I AM SPARTACUS. I AM YOU.

This morning CNN is leading with a story of how a group of Muslims saved a group of Christians from an attack by a terror group when they hid the Christians and then told the attackers that they would have to kill everyone or no one.

The Muslim passengers, who were mostly women, told the Islamic militants to kill them all or leave them alone, witnesses said.

The attackers stood down and left.

Strength laced with Love defeated evil.  This is what I am talking about when I share the idea that Freedom must Grow Up.

This is what I mean when I ask you, do you 'want to live'?

The same story played out many decades ago, long held in secret by the man who also stood with strength and love in the face of evil when American Jewish POW's were told to fall out so they could be killed at a concentration camp.

photo credit: Chris Edmonds

You can find this story featured today at CNN 'We are all Jews' about a WWII soldier who stood for life.

To this day, Chris Edmonds said he isn't sure why his father never shared the story.

"I just think, well, he's a humble man. He didn't go around bragging about things, and I just think he thought it was part of his responsibility, his duty, not only as a soldier of the U.S. Army to protect his men but also as a Christian, a man of faith, to do the right thing for his fellow man."

And in the past you've heard me talk about the women in India who took to wearing bright pink sari's and carrying wooden staffs as they escorted girls in town to prevent rape.  After a few beatings, the men stopped attacking.

As we hear the cry's from some that women should be submissive and let the men handle the real battles and the religious leaders who ask their flock to be sheep and press that parade this constant barrage of headlines dividing us by our color, religion, culture, and anything else they can think of....

Who do you want to be in the face of evil?

How will you stand - with strength and love?

Or will you hide.

Either way you may die.  Death of the body is certain.  How and why you die remains your choice.

Do you want to live doesn't mean are you afraid to die.  It means - WHO WILL YOU BE?

Many may not have seen this movie or watched the series, but few have forgotten the cry 'I AM SPARTACUS' by the men surrounding the real Spartacus.

How many hundreds of years later does this idea carry forth and why?

Because in our heart of hearts we want to be brave.  We want to stand strong.  We want to love our fellow man.  We want to be free.

It is hard and scary and could hurt, a lot.

Yet the moment you DO THIS in your own way, you will be free.  You can't kill evil with a gun or a law or a treaty.

Evil ends when you stand with both strength and love - it must be both.

You may need to also do it more than once to free the world.  But you only need to do it once to free your self.

I am Spartacus because, I AM YOU.

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