Blasphemy Laws Protect Islam, Persecute Christians in Algeria, and in the United States

Christ is Risen!

The below story, of an Algerian Christian being convicted on blasphemy charges and sentenced to five years in prison, is yet another example of why Facing Islam is so urgent.  More and more even here in America, sharing our Christian faith is portrayed as criminal, as hate speech, as by our very nature we are presenting Truth against the sea of falsehood which surrounds us.

But are we sharing our faith and presenting the Truth enough? We have become quite soft here in the United States and Canada, so reluctant to express our concerns about Islam for fear of offending anyone, of appearing intolerant, that we place ourselves under virtual house arrest, and enable, by our silence, the spread of that which is truly intolerant, the supremacist, totalitarian belief system of Islam, which has as its aim in the U.S. and Canada a "'Civilizational-Jihad Process', with all the word means".  To continue this quote from a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood in America internal memorandum:

"The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is kind of a grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house."

The Muslim Brotherhood, swiftly rising to power in Egypt and elsewhere, does not openly operate in the U.S., using instead front groups like CAIR (council on American-Islamic Relations), ISNA (Islamic Society of North America), ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America), MSA (Muslim Student Association), and others.  All these MB front groups share this common goal, of using our very civil liberties against us, through stealth jihad, legal jihad ("lawfare"), immigration, etc., so as to further an Islamic takeover of the United States and Canada. In the words of CAIR chairman and co-founder,  Omar Ahmad, "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran... should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth."

We are already seeing street evangelists unlawfully arrested for preaching the Gospel to Muslims in places like Dearbornistan MI. Another recent case in Philadelphia involved unlawful arrest and intimidation of Christians sharing the Gospel with Muslims. To the extent Islam and the Left advance their agendas, stories like the following will be seen more and more right here in America, as our right to freedom of speech is stripped away:

Washington -- International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that an Algerian Christian was sentenced to five years imprisonment for blasphemy in Oran on Wednesday after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. The verdict came days after authorities forced the permanent closure of seven Protestant churches in Algeria's Béjaia province.

Siagh Krimo was charged by the Criminal Court of the Djamel District in Oran, who based their decision on Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code which criminalizes acts that "insult the prophet and any of the messengers of God, or denigrate the creed and precepts of Islam, whether by writing, drawing, declaration, or any other means." Krimo has ten days to appeal the sentence.

Krimo, who is married with a nine month old child, was arrested on April 14, along with another Christian, Sofiane, after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. Sofiane was released soon after the arrest, while Krimo was detained for three days. Krimo was known to hold weekly prayer services at his home, which Algerian Christians suspect were being closely monitored by the police.

The prosecutor at Krimo's trial, held on May 4, failed to present as a witness the neighbor who accused Krimo of proselytizing and making defamatory statements against the Muslim prophet Mohammad. Algerian Christians were hopeful that Krimo would be acquitted of all charges. "Good news, the judge, after having invited Krimo to use wisdom and return to Islam, has ended the affair," an Algerian church leader in Tizi Ouzou told ICC on May 4. "We hope this will end well."

The prosecutor, doubtful he would win the case on so little evidence, reportedly asked the judge to have Krimo's sentence reduced to a two year imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinar. However, some believe that higher authorities in the Algerian government were involved in reaching the final decision. "The judge would have normally acquitted Krimo of all charges, but I think he received an order from his superiors to strike hard," said an Algerian representative of the Association of Protestant Churches (EPA).

Krimo's sentence follows an order received by the EPA on May 22 to close seven Protestant churches in the province of Béjaia. The notice stated the churches are to be closed in accordance with Ordinance 06-03, which requires churches to obtain government permission to hold services. Though the EPA has made efforts to comply with the ordinance, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Religious Affairs have refused to register churches or to approve permits quickly.

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "Algerian Christians have been under attack in recent weeks as laws have been increasingly enforced to discriminate against them. Earlier this week, seven churches in Béjaia were ordered to close. Now, an Algerian Christian is on the verge of being unjustly imprisoned for accusations of criticizing Islam. While Algeria professes that it upholds religious freedom, it also embraces a blasphemy law that, by its very nature, can be used to prosecute anyone who does not adhere to the religion of Islam. We urge Algeria to acquit Siagh of all charges and repeal Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code."

AINA News Agency

A Malaysian Journey from Darkness

by the Anti Jihadist

For most Americans and those reading this, the nation of Malaysia--the country I call home--is likely nothing more but a mysterious, distant, small and relatively unimportant land. Some of you might be familiar with Malaysia's carefully cultivated public image of being some sort of harmonious multicultural tropical paradise, which is recycled endlessly in 30-second-long television spots both here and overseas.

But for anyone who may be trying to come to grips with the grim reality that is Islam, Malaysia may be one of the most important places on the planet. That's because anyone who still, despite all the evidence, feels that there really is a moderate, progressive, tolerant and peaceful Islam, need look no further than Malaysia. Once you do, you'll be thoroughly disabused of this notion.

My own awakening to Islam is mostly a tale of ignorance and more than whiff of denial, punctuated by sudden, shattering and irreversible epiphanies. I say 'shattering' because the ideas that I embraced as I grew up--that Islam is just one religion of many, and doesn't particularly pose a threat to anyone--does not withstand anything more than a cursory examination of the facts. And as the evidence piled up and my doubts grew, those old notions I had held previously, like a sheet of plate glass, came apart under the hammer blows of truth.

The first blow to my complacency was that dark day in Lower Manhattan nearly ten years ago. Like so many others reading this, I was horrified at the televised scenes of destruction and carnage in New York and Washington. How could any rational human feel otherwise? But as the days and months passed after September 11th, I starting hearing Malaysians say, over and over, that the US Government was lying about 9-11, that it was a 'set up' and a plot against Islam. And that the Jews were really behind it, of course. As I realised how sincere these Malaysians were in these outlandish ideas, I thought, "What makes so many people in this country prone to this nonsense?" At the time, the exact answers eluded me, but my budding doubts about Islam festered.

Another devastating blow came when Doctor Azahari Husin, a well educated Malaysian who had willingly and savagely butchered hundreds, maybe thousands of innocents, both Muslim and 'infidel' alike, became the most notorious terrorist in Southeast Asia, When he was buried in his hometown here in Malaysia in 2005. I read about it in the Malaysian newspapers. The local media did their best to humanise the man, and his funeral was like a hero's sendoff, well attended by hundreds of Malays who screamed 'Allahu akbar' as his coffin was lowered into the ground. The Malaysian government said nothing about Azahari's passing, not even a perfunctory condemnation of his wanton deeds. In addition, Azahari's own family has, to this day, steadfastly refused to apologise for any of Azahari's long list of crimes. I remembered thinking at the time, "What kind of government and what kind of family could refuse to condemn a mass murderer?' My doubts grew apace.

It was about this time when I began my own private investigation into Islam, to go beyond apologetic Malaysian government textbooks and misleading press accounts. Finding nothing credible in the local, heavily censored bookshops, I searched online. Soon I discovered the carefully-researched work of Robert Spencer. His words online, and in his book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam reeked and shouted of the truth, a truth I had sensed for some time but which I had long failed to see its full dimensions.

The last and final blow that destroyed my impressions once and for all about Islam actually began for me before the late Dr. Azahari's demise. That final nail in the coffin, the most damning evidence, came to my attention because I had had the audacity to fall in love with a Muslima, a Malay 'born' into Islam solely by accident of birth. And as our relationship blossomed, I discovered to my chagrin many more Malaysian lies, ones that are never to be heard in those 30-second 'Tourism Malaysia' TV spots. This wonderful woman that I have now in my life, I learned, must apply in a Muslim court if she wants permission to leave Islam. Of course such permission has never been granted to any Malay. And anyone that is foolhardy enough to ask for that permission is promptly shunted away for a lengthy sentence inside a government-operated religious prison, which the government here disingenuously calls 'religious rehabilitation centres'. And of course, the punishment does not stop there--there's the loss of one's livelihood, fines, loss of social standing, and more. Does this sound 'moderate' or 'tolerant' to you? This fascistic system is real and is not condemned let alone questioned by any Malaysian.

Consequently, Malaysia is only 'moderate' in the sense that its apostates 'only' face detention, not death as is the law in many other Muslim countries. And such a draconian system is completely in line with Islamic ideology and teachings. Why else would no Muslim dare oppose, or not be able to oppose such a totalitarian system on Islamic grounds? They can't, lest they be deemed apostates themselves.

Faced with a system such as this, I've turned to blogging at Infidel Bloggers Alliance and at my own site Pedestrian Infidel  as an outlet for my thoughts and frustrations. Of course, if I ever dare utter the truth a bit too openly, or anything else that does not fit the Official Line, I am quickly warned by my friends. "Quiet! Do you want to get in trouble?" Fear is never too far away in this country.

In fact, being a counterjihad blogger in Malaysia is, to be honest, like being the only sane person in an insane asylum. Everyone around you is either unwilling or unable to see reality in its true form--they can only perceive a distorted misshapen sort of reality. But this 'alternate' reality is the one that everyone accepts as natural and true. Any thoughts otherwise are not only unthinkable, they are inconceivable. Such is life with the inmates of Islam.

To risk using a borderline hoary cliche, my circumstances here are a bit like the plot from the first Matrix movie (the one good Matrix movie, I mean). In that movie, the main character stumbles onto the truth, but it's such a dangerous truth that it totally undercuts not only the authority, but the very reality of society itself--its assumptions, its norms, its very foundations. It is exactly the same here in this corner of Planet Islam, knowing as I know, that there can never be peace and freedom as long as there is Islam in the world.

I go about my life everyday in Malaysia with this incredibly dangerous knowledge in my mind. No amount of propaganda from the brain-dead media or government spin can erase what I know. So, it's best to keep it sealed carefully away, and this is what I do, although it has grown increasingly difficult over the years. Were it not for the net, I would have no outlet at all. So for that, I am grateful, especially to Mr. Spencer for granting me this opportunity to write for his site.

Let those in the world who value their freedom remember this. As I have learned in my own life, once a totalitarian entity like Islam takes your freedom from you, you'll have a massive fight on your hands to get it back. If freedom-loving people can take heed of this warning, then that makes all the risks I face worthwhile.

Source: Jihad Watch

On the Rewriting of Greek History

By Monk Moses the Athonite

March 26, 2011

Recently there have been attempts at a shameful rewriting of our history. Neither few nor many connoisseurs agonizingly are trying to convince us that four centuries of Ottoman domination, the great Ottoman Empire, was an ideal period of cooperation, association and communication with our enslaved ancestors, our hapless serfs. The study of Ottoman archives brought to light strong evidence, they say, that the Turks were noble, casual, generous and very polite. Many Modern Greeks are wondering, worried and seriously troubled about the aim of the authors and exponents of these original and unsubstantiated views. 190 years after the Greek Revolution in 1821, they are rewriting our history.

How can it be seriously shown that the Greeks acquired a national consciousness just before the Greek Revolution of 1821? The common origin, the same language, the same religion, similar ethics and customs, do they not show a national consciousness from Greek antiquity? During the Hellenistic and so-called Byzantine era does there not continue a culture lived and created after the famous ancient Greek race? Are clergy, scholars, writers and travelers in error when they speak loudly about how before and after the fall of Constantinople there was a brilliant continuation of Hellenism? Are there not documents that speak of exorbitant taxes for the enslaved, the martyrdoms of the Orthodox, violent Islamization, kidnapping and the making of janissaries? Were the bold fighters, Kleftes and Armatoloi, guerrillas and fugitives as we heard recently? Was the cause of the uprising of 1821 of a purely economic nature? Didn't Marxists theorize in a congress of theirs thirty years ago these monolithic theories?

We do not shout in vain because we have settled and established views that are affected, because this is how we grew up, because it suits us, because we fear being contradicted, because we do not have strong arguments. We are not accustomed to yelling, and not afraid to diverge from non-established new views. In 1821, they say, the Greek nation was established. What existed before? Who dwelled here? Who were those who inhabited here? Do they want to say that in 1821 there was founded the Modern Greek state? Should historians confuse the terms nation and state? Greek history is not given to controversy, ratings and speculation. Our history should not be dramatized and casually humiliated. Let us not insult the spilled blood of heroes for our freedom today. Anyone can submit their personal interpretations of history. But there should be acceptance by all, discussed quite seriously and openly. Will we remove the foustanella and kariophili from the militants and put on them "blue jeans" and automatic weapons? Did not the heroes of 1821 fight "for the holy faith of Christ and the freedom of the country?" Did they shed their blood for economic recovery and the establishment of a nation-state? Did it not start from the Monastery of Agia Lavra? From where did it start? From a tavern? Are the Secret Schools a myth, and the involvement of clergy in the Greek Revolution a fairytale? For 190 years our historians told us such serious lies? Why? So many years we were immature and now suddenly matured to accept the great truth hidden by Mr. Veremis? The truth comes in the deletion of myths? Truth means forgetfulness of oblivion. A vigilant, correct, fair memory of historical events. Why invent and hold on to so many myths? Perhaps it is not a myth and in this lies much truth? Should not the study of the Ottoman archives be extended to the Russian, Austrian, English and even in other Greek anecdotes?

A historian cannot by personal ideology and a strong bias delete without question by a stroke of the pen the offerings of the clergy and Church in the Greek Revolution, throughout the course of the country. This is not a simple debate, defending the honest and blood-stained raso, but an intense and wholehearted protest. The leaders of the newly-formed history have a joyless role, known and ordinary, one without shame, an unnecessary and unwaged war against the sanctified, the righteous and the beautiful. They strike at the Church, Orthodoxy, religion, the clergy, and monasticism. They say in a mature enough time it will level. But the last word of history, the dot and dash, others will surely provide. The Revolution began with the blessing of the Church on 3/25/1821, the day of the Annunciation. The Annunciation brought the resurrection of our doleful and sweet homeland.

Source: Mystagogy 

"I am warning you... Take the situation seriously!"

The 'Charter of Privileges': Proof of a Peaceful, Tolerant Islam?

Christ is Risen!

There is a document kept at St Catherine Monastery at Mt Sinai which, it is claimed, was written by Muhammad, and which is significant for the protections it offers for Christians under Islamic rule, not only those of the Monastery, and not only in the seventh century, but, it is claimed by some, for all Christians for all time.  This is acknowledged to not be the original document, but a copy, and is significant for the religious tolerance, protection for non-Muslims, and pluralistic cachet it presents. Supposedly written by Muhammad himself in 628 A.D., this document, if authentic, would be an enormously important artifact, and could cause a tectonic shift in the battle for the soul of Islam supposedly being waged between the zealous and extremely motivated radical Islamists (the Egyptian Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, etc.), and the apparently not so zealous or motivated 'Moderate' Muslims, who seem unwilling or unable to refute the Islamists.

This document, the 'Charter of Privileges', is pointed to by those with little background in the subject of Islam as the definitive statement on Islam's true nature as the 'Religion of Peace' (and Tolerance!). From time to time a Muslim spokesman presents it, it goes viral, and well-intentioned non-Muslims post it, share it, and hold it up as a rebuttal to those who dare criticize or ask legitimate questions about Islam.

For the record, below is the English translation of the 'Charter', as provided by Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq, with their prefatory comments and concluding statement:

In 628 C.E. Prophet Muhammad (s) granted a Charter of Privileges to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai. It consisted of several clauses covering all aspects of human rights including such topics as the protection of Christians, freedom of worship and movement, freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their property, exemption from military service, and the right to protection in war.   An English translation of that document is presented below.

This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.No compulsion is to be on them.Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries.No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight.The Muslims are to fight for them.If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).

This charter of privileges has been honored and faithfully applied by Muslims throughout the centuries in all lands they ruled.

Sadly, the 'Charter of Privileges' is not any sort of definitive statement on Islam, and has never been taken to be such by any Islamic authority or school of Islamic jurisprudence for the nearly fourteen centuries since Muhammad founded the religion.

The New Martyrs of Batak, Bulgaria - Faithful Witnesses for Christ to Strengthen Us in Our Trials

Excerpted below is a key paragraph from the full story of the martyrdom of the Orthodox faithful of Batak, Bulgaria at the hands of the Muslim Turks. This horrific, genocidal slaughter of nearly a whole people was a violent spasm of Islamic hatred and desperation before Bulgaria was liberated in 1878 from the Muslims by the Russians and Romanians, with help from the Bulgarian militia (the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878).  Let us keep in mind that this is an example of how Islam, when it finally gains ascendancy, treats non-Muslims who refuse to submit. The Batak Golgotha is the same phenomenon as the Armenian Genocide, in which 4.5 million Orthodox Christians (and other non-Muslims) were martyred — as at Batak — by the Muslim Turks.  May we follow the heroic example of the Bulgarians' unswerving faith in Christ, and may we be aided by their heavenly intercessions!

Australia Gets it Right - Says 'No' to Sharia

Dr Mark Durie, Australian pastor and author of two highly recommended books on Islam, discusses the recent decisive negative response of the Australian Attorney General to Islamic requests for implementation of Sharia law.  Dr. Durie's clear, concise article can help us in the United States who are working to prevent and expel any Sharia encroachment in our country.

In a related news story, America's leading expert on Sharia and how it relates to U.S. law, David Yerushalmi, reveals the results of an extensive study conducted by the Center for Security Policy, which concludes that Sharia is already being used in 23 states, even when it goes explicitly against the Constitution or state law:

New Study Finds Shariah Law Involved in Court Cases in 23 States CSP

Washington, DC, May 17, 2011 - The Center for Security Policy today released an in-depth study-- Shariah Law and American State Courts: An Assessment of State Appellate Court Cases. The study evaluates 50 appellate court cases from 23 states that involve conflicts between Shariah (Islamic law) and American state law.  The analysis finds that Shariah has been applied or formally recognized in state court decisions, in conflict with the Constitution and state public policy.

Canaries in the Coalmine Pt 1: The Copts

Al Masiah Qam!

Christ is Risen!

I have been following for some years now news stories concerning the growing persecution of Egypt's Coptic Christian community at the hands of intolerant Muslims. The killing of six Copts on Christmas Eve (Jan 6) 2010 by Muslims was one of the few recent incidents to gain any mainstream media coverage here in the United States. Along with the Jewish State of Israel, the Coptic Minority in Egypt is at the front lines of the Islamic resurgence in the Middle East, with the current era of persecutions dating back almost half a century.

Significantly, Muslim persecutions against the Copts takes on the form of a de facto return to the pre-secular age of Islamic domination of Egypt and North Africa which began in the late seventh century, when the Copts and other conquered peoples were forced into humiliating submission under the dhimma contract. By the terms of this contract, the subjugated non-Muslims could practice their religion, but could not build new churches (or synagogues), nor repair existing ones; they had to pay a crippling jizya tax; a non-Muslim man could not marry a Muslim woman, nor hold a superior office with authority over Muslims. The jizya was due annually, and if not paid by any of the non-Muslim community, opened the entire community up to the threat of jihad attacks, looting, and murder, holding the entire community hostage in fear.

Wikipedia offers a responsible survey of this alarming trend of persecution against one of the world's oldest Christian communities, noting that:

In Egypt the government does not officially recognize conversions from Islam to Christianity; also certain interfaith marriages are not allowed either, this prevents marriages between converts to Christianity and those born in Christian communities, and also results in the children of Christian converts being classified as Muslims and given a Muslim education. The government also requires permits for repairing churches or building new ones, which are often withheld. Foreign missionaries are allowed in the country only if they restrict their activities to social improvements and refrain from proselytizing. In 2010, Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh wrote a piece for the Hudson Institute describing the treatment of Christians in Egypt as akin to apartheid...

The last quarter of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty first have seen a deterioration in relations between Muslims and the Coptic minority in Egypt. This is seen in day-to-day interactions such as the insulting of Coptic priests by Muslim children, but also in much more serious events such as attacks on Coptic churches, monasteries, villages, homes and shops, particularly in Upper Egypt during the 1980 and 90s. From 1992 to 1998 Islamist extremists in Egypt are thought to have killed 127 Copts.

By the end of the 1990s, in Minya province "an ancient center of the Coptic faith", five churches, two charity organizations, and 38 mostly Christian-owned businesses had been burned. Witnesses described the destruction as having been carried out "by gangs of young Muslims wielding iron bars and Molotov cocktails and shouting `God is Great!`" The police have been accused of siding with the attackers in some of these cases. And in Southern Egypt, there were problems in which involves terrorists going into monasteries, harassing, capturing, and torturing monks (such as the 2008 attacks on the monks of the Monastery of Saint Fana).

Some observers have connected the robberies, extortion and "collection" of "taxes" from Copts to the belief by Islamists that the traditional Jizya poll tax on non-Muslims should be reinstituted. Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mustafa Mashhur expressed this belief in a 1997 interview.

Islam scholar Raymond Ibrahim reveals the twisted Muslim attitude towards the Copts in his article "Were Conquered Christians Really Liberated Muslims?" in which he critiques author and sharia expert Fadel Soliman's new book, Copts: Muslims Before Muhammad:

[Soliman] asserts that, at the time of the Muslim conquest of Egypt (c. 640), the vast majority of Egyptians were not, as history has long taught, Christians, but rather prototypical Muslims, or muwahidin, who were actually being oppressed by Christians: hence, the Muslim conquest of Egypt was really about "liberating" fellow Muslims. Soliman's evidence is that the Arian sect, which rejected the claim that Jesus was coequal with God, was present in 4th century Egypt. Therefore, according to Soliman, the indigenous Egyptians were practicing "proto-Islam" hundreds of years before it was founded in the 7th century.

As with much of modern academia's approach to Islam, this thesis is based on pure fiction. While the Arians were pronounced heretics at the Council of Nicea (325) for their interpretation of the Trinity, they nonetheless accepted all of Christianity's core tenets—including original sin, crucifixion, resurrection, and salvation—all of which directly contradict Islam's teachings. What an imaginative stretch, then, for Soliman to portray the Arians as prototypical Muslims, simply because they did not believe Jesus was coequal with God (a standard that would make many people today "Muslims").

Needless to say, no historian has ever suggested that Muslims invaded Egypt to liberate "proto-Muslims." Rather, the Muslim historians who wrote our primary sources on Islam, candidly and refreshingly present the conquests as they were—conquests, for the glory and empowerment of Islam and its followers at the expense of unbelieving infidels.

Of course, with the weakening of Islam in the modern era, embarrassed Muslims began to euphemize their imperialistic history, portraying jihad as "defensive," "spiritual," etc.—culminating with Soliman's fairy tale. Even the unapologetic Sayyid Qutb, the sheikh of "radical Islam," interpreted jihad and the conquests as "altruistic" endeavors to "liberate" mankind.

Ibrahim's full article is well worth the read, as it helps us gain some insight into the Muslim mindset, and how under Islamic rule the most horrendous atrocities are justified. In the case of the Copts, Muslim attitudes present a convoluted mess of motivations waiting to erupt into violence. Seen as kuffir, that is "unbelievers" and therefore sub-human, the "worst of all creatures" as stated in the Koran, the Copts are in real danger of being exterminated as the Islamist revolution in Egypt plays itself out. Mark Durie has written recently of his fears for the Copts as well: "We seem to be on the verge of witnessing a tragic, and even catastrophic assault by radical Muslims on the Christians of Egypt."

A more recent article by Dr Durie expands on the obvious Muslim efforts at reinstituting the dhimma:

In recent weeks a series of incidents in Egypt give evidence that, post-Mubarak, the Copts are being pressured to assume the time-warped status of dhimmis, a captive people in their own native lands, whose status is to be tightly circumscribed by traditional sharia law.

The ancient dhimma pact, which determined the status of non-Muslims after Muslim conquest and occupation, includes specific regulations limiting the construction, repair and maintenance of churches, as well as the public display of religious symbols and public performance of rituals. Muslim legal authorities based these regulations on the model of the Pact of Umar, a treaty attributed to the second Caliph, ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab, around the time of his conquest of Syria in 634-638. A version of this pact can be found in Ibn Kathir's highly respected commentary on the Qur'an, from which various quotations below are taken.

Now, 1400 years later, a series of assaults on churches in Egypt have demonstrated the enduring power of this piece of paper to control the lives of Middle Eastern Christians today.

The Copts only earthly hope is emigration, or placating the Muslims through voluntarily adopting dhimmi practices such as paying the jizya and keeping a low profile. We must at least offer our prayers for these our persecuted brethren. Their eternal hope is undiminished.

The Copts are suffering because they are a Christian minority in a Muslim country. St Mark established the See of Alexandria in the first century. Egypt was Christian for five hundred years before being conquered by Islam, and remained a Christian majority for centuries more until Muslim domination and persecution turned it to a Muslim majority in the twelfth century. Today's Coptic Christians are "canaries in the coal mine," their systematic persecution by Muslims evidence of the rise of Islam, the return of jihad and the dhimma, and the resulting smothering of human rights and freedoms throughout the Muslim world.

There is no 'moderate' Islam. Only Islam. Its goals are unchanged from the time of Muhammad. Its goals include forcing the whole world to submit to the rule of sharia. Islam has its sights set on America. Coptic Egypt has much to teach us, if we but have the courage to honestly learn.

Recommended Reading:

Raymond Ibrahim: Were Conquered Christians Really Liberated Muslims?

Mark Durie: The Dhimma Time Warp Returns for the Copts of Egypt

Egypt Copt Killings: World Attention Sought

Time To Unmask Muhammad

Geert Wilders: Time to Unmask Muhammad

English translation of an op-ed piece that Geert Wilders published March 30, 2011 in the Dutch magazine “HP/De Tijd.”

To know why Islam is a mortal danger one must not only consider the Koran but also the character of Muhammad, who conceived the Koran and the entirety of Islam.

The Koran is not just a book. Muslims believe that Allah himself wrote it and that it was dictated to Muhammad in the original version, the Umm al-Kitab, which is kept on a table in heaven. Consequently one cannot argue with the contents. Who would dare to disagree with what Allah himself has written? This explains much of Muhammadan behaviour, from the violence of jihad to the hatred and persecution of Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims and apostates. What we in the West regard as abnormal, is perfectly normal for Islam.

A second insuperable problem with Islam is the figure of Muhammad. He is not just anyone. He is al-insan al-kamil, the perfect man. To become a Muslim one must pronounce the Shahada (the Muslim creed). By pronouncing the Shahada one testifies that there is no god that can be worshipped except Allah, and one testifies that Muhammad is his servant and messenger.

The Koran, and hence Allah, lays down that Muhammad’s life must be imitated. The consequences of this are horrendous and can be witnessed on a daily basis.

There has been much analysis of Muhammad’s mental sanity. In spite of all the available research, it is rarely mentioned or debated. It is a taboo to discuss the true nature of the man whom one and a half billion Muslims around the world regard as a holy prophet and example to be followed. That taboo must be breached in the West, and here in the Netherlands.

Ali Sina is an Iranian ex-Muslim who established the organisation for apostates of Islam Faith Freedom International. In his latest book he posits that Muhammad is a narcissist, a paedophile, a mass murderer, a terrorist, a misogynist, a lecher, a cult leader, a madman, a rapist, a torturer, an assassin and a looter (*). Sina has offered 50,000 dollars for the one who can prove otherwise. Nobody has claimed the reward as yet. And no wonder, as the description is based on the Islamic texts themselves, such as the hadiths, the descriptions of Muhammad’s life from testimonies of contemporaries.

The historical Muhammad was the savage leader of a gang of robbers from Medina. Without scruples they looted, raped and murdered. The sources describe orgies of savagery where hundreds of people’s throats were cut, hands and feet chopped off, eyes cut out, entire tribes massacred. An example is the extinction of the jewish Kurayza tribe in Medina in 627. One of those who chopped off their heads was Muhammad. The women and children were sold as slaves. Confronted with the lunacy of Islamic terrorists today, it is not hard to find out where the lunacy comes from.

In Vienna the women’s rights activist Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff was recently sentenced to paying a fine for insulting a religion by calling Muhammad a paedophile. However, that is the truth. Numerous hadiths contain testimonies by Muhammad’s favourite wife, the child wife Aisha. Aisha literally says: “The prophet married me when I was six years old, and had intercourse with me when I was nine.”

According to the historian Theophanes (752-817) Muhammad was an epileptic. Epileptic crises are sometimes accompanied by hallucinations, perspiration form the forehead and foaming at the mouth, the very symptoms which Muhammad displayed during his visions.

In his book “The other Muhammad” (1992) the Flemish psychologist dr. Herman Somers concludes that in his forties the “prophet” began to suffer from acromegaly, a condition caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland, a small organ that is situated just below the brain. When the tumor in the pituitary gland causes too much pressure in the brain, people start to see and hear things that are not there. Somers’s psychopathological diagnosis of Muhammad’s condition is: organic hallucinatory affliction with paranoid characteristics.

The German medical historian Armin Geus speaks of a paranoid hallucinatory schizophrenia. A similar analysis can be found in the book “The Medical Case of Muhammad” by the physician Dede Korkut.

In his book “Psychology of Mohammed: Inside the Brain of a Prophet” Dr. Masud Ansari calls Muhammad “the perfect personification of a psychopath in power.” Muhammad had a unhinged paranoid personality with an inferiority complex and megalomaniac tendencies. In his forties he starts having visions that lead him to believe he has a cosmic mission, and there is no stopping him.

The truth is not always pleasant or politically correct. On the basis of the research referred to above it can be argued that the Islamic creed obliges one and a half billion people around the world, including the one million living in the Netherlands [and the 2+ million living in the United States - RHS], to take Muhammad as their example. There is no turning back once one has become a Muslim. For even though article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that every person has the right to “change his religion or belief,” in Islam there is a death penalty for leaving the faith.

Anyone who voices criticism of Islam and Muhammad is in grave personal danger – as I have experienced. And whoever attempts to escape from the influence of Islam and Muhammad risks death. We cannot continue to accept this state of affairs. A public debate about the true nature and character of Muhammad can provide insight and support to Muslims all over the world who wish to leave Islam.

Apostates are heroes and more than ever they deserve the support of freedom loving people all over the world. Party politics should not be at play in this matter. It is time for us to help these people by exposing Muhammad.

Geert Wilders is an MP in the Netherlands. He is the Chairman of the Party for Freedom (PVV)

This article was published in the Dutch weekly magazine “HP/De Tijd” of March 30, 2011

(*) http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=104835

Source

Tend My Flock

Greetings All,

Christ is Risen!

In this post I am going to offer a few words of introduction before pasting below a brief article by Bill Warner, founder and director of the Center for the Study of Political Islam.  Mr. Warner runs an extremely informative and helpful website and blog, and has some unique ways of approaching the subject, which is why I will refer to his work from time to time. Bill Warner can help a reader generally unfamiliar with Islam to get "up to speed" in a short time frame.

In this article, Warner presents a compelling case as to why Christian pastors desperately need to educate themselves on the true nature of Islam, where it deviates from Christianity, how it threatens us, and how that can impact their flock.  He by no means exhausts the subject, but even with this brief treatment he makes his point convincingly.

As Orthodox we might, of course, make a few adjustments to Mr. Warner's presentation. But his central point is, I believe, irrefutable. In fact, it is precisely and only the Orthodox Church which has been confronted with and persecuted by Islam since the seventh century. Orthodoxy alone has over a millennium of experience in refuting Islam, suffering under Islam, and being liberated from the tyranny of Islam. Who better to 'tend the flock' than the Orthodox Church?

Which brings me to another favorite point of mine, closely related to the above. In standing up for Christian orthodoxy against Islam's belligerent, supremacist theological jihad, the Orthodox Church bears a unique burden, and is under, I contend, a divine imperative. Together as The Church, and individually as Her Members, as Members of the Body of Christ, we must Live, Proclaim, and Confess the Truth of our Faith. Light has no fellowship with darkness, nor the Truth with lies, nor Christ with Belial, and the Church, the Bride of Christ, has no fellowship nor commonality with the false and satanic religion of Muhammad, nor with the perverse and evil deity of Islam, Allah.

Instead, we open our hearts to Muslims of good conscience — those who are sincerely seeking the God of Truth — proclaiming to them the Gospel of Life, Hope and Light, the Good News of Jesus Christ, as it has been lived in His Church for two millennia.  We invite them to abandon and reject their false religion, and come to Faith in the Incarnate Logos and Son of God.  This is the brave, evangelical, missionary approach I urge our Orthodox shepherds to take. This is the divine imperative, which we have from the Lord, the Apostles, and the Fathers.

And now, on to Bill Warner's timely piece:

'God is slandered as a deceiver'

Christ is Risen!

Throughout the course of Holy Week, and with gathering intensity from Holy Thursday on, certain themes are repeatedly drawn to our attention during the divine services. The profound irony and cosmic juxtapositions in the Fifteenth Antiphon of the Matins of Great and Holy Friday provide some of the most memorable examples:

Today is suspended upon the Tree, He Who suspended the earth upon the waters...

One could spend a great deal of time surveying the many themes presented, but the one which struck me most forcefully was this line, given over and over again during the services of Holy Thursday, Friday and Saturday:

God is slandered as a deceiver.

Of course, we understand intellectually what this means. Jesus, the incarnate Logos of God, the Divine Second Person of he Holy Trinity, is deemed guilty of blasphemy by the Sanhedrin, and condemned to die between two criminals. He is humble beyond imagination, but when pressed, answers truthfully to Caiphas' question. He makes 'the good confession' and is crucified.  He speaks the truth (He IS the Truth!), yet is called a liar.

God is slandered as a deceiver.