“Let the whole world know that we shall never accept that the tragedy of Andalucia would be repeated in Palestine. We cannot accept that!” (Uncorrected transcript of a translation from Arabic to English of Osama bin Laden's response to the start of military action against the Taliban in Afghanistan.)

“This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader and America’s ally in its war against Islam.” ( Posted on 03/13/2004 in FreeRepublic.com, “History points finger at revenge for lost Moor kingdom” by Isambard Wilkinson.)

What is missing, what needs to be recovered, rescued from the bloody wreckage laying in the Spanish train yard, is the realization that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). For some Islamists, "any land which has once been part of the Muslim community should forever remain under Muslim rule" (Wilkinson). They want Spain back. A Christian Spain is anathema.

As we saw in last week's column (07-20-04), in 325 AD Spain defended Christian orthodoxy; in 711 AD a Christian Spain is invaded by an army crossing the Strait of Gibraltar; in 1492 she spreads the gospel to a new world. What is Spain's role today? Please pray that her new leaders choose not to be "the party elected by Al Qaeda" and that they stand against this new invasion, much more important, please pray that Spaniards rediscover "el Verbo hecho carne" (The Verb (Word) made flesh), the foundation of their faith.