Ohio mosque tour clears up misconceptions about Islam!
By spreading a whole lot of disinformation about Islam (and Christianity).
Read the post at JihadWatch.
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
9/10/07
8/14/07
Fundamentalism
Short Interview: Robert Spencer on Fox & Friends Aug 14 2007
Robert Spencer, of JihadWatch.org, explains (in almost sound-byte form) the difference between moderate Muslims and violent extremists: the moderates are “bad” Muslims, in the sense that they don’t follow what the Qur’an actually teaches. The extremists, on the other hand, actually pay attention to what the Qur’an tells them to do and then do it ― things like engaging in violent “struggle” against those who “threaten” Islam by believing other creeds and killing Christians who “dishonor” Allah by worshipping Jesus.
In much the same way as many liberal Christians have drifted far afield from what the Bible actually teaches, and yet still call themselves Christians, many Muslims have chosen to ignore vast swaths of Islamic teaching and ideology yet still call themselves Muslims. This makes them “bad” Muslims in the sense that they’re unfaithful to the literal teaching of Mohammed and the Qur’an, but “good” Muslims in the sense that they have no interest in killing your children.
Which is a good thing.
The problem is that the extremists can come into a moderate area and tell the people there how they are not following the teachings of the Qur’an and are not being faithful to Allah. And according to the Qur’an, they’re right. It doesn’t take a university-educated professor of Arabic and Islamic theology to see that the literal reading of the Qur’an supports the jihadi ideology, and it seems that an unfortunate number of previously-moderate (i.e., not-very-Qur’an-following) Muslims end up becoming radicalized. Or should I say “literalized.”
Anyway, watch the video, and read more of Spencer’s stuff on the true, literal, fundamentalist nature of Islam. Then help me decide what we’re going to do about it.
Robert Spencer, of JihadWatch.org, explains (in almost sound-byte form) the difference between moderate Muslims and violent extremists: the moderates are “bad” Muslims, in the sense that they don’t follow what the Qur’an actually teaches. The extremists, on the other hand, actually pay attention to what the Qur’an tells them to do and then do it ― things like engaging in violent “struggle” against those who “threaten” Islam by believing other creeds and killing Christians who “dishonor” Allah by worshipping Jesus.
In much the same way as many liberal Christians have drifted far afield from what the Bible actually teaches, and yet still call themselves Christians, many Muslims have chosen to ignore vast swaths of Islamic teaching and ideology yet still call themselves Muslims. This makes them “bad” Muslims in the sense that they’re unfaithful to the literal teaching of Mohammed and the Qur’an, but “good” Muslims in the sense that they have no interest in killing your children.
Which is a good thing.
The problem is that the extremists can come into a moderate area and tell the people there how they are not following the teachings of the Qur’an and are not being faithful to Allah. And according to the Qur’an, they’re right. It doesn’t take a university-educated professor of Arabic and Islamic theology to see that the literal reading of the Qur’an supports the jihadi ideology, and it seems that an unfortunate number of previously-moderate (i.e., not-very-Qur’an-following) Muslims end up becoming radicalized. Or should I say “literalized.”
Anyway, watch the video, and read more of Spencer’s stuff on the true, literal, fundamentalist nature of Islam. Then help me decide what we’re going to do about it.
8/7/07
The Seed of the Church
In 2005, Gene Veith wrote an amazing article in WORLD Magazine entitled Praying for Persecution. In it, he quotes a leader of a Chinese Christian house-church movement who asked that the world, “Stop praying for persecution in China to end.” The house-church leader then added, “It is through persecution that the church has grown.”
Now, in 2007, that growth is being made public to the world. An article today in Asia Times Online, Christianity Finds a Fulcrum in Asia, reports that “Ten thousand Chinese become Christians each day…and 200 million Chinese may comprise the world's largest concentration of Christians by mid-century.”
Ten thousand a day. Amazing. The article, of course, focuses more on the political and demographic changes that this growth brings with it ― including making China a “replacement” for an increasingly secularized and Islamicized Europe ― but the spiritual ramifications are breathtaking. (Democracy would be good, too, no doubt...)
Read this article. Thank God for the spread of his Word, and pray that many more people, of every nation, race, tribe and language, would be taken into the fold of the Good Shepherd.
And, if you’re brave, join that Chinese house-church leader, who said, “We, in fact, are praying that the American church might taste the same persecution so revival would come to the American church like we have seen in China.”
Soli Deo Gloria.
Now, in 2007, that growth is being made public to the world. An article today in Asia Times Online, Christianity Finds a Fulcrum in Asia, reports that “Ten thousand Chinese become Christians each day…and 200 million Chinese may comprise the world's largest concentration of Christians by mid-century.”
Ten thousand a day. Amazing. The article, of course, focuses more on the political and demographic changes that this growth brings with it ― including making China a “replacement” for an increasingly secularized and Islamicized Europe ― but the spiritual ramifications are breathtaking. (Democracy would be good, too, no doubt...)
Read this article. Thank God for the spread of his Word, and pray that many more people, of every nation, race, tribe and language, would be taken into the fold of the Good Shepherd.
And, if you’re brave, join that Chinese house-church leader, who said, “We, in fact, are praying that the American church might taste the same persecution so revival would come to the American church like we have seen in China.”
Soli Deo Gloria.
7/31/07
More On Moral Paralysis
Dennis Hitzeman’s Worldview has some good comments on the same piece I linked to a few days ago. He identifies the root cause of the West’s “moral paralysis” as secular humanism.
He writes:
“As a result [of the moral ambiguity created by secular humanism], even instinctual reactions toward self-defense and self-preservation are undermined by the notion that maybe we are wrong. Because there is no clear definition of what is right and wrong, that lack of definition creates the possibility that those who oppose us, even those who are trying to kill us, might be right. In the end, we fail to act out of the incapacity to make a decision, and we suffer the inevitable consequences of that inability.
“Now, when the West is faced with a clear crisis in the form of a direct attack by fundamentalist Islam on the fundamentals of Western Civilization that has helped fuel 2500 years of virtually unchecked advancement, it no longer possesses the tools that it needs to act clearly and decisively against that threat. That inability to respond places the West in danger of being shaken to its very foundations with consequences far more dire than perhaps it has ever faced.
“There are no easy solutions to the problem that moral paralysis caused by the moral ambiguity of secular humanism has caused; however finding a way to reverse the damage that has been done is paramount to protecting our way of life and our society. The first step must be acknowledging what the problem is, and one can pray that such an acknowledgment leads to a solution before it is too late.”
Check out the rest of his post.
He writes:
“As a result [of the moral ambiguity created by secular humanism], even instinctual reactions toward self-defense and self-preservation are undermined by the notion that maybe we are wrong. Because there is no clear definition of what is right and wrong, that lack of definition creates the possibility that those who oppose us, even those who are trying to kill us, might be right. In the end, we fail to act out of the incapacity to make a decision, and we suffer the inevitable consequences of that inability.
“Now, when the West is faced with a clear crisis in the form of a direct attack by fundamentalist Islam on the fundamentals of Western Civilization that has helped fuel 2500 years of virtually unchecked advancement, it no longer possesses the tools that it needs to act clearly and decisively against that threat. That inability to respond places the West in danger of being shaken to its very foundations with consequences far more dire than perhaps it has ever faced.
“There are no easy solutions to the problem that moral paralysis caused by the moral ambiguity of secular humanism has caused; however finding a way to reverse the damage that has been done is paramount to protecting our way of life and our society. The first step must be acknowledging what the problem is, and one can pray that such an acknowledgment leads to a solution before it is too late.”
Check out the rest of his post.
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