Posted on 11/16/2001 1:24:38 PM PST by Starmaker
Because we live in such a highly secularized society we cannot believe that America could ever become involved in a religious war in this day and age. Yet ferocious religious wars have been going on all over the place: in Northern Ireland, in Israel, in the Balkans, in the Sudan, and in Russia. But history is a very harsh taskmaster and refuses to let us Americans escape into our secular fantasies and hot houses for long. Thus, it is vitally important for us to reconnect with the human race´s never ending history of religious struggle. That a group of Islamic terrorists, living in a remote war-torn, famine ridden, hell-hole in Asia could organize the kind of mind-boggling attack against America that took place on September 11th, means that America is not only not exempt from history, but has been dragged kicking and screaming back into the middle of it.
Back in 1588, Christopher Marlowe, master of historical drama, wrote his famous Tamburlaine 2. In it there is a fascinating scene in which the Christian King Sigismund of Hungary and Orcanes, the Muslim King of Natolia, both former enemies, decide to establish peace between them in order to join forces to defeat Tamberlaine the Great, the cruel, pagan conqueror of Asia.
Both men confirm their commitment with an oath. King Sigismund vows:
By Him that made the world and sav´d my soul, The Son of God and issue of a maid, Sweet Jesus Christ, I solemnly protest And vow to keep this peace inviolable!
King Orcanes vows:
By sacred Mohamet, the friend of God, Whose holy Alcoran remains with us, Whose Glorious body, when he left the world, Clos´d in a coffin mounted up the air, And hung on stately Mecca´s temple-roof, I swear to keep this truce inviolable!
But as the story goes, it was King Sigismund who later broke the truce and was defeated and killed by the Muslims.
While the history of the struggle between Christians and Muslims for control of Europe was for a time settled after the Muslims were expelled from Spain in 1492, and driven back from the gates of Vienna to Asia and Africa, the Islamic enclaves that remained in the Balkans led to the recent wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. The Serbs had considered themselves as the Christian bulwark against further Islamic incursions in Europe, and therefore could not understand why they were being bombed by fellow Europeans and Americans.
You had to know history to understand what Bosnia and Kosovo were all about. That conflict proved that the war between Christianity and Islam has never ended. Over the ages, it simply took on different forms. The rise of European power put a lid on Islamic ambitions and the Muslim world became the backwater of history until the discovery of oil in the 20th century. But in the 19th century, the Islamic Barbary states of North Africa could still make trouble for the Infidel. They took possession of American and European commercial vessels, held their crews for ransom, and enslaved other Christians. Our first war after independence was fought during the Jefferson administration against the Muslim pirates and kidnappers of Tripolitania, the Barbary War, in which U.S. Marines staged their first invasion of foreign soil. Hence, the Marine anthem: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli."
In order to finally put a stop to the piracy and barbarism coming out of North Africa, France decided to take over Algeria. During the 1830s and 1840s, the French imposed their rule over the territory, encouraging Europeans to settle there. The result was a flourishing French colony and an end to Barbary piracy. France maintained order in North Africa until the end of World War II, when the anti-colonialist movement got underway. Both liberals and communists joined in forcing the European powers to give up their colonies.
In Algeria, however, over a million Europeans had settled in the territory and the coastal departments were considered an integral part of France. However, when Charles de Gaulle gained power at the height of the Algerian uprising, he decided that France should quit Algeria because the Moslems could never become true Frenchmen. And so France abandoned Algeria, and a million Europeans took to the boats. Today, the invasion has been reversed. Five million Muslims, mostly Algerians, live in France. They comprise ten percent of the population and are part of the resurgent Islamic power in Europe. Christianity is now so weak in France that one wonders if it is capable of resisting the assumption of Islamic power.
We have been told by our leaders and the media that we are not at war against the Islamic religion. We are at war against terrorism. But what they all prefer not to recognize is that the spiritual power behind that terrorism, the power that drives otherwise intelligent human beings to undertake suicidal missions against the infidel is the religion of Islam. Of course, there are millions of Muslims who just want to lead normal lives. Unfortunately, after September 11th, nothing is "normal" anymore.
Muhammad married a 6-year-old girl. Jesus did not.
Muhammad owned concubines. Jesus did not.
Muhammad had his enemies executed. Jesus did not.
Muhammad waged war for land and spoils. Jesus did not.
I'm sure others can report more.
and let's hope that we finally have BOTH sides agree to use the SAME set of rules! (Queensbury?)
(thank you Simpson's recording running through my head)
The crowd of people looked away....
Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count." 11 The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. 12 "He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand {will be} against everyone, And everyone's hand {will be} against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers."
This ETERNAL struggle between the children of the promise ( Abraham ) and the illegitimate children is prophesied by this angel in Genesis.
Find the reference to self in the posting to which you're trying to fabricate a response, or withdraw the first sub-irrelevancy.
Dan
They may have been..time will tell.
Mohammed's disciples killed for the faith; Christ's disciples were killed for their faith (Acts 12:2; 2 Tim. 4:7).
Mohammed promoted persecution against the "infidels"; Christ forgave and converted the chief persecutor (1 Tim. 1:13-15).
Mohammed was the taker of life; Christ was the giver of life (John 10:27-28).
Mohammed and his fellow warriors murdered thousands; Christ murdered none but saved many (compare John 12:48).
Mohammed method was COMPULSION; Christ aim was voluntary CONVERSION (Acts 3:19).
Mohammed practiced FORCE; Christ preached FAITH (John 6:29,35).
Mohammed was a WARRIOR; Christ is a DELIVERER (Col. 1:13; 1 Thess.1:10).
Mohammed conquered his enemies with the sword; Christ conquered his enemies with another kind of sword, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Heb. 4:12; Acts 2:37).
Mohammed said to the masses, "Convert or die!"; Christ said, "Believe and live!" (John 6:47; 11:25-26).
Mohammed was swift to shed blood (Rom. 3:15-17); Christ shed His own blood for the salvation of many (Eph. 1:7).
Mohammed preached "Death to the infidels!"; Christ prayed "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
Mohammed declared a holy war (Jihad) against infidels; Christ achieved a holy victory on Calvary's cross (Col. 2:14-15) and His followers share in that victory (John 16:33).
Mohammed constrained people by conquest; Christ constrained people by love (2 Cor. 5:14).
Modern terrorists derive their inspiration from Mohammed and carry out their despicable atrocities in the name of his god; Christians derive their inspiration from the One who said, "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9).
Modern day disciples of Mohammed respond to the terrorist attacks by cheering in the streets; modern day disciples of Christ are deeply grieved at past atrocities carried out by those who were "Christians" in name only (the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, etc.).
Many Muslims are peaceful and peace-loving because they do not strictly follow the teachings of their founder; many Christians are peaceful and peace-loving because they do strictly follow the teachings of their Founder (Rom. 12:17-21).
Mohammed called upon his servants to fight; Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight ... but now is My kingdom not from here" (John 18:36)
Mohammed ordered death to the Jews (see A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press [1975], p. 369); Christ ordered that the gospel be preached "to the Jew first" (Rom. 1:16).
The Koran says, "Fight in the cause of Allah" (Qu'ran 2.244); the Bible says, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood" and "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (Eph. 6:12; 2 Cor. 10:4).
The Koran says, "Fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them" (Qu'ran 9.5); Christ said, "Preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
The Koran says, "I will inspire terror into the hearts of unbelievers" (Qu'ran 8.12); God inspires His terror into the hearts of believers (Isaiah 8:13).
The Koran (Qu'ran) is a terrorist manual which condones fighting, conflict, terror, slaughter, and genocide against those who do not accept Islam; the Bible is a missionary manual to spread the gospel of peace to all the world (Rom. 10:15).
Mohammed's Mission was to conquer the world for Allah; Christ's mission was to conquer sin's penalty and power by substitutionary atonement (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 3:18).
Mohammed considered Christ a good prophet; Christ pronounced Mohammed to be a false prophet (John 10:10; Matt. 24:11).
Mohammed claimed that there was but one God, Allah; Christ claimed that He was God (John 10:30-31; John 8:58-59; John 5:18; John 14:9).
Mohammed's Tomb: OCCUPIED! Christ's tomb: EMPTY!
-George Zeller (10/01)
Muhammand killed a 120-year old Jewish man in his sleep simply for disagreeing with him.
Muhammand allowed his followers to rape the women of a conquered foe.
Islam is pure evil and Muhammand was the world's most successful cult leader.
Grip the concept of objective, transcendent truth and you might begin to have a categorical capacity for having your first meaningful discussion of Christianity.
Dan
Richard the Lion-Hearted and Vlad Tepes were Christian heros fighting to keep the Islamic dragon confined to the desert wastes which spawned it. I recognize our error. We should have allowed the Serbs to wipe out the remnants of this accursed cult in the Balkans when they had the chance.
Anglo-Americans are incapable of understanding the kind of anger and terror which the specter of Islam raises in the minds of the descendants of those warriors of Eastern Europe who faced them.
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