bestcurrentnews 2014 Ramadan Prayer

Contending for the Captives

2014 Ramadan Prayer Day 1On June 16, 2014, Brigitte Gabriel of ACT for America was a panelist for the Heritage Foundation Benghazi Panel Conference. In response to a question posed by a Muslim woman in the audience, she said:

 “There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today. Of course not all of them are radicals. The majority of them are peaceful people. The radicals are estimated to be between 15 to 25% according to all intelligence services around the world. That leaves 75% of them a peaceful people.

 But when you look at 15 to 25% of the world Muslim population, you’re looking at 180 million to 300 million people dedicated to the destruction of western civilization. That is as big as the United States. So why should we worry about the radical 15 to 25%? Because it is the radicals that kill. Because it is the radicals that behead and massacre.

When you look throughout history…most Germans were peaceful yet the Nazis drove the agenda and as a result 60 million people died. – almost 14 million in concentration camps – 6 million were Jews. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

When you look at Russia, most Russians were peaceful as well. Yet the Russians were able to kill 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

When you look at China for example most Chinese were peaceful as well – yet the Chinese were able to kill 70 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

When you look at Japan prior to World War 2, most Japanese were peaceful as well, yet Japan was able to butcher its way across Southeast Asia killing 12 million people mostly killed with bayonets and shovels. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

On September 11 in the United States we had 2.3 million Arab Muslims living in the United States. It took 19 hijackers, 19 radicals to bring America down to its knees, destroy the World Trade Center, attack the Pentagon, and kill almost 3,000 Americans that day. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.”

Although Brigitte Gabriel’s remarks regarding the “peaceful majority” were targeted toward the majority of peaceful Muslims around the world, Christians in the West have also been reduced to an “irrelevant majority” in their nations. Despite reports claiming the West is quickly becoming post-Christian, the majority of the population in western nations still identify themselves as Christians. Yet throughout Western society, political correctness coupled with Islamic demands have stifled and infringed upon western freedoms, especially the right of free speech forcing the Christian majorities into a position of irrelevancy.

Political correctness or “agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people” stifles free speech. Because the fear to offend has become such an offense in the West, dialogue, scholarly Politically Correctexamination of beliefs and absolute truth is extinguished.

Far too often political correctness has convinced even those who may identify themselves as Christians that all religions are the same and all paths lead to God. And to further the misinformation, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are oftentimes lumped together as the three monotheistic, “Abrahamic faiths,” despite the fact that the Islamic version of Abraham’s life is much different from the account in the Bible.

Ultimately this mindset leads to society failing to realize the basic theological differences between Christianity and Islam. A glaring example of this failure was reported this week by the BBC in an article regarding the planned construction of the House of One in Berlin, Germany. The House of One is a building designed to house a synagogue, church and mosque all under the same roof. The building will be built on the site where the first church in Berlin, dating back to the 12th Century once stood.

The teachings of Islam, especially the latter portion of the Qur’an written in Medina, are quite opposite of the teachings contained in the New Testament. Compare teachings such as sura 9:29 which says, “Make war on those who have received the Scriptures [Jews and Christians] but do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day …The Christians and Jews do not follow the religion of truth,” to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:44, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Perhaps the greatest difference between Christianity and Islam is that the teachings in Christianity moved from a religion of strict laws as portrayed in the Old Testament to a religion of peace in the New Testament while Islam moved from a religion of peace in the early passages to a religion of violence in the later passages.

Political correctness and its accompanying fear of offending Muslims restrain westerners from critically examining the teachings of Islam, and speaking out on behalf of the victims of the system of Islam. Many of us have Muslim friends, neighbors and co-workers that are indeed peaceful Muslims, however our relationships should not silence the Christian community.

From violence between Muslim sects such as the current uprisings in Iraq and Syria to human rights abuses against Muslim women within Western nations, the most frequent victims of the system of Islam are the Muslim people themselves although Islam’s totalitarian nature also extends its reach to non-Muslims around the world.

Proverbs implores us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice” (Proverbs 31:8-9). If history has indeed taught us anything it is that in the words of Edmund Burke, ‘the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” As sons and daughters of God, we now walk in the declaration that Jesus made in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God placed each of us on the earth at this time in order to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. As children of God we are seated with Christ in heavenly places and as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God our words and prayers carry great authority in the earth.

How privileged we are to co-labor with Christ who declared in the synagogue, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach he gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Much of the Ramadan series throughout the next thirty days will report “facts” about Islam, its advancement in the West, and its victims, however as we pray we stand on the Truth of God’s Word which always prevails over “facts.” Join with us for the next 30 days as we declare God’s goodness, mercy and love over the Muslim people.

bestcurrentnews Ramadan Prayer

Ramadan 2013 – Day 24 – Indoctrination in the Schools of Western Nations

2013 Ramadan PrayerIndoctrination is defined as “teaching someone to accept doctrines uncritically.” One website described indoctrination as brain washing, and said the term implies long term and subtle methods.

Twelve years have passed since the 9/11-terror attack on the United States by Muslim Jihadists. Since that time not only has the U.S. media and government sterilized the language used when addressing Islamic terrorism, but U.S. students are being taught a sanitized version of history.

A report by Citizens for National Security published in 2011 revealed that many U.S. textbooks teach today’s students that the 9/11 attacks were in response with U.S. foreign policies. In fact, Martin Mawyer, of the Christian Action Network said, “The impression students are given is that terrorists are misguided fighters against Western imperialism and aggression, who are only wrong in their approach.”

Edmund Burke said, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” It is certainly important to teach western students about Islam, but it is vital that students are taught history without bias especially when dealing with Islam and its political doctrine of conquest.

ACT for America reviewed thirty-eight, 6th through 12th grade textbooks and their treatment of Islam. Some of their major findings in various textbooks included that the doctrine of jihad was omitted, incorrectly defined, inaccurately described or understated. Women’s rights were misrepresented. The Islamic slave trade was either omitted altogether or minimized in contrast to the Atlantic slave trade. And the texts gave a false historical narrative of the Crusades leaving out the Islamic aggression in prior centuries.

There was even a revision of history that portrayed Islam as preceding Judaism and Christianity in history, making Muslims the indigenous people of the Holy Land. In addition there was a revisionist view that the nation of Israel was created out of world guilt over the Holocaust, and that the Arabs living in the region were forced to give up their land (even though most of the land was purchased from them).

The bias in textbooks against the nation of Israel is not only in the United States. An English language textbook designed for foreign students and immigrants to the United Kingdom refers to the nation of Israel as “Occupied Palestine” on a map of the Middle Eastern region. A Lebanese media empire controls the textbook’s publisher, Garnet Education.

Parents and grandparents need to be watchful and take the time to know exactly what their children are being taught regarding Islam. After parent complaints in Georgia, a middle school was forced to adjust their curriculum. As part of an assignment for 7th graders regarding school uniforms, a comparison was made between the uniforms and Islamic dress. The curriculum included a letter from a fictitious Saudi Arabian woman describing her Islamic dress, the abuyah and how she felt comfortable wearing it. However the letter goes on to say, “I have seen pictures of women in the West and find their dress to be horribly immodest…Women in the West do not have the protection of the Sharia as we do here. If our marriage has problems, my husband can take another wife rather than divorce me, and I would still be cared for…I feel very fortunate that we have the Sharia.”

Prayer Points:

Education is essential! Pray that school boards, principals, and teachers will become educated to the differences between Islamic sharia law and the freedoms of our western nations – and then teach what is fact and not just what seems “politically correct”.

Pray that children will be educated – and not indoctrinated – in their schools and that parents will insist that revisionist history be exposed and the truth be taught.

Ask God to help Christian parents to be open, receive understanding and become educated regarding the teachings of Islam.  Pray He will give them His grace to teach the truth about Islam and its history to their children and others.

bestcurrentnews Ramadan Prayer

Ramadan Prayer Day 13 – Education: “Islam in our Schools”

“He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” – Adolf Hitler

As children across the nation soon return to the classroom after the summer break, it is an excellent time for parents, grandparents and other loved ones to become aware of what our children are learning. This is especially critical regarding the religion of Islam.

It is certainly valuable in our increasingly global economy to understand the dynamics and culture of other parts of the world and learning about religions as part of that study is an integral part.  As Christians we must insist however that any study of other religions is done in a way to fairly and truthfully educate students and make sure it is indeed education instead of indoctrination.

ACT for America has done an excellent, extensive review of the treatment of Islam in American textbooks. They reviewed and analyzed the treatment of Islam in thirty-eight American textbooks ranging from the 6th to 12th grade level. These are textbooks currently in use in public schools across the nation.

Their findings are alarming and need to be addressed by individual schools, school boards and states across the nation. Overall the amount of information in textbooks about Islam has increased while the amount about Christianity has decreased.

One example of a completely false statement is from the text, World History – Patterns of Interaction. The text says, “Shari’a law requires Muslim leaders to extend religious tolerance to Christians and Jews.” Another text, World Explorer – Medieval Times to Today, says, “Christians and Jews had full religious freedom. They built churches and synagogues, and several were financed by the state. The state did not ask Christians and Jews to perform military service, but it required them to pay a head tax called jizya…”

Both of these statements are false. Shariah law imposes many burdens and restrictions on Christians and Jews. Under shariah law Christians and Jews cannot build new houses of worship or even make repairs to existing ones. They cannot bear arms, ride horses, pray (if the prayer can be heard by a Muslim) or give testimony in Islamic courts. During certain periods of history, Christians and Jews were required to wear clothing or a badge signifying their non-Muslim status.

Unfortunately, American textbooks are full of examples like this. In our society where Christianity is continually attacked for being “intolerant”, children across our nation are being taught inaccurate, and sometimes blatantly misleading information about a religion, which truly is intolerant of other religions. If you have a child in school, take the time and investigate the information regarding Islam in their textbook. ACT for America’s report can be downloaded at this address.

PRAYER FOR EDUCATION

  • Pray that our schools will be used solely for the purpose of education and not indoctrination.
  • Pray that parents around the nation will begin to demand an accurate portrayal of Islam and other religions in our schools.
  • Pray that students across the nation will begin to see that there is a difference between the teachings of the world’s major religions and will be drawn to Truth.