Our children learn that there are two kinds of people in the world: good people and bad people. Bad people, they learn, must always be defeated. Knights must defeat the dragon, Harry Potter must defeat Voldemort, and Batman must defeat the Joker. Children also learn, however, that good people can do anything in their quest to defeat evil. Knights can steal, Harry Potter can lie, and Batman can kill—as long as it helps good people defeat bad people.

Pastor Tass Saada disagrees.

What makes a terrorist a terrorist, Pastor Saada argues, is not the cause. A person is not a terrorist only because they fight for the wrong side. A person is a terrorist because they use the wrong tools—killing, stealing, lying—to achieve this end.

“The moment you decide to steal, lie, or kill,” Pastor Saada says, “you become a terrorist.”

This is because stealing, lying, and killing are all tools of the devil—not tools of God. The moment we use these tools to achieve our end, we become a terrorist—regardless of how “good” our cause is.

This is a message that Pastor Saada, a former assassin for Yasser Arafat, understands all too well. Pastor Saada readily admits that he was a terrorist in his youth. But, he argues, he was not a terrorist simply because he worked with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Pastor Saada was a terrorist because he chose to fight at all.

“God sculpted each person with his own hands,” Pastor Saada explains. “How can anyone even think of destroying someone that God went to such lengths to create?”

Today, Pastor Saada is a Christian.

Pastor Saada speaks to Christians all over the world about the importance of peaceful solutions. Satan’s tools, he explains, can never accomplish God’s purposes.

“Today, my weapon is not a Kalashnikov or a knife,” Pastor Saada said. He grabbed his Bible and hoisted it into the air.

“Today, this is my weapon.”

And, truly, Pastor Saada’s life is a testimony to Bible’s efficacy as a peaceful solution: