For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur'an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme. (Qu'ran 9:111)I really don't have time to write a blog right now, with working a 40 hour a week job, writing a commentary on Colossians and teaching it each week in the Home group I lead, and pondering starting a web development company with a friend, as I get ready to start the third section of the foundations class I teach next week. I'm even slipping in developing the audio-visual team at church, training sound personnel, coordinating the purchase and installation of lighting, while trying to plan just how I'm going to get a bunch a talented, but fussy musicians to switch to an in-ear monitor system. No, I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me, nor trying to impress you. I, for one, simply don't understand how God works. I somehow seem to be getting most of these activities done, though not always as quickly as I'd like. Now, I'm adding the study of Islam which I certainly do not have the time for either, but seem to be burdened by God to begin.
Maybe its the near daily news of the religion of peace demonstrating it ruthless brutality all over the world. Maybe its the news that the fastest growing religion in America is Islam, and that American women are flocking to it. Maybe its the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are having trouble with church growth, seemingly having peaked. Or maybe its the disturbing email conversation I had with my brother, an unbeliever, who thinks we – Christians and Muslims – worship the same God. Or, maybe its just God wanting me to inform others. I really am not sure, all I know is I see a collision of worldviews coming in the near future, and a whole lot nearer than any of us really want.
Back in the late 70's and earlier 80's, Hal Lindsey was all the rage. The cold war, black helicopters, the EU as the 10 horned beast, Gog and Magog. I admit, I was sucked into it all for a short time, only to be confused, scared and paralyzed. I got to where I just didn't want to hear anything else about the microchips that would be implanted in my forehead the next year, desperately hoping that the rapture would come next week. Fortunately, I started ignoring it all. I just couldn't buy that Russia would swoop down on Israel. Who knows, that may still happen, but I just don't think so. Once I started studying theology, I realized I wasn't a pretrib, premil kind of guy. Premill yes, pretrib, no, not at all. I read too much history, and I couldn't reconcile the escapist mentality of the pretrib crowd, especially after reading Foxes Book of Martyrs.
But neither am I a post-trib'er. I know the whole preterist system has become fashionable these days – even during the “Left Behind” series, but that just doesn't seem to line up with Scripture or history. I just can't escape Irenaeus' quote in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, or the miss quotes of it by some (not all) Reconstructionist types. (David Chilton, Gary North – are you listening?)
So here I sit reading the news and seeing man's brutality to man in the name of “god” nearly every day, and these old scary Hal Lindsey thoughts creep back in. Oh, don't worry, I'm repressing them quite well. But it leaves me wanting to know more about a so-called religion of peace, where its members attempt to kill as many people as they can in the name of their god. And I, like many Americans, have no idea what Islam is, what it believes, and why they see the need to kill innocent people in every nation on the face of this earth, all to get 40 Virginians ... ah, sorry, that's virgins. By the way, you ever wondered, like me – where do all these virgins come from? I have. And why 40? I mean, sure, every guys dreams of having multiple women swamping him with their affections, until he actually gets them. But, 40? Guys, can you imagine getting 40 'honey-do' lists? A women's wants are different than what a man usually wants – yes, I know, its a shock isn't it. I sure hope you were sitting down. But seriously, my wife exhausts me sometimes with her talking, but I would miss it terribly if she ever stopped. Even so, imagine if you will, 40 women needing to get their 25,000 words out. Now that is a really scary thought ... so let's stop thinking about that, shall we?
I make jest of all of this because everything in Islam is focused on the man. I have heard some of the most vicious condemnations of Christianity by feminists because its “Christianity is all about subjugating women.” Now that's a crock, (and if you take issue with me saying that, I can back that up) but I haven't heard a single feminist group say anything disparaging about Islam. Matter of fact, I almost never hear anyone say anything negative about Islam – you ever wonder why? Maybe the death threats, from the religion of peace? Could be ...
Well, I just got finished reading the book by Robert Spencer called, “the Truth About Muhammad.” (now there are like 50 spellings of Muhammad, so take your pick) Its a book about what Muhammad taught, straight from the Qu'ran, the Haditha, and prominent Islamic scholars throughout history. Its eye-opening to say the least. Most of what you've been hearing about the peaceful Islam is fiction, really bad fiction. A friend at work has already borrowed the book from me, but no worries, I have two other books to help me out. You want some good examples of this focus on the man religion? Look at what Muslim women have to wear. Now compared to some of the really inappropriate clothing some women wear, I can understand the reaction towards modesty, but a burka? Did you know that the Taliban used to pull out the fingernails and toenails of any woman caught wearing fingernail polish? Just showing the love, I guess. How about that a man can marry 4 women. And many women in some of the Taliban type countries have their genitals mutilated, I guess to make sure they won't “want” another man. Yep, I'm feeling the love on that one too. My personal favorite is “honor killing”. If a woman does anything that is perceived as insulting or could be considered insulting to the man, he has the right to “save” his honor, by killing her. That could be his wife, his daughter, his aunt, or his niece. Sweet. I'm sure he was just trying to “honor” her. So, what if a man insults his wife? Or daughter? She's SOL. Suck it up girls; don't be so sensitive. A man also has the right and is taught to “discipline” his wife(s). That gets interpreted as “its OK to beat them.” Here's one last example you're sure to agree with. Some Muslim women are raped, and the insult is that the woman will end up going to jail because she is convicted of being “alone with a man that is not her husband.” Yes, that's right, the woman gets to go to jail for trying to get a man convicted of rape. That's why there aren't a lot of rapes reported in Muslim countries. So much for the modest dress code.
So, I hope you don't mind, but my next series of blogs will be about some of the disturbing aspects of Islam that all of us need to know. Just so you know, I'm not advocating the senseless murder of Muslims, even though 50,000 Christians have been slaughtered in Darfu by the so-called ambassadors of the religion of peace. Fortunately, the Hollywood types haven't found that out yet; once they do, they will quietly stop promoting Darfu as an issue.
True believers know that Christ does not conquer by the sword as Muslims do, but by the Spirit of God, the spirit of truth.
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