Luke 23:1-19
“The Art of War” by Sun Tzu
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
We Will Not Be Silenced (Erwin Lutzer)
Chapter 8
“Join with Radical Islam to Destroy America”
“We will use the freedoms of the Constitution to destroy the Constitution!
Those were the words on a sign carried by a Muslim demonstrator near Detroit, Michigan.
Why would two ideologies – one radically secular and one radically and oppressively religious – find common ground in the United States? And why are these two groups joining hands in their attacks on basic Judea-Christian values? Radical Islamists and radical secularists are fighting side by side, brought together by a common enemy.
There are radical Islamists who have a burning passion to implement shariah law in the United States and see their flag fly over the White House. These leaders are by no means the majority, but they have disproportionate control and influence. They have the ability to stir up others – oftentimes by deceptive means – and enlist them in their fight against America.
The cofounder of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) said, “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.” In a raid in 2004, the FBI discovered a secret document that revealed the Muslim Brotherhood’s plan to overtake America, called THE PROJECT.
Patrick Poole describes it this way:
“THE PROJECT represents a flexible, multi-phased, long-term approach to the ‘cultural invasion’ of the West. Calling for the utilization of various tactics, ranging from immigration, infiltration, surveillance, propaganda, protest, deception, political legitimacy and terrorism, THE PROJECT has served for more than two decades as the Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘MASTER PLAN’. The Muslim Brotherhood’s plans teach us that ‘the intrusion of Islam will erupt in multiple locations using multiple means. Our danger is that we brush aside this strategy as the ranting of a few radicals, just as Germany initially dismissed the ravings of Adolf Hitler.
As early as the 1950s, Islamists began to realize they had an ally in the radical left. Sayyid Qutb, who was the leading theoretician of the Muslim Brotherhood, wrote the seminal text, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN ISLAM. His agenda was to impose Islamic law throughout the world to liberate humanity and bring about purification and redemption. His view of social justice found common ground with that of the radical left, and this is one reason the latter are anxious to please the Islamists and support rights for Muslims that it denies to Christians.
Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2011 Census giving the total population as 2,786,635, or 4.4% of the total UK population,[2] while more recent Office of National Statistics sources estimated a population of 3,372,966 in 2018 in Great Britain alone.[5] The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom live in England: 2,660,116 (5.0%), 76,737 Muslims live in Scotland (1.45%), 45,950 in Wales (1.50%). London has the greatest population of Muslims in the country.[6][7][8] The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom adhere to Sunni Islam,[9] while smaller numbers are associated with Shia Islam. www.Wikipedia
Islam is the third-largest religion in the United States after Christianity and Judaism. There are a total of 3.45 million Muslims in the United States, according to a 2017 study, comprising about 1.1% of the total US population. American Muslims are one of the most racially diverse religious groups in the US with no majority race, split as 25% black, 24% white, 18% Asian, 18% Arab, 7% mixed race, and 5% Hispanic.
www.worldpopulationreview.com
New Delhi: As many as 12 Muslim Americans have been selected for various positions in the new US administration, led by Joe Biden. The induction of so many Muslim faces is reflective of how the new government is going to function in the upcoming four years.
www.indiaexpress.com
“President Biden’s Cabinet is set to make history in a number of ways.
If all the nominees he has chosen are confirmed, the Cabinet — including the vice president, the heads of 15 executive departments and eight other key positions — will be the most racially and ethnically diverse ever. Among them are six African Americans, four Hispanics, three Asian Americans and one Native American. Half the nominees are women — the most ever nominated for a presidential Cabinet. In terms of their religious backgrounds, the Cabinet nominees are also diverse. Like Biden, the majority — at least eight — are Catholic. But five Jews have also been nominated, two Black Baptists and, if the surgeon general is included (often not), two Hindus. (A handful of Cabinet picks do not appear to identify with any religion.) One group not represented? White evangelicals!!!”
www.Washingonpost.com
We Will Not Be Silenced (Erwin Lutzer)
“If we can pinpoint a time when the radical left joined Islamists to undermine America, it would be after the horrible terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when almost 3000 Americans were killed. The time afterward was one of renewed patriotism among US citizens, but also of critical introspection.
The radical left eagerly accepted the Islamic narrative that this act of terrorism was America’s fault. The terrorists did what oppressed people do – they attacked their enemies. When American flags were being flown in schools, office buildings, and lawns in a show of unity, the left began its assault on the flag, on patriotism, and on America in general.
After a rant about how hateful America was, influential novelist Barbara Kingsolver wrote on op-ed on September 25 (just 14 days after the terror attack0 in which she was critical of US leaders who wanted to track down and punish the perpetrators. She asked, ‘Who are we calling terrorists here?’
To continue:
‘Patriotism threatens free speech with death. It is infuriated by thoughtful hesitation, constructive criticism of our leaders, and pleas for peace. It despises people of foreign birth who’ve spent years learning our culture and contributing their talents to our economy.’
Then she ended with an assault on the flag, saying that ‘the American flag stands for intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism, homophobia, and shoving the Constitution through a paper shredder.’
And so, in the minds of the left, the common enemy was America, not radical Islam. Never mind that Islam allows men to have multiple wives and seeks global supremacy, and that the laws of Saudi Arabia insist that those who convert from Islam to another religion should be executed. The left’s willingness to defend a fundamentalist theocracy that believes in stoning homosexuals, religious supremacism, and the oppression of women (if not violence against them) is surprising. But a common enemy makes the join hands in the fight. The left defends radical Muslims, arguing that they have a good reason to hate us.”
Islamic Worldview – Conclusion
The Islamic worldview began with the birth of Mohammad in 570 AD. By 650 AD, the canon of the Qur’an was established, and significant conquests in the name of Islam were underway, including Mecca, Damascus, Jerusalem, Egypt, and Persia. Today, the Islamic worldview has approximately 1.2 billion followers. Obviously, the Islamic worldview is an important part of any comparative worldview curriculum.
Islamic Theology – Practice
Building upon the central beliefs of Islam (meaning “submission”), a devout Muslim (“one who submits”) is expected to practice the following five (or six) “pillars” of their religion:
The first pillar of Islam is the confession of faith: There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. If a person pronounces this confession with sincerity of mind and heart, then he or she is a Muslim.
The second pillar is prayer. Muslims are expected to engage in prayer five times a day, facing Mecca. On Friday, Muslim men (and, in some cases, women) are expected to meet at a mosque to engage in noon prayer.
The third pillar is fasting during Ramadan. This involves refraining from food, smoking, and sexual relations during daylight hours, though these may be enjoyed after sundown.
The fourth pillar is almsgiving. Muslims are expected to give 2.5 percent of their annual capital to the poor, either directly or through Muslim charitable organizations.
The fifth pillar is pilgrimage. All Muslims are expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime, if their finances and health permit.
Some would add a sixth pillar, that of jihad, which has two facets. First, it is the battle against temptation and sin for the sake of self-control. Second, it is the battle against any and all who oppose Islam.
www.allaboutworldview.com
A Christian worldview, on the other hand, answers the three questions biblically:
1) We are God’s creation, designed to govern the world and fellowship with Him (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:15).
2) We sinned against God and subjected the whole world to a curse (Genesis 3).
3) God Himself has redeemed the world through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:15; Luke 19:10), and will one day restore creation to its former perfect state (Isaiah 65:17-25). A Christian worldview leads us to believe in moral absolutes, miracles, human dignity, and the possibility of redemption.
It is important to remember that a worldview is comprehensive. It affects every area of life, from money to morality, from politics to art. True Christianity is more than a set of ideas to use at church. Christianity as taught in the Bible is itself a worldview. The Bible never distinguishes between a “religious” and a “secular” life; the Christian life is the only life there is. Jesus proclaimed Himself “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) and, in doing so, became our worldview.
www.gotquestions.org
We Will Not Be Silenced
Subtitle: The Deception of Political Correctness
“We Don’t Discriminate”
These words are the rallying cry of leftists who claim to be tolerant. Of course, the reality is that everyone discriminates. Employers discriminate among potential employees; people discriminate as to which church, mosque, or temple they attend (or none of the above). And we all discriminate when we decide who our friends will be and who we take out for dinner over the weekend. Every day and in every way we make choices about people, and each choice is, in some sense, discrimination.
Political correctness divorced from common sense had discouraged people from taking care to wisely discriminate against harmful and dangerous ideologies and influences. The fear of being on the wrong side of discrimination issues drives some people to buckle and make foolish decisions. One of our great faults as a nation is that we don’t know how to properly discriminate; so the fear that we could be accused of discrimination makes even our security services bow to the winds of political correctness.
Because our national security agencies have become paralyzed by multiculturalism and obsessions with diversity, investigations into the extent of the jihad agenda have been hindered. No one wants to appear anti-Muslim, and this has led to serious lapses in national security. In the security report SHARIAH: THE THREAT TO AMERICA, the authors conclude,
‘Multiculturalism, political correctness, misguided notions of tolerance and sheer willful blindness have combined to create an atmosphere of confusion and denial in America about the current threat confronting the nation.’ They concur that the breaches in our security systems are nothing short of criminal.
ISLAMOPHOBIA is a word invented by a Muslim to shame anyone who is critical of Islam, even if the criticism is factually accurate. The same political correctness used to weaken – if not destroy – capitalism is the same political correctness that allows Islam to flourish. Our culture is trading wisdom for mindless acceptance and courage for cowardice.
Thankfully, God has raised up the church for such a time as this.
We must not see Muslims as our enemies, but rather, as people who have been misled by a religion that keeps them in spiritual and cultural bondage.
Martin Luther insisted that the Qur’an be translated into German because he believed that this was the best way to make sure that the Germans would not convert to Islam. Anyone who reads the Qur-an, he contended, would immediately recognize that this book is not from God. We have to be as ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves’ (Matthew 10:16). The church must equip believers to engage followers of Islam, fully understanding their history, believes, and goals.
However, as I stated in my book ‘the church in Babylon’, I must warn against the growing trend for churches to have ‘interfaith dialogues with Muslims.’ From the Muslim’ point of view, the goal of interfaith dialogue is stated by Seyyid Qutb: “The chasm between Islam and the society of unbelievers is great and a bridge is not to be built across so that people on the two sides may mix with each other, BUT ONLY SO THAT PEOPLE OF THE SOCIETY OF UNBELIEVERS MAY COME OVER TO ISLAM.’
From the Muslim prospective, interfaith dialogue doubletalk is acceptable and even necessary. The goal is to present an inviting but false narrative of Islam, making it acceptable to Western audiences and casually committed Christians. Our witness must be coupled with discernment. Frequently, American Christians are so willing to believe the best about others that they are often blind to those who would mislead them. In many quarters, Christians enter interfaith dialogue with Muslims. The rules of engagement are clear: Christians are free to explain what they believe, and then the Muslim leader has an equal turn to explain what Islam believes. Because these dialogues are not given to cross-examination, the Muslim is free to present a version of Islam that is sanitized for an American audience.”
And what happens if we should eventually lose our freedom to radicals?
Sam Solomon was trained in shariah law and taught it for 15 years before he converted to Christianity. When he was visiting here in America, I attended a lecture he gave on what this nation would be like if Islamists were to have their way and shariah law prevailed. His presentation was well-researched and compelling – and frightening. Later that day we met in a dining room, and we talked. I asked him a simple question: “In light of what you have shared, and considering the gains that radical Islam is making in America, what is my responsibility as a pastor of a church?”
He pressed his index finger against my chest and said, “YOUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO REACH YOUR PEOPLE TO BE READY TO DIE AS MARTYRS FOR THEIR FAITH!”
I had never thought of that as a part of my job description. But his words have never left me, and ever since, I have studied martyrdom both from the Bible and church history.”
Luke 17:32-33
Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.