APOLOGETICA » -Culture Clash

-Should Christians Participate in “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day”?

Dr. D — Fri, 21 May 2010 05:29:02 +0000

: (Image via Wikipedia)

Today (May 20,2010) was the day set aside by the famous Facebook page to be the official “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day”.

Should Christians participate in this activity?

No.

Why? Because Jesus taught his followers the Golden Rule.

Many times lately Christians have been on the receiving end of offensive assaults on our religion and faith. Crosses in urine, Bibles desecrated, cartoon shows making fun of our Lord, and etc. None of it really feels all that great. Do we really want to be party to needlessly offending and hurting others? I don’t think so.

Remember also that the response to the Danish cartoons a couple of years ago ended rather poorly with riots in several cities in the Middle East and a number of deaths. Do we really want to be part of an activity that could end up harming others even indirectly?

However, I do support free speech and freedom for everyone who chooses to participate. Also, I really do oppose the threats coming from radical Muslims towards cartoonists and anyone else who opposes or unwittingly insults Islam. Muslims should not be allowed to impose their culture and sensibilities on the rest of us in Western countries.

When I read stories about Muslim immigrants that refuse to check out pork products while working at Wal-Mart, or Muslim cabbies that refuse to pick up folks that have been drinking or carrying alcohol, or Muslim workers in bookstores who refuse to handle Bibles or Christian books, or Muslims who complain in libraries because the Quran is not on the top shelf above the Bible –it really does bother me. The rest of us should not have to change our entire culture in order not to offend immigrant Muslims.

Toleration should go both ways.

Unfortunately, there is no toleration in Islam and in Muslim countries. That is a fact. *Top

-Muslims Destroying Jewish Religious Sites?

Dr. D — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:19:57 +0000

: (Jerusalem via Wikipedia)

Whenever Muslims have political control in a country or area, the minority religions are consistently persecuted and the customs and heritage including religious sites are assailed and some even blotted out.

We saw this demonstrated a few years back in 2001 when the Taliban destroyed the 1500 year old Buddha sculptures in Afghanistan. We see this happening right now in Iraq as the government is planning to build a new gigantic mosque over the traditional Jewish memorial to the prophet Ezekiel.

We have also heard continual reports that the Islamic authorities over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem have purposely destroyed any artifacts found on the site that might be linked historically to the Jewish Temple and faith.

Here’s an article by Alexander Maistrovoy, an Israeli journalist, cataloging how Jewish and Christian sites in Jerusalem and the Holy Land have systematically been converted to Muslim sites instead:

“Jews in Holy Land? What Jews?”

by Alexander Maistrovoy

Welcome to the Holy Land: Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi in Hebron, Bilal Ibn Ribah mosque in Bethlehem and Al-Burak Wall…

The Israeli government announced that it would include the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me’arat HaMachpelah) in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem as part of a comprehensive plan to preserve Israel’s national heritage and religious sites (”Moreshet”). The reaction of the Arab (and all Islamic) world to the decision has once again showed the real essence of the “Arab-Israeli conflict”, which actually is the holy war that Arabs had proclaimed against the Jews.

Any conflict can be resolved if the conflicting parties recognize each other’s right of existence. It becomes basically irresolvable if one of parties refuses to recognize the other. The key questions of borders, the status of Jerusalem and refugees are difficult but could be resolved in case Arabs recognized the right of the Jews to live in their land.

Arabs do not recognize it. All their policy, strategy, ideology is directed to depriving the Jews of any connection with the land of Israel: virtually, and then physically to uproot the Jews from the history of the Holy Land. Jews have neither antiquities nor holy sites, they have no past. In other words, they do not belong to this land and have no right to exist at all.
It is the genocidal approach that is characteristic of Islam. Power and possession are inherent parts of religious attitude in Islam. This approach extends to all other religions, not only to Judaism. The idea consists in depriving other cultures of their spiritual base to achieve total physical domination over them.

<<Read the whole excellent article>> *Top

-Over 100,000 Britons Seek ‘Debaptism’

Dr. D — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:14:53 +0000

Over 100,000 Britons have downloaded a ‘Certifcate of Debaptism’ from the National Secular Society (NSS) in the UK to publicly demonstrate their separation from Christianity. The majority were baptized into the Church of England as infants and now as adults have decided to reject the church.

According to the article, similar movements are spreading to other countries, including a well organized move against Catholicism in Argentina.

Response: This is a rather sad development. This movement illustrates that the UK is in the middle of a major transition along with all of Europe that some have called ‘post-Christian’.

A generation ago all were baptized into the state churches as infants. Now as the secular and the atheist movements gain numbers and cultural credibility many adults are seeking to ‘divorce’ themselves from their former ‘Christian’ identity.

Now the UK is far more secular than it is ‘Christian’. Many are beginning to question the government support given to the Church of England. To justify the current expenditures, some churches in the UK are beginning to be used as public buildings like post offices along with worship.

The ‘Debaptism’ is said to be spreading to other countries. It is doubtful that it will gain much if any momentum in the USA since there’s no dominant State church that the majority was baptized into as infants. That is not to say that secularism is not making significant inroads into American culture.

*Top

-The Muslim Motivation for Martyrdom?

Dr. D — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:03:22 +0000

(-Image by lakerae via Flickr)

So much of the Western world and particularly the elite media completely miss the religious motivating factors which cause young Muslims to end their lives blowing themselves and others up in one moment of desperate glory. Then the cameras turn to the ‘martyrs’ grieving family and catch them celebrating instead. A total disconnect from Western culture and understanding.

Usually the Western media cites poverty and a life of desperation with no hope for the future as the major contributing factors behind the suicide bombing phenomenon. For so many in the MSM the religious connection makes no sense at all. I have heard some jokingly refer to the 72 virgins that the Muslim martyrs believed they would be receiving in the after-life and comment that they would personally prefer to have 72 woman with lots of experience.

But what about the Muslim women that are now increasingly involved also in martyrdom, what is their motivation? 72 virgins do not await the faithful Muslim woman who chooses martyrdom.

Raymond Ibrahim documents that a major motivation for Martyrdom is the Muslim teaching about the ‘torments of the grave’. Through Martyrdom, the Jihadi is expected to go directly into Paradise and escape the ‘torments of the grave’ and the possibility of missing out entirely and ending up facing torture for all eternity.

While Christian believers generally feel rather secure in their eternal salvation, that is not the case with Muslims. Allah is known to be rather arbitrary at times in his judgment and no Muslim is secure facing death unless they are involved in Jihad and martyrdom–then their ticket is punched for a blessed after-life.

Read the article, it is quite illuminating. *Top

-Tony Blair on the Marginalization of Christianity in the UK

Dr. D — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:49:56 +0000

(-Picture by Getty Images via Daylife)

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair recently spoke out about his faith and his concerns that Christianity is being marginalized in the increasingly secular UK. He is proposing that it is time for Christians to speak out in support of their faith.

He admits that as Prime Minister he was in a somewhat unique position where he felt like he was representing the whole country and really didn’t speak out about his faith as much as he probably should have. <<Read the rest posted on the Main Page>> *Top