Archbishop Mark (Arndt) of Berlin on Islam and Muslim Persecution of Christians

Islam is at its core anti-human... Reading the Quran, you will see that all of this [extremism] lies at the foundation of Islam. One must look truth in the eye: this is all anti-human, it is directed against humanity... 

Yes, there were times when Muslims tried to live in peace with their neighbors, they even acknowledged that we Christians are people, too. But for many, those times have passed, and now they reveal who they really are.  — Archbishop Mark (Arndt) of Berlin (Full citation below.)

How refreshing and encouraging to read clear, direct truth from an Orthodox Christian hierarch, in which he does not offer such false platitudes as the following:

Islamic State now aggressively pursuing Christians in Nineveh Plain

Catholic Online

July 24, 2014

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – The militia of the self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate having successfully driven all the Christians and Shiites from the city of Mosul in Iraq, has stepped up their campaign on ruthless persecution.

“The attack started from a village controlled by jihadists,” Father Paul Thabit Mekko, a Chaldean priest told the Fides news agency, “but was rejected by the Kurdish Peshmerga troops.

“In the night, panic had driven dozens of Christian families to flee to Dohuk, but the Kurdish soldiers who were controlling a checkpoint told them that the situation was under control and could return home.”

Both towns lie north of Mosul. It was at this besieged Iraqi city that an ultimatum from the Islamic State last week . to either convert to Islam or die, left the ancient city devoid of Christians. The Peshmerga are known to be fierce troops, fighting for a Kurdish independence movement in the north of Iraq.

As the Fides news agency outs it, on the one hand, the attack represents proof that the militia of the Islamic Caliphate are not content with controlling Mosul and would like to extend control over the Nineveh Plain. 

Patriarch decries ‘mass cleansing’ of Mosul by ‘a bed of criminals’

“We have to tell them that we have been here for millennia. We don’t have any ambition to fight any people, any community, or have ambition to govern or to make coup d’etat, but we have the right to live peacefully in the land of our forefathers as we did for the past 2,000 years.”

Pravmir — July 26, 2014

WASHINGTON (Today's Catholic News) — Syriac Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan, in Washington to meet with federal government representatives and members of Congress, decried the “mass cleansing” of Christians from Mosul, Iraq, by what he called “a bed of criminals.”

“We wonder how could those criminals, this bed of criminals, cross the border from Syria into Mosul and occupy the whole city of Mosul … imposing on the population their Shariah (law) without any knowledge of the international community,” Patriarch Younan said July 25, referring to Islamic State fighters, formerly known by the acronyms ISIS or ISIL.

“What happened is really kind of a cleansing based on religion. You have heard about what they did: proclaim — they announced publicly with street microphones, the ISIS — there’s no more room for Christians in Mosul, that they either have to convert, pay tax, or just leave. And they have been leaving now since then with absolutely nothing,” he added.

Tolkien’s 'Long Defeat'

When applied to the global persecution of Christians by Muslims (and secularists), Fr. Stephen's reflections on our 'Long Defeat' ought to invigorate us with renewed clarity, perseverance, and ultimately, hope. As our Savior tells us:

"When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (LK 21:28)

* * *

Tolkien’s 'Long Defeat'

by Fr. Stephen Freeman
Glory To God For All Things — July 15, 2014

“Actually I am a Christian,” Tolkien wrote of himself, “and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a ‘long defeat’— though it contains (and in legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory” (Letters 255).

The Mirror of Galadriel: Insight into our new 'Dark Ages'.

History as a long defeat – I can think of nothing that is more anti-modern than this sentiment expressed by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is a thought perfectly in line with the fathers and the whole of Classical Christian teaching. And it’s anti-modernism reveals much about the dominant heresy of our time.

We believe in progress – it is written into the DNA of the modern world. If things are bad, they’ll get better. The “long defeat” would only be a description of the road traveled by racism, bigotry, and all that ignorance breeds.

And our philosophy of progress colors everything we consider. The scientific concept of evolution (please do not jump on me for mentioning the subject) only suggests that there is a change in living things and that the change is driven by adaptation and the survival of those adaptations that are generally advantageous. If such a theory is granted, it says nothing about the direction of the process nor about the process as improvement or progress. That “evolve” has come to mean “change for the better” is a purely ideological assumption with no warrant in science.

... for the first time in recorded history, the young did not expect to be as well off as their parents ...

But the metaphor of improvement remains a dominant theme within our culture. A few years ago a survey of young Americans revealed the utterly shocking conclusion that for the first time in recorded history, the young did not expect to be as well off as their parents. It was a paradigm shift in American progressive thought.

Syrian Jihadis' First Imminent Threat to the West Is to Norway

by Enza Ferreri — July 25, 2014

First, Norway. The UK could be next. There will be an Islamic atrocity sooner or later.

Norway’s security services, PST, warned of an imminent, “concrete and credible” threat to the Scandinavian country in the week that marked the third anniversary of the mass killings by Anders Behring Breivik. 

The terrorist attack, "probably within a few days", will come from fighters involved in the conflict in Syria. The target, how or when such an attack would take place is unspecified.

According to PST’s assessment, about 50 people have travelled from Norway to fight in Syria. Half of them have gone back to Norway, and the intelligence agency could not rule out that people involved with this threat are already in Norway.

Buchanan: Is Putin Worse Than Stalin?

Sober reasoning and understanding of historical context from Pat Buchanan.

Is Putin Worse Than Stalin?
by Patrick J. Buchanan — Townhall — July 25, 2014

In 1933, the Holodomor was playing out in Ukraine.

After the "kulaks," the independent farmers, had been liquidated in the forced collectivization of Soviet agriculture, a genocidal famine was imposed on Ukraine through seizure of her food production.

Estimates of the dead range from two to nine million souls.

Walter Duranty of the New York Times, who called reports of the famine "malignant propaganda," won a Pulitzer for his mendacity.

In November 1933, during the Holodomor, the greatest liberal of them all, FDR, invited Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov to receive official U.S. recognition of his master Stalin's murderous regime.

On August 1, 1991, just four months before Ukraine declared its independence of Russia, George H. W. Bush warned Kiev's legislature:

"Americans will not support those who seek independence in order to replace a far-off tyranny with a local despotism. They will not aid those who promote a suicidal nationalism based upon ethnic hatred."

In short, Ukraine's independence was never part of America's agenda. From 1933 to 1991, it was never a U.S. vital interest. Bush I was against it.

When then did this issue of whose flag flies over Donetsk or Crimea become so crucial that we would arm Ukrainians to fight Russian-backed rebels and consider giving a NATO war guarantee to Kiev, potentially bringing us to war with a nuclear-armed Russia?

From FDR on, U.S. presidents have felt that America could not remain isolated from the rulers of the world's largest nation.

Ike invited Khrushchev to tour the USA after he had drowned the Hungarian Revolution in blood. After Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba, JFK was soon calling for a new detente at American University.

Within weeks of Warsaw Pact armies crushing the Prague Spring in August 1968, LBJ was seeking a summit with Premier Alexei Kosygin.

After excoriating Moscow for the downing of KAL 007 in 1983, that old Cold Warrior Ronald Reagan was fishing for a summit meeting.

The point: Every president from FDR through George H. W. Bush, even after collisions with Moscow far more serious than this clash over Ukraine, sought to re-engage the men in the Kremlin.

Whatever we thought of the Soviet dictators who blockaded Berlin, enslaved Eastern Europe, put rockets in Cuba and armed Arabs to attack Israel, Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush 1 all sought to engage Russia's rulers.

Avoidance of a catastrophic war demanded engagement.

How then can we explain the clamor of today's U.S. foreign policy elite to confront, isolate, and cripple Russia, and make of Putin a moral and political leper with whom honorable statesmen can never deal?

What has Putin done to rival the forced famine in Ukraine that starved to death millions, the slaughter of the Hungarian rebels or the Warsaw Pact's crushing of Czechoslovakia?

In Ukraine, Putin responded to a U.S.-backed coup, which ousted a democratically elected political ally of Russia, with a bloodless seizure of the pro-Russian Crimea where Moscow has berthed its Black Sea fleet since the 18th century. This is routine Big Power geopolitics.

And though Putin put an army on Ukraine's border, he did not order it to invade or occupy Luhansk or Donetsk. Does this really look like a drive to reassemble either the Russian Empire of the Romanovs or the Soviet Empire of Stalin that reached to the Elbe?

As for the downing of the Malaysian airliner, Putin did not order that. Sen. John Cornyn says U.S. intelligence has not yet provided any "smoking gun" that ties the missile-firing to Russia.

Hieromonk Job Gumerov - Monotheism, Part 3: Islam

This is a much welcomed and profound study of Islam by Hieromonk Job (Gumerov), the third in his series on Monotheism being published by Pravoslavie. 


Monotheism, Part 3: Islam
by Hieromonk Job Gumerov, Pravoslavie — July 23, 2014

Part 1: Christianity  •  Part 2: Judaism

"Islam, having arisen in Arabia in the seventh century, appeared as the religion of the law six centuries after the God of the chosen people of the religion of the Law fulfilled its purpose." 

Islam: Origins

Jibril (Gabriel) appears before Mohammed, drawing

The religion of the Law, which for 15 centuries prepared the chosen people for the coming into the world of the its Savior, the Incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, preceded New Testament religion. According to the Holy Apostle Paul, "the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ" (Gal. 3:24). It was all in all only "a shadow of good things to come" (Heb. 10:1). When the Savior came into the world, Old Testament religion had fulfilled its purpose. Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us the mystery of the Heavenly Kingdom and established the New Covenant, which was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer. 31:31-33). 

Man was redeemed from original sin and its consequences by the voluntary death on the Cross of Jesus Christ as Savior of the World. He entered into an entirely new period in terms of his relationship with God in comparison with the Old Testament: instead of the law, there was a free condition of sonship and grace. Man received new means for achieving the ideal set for him of moral perfection as a necessary condition for salvation. 

Islam, having arisen in Arabia in the seventh century, appeared as the religion of the law six centuries after the God of the chosen people of the religion of the Law fulfilled its purpose. 

The difference between the Old Testament religion of the Law and Islam is not only that the latter emerged more than two thousand years after God gave on Mount Sinai the Ten Commandments and other precepts that governed life for the chosen people. The most important difference is that the Law of Moses has a Divine source. The book of Exodus gives a narrative of the majestic Epiphany. "And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up" (Exod. 19:17-20). 

The founder of Islam, however, did not have a Divine revelation. 

Meriam Ibrahim lands in Rome, meets with Pope Francis

by Elise Harris, Catholic News Agency via Pravmir
July 24, 2014

Vatican City, Jul 24, 2014 / 06:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Sudanese woman spared of a death sentence for refusing to renounce her Christian faith arrived in Rome with her family Thursday, where they met with Pope Francis a few hours after landing.

Pope Francis meets Meriam Ibrahim and her child Maya at the Vatican's Santa Marta residence, July 24, 2014. Credit: ANSA/Osservatore Romano

“Pope Francis was very tender with her, her husband, who was in prison, and thanked her for her courageous witness to perseverance in the Faith,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said of the encounter in a July 24 statement.

Describing the meeting between the young family and the Roman Pontiff as “very serene and affectionate,” Fr. Lombardi explained that for him encounter was “a gesture of closeness and solidarity for those who suffer for their faith.”

According to Vatican Radio, Ibrahim and her husband Daniel Wani, a U.S. citizen, as well as their two children, 1-year-old Martin and 2-month-old Maya, who was born in prison, met the Roman Pontiff in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse at 1:00 p.m. local time.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi also welcomed the family at the airport, calling it “a day of celebration.”

After 2000 years, Last Christian forced to leave Mosul

by Tera Dahl, Breitbart News — July 20, 2014

ERBIL, Iraq - The last Christian reportedly left Iraq's second largest city of Mosul at 12:00pm on Saturday, ending over 6,000 years of Assyrian history in the city. Assyrians have lived in Mosul for over 6,000 years, converting to Christianity over 2,000 years ago. This all came to an end on Saturday, when the last Assyrian Christian left the city.

On Thursday, July 17th, the Islamic State (IS)-- formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)-- released a statement demanding the Christians in Mosul either to convert to Islam, paying the jizya (tax on non-Muslims), leave the city, or be killed. The threat was to be implemented on Saturday.  It is being reported locally that by noon yesterday, every Christian had chosen to leave.

Islamic State torches 1,800-year-old church after expelling Christians

"The day before their final exodus, Christians were informed jizya was no longer an option. The order came to convert, leave, or die."

"With Baghdad as the prize in mind, [ISIS] has grown in size from 3,000 by earlier estimates to 20,000 as last month’s offensive bolstered their standing."

The abolition of the jizya tax is the most important part of this story.

by Adam Chandler, The Wire (via JihadWatch) — July 22, 2014
with comments by Robert Spencer and Ralph Sidway

ISIS, which recently rebranded as the Islamic State, has solidified its control over Iraq’s second-largest city by imposing Sharia law and expelling Christians who won’t convert to Islam. The end of last month marked the first time a mass wasn’t held in the city in more than 1600 years.

Then, matters got worse. From the Daily Beast:

Friday at noon was the deadline for Christian families to meet ISIS’s demands: Convert to Islam, pay an anachronistic Islamic tax for non-Muslims known as jizya, leave Mosul, or be killed. But the day before the final exodus, Christians were informed jizya was no longer an option. The order came to convert, leave, or die.

Is Insisting Every Adulterer Must Get Stoned REALLY "Extremist" in Islam?

"The 'prophet' of Islam sanctioned stoning for adultery; the practice was legal praxis in many Islamic societies across the 14 centuries from his time to today; and clear majorities of Muslims in many countries approve of it.  How, then, is it 'extremist'?"

by Timothy R. Furnish, Mahdi Watch — July 20, 2014

A few days ago the Iraqi-Syrian caliphate meted out the punishment of stoning for a woman accused of adultery.  Predictably, many media outlets decried the "extremists" who carried out such a heinous sentence.

But is stoning in such cases really "extremist" according to Islamic doctrines and public opinion?  No. There are at least five authoritative hadiths--sayings going back to Islam's founder, Muhammad--which mandate such a method of execution for adulterers. 

[Such as this:

‘Umar said, “I am afraid that after a long time has passed, people may say, “We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) in the Holy Book,” and consequently they may go astray by leaving an obligation that Allah has revealed. Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession.” Sufyan added, “I have memorized this narration in this way.” ‘Umar added, “Surely Allah’s Apostle carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him” (Sahih Bukhari 8.82.816).

See this article for comprehensive proof of stoning in Islam.]

And according to Pew data from 2012, in many Muslim countries of the Mideast, Africa and South Asia large majorities want shari`ah to be implemented, and most of them in turn favor stoning for adulterers/adulteresses:

Stolen uranium compounds not only dirty bomb ingredients within ISIS' grasp, say experts

• Iraqi government warns that ISIS has stolen at least 88 pounds of uranium.
• Follow-up to this story.

by Perry Chiaramonte, FoxNews.com — July 15, 2014

Plenty of materials for a potential dirty bomb are likely scattered throughout the area of Iraq controlled by ISIS, and pulling off an attack that spreads even a minor amount of radiation could be a huge PR coup for the terror group, experts told FoxNews.com.

Last week, the Iraqi government in Baghdad warned the UN that ISIS operatives had stolen 88 pounds of uranium compounds from Mosul University. Even though many experts said the research materials were not enough to cause widespread harm, spreading fear is even more important to terrorists than a big body count, one terrorism expert said. And with ISIS in control of a huge swath of northern Iraq and parts of Syria that includes research labs, hospitals and industrial sites, ingredients for radiation-spreading bombs are within its grasp.

CHRISTIAN HOLOCAUST UNDERWAY IN IRAQ, USA AND WORLD LOOK ON

by Robert Wilde, Breitbart News — July 19, 2014

Related:

• Christians flee Mosul after Islamic State ultimatum
• Islamic State marks Christian homes in Mosul
• A Desperate Cry from Iraqi Christians
• Islamic State jihadists storm 4th-century monastery, expel monks

The destruction of Iraqi Christian Churches, visible signs of the new Christian Holocaust.

When U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003, there were at least 1.5 million Christians in Iraq. Over the last ten years, significantly in the last few months with the emergence of ISIS, that figure has dropped to about 400,000.

In a region where Christians predate Muslims by centuries, over one million Christians have been killed or have had to flee because of jihadi persecution, while America is basically standing by and watching. This is the sad news that Breitbart’s National Security Editor and one of the world’s leading experts on asymmetric warfare, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, brought to Breitbart News Saturday, hosted by Editor in Chief Alex Marlow on Sirius XM Patriot Radio.

A marked Christian home: 'Convert to Islam, leave, or die.'

Dr. Gorka explained that “in the last 48 hours, ISIS, which is now called the Islamic State in Mosul, has painted the letter “N” for Nazarene on the houses of all the surviving Christians in the city. ISIS has basically given an ultimatum to all the Christians left: You can either flee or convert to Islam, or we will kill you.”

Gorka points out that, over the last 20 years, America has stood up around the world to save Muslims. “Whether it was to save the Muslims in Bosnia or the Albanians, Kosovars, and Muslims in Serbia, it is now time for a humanitarian operation to save the remaining Christians in Iraq,” he said. “It is time for the American people and our representatives to do something for our co-religionists remaining in the Middle East.”

Islamic State Caliphate's first English-language publication focuses on Apocalyptic themes

"The Caliphate has returned, whether we like it or not.  The IS, as evidenced by Dabiq, clearly thinks the eschatological clock is ticking." The implications are apocalyptic.

New Islamic State Magazine "Dabiq": Western Forces On the Eve of Destruction

by Timothy R. Furnish, Mahdi Watch — July 14, 2014

Since the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham [Greater Syria] declared the resurrection of the caliphate a few weeks ago, analysts and journalists have focused on the ramifications of that putative political office for the Islamic world.  However, at the start of Ramadan the new “Islamic State” and its caliph attempted to move the propaganda needle from the merely realpolitickally ridiculous to the apocalyptically awe-inspiring—by invoking Muslim eschatological traditions.

The venue for this is an online English magazine entitled Dabiq: The Return of Khilafah, the 50 pages of which skillfully blend Qur’anic citations (10  in total), hadiths (12 of these), Salafi-jihadist exegesis and imagery to legitimize the new caliphate, motivate the faithful, and reach out to (primarily) Western Muslims.   The main proof text of this entire document is a lengthy hadith (saying attributed to Islam’s founder, Muhammad) about a major Last Hour battle.  Since IS’s magazine quotes the entire hadith twice, and refers to it several other times, the tradition is worth quoting in full: 

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour would not come until the Romans would land at al-A'maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people of the earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them). When they will arrange themselves in ranks, the Romans would say: Do not stand between us and those (Muslims) who took prisoners from amongst us. Let us fight with them; and the Muslims would say: Nay, by Allah, we would never get aside from you and from our brethren that you may fight them. They will then fight and a third (part) of the army would run away, whom Allah will never forgive. A third (part of the army). which would be constituted of excellent martyrs in Allah's eye, would be killed and the third who would never be put to trial would win and they would be conquerors of Constantinople. And as they would be busy in distributing the spoils of war (amongst themselves) after hanging their swords by the olive trees, the Satan would cry: The Dajjal has taken your place among your family. They would then come out, but it would be of no avail. And when they would come to Syria, he would come out while they would be still preparing themselves for battle drawing up the ranks. Certainly, the time of prayer shall come and then Jesus (peace be upon him) son of Mary would descend and would lead them in prayer. When the enemy of Allah would see him, it would (disappear) just as the salt dissolves itself in water and if he (Jesus) were not to confront them at all, even then it would dissolve completely, but Allah would kill them by his hand and he would show them their blood on his lance (the lance of Jesus Christ) [Sahih Muslim, “Kitab al-Fitan wa Ashrat al-Sa`ah,” #6924].   

Dabiq is just north of Aleppo, near the Turkish border, and al-`Amaq/al-`Amq is in the same vicinity.  (Both are near Hatay, of Indiana Jones fame.)  A type of the eschatological battle described in this collection of Muslim b. al-Hajjaj (d. 875 AD) was fought at or near that location in 1516 between the Ottoman Turks and the Egyptian Mamluks.  The heirs of the Eastern Romans won that battle decisively, thanks to their effective use of artillery—thus leading to the four centuries of Ottoman dominance over the Arab Middle East.   To sum up this hadith: the Romans land an expeditionary force in northwest Syria; after heavy losses the Muslims defeat them and conquer “Constantinople;” the Dajjal—the “Deceiver,” or Muslim Antichrist—appears and then the returned Jesus dispatches him via melting or lance.

ISIS JIHADISTS VOW TO 'LIBERATE' SPAIN IN SPANISH LANGUAGE VIDEO

"Spain is the land of our forefathers, and, Allah willing, we are going to liberate it, with the might of Allah." — ISIS Jihadist in Video obtained by MEMRI

by Frances Martel, Breitbart News — July 11, 2014
(Video embedded at Breitbart News)

The jihadist terror group Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), has made clear their intentions to create an Islamic caliphate that extends across most of Europe and Asia. They are now further emphasizing their intention of capturing Spain, "land of our forefathers," in a Spanish-language video.

The video, released by ISIS and translated by the Middle East Media Research Project, shows two jihadists currently in Syria who have a message in Spanish for the Muslims of Spain. Neither jihadist gives a name, though the one apparently "hosting" the clip introduces "my brother" in Spanish. Also speaking in Spanish, the brother vows in the name of the terrorist group to "liberate" all Muslim land.

"We are going to die for her until we liberate all the occupied lands, from Jakarta to Andalusia, Allah willing," the brother says, referring to the capital of Indonesia and the southern state of Spain, which was populated by Muslims in the medieval era. He concludes that "Spain is the land of our forefathers, and, Allah willing, we are going to liberate it, with the might of Allah."

Western Muslims Express Solidarity with Islamic State Caliphate (ISIS)

A VERY sobering report from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor. It seems many Muslims in the U.S., Canada and Europe are not so moderate as we would like to think. Of course, when four separate studies over the last decade and a half each show upwards of 80% of U.S. mosques preach jihad and advocate overthrowing the Constitution, one can only wonder at what their congregations hold in their hearts.


Expressions Of Solidarity With ISIS In The West
MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM)
June 30, 2014 - Special Dispatch No. 5783

In April 2013, a rift was created in the global jihadi movement when the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) announced that it was expanding into Syria and that it was changing its name to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Following this announcement, another jihadi organization in Syria, Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), rejected ISIS's authority, remaining loyal to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri. ISIS even challenged Al-Zawahiri himself, refusing to follow his instructions to restrict itself to operating in Iraq. In early 2014, the rift escalated to violent conflict – ISIS versus JN and other jihadi organizations in both Iraq and Syria.

Having taken control of large areas of Iraq in recent months, ISIS is now enjoying increasing shows of solidarity from the Middle East and from across the Muslim world – and also from Western countries. Several factors contribute to its popularity, among them its jihad against the Americans in Iraq prior to its expansion into Syria, when it was ISI; its current struggle against Iraq's Shi'ite government and its security forces – perceived as apparatuses for Shi'ite suppression of Sunnis; and its war against the Alawi Assad regime, which is an ally of the Shi'ites. ISIS's activity on these fronts has helped bolster its image as the spearhead in the war against the enemies of Islam within and without the Muslim world, and raised its stature among supporters of global jihad.

Further adding to its popularity are ISIS's achievements on the battlefields of Iraq and Syria, and its image as the only organization today that is actualizing authentic Islamic ideals and striving towards establishing the Islamic idea of a greater caliphate. It casts itself, and its propagandists depict it, as a legitimate sovereign body implementing shari'a law in areas under its control, and spreading Islam by means of jihad, thus forming the core of this future caliphate. Recently, ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad Al-'Adnani even called on Al-Qaeda to swear fealty to his organization, because the "state" it embodies supersedes any organization.[1]

Sympathy for ISIS extends also to its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who is seen by the organization's fans as the legitimate leader of all Muslims. This is because of his religious education, his lineage, and his jihadi past. As a challenger to Al-Zawahiri, he is considered more charismatic and more capable of leading the Muslim ummah towards the longed-for caliphate. Thus, under Al-Baghdadi's leadership, ISIS is emerging as an alternative to Al-Qaeda, and is seen as working diligently to actualize the Muslims' goals without Al-Qaeda's religion-based reservations about, for example, imposing the jizya poll tax on Christians or conducting mass killings of Shi'ites.

The persecution of ISIS, even by Al-Qaeda, adds to its status in many circles as an "underdog" fighting for the goals of Islam and the good of all Muslims. Additionally, its highly efficient propaganda apparatus circulates videos and publications via jihadi forums and social media, praising itself and criticizing its rivals and opponents.


Westerners Joining And Promoting ISIS
The Westerners who are leaving their home countries to join ISIS in its fight in Iraq and Syria also add to the organization's prestige, both inside and outside the Muslim world. These volunteers are widely covered by the media in their own countries, and each new arrival also receives a fanfare in the organization's local press outlets and social media; these volunteers themselves are usually very active users of social media, communicating with friends and family back home as well as followers and engaging in their own efforts to promote and recruit for the organization in the West.

Further evidence of its sweeping popularity was the June 19, 2014 "One Billion Muslims Support ISIS" campaign, which urged ISIS sympathizers worldwide to express their support for the organization on Friday, June 20, and even devised a special Twitter hashtag for the purpose. The campaign elicited considerable response from supporters in numerous participants, who posted images and videos expressing their support for ISIS.[2]

This Western support for ISIS is crucial to the group's propaganda efforts; in addition to swelling the ranks of its fighters and bringing in funds and logistical support, it increases its prestige and deters its rivals.

Indonesia: Muslims screaming “Allahu akbar” attack Roman Catholic Church during Sunday Mass

"The incident coincides with the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer..." 

...and the Month of Jihad.

Yogyakarta, to cries of ‘Allah is great’ unknown assailants attack Sacred Heart parish

by Mathias Hariyadi, AsiaNews, June 30, 2014 (via Jihad Watch)

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Another Catholic community is now under attack in Indonesia in a climate of increasing cases of violence and abuse against religious minorities.

The Parish of the Sacred Heart in Pugeran, in the South of Yogyakarta was targeted early yesterday morning by three different groups of unknown assailants on motorcycles. The attack took place during the first morning Mass: the authors, dressed in black with their faces covered by masks, broke through the parish gates shouting “Allah is great”.

The incident coincides with the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer which officially began today in Indonesia, although it started on June 28th in most Muslim countries.

According to reports from Fr. Priya Pr, Sacred Heart parish priest, the unknown assailants targeted some objects and posters placed by members of the local Catholic community, most of which are only displayed on the weekend during the celebrations. The reasons behind the attack remain unknown; the authorities have tightened controls around the Christian place of worship, in fear of more attacks.

Ramadan by the Numbers

So far... Ramadan ends July 28 this year...  Lord have mercy.

Courtesy of The Religion of Peace:

Can your religion do this?

Getting into the Ramadan spirit in Iran, where this man is 

having the holy hell beat out of him for snacking during the day.

Ramadan Bombathon  2014 Scorecard   Because, if you think all religions are the same, then you haven't been paying attention. Day 20 In the name of The Religion of Peace In the name of ANY Other Religion By Way of Anti-Muslim Hate Crime Terror Attacks 159 0 2* Suicide Bombings 20  0 0 Dead Bodies 1152 0 2* Wounded 1057 0 0 (Not all attacks are immediately posted on TROP)

ISIS to Iraqi Christians in Mosul: 'Convert or Die'

The 'Islamic State Caliphate' follows the Quran and Muhammad's example in applying sharia law.

Breitbart News — July 18, 2014

BAGHDAD, July 18 (UPI) -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria distributed leaflets to Christian leaders in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul this week, threatening violence if they don't convert.

Christians who do not accept Islam or fail to pay extra taxes to the Islamic Sharia courts, the letters warned, will face "death by the sword."

Christians who do not agree to ISIS demands were also given the option to leave Mosul. According to a message from ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, non-complying Christians were permitted to "evacuate themselves only from the caliphate state" by 12 p.m. local time on Saturday or their "only option is the sword."

Hostilities at Catholic Church in Istanbul, Turkey Leave Parishioners Fearing Worse

Congregation anxious after Ramadan-inspired verbal assault, threats, and a lunge with a knife.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Morning Star News) – Members of a Catholic church in Istanbul fear an attack after Muslims verbally assaulted and threatened them during a baptismal service and destroyed church property in the last two months.

After two incidents at St. Stephanos Church, parishioners said they are waiting to see if hostilities will escalate into violence during what remains of Ramadan, when religious persecution has been known to increase in Muslim-majority areas. The annual Ramadan, an Islamic month of day-time fasting, ends in Turkey on July 28.

[Ramadan is the 'month of jihad', and both commemorates and commands Islamic victories over the infidels. Muslims take this seriously, and the more fervent Muslims act on their fervor.]

The two previous attacks have caused some members of an already small congregation to stop participating in services, at least temporarily. In May a group of young men under cover of darkness destroyed audio equipment, stole other items and set a fire in the building, and on June 15 Muslim intruders pushed their way into the baptismal service and yelled obscenities, with one brandishing a knife and threatening to stab a parishioner.

MALAYSIAN AIRLINER DOWNED OVER UKRAINE - UPDATE AND ANALYSIS

Though off-topic for this blog, the downing of a Malaysian Airlines 777 flight with nearly 300 killed over eastern Ukraine is another shocking event in that theatre, and has enormous import for relations between Russia and the West. The US Media is pointing at Putin, but there are expert analysts out there who are drawing on intelligence sources and European and British reporting to present a more complex picture hardly favorable to the US and NATO.

Here are a few linked headlines from Land Destroyer Report, with intro paragraphs. Do follow up and explore the complete articles if you have any interest in this crisis.

Kiev Losing, Sanctions Flopped, Airliner Down, War Back On?  - July 18, 2014 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - With Kiev's forces being encircled and decimated in eastern Ukraine, western Ukrainians in Kiev protesting the war, and US sanctions receiving global ridicule as feckless - the downing of a Malaysian Boeing 777 airliner with over 280 on board in eastern Ukraine - allegedly shot down over a conflict zone - will undoubtedly be exploited by NATO to vilify Kiev's opponents, particularly fighters in the east and Russia who NATO accuses of "destabilizing eastern Ukraine." ...

Chaldean Patriarch overjoyed at release of nuns and children, “they are well”

Mar Louis Raphael I Sako delivers some "good news" in a country torn apart by war, violence and division. He explains that "contact" was made by "the people of the city" who contributed "to their release”. No ransom was paid. They have returned to Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan.

Pravmir — July 17, 2014

IRAQ, Baghdad (AsiaNews) - "I am overjoyed at the release of the two sisters and three orphans" because it is "finally some good news" in a context of war, violence and division, the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church Mar Louis Raphael I Sako tells AsiaNews.

He was commenting on the news of the release of Sister Atur, Sister Miskinta and the three young children who were seized on June 28 last. Their captors were linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, Sunni jihadists linked to al-Qaeda), which now declares itself the army of the Islamic caliphate.

The two Chaldean nuns belong to the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate which ran a foster home for abandoned and orphaned children in Mosul, near the Chaldean Archbishopric.

Speaking to AsiaNewsHis Beatitude confides his “joy” at the “good news”.  The Patriarch explains that “contacts were established by the people of the city”, who helped “in obtaining their release”.  The sisters and the orphans, adds Mar Sako, were held “in a house in Mosul, but they were treated well, they were all together. The sisters feared for the safety of the girls, but there were no problems”.

The Chaldean Patriarch said that the sisters spent “17 days of captivity praying for their release and for peace in Iraq.” According Mar Sako money was not paid in exchange for their release, but the Islamists ” just took their car, a new pick-up”. “The sisters are relieved and happy – says His Beatitude – they have taken their personal belongings and returned to Dohuk,” in Iraqi Kurdistan, where they found refuge on having to flee their convent.

The Holy Royal Martyrs in the Light of History and God's Providence

Pravoslavie — July 16, 2011

More on the Holy Royal Passionbearers

Behind all wars, revolution, downfall of kingdoms, – all the political events of external history – we see the hidden working of spiritual laws and, in the final analysis, God’s Providence concerning the fates of peoples and nations. Any other explanation of the reasons for the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 would be incomprehensible and inaccurate. One thing is certain: the Russian society’s apostasy from God and the Church brought down God’s wrath upon Russia. As in the many cases of ancient Israel’s apostasy from God, about which we read in the Bible, Russia’s malady could not be cured by ordinary measures. For the sake of instruction and correction God would hand the Jews over into the hands of infidels; the very same fate befell Russia in the beginning of the 20th century. 

Through Tsar Nicholas II – an irreproachably pure and wonderful person – God’s will was made manifest in the world. His fate, in essence, was deeply tragic. He was born on the day of St. Job the Much-suffering and was keenly aware that his life was similar to Job’s martyric path. 

His knowledge of his fate was truly prophetic. “I have more than a presentiment, – he used to say, – that I am doomed to terrible trials, and that I will not be rewarded for them in this world.” 

Beginning with Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese war, which was followed by the revolution of 1905-1907, which diminished the Tsar's power and freed the forces of anarchy and outright evil, the foundations of Russian sovereignty tottered more and more. “I am unsuccessful in all my undertakings, – the Tsar bitterly concluded, – I have no luck. However, man’s will is so powerless anyway.” He realized that he was not subjectively to blame for Russia’s misfortunes; the good of the motherland meant more to him than anything else, and he did everything he could for this good. Tsar Nicholas’s conscience was clear before God, but his moral suffering, nevertheless, reached extraordinary proportions. Thus once, – this was during the first Russian revolution, – from the depths of his inner anguish the Tsar uttered prophetic words which indicated with absolute accuracy the role he was invisibly assigned to play in Russia’s fate by God Himself. “Perhaps a sacrifice is needed for the salvation of Russia, – said the Sovereign. – I shall be that sacrifice. May God’s will be done.” In saying this the Tsar was like the martyrs of ancient times, who freely and without coercion gave themselves up to suffering for Christ. 

Monument to Tsar and Passion-Bearer Nicolas II unveiled in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This is the first of two posts today venerating the Holy Royal Passionbearers and Martyrs Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsaritsa Alexandra, and their children, the Tsarevitch Alexei, and daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. 

This is a deeply moving and symbolic glorification of the Holy Orthodox Monarch and Martyr, planted in the midst of the Serbian land, ravaged by Western aggressors in World War I, and Muslim persecution of Christians in the 1990s, with American aid and support of the same. The words of St Nikolai Velimirovich in the final paragraph are immensely important to consider.


Monument to Tsar and Passion-Bearer Nicolas II unveiled in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pravoslavie — June 26, 2014

A monument to the Holy Russian Tsar and Passion-Bearer Nicolas II was to be unveiled in Bosnia and Herzegovina, reports Sedmitza.ru, citing the SRBIN INFO agency. 

The monument was to be unveiled on June 21, 2014, in Banja Luka on the initiative of the Serbian Republic’s (Bosnia and Herzegovina) president, the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, the St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation, and the Russian Military Historical Society. The Serbian Republic’s president Milorad Dodik and assistant to the Russian president Igor Shchegolev were to be present at the opening ceremony. The author of the monument is the sculptor from Russia Zurab Tsereteli. The monument was to be unveiled after the church service, and after the ceremony performances of the “Kazachsky Krug” Cossacks’ group, the choir of the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery as well as a round table of Serbian and Russian historians were to take place. (The Ipatiev Monastery is historically connected with the first Tsar of the Romanov Dynasty.) 

The Caliphate Means Constant War on Us on a Scale Not Yet Seen

by Enza Ferreri, July 14, 2014

While the British government is making its own citizens pay for the jihadis allowed to return to the UK from Syria and Iraq, both in terms of money – through the £1.1 billion cash injection for defence announced today, £800 million of which will fund an extra investment in intelligence and surveillance to deal with the threat of terrorism – and in terms of intrusion and greater state power – through emergency laws to monitor phone and internet records “to stop terrorists" –, people hear of the establishment of a caliphate in the Middle East without the media – with few exceptions – providing any explanation of its real significance.

In Islam, only a caliphate has the authority to declare offensive war on infidel countries. That's why Osama bin Laden was so keen on it and called for Muslims to "establish the righteous caliphate of our ummah", after Abdulhamid II’s Ottoman caliphate was abolished by the Turkish Republic of Kemal Ataturk in his secularisation (short-lived) attempts in 1924.

And that's why jihadis always explain their acts of terrorism in terms of defensive war, as a response to the infidel's armies occupying Muslim lands, for example.

Obama Administration Suppresses Talk of Muslim Persecution of Christians: March 2014

by Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute — July 14, 2014

Along with an especially egregious list of atrocities committed against Christian minorities throughout the Islamic world, March also saw some callous indifference or worse from the U.S. government.

Obama's Dhimmitude Bow to the Saudi King

President Barack Hussein Obama was criticized by human rights activists for not addressing the plight of Christians and other minorities during his talks with leaders in Saudi Arabia, where Christianity is banned.

According to the Washington-based International Christian Concern (ICC) advocacy group, Obama did not “publicly broach the subject of religious freedom” during talks on March 28 with Saudi King Abdullah, despite a letter from some 70 members of Congress urging him to “address specific human rights reforms” both in public and in direct meetings with Abdullah and other officials.

“This visit was an excellent opportunity for the president to speak up on an issue that affects millions of Saudi citizens and millions more foreign workers living in Saudi Arabia,” said Todd Daniels, ICC’s Middle East regional manager, adding that it was “remarkable that the president could stay completely silent about religious freedom” despite pressure from Congress “to publicly address the issue, as well as other human rights concerns, with King Abdullah…”

U.S. officials reportedly responded by saying that “Obama had not had time to raise concerns about the kingdom’s human rights record.”

Separately, after the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) brought together the governors of Nigeria’s mostly Muslim northern states for a conference in the U.S., the State Department blocked the visa of the region’s only Christian governor, Jonah David Jang, an ordained minister, citing “administrative” problems.  The USIP confirmed that all 19 northern governors were invited, but the organization did not respond to requests for comments on why they would hold talks without the region’s only Christian governor.

According to Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian human rights lawyer based in Washington, the Christian governor’s “visa problems” are due to anti-Christian bias in the U.S. government:  “The U.S. insists that Muslims are the primary victims of Boko Haram. It also claims that Christians discriminate against Muslims in Plateau, which is one of the few Christian majority states in the north. After [Jang, the Christian governor] told them [U.S. authorities] that they were ignoring the 12 Shariah states who institutionalized persecution … he suddenly developed visa problems…  The question remains—why is the U.S. downplaying or denying the attacks against Christians?”

March’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:

'Mother's Milk' and 'Who Washes Our Brains'

Icon: Protection of the Mother of God.

The below reflection by Fr Lawrence Farley has much packed into it. He writes of what it means to be a Christian, the ontological change which happens to us as we become "twice born."

Towards the end, he writes about "brainwashing," quoting a converted 1960s rebel who rebutted his critics accusing Christians of having been brainwashed:

He replied, “That’s true.  But let me tell you, so have you.  The only difference between all us Christians and you is that we’ve all at least chosen Who we want to wash our brains.” 

I sadly submit to you that the world's second largest religion — you know, the one which is persecuting Christians, Jews and others all around the globe (and has been doing so since its launch 1400 years ago) — is made up of followers who are also choosing 'who is washing their brains'. The difference is that their brains are not washed, but soiled, their human conscience deadened to the extent that they submit to (supposedly) divine commands such as these:

Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth [i.e. Islam] among the people of the Book [Jews and Christians], until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Quran 9:29)

Kill the mushrikun [unbelievers] wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. (Quran 9:5)

I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes. (Quran 8:12)

Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the enemies of Allah and your enemies. (Quran 8:60)

There is a dark ontological shift which occurs within Muslims as they absorb and assent to the harsh and stern commands of the Quran and Muhammad, realizing that according to the ulema (the 'brainwashers') these dark directives abrogate the peaceful ones. All Muslims must confront this requirement of their religion. The ones who are flocking to the global jihad in the Middle East have given in to the brainwashing and are 'twice-born' into an infernal existence of murder, bloodshed and endless war.

To any Muslims reading this, I beg you, consider carefully who you choose to "wash your brain."

Then consider the Light and Life in Jesus Christ found within the Orthodox Church. There is pure and true 'mother's milk' here waiting for you. You too can be born again as a child of God, no longer a slave, but an heir. We await you with open arms!


Mother's Milk
by Fr Lawrence Farley
Source: OCA.org

Father Alexander Schmemann famously said that Christianity is “the end of religion.”  But if Christianity is not a religion, what is it?  In a word, it is the source of a new birth, a new nature, a new kind of human being.  Apart from Christ, all people share a human nature that is weak, fallen, darkened, vulnerable to evil spirits.  As Saint John wrote, “the whole world lies in the Evil One” (1 John 5:19).  In Christ, we have the possibility of having a new human nature, one strong, upright, filled with light, safe from the grip of the Evil One, sheltered in God.  The world therefore consists of two kinds of people:  those who have been born only once, and those who have been born twice.  The Church is the home of the twice-born.

St Nikolai Velimirovitch: 'Lord, Bless My Enemies'

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.

Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.

They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.

They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.

They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself.

They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.

Iraqi patriarch: Situation perhaps ‘darkest and most difficult period’

Pravmir — July 11, 2014

Patriarch Sako compared the current situation for the Church in his country to the biblical tale of when Jesus slept in the boat while the storm raged and His disciples were terrified, as recorded in the Gospel of St. Mark.

by Dale Gavlak, St Louis Dispatch

AMMAN, Jordan -- The patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad called the current situation in his country "perhaps the darkest and most difficult period in (the Church's) recent history."

A Christian woman who fled from the violence in Mosul, Iraq, held her daughter as her baby slept June 27 at a shelter in Irbil, Iraq. Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako of Baghdad said the city of Mosul “is almost empty of Christians.”

In a telephone interview with Catholic News Service July 7, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako also reiterated his appeal for the safe release of two nuns and three orphans believed kidnapped in the militant-held area of northern Iraq June 28.

He said that there has been no word about the group’s whereabouts or who may have abducted them, despite assurances of help from many quarters.

Patriarch Sako also said the city of Mosul “is almost empty of Christians.”

Islamic State Caliphate Threatens Attack on Israel, with Nuclear Weapons

"Tel Aviv will fall as fast as Mosul when the time is right... Do you think that we do not have access to nuclear devices?  The Zionists know that we do... we will not hesitate.” — ISIS Source

Related: Terror army gets hands on load of 'low grade' uranium, able to create 'dirty bomb' - Fox News (and this is just what the MSM is leaking out).


via IRAQ INVADERS THREATEN NUKE ATTACK ON ISRAEL

ISIS focus on 'destroying Zionist regime' to 'liberate Palestine'

by F. Michael Maloof, WND — June 23, 2014

WASHINGTON – The well-organized army of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, claims it has access to nuclear weapons and a will to use them to “liberate” Palestine from Israel as part of its “Islamic Spring,” according to a WND source in the region.

Franklin Lamb, an international lawyer based in Beirut and Damascus, said the move is part of the ISIS aim of creating a caliphate under strict Islamic law, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq.

Lamb, who has access to ISIS fighters and sympathizers, said ISIS has been working with a “new specialized” unit organized at the beginning of 2013 to focus “exclusively on destroying the Zionist regime occupying Palestine.”

Lamb added that the ISIS “Al-Quds Unit” is working to broaden its influence in more than 60 Palestinian camps and gatherings from Gaza, across “Occupied Palestine,” or Israel, to Jordan and from Lebanon up to the north of Syria “seeking to enlist support as it prepares to liberate Palestine.”

West moves away from Russia as the country returns to Orthodoxy, Lavrov believes

Obama supports Muslim terrorists, wages 'proxy war' on Mid-East Christians, schemes to annex Ukraine into Western sphere of influence, sends homosexual activists to Sochi Olympics. Naturally he is vigorously opposed to Russia, an Orthodox Christian nation returning to its timeless traditions. 

Darkness hates light.

West moves away from Russia as the country returns to Orthodoxy, Lavrov believes

Pravmir — June 6, 2014

Moscow, June 5, Interfax – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov states that Russia returns to traditional spiritual values and it is one of the reasons why the West distances from it.

“Surprisingly, they start operating the thesis that the Soviet Union with its Communist doctrine at least stayed in the system of ideas worked out in the West, while modern Russia returns to its traditional values rooted in Orthodoxy and thus becomes even less understandable,” Lavrov said at his meeting with members of the Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow.

US-Backed 'Moderate' Free Syrian Army Factions Join Islamic State Caliphate

Obama's pro-Islamist policies continue to plunge the world into chaos, and the Middle East's Christians towards annihilation. And Obama continues to ask Congress to fund support of these jihadists.

by Jordan Schachtel, Breitbart News — July 8, 2014

Reports coming out of eastern Syria Monday revealed that several factions within the Syrian opposition force known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have pledged services to the Islamic State, the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Sources and eyewitnesses said that the FSA has handed over its weapons to the Islamic State in large numbers.

The Free Syrian Army was said to be a “moderate” and “secular” force, which was used as the rationale by U.S. officials to supply the opposition force with weapons and training.

Sources told Homs, Syria-based Zaman Alwasl newspaper that several factions within the FSA, including Ahl Al Athar, Ibin al-Qa’im, and Aisha have pledged to support the Islamic State.

Ramadan Rage: How Crime Increases during the Muslim Holy Month

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan for 2014 began June 28 and extends through July 28.

False Religion  ==>>  False Fast.

A brief introduction to the true purpose and meaning of fasting, followed by an article on why Muslim crimes spike during Ramadan.

Many point to the great piety of Muslims, who fast for an entire month each year. Yet the fast of Ramadan is linked to the beginning of jihad to extend Islam by the sword, and is so important that in the Muslim world failing to observe Ramadan can get you arrested or killed, whether you are Muslim or not. (See here, here, here and here.)

Ramadan is also the month when we traditionally see a sharp increase in Muslim oppression of Christians and other non-Muslims, as Raymond Ibrahim has been reporting on for years. (See Raymond's book Crucified Again, as well as this 2012 article.)

* * *

Ramadan 2014 Scorecard   Day 8 In the name of The Religion  of Peace    In the name of    ANY Other     Religion  By Way of Anti-Muslim  Hate Crime Terror Attacks    52 0 1* Suicide Bombings     5  0 0 Dead Bodies  322 0 1* Wounded  436 0 0

* 2014.07.03 - A Myanmar Muslim was killed by Buddhists on rumor of a rape. (A Buddhist was also killed by Muslims during the same riot). Compiled by thereligionofpeace.com

* * *

Orthodox Christians also fast fairly rigorously during Great Lent and the Nativity Fast (hopefully without binge eating at the end of the day!), and a little less rigorously during the Apostles Fast in June, and during the Dormition Fast in August. Yet one never hears of an increased crime rate in Orthodox Christian nations or communities during these periods, and one never hears of Orthodox Christian terrorist attacks or suicide bombings.

Could it be that there is something about Islam which fosters a culture in which can thrive violence, criminality, and the "Ramadan Rage" of which the below article speaks?

Why yes, there is. For starters, we have the sacred texts of Islam itself (the Quran, and the hadiths, sayings and deeds of Muhammad), which command violence against non-Muslims:

Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth [i.e. Islam] among the people of the Book [Jews and Christians], until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Quran 9:29)

Kill the mushrikun [unbelievers] wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. (Quran 9:5)

I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes. (Quran 8:12)

Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the enemies of Allah and your enemies. (Quran 8:60)

What would you say of the religion that commands fasting, but also commands one to fight, kill and subjugate the infidels?

Simply put, false religion results in a false fast. And no amount of fasting can please God or compensate for fourteen centuries of bloodshed and warfare against unbelievers.