Thistle, do you think would they have decapitated him if he was a Muslim American reporter? Particularly a Sunni…? I think its safe to say that he was captured and killed because he was both Catholic AND American.Speculation and also wrong.
A martyr is one who chooses to suffer and die for their FAITH and not because they are American. Nationality has nothing to do with martyrdom. If you die for your country you are a hero but not a martyr.
Foley was killed because the US government rightly refused to pay a ransom and they refused to stop airstrikes on ISIS. That has nothing to do with martyrdom.
Let’s just pray he is with our Lord now and not speculate on a situation we nothing about. Getting emotional and rightly outraged about his brutal murder does not mean that is a cause for sainthood.
Do you think Foley would have been detained and decapitated if he was a Sunni Muslim reporter from Anerica? I dont think so.He’s a martyr to truth?
Wasn’t he killed for political reasons…and because the ransom of 132 million was not paid?
I thought a martyr is one who dies for or is killed because of their religion, non?
Also, a saint has to be involved in a few “miracles” after they have passed away, I think.
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All of us are up for Sainthood.Is James Foley up for sainthood? This martyr to truth prayed the Rosary, which he said during his first, shorter captivity gave him inner freedom. James Foley’s beheading is right out of John’s APOCALYPSE. May God grant us the perseverance of the saints; and may James Foley’s soul rest in peace for all eternity with our Creator; and may Foley, if enjoying Heaven, pray and work for us here on Earth.:hug3:
Not for MartyrsI thought to be a Saint one would also have two miracles attributed to them ? I’m probably way off base.
Actually, ISIS have been killing more Muslims than non-muslims, and yes they have been killing Sunnis so yes I believe he would have been killed if he was a Muslim American reporter.Thistle, do you think would they have decapitated him if he was a Muslim American reporter? Particularly a Sunni…? I think its safe to say that he was captured and killed because he was both Catholic AND American.
If he converted they would not have beheaded him. They would’ve violated the teachings of Islam to have done so, even from a very fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran.I just read in the NY Times, that James Foley converted to Islam , while ISIS had him. That he asked for an English Koran, and that his captors believed his “conversion” was real. This came from some of the other hostage, that were ransomed.
I find this unbelievable, outrageous & unreal!!!
How would we find the truth about this? I can not believe that this is true!!!
God Bless
Thanks, this is helpful. I thought the other journalist beheaded, Stephen Zotloff converted as well.From the New York Times:
*Mr. Foley converted to Islam soon after his capture and adopted the name Abu Hamza, Mr. Bontinck said. (His conversion was confirmed by three other recently released hostages, as well as by his former employer.)
“I recited the Quran with him,” Mr. Bontinck said. “Most people would say, ‘Let’s convert so that we can get better treatment.’ But in his case, I think it was sincere.”
Former hostages said that a majority of the Western prisoners had converted during their difficult captivity. Among them was Mr. Kassig, who adopted the name Abdul-Rahman, according to his family, who learned of his conversion in a letter smuggled out of the prison.
Only a handful of the hostages stayed true to their own faiths, including Mr. Sotloff, then 30, a practicing Jew. On Yom Kippur, he told his guards he was not feeling well and refused his food so he could secretly observe the traditional fast, a witness said.
Those recently released said that most of the foreigners had converted under duress, but that Mr. Foley had been captivated by Islam. When the guards brought an English version of the Quran, those who were just pretending to be Muslims paged through it, one former hostage said. Mr. Foley spent hours engrossed in the text.
His first set of guards, from the Nusra Front, viewed his professed Islamic faith with suspicion. But the second group holding him seemed moved by it. For an extended period, the abuse stopped. Unlike the Syrian prisoners, who were chained to radiators,
Mr. Foley and Mr. Cantlie were able to move freely inside their cell.*
The full article is here: nytimes.com/2014/10/26/world/middleeast/horror-before-the-beheadings-what-isis-hostages-endured-in-syria.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpHedLargeMediaSubhedSum&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Considering multiple hostages who were with him have confirmed this, I don’t have any reason to doubt Mr. Foley converted to Islam. But let’s keep in mind that none of us were there with him. And even if we were, only God knows what was going on in his mind and his heart.
This could have been a genuine conversion, or a spiritual and mental health breakdown from being captured and tortured, again. Only God knows.