Annual 'Leave Islam Day'? Proposed by European politician

Here is part of his address:

Another thing which we should do is support Muslims who want to leave Islam. An International Women's Day is useless in the Arab world if there is no International Leave Islam Day. I propose the introduction of such a day in which we can honor the courageous men and women who want to leave Islam. Perhaps we can pick a symbolic date for such a day and establish an annual prize for an individual who has turned his back on Islam or an organization which helps people to liberate themselves from Islam. It is very easy to become a Muslim. All one has to do is to pronounce the Shahada, the Islamic creed, which says - I quote "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." It should be equally easy to leave Islam by pronouncing a counter-Shahada, which says "I leave Islam and join humankind."

Well, what do you think? Opinions? I suppose a key question is this: why do (some) Europeans feel like this?

The whole thing is here.

Islam, the natural religion of humanity?

From a fine article 'Luther, Lutheranism, and the Challenge of Islam' by Adam Francisco in Concordia Theological Quarterly (Vol 71, 2007):

This motif that Islam is the aboriginal religion of humanity and history is prominent in the Quran. All the prophets beginning with Adam through Moses unto Jesus, Muslims allege, proclaimed essentially the same message that Muhammad preached. "God sent down to you (step by step), in truth, the Quran, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Torah (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion [the Quran]" (3:3, 9:111). Despite the obvious contradictions, however, Muhammad did not start a new religion, the Quran claims. Instead, he revived the religion of Moses and Jesus, messages had been corrupted (tahrif) by Jews and Christians who purposely altered the biblical text and skewed the message of Moses and esus. Thus, God sent Muhammad to reiterate what truth was left in the Judeo-Christian tradition and to secure the full revelation of God once and for all in the Quran.

In other words, Islam has a tidy way of explaining the historical fact of Christianity while not really allowing for it to have a seat at the table in terms of influencing the future development of Islam.

What do you think?

Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ?

To be honest, that phrase makes very little sense to the average Muslim in the Arab world, which is what I'm used to. Of course, I do get back to the West from time and time and I think it makes very little sense to the average non-evangelical there too. The emphasis on 'personal' means that thi form of Christianity has caved into Western-Cartesian concepts of the self. Very unhealthy.

Here is a bit from the post in question:

But I’m not sure that using the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus” in our witnessing efforts helps us gauge a person’s spiritual life like it used to. Times are changing. I have met and talked with people who assure me that they have a “personal relationship with Jesus,” even though their lives show no evidence of Christ’s indwelling presence. Others tell me they know Jesus personally but have no need for the local church. A few are all about “personal relationships” with key religious figures.

Read it all here, and chime in.

Mission Omission

Tad de Bordenave has started a new blog, Mission Omission. Have known him for years, and he's a great guy and knows his stuff. Do check it out, add it to your blogroll, and your Google Reader, or whatever you use these days.

Mission Omission

Yemeni Jewish Chant

Amazing...has Arabic and Hebrew. And Aramaic...