William Kilpatrick and Raymond Ibrahim: 'Defenders of Faith and Family'

William Kilpatrick's stirring, in-depth review of Raymond Ibrahim's newest book, is itself a vigorous rallying cry to defenders of Western Christian Culture against not merely Islamic supremacy or terrorism, but against the anti-Christian, anti-family and anti-human Progressive, Leftist agenda.

Defenders of Faith and Family

Like today’s leftists, the Ottoman Turks wanted to turn Christian children against their parents; but one man turned the tables on them.

by William Kilpatrick, Crisis Magazine

Christianity was saved in Europe solely because the peoples of Europe fought. If [Europeans]…had not possessed a military equality with, and gradually a growing superiority over the Mohammedans who invaded Europe, Europe would at this moment be Mohammedan and the Christian religion would be exterminated. 

—Theodore Roosevelt

I came across Roosevelt’s observation in Raymond Ibrahim’s recent book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes who stood against Islam. At a time when Islam once again seems poised to conquer Europe—this time by dint of immigration and higher birthrates—Ibrahim’s book serves as a timely reminder that this clash of civilizations is far from over.

Defenders of the West focuses on eight individuals who fought against Islamic armies at various times in past centuries. Interestingly, Ibrahim himself can be considered a modern-day “defender of the West” or, more accurately, “defender of the faith.”

I say this because the faith can’t be effectively defended unless Christians first realize that it needs defending. Much of Ibrahim’s work concerns the oppression of Christians by Muslims all over the world but particularly in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—a story that relatively few Western Christians are familiar with.

Ibrahim, of course, also writes about the continuing threat to the West—to Europe and the Americas. 

VIDEO: David Wood on Global Persecution of Christians (Banned by YouTube as Hate Speech)

David Wood of Acts17 Apologetics had posted a video discussing the facts and statistics of Open Doors' 2020 World Watch List, their annual report on the persecution of Christians around the globe. 

YouTube took down his video, and gave him a strike for hate speech. Two more strikes within a 90 day period, and his channel will be permanently taken down.

You can watch David's response here. Below is the video which YouTube classified as "hate speech," hosted now on David Wood's BitChute channel.

His plan is to release a series of videos on Global Persecution of Christians in the coming days.

As followers of this blog know, approximately 80% of all persecution of Christians is committed by Muslims.

American Pastor imprisoned in Turkey returns to America, predicts Open Persecution of Christians will happen in USA

"I was isolated for a few years, and coming back to the states was almost like coming back to a different country in many ways...

"We in the West have not experienced [persecution] very much... but I think we're going to. I think it's coming to this country."

- Pastor Andrew Brunson

_______

Pastor Brunson was imprisoned for his Christian Faith in rapidly re-Islamizing Turkey, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has designs on restoring the former supposed glory of the Ottoman Caliphate. 

Having returned from his ordeal in an authoritarian Islamic state, Pastor Brunson sees America with fresh eyes and a clear mind. 

Let us heed his warnings and prepare ourselves for the trials ahead.

Pastor Andrew Brunson 'astounded at the speed with which the US is imploding' and predicts persecution

by Jon Brown, Washington Examiner, July 15, 2019 (h/t Russian Faith):


The evangelical Presbyterian pastor whose two-year imprisonment in Turkey sparked a geopolitical firestorm issued sobering words for Americans during a religious liberty conference last week.

Pastor Andrew Brunson lived as a missionary pastor in Turkey for decades until being detained in October 2016, following an alleged failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. His arrest sparked a diplomatic spat between Turkey and the U.S. in which President Trump involved himself personally.

During an interview at the Western Conservative Summit, held annually by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, Brunson claimed that the Judeo-Christian basis for American values is eroding.

"First of all, I think it's coming to the U.S., that there will be persecution," he said. "I was isolated for a few years, and coming back to the states was almost like coming back to a different country in many ways. And I'm really astounded at the speed with which, I think, the U.S. is imploding."

Leo Hohmann: 'The coming convergence of Islam and apostate Christianity'

"Some of the world’s most prominent Muslims are working on a plan that they hope will offer the secular elites in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Australia-New Zealand some relief. Give them a 'third way' that will lead to peace and security for all... a new 'convergence' of Islam with Christianity."

Sobering, even prophetic, insights from Christian journalist Leo Hohmann. Read and share.


The coming convergence of Islam and apostate Christianity

By Leo Hohmann, April 16, 2019

With astonishing speed and amazing efficiency, the French government declared early Tuesday morning that the fire which had largely consumed the magnificent, 850-year-old Cathedral of Notre Dame was a mere “accident.”

That’s right: Before investigators had even been cleared to enter the smoldering ruins of the Western World’s most iconic Christian symbol, they had already ruled out the possibility of arson.

I am not saying that any person or group should be blamed for this fire without proof. What I am saying, is that the French government’s absurdly quick action in determining the fire’s non-cause makes a mockery of the concept of an honest investigation. Such malfeasance in carrying out due diligence could easily backfire.

Without an honest and transparent investigation, people will always look at the burning of Notre Dame as a monumental conspiracy. Fill in the blank as to who you want to make responsible for the devastation because the French eliminated certain possibilities from consideration before even the most basic investigative procedures were employed.

It begs the question: Why were the French so eager to sweep this fire under the rug of history?

Well, for the sake of argument, let’s say that a real investigation gets underway and turns up proof of a Muslim plot to burn down the nation’s most famous Christian shrine. [And there has been a disturbing pattern of arsonists targeting hundreds of Christian churches across France over the last few years, including 10 in a one-week period last month].

With nearly 10 percent of its population now Muslim, France would quickly devolve into chaos. Police would launch a nationwide manhunt for the Muslim arsonists. Muslims would be out in the streets, burning and defacing more churches, cemeteries, anything that stands as a symbol of Christian France. Priests and pastors might be kidnapped and killed. Regular Frenchmen, feeling threatened, might strike back, possibly burning down mosques in retaliation.

The last thing President Macron wants is to take a chance that a thorough forensic investigation could spark a civil war. You can hardly blame him. But show me a nation that has lost the will, for whatever reason, to enforce the rule of law and lost faith in its ability to blindly apply justice, and I will show you a nation that has already been conquered.

And it’s not just France.

Most of the Western elites who control the governments across Europe and North America find themselves flailing about in the same murky waters. After decades of importing Muslim migrants to replace the millions of children who were never born because of abortion and “family planning,” these Western nations face a problem of their own making and it’s called Islamic immigration.

Their native populations are getting restless as they discover that their globalist leaders have been lying to them all these years. Islam is not content with its role of being the new “work force” that props up the economies of Germany, France, Belgium and Britain. The nature of Islam is to politically dominate wherever it is given a foothold.

Yet, the Western political class are reticent to confront Islam when its violent side spills out into the open. This is why France, the U.K., Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany have all become increasingly anti-Israel in recent years. They don’t want to offend their growing Muslim populations. They must bow to this foreign religious ideology, or risk violence in the streets.

The elites need a way out of this dilemma because right-wing parties are quickly gaining strength, and before long these European countries will all have their own versions of Donald Trump to contend with. That’s the last thing they want. They need an out, a way to save face with native European voters while somehow also giving their new Muslim citizens the feeling that they have a seat at the table of political power.

They can’t go on indefinitely with Muslims and Christians [even if most are Christian in name only], representing opposing cultural values and worldviews, living in the same cities and growing further apart by the day. The current model is not sustainable.

Arise, a new inter-religious community

That’s where the interfaith movement comes into play.

Some of the world’s most prominent Muslims are working on a plan that they hope will offer the secular elites in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Australia-New Zealand some relief. Give them a “third way” that will lead to peace and security for all.

The hope is that this third way provides Western elites with an opportunity to stave off a complete Islamic takeover while accepting the most basic tenets of Islamic Sharia. This includes, first and foremost, an end to all Christian proselytizing of Muslims, and secondly, a silencing of all anti-Islam rhetoric in the public space. Any Christian who insists on pointing out the dark side of Islam will be silenced. That’s pretty much already been accomplished, to varying degrees, in the post-Christian, formerly-free Western nations. But Muslim leaders still put forth the “Islamophobia” meme in hopes of getting more out of the deal.

William Kilpatrick: 'Sauron Comes to Middle England'

"The Lord of the Rings is set in mythical Middle Earth, but, metaphorically speaking, Sauron now seems to be quite active in Middle England... The spiritual landscape has also changed, and the change has been dramatic... The story of the Islamization of England has also been one of betrayal."

Roman Catholic writer William Kilpatrick does a great service in this article, taking us on a tour of the once Christian and tranquil English landscape, now conquered by minarets and Muslim rape gangs, and cowed into fear by Sharia-zones, stabbings and acid attacks in London and other major cities, and betrayed by the ruling class and Christian hierarchy alike.

It would seem Sauron is winning. And, to quote Elrond, "Our list of allies grows thin."

Still from the film, TOLKIEN, showing an uncowed young J.R.R. Tolkien standing before the rising menace of a dark lord during the battle of the Somme, in France during World War I. 

Sauron Comes to Middle England

by William Kilpatrick, Turning Point Project, June 1, 2019:

"The title 'Sauron comes to Middle England' is not meant to imply that Muslims are an evil people. It’s meant to imply that there is something wrong with their religion as well as with the British authorities who facilitate its spread."

Tolkien, the new biopic about the master storyteller’s life, has come under criticism for giving the impression that Tolkien’s service in World War I was the decisive influence on his work. In fact, Tolkien was far more influenced by other factors—in particular by his love of mythology, and by his strong Catholic faith. Before her untimely death, Tolkien’s widowed mother had appointed Fr. Francis Morgan of the Birmingham Oratory to be the guardian of her two sons. As a result, Tolkien spent many hours during his formative years in the rich Catholic culture of the Oratory. With its deep Catholic themes, The Lord of the Rings owes more to Birmingham than to Tolkien’s brief experience of trench warfare in France.

The Lord of the Rings is set in mythical Middle Earth, but, metaphorically speaking, Sauron now seems to be quite active in Middle England. The Midlands of England and its capital Birmingham have caught the attention of his all-seeing eye. The kind of struggles that are depicted in the trilogy now seem to be playing out in Tolkien’s boyhood home.

What I have in mind is not the struggle to preserve England’s green and pleasant land from environmental despoilers. The Birmingham skyline has changed, of course. It now looks like that of any other large metropolis. And much of the shire lands that surrounded Birmingham in Tolkien’s youth have been eaten up by urban sprawl. But urbanization is the least of the city’s problems.

The spiritual landscape has also changed, and the change has been dramatic. There are now 175 mosques in the Birmingham area, with five in the Edgbaston section where Tolkien spent his teen years. Muslims make up about 22 percent of the population of the city, and, by some estimates, they will be a majority within 20 years. There are already more Muslim children living in Birmingham than Christian children.

Some of the more impatient members of the Birmingham Muslim community aren’t waiting for majority status to roll around before they establish control. An investigation by the London Telegraph in 2014 revealed an extensive plot by Muslim teachers, school governors, and activists to take over 21 city schools and Islamicize them. The plot, which was code-named “Trojan Horse” by the conspirators, involved replacing head teachers with radical Muslim faculty, segregating classrooms by sex, and introducing Islamic prayers.

Birmingham has also been touched by the Muslim rape gang epidemic which has ravaged the English Midlands. A 2017 article in Birmingham Live reported “a worrying escalation of the abuse of young schoolgirls, typically aged around 13 to 14.” According to the report, gang members were filming and sharing the rapes. Another report revealed that gang members were using tasers on their schoolgirl victims.

Support Raymond Ibrahim: Sign the Open Letter protesting his being disinvited from speaking at the War College on Islam

No jump-break on this one, folks. This is too important to bury any of it below a "Read more" link.

This is urgent. Please follow the link and sign the NAS Open Letter to President Trump.

Thank you...

Sign Now: NAS Letter to Trump on War College’s Surrender to CAIR

06/26/2019 by Raymond Ibrahim

The National Association of Scholars (NAS), “the leading organization of scholars and citizens committed to higher education as the catalyst of American freedom,” has come forth in my support and written an open letter to the President of the United States.

The signatories, most of whom are academics, call President Trump’s attention to the US Army War College’s recent capitulation to CAIR/Linda Sarsour and “urge you to use the ‘bully pulpit’ of the presidency to call on USAWC Commandant Gen. John Kem and Provost Dr. James Breckenridge to restore Raymond Ibrahim’s lecture.”

Click here to read and sign the letter to President Trump.

The letter appears on a NAS page titled, “Disinviting Scholarship: An Open Letter in Support of Free Inquiry at the U.S. Army War College.” Below is the note that precedes NAS’s open letter:

Editor’s note: The National Association of Scholars invites scholars and members of the public to sign this petition in support of Raymond Ibrahim. Ibrahim was invited to speak at the United States Army War College (USAWC) as part of its 2019 Perspectives in Military History Lecture Series. USAWC, however, has “postponed” Ibrahim’s appearance indefinitely after the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) complained that he is “biased.” The “postponement” is, in fact, a disinvitation that reflects USAWC’s eagerness to appease a group that claims to represent Muslim-American sensitivities. Capitulating to CAIR by censoring Ibrahim is not in the educational interests of America’s present and future military leaders. 

The USAWC has created a dangerous precedent for institutions of military education. The National Association of Scholars is petitioning the White House to call on the USAWC to reverse its decision, and to set up procedures to prevent such disinvitations in the future. In the letter below we lay out our reasoning and our resolutions. If you agree with these, we urge you to sign.

Click here to read the letter to Trump. If you agree with it, sign it, and share with others.

____________

RAYMOND IBRAHIM is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam specialist. His books include Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West (Da Capo, 2018), Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (Regnery, 2013), and The Al Qaeda Reader (Doubleday, 2007).

Ibrahim’s writings, translations, and observations have appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times Syndicate, CNN, LA Times, Fox News, Financial Times, Jerusalem Post, United Press International, USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Weekly Standard; scholarly journals, including the Almanac of Islamism, Chronicle of Higher Education, Hoover Institution’s Strategika, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Middle East Quarterly, and Middle East Review of International Affairs; and popular websites, including American Thinker, Bloomberg, Breitbart, Christian Post, Daily Caller, FrontPage Mag, Jihad Watch, NewsMax, National Review Online, PJ Media, and World Magazine. He has contributed chapters to several anthologies and has been translated into dozens of languages.

Among other media, he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, and NPR; he has done hundreds of radio interviews and some of his YouTube videos (here and here for example) have received over a million views each.

Ibrahim guest lectures at universities, including the National Defense Intelligence College, has briefed governmental agencies, such as U.S. Strategic Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and has testified before Congress regarding the conceptual failures that dominate American discourse concerning Islam and the worsening plight of Egypt’s Christian Copts.

Ibrahim’s dual-background—born and raised in the U.S. by Egyptian parents born and raised in the Middle East—has provided him with unique advantages, from equal fluency in English and Arabic, to an equal understanding of the Western and Middle Eastern mindsets, positioning him to explain the latter to the former. His interest in Islamic civilization was first piqued when he began visiting the Middle East as a child in the 1970s. Interacting and conversing with the locals throughout the decades has provided him with an intimate appreciation for that part of the world, complementing his academic training.

Continue reading...

For the First Week of Lent: 'British Government refuses to say whether proclaiming divinity of Christ is a hate crime'

“You can say what you like about the Virgin Birth, the miracles and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but as soon as you say ‘come on, is Islam really the religion of peace that it claims to be’, all hell breaks loose.”

Islam is protected in the UK now, and any legitimate questioning or criticism of it is branded as hate speech. It will not be long before authentic, Orthodox Christianity is outlawed as "hate speech."

Keep this in mind as we celebrate the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" and the Restoration of the Holy Icons this Sunday.


British Government refuses to say whether proclaiming divinity of Christ is a hate crime

Catholic Herald | Staff Reporter | 14 December, 2017

The British government has refused to say whether telling people about the Christian faith could be a hate crime.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, a UKIP peer, says when he raised a question on the issue on the House of Lords, the government failed to state clearly whether Christians cannot be prosecuted just for stating their beliefs.

“I said to the government ‘Will they confirm unequivocally that a Christian who says that Jesus is the only son of the one true God cannot be arrested for hate crime or any other offence, however much it may offend a Muslim or anyone of any other religion?'”

In response to the question, government whip Baroness Vere of Norbiton said: “My Lords, I am not going to comment on that last question from the noble Lord.” She added that the legal definition of “hate crime” has been the same for the past 10 years.

Speaking to Premier Christian Radio, Lord Pearson said the refusal to comment was “pretty unique” and “makes one very worried”.

Dreher slams "morally disgusting" "Islamized Britain" over UK denying asylum to Asia Bibi

"This morally disgusting outcome is what happens when you allow your country to become Islamized."

Bravo for Rod Dreher for calling this one right. If you haven't been following Asia Bibi's story, get up to speed with these links:

• Pakistan: Christian woman imprisoned for years for blasphemy is acquitted, Muslims riot and call for her death
• Pakistan: 11,000 Muslims in protests against acquittal of Christian “blasphemer,” demand public hanging
• Pakistani government capitulates to rioters, bans Asia Bibi from leaving country, reviews her blasphemy acquittal
• Pakistan: Lawyer for Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy charges flees to Europe in fear of his life
• Additional News Stories tagged with 'Asia Bibi'

The USA has an opportunity to help this Christian woman whose life and that of her family (and her attorney) are at risk because of Islam, the Koran, and Muhammad.

England has revealed whom it considers its true overlords to be. The black flag of Islam will soon be flying over Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, and the Houses of Parliament. Britain is doomed.

Islamized Britain

by Rod Dreher, The American Conservative, November 10, 2018:

This is a sign of the times:

A Pakistani Christian woman’s appeal to Britain for asylum has been denied because her arrival in the country may stir civil unrest, HuffPost UK has been told. 

Asia Bibi, a Christian farm labourer, was released from prison in Pakistan on Wednesday after being acquitted of blasphemy. She had spent eight years on death row after an argument with a group of Muslim women in June 2009. 

The Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned Bibi’s 2010 conviction for “insulting the prophet Mohammed” last week, saying the case against her was based on flimsy evidence. 

But her acquittal sparked violent protests led by Islamic religious hardliners, and the government has now agreed to try to stop her leaving the country. 

On Saturday her lawyer, Saif Mulook, fled Pakistan, saying he feared for his life. Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih, has also released a video message saying he too fears for his family’s safety. 

“I am requesting the Prime Minister of the UK help us and as far as possible grant us freedom,” he said. 

But campaigners working to secure Bibi’s move abroad said the UK government had not offered her asylum, citing security concerns.

More:

'LONDONISTAN' - Harbinger of England's Dark Future

“London is more Islamic than many Muslim countries put together”

The title of Melanie Phillips' prophetic 2007 book haunts England, Europe and America to this day, as the Islamic takeover of a collapsing, post-Christian West continues to accelerate. The article below details disturbing trends, such as these:

• 423 new mosques, and they are packed,
• 100 Shariah courts, creating a parallel legal system outside of English law,
• weekly attendance of Muslims at mosque will surpass the number of Christians at church by 2020.

Not mentioned in the below article is London's massive crime wave, with acid attacks and stabbings, rape and gun crimes and homicide all way up; homicides up by 27%, youth homicides up by 70%, and robbery up by over 33%.

Also not referenced below, "taking the three English translations of the same Arabic name as one has left Muhammad the most popular boy’s name in England and Wales every year since 2011."

Let the reader understand.

LONDONISTAN, by Melanie Phillips, Encounter Books, 2007:

The suicide bombings carried out in London in 2005 by British Muslims revealed an enormous fifth column of Islamist terrorists and their sympathizers. 

Under the noses of British intelligence, London has become the European hub for the promotion, recruitment and financing of Islamic terror and extremism - so much so that it has been mockingly dubbed Londonistan. 

In this ground-breaking book Melanie Phillips pieces together the story of how Londonistan developed as a result of the collapse of traditional English identity and accommodation of a particularly virulent form of multiculturalism. Londonistan has become a country within the country and not only threatens Britain but its special relationship with the U.S. as well. 

Order from Amazon.

“London is more Islamic than many Muslim countries put together”

423 mosques, 100 Sharia courts

Oct 9, 2018, ROBERT SPENCER,  JIHAD WATCH:

And the police in many areas are enforcing Sharia blasphemy laws, hunting for people who insult Islam. The end of Britain as a free society is at hand.

“Muslim London: 423 new mosques, 100 Shariah courts,” Saudi Gazette, October 7, 2018:

London —Britain has been acquiring an increasingly Islamic face, with hundreds of official Shariah courts operating in the capital and many mosques dotting many cities. 

Maulana Syed Raza Rizvi, an Islamic preacher, was quoted as saying in the local media…. 

There are 423 new mosques in London and most of these mosques are crowded at prayer times unlike many churches which rarely see visitors.

Islam defeats Free Speech in Europe

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sets ominous precedent, enforces Sharia restrictions on speech concerning Islam, criminalizes criticism of Muhammad.

In Europe, Free Speech Bows to Sharia

By ANDREW C. MCCARTHY, National Review, October 27, 2018

Europeans are free to say only what the courts let them.

When he was 50, the prophet of Islam took as his wife Aisha, who was then six or seven. The marriage was consummated when Aisha was nine.

This is not a smear. It is an accurate account of authoritative Islamic scripture. (See, e.g., Sahih-Bukhari, Vol. 5, Book 58, Nos. 234–236.) Yet it can no longer safely be discussed in Europe, thanks to the extortionate threat of violence and intimidation — specifically, of jihadist terrorism and the Islamist grievance industry that slipstreams behind it. Under a ruling by the so-called European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), free speech has been supplanted by sharia blasphemy standards.

The case involves an Austrian woman (identified as “Mrs. S.” in court filings and believed to be Elisabeth Sabaditsch Wolff) who, in 2009, conducted two seminars entitled “Basic Information on Islam.” She included the account of Mohammed’s marriage to Aisha. Though this account is scripturally accurate, Mrs. S. was prosecuted on the rationale that her statements implied pedophilic tendencies on the part of the prophet. A fine (about $547) was imposed for disparaging religion.

Apostasy in the UK: Cathedral hosts Ramadan “Grand Iftar Service” on anniversary of London Bridge jihad massacre

The crumbling into apostasy and de facto dhimmi status of Western Christianity continues to gather momentum with yet another cathedral in the UK hosting an Islamic service.

Ramadan is the 'Month of Jihad' for Muslims, and as this news report below shows, Ramadan has become the 'Month of Apostasy' for more and more Christians.

"The cathedral announced it would “host its second Grand Iftar which, this year, will also mark the anniversary of the London Bridge attacks and will bring all communities together to celebrate Ramadan."

Defiling the cathedral and committing apostasy. The 'Church' of England is finished.

By comparison, the Orthodox Church absolutely forbids the reading of texts from any other faith during any of the divine services. Only the Old and New Testaments, and select texts from the Orthodox service books and perhaps lives or writings of saints or of recognized Orthodox writers may be read in an Orthodox Church during a service.

No non-Orthodox speaker should be allowed to give an address in a church. A Christian from another confession could be invited to speak in a parish hall, but not in the church itself. No non-Christian should be allowed to give an address in an Orthodox setting of any kind.

No prayers other than Christian prayers may be offered in an Orthodox church, and those officiated only by a consecrated Orthodox clergyman (or, if no clergy are available, by Orthodox laymen in a "Readers Service").

If an Islamic service of any kind, or a reading from the Koran, or Muslim prayers were somehow forcibly (or ignorantly, or in a modern-day spirit of multi-culti vapidity) conducted in an Orthodox church, that church would be considered defiled, a great blasphemy committed, an "abomination causing desolation" having occurred, and that church would need to be exorcised, cleansed, and completely re-consecrated before any Christian services could be held again in it. Its pastor or bishop should be severely disciplined and possibly defrocked if not excommunicated.

Why these strong words?

Because Islam is of the spirit of Antichrist, a forerunner of Antichrist, per these verses from the Koran:

'First they came for Tommy Robinson...'

The UK arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced Tommy Robinson in one hour. The UK judge presiding slapped a gag order on the press. These are the actions of a totalitarian regime, one which, in this case, seems to have sold its soul to Islam.

I was immediately reminded of the poem, 'First they came...' Written by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (†1984), the spare verse exposes the cowardice of German Christians and intellectuals during the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to power:

Engraving of the poem 'First they came...' at the New England Holocaust Memorial, Boston MA.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up—
Because I was not a Catholic.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Since I blog about Islam (strike one), and am an Orthodox Christian (strike two), I expect in the not too distant future to find myself a target of the police and surveillance forces of the Dystopian States of America, I resolved not to remain silent about Tommy Robinson's case. Time to speak out.

Here in the USA, we have some vestigial recognition of Freedom of Speech (and Freedom of Religion), though it is under severe assault, and is being eradicated through generational displacement, as revealed by polls of college graduates over the last decade or more, who believe speech should be limited.

But in the UK, free speech is dead. The silencing of Tommy Robinson, whatever one thinks of his politics, persona, and approach, is its most recent and startling sign.

Several perceptive articles have drawn out the implications of the Soviet-style fast-track eradication of Robinson. Here are a few excerpts with links back to the original sites, all highly recommended:

The disappearance of Tommy Robinson: What his arrest tells us about UK’s slide toward totalitarianism

LeoHohmann.com - Mr Hohmann focuses on an article by Edward Cline at Rule of Reason (who cites the ever incisive and quotable Mark Steyn). An excerpt:

PragerU Video: 'The Suicide of Europe', by Douglas Murray

The tragic story of Europe's capitulation to Islam is discussed by author Douglas Murray in yet another excellent video from Prager University, which has featured such towering voices on the threat of Islam as Raymond Ibrahim.




The Suicide of Europe

Douglas Murray, PragerU, May 14, 2018:

Europe is committing suicide. How did this happen? In this week’s video, Douglas Murray, author of The Strange Death of Europe, explains the two major causes of Europe’s impending downfall.

Murray is the author of The Strange Death of Europe.

View, read and share.

Leo Hohmann: 'Have U.S. Christians already lost the right to publicly speak against Islam?'

“Those who are in denial, who don’t think there is Christian persecution, or who even think there is more Muslim persecution, those pastors better wake up, better be aware, that you now have Christian conferences being closed down by these Islamofascists, Antifa, the SPLC, they’re all working together.” 

— former Muslim-turned Christian Pastor Shahram Hadian

'Axios!' to Leo Hohmann for exposing these thuggish tactics being used to silence Christians warning about the threats from Islam. 

Christian broadcaster Brannon Howse
on the set of his Worldview Weekend radio and Internet podcast show.

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ” – John: 15:18-19

By LEO HOHMANN, April 13, 2018:

It’s no secret that the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center, aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR], scour the country looking for Christians who dare to speak or write about their beliefs that Islam poses a threat to our constitutional freedoms — especially the freedom of speech. 

When these intellectual gangsters find a Christian who dares to speak the forbidden thoughts in public, they pounce like ravenous wolves. They inform Antifa, #Ungovernable, #Resist and other activists who flood social media with disparaging comments about the speaker and show up at the advertised venue to cause chaos. 

But before employing any of these disruptive tactics, they first try to get the speaker’s event canceled. 

That’s what happened this past weekend in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. 

Christian radio host Brannon Howse had scheduled a five-city Worldview Weekend speaking tour. Howse had enlisted speakers including former Muslim-turned Christian Pastor Shahram Hadian and Bible-prophecy teacher Jimmy DeYoung, and booked venues months in advance, only to see those reservations canceled at the last minute. 

Managers of the city-owned Omni Center in Onalaska, Wisconsin, told Howse they received 57 phone calls when they opened their office on Friday, April 6, from activists threatening to protest his event. They told Howse he needed to up his liability insurance policy, which already provided $1 million in coverage. They canceled his event four hours before the doors were due to open. 

Howse said he was on the phone with three different city officials that day, including the mayor, police chief and city administrator, all telling him they could not host his event at the Omni because his insurance was not sufficient. 

“They violated the terms of our contract, which requires them to inform me of any cancellation in writing, either hand-delivered or via U.S. Postal Service,” Howse said. 

Hotels in Milwaukee and Green Bay also canceled Howse’s events. 

“We have a legal team in Wisconsin and they are looking at suing all three venues but they are particularly distressed that the city government of Onalaska stifled our free speech,” Howse told me. “When the government shuts you up, that is real censorship. Our attorneys are telling us the punitive damages for that could be astronomical for them.” 

The last time I checked, talking about political or religious matters, however controversial or unpopular, was exactly the type of speech that our First Amendment was meant to protect. 

The speaking events sought to expose how leftists supported by billionaire George Soros and elitist private foundations are intimidating America into silence by labeling anyone who exposes them as “racists,” “Islamophobes” and “white supremacists.” 

“It re-affirmed what we’ve been talking about for over a year now in terms of where things are headed in this country and what we are facing as Christians,” Hadian told me.

Leo Hohmann - 'Deep state attacks: Gov’t ‘Fusion Centers’ spying on patriots concerned about Islam'

"[Government] fusion centers know no boundaries, including the U.S. Constitution, says constitutional attorney and civil liberties advocate John Whitehead. 'The word mosque, it’s key words like that. If you don’t like mosques, they’re gonna be after you, they’re watching you', said Whitehead, founder of the Charlottesville, Va.-based Rutherford Institute. Being an 'activist' also draws the attention of the fusion centers, he said.

Deep state attacks: Gov’t ‘Fusion Centers’ spying on patriots concerned about Islam

By LEO HOHMANN, LeoHohmann.com, March 16, 2018:

Brenda Arthur received an unexpected visit on March 8 that, one week later, leaves her feeling more than a little uneasy. 

At her door that day was an officer with the West Virginia State Police. He wanted to know about her involvement in a Freedom of Information request regarding a local mosque. 

Arthur, who will turn 67 this summer, serves as leader of the West Virginia chapter of ACT For America, whose mission is to educate Americans about the advancement of Islamic principles in Western societies. 

As a Jewish American, she was concerned about a major expansion of the Islamic Association of West Virginia in her hometown of South Charleston. This mosque has hosted an openly anti-Semitic preacher in the past, and so she went to city hall in late January to have a look at its construction permits and site plans, something that is within the right of every American citizen under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and state open-records laws. 

She had no idea that this perfectly legal activity, performed every day by citizen watchdogs across the U.S., would prompt a visit from the state police. 

Arthur was not available to answer the door when Sgt. R.C. Workman came knocking, but Workman left his business card with a hand-written note on the back: 

“Brenda, please contact me at: 304-573-6190.” 

Workman’s unit is part of the West Virginia Intelligence Exchange, a secretive outfit that works closely with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “intelligence fusion center” in West Virginia.

All 50 states have at least one DHS fusion center, and the story of Brenda Arthur lends credence to the views of civil libertarians that these centers, whatever their stated purpose, have been weaponized against law-abiding American citizens. 

Fusion centers were established a few years after the 9/11 terror attacks by the George W. Bush administration and expanded under Barack Obama. 

The West Virginia Fusion Center website says its mission is to “Embrace proactive intelligence efforts. Those efforts are key to inhibiting criminal networks, whether those groups are terrorists, drug-related groups, organized crime, or other criminal enterprises.” 

Fusion centers work with “non-traditional sources,” including corporate America, to build threat assessments on people. 

But what is it about Brenda Arthur that could garner the attention of this specialized police unit? She seems like an unlikely candidate to be involved in terrorism or organized crime. 

Arthur is a senior citizen who’s never broken a law in her life. She is a professional insurance broker, a great-aunt to six children, one of whom she helps with financial support for a private education at a Montessori school. 

But fusion centers know no boundaries, including the U.S. Constitution, says constitutional attorney and civil liberties advocate John Whitehead. 

“The word mosque, it’s key words like that. If you don’t like mosques, they’re gonna be after you, they’re watching you, because everything is determined by algorithms,” said Whitehead, founder of the Charlottesville, Va.-based Rutherford Institute. 

Being an “activist” also draws the attention of the fusion centers, he said. 

‘Do not talk to them’ 

Whitehead has strict advice for any law-abiding citizen who is approached by law enforcement asking questions about their personal activities. 

“If they come to your door, do not talk to them. If they call you on the phone, do not talk to them.” 

Whitehead said the intimidation tactics used by fusion centers are similar to the East German Stasi and other secret-police agencies. 

“They’re copying the tactics of former totalitarian regimes and the slightest mistake can get you in trouble,” he said. “That’s why you shouldn’t talk to them. The threat assessments are very dangerous. Don’t talk to them. Call someone like us, let us issue one of our letters and that usually shuts them up, and also puts them on record.” 

“Once you’re in their system,” Whitehead added, “you cannot get out.” 

Islam, Totalitarianism, and the 'catastrophic spiritual ruin ahead of us'

"I am begging you to pray that if there is catastrophic spiritual ruin ahead of us, that God would open our eyes to it before it is too late. If you have not been praying with heartfelt sincerity and desperate dependence on God – start tonight."

~ Rev. Peter Sanlon, Church of England

Rod Dreher has posted an interview with Rev. Peter Sanlon, a young CofE pastor, over at his blog at The American Conservative, which is startling for its unflinching honesty and penetrating insights concerning the frightening rate of the post-and ever more stridently anti-Christian sentiment sweeping the West, and the immanent collapse of establishment Christianity as a result.

Rev. Sanlon identifies three movements, which he states are "certain to sink the ship": "Radical sexual gender ideologies, Islam, and governments’ totalitarian instincts." How he describes the dynamics of these three forces shows he has thought deeply on contemporary trends, and is not spinning hastily composed conspiracy theories.

It may well be the case that the Orthodox Church, due to our smaller numbers, may fare better than mainline Protestant denominations, Evangelicals, and Roman Catholicism. On the other hand, because Orthodoxy is by its nature more traditional and less subject to change with the times, it may be especially singled out and targeted by the forces of the spirit of Antichrist, as described in the most significant Christian book of the 21st century so far.

I cannot do justice to Rev. Sanlon's incisive and prophetic analysis, and urgently recommend you read the entire interview. Key excerpts below. I have made a few comments, which are bracketed and not indented.

Christian Life In Exile

by Rod Dreher, The American Conservative, March 5, 2018:

DREHER: Dr. Sanlon, you’ve mentioned to me that the situation for faithful small-o orthodox Christians in the West today is a lot like passengers on the Titanic refusing to believe that the ship is sinking. What do you mean?

SANLON: The Titanic was believed to be the ‘unsinkable ship’ – yet 1,503 souls perished in the icy Atlantic waters. The designers, financiers, media, crew and passengers held that the ship was unsinkable — and therefore were unable to consider or prepare adequately for her sinking. People are shaped and formed by their beliefs: if you believe something cannot occur, you will not think about it or prepare for it. This is all the more true if the thing you believe cannot happen is something that would be deeply unpleasant to you. 

"I do not believe the Church itself will be sunk. What I do mean is that the public, easy, culturally acceptable way we do church is sunk." — Rev. Peter Sanlon

The human heart has an astonishing capacity for self-deception, and together with those who are similarly disposed we have almost infinite abilities to participate in mass delusion. Consider how the shudders of the Titanic liner impacting the iceberg were dismissed as insignificant. Those down in the hull of the ship could see water pouring in — but those in the restaurants and cabins above them would not believe warnings. Those bringing the warnings were uncouth, less cultured, not as intelligent — and crucially theywere bringing warnings of tragedy that were unpalatable. The mind rationalizes what the heart desires. 

What then do I mean when I say that orthodox Christians in the West are like passengers on the Titanic? 

I mean that the Church in our Western nations has already hit the iceberg. Water is flooding into the hull — the ship will sink. The grinding judders of our ship impacting the iceberg have been felt — but the majority of Christians will do what the Titanic passengers and crew did — explain the evidence away and refuse to help one another prepare to save one another’s spiritual lives. 

The iceberg that has has ripped open the Church is composed of not frozen water, but three things. Radical sexual gender ideologies, Islam and governments’ totalitarian instincts. 

Why is it that these three movements are so certain to sink the ship? The reason is that the mainline churches in the West are deeply compromised. Over many decades our leaders have fostered the hope that by political action, legal efforts or even by embracing the cultures’ ideologies in these three areas, that it can prosper or survive. This has severely weakened the Churches and leaves us unprepared for the future. 

Illinois Christians refuse to accept 'Same God' indoctrination in public school

"Dozens of people spoke out... against a homework assignment made at an Elgin-area U46 school in which it was asserted Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths all believe in the same God..."

"Several people attacked the assignment, quoting Bible and Quran verses to support their argument that Christians do not follow the same God as Muslims."

Bravo for these informed and motivated Christian parents and citizens, who are not afraid to speak truth to power, to rebuke the sinister establishment and Islamic forces arrayed against them.

The "Same God" teaching is a cornerstone of Islamic dawah (proselytization), and is a deceptive "Trojan Horse" theological belief which, on the basis of seeking peace, actually sets up Christians to commit apostasy and deny Jesus Christ, thus cutting themselves off from the grace of God.

Mark Durie warns about this false teaching in his book Revelation: Do We Worship the Same God?:

The traditional Islamic view is that if you want to know what the God of the Bible is like, then read the Koran. Not only must Muslims believe that "we worship the same God," but this message is always a central component of the presentation of Islam to Christians and Jews. 

[This message] provides the lynchpin of Muslims’ efforts to convert the "People of the Book" to the faith of Muhammad. In addition, this belief, once accepted, can lead Christians to support Islamic perspectives in ways other than conversion. For example, embracing this Islamic doctrine wins a measure of respect and even support for Islam from Christians. (Durie, Revelation, pp 50-51, 75-76.)

I refute at length, through several arguments, the Same God Heresy in my book, Facing Islam - What the Ancient Church has to say about the Religion of Muhammad.  For a serious Christian, there really is no other way to think about Islam than as a heresy and a "forerunner of Antichrist" (as St. John of Damascus wrote, and he was in a position to know, living under Muslim rule during Islam's first century). Christians today should be prepared to defend their faith, and to explain why Allah is a false god, and Islam a false religion, put forward by a false prophet, and that its primary purpose is the destruction of Christianity.

That Islam claims to worship the same God, and to venerate Jesus, should provide no comfort to Christians, but rather alarm, when Christians finally wake up, study Islam even a little bit, and learn that Islam teaches that Jesus will return, but as a Muslim, with a vendetta against Christians:

In Islam, Prophet Isa is expected to return, but to condemn the Christians’ misunderstanding of him as divine and to literally destroy Christianity and judge all non- Muslims; the Koran universally brands all unbelievers as “the vilest of creatures” (Sura 98:6). 

The Prophet Isa will be a “good Muslim,” and will direct his followers to the Mahdi, the Muslim messiah, before taking a subservient position somewhat behind the Mahdi. Isa will “fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill the swine and abolish jizya” and establish the rule of Allah throughout the world (Hadith from Sunan Abu Dawud, Book of Battles, 37:4310).  (Facing Islam, p80.)

The "breaking of the cross" by this Muslim Jesus ("Isa") contains within it a clear reference to the Koran's denial that Jesus was crucified:

In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him — they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him. (Sura 4:157)

Liberal and milquetoast Christian academics, who routinely tell us "Muslims and Christians worship the same God," will likely dismiss these sincere and honest Christian citizens as "rubes" and "rednecks," lacking the learning to appreciate the "nuances" of Islam. We, however commend their bravery and zeal in standing against a blatant lie, falsehood and heresy being taught as "fact" in public schools, a brazen attempt to indoctrinate students into Islamic beliefs.

Illinois: Citizens protest school homework claiming Christians, Muslims and Jews all believe in same God

Creeping Sharia, February 4, 2018:

Source: Christians protest religion-themed assignment in Elgin-area school – Elgin Courier-News

Dozens of people spoke out Monday against a homework assignment made at an Elgin-area U46 school in which it was asserted Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths all believe in the same God.

One month after the assignment was criticized by U46 school board member Jeanette Ward, people who identified themselves as part of the Christian community attended the school board meeting Monday to add their opposition.

Several people attacked the assignment, quoting Bible and Quran verses to support their argument that Christians do not follow the same God as Muslims. Some of those who spoke live outside the U46 boundaries, including one person who came from Florida.

“To say that Allah of the Quran and the God of the Bible are the same is simply absurd,” said Art Ellingsen, a church pastor from Arlington Heights.

Raymond Ibrahim: 'Why Professing Christ Is Becoming a ‘Hate Crime’ in the West'

"The Western elements that are forever protecting and empowering Islam, and which operate under various names—'Liberals', 'Leftists', 'Marxists', 'Progressives', 'Social Justice Warriors', etc.—ultimately care little about Islam; rather, Islam is for them a tool to combat their real and much closer enemy: Christianity, and the mores and civilization borne of it and culminating in the West."

Raymond Ibrahim analyzes how and why Leftists join with Islam to persecute Christians in the West in this new "must read" article by one of the foremost scholars on the threat from Islam.

Why Professing Christ Is Becoming a ‘Hate Crime’ in the West

by Raymond Ibrahim, January 12, 2018:

What is the source of dhimmitude—which in many ways paralyzes responses to Islam—in the West?

First a definition: “dhimmitude,” which was coined by the late Christian president of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel, and popularized by writer Bat Ye’or, is a neologism based on the Arabic word, dhimmi—that is, a non-Muslim (generally a Christian or Jew) who falls under Islamic rule and, as a price for maintaining his religion, accepts an inferior social standing. Simply put, the dhimmi must know his or her place and never rock the boat, including by seeking equal rights with Muslims.

While this is the classic and original manifestation of dhimmitude, a new and unprecedented form has arisen in the West: in the Muslim world, where might naturally makes right, Muslim majorities impose an inferior status onto non-Muslim minorities; but in the West, it is the West itself—or at least homegrown elements—that in certain fields impose an inferior status on a non-Muslim majority.

The question becomes, Why? Why would a stronger civilization impose the unjust and supremacist stipulations of a weaker, hostile civilization, onto itself, and thereby paralyze itself against that same hostile civilization?

The answer is evident in the words of an ancient strategy: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The Western elements that are forever protecting and empowering Islam, and which operate under various names—“Liberals,” “Leftists,” “Marxists,” “Progressives,” “Social Justice Warriors,” etc.—ultimately care little about Islam; rather, Islam is for them a tool to combat their real and much closer enemy: Christianity, and the mores and civilization borne of it and culminating in the West.

2017 - The Year the Great Apostasy swept across Europe

"More troubling are the growing efforts to Islamize Christmas. The re-theologizing of Christmas is based on the false premise that the Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus (Isa) of the Koran. This religious fusion, sometimes referred to as 'Chrislam', is gaining ground in a West that has become biblically illiterate..."

Apostate Western Christian "churches" in Europe and the British Isles are falling all over themselves to not just avoid offending Muslims, but to affirm Islam, inviting Muslims to read from the Koran — in the churches.

Western Christians would rather deny Christ than deny Muhammad. Such apostates show that they have been signed with the Mark of the Beast on their foreheads, as they assent to a blasphemy which completely removes the grace of Christ from their hearts. 

The below extensively documented and cross-linked article tracks the collapse of Western Christian Europe.

What will 2018 bring? This is not a Happy New Year. This is a new year which screams for weeping and repentance. Lord have mercy...

Europe: The Islamization of Christmas

by Soeren Kern, Gatestone Institute via Creeping Sharia, December 25, 2017:

This year’s Christmas season has been marked by Islam-related controversies in nearly every European country. Most of the conflicts have been generated by Europe’s multicultural political and religious elites, who are bending over backwards to secularize Christmas, ostensibly to ensure that Muslims will not be offended by the Christian festival.

Many traditional Christmas markets have been renamed — Amsterdam Winter Parade, Brussels Winter Pleasures, Kreuzberger Wintermarkt, London Winterville, Munich Winter Festival — to project a multicultural veneer of secular tolerance.

More troubling are the growing efforts to Islamize Christmas. The re-theologizing of Christmas is based on the false premise that the Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus (Isa) of the Koran. This religious fusion, sometimes referred to as “Chrislam,” is gaining ground in a West that has become biblically illiterate.

In Britain, for instance, the All Saints Church in Kingston upon Thames recently held a joint birthday celebration for Jesus and Mohammed. The “Milad, Advent and Christmas Celebration” on December 3 was aimed at “marking the birthday of Prophet Mohammed and looking forward to the birthday of Jesus.” The hour-long service included time for Islamic prayer and was followed by the cutting of a birthday cake.

The prominent Christian blog “Archbishop Cranmer” rebuked the church for its lack of discernment:

“Note how this event is ‘Marking the birthday of Prophet Mohammed,’ but not looking forward to the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mohammed gets his prophethood, while Jesus gets neither his prophethood nor his priesthood; neither his kingship nor his messiahship. It’s the exalted Prophet Mohammed along with plain old Jesus, because to have added any of his claims to divinity would, of course, have alienated many Muslims (if they hadn’t already been alienated by the haram [forbidden by Islam] celebration), which wouldn’t have been very interfaith or sensitively missional, would it?”

The blog added that exalting Mohammed in churches effectively proclaims that Mohammed is greater than Jesus:

“Every time a church accords Mohammed the epithet ‘Prophet,’ they are rejecting the crucifixion, denying the resurrection of Christ, and refuting that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, for Mohammed denied all of these foundational tenets of the Christian faith.”

Apostasy in the UK: 'Church' holds joint birthday celebration for 'Prophet Muhammad' and Jesus

The apostasy of "Christian" churches in the West continues to accelerate, as these flaming heretics seek to outdo one another in affirming Muhammad and Islam, while at the same time showing they are ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ by openly denying Him. With each such blasphemous interfaith escapade, they further cut themselves off from the True Vine, and are in danger of being burned.

So many such reports come out of the United Kingdom these days (some noted below), that it is clear that Britain has rejected Christ and is in a terminal phase of post-Christian collapse, with the shadow of the black flag of Islam looming over the once sanctified Isles. Small pockets of Orthodox Christianity are persevering, but apart from a miracle, the country itself seems doomed.

I have inverted the original order of Robert Spencer's post on Jihad Watch, by placing his introduction, comprised of Qur'anic texts denying the foundations of the Christian Faith, below the incisive report on this pathetic sign of the times:

Advent-cum-Mawlid: church holds joint birthday celebration for Mohammed and Jesus

Archbishop Cranmer, December 4, 2017 (thanks to David):

Mawlid (or Milad) is the Islamic festival commemorating the birthday of Mohammed. The only thing it has in common with Christmas is that it isn’t actually the day the celebrated baby was born. Yet All Saints Church in Kingtson upon Thames thinks there’s an interfaith syncretised opportunity to be found in holding a joint birthday celebration for both Mohammed and Jesus – so they put the flags out for both, rejoicing in both, eulogising both, solemnising both, glorifying both, honouring both…

But note how this event is “Marking the birthday of Prophet Mohammed”, but not looking forward to the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mohammed gets his prophethood, while Jesus gets neither his prophethood nor his priesthood; neither his kingship nor his messiahship. It’s the exalted Prophet Mohammed along with plain old Jesus, because to have added any of his claims to divinity would, of course, have alienated many Muslims (if they hadn’t already been alienated by the haram celebration), which wouldn’t have been very interfaith or sensitively missional, would it?