Two points for Truth

Well, these two stories may seem to be totally unrelated, but they are.

First, Texas billionaire T Boons Pickens is spending millions of $$$ on what may end up being the largest wind plant in the world. Why is that good for one point for Truth? Because of wha it DOES NOT do, namely shovel money into the coffers of such pacifist countries as Saudi Arabia and Iran. And here's what he says about wind power:

It will be located in [the] central part of the United States, which will be the best from a safety standpoint to be located. You have a wind corridor that goes from Pampa, Texas, to the Canadian border. And it has -- the wind, it's unbelievable that we have not done more with wind. Look at Germany and Spain. They have developed their wind way beyond what we have, and they don't have as much wind as we do. It's not unlike the French have done with their nuclear. They're 80 percent power generated off of nuclear, we're 20 percent.

Second, Andrew Bostom's new book has come out to some very positive reviews. It is called The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism. Here is a section of one review:

...this amazingly prolific writer has completed [a] collection of sources, Islamic and others, which testify to the long and sorry history of anti-Semitism in Islam. This too had never been undertaken before on such a scale, mainly due to the constrictions of political correctness that posited that Islam, unlike Christianity, had not entertained a systematic persecution of the Jews.

This apologetic for Islam has now been shattered by Andrew Bostom, who painstakingly but thoughtfully collected and collated this documentation that would have been a stunning and innovative undertaking for any scholar of Islam to pursue, let alone for a professional in medicine whose research on Islam has been merely a secondary career.

Two points for truth.

Mark Gabriel: Islam, a river of blood

Islam is full of discrimination-against women, against non-Muslims, against Christians and most especially against Jews. Hatred is built into the religion. The history of Islam, which was my special area of study, could only be characterized as a river of blood.

Mark Gabriel, former Muslim, former professor of Islamics at al Azhar University

Islamic body seeks new role to fight "Islamophobia"

Islamic body seeks new role to fight "Islamophobia"

DAKAR (Reuters) - Facing "Islamophobia" in the West, the world's biggest Islamic body is seeking to rebrand itself this week as a forum for settling conflicts peacefully and for redistributing wealth to the world's poorest states.

At a summit on Thursday and Friday in Senegal, the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will seek to agree on a modern charter that will give it a more active, influential role as the voice of Islam in a globalised world. [...]

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu called for a concerted effort by the group to promote dialogue and mutual respect with the non-Muslim world to fight hatred and bigotry.

"Combating Islamophobia is and will continue to be one of the biggest challenges faced by the Muslim World," he told OIC foreign ministers meeting in Dakar.

With its members spanning the Middle East, Africa and Asia, differences of race, language and history, and even religious observance, have often prevented the world Islamic community -- known as the Ummah -- from acting as a unified, cohesive force. [...]

Hating Islam but not hating Muslims?

A politician recently said that he hates Islam, but does not hate Muslims. But this article from Arab News, which is overall well-written if not logically rigorous, is a rejoinder to that. I give you the last section, and ask for your opinion:

Is it possible to hate Islam while not hating Muslims? Or is Islam such a deep and profound element of Muslims' identity that the Muslim and his faith are the same thing?

But the Dutch politician was careful with his words. He did not say he hated Muslims, he said he hated Islam. In his view, he is merely criticizing an ideology, not attacking a people. But when I read his words I felt personally attacked. He is not criticizing my religion; he is expressing hate in the set of beliefs that makes me a Muslim. He is very clearly expressing hatred for Muslims and his affirming the contrary only makes it all the more offensive to Muslims. His words not only offend me but more importantly threaten me. I accept being offended. I do not accept being hated for what I believe in.

Another French Intifada

Well, read it for yourself, it's hard to believe. I guess it's not actually. Oh, and almost all of those "immigrant youth" are Muslims. But it wouldn't be PC for the press to actually report the truth, now would it? This is from the Brussels Journal, which is a good news source for Europe:

[Near Paris] in Villiers-le-Bel, two joyriding immigrant youths of 15 and 16 years old, drove their stolen motorcycle at maximum speed into a passing police vehicle. They died on the spot.

According to the police the teenagers ignored traffic rules and crashed into the police vehicle. The motorbike they were riding was unregistered and thus not authorized for use on French roads. Neither of the boys were wearing a helmet as required by law. The relatives and friends of the youths, however, blame the two officers in the vehicle for the death of the boys. They claim the officers had left the scene as fast as they could. The public prosecutor has opened an inquiry to probe whether the officers failed to help the teenagers and whether manslaughter charges should be filed. The officers had called rescue services to the scene, but policemen and medics who arrived at the scene where attacked by youths and fled.

Yesterday night, in a second consecutive night of violence, youths attacked police officers and firemen in Villiers-le-Bel and in nearby Sarcelles and Garges-les-Gonesses. In last night’s riots 77 officers got wounded, five of them seriously, including one officer whose shoulder was pierced by a bullet from a shotgun, and 63 cars, a book shop, two schools, a bank and a supermarket were set alight.

Israel as a Jewish State

In advance of the Annapolis conference, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced the other day that he expects the Palestinian Authority to finally acknowledge Israel's existence as a Jewish state. If the more than 55 countries that make up the Organization of the Islamic Conference are entitled to recognition as Muslim states, and if the 22 members of the Arab League are universally accepted as Arab states, why should anyone balk at acknowledging Israel as the world's lone Jewish state? Yet Saeb Erekat, senior Palestinian Authority negotiator, said on Monday that Palestinians would refuse to recognize Israel's Jewish identity because "it is not acceptable for a country to link its national character to a specific religion." ... The flag of Saudi Arabia features the shahada -- the Islamic declaration of faith; the Islamic phrase Allahu Akbar (Allah is great") appears 22 times on the Iranian flag. And then there is Erekat's own Palestinian Authority, whose Basic Law provides in Article 4 that "Islam is the official religion in Palestine."

From HERE.

How Islamophobia Promotes Islam

From the blog (Not Much) of one of our readers:

...

In the very early days of Islam, when there were less than 20 Muslims in the world a very smart man who hated Islam called "abu-Jahil" in Mecca warned people not to listen to Muslims nor to ask them about Islam, his actions guided many people to Islam and despite him knowing this he could not stop himself thus promoting Islam. This is not a secret it is part of the history of Islam, it is how Islamophobes have been spreading Islam since it started.


Up until the 50s an anti-Islamic book would receive as little attention as a pro-Islamic book for only a few religious scholars cared to read them. The media changed all that and have made Islam a topic of conversation around the world for decades. You can hear the word Islam in hundreds of ways each day, Fox News, for one, has millions of readers listeners and viewers - each one hears the words Islam 100s or even 100s of times a day. I do not like what Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Rilly say about Islam, but love seeing the positive effects their words have in guiding some of their listeners towards Islam or at least a better understanding of Islam, the rest of their listeners learn to hate Islam and Muslims but that is not news to anyone.


Robert Spencer wrote an anti-Islamic books that I now see being heavily promoted, from the title I gather that he thinks that Islam is not a religion of peace. It came out soon after the number Innocent Iraqis slaughtered passed the one million mark and is going higher fast - he might not care what is happening to the people of Iraq but many who read his books do and they ask questions that his books do not answer for them. Soon another writer will write another Islamophobic book, and another anti-Islamic movie will come out - they all spread Islam in the long run. I think it is because people are getting tired of all the lies. I really hope to see Mr. Spencer write dozens of best sellers about Islam - they do spread Islam much faster than any Muslim I know can....

Abu Daoud says: There is more, but that is about 1/2 of the entire post. Let me sum up what I think the main point of the post is though, and feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong: that in Allah's providence even when people hear negative things about Islam, this makes them want to learn more about it, and as they learn more about it, they become convinced of its truth. Thus "islamophobia" (an absurd word, IMHO) spreads Islam in the end.

But I could answer that in a fair fight, if Islamic governments would not persecute converts to Christianity, and if the Bible was made available freely in Dar al Islam, and if the church could welcome in new converts in those countries, that Christianity would win, hands down.

But the fight is not fair. Christians, because of the teachings of our Lord Jesus, resist coercion in the name of religion. Islam, because it was the example of al insaan al kaamil (Muhammad, the perfect man), use coercion all the time. Why else do you think that NO country in the Muslim Middle East actually has genuine freedom of religion, the press, assembly, speech, or anything else?

I agree that there are people who hear about Islam, find something attractive in it, an then become Muslim--I just met one yesterday actually, though he later left Islam. But if the rules were fair then the Gospel would attract thousands more than the message of Muhammad every could. Do you doubt me? Let's try it: allow Muslims to leave Islam. Make irtidaad (apostasy) legal.

Civil War Starts in Gaza

I think civil war is not too strong a term for what is going on now:

From the Jerusalem Post:

At least 25 Palestinians were killed and 80 were wounded as Hamas fighters overran two of Fatah's most important security installations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen from the building and shot them to death gangland-style in the street in front of their families.

The headquarters of the General Security Service, commanded by Ramallah-based General Tawfik Tirawi, fell to Hamas gunmen. Hamas said documents it found there prove that the Fatah-affiliated security apparatus has close ties with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Hamas said it would show the documents on television in the coming hours.

Elsewhere, the capture of the Preventive Security headquarters was a major step forward in Hamas's attempts to complete its takeover of all of Gaza. Hamas followed up that victory by demanding Fatah surrender another key security installation.

And from IHT:

Thursday's assaults on Fatah put Hamas close to full control of Gaza. Only the presidential compound of Abbas and the Suraya headquarters of the National Security Forces, the Palestinian army, remained under Fatah's control. But Hamas had surrounded Al Suraya, calling on the occupants to surrender, and the compound was under attack Thursday.

Abbas came under pressure from within Fatah and from some of his other allies to suspend participation in the so-called unity government with Hamas, which began in March, and to declare a state of emergency.

Three Martyrs in Turkey

Just received this e-mail from a pastor in Turkey (a former Muslim actually). Tertullian said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

I think of people like Saint Polycarp who praised God at his martyrdom, that he had been deemed worthy by God's grace to die for the sake of the Gospel.

I think of Saint Peter who told the Romans to crucify him upside down,
since he was not worthy to die in the same fashion as his Lord.

I think of the Holy Innocents who died though they did not know their right hand from their left.

I think of Saint Ahmad (an Orthodox saint), a Turk who bought a Christian slave woman at the market. Over time he was so taken by her compassion and serenity that
he asked her how she, a slave, had obtained what he, a powerful Ottoman
ruler, did not have. She told him. He accepted the Gospel and believed
in the Lord. He told his superior who applied Ottoman law which said
that Muslim apostates must die, and so he died.

Here is his e-mail:

Urgent..

This afternoon in Malatya, Turkey five or six young
people killed 3 Christian brothers. These brothers
were working in a Christian publishing company where
we also get New Testaments and Christian books and CD
etc. They were evangelising in Malatya and the
surrounding area. They first bound their hands and
feet and then knifed them. They cut their throats and
knifed them many times. Two of them were Turkish and
one brother was German.

Please pray for their families. Today and tomorrow
morning many Christians are going to Malatya. We think
funerals will be held in Istanbul or Izmir.

We will let you know more when we hear any news.

They will be welcomed to the feast of the lamb by angels and archangels and
all the company of heaven. Let all mortal flesh remain silent. We were not worthy of them when they were alive, and they are a crown for us, the glory of the Church.

Easter Sermon from Bp. Mouneer Anis

He is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Egypt, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. There is a dearth of good leadership in the Christian community in this region, but he is, in my view, one of the few excellent leaders among the Protestant/evangelical community. From Here.

Resurrection of Christ frees us from hatred

Today as we remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I would like to meditate on the words of Apostle Paul to the church in Rome;

‘For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his’ Romans 6:5

These words are very difficult to understand. How can we unite with Christ in a death like his and how we can we unite with Him in his resurrection?

We learn from the history of ancient Egypt that when a Noble of the first Dynasty died, all of his slaves would be killed and buried with him so that they can serve him in his second life. Later on, this harsh custom stopped and the Ancient Egyptians were content to put small clay figures that represent the slaves in the grave where the Noble was buried. In addition they put the tools he used to use in his first life in the grave so that when he rose from the dead, he would use them in his second life.

That is difficult to accept and to practice as it is hard to believe that life after death will be exactly the same as life before. The Scripture teaches us that the concept of resurrection is different from that believed by the Ancient Egyptians. When we rise from the dead we rise in spiritual bodies that is different from our earthly ones. ‘It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body’ 1 Corinthians 15:44. ‘Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.’ 1 Corinthians 15:49. This is what Paul meant when he wrote the earlier verses that I mentioned above.

Paul then added ‘We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Romans 6:6-8

Here we understand that when we believe that Christ died for our sins on the cross and accept him Saviour and Redeemer for our lives, then our whole self with its sinful nature, would not control us. He gives us then, a new life and a new nature when the Holy Spirit indwells in us by faith.

One of the stories I heard, when the ship sank in the Red Sea last year, was of a father who carried his son on his back and swam until he was able to save him by throwing him into a life boat. After that the father himself sank to the bottom of the sea as he lost all his energy to hold on to the boat. The father drowned to save his son from death. The motive here was the love of the father for his son. If humans can love to that extent, how much more the love of God would be for his children?

The love of God in Jesus Christ moves us from death to life as John in his gospel wrote’ ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16. We may ask how Christ can give us eternal life and a new nature? How can he transfer us from death to life? I think the secret here is in the power of his resurrection. The power by which he overcomes death and has ascended to his heavenly glory once again.

Paul was longing to experience this power of resurrection when he said ‘that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death’ Philippians 3:10. Does this longing of Paul “that he may know him and the power of his resurrection’ is ours today. As we celebrate Easter, I hope that it is mine and yours.

To experience this power of resurrection we need to die with him. This means that we repent of our sins and take the most important decision of our lives which is to believe that he died for our sins on the cross. In this way we become crucified with him and we open our hearts to him. By faith we accept the gift of the Holy Spirit so we rise with him and take him as our Master. Then and only then, we experience the power of his resurrection and start by this power our journey towards eternity.

The experience of the power of his resurrection gives us the victory over ourselves. It frees us from the slavery of sin and leads us to the freedom of the children of God. It frees us from selfishness and hatred and leads us to the love of God and others. It is this power that freed the disciples from fear and sent them to witness for the love of God that was incarnated in the person of Jesus Christ.

At Easter we usually sing ‘Jesus Christ is risen today’. Are we going to sing this with our lips or from our hearts. ‘Jesus Christ is risen today’. Is it a song we sing or a song we lives

My beloved, Easter becomes real when we experience the power of the resurrection in our lives so let us put the goal for our lives the same as Paul’s, ‘that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering’