IT IS NOT RACIST TO WANT TO LIVE SAFELY IN PEACE

In a New York Times article, “‘I’ve Become a Racist’: Migrant Wave Unleashes Danish Tensions Over Identity: The thousands of Muslim asylum seekers pouring into Denmark have spawned a backlash, and questions over whether the country has a latent racial hostility at its core” (Sept. 5, 2016), there was no mention of Islamic violence. However, it is clear that Denmark is also being plagued by Islamic contempt and disdain for the Danish people as is occurring in other Western nations:

·       "Crime rates broken down by nationality in Denmark show that individuals from Muslim countries make up eight of the top nine places on the list. In addition, 2012 figures show that Somalis were sentenced for crimes, including innumerable sexual assaults, almost ten times more often than those with Danish citizenship. Indeed, more than half of all convicted rapists in Denmark have an immigrant background, according to official statistics, despite the fact that immigrants and their descendants account for less than 10 per cent of the population. “Iraqis, Iranians, Turks and Somalis are dramatically overrepresented among convicted rapists in Denmark,” reports BT.dk." (http://www.infowars.com/feminists-mute-on-muslim-rape-epidemic-sweeping-europe/)

Clearly, Islamic violence is not a national phenomenon. It is a religious phenomenon.

Is it so unusual and unacceptable that Danes do not want to be raped and beheaded and to be placed under shariah law? Is it racist to want to see peace and harmony prevail? However, The NYT and other mainline media outlets act as if it is.

IS LOVE AND KINDNESS ALWAYS ENOUGH?

In an essay entitled “Fear Not,” Presbyterian minister, Dan McNerney, argues that we should not even fear Islamic oppression, terrorism, and immigration. Why not? Because God is in charge and can bring good out of the worst situations:

·       Yet, they survive through their incredible faith, often becoming witnesses in jail for their Lord.

·       In recent years, the underground church in Iran has become the fastest growing church in the world, now numbering three million believers.

Of course, I rejoice at such testimonies. These not only reveal the glory of our God but also His care for His Church—us! However, from such examples, McNerney also seems to argue that if God is in control we shouldn’t be. Instead, we should adopt a politically “hands-off” stance when it comes to confronting Islam:

·       Too often, we prefer holding onto and controlling the reins of our lives, reluctant to trust anyone, not even God. We would rather be racked with anxiety than give up control of our lives. It makes no sense, but we do it all the time.

Certainly, we must trust in the Lord and not be “racked with anxiety,” but doesn’t the Church have a responsibility here, at least to advocate for the protection of society and the innocent? And aren’t we showing a lack of love for our neighbor when we remain silent in the face of hundreds of thousands of potential jihadists entering our neighborhoods?

McNerney’s only response to evil seems to be to “give up control of our lives” and to live without care before the proven dangers. However, we also have a role to play:

·       Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. (Isaiah 1:17; ESV)

·       Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. (Jeremiah 22:3)

When we can make a difference and yet fail to protect against the oppressor, we are at fault:

·       So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:17)

Instead, the Church must be prophetic and expose evil:

·       Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11)

When we fail to stand against evil and even welcome evil into our midst, we betray our calling. The Church had failed to stand against segregation and Hitler. This opened the door to great suffering and brought disrepute upon the Church.

However, it seems that McNerney would just have us pray, turn our back, and walk on.

Jesus told a parable about a Good Samaritan who took care of a man who had been mugged and left “half dead.” Seeing him, a priest and a Levite crossed over to the opposite side, but why not? Perhaps, like McNerney, they were determined not to be “racked with anxiety” over what to do about this man. Indeed, God is sovereign. It’s His business, right?

However, to be fair to McNerney, he does advocate in favor of love:

·       The only thing that will bring a radical Muslim to his knees is the power, love and grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We cannot allow fear to enter our souls and extinguish our faith or hope in our own country. Fear has no place in the Gospel.

Truly, the Church must lead with love. However, love alone did not stop the Jim Crow laws or Hitler. Force also was necessary.

If Mordechai had thought according to McNerney’s thinking, he might have planted Haman a garden or polished his shoes, once he heard of the edict, inspired by Haman, for the utter destruction of the Jewish people. However, Mordechai knew that stronger measures were needed to rescue his people. Therefore, he prevailed upon Esther to approach the king, even at the risk of her own life.

While we are called to love as Jesus did, sometimes other measures are necessary to protect the innocent. That’s why God had ordained a justice system to wield His vengeful sword (Romans 13:1-4).

It is now common to hear people say that, “If Hitler had just been loved enough, he would have been tamed.” However, this is not the message of Scripture, which acknowledges that sometimes kindness and peace are not enough:

·       If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12:18)

Sometimes it is not possible, since it doesn’t depend entirely on us. Jesus is our exemplar of love, and yet He was put to death. And He warned that the world would also hate us:

·       “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. (John 15:18-20)

This happens, not because of our lack of love but because of evil. Therefore, there are times when love must cloth itself with coercion—even excommunication. In the case of brethren who had proved that they weren’t amenable to reason and gentleness, Jesus instructed:

·       “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:17)

Notice that Jesus didn’t follow McNerney’s admonition: “The only thing that will bring a radical Muslim to his knees is the power, love and grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” If our own brethren won’t always be brought to their knees by love, we should not expect that this one tactic will bring the radical Muslim to his knees.

Nor did Jesus castigate the Church at Pergamum for not loving enough. Instead, He criticized this church for not taking decisive measures against false teaching:

·       “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.” (Revelation 2:14)

Likewise, the Church at Thyatira had not been criticized because they did not love Jezebel enough to bring about her repentance:

·       “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.” (Revelation 2:20-21)

Love will not overcome all evil. In the case of Jezebel, she refused to repent. Meanwhile, the Church at Ephesus was commended because they resorted to more coercive means:

·       “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.” (Revelation 2:2)

Likewise, when Jesus returns, He will return with more than tenderness. The Prophet Malachi gives a description of what His return will be like even for some of His elect:

·       But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. (Malachi 3:2-3)

Jesus will not just come with tenderness. Nevertheless, McNerney is right that we shouldn’t be shaking in fear over the Islamic threat. Our God reigns. However, we must be as wise as serpents and take a meaningful stance against this threat, if not for ourselves, then for the innocent who are now being decimated by this sword.

WHAT A BETRAYAL: Pope Francis and Terror

Why are thousands of faithful Muslims sacrificing all to join ISIS? Why does the Muslim world even speak glowingly of ISIS? Why are other Islamic terrorist groups endorsing ISIS? Perhaps they see in ISIS  the true Islam.

In their propaganda magazine Dabiq, the Islamic State described its vision for humanity:

·       “This is a divinely-warranted war between the Muslim nation and the nations of disbelief… Indeed, waging jihad — spreading the rule of Allah by the sword — is an obligation found in the Quran, the word of our Lord… The blood of the disbelievers is obligatory to spill by default. The command is clear. Kill the disbelievers, as Allah said, ‘Then kill the polytheists wherever you find them.’” https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/did-francis-really-say-catholics-are-as-violent-as-islamic-terrorists

ISIS is correct. This is what the Koran teaches, and the Islamic world knows it. The history of Islam testifies to it, but the West continues to deny it, even the leadership who have been entrusted to protect their people.

Pope Francis was just asked: “What concrete initiatives can you advise or suggest in order to counteract Islamic violence? Thank you, Holiness.”

Francis indirectly admitted that he didn’t have any initiative. Even worse, he argued that such an initiative would be misguided:

·       I don’t like to speak of Islamic violence, because every day, when I browse the newspapers, I see violence, here in Italy … this one who has murdered his girlfriend, another who has murdered the mother-in-law … and these are baptized Catholics! There are violent Catholics! If I speak of Islamic violence, I must speak of Catholic violence ... and no, not all Muslims are violent, not all Catholics are violent. It is like a fruit salad; there’s everything. There are violent persons of this religion … this is true: I believe that in pretty much every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists. Fundamentalists. We have them. When fundamentalism comes to kill, it can kill with the language… I do not believe it is right to identify Islam with violence…How many young people, how many young people of our Europe, whom we have left empty of ideals, who do not have work … they take drugs, alcohol, or go there to enlist in fundamentalist groups… But this is a fundamentalist group which is called ISIS … but you cannot say, I do not believe, that it is true or right that Islam is terrorist.

Why does Francis deny the obvious – Brussels, Nice, Orlando, San Bernardino, 9/11, sex-attacks all across Europe, and the teachings of the Koran? Certainly the Bible doesn’t teach violent jihad for world conquest. Jesus didn’t behead His enemies. Instead, He died for them. In contrast, Mohammad beheaded whole tribes, taking their wives and daughter as sex-slaves, and Muslims appreciate this fact. Consequently, when the Christian sins, he cannot claim that Jesus led him to do it. Christians do not cry “God is great,” as they slaughter the infidels. While Christ civilizes, Mohammad has provided inspiration for the worst crimes imaginable.

The interviewer again tried to bring the Pope back to his original question, “Your concrete initiatives to counteract terrorism, violence?” Francis again made it clear that he wasn’t going to address Islamic terror and the destruction of his own flock in the Middle East and in North Africa:

·       Terrorism is everywhere. You think of the tribal terrorism of some African countries… Terrorism grows when there are no other options, and when the center of the global economy is the god of money and not the person — men and women — this is already the first terrorism! You have cast out the wonder of creation — man and woman — and you have put money in its place. This is a basic terrorism against all of humanity! Think about it!

I guess we haven’t thought about it long enough as the Pope has. We’re just ignorant.

However, never once would Francis admit what Muslims have been consistently saying about their motivation. According to them, it is all about Islam. Why not listen to them? They know the reasons for their actions, and they are very plain about them. Instead, Francis has blindly and stubbornly invoked his own anti-capitalistic analysis as an explanation for Islamic behaviors. Poor oppressed Muslims, according to him. However, no Muslim has ever stated that he became a terrorist because he needed a job or because of the “oppressive” capitalistic system.

What would Francis say about Nazi terrorism and genocide? Would he also say that pious Catholics do the same thing? I doubt it. Why then the difference. Why is he unwilling to name the problem?

What would have happened if the Western allies thought that Nazism was just a product of oppressive capitalism? Would it have made any difference to offer them jobs? In essence, this is what Neville Chamberlain had done, and this allowed the Nazis to solidify their war machine.

Meanwhile, Christians and other non-Muslims are being raped, kidnapped, forced to convert, and slaughtered by the tens of thousands. Who is guilty? Of course, ISIS and the many other Islamic terroristic associations, but also the Pope and the Western leaders who have been allowing this cancer to metastasize.

Not only that, they have provided a protective shield for Islam. They have under-reported and disguised Islamic terror, and they have either criminalized or marginalized any real reporting about Islam. They have even placed Islamic advisors in top positions to determine policy. They have tied the arms of the FBI and law-enforcement, minimizing their ability to protect those they are being paid to protect. WHAT A BETRAYAL!

TRUTH IS MURDERED AND NO ONE CARES

“Truth” is often no more than a tool to manipulate. In fact, people are no longer outraged by the distortion of the truth for propagandistic purposes. For instance, one church bulletin included “A Message from New York City Muslim Leaders,” reading:

·       “The Majlis condemns the horrific attacks in Paris over the weekend on Islamic grounds… Like natural disaster, terrorism does NOT DISCRIMINATE based on religion, race, gender or age whether perpetrated by a state, group or individual. The world witnessed this type of INDISCRIMINATE BLOODSHED last week not only in Paris but also in Beirut, Kenya, Iraq and other places around the world.”

On the contrary, the terror was Islamic, it was discriminate against non-Muslims, as even the assailants cried out “Allahu Akbar,” and it does “discriminate based on religion.” The recent examples of this are in the hundreds.

It would have been more reassuring if, instead, these Muslim leaders had said, “We grieve that these assaults have been conducted in the name of Islam,” but they wouldn’t admit even that much. Either way, this is consistent with their doctrine of “Taqiyya,” which authorizes the Muslim to deceive the infidel, even with false shows of friendship.

However, what is doubly troubling is this – that there are churches that show so little regard for the truth, that they are complicit in this very obvious deception.