ATTO SACRILEGO. Nefandezze che dovrebbero condannare questo libro, se non al rogo come usava in tempi più cattolici nella Chiesa (anch'essa più) cattolica, almeno al sequestro per i reati di istigazione all'odio religioso e al delitto che esso diffonde. Invece a difendere il Corano giungono zelanti coloro che dovrebbero difendere Cristo e la Cristianità. “Bruciare un libro è sempre un atto sacrilego. Non dobbiamo dimenticare che la prima cosa che fecero i nazisti, con la Notte dei cristalli, fu quella di bruciare i Talmud (che peraltro contengono anch'essi terribili offese a Gesù e alla Vergine, ndr), i libri dell'ebraismo”: questo lo sdegnato commento di monsignor Ambrogio Spreafico, presidente della commissione Cei per l'evangelizzazione dei popoli e il dialogo fra le Chiese nonchè vescovo di Frosinone.
PREOCCUPAZIONE FONDATA. L'unica cosa seria detta da mons. Spreafico è che il gesto esibizionistico di Jones “mette in pericolo la vita di centinaia di milioni di cristiani in tutto il mondo. Penso alle comunità cristiane dell'Iraq, del Pakistan o dell'Indonesia”. Questa preoccupazione fondata, non dovrebbe tuttavia indurre un vescovo cattolico a considerare un “sacrilegio” il rogo di un libro che offende quando di più sacro c'è nella religione di Dio. Ad uso della Cei e dei nostri lettori, ci permettiamo di riportare alcune delle, tante, amenità che si possono leggere nel Corano, prendendo spunto dall'edizione “moderata”, quella in versione italiana e diffusa nelle moschee d'Italia.
ECCO IL CORANO. “Combattete coloro che non credono in Allah e nell'Ultimo Giorno, che non vietano quello che Allah e il Suo Messaggero hanno vietato, e quelli, tra la gente della Scrittura, che non scelgono la religione della verità, finché non versino umilmente il tributo, e siano soggiogati” (IX, 29). “E quando il tuo Signore ispirò agli angeli: "Invero sono con voi: rafforzate coloro che credono. Getterò il terrore nei cuori dei miscredenti: colpiteli tra il capo e collo, colpiteli su tutte le falangi! E ciò avvenne perché si erano separati da Allah e dal Suo Messaggero. Non siete certo voi che li avete uccisi: è Allah che li ha uccisi” (VIII, 12-17). “Quando incontrate i miscredenti, colpiteli al collo finché li abbiate soggiogati, poi legateli strettamente” (LXVII,4). “Quando poi sono trascorsi i mesi sacri, uccidete questi associatori (chi crede nella Santissima Trinità, ndr) ovunque li incontriate, catturateli, assediateli e tendete loro agguati. Se poi si pentono, eseguono l'orazione e pagano la decima, lasciateli andare per la loro strada. Allah è perdonatore, misericordioso” (IX, 5). “La ricompensa di coloro che fanno la guerra ad Allah e al Suo Messaggero e che seminano la corruzione sulla terra è che siano uccisi o crocifissi, che siano loro tagliate la mano e la gamba da lati opposti o che siano esiliati sulla terra: ecco l'ignominia che li toccherà in questa vita; nell'altra vita avranno castigo immenso” (V, 33). “Uccideteli ovunque li incontriate, e scacciateli da dove vi hanno scacciati: la persecuzione è peggiore dell'omicidio. Ma non attacateli vicino alla Santa Moschea, fino a che essi non vi abbiano aggredito. Se vi assalgono, uccideteli. Questa è la ricompensa dei miscredenti” (II, 191).
Nell'immagine: San Domenico ordina un rogo di libri eretici.
http://www.ecclesiacatholica.it/ - 10 settembre 2010
Last Updated ( Friday, 10 September 2010 22:16 )
Saturday, October 30, 2010
La Cei dà i numeri: bruciare il Corano è da veri cristiani!
Islamici e filo americani: in Pachistan stuprate e uccise le bambine cristiane
PERSECUZIONE PERMESSA. Ai pakistani, alleati degli Stati Uniti contro i talebani, viene permesso di perseguitare tranquillamente la minoranza cristiana: nel paese dove i cristiani sono cittadini di serie C rispetto ai mussulmani, al 2009 sono state rapite 1.198 ragazze, 1.052 uccise. Gli ultimi episodi a Rawalpindi e Faisalabad. Nella prima località una bambina di 12 anni, Lubna Masih, è stata sequestrata da 5 maomettani. Era nel negozio sotto casa a prendere il latte: l'hanno caricata a forza su un'auto sotto gli occhi dei passanti. La piccola chiedeva aiuto disperatamente, nessuno è intervenuto.
INDEMONIATI. Trasportata nei pressi di un cimitero di periferia, la 12enne è stata violentata per ore da un branco di mussulmani indemoniati, finchè è morta. Il suo corpicino è stato gettato su un cumulo di rifiuti. Il medesimo orrore è toccato a Kiran Nayyaz, tredicenne di Faisalabad: la credevano morta, invece si è salvata. E' rimasta incinta e la Chiesa cattolica locale la sta aiutando come può.
NESSUNA GIUSTIZIA. Le famiglie delle vittime vivono nel terrore e non possono sperare di avere giustizia: tutti questi episodi rimangono impuniti e i cristiani che osano denunciare dei mussulmani finiscono regolarmente in prigione per calunnia: davanti al magistrato la parola di un maomettano ha, per legge, più valore di quella del cristiano, anche se si tratta della vittima e del carnefice.
http://www.ecclesiacatholica.it/ - 14 ottobre 2010
Last Updated ( Sunday, 17 October 2010 14:39 )
Tettamanzi, islam e libertà religiosa
BALUARDO DELLA CRISTIANITA’. In tutte queste, e molte altre, circostanze la Chiesa cattolica si erse a baluardo della Cristianità, organizzando Sante Crociate, Leghe Sante e Riconquiste. Ci furono anche Pontefici, come l’ingiustamente vilipeso e dimenticato Giovanni X, sanguigno Papa romagnolo, che brandirono la spada e marciarono alla testa delle milizie cristiane per debellare le teste di ponte allestite dagli islamici nella Penisola. Altri infervorarono e benedirono le truppe, implorando e ottenendo dal Cielo vittorie miracolose, come san Pio V per la battaglia di Lepanto: nessun Papa, nessun vescovo, nessun santo, nessun prete rinunciò alla legittima difesa della Chiesa e delle anime.
CONVERTIRE IL SULTANO. Neppure san Francesco, suo malgrado diventato il simbolo di certo ecumenismo senza Verità, fece o disse mai qualcosa che in qualche modo possa giustificare l’attitudine collaborazionista di Tettamanzi sull’islam. Francesco partecipò alla quinta Crociata con il proposito di convertire il sultano d’Egitto Malik al Kamil, come risulta nella biografia del santo scritta da san Bonaventura ove si riporta la testimonianza di frate Illuminato, presente all’incontro. Il sultano tentò di mettere in difficoltà Francesco, lamentando l’attacco dei crociati: “Il vostro Dio ha insegnato nei suoi Vangeli che non si deve rendere male per male... Quanto più dunque i cristiani non devono invadere la nostra terra?”. Francesco replicò saldamente e senza complessi di colpa: “Non sembra che abbiate letto per intero il Vangelo di Cristo nostro Signore. Altrove dice infatti: se un tuo occhio ti scandalizza, cavalo e gettalo lontano da te... Con il che ci volle insegnare che dobbiamo sradicare completamente... un uomo per quanto caro o vicino, anche se ci fosse caro come un occhio della testa, che cerchi di toglierci dalla fede e dall’amore del nostro Dio. Per questo – concluse Francesco - i cristiani giustamente attaccano voi e la terra che avete occupato, perché bestemmiate il nome di Cristo e allontanate dal suo culto quelli che potete. Se pero voleste conoscere il creatore e redentore, confessarlo e adorarlo, vi amerebbero come loro stessi”. Parole sante, praticamente un sunto della dottrina cattolica nei confronti dell’islam; allo stesso modo la sacrosanta premura della Chiesa è sempre stata quella di privilegiare il bene delle anime e della comunità rispetto ai pretesi “diritti civili”.
FEDE SMARRITA. Il cardinale Tettamanzi, invece, si fa promotore di una propagazione dell’islam sotto la Madonnina, e proprio mentre si scopre che alcuni seguaci di Maometto stavano preparando una strage nel Duomo e attentati a caserme e obiettivi civili. Per questo la Lega lo ha attaccato con toni fortissimi, parlando anche di Chiesa che smarrisce la fede. A nostro avviso, pur essendo evidenti gli errori di certi ecclesiastici (almeno rispetto a quanto insegnato per duemila anni dalla sacra Istituzione fondata da Cristo), il vero problema è che tanto la Chiesa (pur con encomiabili eccezioni) quanto la politica sono afflitte da certi “malanni di stagione”. Il nodo cruciale di questo tempo prende il nome di libertà religiosa. Anche nel Carroccio si fatica a trovare qualcuno che consideri necessario ripensare l’intoccabile principio. Ma in tal caso diventa arduo sostenere che la libertà di religione, quindi anche di costruire luoghi di culto, valga per tutti (satanisti compresi) tranne che per gli islamici.
ORTODOSSIA CATTOLICA. Dal punto di vista dottrinale, l’affermazione del principio della libertà religiosa è piuttosto recente. Lo ha sancito per la prima volta il Concilio Vaticano II, producendo non poco scandalo e rimostranze tra i cattolici maggiormente consapevoli. Lo stesso cardinale Alfredo Ottaviani, all’epoca prefetto del Sant’Uffizio e dunque tutore dell’ortodossia cattolica, si oppose fermamente (sebbene senza successo) a questo inaudito cambiamento, bollandolo come una specie di eresia. Le motivazioni del rifiuto sono evidenti anche all’occhio del profano: ciò di cui vi è libertà, risulta intrinsecamente legittimo; invece davanti a Dio non vi sarebbe legittimità alcuna, bensì grave colpa, nel professare il rifiuto della Parola divina: “Chi crede nel Vangelo e sarà battezzato si salverà, chi non crede e non sarà battezzato sarà condannato”, ammonì Cristo. Tuttavia, non avrebbe alcun merito una fede imposta. Così, ricordava il cardinale Ottaviani, la Chiesa, per Duemila anni, ha sempre parlato di “tolleranza religiosa”, ma mai di “libertà religiosa”. A differenza della libertà, che è oggettiva, la tolleranza può essere relativa, consentendo anche opportune e motivate restrizioni della stessa libertà. Allora, affermato questo principio, avrebbe un senso anche porre l’alt alla costruzione di moschee, perché la tolleranza viene sempre meno di fronte al pericolo.
http://www.ecclesiacatholica.it/ - written by Julio Ferrari - Last Updated ( Friday, 23 January 2009 11:51 )
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Quran and the Holy Trinity - Islam’s Mistaken Views of Basic Christian Doctrines
By Sam Shamoun
Introduction
As the readers may already know, a cursory reading of the Islamic scripture shows that the author of the Quran distorted or was grossly mistaken about the beliefs of Jews and Christians. For example, the author accuses Christians of holding certain theological and christological beliefs that do not correspond to the facts. The Quran erroneously assumes and condemns Christians for believing in three gods consisting of the Father, Mary his wife, and Jesus their offspring. Thus, the Quran erroneously assumes that the implication of Christian beliefs is that God acquired a son through procreation, that God and Mary had sexual relations in order to have Jesus their Son (God forbid such horrendous blasphemy!).
These distortions of biblical teaching and historic Christian beliefs are well known and often commented on by Christian writers, evangelists, apologists, polemicists, scholars etc. They are even admitted by secular writers and sources.
One such writer was the late Christian scholar and Islamicist E.M. Wherry, who commented on the Quran’s distortion of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in his A Comprehensive Commentary of the Quran. In reference to Sura 4:169[171] Wherry wrote:
Say not... three, "Namely, God, Jesus, Mary. For the Eastern writers mention a sect of Christians which held the Trinity to be composed of those three; but it is allowed that this heresy has been long since extinct (Elmacin, p. 227). The passage, however, is equally levelled against the Holy Trinity, according to the doctrine of the orthodox Christians, who, as Al Baidhawi acknowledges, believe the divine nature to consist of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; by the Father, understanding God's essence; by the Son, his knowledge; and by the Holy Ghost, his life." - Sale.
See also Prelim. Disc., p. 64.
The commentators Baidhawi, Jalaluddin, and Yahya agree in interpreting the three to mean "God, Jesus, and Mary," in the relation of Father, Mother, and Son. This misrepresentation of the Scripture doctrine again stamps the Qur'an as a fabrication, and furnishes the evidence of its being such on the ground of its own claims. The history of the Church, as well as the Bible, proves the statement of the text, as interpreted by authoritative commentators, to be false; for even granting that some obscure Christian sect did hold such a doctrine of the Trinity (of which statement we have yet to learn the truth), yet the spirit of Muhammad's inspiration represents it as the faith of the Christians generally. In almost every case where the Qur'an refers to the Christian faith, it is to inveigh against the idea that God has a son. See chap. ix. 31, xix. 31, xliii. 59. (Source)
Christian author and apologist Dr. Robert A. Morey noted that:
The Quran contains many errors about what Christians believe and practice.
One of the most significant is that the Quran misrepresents the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
Muhammad mistakenly thought that Christians worshiped three gods: the Father, the Mother (Mary), and the Son (Jesus), (Sura 5:73-75,116).
As Richard Bell pointed out:
[Muhammad] never understood the doctrine of the Trinity.
Encyclopedia Britannica states:
[There are] mistaken concepts of the Trinity in the Quran.
… In reality, Christians believe only in one God who is in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They do not believe that Mary is a part of the Trinity.
Even the Concise Dictionary of Islam admits:
In some cases the "material" which forms the substance of Quranic narrative, details of the creeds of Christianity and Judaism for example, does not correspond to those religion’s own understanding of their beliefs. This could be said, for example, of the notion of the Trinity found in the Quran, the story of Satan’s refusal to bow down to Adam, the Docetist view of the crucifixion, all of which can be traced to the dogmas of Gnostic sects, which are heretical in relationship to orthodox Christianity and Judaism. The Trinity "seen" in the Quran is not the Trinity of the Apostles Creed, or of the Nicene Creed. (Morey, The Islamic Invasion: Confronting the World’s Fastest Growing Religion [Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 1992], pp. 152-153)
Noted Protestant Church historian and Patristic expert Philip Schaff wrote regarding Muhammad’s mistaken views:
In rude misconception or wilful perversion, Mohammed seems to have understood the Christian doctrine of the trinity to be a trinity of Father, Mary, and Jesus. The Holy Spirit is identified with Gabriel. "God is only one God! Far be it from his glory that he should have a son!" Sura 4, ver. 169; comp. 5, ver. 77. The designation and worship of Mary as "the mother of God" may have occasioned this strange mistake. There was in Arabia in the fourth century a sect of fanatical women called Collyridians (Kollurivde"), who rendered divine worship to Mary. Epiphanius, Haer. 79. (Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume IV, Chapter III, "Mohammedanism in its Relation to Christianity", fn. 188; source)
Another Christian Islamicist named Richard Bell stated:
On the other hand, there are considerable differences between the Qur’an and the New Testament. It should be noted, however, that so far as the actual statements of the Qur’an are concerned, the differences are not so great as they are sometimes supposed to be. Modern scholars, Christian and Muslim, tend to read later controversies into the wording of the Qur’an. Thus the rejection of the doctrine that 'God is one of three' [5.73/7] is usually taken to be a denial of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity; yet strictly speaking what is rejected is a doctrine of tritheism which orthodox Christianity also rejects. Similarly the rejection of the fatherhood of God the Father and the sonship of God the Son is strictly speaking a rejection of fatherhood and sonship in a physical sense; and this Christianity would also reject. The Virgin Birth is taught [19.16-33/4], but is interpreted simply as a miracle. The denial that Jesus died on the cross [4.157/6-159/7] is primarily a denial that the crucifixion was a Jewish victory; but, in line with the absence of the conception of sacrifice, it means that the Qur’an never speaks of the atonement or saving work of Jesus. (Bell’s Introduction to the Quran, revised by Montgomery Watt, Chapter 9, "The Doctrines of the Qur’an"; source; underline emphasis ours)
Source: Answering-Islam.org
Friday, June 26, 2009
Islam and Christianity are forever diametrically opposed
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)
Surah 5:68 - Say: "O People of the Book! ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law (Torah), the Gospel (Injeel), and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord."Islam says that Jesus did not die. So, again --Islam has proven to be false; because Muhammad claimed the Gospel is true, and all 4 Gospels (Injil) testify that Jesus died and rose from the dead. God does have a begotten Son (not made, but one with the Father), which Islam denies. The Jewish Torah / Taurat (Tawrat) clearly indicated this over 1000 years before Muhammad and Islam. In addition their are collateral 1st century sources that testify that Jesus was put to death. In the "Annals" written by Roman historian Tacitus, in Book XV, Chapter 44 we read "Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius." Roman historian Josephus also wrote about the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Even Satan says that Jesus died on the cross. Also, the Roman Historian Seutonius wrote in his work "Life of the Emperor Claudius" the following about Christians: "and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws." The Roman historian Pliny wrote about Jesus' death in Book X of his Epistles. Julius Africanus, quoting Thallus another Roman historian, who wrote in about 52 A.D. about the miraculas happenings the day the Son of God was killed. He wrote: "On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down". Like Muhammad, Satan also cringes in fear at the sight of the cross. Read this true Exorcism here.
Surah 29:46 Muslims are told by Allah, not to question the authority of the scriptures of the Christians, saying, "And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one;
Proverbs 30:4 (700 B.C.): "Who hath ascended up into heaven or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in His fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the Earth? What is His name, and what is His son's name, if thou canst tell?"Even after Allah confirmed the Torah and Gospel, Islamic Mullahs and Imams have tried to sell the lie that the Christian Gospels and Jewish Torah have been corrupted.
(Psalm 2:11-12) Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
This a complete lie! This lie is perpetuated by Islam, because of all the historic, scientific, and simple mathematical errors in the Koran/Qur'an - as you'll see below... The Qur'an just doesn't add up.
"They" could not have changed the Christian Gospels after Muhammad, since there are 5,735 (Welte, 2003) manuscripts of the whole or part of the Greek text of the New Testament (Injil) pre-dating Muhammad still in existence. Worldwide, there are 24,800 copies of these original manuscripts. These include the Codex Vaticanus (325-350 AD) located in the Vatican library and the Codex Siniaticus (350 AD) located in the British Museum. There are also 80,000 quotations in the works of early Christian writers which are so extensive that the New Testament could virtually be reconstructed from them without the actual New Testament documents. Then there is the obvious fact that the Christian Gospels were so widely distributed both before and after Muhammad, that any attempt to change (add/subtract) something in the Christian Gospels would have resulted in immediate discovery and condemnation. Additionally, the New Testament was handed down from apostolic times and its genuineness was guarded by Christian churches, and it was zealously watched by enemies of Christianity. A very wide protest would have resulted from both sides were it tampered with. Likewise, the Septuagint edition of the Old Testament was always in the hands of both Christians and Jews, both rivals in religion. Any attempts to change this by either side would have been vigorously attacked.
There are four more "safeguards" for the integrity of the Bible. (1) Jesus Himself read from Isaiah scroll in a Synagogue in Nazareth and declared it as Scripture (inspired from God), Luke 4:16-21; (2) The Dead Sea scrolls, found in 1947, verified the Jewish Torah back to 100 AD to 200 BC, when they were copied. Prior to this discovery, the oldest Torah dated to the 9th century AD. The Dead Sea scroll of Isaiah verified almost exactly the Isaiah scroll copied in the 9th century; (3) Early Church Fathers like Ignatius, Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Irenaeus, who wrote from between 90-160 AD all cited in their writings Christian Gospel accounts (Guthrie, 1990, page 24); (4) We know that the writings of Moses were preserved as far back as 621 BC. 2 Kings 22 speaks of this at the time of the Israeli King Josiah. Ezra 7:14, Nehemiah 8:1-18, and Jeremiah 36 also speaks of the Jews maintaining Scripture.
Some versions of the Bible from 1881 differ in a few words here and there. However, the essential theological points remain the same and are complete. Bibles we recommend, that have not changed are: Protestants original Authorized King James (1611), Catholics Catholic Douay Reims - older versions
The Christian Bible predates Muhammad and Islam by more than 575 years. The Jewish Torah predates Muhammad and Islam by 1,000 - 3,000 years. Muhammad said for Muslims to read the Bible for "Guidance and Light." For Islam to say they are corrupted, then is to call Muhammad a liar for recommending it.
The same Bible Muhammad would have seen (if he ever did) is in both (1) The Vatican (Codex Vaticanus) and (2) British Museum (Codex Sinaticus). It is all there, including Jesus dying on the cross as atonement for our sins. And, His resurrection, and ascension into heaven - in front of many witnesses. The New Testament is preserved in almost perfect condition in these two Greek texts which both predate Muhammad and Islam by over 200 years.
Everything in the Christian/Jewish Bible is being authenticated by archeology. Consider the Babylonian cylinder inscription of Nabonidus (thought to be the last king of Babylon) which commemorates the reconstruction of a ziggurat at Ur by Nabonidus and records a prayer to Belshazzar (Daniel 5) his son 'the firstborn son, the offspring of my heart'. Not only does this prove that Belshazzar was indeed a member of the Babylonian royal family, which had long been disputed, but it also explains why Daniel is told he could be the third ruler (with Nabonidus and Belshazzar more or less acting as co-regents). Also, consider the 'chariot wheels' divers found in the Red Sea, proving the Hebrew Exodus from Egypy was real; and that the Egyptian army chasing the Jews was drowned by God (Yahweh), just as was recorded in the Jewish Bible.
Muslims should note that nowhere in the Qur'an there is even a suggestion that the Christian Biblical text has been altered or corrupted. The word "tahrif" is never used with reference to the Christian Gospels (Injil). The Qur'an occasionally accuses the Jews of altering their Scripture (like in Surah 5:13); but it never levels this accusation at Christians. It in no way implies that the text of the Gospel of Jesus (Injil) has been corrupted. In fact, the Qur'an attests to the validity of the Christian Gospels, Zabur (Psalms) and the Torah.
The uninspired Qur'an
The Jewish and Christian Bibles were written by "inspired men of God" who immediately committed God's Word to writing. Islam doesn't even have either an original or inspired Qur'an. The Muslim Qur'an was made up supposedly from "memory" from those who supposedly committed the words of Muhammad to memory, and from a few scraps found under a bed. This was originally begun about 15-20 years after Muhammad died at his wife Ayish's home in Medina, and he was lowered into a hole in the ground, where he remains. The compilation was not finished until at least 150 years after Muhammad's death. This "hearsay" argument seriously brings the credibility of the Qur'an into question. But, that's only the beginning. All the errors, including simple mathematical and historical errors you will see in the Qur'an below renders it impossible to be a divine revelation.
Al Bukhari, a Muslim scholar of the 9th-10th century, and the most authoritative of the Muslim tradition compilers, writes that whenever Muhammad fell into one of his unpredictable trances his revelations were written on whatever was handy at the time. The leg or thigh bones of dead animals were used, as well as palm leaves, parchments, papers, skins, mats, stones, and bark. And when there was nothing at hand the attempt was made by his disciples to memorize it as closely as possible.
Zaid b. Thabit said: “The Prophet died and the Qur’an had not been assembled into a single place.” (p. 118, Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muhammad al `Asqalani, ibn Hajar, "Fath al Bari", 13 vols, Cairo, 1939/1348, volume 9, page 9)
Zuhri reports, 'We have heard that many Qur'an passages were revealed but that those who had memorized them fell in the Yemama fighting. Those passages had not been written down, and following the deaths of those who knew them, were no longer known; nor had Abu Bakr, nor `Umar nor `Uthman as yet collected the texts of the Qur'an.
“During the battle of Yamama, 450 reciters of the Quran were killed.” (The True Guidance, An Introduction To Quranic Studies, part 4 [Light of Life - P.O. BOX 13, A-9503 Villach, Austria], p. 47- citing Ibn Kathir’s Al-Bidaya wa al-Nibaya, chapter on Battle of Yamama).
Muhammad's child wife said this after Muhammad died:
"The verse of the stoning and of suckling an adult ten times were revealed, and they were (written) on a paper and kept under my bed. When the messenger of Allah expired and we were preoccupied with his death, a goat entered and ate away the paper."
References: Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal. vol. 6. page 269; Sunan Ibn Majah, page 626; Ibn Qutbah, Tawil Mukhtalafi 'l-Hadith (Cairo: Maktaba al-Kulliyat al-Azhariyya. 1966) page 310; As-Suyuti, ad-Durru 'l-Manthur, vol. 2. page 13
As to the Taurat (Torah), Jewish scribes painstakingly copied it via a system of checking, double checking and adding each letter on each line. Any attempt to change something in the Torah would have resulted in immediate discovery and condemnation. And copies of the Torah from around the world agree exactly. Thousands of the Hebrew Old Testament manuscript copies are still available for textual criticism, ranging in age from the second century B.C. (Before Christ) to the eleventh century A.D. (After Christ).
Source: True History of Islam, Mohammed an the Koran
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Racial Hatred Arrest for Internet Blogger
THE END.
Posted: 23 Jul 2008 07:36 AM CDT
I was due to attend Greyfriars Police station today to answer bail regarding my arrest on ‘suspicion of stirring up racial hatred’ through written material on this blog.
I was advised by my solicitor/lawyer yesterday that he had spoken to DC Holden regarding my attendance at the police station today and he told him that a decision still had not been made concerning me and my case so they are going to be bailing me for a further few months.
So the leash is still around my neck, but it’s more of an extendable leash now, like the one you put your dog on so they can run a little further, rather than a chock chain.
I lost everything because of the drug dealing gangs of Pakistani Moslems from Luton, my home, by business, my way of life and over 18 months of my life.
And I thank God daily for it because my blog now stands as a testimony for others to read about what is going on in Luton & Dunstable, which is Al Qaeda’s frontline within Great Britain, and the Islamic community that has set up camp there.
There are many cowards out there who disrespect me but just remember you’re the one who ran away not me, I’m just taking a rest now.
Let’s not forget that Luton played a central role on 7/7 and during ‘operation crevice’ the biggest anti-terror operation in British history which saw the bomb maker of the plot who was a taxi driver from Dunstable wanting to buy a dirty bomb from the Russian mafia in Belgium, and the Emir of the plot who was also said to be the recruiter of the lead bomber on 7/7 Mohamed Siddique Khan also another Pakistani Moslem known as Q from Bury Park Luton.
All these known factual links to International Islamic Terrorism and Al Qaeda’s War against Great Britain from this one locality of Luton.
My blog is an on the ground assessment of what is happening on the streets of Luton & Dunstable with regards to the paramilitary force of British born Pakistani Moslems, and then beyond what is happening on the streets, out of sight and mind.
Blended into the Bury Park community of Luton, living in the shadows is Al Qaeda in Britain, trained courtesy of Osama Bin Laden and the terror camps of Afghanistan/Pakistan who are now recruiting and commanding their Moslem brothers on our British streets.
Jihad (Holy War) against us and our way of life for Islam is their message.
By the time the British State have decided what they want to do with me I will have lost another year of my life to them, having the stress of these legal proceedings hanging over my head, and then I could lose another year if they finally decide to charge me and all for writing and telling people what I see with regards to Islam’s War within Great Britain and against our Western Civilisation, and calling Moslems savages.
As an uneducated man and not politically correct I think savages fits them quite well after watching beheadings, suicide bombings on buses and trains, flying planes into towers, chopping off peoples limbs for the most trivial of offences, the hatred that is aimed at those outside of the religion, and the hatred towards women and homosexuals and all because of the teachings of the religion. The list could go on and on, these are just a few examples that spring to mind of why I call Moslems savages.
The politically correct term for those who have jobs and careers to protect is - Terrorist
Ok not all Moslems act in that way but if they class themselves as Moslems by carrying the label and embracing the religion then they condone what is at the core of the religion which is the teachings of a 7th Century barbarian who was a bloodthirsty warmongering child molesting paedophile false prophet rapist.
Many who claim the label ‘Moslem’ only do so because it has been passed down from the generations, they don’t know the true heart and soul of the religion because they have never delved into the deepest depths of the pit of the religion. Those who do know the heart and soul are the religious Moslems who are committed to furthering the agenda of the Islamic religion in Great Britain and are the driving force.
Those who profess moderation and peace are a different side of the same coin they just have a different way of achieving the end time goal which is Islamic Rule upon the British Isles. This is the mandate of the Islamic Religion that all Moslems if they are true Moslems must adhere to and carry out, those who profess moderation and peace are taking the long term approach and those conducting Holy War are taking the faster approach, but both have the same end result in mind and they both work in tandem together.
So don’t believe the lies.
If a Moslem doesn’t want to live under Sharia Law then he/she is not a Moslem, it is like me as a Christian saying I don’t believe in Jesus, its that simple, and we have 3+ million Moslems in our Country.
Those who carry the label ‘Moslem’ but know nothing about the heart and soul of the religion know in the back of their minds that if they reject the label then they face a death sentence from religious Moslems as an act of apostasy which is one of the most abhorrent things imaginable and has no place within our civilized society but as with many other things it is an integral part of the Islamic religion.
If a Moslem leaves the religion he/she must be murdered for this offence, and there are many willing Moslem murderers out there willing to please Allah by shedding Apostate blood.
Those who leave Islam should find a place of safety and sanctuary within our land, and the Church is the place where you will find it, then you can break off the shackles that bind you and receive the Love of Jesus Christ from His servants, those like Bishop Nazir Ali who knows all to well about Apostasy among many other things within Great Britain.
He himself is now a target of the military wing of Islam because he dared speak out on behalf of the British people about the Islamification of Great Britain; does this not tell you something that everyone who speaks negatively about Islam has to live under fear of death?
And this is supposed to be a civilized 21st Century democracy in which we live.
No wonder there are so many cowards out there, but what does the future hold for our children and grandchildren with so many cowards in society who are doing nothing about those who are seeking to destroy all of our futures?
We cannot escape the facts in today’s British society and what they mean to our futures although this present government would like to sweep them under the carpet by saying ‘Islam means peace’, ‘Moslem and terrorist are two words that don’t go together’, ‘Islamic terror is anti-Islamic activity’, and it’s a small minority, so as to dupe the gullible British sheep people into a false sense of security by believing the lies about Labours block vote and their pet project, the British Islam they are foolishly trying to create like the deranged Liberals that they are.
You can hear the Islamic World laughing at these spineless treacherous traitors as they take over our Country, who are leading Great Britain into the gutter, surrendering and appeasing at every opportunity to save their cowardly necks from the inevitable, even giving the Islamic Kingdom of Great Britain their first State sanctioned building blocks for their own autonomy upon our Island, and releasing Al Qaeda terrorists back out into our society.
The Liberal Elite and the Islamic Kingdom of Great Britain are working together towards the destruction of the British homeland and the ancient ‘Realm’ in which we have lived for generations in their quest for the unachievable utopian multi cultural dream which is nothing more than social psychosis being inflicted upon British society by those patients with the disease of Liberalism who are now in charge of the Asylum which is Great Britain who have tried their Marxist social engineering project on our society at our expense while they sit back in their tax paid ivory towers.
Over our dead bodies our enemies will have to climb to defeat and destroy the ‘Realm’ is the message from the British people, I am just one of many across the land; we will not let the sacrifices our forefathers made for us be in vain, we will fight for righteousness for the sake of our children and grandchildren who are relying on us.
I put one question to you here; what are you doing about the future for your children apart from sitting on your big behind watching TV, filling your store house for the uncertain future the World faces, and complaining about 21st Century British life.
”What does it profit a man if he gains the whole World yet forfeits his own soul”
Why not make a conscious decision today to do something, even the smallest of things because it is the smallest of things that go towards the bigger picture, just like each individual brick played in building Rome.
’Evil prevails when good men/women do nothing’
If you have read this then the decision is in your hands, decide to act and make a difference in this World in which you live or go back to your cowardly dark slumber that you believe is light because of what it contains and live out the rest of your days under the Lord God Almighty’s gaze but void of His shadow over your life because you reject to help defend His kingdom on Earth, and the innocent, weak and vulnerable people who are relying on those who God has ordained to hold back the darkness.
You are reading this for a reason, each and every person who clicked on this blog today and every other day.
Osama Bin Laden is the Anti-Christ who seeks to defeat America and destroy Christendom in the War he has declared on behalf of Islam, and the Islamic Republic of Iran are seeking Nuclear bombs so they can wipe Israel from the Earth.
How long until the world in which we live changes again forever with this present global conflict going to the next level and phase?
The Islamic Civilisation v The Judeo/Christian Civilisation – Nuclear War
Them or us no middle ground, are you playing your part or are you one of those people in denial of the truth, consumed with other meaningless things pertaining to daily life which are so insignificant in the scale of the bigger things happening within life on Earth.
What will be living through the coming Apocalypse be like and are you preparing?
As I will not be posting on this blog again and I do mean it this time, there is a facebook group that I have set up that needs some life brought into it so I would ask that those who have contributed here will come and contribute there and bring some life to the group.
It’s up to you though.
There is 18 months worth of video’s, writings, facts, opinions and beliefs on the pages of this blog, so there is enough for people to read who arrive here, and if the police have not got enough to charge me yet based on my whole blog then is it not about time they let me go so I can get on with my life?
These extra few months are not going to change anything, its not like I am going to wake up one morning and start telling people to burn out the Islamic Kingdom and hang the British traitors who are against us from London bridge is it?
My beliefs and opinions are on each page of this blog and I have never once called for murder or violence against others, so why was I arrested?
I breached ‘community cohesion’, and how dare British citizens breach ‘community cohesion’, those newly formed racial hatred units in the police force need to show some work for their funding after all so I was viewed as an easy target for the detected crime statistics considering I was open and honest on my blog.
”Touch not my prophets and do my anointed no harm”
Do the British State want to make me a martyr for my words? They know I would accept it gladly because to be a martyr in any form as a Christian is the highest calling God can place upon our heads and that includes dying for our faith. The only thing different between a Christians joy of dying for his/her faith is that they die out of love for others, where as Moslems die to kill others.
No Christian would ever commit suicide to murder others that it mass murder plain and simple, but Moslems based on their religion wrap it up as martyrdom with the prize of 72 Virgins for their actions.
Islam is nothing more than a creation of the devil as the facts emanating from its heart and soul clearly show, and those who cannot see it are blinded by a different form of devil.
Although I have enjoyed writing my point of view about the Jihad for others to read and hopefully shed some light for those who could not see, blogging does not put food on the table or a roof over your head, and those things are more important to me than writing words for others to read at this point in time.
I will be back at some point in the future but not on this blog, this blog is now finished.
A book is on its way as long as someone will dare publish it and of course you will be in it, my avid readers from Bury Park, how rude would it be of me not to mention you for the world to read after everything.
You think your something because you hunt in packs and have instilled fear in people because of your willingness to commit brutal acts of violence and murder but in reality you aint all that, you just have had longer time to prepare for what is happening now because the British people were oblivious to you and your Islamic intentions.
Now though things are loud and clear.
You switched the light of Almighty God upon yourselves the day your threatened my life. He knew exactly what was going to happen in Great Britain and in Luton & Dunstable that’s why He chose me to let the light of heaven shine through me into the darkness where you devils from the pit inhabit that threaten His people and Kingdom on Earth. I am called and anointed as every other Christian is, to live and serve under His shadow, so how dare you devils in the embodiment of Moslems from Bury Park threaten the Lord’s anointed, a servant and ambassador of Heaven, I serve the King, so take note of your brother Bobby Khan because God knows who each of you are, the very hairs on your head are numbered.
There will be nothing said or done in the darkness that will not be brought out into the light.
One will chase a thousand and two ten thousand and I alone have chased and surrounded the first thousand of you, with you now surrounded on all sides with no where for to run or hide because you sit in your small encampment upon my land, the land my forefathers built for me, so what a liberty for you, our guests to throw our hospitality back in our faces by declaring war, committing acts of war and seeking to take over.
What did you think the response would be?
And those Al Qaeda in the shadows who are nothing more than psychologically twisted human beings who need their perception of life reconfigured now know who I am, and it is my pleasure to say come get me, just like I said to the cowardly London flag burners, before the thief come gets you.
You started this, the line in the sand was drawn, you crossed it, and believe me God will finish it.
I can only say open that dark twisted mind, let a little light from above in and repent of your actions, open your heart and allow Jesus Christ the light of life into your life, and into your dark Islamic heart before it is too late for you whoever you are, wherever you are, and your eternal soul ends up in the true lake of fire.
We cannot both be right!
Lionheart of England
P.S I have one more thing I am waiting to post which I have been waiting on for about 4 months, so if it does finally arrive as ‘old news’ then I will post it, so keep checking back, and if not then God knows and its in His hands.
It is “All for the Glory of God” after all.
I am the Lord, that is my name; And my glory I will not give to another’ nor my praise to carved images.
Any posts that I do make from now on that I think are important will be posted on Radarsite.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
L'islam vu par Mgr Gaume
Dans la foi qu’il demande pendant la vie, est l’autorisation de piller, de tuer, de réduire en esclavage tout ce qui n’est pas croyant; après la mort, le gage de tous les plaisirs sensuels dans un paradis de voluptés.
On conçoit encore qu’en flattant les passions, le mahométisme a pu se faire d’innombrables partisans. Pour obtenir un pareil résultat, il ne faut être ni dieu, ni thaumaturge, ni saint, ni prophète.
X Il en est ainsi de toutes les prétendues religions qui ont paru dans le monde. Pas une seule qui n’ait dû son origine, ses progrès et sa durée à l’émancipation de l’une des trois concupiscences du coeur humain: l’orgueil, la cupidité, la volupté.
Moins opposée est la lumière aux ténèbres, que le Christianisme à toutes ces fausses religions. Seul il ne pactise avec aucune faiblesse; seul il attaque de front tous les vices et tous les penchants corrompus; seul il prêche toutes les vertus et ordonne tous les genres de sacrifices" (Mgr Gaume, Credo, le refuge du Chrétien dans les temps actuels, opuscule 1866, p. 8)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
A Letter to Mankind
Dear fellow human,
Today humanity is being challenged. Unthinkable atrocities take place on daily basis. There is an evil force at work that aims to destroy us. The agents of this evil respect nothing; not even the lives of children. Every day there are bombings, every day innocent people are targeted and murdered. It seems as if we are helpless. But we are not!
The ancient Chinese sage Sun Zi said, "Know your enemy and you won't be defeated". Do we know our enemy? If we don't, then we are doomed.
Terrorism is not an ideology, it is a tool; but the terrorists kill for an ideology. They call that ideology Islam.
The entire world, both Muslims and non-Muslims claim that the terrorists have hijacked "the religion of peace" and Islam does not condone violence.
Who is right? Do the terrorists understand Islam better, or do those who decry them? The answer to this question is the key to our victory, and failure to find that key will result in our loss and death will be upon us. The key is in the Quran and the history of Islam.
Those of us, who know Islam, know that the understanding of the terrorists of Islam is correct. They are doing nothing that their prophet did not do and did not encourage his followers to do. Murder, rape, assassination, beheading, massacre and sacrilege of the dead "to delight the hearts of the believers" were all practiced by Muhammad, were taught by him and were observed by Muslims throughout their history.
If truth has ever mattered, it matters most now! This is the time that we have to call a spade a spade. This is the time that we have to find the root of the problem and eradicate it. The root of Islamic terrorism is Islam. The proof of that is the Quran.
We are a group of ex-Muslims who have seen the face of the evil and have risen to warn the world. No matter how painful the truth may be, only truth can set us free. Why this much denial? Why so much obstinacy? How many more innocent lives should be lost before YOU open your eyes?
We urge the Muslims to leave Islam. Stop with excuses, justifications and rationalizations. Stop dividing mankind into "us" vs. "them" and Muslims vs. Kafirs. We are One people, One mankind! Muhammad was not a messenger of God. It is time that we end this insanity and face the truth. The terrorists take their moral support and the validation for their actions from you. Your very adherence to their cult of death is a nod of approval for their crimes against humanity.
We also urge the non-Muslims to stop being politically correct lest they hurt the sensitivities of the Muslims. To Hell with their sensitivities! Let us save their lives, and the lives of millions of innocent people.
Millions, if not billions of lives will be lost if we do nothing. Time is running out! "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." Do something! Send this message to everyone in your address book and ask them to do the same. Defeat Islam and stop terrorism. This is your world, save it.
The ex-Muslim Movement - www.faithfreedom.org
Friday, April 18, 2008
L'Islam vu par Mgr Freppel
... et l'Europe devint chrétienne. Mais il était dit que chaque victoire de la croix serait suivie d'un nouveau combat, et que l'antique serpent écrasé par l'étendard du salut relèverait la tête après chaque défaite. Un homme donc - car ici-bas, en tête du mal comme en tête du bien, il n'y a toujours qu'un homme - un homme, dis-je, essaya d'arrêter la croix dans sa marche triomphale. A cet effet, il prit quelques lambeaux de la Bible, arracha quelques feuillets de l'Évangile et, y mêlant ses rêveries, il en fit le Coran. Puis, comme symbole de l'opposition à la croix, il adopta le croissant et, enfin, à la place du glaive spirituel de la parole, il mit le glaive matériel qui frappe et qui égorge. Voilà son œuvre : le Coran, avec le croissant pour signe et le cimeterre pour garde ... Jamais peut-être la croix n'avait rencontré d'adversaire plus formidable. Qu'était-ce, en effet, que le mahométisme en face de la croix ? C'était la glorification de la volupté, le déchaînement de toutes les passions brutales, l'empire de la chair substitué au règne de l'esprit, les convoitises sensuelles transportées jusque dans le monde futur. Et cependant, malgré l'appât qu'offrait à des instincts grossiers cette religion toute pétrie de sang et de boue, en dépit de la complicité qu’elle rencontrait dans les bas-fonds de la nature humaine, l'étendard du sensualisme a reculé devant le drapeau du sacrifice ; et tandis que le croissant apparaît comme le symbole de la décrépitude et de l'abrutissement, la croix est restée, pour les nations rangées autour d'elle, le signe de la grandeur, de la force et de la vie.
Voir: Points de vue sur l'Islam
(Mgr Freppel, Sermons inédits, A. Roger et F. Chernoviz, édit., 1896, tome 1, p. 372-373)
Voir aussi: Mgr Freppel - (Christ Roi)
Iraq: Christians Say Targeting By Extremists Amounts To Genocide
Iraq's Christian community has been targeted by terrorists and sectarian militias (epa)
Iraq's Christian community says it is being targeted at an unprecedented level by insurgents, in what some claim amounts to a campaign of genocide carried out under the noses of Iraq and U.S. forces.
At least 10 churches have been bombed this year, two leading clergymen have been killed, and scores of worshippers targeted for practicing their religion. Though they make up only 3 percent of the population, Christians comprise nearly half the refugees fleeing Iraq, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.Figures on the prewar size of the Christian community vary, with estimates ranging between 800,000 and 1.2 million. Today, estimates on the remaining number of Christians in Iraq put the community at between 500,000 and 700,000.
Unlike other groups in Iraq, Christians do not have militias or tribes to protect them. In their absence, they have relied on coalition and Iraqi forces for protection, and say they have been let down. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to increase protection for the Christian community following the March killing of Mosul Archbishop Bulus Faraj Rahhu, but it does not appear that he has followed through on his pledge.
The first major attack against the Christian community in Iraq came in August 2004 when five Baghdad churches were bombed over a 30-minute period. The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) appeared to be responsible for the bombings, and for the majority of attacks that have since targeted the Christian community. The first bombings came in response to an influx of foreign Christian missionary groups following the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime. Christians said the proselytizing of foreign missionaries to Muslims was seen as an arm of the U.S. occupation, and the indigenous Christian community was made to pay for the foreigners' actions.
ISI's main goal is to establish an Islamic state on the ground in Iraq that adheres to strict Islamic law. Christians who have fled Iraq report being pressured by Muslim insurgents, both Sunni and Shi'ite, to convert to Islam or leave Iraq. As ISI grew in strength, it increased its campaign against Christians, hanging posters in Baghdad's Christian neighborhoods demanding Christian women veil their faces. Locals reported in June 2007 that nearly 200 Christian families had fled Baghdad's Al-Durah neighborhood with just the clothes on their backs.
The other main perpetrator of violence against Christians in recent years has been the Shi'ite militia led by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Imam Al-Mahdi Army. The Al-Mahdi Army waged a brutal campaign against the Christian community in Baghdad and Al-Basrah beginning in 2004, driving people from their homes, bombing Christian-owned liquor stores and hair salons, and imposing jizya, an Islamic protection tax on those wishing to stay in their homes. In May 2007, the militia ordered Christian women in Baghdad to veil or face grave consequences.
Dozens of churches across the country have since been bombed, and hundreds of Christians killed. Moreover, campaigns of kidnapping for ransom targeting Christians became a main tool of intimidation by insurgents. Those who have not fled Iraq entirely are internally displaced, with the majority living inside the northern Kurdistan region. Observers say those who remain in the south may be forced to worship underground if they are to survive. In Al-Basrah, which had a vibrant Christian community before the war, some say the community has fled altogether.
The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) reported in May 2007 that families in Al-Durah were told their property now belonged to ISI. One resident of Al-Durah told AINA in a March 2007 e-mail: "This has been going on for the past week, and it started even before Easter. We talked to many people within the American Embassy and Iraqi government, but it seems nobody really cares, because they have done nothing, or sometimes I wonder if they care at all. Neither the Iraqi nor the U.S. Army have any activity there, and they have delivered Durah to insurgents; and above all the U.S. Army went and put a camp in the Chaldean church [the Pontifical Babil College for Philosophy and Theology] to raise the hate among those Muslims toward Christians, as they are seeing them as allies for Americans, and that worsens things more."
As RFE/RL reported last year, Saudi gunmen holed up in Al-Durah demanded that each Christian pay 50,000 dinars ($40) in jizya to the mujahedin as the price for maintaining their religion, while ISI demanded Christians pay 250,000 dinars (about $200, the average monthly salary) to stay in their homes. Those who fled Al-Durah had to pay "exit" fees of $200 per person or $400 per car.
Europe May Offer Temporary Asylum
French and German officials have taken up the case of Christian refugees in recent weeks, saying they will push for their countries to give preference to Christians over other refugees fleeing Iraq, citing the bond of common faith.
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner confirmed last month that France will give refuge to nearly 500 Iraqi Chaldean Christians. The Chaldean church is aligned with the Roman Catholic Church and recognizes the authority of the pope. Kouchner said on March 19 that he hoped the Iraqis would be in France within weeks. Mar Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, told "Le Figaro" that visas for Christians were not a solution, the French daily reported on April 14. "What is needed is to work for peace in Iraq, rather than providing places for Christians so that they can go begging in Europe," Delly said.
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble pledged last week that his country may take up to 30,000 Christian refugees from Iraq. Schaeuble reportedly justified the focus on Christian refugees by saying Europe should accept those who were culturally closest to it. Schaeuble is offering temporary asylum, saying that those given shelter should return home once ethnic and sectarian tensions die down.
Meanwhile, in Canada, the advocacy group One Free World International has called on the government to make special provisions for taking in Christian refugees. Canada will reportedly admit some 2,000 Iraqi refugees this year, but has no specific provision in its quota for Christians. Nor does the United States, which says it will admit 12,000 Iraqi refugees by September 30. As of March 31, 2,627 Iraqis have arrived in the United States, according to State Department figures.
This week, members of the U.S. House of Representatives inaugurated the House Caucus on Religious Minorities in the Middle East. Iraqi religious minorities were on hand for the event, saying they would work to raise awareness in Congress to the violence and social displacement of minorities from once-integrated Iraqi cities.
It is debatable whether giving special preference to any group is a prudent policy. While there is no doubt that steps should be taken to preserve Iraq's Christian community, whose presence in Iraq predates the appearance of Islam, visas to far-flung countries may not be the best way to do it. Indeed, the decision by some countries to give preference to Iraqi Christians may backfire, and those Christians who remain in Iraq could become even more vulnerable to attack by insurgents than before.
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2008 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, April 11, 2008
St Clare, the Eucharist and the Fleeing of the Muslims
"Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you" Jesus
Years ago a sweet lady from my church offered me a very large and beautiful statue of St Clare of Assisi after I named my daughter Clare. I gladly accepted not knowing much about St Clare at the time except that she had bravely driven vicious soldiers from her convent while carrying Jesus in the Eucharist. It wasn't until I recently read Frank M. Rega's book St Francis and the Conversion of the Muslims that I realized that the Saracen soldiers that St Clare drove off-- were actually Muslims.
Clare was a beautiful Italian noblewoman who founded an order of nuns called the "Poor Clares." She was converted upon hearing St. Francis of Assisi preach. Thereafter, she developed a great desire to live a poor humble life for Jesus. She ran away from home, and in a little chapel outside Assisi, gave herself to God. St. Francis cut off her hair and gave her a rough brown habit to wear tied with a plain cord around her waist.
In the year 1240, St Clare saved her sisters and her convent from plundering hordes of Saracen mercenaries through the miracle of the Eucharist. As the Saracens were placing ladders against the walls of the convent she placed a monstrance containing the Eucharist in the sight of the men while she lay prostrate before Jesus and prayed. Here is an account of the incident from The History of Saint Clare, Virgin, written by Tommaso da Celano:“By imperial order, regiments of Saracen soldiers and bowmen were stationed there (the convent of San Damiano in Assisi, Italy), massed like bees, ready to devastate the encampments and seize the cities. Once, during an enemy attack against Assisi, city beloved of the Lord, and while the army was approaching the gates, the fierce Saracens invaded San Damiano, entered the confines of the monastery and even the very cloister of the virgins. The women swooned in terror, their voices trembling with fear as they cried to their Mother, Saint Clare.
“Saint Clare, with a fearless heart, commanded them to lead her, sick as she was, to the enemy, preceded by a silver and ivory case in which the Body of the Saint of saints was kept with great devotion. And prostrating herself before the Lord, she spoke tearfully to her Christ: ‘Behold, my Lord, is it possible You want to deliver into the hands of pagans Your defenseless handmaids, whom I have taught out of love for You? I pray You, Lord, protect these Your handmaids whom I cannot now save by myself.’ Suddenly a voice like that of a child resounded in her ears from the tabernacle: ‘I will always protect you!’ ‘My Lord,’ she added, ‘if it is Your wish, protect also this city which is sustained by Your love.’ Christ replied, ‘It will have to undergo trials, but it will be defended by My protection.’ Then the virgin, raising a face bathed in tears, comforted the sisters: ‘I assure you, daughters, that you will suffer no evil; only have faith in Christ.’
Upon seeing the courage of the sisters, the Saracens took flight and fled back over the walls they had scaled, unnerved by the strength of she who prayed. And Clare immediately admonished those who heard the voice I spoke of above, telling them severely: ‘Take care not to tell anyone about that voice while I am still alive, dearest daughters.’”
According to Wikepedia "the term [Saracens] spread into Western Europe through the Byzantines and Crusaders. In the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the Saracens were a nomadic Moor tribe from the Sinai Peninsula...
After the rise of Islam, and especially at the time of the Crusades, its usage was extended to refer to all Muslims, including non-Arab Muslims, particularly those in Sicily and southern Italy. In Christian writing, [saracens came] to mean "those empty of Sarah" or "not from Sarah," as Arabs were, in Biblical genealogies, descended from Hagar and also called the Hagarenes."
St Clare, pray for conversion of the world to Christ and His Church--and for Christians to realize the immense gift Jesus gave us in the Eucharist. It is precisely because the world has lost its faith in Jesus and the Eucharist that we now face the suicidal depopulation of the West and the ensuing invasion of Islam. Only through the eating of the flesh of the Son of God will we carry Jesus life within us and bravely command every evil to flee our midst.
From Real Clear Religion: 10/04/08 08:24
Friday, April 4, 2008
St. Francis of Assisi: Not a Birkenstock-Clad Hippie But a Converter of Muslims
An Interview with Frank Rega, author of St. Francis and the Conversion of the Muslims
By Michael Baggot, Thursday April 3, 2008
The relationship between Muslims and Christians received added attention this past Easter when Pope Benedict XVI publicly baptized Magdi Allam, the most prominent Muslim journalist in Italy. Allam knew that publicly renouncing his Islamic faith would bring attempts on his life from angered Muslims, but expressed conviction that his newfound faith would sustain him through any difficulties.
"You asked me whether I fear for my life, in the awareness that conversion to Christianity will certainly procure for me yet another and much more grave death sentence for apostasy. You are perfectly right. I know what I am headed for but I face my destiny with my head held high, standing upright and with the interior solidity of one who has the certainty of his faith." Allam stated.
"And I will be more so after the courageous and historical gesture of the Pope, who, as soon as he knew of my desire, immediately agreed to personally impart the Christian sacraments of initiation to me. His Holiness has sent an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too prudent in the conversion of Muslims."
Pope Benedict XVI's action in St. Peter's on Easter Vigil shows that the Catholic Church's increased emphasis over the last decades on dialogue and mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims does not exclude efforts to bring Muslims to faith in Jesus Christ.
In December, Catholic author Frank M. Rega released Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims; With Concise Biography of the Saint, a book that has received much praise for its biographical portrait of the renowned saint and its highly pertinent focus on St. Francis's relationship with Muslims of the time.
"If you're tired of portraits of St. Francis as little more than a Birkenstock-clad hippie, a Peace Corps social worker, or an effeminate tofu-eating Green Party activist, read this book," wrote Dr. Philip Blosser on his blog.
During the Fifth Crusade to Egypt, St. Francis of Assisi walked into a Muslim camp in order to preach Christianity and convert the sultan. Rega's new book recounts St. Francis's bold encounter with the sultan and other important events from the life of the man from Assisi some claim more closely imitated Jesus Christ than any other saint in history.
In line with its reporting on major cultural issues, LifeSiteNews interviewed Frank M. Rega about his new book and his perspective about the lessons St. Francis has for the world and Catholic-Muslim relations.
LifeSiteNews: Could you summarize the history of the Fifth Crusade?
Frank Rega: Michael, thank you and LifeSiteNews for inviting me to talk about my book on St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims. Your first question is very appropriate since it is important to set the stage for this historic encounter.
The Fifth Crusade was first called for by Pope Innocent III in 1215 at the Lateran Council. Innocent personally knew Francis and had approved his Rule in 1209 when Francis and his first followers went to Rome to seek Papal acceptance for his new Order. The crusade got underway in 1217 under Pope Honorius III. It lasted for four years, and was lost by the crusaders.
The goal was to first take Egypt before attempting to reach the Holy Land. In 1219 Francis was present in Egypt at the city of Damietta on the Nile, with some of his friars. That port city was eventually captured by the crusaders and held for over a year. But it was returned to the Muslims in 1221 after a crusader march on Cairo failed miserably, and the Christians gave up the crusade.
It was during a period of truce during the battle over Damietta in September 1219 that Francis preached to the Muslims, crossing over to the Muslim camp with Brother Illuminato, who was probably the interpreter.
LifeSiteNews: Why did St. Francis of Assisi support the Fifth Crusade?
Frank Rega: Francis understood that the Fifth Crusade was part of an ongoing just war in response to Muslim invasions of Christian lands, which included many attacks against Italian city-states all along the peninsula over the course of centuries. For example, in the year 846, Rome itself was sacked by 11,000 Muslims, who desecrated the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul.
Further, the crusade was called for by the Holy Father, and it is well-known that Francis had perfect loyalty to the Catholic Church, and showed devout respect for priests and all the hierarchy. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, he felt the crusade was justified on spiritual grounds. As mentioned in the book, Francis told the Sultan "It is just that Christians invade the land you inhabit, for you blaspheme the name of Christ and alienate everyone you can from His worship."
LifeSiteNews: What did St. Francis say and do when he entered the Muslim camp?
St. Farancis and the SultanFrank Rega: It is important here to recognize the bravery of Francis. He preached to armed Muslims who a few days before had won a major skirmish at Damietta, killing about five thousand Christians. The Sultan, al-Malik al-Kamil was also the general of the Muslim army, and ruler of Egypt, Syria and Palestine. Francis first obtained permission from the Papal Legate to cross over the lines during a period of temporary truce. When he reached Muslim territory he and Brother Illuminato were taken prisoner, beaten and put in chains by the sentries.
Here we have an image of St. Francis that is utterly opposed to the statues of a docile friar surrounded by birds and other animals - St. Francis beaten and in chains! He was fully prepared for martyrdom. Upon meeting the saint, al-Malik asked him if he was a messenger from the crusaders. Francis replied that he was indeed a messenger, but a messenger from God. He then proceeded to give witness to his love for Jesus, and said that he wished to save the souls of the Sultan and his men.
LifeSiteNews: How did the sultan and his followers react to St. Francis's words and deeds?
Frank Rega: Initially the Sultan was taken aback by Francis' boldness. After all, the Muslims had just defeated the Christians in a pitched battle, and now one of them dares to state that the Muslims must convert to Christianity. However, the love flowing from Francis began to move the Sultan, and according to one contemporary writer, "that cruel beast became sweetness himself." However, the advisers to al-Malik, the imams, were not so impressed, and demanded that Francis and Illuminato should be beheaded in accordance with Islamic law.
Francis and his companion remained in the Muslim camp for many days, and parted on excellent terms with the Sultan. There is a story in the early Franciscan literature, described in my book, that al-Malik converted to the True Faith on his deathbed.
LifeSiteNews: Is a crusade against Islam needed today? If so, how should it be conducted?
Frank Rega: A traditional crusade by definition cannot be conducted today because it was a movement within Christendom to defend and counter-attack Muslim invasions of Christian lands. It was sponsored by the Church and relied on the support of Christian rulers and Kings. Without the backing of a strong Christendom, which no longer exists, a crusade as such would be impossible.
Furthermore, today an armed religious war would not be fruitful since the real battle is a "cold war" so to speak. It is a war of persuasion, conversion, and diplomatic dialog, since the Muslims have already launched their peaceful "invasion" of what was once Christian Europe. Of course I am only addressing the religious aspects here, and not the war on terrorism, which is in the secular domain.
LifeSiteNews: Do you think that Christian-Muslim dialogues have helped relations between the two groups or have they simply obscured the Christian mandate to go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature?
Frank Rega: There is no doubt that ecumenism since Vatican II has diluted and weakened the efforts at evangelization. On the other hand, diplomatic dialog is quite necessary; for example, in negotiating to have the Saudi's allow Catholic worship and churches in their nation. But the pendulum is swinging towards the more traditional view of converting unbelievers rather than only dialoging for the sake of mutual understanding. One indication of the paradigm shift is the very public reception of Magdi Christiano Allam into the Church by the Holy Father himself.
Also, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document last December reminding Catholics that ecumenical efforts should not cause us to neglect the gospel mandate to seek the conversion of others to Christ. This must be accomplished without coercion, but rather by a dialog of conversion. This is what Francis did in his conversations with the Sultan.
The problem arises with a certain philosophy of ecumenism that seeks some type of indefinite mutual coexistence of differing religions, or worse yet, that would strive for a for "pan-religion" by the merging of religious traditions. This approach is a denial that the Catholic Religion is the one true faith founded by Jesus Christ.
LifeSiteNews: What can St. Francis teach Christians of today about relating to Muslims?
This brings up a second point, the necessity to be strong in the basics of our Faith. One cannot relate as a Catholic to another religion while being hesitant, for example, about the truth of Christ's Resurrection from the dead on Easter.
Finally, Francis shows us that we must keep it simple. Simplicity was one of the hallmarks of his personality and of his approach to Christianity. Spiritual strength flows from the simple understanding and belief that Jesus is God, that he founded a Church to transmit the grace of salvation in His Name, and that Church is the Roman Catholic Church.
See previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Message of the Pope's Baptism of Prominent Muslim: Be Not Afraid to Acknowledge Christianity as The Truth:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08032509.html
The Implications of Fundamental Islamic Expansion in North America
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08030504.html
Jesus and Muhammad's Words, Actions, Teachings Contrasted
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/080305a.html
Abandonment of Judeo/Christian Heritage Has Left West Vulnerable to Fundamental Islam
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08030613.html
Multiculturism a Factor Turning Moderate Muslims Radical?
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/080306a.html
Visit the site for Rega's latest book:
http://members.aol.com/fmrega7/francisandconversion.htm
Visit Rega's site:
http://members.aol.com/frankmrega/
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Be Not Afraid to Acknowledge Christianity as The Truth
Message of the Pope's Baptism of Prominent Muslim: Be Not Afraid to Acknowledge Christianity as The Truth
Wouldn't it be obvious that true Christians would want all people to know the truth? Not the relativist Christians.
Editorial by John-Henry Westen
March 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Saturday night at the Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI baptized Magdi Allam, one of Italy's most prominent Muslims who upon his conversion took the name Cristiano - which means Christian. Allam, the Deputy Director of one of Italy's largest newspapers - Corriere della Sera - wrote of his baptism the following day, saying, "Yesterday evening I converted to the Christian Catholic religion, renouncing my previous Islamic faith . . . For me it is the most beautiful day of [my] life."As a prominent Muslim critic of Islamic extremism and terrorism, Allam had already received many death threats and had official Islamic death warrants - fatwas - signed against him. He was thus forced to live under constant security. He underwent his very public reception into the Catholic Church with the full knowledge that it would lead to much more dire death threats. "I know what I am headed for but I face my destiny with my head held high, standing upright and with the interior solidity of one who has the certainty of his faith," he wrote.
The most important part of Allam's Easter Sunday message, however, was the portion where he pointed out that the Pope made a "historical gesture" in personally baptizing him in a public event that would be televised worldwide. "His Holiness has sent an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too prudent in the conversion of Muslims, abstaining from proselytizing in majority Muslim countries and keeping quiet about the reality of converts in Christian countries," he said.
Allam surmised that the Church was acting thus, "out of fear. The fear of not being able to protect converts in the face of their being condemned to death for apostasy and fear of reprisals against Christians living in Islamic countries."
While true in many cases, that fear is used as an impetus for a relativistic attitude which has been creeping into Christianity for decades. The approach sees Christianity not as the one and only truth, but one truth among many. The phenomenon also expresses itself in dealing with the various denominations within Christianity. Thus invitations to convert to Christianity - or from one denomination to another - are quietly tolerated at best, and at times openly criticized, even by those who call themselves Christian.
For instance, take the recent debacle in the Church of England over homosexuality. The result has been a fracturing of the Church of England between those who wish to remain true to the Scriptures and those who have embraced sexual immorality. A group of the faithful were looking to enter the Catholic Church en masse. The Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), which may represent as many as 400,000 Anglicans, was speaking with Vatican officials about such a move.
One would think the reaction of those within the Catholic Church would be a heartfelt reception with open arms to brothers who are struggling to hold to the truth about human sexuality amidst turmoil within their denomination. Insiders reported that Pope Benedict would be pleased to receive the group; however, the reaction of one high ranking Church official spoke volumes about the relativistic attitude of many Christians.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, commented on the proposed entrance of the TAC into full communion with the Catholic Church, suggesting that the Church was resistant to the move. "We are on good terms with the Archbishop of Canterbury and as much as we can we are helping him to keep the Anglican community together," Cardinal Kasper told The Catholic Herald in a story published December 6, 2007.
When asked whether he felt encouraged by the TAC's request, the cardinal replied: "It's not our policy to bring that many Anglicans to Rome." He added, "Of course, as a Catholic I am happy if one person joins our Catholic Church but I doubt such a big group is coming - I think there are still many questions to solve first."
The question of conversion of the Jews to Christianity raises the same point. A worldwide controversy was stirred up after Pope Benedict gave general permission for the Tridentine form of the Latin Mass to be celebrated. Nominally Jewish groups - such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) - complained bitterly that praying for the conversion of the Jews was unacceptable.
The Good Friday prayers in the 'extraordinary form' - as the Latin liturgy is now called - contains prayers for the conversion of the Jews to Christianity. A slightly revised version issued by Pope Benedict reads: "Let us also pray for the Jews: that God our Lord might enlighten their hearts, so that they might acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Savior of all mankind. Let us pray. Let us bend our knees. Almighty and eternal God, whose desire it is that all men might be saved and come to the knowledge of truth, grant in your mercy that as the fullness of mankind enters into your Church, all Israel may be saved, through Christ our Lord. Amen."
A similar uproar to the Good Friday prayers occurred in the secular media when conservative pundit Ann Coulter spoke on air with CNBC's Donny Deutsch about her desire for all people, Jews included, to become Christian. Deutsch became hysterical when Coulter tried to explain that Christianity considers itself the continuation of Judaism, and thus Christians wish followers of Judaism to complete the journey - "we want Jews to be perfected" she phrased it.
Deutsch called Coulter's comment uneducated, "hateful and anti-Semitic" and went so far as to compare her to Iran in wishing to "wipe Israel off the earth." Again the ADL complained bitterly, calling Coulter anti-Semitic.
But why the hue and cry about Christians hoping the Jews will convert? Wouldn't it be obvious that Christians, true Christians, who believe in and follow Christ as 'the way, the truth, and the life' would want all people to know the truth?
It would be obvious to true believers of any religion, but not to relativists.
Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Yehuda Levin, the spokesman on moral issues for some 1000 Rabbis, explained this to me once in an interview on the Coulter kerfuffle. Rabbi Levin noted that Coulter's remarks could not be construed as anti-Semitic and that Jews who practice their faith were not scandalized by the remarks. "The Orthodox are very comfortable in their beliefs of their religion and their practices," he said. "The Jews who would be more offended by this are those that are not involved in day to day practice of Judaism."
Michael Medved, the well known practicing Jew and movie reviewer, commented on Coulter's remarks saying, "(A)ny American Jew who doesn't already understand that sincere Christians want the whole world ultimately to come to Christ - including us - is an ignorant fool. Yes, Christianity believes in converting people: and most of us received that memo about 2000 years ago. The proper response to the declaration that Christians want all of humanity to become Christian shouldn't be outrage or indignation; it ought to be, 'Duh!' If your friends or neighbors seek to share with you the greatest gift they've ever received, it's not usually a sign that they hate you; in fact, it's very likely an indication that they love you."
Levin pointed out moreover that true followers of Judaism, like true Christians and sincere believers in several other religions, feel they have the fullness of truth, and thus in charity hope for a day when all people will embrace the fullness of truth. He explained that especially on Jewish holidays special prayers are said, even several times a day, especially for non-Jews, that they will come to accept the truth.
All this is not to dismiss the very valid concerns over the safety and well-being of converts to Christianity from Islam. The newly baptized Cristiano Allam points out that even in Italy there are "thousands of Muslim converts to Christianity who are forced to hide their faith out of fear of being assassinated by Islamic extremists who lurk among us." He hopes that the Pope's action and his testimony will allow Christian converts from Islam to live their faith openly. "If in Italy, in our home, the cradle of Catholicism, we are not prepared to guarantee complete religious freedom to everyone, how can we ever be credible when we denounce the violation of this freedom elsewhere in the world?" he asks.
Allam suggests, "Benedict XVI, with his witness, tells us that we must overcome fear and not be afraid to affirm the truth of Jesus even with Muslims."
We must also reject the fear of public criticism and belittlement that comes from many quarters when we give public affirmation to faith in Christ. Giving in to such fear leads to a false ecumenism, which is nothing more than relativistic denial of absolute truth.
In his own Easter message delivered Sunday, Pope Benedict called on not only Christians, but all "men and women whose spirit is sincerely open to the truth," to realize that "Jesus Christ died and rose for all; he is our hope - true hope for every human being."
Welcome home Cristiano, and also to the battlefield.
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Further reading: Homepage Magdi Allam
