Posted on 09/02/2008 9:49:47 AM PDT by forkinsocket
A row has broken out after a Christian group organised a day of prayer in Oxford about Muslims during Ramadan.
The Muslim Education Centre of Oxford (Meco) accused Witney-based Open Doors UK of preaching "evangelical propaganda", after the Christian group held a Call to Prayer day in Oxford yesterday.
But Open Doors UK, which held the event at St Aldate's Church, insisted it had been taken out of context, although it "regretted" any offence that had been caused.
A spokesman denied the meeting targeted Muslims, and said its aim was to reduce fear of Islam.
Meco chairman Dr Taj Hargey was invited on BBC Radio Oxford yesterday to talk about the month of Ramadan, and was followed on to Phil Mercer's show by Brother Andrew from Open Doors UK.
Dr Hargey said: "It was only then that I learned they were running a day-long Christian initiative called Call to Prayer.
"I was flabbergasted and straight away looked at their website. The innocent sounding publicity was headlined 'A Call to Prayer', but Open Doors goes on to call Islam an 'ideology'. I was shocked by their theological self-righteousness. They assume the self-appointed task to 'pray for Muslims'.
"They also say that each year there are incredible stories about how God answers these prayers, revealing Himself to Muslims around the world, and bringing many to faith in Jesus."
Dr Hargey also said the event was advertised with an image of a fully veiled woman, but less than one per cent of women in Oxford covered their faces.
He added: "Not only was this evangelical activity ill-conceived and insensitive, it was grossly insulting and inflammatory to Oxford's Muslim inhabitants.
"At Meco our aim is to bring people of all faiths together, not divide them further. Things like this only serve to break people apart."
A joint statement from Open Doors UK and St Aldate's Church said: "Open Doors and St Aldate's very much regret that offence has been taken by Meco at an event designed to encourage church-going Christians to engage positively with Muslims.
"Hundreds of Christians responded to an invitation that had been sent to churches to a series of meetings held in a church aimed at 'reducing fear of Islam, increasing love for Muslims'.
"Thus we would emphasise that it was not a meeting targeted at Muslims. Before the event we emphasised that we were not denigrating Islam or criticising Muslim beliefs.
"At the same time we do believe that having discovered God's love in Jesus and made a choice to become Christians ourselves, everyone has the right to explore religious faiths and make decisions based on their exploration."
Dr Hargey said that while Meco had been offended, it would not hold a grudge.
Maybe this is a tradition that could catch on. A Day of Prayer for the Salvation of Muslims.
Anyone who complains goes right to the top of the prayer list.
FREEDOM OF RELIGION you morons! I can’t believe they think they can take offense that the Christians wanting to pray for them. If they can claim jihad against us, why does it offend them if we pray for them? At least our way is nonviolent!!!! (Sorry. I’m taking a deep breath now.)
And I did read that was in Britain btw. It’ll be here next!!
I disagree. Islam is a cult of death! They can't even be classified as a "religion."
> This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. The author of this email is said to be Dr Emanuel Tanay, a well known and well respected psychiatrist.
> A German’s View on Islam
> A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German peoplewere true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. ‘Very few people were true Nazis,’ he said, ‘but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.’> We are told again and again by ‘experts’ and ‘talking heads’ that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.> The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christianor tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entirecontinent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.> The hard quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the ‘silent majority,’ is cowed and extraneous.> Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.> China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.> The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way acrossSouth East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.> And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were ‘peace loving’?> History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.> Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans,Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.> As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Not for a second do I believe that the problems with Islam are it’s fanatics, the problem with Islam is Islam.
Very good article. Islam is rapidly taking root in America. The town I live close to only has around 20K people living there and they already have a mosque. That is how far it has spread and, our "leaders" are bending over backwards to help Islam spread in America. R.O.P.M.A. ;o)
I think Pastor John Hagee from Cornerstone Church in San Antonio said it best. "The bowels of Hell have opened and demons have spilled out over the Earth." This was in reference to Islam. I have always said that Muslims were posessed by demons. All one has to do is look at the eyes of the terrorists who hijacked the planes on 9/11 to see the vacant "nobody's home" look. It's demonic.
What this really says is that they FEAR Christianity and Christian prayer, because it represents Truth and Power.
They also don't like the contrast between praying for one's enemies vs beheading them.
And don't tell me that they do not proselytize, either.
“I have always said that Muslims were posessed by demons.”
The entire West is possessed by demons for allowing Muslims in its society and destroy it.
I think the Bible says a "veil of delusion has been pulled over their eyes" and that keeps them from seeing and understanding the truth. That's the only way it makes sense to me.
Stop apologizing to Satanist scum.
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