This weekend marked a rare intersection of Easter, Passover, and Ramadan holidays. Although Easter and Passover often fall on the same weekend, they only coincide with Ramadan about once every thirty years.
The intersection of the three holidays has caused a stir in Britain due to the presence of Ramadan lights wishing Muslims a “Happy Ramadan,” while nothing was displayed for Easter. Along with Britons expressing their displeasure on social media, Alex Phillips of TalkTV said, “This (London) is the capital city of the United Kingdom, a Christian country. That is still our state religion, whether you follow it or not – and we’ve got a big Islamic festival being celebrated on the main, most important thoroughfares … it’s insane. [In places like Syria and Afghanistan,] they don’t let us put our Christmas lights up, do they? Christianity makes us the country we are today; it underpins our cultural values. This is insane. It is insulting.”
London is not the only major European city marking Ramadan. In Germany, Frankfort and Cologne put up Ramadan lights, and in Norway, the city of Oslo decorated a central street with crescent moons. In the U.S., Brooklyn, New York, has a 20-block Ramadan display in Bay Ridge, and Nassau Community College hosted the “first ever Muslim Lights Fest on Long Island.”
Perhaps another Briton best summed up this new trend in Western nations when he wrote, “Ramadan lights at Easter. This is cultural displacement.”
PRAYER
It is reported that a past leader made this observation: “When Muslims are the minority they are concerned with minority rights, when they are in the majority there are no minority rights.” Secularism creates a spiritual vacuum that Islam fills in Western nations.
Often leaders in Western nations will compromise because they want to prevent any religious violence and therefore they will permit things taking place by and for Muslims that they would never permit the promotion of it by Jews or Christians. Leaders and citizens need the wisdom of God in decisions they face regarding Islam, rather than responding to the situations with fear.
- Pray for leaders to respond in a Christ-centered way and in the best interest of their nation.
- Pray for Muslims in Western nations to be drawn to sound, Bible-believing churches to hear the gospel’s truth and hunger to know more about Jesus Christ and His love for them.
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