated by self-righteousness and false notions of Christianity rather than reason, forgetting to be as wise as snakes. In fact, I can't condemn you enough without resorting to name-calling. I think your point and your perspective is ridiculous and wrong and self-destructive. You are the intellectual self-immolation of society. And what of Charles Martel? What of the greatest of Christians who saved millions and future billions of souls by having the strength to act in lieu of your philosophical malaise? If only the Viennese had opened their gates to the barbarians and preached love and Christian happiness, surely Suleiman would have laughed and put aside their differences and all would be forgiven.

November 4, 2009 at 1:10 AM