One Nation....Under Different Gods?

In his role as president of the United States, George W. Bush publicly defended Muslim-Americans while visiting the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. last Monday. Bush strongly condemned the victimization of Arab-Americans that has followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and underscored an Islamic group's reports of a widespread backlash.

At a press conference [last] Monday, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) claimed to have received reports of more than 350 attacks against Arab Americans around the country, ranging from verbal harassment to physical assaults. They also received reports of dozens of mosques firebombed or vandalized.

Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said the FBI had initiated 40 hate crimes investigations involving reported attacks on Arab American citizens and institutions. Among them is the case of a Pakistani Muslim store owner who was shot and killed in Dallas Saturday evening.

Imam Hassan Qazwini, religious leader of Islamic Center of America in Detroit, echoed these concerns, saying, "I know Arab-Americans are loyal citizens to this country, and they are saddened and shocked for what happened to their fellow Americans in New York and Washington. I don't want to see Arabs and Muslims in America being accused or viewed with suspicion."

In his remarks, Bush said, "Both Americans and Muslims ... were just appalled and could not believe what we saw on our TV screens. These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it's important for my fellow Americans to understand that."

Bush added, "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war."

But one leader of a ministry that serves the persecuted church in the Islamic world disagrees. Speaking only under condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivities associated with his position, he explained: "Islam does not mean peace; Islam means submission." Many American Muslims "are in complete ignorance of what their faith really teaches," as some Christians are about theirs.

He pointed to a verse in the Koran that says, "When war becomes inevitable, it must be pursued with vigor, the fighting may take the form of a slaughter, or capture ... or ambush or other stratagems." That is not "peaceful."

Yet this minister also emphasized that Christians should pray God will show Muslims that Jesus is the lamb of God.

This, perhaps, is one of the most troubling aspects of the attack on America ... this undercurrent of "Holy War." Not to mention grappling with the seeming contradictions of Islam. And how do Christians reconcile righteous indignation over the attack with the command to love even their Muslim neighbors? Hate the sin but love the sinners? Certainly, there are no easy answers.

According to The Barnabas Fund, a ministry that serves the suffering church in the Muslim world, Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was a complex character whose attitudes and opinions changed and evolved during his lifetime in response to events around him. It is not surprising, then, to find that Islam is a complex faith, and cannot be pigeon-holed as peaceful or violent or under any simple heading.

"Islam" means "peace" we are often told by Muslim and non-Muslim alike, says The Barnabas Fund News. "Even before Tuesday, some newspapers and TV broadcasts tended to paint a glowing picture of Islam as a religion of peace, modesty, morality, self-discipline and family values, sadly tainted by the violence of a few fundamentalists. Muslim minorities nevertheless continued to complain of Islamophobia, and felt themselves unjustly portrayed in the media as terrorists."

The truth falls not so much in the middle between these two extremes of peace and violence, says The Barnabas Fund News, but manages to embrace both extremes at the same time.

"It is true that many individual Muslims are peace-loving and law-abiding," agrees The Barnabas Fund News. "But it is not true that peace is the main characteristic of Islam. It is not even true that the word 'Islam' means 'peace.' In fact it means 'submission.' Islam as a faith emphasizes submission of Muslims to God and, by a logical extension, the submission of non-Muslims to Muslims."

Joseph P. Gudel, writing in the Winter/Spring 1990 issue of the Christian Research Journal, said, "The Muslim world view does not compartmentalize and dichotomize the various areas of life. It is holistic: its beliefs are incorporated into every area of daily living.

"This is evidenced by the all-encompassing Islamic rules which regulate all aspects of daily life," Gudel continued, "including how one should dress, bathe, eat, and so on. The devout Muslim is called to prayer five times each day, an obligation assiduously obeyed. In sum, no part of the Muslim's daily life is separate from his Islamic beliefs. Even the word 'Muslim' means 'one who submits' (to Allah)."

And what about "Allah?" some may wonder. Isn't that simply another name for God? Lee Strobel interviewed Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias about such questions in his book, "A Case for Faith."

"Some people say that when you strip away everything," Strobel said to Zacharias, "all the world religions are essentially teaching the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of humankind. That would mean all the world's faith systems are equally valid."

According to Strobel, Zacharias shook his head, his face registering dismay. "Only someone who doesn't understand the world religions would claim they basically teach the same thing. Islam ... and Christianity are distinct and mutually exclusive doctrines."

In addressing the charge of "intolerance" when Christians assert that Jesus is the only way to heaven, Zacharias explained, "Muslims also radically claim exclusivity - not just theologically, but linguistically. Muslims believe that the sole, sufficient and consummate miracle of Islam is the Koran."

He added, "I know of no Christianized country where your life is in danger because you are from another faith. But today there are many countries in the world - such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran - where to become a follower of Christ is to put your life and your family at risk."

Christian commentator Cal Thomas noted: "While it is important not to condemn all Muslims because of [the] terrorist attack, it is also crucial to understand the mindset and intentions of those who hate us.

"America's enemies know us better than we know them," Thomas said. "They take their faith in a false god more seriously than we take our faith in the true one. Be careful with what you see and hear."

Jerry Rose, president of Total Living Network, and author of "Deep Faith for Dark Valleys," tries to strike a balance without compromising: "Yes, we need to bring these people to justice, but we do not need to marginalize the rest of the Muslim world," he told Religion Today.

He pointed out that both the terrorist attack and the immediate backlash against Muslim Americans are "unscriptural, illegal and immoral."

Our anger needs to be directed toward those responsible, says Rose, not the people in our neighborhoods who often moved to the United States to get away from the more radical countries.

Regarding Islamic theology, Rose says it is wrong. "But Christ sees Muslims as lost and it is our responsibility as His followers to reach out sensitively without compromising our own faith. We need to remember the church is an organization that exists primarily to take care of nonmembers."

Rose cautions that, above all, Christians should not blame God for this horrendous act of terrorism. "There is sin in the world and sin destroys. We are told in Romans that 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.' If mankind chooses sin, then death will inevitably follow. If we choose His gift, then salvation follows, along with the blessing that comes with following His plan for us."

Brother Andrew of Open Doors said in his book, "For the Love of My Brothers" - "I cannot stress strongly enough my sense of urgency that we reach out to as many Muslim and Arab groups as possible while they are still reachable, because anyone who is reachable is also winnable. We've seen that there is a startling openness to the gospel among some of these people. But unless we go to them now in love and influence them in a Christian direction, the ongoing cycle of violence and revenge will force them to take hard-line, extremist positions. Then they will come to us - the Christian West - in judgment."

This whole problem comes from religeons. If people would just think that God as it is known in Christanity, Judism, and Islam is essentialy the same God. The three books simply give us guidance to conduct our selves in a civil way toward each others. When people get too obsessed with their religeon, and listen to the fanatical teaching of a preacher, they end up typically on a hate path. If I am a preacher in church A, I cannot say that church B is better! So by definition, a preacher must bad mouth the others in order to maintain market share, or better yet increase market share! The world governments must appoint monitors in every place of worship to ensure that preachers do not preach hate. In all religeons, in all countries. Countries that oppose to that must be nuked ! Very soon, the educated public going to come to the realisation that all religeons were in invented by men. The prove is: all religeons favor men over women.

you seemed to be in agreement with the previously posted.... "I know of no Christianized country where your life is in danger because you are from another faith. " I reply that the families of the men who were murdered in this "Christianized country", because they adheared to a different faith might find that statement rings untrue. I realize that the two cases are different, that in one case the policy is governmental and the other not. BUT...reading some of the stuff that has been posted here recently makes me wonder if such a plebasite might pass...

No Jews and Christians do not worship a different God from one another.

Christians believe that God has revealed Himself more fully than the Jews believe Him to have - but Christians believe in Christ precisely because they believe He has fulfilled all the specific prophecies in the Jewish Scripture.

Jews believe that the Messiah of God is yet to come, Christians believe that the Messiah has come. But both believe in the God of the Hebrew Scriptures and in the Messiah's coming.

Muslims believe that there is no Messiah, that almost all the prophecies of the Old Testament were wrong, that the God of the Old Testament went back on His promises and that the Scriptures can be replaced in importance by the ravings of a pedophilic caravan-robber.

I see your point, but it's not a government sanctioned or church sanctioned persecution, which is to what Ravi was referring. The persecutors certainly aren't Christians, nor is the persectution approved of by them. It is simply, though unfortunately, a mania similar to but less intense than that which seized us after Pearl Harbor.

I only wish it were a tiny minority. When in the majority (the moderates plus the fanatics), they do not adopt a Judeo-Christian Constitution, they prefer Islamic Law and they want everyone to obey it including Christians and Jews. The tiny ignorant minority (usually about 50%) gets in the drivers seat and drives the rest around at their whim. We are in for a terrible fight, but every four or five hundred years you have to deal with the group that is locked into the year 700.

"America's enemies know us better than we know them," Thomas said. "They take their faith in a false god more seriously than we take our faith in the true one. Be careful with what you see and hear."

Nevertheless, all the faith in the world will not make a false god real, nor give it the power to help and protect those who foolish commit themselves to serve it.

Even those who believe so much as to give up their lives in suicide attacks, cannot by their commitment alone, save themselves or their own souls from eternal damnation.

On the other hand the true God of the Judeo-Christian religion, rules as God Almighty regardless of how seriously anyone takes Him and doesn't need the faith of anyone to validate His infinite and eternal power and authority.

He will uphold and defend those who believe on Him, no matter how weak their faith, and save them for His own name's sake.

Faith in a false God cannot be compared in anyway to faith in the One and only true God.

Thanks for the ping. Prejudice is poison - corrosive and destructive. Speaking the truth about the crescent and sword - the crescent moon is about sneak attacks at night, the sword speaks for itself. Stop and frisk and interviewing is a problem only to a knothead - whacking with a PR-24 (baton) anyone who looks Middle Eastern is the essence of Un-Americanism. There are people who are using the "fallacy of false choice" - either you oppose profiling or you're a bigot - and they are being dishonest in perilous times. There are legitimate and decent options.

God of the Judeo-Christian religion, rules as God Almighty regardless of how seriously anyone takes Him and doesn't need the faith of anyone to validate His infinite and eternal power and authority.

I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE...NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME..."

Whenever someone brings up the subject that Christians think they have the ONLY answer, my favorite response is to tell them that it's not MY opinion, it's what HE said, so take it up with HIM.

And when an atheist starts the discussion, well, I like to remind them that maybe I don't believe in the law of gravity either but it's funny how my denial doesn't seem to change the facts.

God bless you, LGE

whacking with a PR-24 (baton) anyone who looks Middle Eastern is the essence of Un-Americanism.

And Christians in particular need to be reminded that we are not held individually responsible for some of the horrors that were, in times past, committed in the name of Christianity. Seems most "religions" have their zealots who distort the truth. God says one of the signs to watch for is when people, even the elect, trade the truth (and whole truth) for a lie.

Exactamundo. Christian isn't a synonym for Gentile, either. You can't inherit Christianity - you have to "Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead." You can't do either of those without the help of the Holy Spirit. Pistol Pete Maravich recorded a wonderful testimony - he says in it that "he almost missed Heaven by 18 inches." Head faith doesn't get the job done - only heart faith, and that comes with, and only with, the Holy Spirit touching you.

I agree that many churches are not leading people to God. God asked us not to forsake fellowship with one another. But that is different than "Church." There are different gifts given to people, pastors, teachers, prophets, etc. but those gifts are used for edification, not monopoly. God is not a respecter of persons. Everyone has the same opportunity to know God, all by themselves, if they seek Him---no assistance from anyone else is truely necessary. But people tend to be lazy and would rather hear what someone else has to say, and take it at face value, rather than seek God as to how it applies to them.

So then, maybe the answer is that we all, each one, need to seek God for ourselves by reading His Word for ourselves and trust that He will reveal to us personally His truth. Then we can filter what other humans have to say.

By the way, in a Bible school class, I learned that one sure way to identify a false religion is when someone claims to have a unique relationship or higher authority with God than anyone else. Again, not that people are not given certain gifts that may help people come to God, but that does not elevate them in the sight of God to be "better" or more worthy than anyone else of receiving His love or understanding His truth.

"As a Christian, I'm glad I'm not held accountable for the murders that have been committed in the name of Christianity by those who clearly did not know God!!!!!!!!!!!! "

Change Christian to Muslim and Christainity to Islam...they too will state the same.

My point exactly. Our fight is against terrorists....whoever they may be.

Ugh, are we still grappling with the will of God? What a sad state of affairs that we lack the moral imparitive to understand and do His will. To recognize evil and send it away from us.

Until 6 weeks ago, I lived in Eastern NJ. My children are still there and watched the devastation from their father's window. Yes, we need to grapple with the will of God. Because it is His will that ALL BE SAVED, NONE SHOULD PERISH. Send evil away? How do you define evil. Terrorists or those who are not Christian. My purpose in posting this thread was to encourage a discussion of who the enemy is---Islam or terrorists and what does His Word tell us about those of Islam faith who are not terrorists. What do you believe the will of God is to those who are lost and do not know the "I am." Those, that is, who are not terrorists?

And God has always dealt with His enemies, with few exceptions such as the flood, by using the faith of believers. He likewise uses believers to reach out to non-believers. Hiding behind isolationism with our Bibles is not what God wants us to do. He said "Go out....and preach the gospel." To whom, the saved? Hardly, but those who need to hear it....the unsaved. God deals with "them" through us. That's our job and His will.

I grew up in "Church." Knew all ABOUT Christ for 30 years. Observed all the holidays. Said my prayers like I was singing a song. Then, at the bottom of a pit, finally far enough down to be willing to look up, I MET Christ. He is Lord of my life and now when I pray, I'm talking, really talking, and also finally learning to listen, to my Lord. There is all the difference in life between knowing about Him and knowing Him!!!!!!!!!!!!

God bless you. LGE

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