We live in a unique season.  When viewed through the lens of its public statements, Islam has become politically self-confident in the Western world.  At the same time, whether deliberately or pathologically, Islam’s public actions and program display extreme sensitivity even to the point of a persecution complex.  This has made it nearly impossible for Christians and others of good will to discuss the Islamic political program at all without their remarks being interpreted as bigotry.

Now, this should give us no pause; a Christian must speak the truth of the Word of God regardless of the winds of political or cultural fashion.  For example, I hold that no serious believer can possibly be “pro-choice” and maintain a clear Christian conscience on the matter.  We are taught by our faith that we can do nothing against the truth.  We must declare publicly that abortion is a heinous moral evil in spite of the fact that such a statement is not viewed in our society as a religious statement but as a political statement.

We should be able to express, whether as Christians or simply as civic-minded Americans, our concerns over the growth of radical Islam and the dangers of accommodating Islamic Sharia law.  If we are unable to do so, whether because of intimidation or because we are not permitted, then freedom as we have understood it since the Reformation (or even since the Magna Carta) has been completely lost.

Now, about the previous post, I was gently chided by some Christian commenters over my characterization of Operation Save America.  It was suggested that I am swallowing the media’s portrayal of the group.  I may indeed have been mistaken about their work and their motives.  At the very least, I was probably sloppy in my approach to their role in the events and for that I apologize.  I am not opposed to evangelizing Muslims nor to seeking to show them the Christ of Christian Scripture.

Having said that, I remain unconvinced that the way to go about this is to go to mosques and create the appearance (if not the reality) of a protest.

I would ask if OSA preaches outside all houses of worship it deems to be in error?  Given that I haven’t heard anything about it in the news, I assume that OSA supporters are not in the habit of preaching outside of synagogues or Catholic churches in Connecticut.  Yet I presume they hold those theological systems to be erroneous.  I think it’s a fair question.

A Muslim gentleman whom I will leave unnamed thinks I am deeply misinformed and that I believe what I believe about Muslims because of what I see about radical Muslims in the news.

This is a red herring.  I never said whether I had any opinion about Muslim people per se – and indeed I do not other than to say that there are Muslims who are good citizens and there are Muslims who are not good citizens.  However, I do have an opinion about the teachings of Islam.  This is an entirely different matter.  Radical Muslims act as they do because they are enjoined by Islamic teachings and teachers to do so. They are taking the teachings of the Koran at face value.  So, with respect to the gentleman, the only way to allay such concerns is for Muslims to repudiate problematic Koranic teachings such as the one that says that Jews are the sons of apes and pigs.

Again, while not wishing to be unkind in any way to the polite Muslim man who wrote me, we as Christians have no real agreement with Islam.  Despite all the platitudes about worshiping the same God, the nature of the God of Islam is not in any way the same as the nature of the God of Christianity.  In Islam, such cardinal Christian beliefs as the Incarnation of Christ or the Trinity constitute the sin of shirk, an unforgivable sin to them in which the attributes of Allah are shared or given to others.

In Christianity, Christ is preeminent; indeed, He is God in the flesh.  In Islam, Christ is another Muslim prophet, subservient to Muhammad and to the expected Mahdi.  In Muslim belief, Christ will abolish Christianity and bring the world under the sway of Islam.  So how can we be in agreement?

Muslims who have studied their religion surely know this.  They also know that Christians are not afforded equal civil rights in Muslim societies.  The reason for this is Islamic law itself.  By Sharia law, the Muslim’s place in society is given preference over all others.  This has a number of punishing, practical real world effects.  It is better to be a dog in America than a Christian in Pakistan.  Until such things change, please make me no fair speeches about the tolerance of Islam.  All historians and political scientists of East and West know this; it has only been obscured in our time because the Left in the Western world will make common cause with anyone who holds a banner against traditional Christianity.

American democracy, by contrast, gives equal rights to Muslims because of the Christian belief that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.  Western-type societies can only exist when this Christian consensus informs the culture.  Traditionally, there was no opposition to framing the society in those terms, even openly.  So, for example, Mormon Utah was admitted to the Union in 1896 on the condition of banning polygamy and writing that ban into its State Constitution.  This was done because the institutions of the American Republic were Christian in their foundation and polygamy formed no part of the Christian viewpoint.

The American people are not opposed to Muslims; they are opposed to Sharia.  Our ancestors, wiser than we, adopted a Constitution which provides that the Federal Government shall guarantee to each State a republican form of government.  Therefore no form of monarchy or theocratic system such as Islamic Sharia law can be considered properly “American.”

The issue then is not whether Muslims, Buddhists, or Christians are peaceful or whether there are Muslims who are not radical.  The issue is who shall define what constitutes a peaceable life.  American Muslims can go a long way toward helping their own cause by renouncing the application of Sharia law.  Their doing so will speak volumes – as will their failure to do so.  This is not a matter of culture, but a matter of law, equality and humanity.

Here is another coined word, cleverly designed to make those who believe in the U.S. Constitution not only keep quiet about the inroads of radical Islam but feel guilty about not viewing Islam as something on a par with the Loyal Order of Moose.

Today we have the spectacle of Muslim clergy seeking police protection so people can worship unmolested during the month of Ramadan.  Courant writer Susan Campbell takes Operation Save America to task for picketing or harassing a Bridgeport mosque. I do not know why this organization chose to do this and I do not approve of such tactics, as they do not reflect the Spirit of Christ.

But despite the lack of wisdom and perhaps charity on the part of those protestors, the concept of Islamophobia is a fraud and a sham. No sooner does Ramadan begin than we see nearly 2,000 articles on Google News concerning Islamophobia, which points to a high level of complicity and cooperation between Islamists and the left-tilting media. In other words, in case you miss my meaning, Ramadan is being used for PR purposes, plain and simple.

What could be more obvious to any unbiased observer than the fact that Muslims have it, well, pretty good in this country. Just for starters, Muslims here have the ability to vote and have a standard of living they don’t have in the Middle East (except in Israel). I would also hasten to add that Muslims of both sexes have equal rights here.

We are sick and tired of hearing about Islamophobia already. I guarantee that if 9/11 had happened under Democratic icon FDR, Muslims would have been rounded up and interned as were the Japanese. In that less gentle day of 1941, there might have been many private reprisals, too. Yet, despite the horrors of 9/11 there were no Muslims dragged out into the streets and killed, there were no firebombings of mosques, no mass deportations, no declarations of martial law. Apparently someone had to go all the way to Texas just to find 12 people rowdy enough to be willing to yell at a Muslim.

So, is America infected with Islamophobia? I don’t think so.

Because Islamophobia – as Muslims define it – is a myth.

And yet for all that Islam is not to be viewed on a par with the Loyal Order of Moose. With apologies to George W. Bush, Islam does not mean “peace,” it means “submission.” Islamists worldwide are hard at work to replace the US Constitution and the governing systems of other nations in favor of Islamic sharia law.

We do not want this.

We do not want to be told that America is not a Christian nation – but that it is a Muslim nation.

We do not want special Islamic prayer rooms in airports and schools.

We do not want judges to excuse criminal behavior by saying that the perpetrator’s religious belief negates a criminal state of mind.

We do not want to be told we can’t eat certain foods and do certain things which we have always done because it may offend Muslims (pay attention to what is happening in Britain and Holland).

We do not want to be told how much Muslims revere Jesus when in fact the Islamic Jesus, they tell us, is coming to abolish Christianity and convert the world to Islam.

We are tired of hearing Muslims say that Jews are the filthy “sons of apes and pigs.”

Where do we learn these things?

Why, we learn them from reading the Koran and other Muslims writings, just as Susan Campbell tells us to.

And even the disgusting anti-Semitic statements mentioned above are supported by the leading Islamic clergy of today – not the year 700 AD – today!

Should we be “phobic” of such a belief system?

Songwriter and worship leader Adam Cates (bighousechurch.com) will lead a night of worship in Stamford on Friday, August 27th.  Adam’s music invites listeners into the journey of friendship with God and love for humanity. Adam says, “My goal is to fill the earth with the sound of worship that surrounds the throne of God in Heaven so that when He returns to the earth He will feel right at home” (taken from adamcatesmusic.com).

The meeting begins at 6 pm with dinner and fellowship. Location: 115 Mulberry Street, Stamford, CT.

UPDATE (AUGUST 2): To see more and RSVP on Facebook, visit: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133748269988448

Click here for directions to the church.

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Can you help? Check out their site here.

Could this kind of stuff be the reason why people don’t like to watch CNN or MSNBC?

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Pivot Ministries announces its First Annual Block Bash to be held on Jane Street between Hallet and Pembroke Streets in Bridgeport on August 14, 2010. This event was inspired by Pivot’s annual outreach cookout which is held each year to promote unity and to establish Pivot as a resource for anyone seeking help with substance abuse issues.

The goal is to bring public awareness to the dangers of drugs while educating residents that we all play a part on the war on drugs. Bridgeport’s Mayor Bill Finch is expected to be in attendance as well as many other City Officials.

Journey to the Promised Land – Live from Paul Paoli on Vimeo.

“House of Grace” Community Coffee House is hosting Christian musical group The Paul Paoli Band on August 14, 2010 at Grace Baptist Church, 400 Burnt Plains Road, Milford, CT.

Food & fellowship at 6:00 PM; concert at 7:00 PM. Free admission, donations welcomed. For more information call 203-874-8928 or visit www.houseofgracecc.com.

Pleasant Valley Community of Prayer and Praise will host a Miracle Night on July 17th, beginning at 4 PM. The featured speakers are Barbara Lachance and Apsotle LaMonte Odums and Pastor Stacy Odums.