Posted on 01/17/2003 6:11:48 AM PST by chance33_98
Church's sign has Muslims outraged
Florida pastor says criticism of Islam is legal and fair
Associated Press Friday, January 17, 2003
Jacksonville --- The Council on American-Islamic Relations-Florida is calling on state religious leaders to repudiate a Jacksonville Baptist church's roadside sign the group claims is anti-Muslim.
The sign outside the First Conservative Baptist Church in Jacksonville's Mandarin area reads: ''Jesus Forbade Murder. Matthew 26:52. Muhammad Approved Murder. Surah 8:65.''
Altaf Ali, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Florida, said his organization attempted to talk with the Baptist church's officials about the sign, but were rebuffed with belligerent language.
''All Americans must band together to condemn hate speech designed to divide our nation along religious and ethnic lines,'' Ali said. ''Any attempt to marginalize or vilify one religious community is an attack on all people of faith.''
The church's pastor, the Rev. Gene Youngblood, who also leads the Conservative Theological Society and Conservative Christian Academy, said he has been using the marquee-type sign to express the church's opinion for 15 years and has no plans to remove the message.
''First and foremost, are we not entitled to freedom of speech?'' Youngblood said.
Youngblood, who said he is an expert on world religions, said he had been threatened and his property vandalized. He said he has filed 13 police reports since July.
Youngblood said his church would issue a formal statement later.
Iman Zaid Malik, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida, said some Christian friends brought the offensive sign to his attention.
''Misinformation must be rejected by all people of conscience,'' Malik said. ''This shows that the vast majority of Americans reject hate and seek a society where good overcomes the evil.''
Malik said the Quran verse indicates that those who believe and are steadfast in battle will overcome much larger armies. It is not an endorsement of murder, he said.
The verse reads: ''O Prophet [Muhammad]! Inspire the believers to conquer all fear of death when fighting, [so that] if there be twenty of you who are patient in adversity, they might overcome two hundred; and if there be one hundred of you, they might overcome one-thousand of those bent on denying the truth, because they are people who cannot grasp it.''
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the Quran also states, ''whoever murders a person . . . it will be as if he killed all mankind, and whoever saves a life, shall be regarded as if he saved all mankind.''
ON THE WEB: Council on American-Islamic Relations-Florida: www.cair-florida.org
First Conservative Baptist Church: www.conservative.edu/main.htm
Possibly true (though I think the muslims would find a way to "discredit" any criticism), but, you must consider the medium of the message.
This is a sign - not a persuasive essay or speech. It is meant to attract attention and elicit further consideration. It simply cannot contain a lengthy discourse or argumentation.
I believe the sign is successful in that it is attracting attention and eliciting further consideration. This thread is proof of its success.
Right here:
"You shall not murder"
Exodus 20:13
New King James Version
"Fight those who neither believe in Allah nor the Last Day, who do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not embrace the religion of the truth, being among those who have been given the Book (Bible and the Torah), until they pay tribute out of hand and have been humiliated." (Surah 9:29)
In the very texts which incite peace, the Muslim is commanded to "...restrain their hands, take them and kill them wherever you find them." (Surah 4:91) And again,
"...O Prophet, urge the believers to fight. If there are twenty patient men among you, you shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred, they shall overcome a thousand, for they are a nation who do not understand." (Surah 8:65)
You missed the most relevant item; Hodar is from Austin.
Don't you get tired of attacking instead of debating the point? Or are you so intellectually challenged that is the best you can muster. I'm tending to believe the latter.
By the way, genius ... I'm not from Austin, I just live here now. I've lived in South Dakota, Houston, Austin, Arkansas, Nebraska, Seattle, then back to Austin. Moving around where the career leads you tends to do a couple things. More $$$ than staying put, plus it expands your ability to grasp origional ideas.
But what does that have to do with anything?? What's next, comments about my mother? It's almost epected, as that's been the level of your attacks so far.
That is a prohibition against genocide, not an endorsement of it.
I agree, however Christ's teaching were based upon standards set by the Old Testiment. He fulfilled prophesies, and augmented what was in the Old Testiment. That's why the OT and the NT are in the same bible, as opposed to being two entirely different books. God's commandments were not superceded, however the need for blood sacrifices was changed; as well as a great many other requirements of the time. But, the general rules still apply. Hence, the building of the Christian church has a FOUNDATION in the Old Testiment, as the church is built upon them. Our values in society today are derived from Judeo-Christian values, as in the old testiment and the Torah.
Do you have the gift of reading men's minds?
Maybe the pastor was trying to educate people, rather than insult people.
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