bestcurrentnews Islamization of the West

In Defense of Free Speech

BCN Freedom of Speech GraphicAs details of the terror attack on Pamela Geller’s AFDI’s (American Freedom Defense Initiative) free speech rally in Garland, Texas unfolded this week, pundits on both the left and right of the American political spectrum once again failed to recognize the political agenda of Islamic doctrine and its sharp contrast to other religions. Although Christians are often accused of “forcing” their beliefs on non-believers there is nothing within Christian doctrine requiring non-believers to conform to Christian beliefs. Islam, however, is more than a religion. It is a worldview that insists on controlling the behavior of not only believers but the behavior of non-believers as well, crossing the proverbial line between “church and state” that atheists and others often accuse Christians of crossing.

Many commentators argued that the AFDI should not have held the event because the images offended peaceful Muslims or even our allies in countries such as Egypt or Jordan. These images were not displayed in a public setting where Muslim sensibilities could be damaged, but rather at a private event attended by those that chose and paid to attend. If such portrayals are deemed so offensive by peaceful Muslims that Americans are not allowed to hold private events that portray the prophet, then Muslims such as Omid Safi, director of the Islamic Studies Center at Duke University should also be condemned since Safi admits that he keeps an image of the prophet in his home.

These Western apologists for Islam failed to mention that the ban on art depicting the prophet Muhammad is not universal in the Muslim world. For instance in 2008 the Iranian government commissioned a five-story mural depicting Muhammad on the wall of an apartment building in Tehran. Those criticizing Geller also failed to mention that a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad riding on a horse appeared during the Arab Spring uprisings as street art became part of the revolution in Egypt.

Museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, contain historical depictions of Muhammad. The Museum’s website explains, “These portrayals, while somewhat rare, are not unheard of, as there were (and still are) many different attitudes toward depicting the prophet – and humans in general – in the Islamic world.” In fact, “An image of the Prophet Muhammad at the beginning of a book endows the volume with the highest form of blessing and sanctity. Thus, illustration of him was a common practice, particularly in the eastern regions of the Islamic world.” (Emphasis mine.)

Illustrations of the Prophet Muhammad that did not illicit violent protests and terror attacks are numerous. These images include full depictions of Muhammad, faceless images of Muhammad, European Medieval and Renaissance images of Muhammad by non-Muslims, and modern satirical cartoons of Muhammad. The dangerous Islamist idea that violence is justified whenever they are deeply offended by cartoons or art depicting Muhammad is one that has recently gained momentum as Western journalists and Islamic apologists have voluntarily surrendered to pressure from Islamist groups.

For this reason, AFDI’s decision to display images of the prophet Muhammad should be defended not condemned. Many commentators suggested Pamela Geller provoked the violence since she should have known that there could be a violent reaction to the Draw Muhammad rally. This is the same worldview that blames Western rape victims for provoking Muslim men to violence simply because they are wearing western clothing. What is next? Will those condemning Geller stand in agreement with Islamist extremists such as Shahid Mehdi in Copenhagen who stated that women who did not wear a headscarf were asking to be raped?! How far do we carry such appeasement?

As Christians, we are to strive to show the goodness and grace of our God as opposed to the rigid conformity sharia law requires by Allah. Although we certainly do not appreciate art or cartoons that depict Jesus negatively, we should understand those who portray Him this way simply do not understand our love for our God nor could they possibly understand the relationship we have with Him. We also know their portrayal does not change the love or nature of our God, and despite their ridicule our God’s love for them is unchanged by their actions.

Ultimately our heart is to introduce those who are spiritually trapped in a false religion and destructive worldview to a new way of living, to a new worldview, one that esteems lives and loves all, regardless of faith. This cannot be accomplished unless we in the United States aggressively defend and resolutely guard our right to free speech. Should we surrender to this false narrative that somehow Pamela Geller’s exercise of her freedom of speech incited the two terrorists’ attempt to harm those at the free speech rally then we are truly surrendering to Islamic sharia law through appeasement. We are, in fact, speeding down the slippery slope to Dhimmitude (the second-class status of non-Muslims living in an Islamic state).

The question should not be whether Geller was right or wrong to hold the event. The question for all Americans is “Are we going to stand tall for our right to free speech – even when it is offensive or are we going to give in to the Qur’an’s demands for supremacy over all other religions and governmental systems?” Today Islamists claim drawing a picture is blasphemy. What will we do as Christians when these same Islamists demand that churches no longer declare that Jesus Christ is the Son of God since that too is blasphemy in Islam?

bestcurrentnews Islamization of the West

The Gradual Islamization of the West: Education Part Two: School Takeover

Recently 25 schools in Birmingham, Britain became the focus of multiple investigations when reports of a plot by hardline Islamists to takeover state supported schools came to light. Birmingham, the second largest city in Britain with over one million residents has a Muslim population of approximately 22%. As news of the plot spread, investigators are also looking into new allegations of similar activities in other British cities including Bradford and Manchester.

The concerns stemmed when an undated and anonymous letter detailing a plot called “Operation Trojan Horse” surfaced last year. The letter revealed a plan by a group of organized Muslim teachers, school governors, and others to remove secular head teachers and staff and replace them with individuals who will run the schools according to Islamic principles. The letter claimed responsibility for changing the leadership in four schools, stating, “we have an obligation to our children to fulfill our roles and ensure these schools are run on Islamic principles.”

The letter was sent to the Birmingham City Council in November of 2013, but did not become public until March 2014 when it was leaked to a London-based newspaper. Since the letter has been made public, British authorities have received over 200 complaints from parents, teachers and school leaders about the imposition of strict Islamic practices in the publically funded schools.

An investigation by the Department of Education revealed that one of the schools under investigation, Park View, did practice forced discriminatory gender segregation in many classes with “boys sitting towards the front of the class and girls at the back or around the sides.” The school invited an extremist Islamic speaker, Sheikh Shady al-Suleiman to address an assembly of students. Al-Suleiman “is known to extol…the stoning of homosexuals, anti-Semitic views [and is] sympathetic to al-Qaeda.” The school is also accused of misusing taxpayers’ money to purchase loudspeakers for the playground to call students to Islamic prayers.

The curriculum in some schools was changed to adhere to Islamic values, and in at least one British school Arabic was compulsory for all students. After a non-Muslim head teacher was driven out by “a concerted campaign to remove her and Islamize her school,” Oldknow, holds Muslim prayers every Friday and has organized trips to Mecca at taxpayer expense. Considered un-Islamic, the school’s traditional Christmas tree and pantomime were cancelled in 2013. In addition, a teacher at the school led students in a chant mocking Christians who celebrate the holiday.

Britain is not the only European nation struggling with an attempt by Islamists to take over their publicly funded schools. According to German media reports, fundamental Islamic groups have infiltrated at least 25 schools in Hamburg, Germany. A leaked report to the German newspaper, Bild describes Muslim fundamentalists are “waging a religious war” against non-Muslim teachers and students. Schools are being pressured to set up Muslim prayer rooms, and one school reports that Muslim parents are being pressured by the more fundamentalist Muslims to make sure their daughters are dressing according to Islamic standards. The schools are also reporting students shouting Islamist slogans on school playgrounds and cases of religiously motivated violence.

Bruce Bawer, author of While Europe Slept, wrote, “The most important single element of stealth Islamization is the effort to convert Western schools from centers of secular education into hubs of Islamic indoctrination.” Because many Westerners naively embrace multiculturalism and do not understand the all-encompassing nature of Islam, our schools and ultimately our children are easy targets for the Islamist agenda.

Pray that the truth will continue to be revealed regarding the agenda of fundamental Islam in western nations.

bestcurrentnews Ramadan Prayer

Ramadan 2013 – Day 27 – Closing Western Embassies – Are We Willingly Becoming Dhimmis?

2013 Ramadan PrayerToday U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East are closed as a precautionary measure against a potential terrorist attack by al Qaeda.  General Martin Dempsey of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the “intent is to attack Western, not just U.S. interests,” and in response the British, German, Dutch and French embassies in Yemen are also closed due to the threat.

Rep. Peter King, chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence described the threat as “very specific as to when and it’s also very specific as to the fact that it is going to happen so we have to be on alert everywhere.”

In addition a travel alert was issued by the U.S. State Department on Friday stating that al-Qaeda and its affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks in the Middle East and North Africa between now and the end of August and that travelers should be cautious and register their travel plans.

Although it is certainly a priority of Western governments and in this case, the United States government to want to insure those working in our embassies in the Middle East are safe, closing embassies is a clear example of great nations bowing their knees to Islamic dhimmitude and appeasement. Perhaps most tragic is that this dhimmi state is not being forced upon these governments because Islam has conquered them, these governments are willingly allowing a small group of Islamists to control them.

This is happening for a number of reasons. Western governmental leaders have been unwilling to identify a system that has made quite clear from its inception its intentions to destroy all other civilizations. Western academics have been unwilling to study the actual doctrine and history of Islam. Western media has continually failed to investigate and report truthfully practices, doctrines and discrimination that is part of Islam’s DNA. And to the detriment of all Western society, much of the Western Church has failed to comprehend the nature of Islam, and too often it is perceived as simply being another religion. Statistically four out of five Americans believe Muslims and Christians worship the same god.

Islam, however knows the West very well, and has developed specific strategies for its conquest. As Westerners, and specifically as Christians we know Islam’s advancement must be stopped. The enemy is not the Muslim people – God loves them and Christ died for them, just the same as He did for Christians. They are caught in a system. The enemy is not just al-Qaeda, or Hamas, or Hezbollah – they also are made up of people for whom Christ died.  The enemy is a political system that seeks to dominate and destroy.

Prayer Points:

Ask God to expose and stop any plans of al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization against embassies and other facilities around the world.

Pray that members of these terrorist organizations will have a supernatural encounter with Jesus Christ through dreams and visions.

Intercede for Western leaders, teachers, reporters, pastors and others to be quickened by God and given a desire to learn the truth about Islamic political doctrine, Islamic texts and history.

Pray that Western Christians will begin to seek God to know His plans and strategies for exposing Islam – yet still maintaining a heart of love to reach the people caught in its grasp.

bestcurrentnews Ramadan Prayer

Ramadan 2013 – Day 15 – Ramadan Entertainment – Incitement to Hatred

2013 Ramadan PrayerJust as Christians may enjoy special holiday television shows during the Christmas season, Middle Eastern television produces specials for Muslim families during Ramadan. This year’s family entertainment includes a mini-series called Khaibar produced by a Qatari company. The series refers to the Muslim conquest of the Jews in the Khaibar in 628AD.

MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) revealed a trailer for the series consisting of interviews with several of the actors that gives a sense of the tone of the mini-series. When describing the events the series was portraying, one actor said, “He [Muhammad] allowed them [the Jews] to live there as citizens and extended his hand in cooperation but this was met by treachery and conspiracies. The only language they understood was the language of force.”

Khaibar was a strategic victory for Muhammad. The village was a fertile oasis in the Arabian Desert populated by Jews. When Muhammad conquered the village, the Jewish population living there negotiated surrender. Under the conditions of the surrender the land now belonged to the Muslims, but the Jews could remain and work the land and continue to practice their faith as long as they paid 50% of their harvest to the Muslims. This set the precedent for dhimmitude (lower status) and paying the jizya (protection tax).

The protection of the Jews in Khaibar only lasted about 12 years. In 640AD Umar, the second Muslim caliph (ruler) cleansed the entire region of non-Muslims in order to fulfill Muhammad’s dying wish that “two religions shall not remain together in the peninsula of the Arabs.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) monitors media in the Middle East. The group reports Ramadan television specials are “rife with anti-Semitic themes and expressions of hatred for Israel.” Anti-Semitism is a common theme in Muslim media, but the amount increases during Ramadan when there is an increased audience. ADL director, Abe Foxman sums up the goal of shows like Khaibar, “The uprisings in the Arab and Muslim world have revealed a hunger among much of the Middle East for democracy, accountability and the development of effective civil and pluralistic society…Khaibar and other productions of its ilk represent the old detrimental approach of promoting Muslim societal unity through focusing hatred on Jews and Israel.”

Prayer Points:

Arabs and Muslims are seeking freedom; pray that they will see that true freedom only comes through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Many churches across the West do not realize the root of anti-Semitism in the Middle East began when Jewish tribes in Medina rejected Muhammad’s message. Pray their eyes will be open to truth.

Pray that the love of God will be so overwhelming for Muslims across the world that any hatred they may feel toward Israel or the Jewish people will simply melt away.

bestcurrentnews Ramadan Prayer

Ramadan 2013 – Day 9 – Dhimmitude

2013 Ramadan PrayerMost westerners are familiar with the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In addition to being found in Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31, versions of the golden rule principle are found in almost every other religion. The golden rule does not discriminate  – you are to treat everyone regardless of their sex, race, religion, etc., they way you want to be treated.

Because of Islam’s dual nature, there cannot be a golden rule in Islam. Islamic Dualism is seen in the early Qur’an versus the late Qur’an, in Islam’s internal treatment of issues like women’s rights, but dualism is most obvious in the treatment of kafirs (non-Muslims).

Muslims are to treat other Muslims quite differently than they treat kafirs. For example a Muslim is not to lie to another Muslim. However lying to a kafir in the form of taqiyya and kitman is allowed if it advances the cause of Islam. Taqiyya is saying something that is not true, and kitman is lying by omission. The Qur’an itself advocates deception against non-believers in Sura 3:54 which says that Allah is the best of schemers.

The most obvious double standard for Muslims versus non-Muslims can be found in the concept of Dhimmitude, a term coined by Bat Ye’or, author of Eurabia. The word comes from the Arabic word, “dhimmis” which means protected. Dhimmis are non-Muslims living in an Islamic state. Originally dhimmis were “people of the book” – defined as Jews and Christians but eventually the term came to encompass all non-Muslims.

As the Muslim empire expanded throughout the world, different people groups with their own religions were overtaken. Muhammad granted them “protection” if they would pay a tax. Non-Muslims conquered by Islam have the choice to convert, die or pay the Jizya (tax). Sura 9:29 commands, “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”

This tax collected from non-Muslims in Islamic lands was used to continue to fund jihad and the expansion of the Islamic world. Eventually the Pact of Umar set the legal foundation for how Muslims treated dhimmis. The pact most likely drafted around 717 AD forbade new churches or the repair of churches. It forced Christians to give room and board to Muslims passing through for three days. It forbade Christians from public worship and any evangelism. Christians were to give up their seats if a Muslim wished to sit. They could not display crosses and were not to bear arms.

Often in order to escape the dhimmi status, Christians, Jews and others would simply convert to Islam.

Today western nations are blindly adopting policies that subject westerners to dhimmi status without even realizing it. We will look at specific examples in a future article.

Prayer Points:

Nine out of ten Muslims have never been invited to a Christian home. Pray that God will open doors for Christians to begin to reach out to Muslims in their neighborhoods and communities, and pray that those who are able to reach out will be wise and equipped with the knowledge of the true system of Islam.

Pray that Muslims will begin to see the freedom available for all that is only available through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

There is much persecution today for Christians living in Muslim nations. Pray for strength for these Christians that they will not bow their knee to the false system in order to escape persecution.