A Baptist School & A 9/11 Terrorist

I checked out a National Geographic documentary on the 9/11 attacks yesterday at the library.  Jennifer and I were watching the first half last night which discussed the lead up to the actual 9/11 attacks.  I found out something I never knew.

The architect of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was a student at Chowan University.  Chowan Univ. is a small Southern Baptist college in Murfreesboro, NC.  One of the world’s worst terrorists came to the US from Kuwait to attend a Christian university.  That is absolutely astonishing. 

The mission statement of Chowan is: To provide a caring environment characterized by Christian values and intellectual freedom in which students can gain the knowledge, skills, creativity, and ethical values they need to flourish in a rapidly changing, culturally diverse global society.  (Emphasis mine.)

Apparently while Mohammed was there, he and a few other Muslim students would gather in their dorm room to pray.  As it is custom, they removed their shoes and left them outside the room.  On a couple of occasions, fellow students of this Christian university stole their shoes and threw them in the campus lake.  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s hatred for America stemmed from this mistreatment.

I am not trying to dog out Chowan Univ. or any of its students.  It is just a sad state of affairs when you consider the outcome of Mohammed’s life.  I am sure a few pairs of stolen shoes did not lead him to organize 9/11.  That kind of conclusion would be inappropriate and misguided.  But apparently, Christian hospitality, kindness, and care was not shown to this young man during his time in the US.

I graduated from a small Christian university in the south.  I studied, ate, and lived with many international students from all over the world.  (One semester I had a Brazilian and Romanian for roommates.)  I hope, and pray, I never mistreated any of them in any way. 

I hope that I had maturity to see them as people created in the image of God and guests in my country.  My hope is that they were shown the love of Christ, not the evils of men, during their time in a Christian institution.

 For more information on Mohammed, see http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/ksm.htm