Posted on 01/02/2003 3:51:18 AM PST by Michael2001
(AgapePress) - While Southern Baptists mourn the loss of three of their missionaries in yesterday's terrorist attack in Yemen, a key player in the denomination is denouncing the way the national media covers these stories.
The three Southern Baptists who were gunned down by an Islamic terrorist on Monday are just the latest Christians to be targeted by those who hate Christianity and are out to destroy its testimony. In fact, one pro-family leader cites several recent examples of such attacks on Christians, asks why American leaders continue to describe Islam as a "religion of peace" -- then concludes it must be easier to be "politically correct" than it is to tell the truth. [See Commentary by Don Wildmon]
But pastor and well-known Baptist commentator Jerry Falwell is wondering why the national media are ignoring these Islamic attacks on Christians.
He tells Baptist Press that America in general, and Jews and Christians in particular, have more to fear from radical Islam than from Nazism or communism in the past. In just one example, Falwell says more than two million Christians in Sudan have been slaughtered by Islamic terrorist in recent years -- yet the media have not given the story the coverage it deserves.
Falwell says: "If a massacre were being conducted against people of color, God forbid, or groups like gays and lesbians, there would be an understandable outcry that would demand change."
"It is a tragedy," he says, "that Christian lives do not seem to have the same value to the national media."
Outreach Will Continue Meanwhile, a Southern Baptist official says the denomination will continue its work in Muslim nations despite yesterday's shootings of American missionaries at a Baptist hospital in Yemen. Jerry Rankin, who heads the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, says the gunman -- a Yemeni believed to be a Muslim extremist -- hid a rifle inside his coat, and cradled the weapon as if it were a baby.
Shot in the head and killed were 60-year-old William Koehn of Texas, 53-year-old Kathleen Gariety of Wisconsin, and 57-year-old Dr. Martha Myers of Alabama. They had served a combined 62 years in Yemen. A fourth missionary, 49-year-old Donald Caswell of Texas, suffered a severe stomach wound.
A Yemeni woman said the attack "contradicts Islam" and is "a crime unacceptable in any religion." And she said the slain missionaries "treated and saved" more children than she could count.
I repeat:
Christians who do not follow Christ's two commands: "That you love the Father with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself" are either in sin or commiting sin, as there is no violence in these commands. We are also to "go into all the world" and preach the Good News.
You will not find in the New Testament that Christ demands that Christians kill any one.
Human beings sin; God does not. Christ has not told His followers to kill anybody. IF someone mistakenly believes that he/she should kill non-Christians, they sin. They disobey God. Read about Paul (formerly Saul, a "Pharisee of Pharisees") of Tarsus, a former murderer of Christians, who thought he in the right and was doing what God would want him to do--getting rid of "blasphemers." God stopped him dead in his tracks, so to speak. People will do almost anything to justify their wrong behavior and attribute it as right when they are clearly in the wrong. Paul learned this himself and, ironically, became one of the revered and respected Christians.
Muhammed, on the other hand, advocated violence and murder of "people of the book" (e.g., Christians and Jews), and that his followers would be REWARDED in the afterlife for this. Christ, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, God in human form, would have none of His followers do such a thing.
It also says to protect the people of the book, which is mainly what was done.
Sorry...here you fail the truth test. Islam has killed tens of thousands of Christians in the past two decades (please, don't insult us by trotting out the tired excuse of the Crusades; those are ancient history), and caused the displacement of millions more Christians--all in the very recent past.
You are defending that which you know little of.
At some level, perhaps. The First Crusade, wildly successful and bloody, was to Jerusalem. That there were Muslims there didn't enter into the equation particularly, and Islam had settled down by then, for the most part. The Crusaders went to Jerusalem as pilgrims, although some went to carve out some new turf. They also went to the region to help out the Byzantine king with his troubles with Turks. Those Crusaders, once they set up shop, mingled happily with the locals, Muslim or not. Like Alexander before them, they adopted the Eastern style, manners, and dress. The Muslims were somewhat dismayed, but didn't rise up until the later Crusades managed to screw up everything in the region.
He tried that and then wimped out when he felt some heat. - Tom
The Reverend Jerry Falwell, the conservative American Baptist preacher, has apologised for calling the Prophet Mohammed a "terrorist".
His original remarks, broadcast last week on the US television programme 60 Minutes, sparked outrage among many Muslims around the world and set off sectarian riots in India that left at least eight dead.
I intended no disrespect to any sincere, law-abiding Muslim Jerry Falwell
"I sincerely apologise that certain statements of mine made during an interview for CBS's 60 Minutes were hurtful to the feelings of many Muslims," Mr Falwell said in a statement.
? Where and when? Back it up with verses and even current behavior of Muslims. I have never read in the Koran that Muhammed advocates Muslims to protect, admire, or leave alone, the Jews or Christians, rather, they are detested and despised by Muslims because of Muhammed's teachings. So, what one or two possible verses in the Koran can you point to that states what you claim? There are hundreds of verses in the Koran, on the other hand, that speak of violence, most especially directed against Christians and Jews.
O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. [al-Ma'idah 5:51.11]
Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him. Sahih Al-Bukhari (9:57)
Slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush. (Koran 9:5)
Take him and fetter him and expose him to hell fire. (Koran 69:30-37)
I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, Smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger tips of them. (Koran 8:12)
They (the unbelievers) should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides. (Koran 5:33)
"Know that paradise is under the shades of swords." Sahih al-Bukhari Vol 4 p55
About Radical Islam
by Charles A. Morse
Islamic extremists believe that they are commanded by Allah to subdue and kill non-Muslims as a means of achieving world hegemony under Islam. There is no question that the Islamic faith contains seeds of terrorism and sanctions terrorism as a means toward this end. While I am by no means suggesting that all Muslims are strict practitioners of Jihad, or religious war against non-Muslims, this aspect of Islam is what motivates the violence that is being visited upon this country and the non-Islamic world. Islam views the world as divided between the "Dar es Salaam" or the House of Peace, which is Islamic, and the "Dar el-Harb" or the House of War, which is non-Islamic. World peace, according to Islam, is achieved only when the world is subjected to the "Dar es Salaam." In this regard, Islam is no different than utopian Communism and Nazism.
The past 30 years have seen fanatically religious Islamic regimes develop in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and elsewhere. These regimes are committed to Jihad against the non-Islamic world and, in planning religiously motivated military action, they devote much of their resources to obtaining conventional as well as nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. They are radicalizing Islamic populations with extremist religious propaganda and drawing recruits for acts of terror against either moderate Islamic or non-Islamic nations.
A non-Islamic nation who either has an Islamic minority or who share a border with an Islamic nation is susceptible to Jihad. The Islamic Kosovars are attacking Christian Serbia and Macedonia. Islamic Chechnya and Islamic minorities confront Russia and threaten the Chinese province of Sinkiang. They have seized much of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. In moderately Islamic Indonesia they are killing non-Muslims and burning non-Muslim places of worship. They are terrorizing India and parts of sub Saharan Africa. The Sudan, controlled by Islamic extremists, is butchering millions of Christians and animists in their southern sector. Israel and Christian Lebanon are in a war against Islamic extremists who have targeted them for destruction.
Following is a verse from the Quran that instructs Muslims to attack and kill non-Muslims:
"When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters (non-Muslims) wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent (convert) and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. God is forgiving and merciful." Sura 9:5
Following is a verse from the Quran that instructs the Muslim regarding how to view the non-Muslim:
"Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become one of their number. God does not guide the wrongdoers."
Recent writings by Muslims justifying terrorism include "The Quranic Concept of War" by Pakistani Brigadier S.K.Malik where he writes:
"But in Islam war is waged to establish supremacy of the Lord only when every other argument has failed to convince those who reject His Will and work against the every purpose of the creation of mankind it thus becomes necessary to remove the cancerous malformation even if it be by surgical means, in order to save the rest of humanity."
Islamic extremists have penetrated our nation in a Holocaust of fire and death. Holocaust is an apt description because, like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews, the Islamic extremists believe they are fulfilling G-ds command when they kill non-Muslims. America is not opposed to Islam and couldn't care less if a nation practices Islam as a state religion. If the Islamic nation, however, practices Jihad against its non-Islamic neighbor who seeks to live in peace, which is the case today, they are declaring and conducting a war of annihilation. Like the Nazis before them, they must be met on the battlefield with as much force as we; the nations of the "Dar el-Harb," the non-Islamic and moderately Islamic world can muster.
In case you've never heard of Charles Morse:
Charles A. Morse is a nationally syndicated talk show host heard on the American Freedom Network aptly named Boston Radio’s VOICE of REASON — Chuck is known for his incisive, insightful and sometimes controversial analysis of our political and social culture. He is the author of Thunder out of Boston. Listen in Monday thru Friday from 8-10 PM ET on KHNC 1360AM radio in Northern CO — 1370AM radio in Deer Trail, CO — via satellite — and live on the Internet. AFN Radio Call-in Number 800/290-4868, FAX: 800/551-2031. E-Mail 'Chuck' at chuckm@chuckmorse.com.
(1) The Prophet Muhammad urges Muslims to fight in the Cause of Allah:
"O prophet Muhammad urge the believers (Muslims) to fight" (Surat Al-Anfal 8:65).
"Jihad (holy fighting in Allah's cause) is ordained for you" (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:216).
(2) The Koran commands Muslims not to befriend Jews or Christians:
"O ye who believe (Muslims) take not the Jews or the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he among you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them (Surat Al-Maidah 5:51).
(3) The Koran commands Muslims to fight Jews and Christians:
"Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued" (Surah At-Taubah 9:29).
Jizyah is a special high tax to be paid only by Jews or Christians who do not want to renounce their religion and convert to Islam.
(4) The Koran commands Muslims to fight non-Muslims until they exterminate all other religions and Islam would be the only religion in the world:
"And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allah (along)..." (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:193).
Fundamentalists divide the world into two camps, Dar Al-Harb (Camp of war) where Jews and Christians live, and Dar Al-Sallam (Camp of peace) where Muslims live. They believe that Holy War against those who live in the camp of war should continue until they are exterminated. Fundamentalists dream of a global Islamic empire and they believe that if they destroy America and the western countries, that they will achieve this dream.
(5) The Koran declares that Muslims who fight and die in battle are promised forgiveness and a sensual luxurious life in Paradise:
"And if you are killed or die in the Way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than all that they amass (of worldly wealth)" (Surat Al-Imran 3:157).
"Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties for (the price) that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah's cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him" (Surat At-Taubah 9:111).
What can martyrs expect in paradise? The Koran describes life in paradise in the following words:
"Eat and drink with happiness because of what you used to do. They will recline (with ease) on thrones arranged in ranks. And We shall marry them to Hur (fair females) with wide lovely eyes. And We shall provide them with fruit and meat such as they desire" (Surat At-Tur 52:17-20,22).
"Water flowing constantly and fruit in plenty whose supply is not cut off and reclining on couches raised high, verily we have created them (women) of special creation and made them virgins of equal age" (Surat Al-Waqiah 56:31-37).
"Gardens and vineyards and young full-breasted virgins of equal age and a full cup of wine" (Surat An-Naba 78:32-34).
A martyr is guaranteed total forgiveness of his sins and eternal life in paradise where he can drink wine and will be married to a great number of beautiful sensual virgins.
(6) The Koran commands Muslims to terrorize and torture and kill anyone who disobeys Allah and the Prophet Muhammad:
"...I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks and smite over all their fingers and toes. This is because they defied and disobeyed Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad). And whoever defies and disobeys Allah and His Messenger, them verily, Allah is Severe in punishment. This is (the torment), so taste it; and surely, for the disbelievers is the torment of the Fire" (Surat Al-Anfal 8:12-14).
"The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad) and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter" (Surat Al-Maidah 5:33).
(7) The Koran declares that Allah loves those who fight in his cause:
"Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows as if they were solid structures" (Surat As-Saff 61:4).
(8) The Koran commands Muslims to convert non-Muslims to Islam by force:
"Kill the Mushrikun (polytheists, Christian and non-Muslims), wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush. But, if they repent and perform As-salat (public prayer with Muslims) and give Zakat (Islamic alms), then leave their way free. Allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful" (Sarat At-Taubah 9:5).
Well, you asked for it, lol; here's probably one of my final posts to you today. I found this website; after perusing it, I thought you'd find it helpful/interesting: The Koran.
I had the time today to do the researching/posting; my daughter flies in tonight after being gone for the past two weeks, so I'll be leaving for the airport shortly and probably won't be online much, if at all, tomorrow; thought it would be best to do this all this afternoon. You have a good rest of the weekend.
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