How are we to think of the influx of masses of Muslims into the Western world? From a Christian point of view, there are at least two responses. One, because it is well nigh impossible to preach the gospel in most Muslim-majority countries, we can be thankful that so many Muslims are coming to the West.
The only tragedy is, I suspect most Western Christians are not making use of this opportunity to evangelise their new neighbours, workmates, and fellow students. Thus a huge opportunity is going to waste, and if anything, Muslims are winning Westerners to Islam.
The second response is this: since Islam is a political ideology which expects everyone to submit to Allah and sharia law, this is something we all should be concerned about in the West. Islam is simply not compatible with Western freedoms, democracy and human rights.
As the brave young Pakistani schoolgirl and Taliban shooting victim Malala Yousafzai is reported to have said, “Blessed are those who live in non-Islamic nations. Even in the 21st century, Muslim countries like Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan have bans on girl’s education. Islam treats women as slaves. Islam gave us nothing but terrorism, jihad, madrassas, riots and bomb blasts. If we want a future for us, we will have to renounce Islam. Peace and Islam can’t coexist!”
So this second aspect of responding to Islam in the West must be taken very seriously indeed. We have far too many examples of how stealth jihad and creeping sharia are wreaking havoc in the West, and these activities certainly should be resisted.
Consider a few recent examples of this. In the UK the new MI5 chief has warned about Muslim terrorists roaming freely in the country: “Andrew Parker was making his first public speech since taking over as head of the UK Security Service in April. Al-Qaeda and its affiliates in Pakistan and Yemen present ‘the most direct and immediate threats to the UK,’ he said.
“He added that the security services must have access to the many means of communication which terrorists now use. Mr Parker was addressing the Royal United Services Institute in Whitehall. Threats to the UK are growing more diverse and diffuse, he said, but warned: ‘It remains the case that there are several thousand Islamist extremists here who see the British public as a legitimate target’….
“In his speech he named Al-Qaeda and its affiliates in South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula as presenting ‘the most direct and immediate threats to the UK’. By that he meant primarily its elements in Pakistan and separately in Yemen, from where Al-Qaeda has three times succeeded in smuggling explosives past security on to planes in the last 4 years.
“Referring to the ongoing conflict in Syria, he said a growing proportion of MI5’s casework concerned individuals from the UK who had travelled to fight there. He said extremist Sunni groups in Syria were aspiring to attack Western countries.”
And the Islamic takeover of the West need not just happen by means of bombs and suicide attacks. Simple demographics will do just as well. Increasingly the European population is being replaced by a growing Muslim population.
As but one quite alarming example of this, consider a school in Berlin: “There are now only three German children left in the Jens-Nydahl-Grundschule in Kreuzberg, Berlin—a shocking demonstration of how Europe is being ethnically cleansed by Third World immigration.
“A story in the Bild magazine on the development was headlined: ‘We are the last 3 German children in our German school. The rest are Muslims.’ Kreuzberg in Berlin has long been a destination for Turkish immigration into the German capital, and now the inevitable point has been reached where Germans have been ethnically cleansed from that part of the city.
“In the playground Talina (11), Svenja (11) and Jason (9) can’t understand a word. Because, here, their classmates only speak Turkish and Arabic, the Bild article continued. Here 99 percent of the 313 pupils have an immigrant (Muslim) background. For 285 of those, the parents receive financial support from the state.”
And these kinds of stories can be repeated throughout Europe and the UK. Holland is certainly experiencing similar scenes, which is why Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders has been seeking to sound the alarm for years now. And for his efforts, he is under 24/7 protection.
He recently gave a speech entitled “The Specter of Islam Is Haunting the Free World”. He begins: “‘A specter is haunting Europe – the specter of Communism,’ Karl Marx once famously wrote. It took Europe almost a century to liberate itself from this scourge. Today, another specter is haunting not just Europe, but the entire world – the specter of Islam.
“The biggest danger confronting the West today is not the economic situation, nor is it youth unemployment, nor the dire budget situation of our governments; the biggest danger is one of which we are reminded on an almost daily basis. And, yet, many politicians seem to fail to notice….
“Like the specter of Communism in the past, the danger of Islam is political. Islam is mainly a political ideology because its aim is political. What the London and Boston killers, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and other individuals and groups, causing pain and misery all over the globe, have in common is that, inspired by the Koran, they want to impose Islamic sharia law on the whole world.
“They share this goal with an organization that is being held in the highest esteem by Western governments: the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC counts 57 member-states and forms the largest voting bloc in the United Nations. In 1990, it superseded the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights with its own Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam. The Cairo Declaration is a document of unabashed Islamic supremacism. It explicitly states that all human rights and freedoms ‘are subject to the Islamic Sharia.’
“Islamic law is barbaric and cruel. Flogging, mutilation and other corporal punishments, stoning and even crucifixion are permitted penalties under sharia law. It discriminates women, apostates and non-Muslims, who have fewer rights or no rights at all. In 2003, the European Court of Human Rights declared that ‘sharia is incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy.’ And yet, few Western leaders seem to worry about the attempts to replace our basic liberties with sharia law.”
He concludes, “Winston Churchill once said that ‘The people of Asia were slaves, because they had not learned how to pronounce the word “no”.’ Today, the West must learn to say ‘no’ or it, too, will be enslaved. A specter is haunting the free world. Let us have the courage to call it by its name: It is the radical ideology of Islam with its political aim to abolish our freedoms and our democracy. It is by far the most serious evil afflicting the world today. And it is a much bigger threat to our civilization than all the other problems our politicians currently worry about and devote so much attention to.”
Yes exactly right. The only question which remains is this: Will the West wake up, and wake up soon to the mortal danger it faces, or will it continue to sleep through its own funeral?
This is a spiritual battle. The only explanation for the Muslim invasion and the reluctance of governments to do anything about it is that there is a demonic power that blinds the victims to what is happening until it is too late to do anything about it. In Australia we still have a chance to turn the tide but it will take a great amount of people power. Pray and fight; use social media to circulate articles like this, comment on blogs, write to politicians, boycott halal food, tell manufactures that you refuse to pay the halal food tax and don’t buy their product, make this issue a topic of conversation and above all use the weapons that are not carnal.
Des Morris
I must confess to a slight respect for Islam. Muslims do seem to be far more likely to believe in and follow their religious doctrines and do not compromise. Compared with alas, way too much compromise, lukewarmness, indifference and even outright apostasy amongst the ‘Christian’ camp. If only more Christians are at least as loyal….
I think one must realise that they do teach some good values such as not lending money on an interest. This the something that they could legitimately criticise the West about. The debt crisis in the West is caused by the lax attitude towards debt. Yes, it is true that there are Islamist terrorists. However, the West has also committed some atrocities and aims to promote its sinister capitalist agenda. It is true that Communism is against the Bible, but capitalism is worse. Communism, at least tries to stop greed – but it can’t because people can’t stop each other from being greedy
Janice Tooh
Thanks Janice
Sorry, but with all due respect, on these matters you are evidently way out of your depth. On these matters you are sadly wrong on just about everything you say. The debt crisis is far more complex than what you suppose, and is primarily the fault of the socialist left: in the US, it is mainly due to Obama and the Democrats and the statist agenda, eg.
To say that Islam has some good values is like saying the Nazis had some good values. Yes, the German people liked their law and order polices, eg. But sorry, one good policy does not outweigh 1000 bad ones. You seem rather uninformed about the real nature of Islam I am afraid.
And you are dead wrong, and dangerously wrong, to paint a moral equivalence between the free West and political Islam. No the West is not guilty of similar atrocities. No we are not flying airplanes into buildings for religious purposes, setting off suicide bombs in crowded markets with women and children, killing all those who choose to leave the ideology, treating women as slaves, and so on. If you want to read more, I have 269 articles on Islam here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/category/islam/
Also, please spare us the “sinister capitalist agenda” and ‘capitalism is worse than communism’ silliness. If it were not for the free market, you would be back in the fields picking potatoes for six days a week. For all its faults the free market has done more to liberate people, raise the standard of living for the masses, and allow for real economic growth, freedom, prosperity and wellbeing worldwide than anything else.
And tragically you appear to know little about Marxism. It of course has nothing to do with eliminating greed. Greed was far greater in Communist countries – especially among the wealthy leaders who impoverished the masses. It was a political ideology which slaughtered 100 million of its own citizens. Sorry, your fundamental lack of understanding of basic political and economic history here helps no one.
It seems you need to inform yourself on these matters instead of relying on tired leftist clichés. As to the real nature of Marxism try reading Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago for starters. Or see the 60 articles I have on this here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/category/marxism-communism-socialism/
Thanks for informing me. I am not buying in to the leftist clique. Communism, as a economic ideology, was what I was referring to, not as a cultural ideology.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrt6msZmU7Y . Atrocities can refer to things like abortion, euthanasia, and the irresponsibility of govts to stop such things. This is what I was refering to.
Janice Tooh
Thanks again Janice
But of course communism as an economic ideology has never ever worked anywhere it has been tried. It is a dismal failure both in theory and in practice. It simply impoverishes and enslaves the masses. Indeed, it cannot work. And it of course goes against the very heart of biblical ethics as well. So to even appeal to economic communism as some sort of good thing is not something Christians should even be suggesting.
Also, the fact that we now have socialist leaders like Obama on the scene, not fighting against abortion etc., but actively promoting it, does not mean the West is evil and no better than Islam. It means that Obama is evil and we need to get rid of him, and get good godly leaders back into office.
And yes Bill Whittle is always good value. He too would fully be aware of the monstrosity of communism in all its forms, as well as the evil of political Islam.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I agree communism does not work and that when practiced, it leads to dictatorship. But as a theory, a mere theory, it is more ethical than capitalism in theory. I am not saying who is more evil than the other – all countries have been guilty of all sorts of ‘atrocities’. I am not suggesting communism is good. It is just that it has been unfairly demonised compared to capitalism.
Regarding the debt crisis, it is a global problem caused by human financial behaviour by way people have been borrowing money on an interest. This is just prevalant in the capitalist world.
It is irrelevant whether he thinks political Islam is evil or not – it is matter of fact, not what anyone else thinks.
Janice Tooh
Thanks again Janice
No, even as a mere theory it is of course not more ethical – especially if one claims to be a Christian in their analysis. The heart of the free market is voluntary exchanges in which everyone benefits, freedom of association and work is assumed, thrift and hard work is rewarded, and private property (remember the 8th Commandment for example) is assumed, etc. Communism as a theory is opposed to basic biblical truths, such as the fallenness of man, the right to own private property, the fact that were made to be innovative, productive and creative, the recognition of sin and the dangers of concentrated power as in the socialist state, and so on. So it even fails miserably as a theoretical system, and has no ethical merit at all from a biblical perspective.
And again, it is faulty statist policies which have led to the debt crisis, not the free market. As I say, have a look at some of the books I recommend to get more up to speed here.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I acknowledge we need a free market. I have read some economics history books. I am not blaming the free market itself, but human behaviour – involving irresponsible governments and subprime mortgage where there has been too little regulation. Regulation at the wrong time and in the wrong way. I am not at all praising communism.
Janice Tooh
Thanks again. Get some of the books by Thomas Sowell I recommend in my links above. He does an excellent job of nailing the real culprits in the US financial meltdown.
But given that this post is on Islam we better get back on track!
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Thanks again Bill. I appreciate your feedback. It is just that I am really quite skeptical about what different people have said about these sorts of things, whether it is politics, religion, etc.
Janice Tooh
good book I think you’ll like, not sure if the topic has been addressed so thoroughly before.
We can only fight this threat through God’s Word (and we “only need” 10 righteous men, for God to listen – Genesis 18:16-33)
“Then Abraham approached him (the Lord) and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (Gen.18:23) We need righteous men and women to approach God in His Holy place. Our Lord is merciful. He is our saving grace.
Monica Craver
And the Pakistani Taliban leader who is wanted for multiple murder is “willing” to “talk” with the Pakistani government. Humanity needs to be protected from him and those like him. He has nothing to discuss with any government as far as I can see.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
Thanks Julian. Yes his volume looks good (awaiting my copy in the mail). Other good ones include:
Hefley, James and Marti Hefley, By Their Blood: Christian Martyrs from the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Baker, 1994.
Ibrahim, Raymond, Crucified Again. Regnery, 2013.
Marshall, Paul, Their Blood Cries Out. Word, 1997.
Marshall, Paul, Lela Gilbert and Nina Shea, Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians. Thomas Nelson, 2013.
Moeller, Carl and David Hegg, The Privilege of Persecution: And Other Things the Global Church Knows that We Don’t. Moody, 2011.
Shea, Nina, In the Lion’s Den. Broadman & Holman, 1997.
Shortt, Rupert, Christianophobia. Rider, 2012.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I am interested in where you got the Malala quote from Bill.
Justin Finighan
Thanks Justin. It is floating all over the Net, but as I say, it is something she is reported to have said. So whether or not she did actually say it awaits some confirmation.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
This is a spiritual battle. The only explanation for the Muslim invasion and the reluctance of governments to do anything about it is that there is a demonic power that blinds the victims to what is happening until it is too late to do anything about it. In Australia we still have a chance to turn the tide but it will take a great amount of people power. Pray and fight; use social media to circulate articles like this, comment on blogs, write to politicians, boycott halal food, tell manufactures that you refuse to pay the halal food tax and don’t buy their product, make this issue a topic of conversation and above all use the weapons that are not carnal.
Des Morris
I must confess to a slight respect for Islam. Muslims do seem to be far more likely to believe in and follow their religious doctrines and do not compromise. Compared with alas, way too much compromise, lukewarmness, indifference and even outright apostasy amongst the ‘Christian’ camp. If only more Christians are at least as loyal….
Interestingly in Malaysia right now, there is a movement afoot by Muslims to ban Christians from using ‘Allah’ to describe God, effectively saying the God of Christianity and Islam are different beings. That said, the whole dispute might also be used to clamp down on Malaysian Christians. Watch this space: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/appeals-court-to-decide-on-oct-14-on-use-of-word-allah
Mark Wong
I think one must realise that they do teach some good values such as not lending money on an interest. This the something that they could legitimately criticise the West about. The debt crisis in the West is caused by the lax attitude towards debt. Yes, it is true that there are Islamist terrorists. However, the West has also committed some atrocities and aims to promote its sinister capitalist agenda. It is true that Communism is against the Bible, but capitalism is worse. Communism, at least tries to stop greed – but it can’t because people can’t stop each other from being greedy
Janice Tooh
Thanks Janice
Sorry, but with all due respect, on these matters you are evidently way out of your depth. On these matters you are sadly wrong on just about everything you say. The debt crisis is far more complex than what you suppose, and is primarily the fault of the socialist left: in the US, it is mainly due to Obama and the Democrats and the statist agenda, eg.
To say that Islam has some good values is like saying the Nazis had some good values. Yes, the German people liked their law and order polices, eg. But sorry, one good policy does not outweigh 1000 bad ones. You seem rather uninformed about the real nature of Islam I am afraid.
And you are dead wrong, and dangerously wrong, to paint a moral equivalence between the free West and political Islam. No the West is not guilty of similar atrocities. No we are not flying airplanes into buildings for religious purposes, setting off suicide bombs in crowded markets with women and children, killing all those who choose to leave the ideology, treating women as slaves, and so on. If you want to read more, I have 269 articles on Islam here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/category/islam/
Also, please spare us the “sinister capitalist agenda” and ‘capitalism is worse than communism’ silliness. If it were not for the free market, you would be back in the fields picking potatoes for six days a week. For all its faults the free market has done more to liberate people, raise the standard of living for the masses, and allow for real economic growth, freedom, prosperity and wellbeing worldwide than anything else.
And tragically you appear to know little about Marxism. It of course has nothing to do with eliminating greed. Greed was far greater in Communist countries – especially among the wealthy leaders who impoverished the masses. It was a political ideology which slaughtered 100 million of its own citizens. Sorry, your fundamental lack of understanding of basic political and economic history here helps no one.
Given that I just elsewhere posted on the deadly nature of Communism, I encourage you to have a look: http://www.thecommentator.com/article/4230/so_how_many_did_communism_kill
It seems you need to inform yourself on these matters instead of relying on tired leftist clichés. As to the real nature of Marxism try reading Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago for starters. Or see the 60 articles I have on this here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/category/marxism-communism-socialism/
And try reading a few good books on political economy. Some titles you might examine can be found here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/09/21/economics-wealth-and-poverty-a-brief-bibliography/
On politics and economic matters from a solid Christian perspective, try the two new titles by Grudem:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/09/19/a-review-of-the-poverty-of-nations-by-wayne-grudem-and-barry-asmus/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/11/01/a-review-of-politics-according-to-the-bible-by-wayne-grudem/
But thanks for writing in.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Hi Bill
Thanks for informing me. I am not buying in to the leftist clique. Communism, as a economic ideology, was what I was referring to, not as a cultural ideology.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrt6msZmU7Y . Atrocities can refer to things like abortion, euthanasia, and the irresponsibility of govts to stop such things. This is what I was refering to.
Janice Tooh
Thanks again Janice
But of course communism as an economic ideology has never ever worked anywhere it has been tried. It is a dismal failure both in theory and in practice. It simply impoverishes and enslaves the masses. Indeed, it cannot work. And it of course goes against the very heart of biblical ethics as well. So to even appeal to economic communism as some sort of good thing is not something Christians should even be suggesting.
Also, the fact that we now have socialist leaders like Obama on the scene, not fighting against abortion etc., but actively promoting it, does not mean the West is evil and no better than Islam. It means that Obama is evil and we need to get rid of him, and get good godly leaders back into office.
And yes Bill Whittle is always good value. He too would fully be aware of the monstrosity of communism in all its forms, as well as the evil of political Islam.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I agree communism does not work and that when practiced, it leads to dictatorship. But as a theory, a mere theory, it is more ethical than capitalism in theory. I am not saying who is more evil than the other – all countries have been guilty of all sorts of ‘atrocities’. I am not suggesting communism is good. It is just that it has been unfairly demonised compared to capitalism.
Regarding the debt crisis, it is a global problem caused by human financial behaviour by way people have been borrowing money on an interest. This is just prevalant in the capitalist world.
It is irrelevant whether he thinks political Islam is evil or not – it is matter of fact, not what anyone else thinks.
Janice Tooh
Thanks again Janice
No, even as a mere theory it is of course not more ethical – especially if one claims to be a Christian in their analysis. The heart of the free market is voluntary exchanges in which everyone benefits, freedom of association and work is assumed, thrift and hard work is rewarded, and private property (remember the 8th Commandment for example) is assumed, etc. Communism as a theory is opposed to basic biblical truths, such as the fallenness of man, the right to own private property, the fact that were made to be innovative, productive and creative, the recognition of sin and the dangers of concentrated power as in the socialist state, and so on. So it even fails miserably as a theoretical system, and has no ethical merit at all from a biblical perspective.
And again, it is faulty statist policies which have led to the debt crisis, not the free market. As I say, have a look at some of the books I recommend to get more up to speed here.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I acknowledge we need a free market. I have read some economics history books. I am not blaming the free market itself, but human behaviour – involving irresponsible governments and subprime mortgage where there has been too little regulation. Regulation at the wrong time and in the wrong way. I am not at all praising communism.
Janice Tooh
Thanks again. Get some of the books by Thomas Sowell I recommend in my links above. He does an excellent job of nailing the real culprits in the US financial meltdown.
But given that this post is on Islam we better get back on track!
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Thanks again Bill. I appreciate your feedback. It is just that I am really quite skeptical about what different people have said about these sorts of things, whether it is politics, religion, etc.
Janice Tooh
good book I think you’ll like, not sure if the topic has been addressed so thoroughly before.
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/persecution/pch0345.htm
Julian DeSouza
This could only happen without God’s intervention. Will it happen? Only in a Godless world…in a world void of true Christian prayer and worship, not Christianity’s many imitations under seduced churches:
http://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/educational-the-4-stages-of-islamic-conquest/
We can only fight this threat through God’s Word (and we “only need” 10 righteous men, for God to listen – Genesis 18:16-33)
“Then Abraham approached him (the Lord) and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (Gen.18:23) We need righteous men and women to approach God in His Holy place. Our Lord is merciful. He is our saving grace.
Monica Craver
And the Pakistani Taliban leader who is wanted for multiple murder is “willing” to “talk” with the Pakistani government. Humanity needs to be protected from him and those like him. He has nothing to discuss with any government as far as I can see.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
Thanks Julian. Yes his volume looks good (awaiting my copy in the mail). Other good ones include:
Hefley, James and Marti Hefley, By Their Blood: Christian Martyrs from the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Baker, 1994.
Ibrahim, Raymond, Crucified Again. Regnery, 2013.
Marshall, Paul, Their Blood Cries Out. Word, 1997.
Marshall, Paul, Lela Gilbert and Nina Shea, Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians. Thomas Nelson, 2013.
Moeller, Carl and David Hegg, The Privilege of Persecution: And Other Things the Global Church Knows that We Don’t. Moody, 2011.
Shea, Nina, In the Lion’s Den. Broadman & Holman, 1997.
Shortt, Rupert, Christianophobia. Rider, 2012.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I am interested in where you got the Malala quote from Bill.
Justin Finighan
Thanks Justin. It is floating all over the Net, but as I say, it is something she is reported to have said. So whether or not she did actually say it awaits some confirmation.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch