'Pleading for Permanence' - The Plight of the Armenian Christians

Fr Benedict Kiely, founder of Nasarean.org, a charity helping persecuted Christians, makes a powerful appeal for Christian Armenia, at risk of being wiped off the map by the Islamic nation of Azerbaijan, which is waging a brazen cultural genocide to complete the physical Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1917.  

Pleading for Permanence

The Turkic Azerbaijanis seek to eradicate all signs of the ancient Christian history of Armenia

Fr Benedict Kiely,  The European Conservative, Sept 8, 2024

When the forces of the Islamic State (ISIS) swept through Syria and Iraq, beginning in 2014, they immediately began destroying both churches and the Christian symbols within them. Visiting both Syria and Iraq many times, I have seen every Cross in a church defaced, statues broken, and icons scratched and damaged. There was a reason, for example, that ISIS used churches in Mosul as torture centres, prisons, and often places for target practice. It was not only to blaspheme and insult their true purpose, to gloat over the defeated Christian populace, but also to deny the building ever had a sacred use. There was far worse to see. In many places, ISIS destroyed Christian graveyards, something I saw with my own eyes. They not only destroyed the graveyards; they dug up the bodies of the Christian ancestors and threw them away. If there are no graveyards, it means the people were never there. The policy was not merely cultural vandalism; it was deliberate and planned.

Scruton wrote that “sacred spaces are steeped in the hope and sufferings of those who have fought for them. And they belong to others who are yet to be.” To eradicate hallowed ground not only denies the reality of an historical presence but also attempts to ensure that those who are “yet to be” will never return.

This policy is happening in another part of the world at this very moment. This time, not the work of a revolutionary force, but the work of a nation feted across the globe, especially because it has seemingly unlimited amounts of oil and gas. The oldest Christian nation on earth, Armenia, is suffering an historical and cultural genocide to accompany not only the physical genocide of 1915 to 1917 but the forced expulsion of all the Armenian citizens from the territory of Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, in 2023. In every area that the Islamic nation of Azerbaijan takes from Armenia, churches, monasteries, and religious signs and symbols have been destroyed. Graveyards are desecrated. The famous Armenian khachkar’s, the decorated stone Cross so typical of Armenian culture, some from at least the 9th century, have been broken, moved, or vandalised. Following the example of their Turkish overlords, who accompanied the Armenian genocide of the last century with a similar policy of the destruction of memory and presence, the Turkic Azerbaijanis are seeking to eradicate all signs of the ancient Christian history of Armenia, present since the 4th century. It is, in fact, the prevailing policy and the absurd fantasy of the government of Azerbaijan that the very state of Armenia has never existed, which is precisely why all historical signs must be eliminated. Meanwhile, the world watches and fills the oil tanks and pays the petrodollars...

Across the West, there is a destruction of memory, a denial of the past, exemplified by the refusal to acknowledge the foundational role of Christianity in the European Constitution; there is a reason why the European Commission is probably the most secular institution in Europe. Although churches, as they rapidly empty, are not being bulldozed, or at least not many, they are being used for other purposes, increasingly as mosques in Britain.

For those of us who care, this increased denial of people and place, their history and culture, as a weapon of war, must be fought vigorously. The defence of Christian Armenia is an imperative for all who claim the name of Christian. As in the Middle East, they belong where they have always been, where they deserve to be. As Roger Scruton noted, “By bearing the imprint of former generations, a corner of the earth pleads for permanence.”

Read the full article here.

Support Fr Benedict Kiely and Nazarean.org here...

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel - Why did a Muslim attack and try to kill him?

You have probably seen the news reports of the shocking knife attack against Assyrian Christian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Sydney, Australia on Monday, April 15.  Thanks be to God, His Eminence survived with non-life-threatening injuries, and is doing well.

Bishop Mar Mari — a powerful preacher and now a confessor for Christ — has openly forgiven his attacker, and another report states, “It is the Bishop’s and Father’s wishes that you also pray for the perpetrator."

Here are a few additional links to get up to speed:

• Australia: Muslim stabs priest during mass, “He kept saying ‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar'”
• The miracle that saved Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel's life and kept his alleged attacker from killing him: 'Act of God'
• Australia: Muslim teen who attacked priest while screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ was recent convert to Islam

But why would a Muslim attack and try to kill Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel? Perhaps because he powerfully preaches against the false religion of Islam and the false prophet Muhammad, and invites Muslims to convert to Jesus Christ. The fearless David Wood goes point by point for us in this analysis:

Here is a talk by Bishop Mar Mari in which he explains his interpretation of a passage of Revelation, and how Islam is prophetically revealed to be a false religion:

So, it is easy to see why Muslims would be angered by Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, but why would they want to kill him?

Perhaps because it is commanded in the Koran:

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. (9:29)

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. (8:12)

Perhaps also because that's what Muhammad would do, as related in this foundational Islamic hadith:

Allah’s Messenger said: “I have been ordered [by Allah] to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah...” (Sahih Bukhari, 1:2:25, also Sahih Muslim, 1:10:29-35)

Such is zeal according to the false religion of Islam.

NEVER FORGET? The Holocaust yearns to return, by Hamas and its Jew-hating Western allies

The world has been shocked and ripped raw in grief and horror as Hamas Muslim jihadists attacked and killed, raped, and kidnapped Israelis, targeting women and children. The beheading of many of them, a central fixture in Islamic terrorism, has been confirmed. Islam is revealed once again in its full depravity, the spawn of Muhammad, the deviant false prophet and warlord.

By their own words: Muslim groups and Leftists support Hamas and Jihad Terrorism against Israel and Jews

Hamas top dog quotes Qur’an, tells Muslims to ‘kill them wherever you find them’

Fatah quotes Qur’an as it calls on ‘Palestinians’ to ‘slaughter everyone who is Israeli, by Allah, this is jihad’

Leftists Come Out in Support of Hamas Massacres, Send Money to Palestinians

CNN’s Tapper: Last Few Days Really Eye-Opening to ‘Antisemitism on the Left’

Black Lives Matter Organization Shows Support for Hamas Amid Terror Attack on Israel

‘Free Palestine’ Rally in Dearborn, Michigan, Cheers Hamas

Rod Dreher, from his Substack:

The mindless and simplistic Oppressor/Oppressed binary has led so many of that generation [Gen Z], steeped in wokeness, to lose their moral compass. The same people who took to the streets to protest the police killing of a drug addict named George Floyd have no problem with people taking to the streets to cheer on the terrorist killing of 1,300 Jewish civilians in the highest one-day Jewish death toll since the closing of the Nazi death camps.

Think about that.

Dr. Timothy Furnish: 'Hamas, Iran’s Bloodthirsty Sock Puppet'

Here is an excellent primer on Hamas' bloody, barbaric Islamic Jihad terrorist attack against Israel, from noted Islam scholar and author Timothy Furnish:


Hamas, Iran’s Bloodthirsty Sock Puppet

By TIMOTHY FURNISH | The Stream | October 9, 2023

Hamas has murdered, so far, over 600 Israeli civilians in its new war. Only the War of Independence (1948-49) and the Second Intifada (2000-05) killed more non-combatants. In addition, over 400 Palestinians have died. Both sides are sure to lose more. Especially the Gaza Palestinians. Because Israel’s wrath is kindled. And with good reason.

Hamas: Elected Terrorists

What is Hamas? It’s the Palestinian branch of the global Muslim Brotherhood. The name is actually an acronym from Arabic. Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyah, “Movement of the Islamic Resistance.” Founded in 1987, Hamas won the Palestinian elections in 2006. But it lost control of the West Bank to the non-jihadist Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Relegated to the tiny Gaza Strip, Hamas has spent the past 17 years periodically attacking Israel. It’s one of the 55 Islamic terrorist groups in the world (81% of the total). The vast majority of which are Sunni.

Iran: the Puppeteer

However, Hamas and some Sunni groups, like the related Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are supported by staunchly Twelver Shi`i Iran. Since the 1979 “Islamic Revolution” the ayatollahs fancy themselves leading a global Islamic insurgency. Not merely sponsoring terrorism. But insurgency against what, exactly? Against the West in general. And the United States in particular. Why? Because European-American civilization has dominated the globe for 500 years. In the past, Muslims saw the West as pushing Christianity on others. Now, it’s seen as imposing godless secularism and the LGBTQIA+ agenda. (Orthodox Christian Russia and officially Communist China also see the post-modern West as overbearing. Which is why the three civilizational blocs often cooperate against the U.S.)

The Little Satan is Closer

So what’s that have to do with Israel? Fundamentalist Sunnis and Shi`is agree on one thing, at least. That the Jewish state is the tip of the Western spear, embedded in the Muslim Middle East. A “foreign body” that must be expelled. Sunni Usama bin Ladin often referred to the “Crusader-Zionist” alliance. The Shi`i ayatollahs now say the same. But unlike UBL, they’re loathe to directly attack the Great Satan. Besides, it’s the Far (Away) Enemy. So they provide funding and weapons — especially rockets—to attack the Little Satan. Which is a convenient Near Enemy.

How Hamas’ War Benefits Iran

What do Iranian zealots get out of goading, if not directing, such horrible Hamas attacks at this juncture? Five benefits, in ascending order of importance.

First, a thumb in the eye of the Biden Administration, which recently “released” $6 billion to the Islamic Republic, to ransom hostages. Earmarked, say Bidenistas, only for “humanitarian purposes.” The ayatollahs are laughing all the way to the weapons market.

Second, sparking a major conflict in the Middle East gets Ukraine off the front page. This helps Russia, one of Iran’s patrons.

Third, the war makes the planned Turkish-Israeli rapproachment untenable.

Fourth, it scuttles the possible Saudi-Israeli normalization. Neither Turkish President Erdoğan nor Saudi ruler Muhammad bin Salman can meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Not when the IDF is leveling Palestinian buildings. With people inside.

Finally, there are some in Tehran obsessed with eschatology. These want to hotwire the apocalypse. Which means what? Destroying Israel in order to spark the return of the Twelfth Imam, the messianic Mahdi. In this view “the annihilation of the Zionist regime is one of the preconditions for the arrival of the Mahdi.” Iran’s President, and probable next Supreme Leader, is almost certainly of this mindset, too.

Hamas: Jihadist or Joker?

What does Hamas get out of this bloodletting? Many of its members will get a one-way ticket to the afterlife. Unfortunately, many of them have been convinced that they will be rewarded by Allah there with sensual delights. Instead, they will be punished by the true God for their evil deeds. Hamas’ jihadists truly exemplify that “some men just want to watch the world burn.”

Much more in the full article at The Stream...

Islam and Western Civilization: Pillar or Pillager?

From noted Roman Catholic author and Tolkien scholar, Joseph Pearce, comes a sharp rebuttal of the fallacious belief that Islam is somehow compatible with, and even central to, Western Civilization. Excerpt:

The seven pillars of Western Civilization are the edifying edifices which tower over the landscape of the centuries as a fortress of faith and a beacon of reason. Islam has served throughout the centuries as an outside force which has repeatedly laid siege to the fortress, seeking its overthrow.

Islam and Western Civilization

By Joseph Pearce| The Imaginative Conservative |January 28th, 2023


Several weeks ago I wrote an essay for this illustrious journal entitled “The Seven Pillars of Western Civilization” in which I listed the seven seminal tomes which form the textual foundation of the civilization of the West. These are The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Bible, The City of God, the Summa Theologica and The Divine Comedy. Collectively, these texts epitomize why Western Civilization is founded on the three civilizations of Athens, Jerusalem and Rome.

This is not the place to offer explanations with respect to the rationale for why these seven texts were selected instead of other contenders. Those interested in understanding the reason for the selection are invited to read the original essay.

What surprised me was that several readers of the original essay admonished me for failing to include the Qur’an as one of the seven pillars of wisdom on which Western Civilization is built. This seems to beg the obvious question which I thought my essay had answered implicitly. What exactly is Western Civilization? If it is anything at all, it must be something rooted in a cohesive and coherent set of common values, which are themselves the fruit of cohesive and coherent theological and philosophical principles.

In brief and in sum, Western Civilization in its fullness and fruitfulness is a synonym for Christendom. [Emphasis added -ed.] It is the consummation of the mythological and philosophical musings of the Greeks and the fulfilment of the theological covenant of the Jews in the Person of Jesus Christ as made manifest in the Church He founded throughout the centuries since His Incarnation. The quest and questions of Athens and Jerusalem are fulfilled and answered in the Gospel as enunciated by the One who proclaims Himself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life. Christ incarnates the transcendental trinity of the Good, the True and the Beautiful in who He is.

If this is so, the Qur’an is not one of the foundational pillars of wisdom on which the West is built but is a subversive text which undermines those very foundations. If Christ is who He says He is, Muhammed is a false prophet. This is as logically inescapable as it is theologically obvious.

Raymond Ibrahim: 'Pope Benedict Told the Grim Truth about Islam'

"As if to validate the claim that Muhammad had only taught “evil and inhuman” things, when Benedict quoted this assertion, anti-Christian riots erupted around the Muslim world, churches were set aflame, and an Italian nun who had devoted her life to serving the sick and needy of Somalia was murdered there."

Pope Benedict Told the Grim Truth about Islam

01/16/2023 by Raymond Ibrahim

Originally published by The Stream

“Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

In certain respects, this is the sentence that Pope Benedict XVI will be most remembered for. And while those who cite it do so to disparage and dishonor his memory—to portray him as an “Islamophobe”—that notorious assertion is of profound significance, and in more ways than one.

Pope Benedict read the above assertion on Sept. 12, 2006, during his Regensburg address on faith and reason. He was quoting Eastern Roman (or “Byzantine”) Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (b. 1350-1425). An erudite and pious man, Manuel knew much about Islam, both abstractly and experientially.

In 1390, Manuel’s father, John V, submitted to becoming a vassal to, and sent his son, Manuel, as a hostage of, the Ottoman sultan, Bayezid I (1360-1403), whom the contemporary chronicler Doukas described as

"a feared man, precipitate in deeds of war, a persecutor of Christians as no other around him, and in the religion of the Arabs [Islam] a most ardent disciple of Muhammad, whose unlawful commandments were observed to the utmost, never sleeping, spending his nights contriving intrigues and machinations against the rational flock of Christ. . . . His purpose was to increase the nation of the Prophet and to decrease that of the Romans. Many cities and provinces did he add to the dominion of the Muslims."

Unsurprisingly, the sultan never seemed to miss an opportunity to humiliate the heir apparent of Constantinople. Bayezid even sadistically forced Manuel to accompany the Turks and witness the final destruction of Philadelphia, the last Christian bastion in Asia Minor. The “sight of destroyed Christian cities” produced much “intense suffering” and even “sickened” the prince, writes one historian.

One year later, in 1391, Emperor John V died, and his son, Manuel, became emperor—after escaping from the sultan’s court to Constantinople. It was not long before Bayezid declared a fresh jihad, put Constantinople to siege (1394-1402), and once again began slaughtering Christians.

Earlier, during his time with the Turks, Manuel had regularly debated religion with Muslims. It was then that he said to a learned Muslim, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

NEW BOOK BY RAYMOND IBRAHIM: Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam

New title by scholar and historian Raymond Ibrahim presents "vivid and dramatic profiles of eight extraordinary warriors—some saints, some sinners—who defended the Christian West against Islamic invasions."

"Discover the real Count Dracula, Spain’s El Cid, England’s Richard Lionheart, and many other historical figures, whose true and original claim to fame revolved around their defiant stance against jihadist aggression. An instructive and inspiring read; whereas Sword and Scimitar revolved around decisive battles, Defenders of the West revolves around decisive men." (From the publisher's description.)

I saw the announcement of this title (just published in late July) while traveling earlier this year, and have just now purchased the Kindle edition and begun to read it. The publisher's blurb and the solid but reserved Foreword by Victor Davis Hanson don't even begin to do it justice. 

Ibrahim's Introduction positively crackles with intelligence and energy, and advances with a certain intensity — even ferocity — his warnings about Islam, as well as his warnings concerning the ever weakening postmodern, post-Christian West, which in spite of its superiority in force over the Islamic world, nevertheless is feeble in its belief in and defense of its own heritage, purpose and future. This is a major book with many lessons for us, won at great cost by valiant figures of our culture's past.

The below review by Mark Tapson frames this important new work in vigorous and appropriate terms.

Order Raymond Ibrahim’s Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam HERE.

Learn more about Raymond Ibrahim's writing and sign up for his regular posts HERE.

Defenders of the West

Raymond Ibrahim profiles eight heroes in the clash of civilizations.

by Mark Tapson, FrontPage Mag, July 28, 2022

Historiography has been dominated in recent decades almost exclusively by leftists determined to take a wrecking ball to the glorious edifice of Western civilization in the name of social justice and multiculturalism. New York Times propagandist Nikole Hannah-Jones of the widely-debunked but nonetheless influential 1619 Project comes to mind. The coordinated mission of such activists has been to pervert and subvert the grand narrative of our culture into a sordid tale of oppression, exploitation, and white supremacy, and to brand all our flawed heroes as racists and knock them off their pedestals, both figuratively and literally.

This is one reason why the new book Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam, by historian Raymond Ibrahim... is such a refreshing, even thrilling read. As if the title alone weren’t guaranteed to inflame Progressive sensibilities, the book is unabashedly dedicated to “all the Past, Present, and Future Defenders of that which is Good, Right, and True.” Standing up for the Good, the Right, and the True (capitalized, no less) in our postmodern, post-Christian era? That’s a bold, increasingly rare position for any historian and publisher (Bombardier Books, in this case) to take today.

Defenders is a sort of follow-up to Ibrahim’s essential 2018 book Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West. That book centered on decisive battles in the clash of civilizations, while the newer one zeroes in on the profiles of eight decisive men in that ongoing conflict, between the 11^th and 15^th centuries, from Spain’s El Cid and England’s Richard Lionheart to lesser-known but no less heroic figures such as France’s Saint Louis and the “Albanian Braveheart” Skanderbeg.

(VIDEO) Proto-Martyr Evgeny Rodionov (May 23)

On May 23 the Orthodox Church commemorates the New Martyr Evgeny Rodionov, who in 1996 was brutally tortured and murdered by Chechen Muslims for refusing to remove his cross.

Evgeny is one of the ProtoMartyrs under the sword of the false religion of Islam for the New Cloud of Witnesses of the 21st Century. His refusal to deny Christ is both a sign and an inspiration to us today.

Evgeny's martyrdom at the end of the 20th century was a sign of the newly emboldened ascendency of the foul religion of Muhammad, which has led to new waves of persecution of Christians throughout the world, and an ever growing choir of New Martyrs for Christ, slain by Muslims across Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, America, and elsewhere.

Watch the video below, and learn more about Holy New Martyr Evgeny on our special resource page dedicated to him.

Raymond Ibrahim: 'Islamic reform? Top Muslim university says no'

"Renewal is in no way possible concerning those texts which are irrefutable in their certainty and stability." 

- Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb 

"The problem is that many of the worst teachings plaguing the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds are derived directly from those texts deemed entirely reliable." 

- Raymond Ibrahim

Islamic reform? Top Muslim university says no

by Raymond Ibrahim, American Thinker, February 16, 2020

Pope Francis greets Egypt's Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb at Abu Dhabi Conference in 2019

Largely unknown to and unreported in the West, a large, two-day conference was recently hosted (Jan. 27–28) by Al Azhar University in Egypt and attended by the leading clerics and politicians from 46 nations. Titled "Renewal in Islamic Thought," it is currently the most significant response to Egyptian president Sisi's calls for reform, which he forcibly made on January 1, 2015.

The conference focused on the most pressing topics affecting the Islamic — and in some cases non-Islamic — world, including women's rights, government and society, and the question of "radicalization" and the emergence of jihadi terror groups such as the Islamic State.

I've watched many of the panels with great interest, and in the coming weeks, I hope to remark on some of these, but for now I wish to discuss what can be learned from the closing remarks of the grand imam of Al Azhar (and Pope Francis's good friend), Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb.

First, he — in agreement with the other clerics present — closed the door on the possibility for reform on a great number of issues: "Renewal," he announced, "is in no way possible concerning those texts which are irrefutable in their certainty and stability; as for those texts that are not entirely credible, they are subject to ijtihad [reinterpretation, especially based on changing circumstances]."

'The problem is that many of the worst teachings plaguing the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds are derived directly from those texts deemed entirely reliable.'

In plain language, the teachings of those Islamic texts that are deemed entirely reliable — chief among them, the Koran as well as certain hadith, including, according to mainstream Sunnism, all nine volumes of Sahih Bukhari — are not subject to any change; only those secondary Islamic texts, including many other volumes of hadith, the sira (biography of Muhammad), and other works of history, are open to debate.

The problem is that some — many — of the worst teachings plaguing the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds are derived directly from those texts deemed entirely reliable. The Koran, for example, very clearly permits the sexual enslavement of non-Muslim women, the beating of one's wife, and polygamy. The Koran calls on Muslims to have hate for and when convenient to war on non-Muslims just because they are non-Muslims. 

The Hundred Thousand Holy Martyrs of Tbilisi (+1227)

"The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded."

_______

This is one of the most compelling mass-martyrdom accounts in Christian history. Of course, the "Turkmen" referred to are the Muslim Turks, who during the thirteenth century were waging jihad to expand the dar al-Islam.

Notice the practice of beheading by the Muslims, used by the Islamic State today, following the example of Muhammad, who personally beheaded between 600 and 900 Jewish men and boys from the Quraiza tribe at Medina. (See The Life of Muhammad, by Ibn Ishaq, trans. A. Guillaume, New York, 1980, pp 463-464).

The Hundred Thousand Holy Martyrs of Tbilisi are commemorated by the Orthodox Church on October 31 (which is today, on the 'Old Calendar').

See also:

OCA - Lives of the Saints - 100,000 Martyrs of Tbilisi by the Mongols

_______

The Hundred Thousand Holy Martyrs of Tbilisi  (+1227)

from Lives of the Georgian Saints, by Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

St Herman of Alaska Press, Platina CA, 2006, pp 403-404.

From the book, 'Lives of the Georgian Saints'

In 1227 Sultan Jalal al-Din of Khwarazm and his army of Turkmen attacked Georgia. On the first day of the battle the Georgian army valorously warded off the invaders as they were approaching Tbilisi. That night, however, a group of Persians who were living in Tbilisi secretly opened the gates and summoned the enemy army into the city.

According to one manuscript in which this most terrible day in Georgian history was described: "Words are powerless to convey the destruction that the enemy wrought: tearing infants from their mothers' breasts, they beat their heads against the bridge, watching as their eyes dropped from their skulls...."

A river of blood flowed through the city. The Turkmen castrated young children, raped women, and stabbed mothers to death over their children's lifeless bodies. The whole city shuddered at the sound of wailing and lamentation. The river and streets of the city were filled with death.

The sultan ordered that the cupola of Sioni Cathedral be taken down and replaced by his vile throne. And at his command the icons of the Theotokos and our Savior were carried out of Sioni Cathedral and placed at the center of the bridge across the Mtkvari River. The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded.

Order the book from St Herman Press!

One hundred thousand Georgians sacrificed their lives to venerate the holy icons. One hundred thousand severed heads and headless bodies were carried by the bloody current down the Mtkvari River.

0 ye thousands of stars, the chosen people guarding the Georgian Church with your golden wings, intercede for us always before the face of God!

Sword and Scimitar: 'Compelling Reminder of the Terrifying Dynamic which Continues to Drive the Islamic World'

An in-depth, "must read" review of Raymond Ibrahim's most recent masterwork.

Sword and Scimitar: “A Compelling Reminder of the Terrifying Dynamic which Continues to Drive the Islamic World”

10/02/2019 by Raymond Ibrahim

Note: The following book review of Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West was written by Terry Scambray and first appeared in the Sept. 2019 issue of the New Oxford Review:

___________________

We judge individuals by what they say and what they do. We judge cults, religions and ideologies the same way; that is, by their doctrines and history.

Which is common sense, of course.

Apparently though, common sense is abandoned when it comes to ideologies like Marxism which has largely escaped such scrutiny by our schools and popular culture; and now the same cover up is happening with Islam.

But Raymond Ibrahim, fluent in Arabic, is an equal opportunity Middle East scholar committed to truth rather than conforming to dangerous fads.

Ibrahim gained attention with his revealing translations in his 2007 book, The Al Qaeda Reader, which showed the difference between what Osama bin Laden said in Arabic to Muslims and what he said for receptive, if not gullible, Western audiences.

Ibrahim’s second book, Crucified Again, showed the murder and destruction that Christians are enduring at the hands of Muslims throughout the world.

In Sword and Scimitar, Ibrahim begins by explaining Mohammed’s doctrine of jihad or “holy war”: “Whereas the rewards of the pre-Islamic tribal raid were limited to temporal spoils and came with the risk of death, the deified raid (jihad) offered rewards in the here and the hereafter – meaning it was essentially risk free – and thus led to a newborn fanaticism and determination.” In other words, robbery, murder and enslavement were sacralized and then transformed into a prodigious engine of Islamic conquest.

Conquest being the major feature of Islam’s 1,400 year history, Sword and Scimitar takes the reader on a tour – “a tour of force” – as represented by eight significant battles and an array of lesser clashes.

Skillfully relying on first person descriptions, Ibrahim’s narration of these battles is gripping and suspenseful while also evoking the pain and terror of warfare. Especially after the current revival of jihad, his recounting of these barbaric episodes and their consequences is not comforting.

False Sense of Security? - 'Lull in Terrorism Masks a Deepening Jihadist Threat, Dutch Report Warns'

"Muslim extremism, and particularly Salafism, is on the rise across Europe, as are recruiting efforts to radicalize European Muslims through Salafist schools, mosques, and social groups...

"The DTN report [warns] of the dangers returning jihadists, especially women, will pose to Western countries – not just Europe, but Canada and the United States as well."

This report confirms what we are seeing generally, how Jihad Watch and other sites,  in the relative absence of jihad terror attacks in the West, are reporting more on 'Stealth Jihad', legal battles, and the cultural effects of increased Muslim advocacy in the USA, Canada, Australia, and Europe, including the continued pressure by the mainstream media, the Tech monopolies (Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc.) and government against criticism of Islam.

It is essential to remember that at its core, Islam is aggressive and militant, hence the recent threats by the Islamic State to attack San Francisco, New York, and London. And in June, Spain raised its terror threat level to "Severe," and deployed 40,000 extra police.

Islamic State's latest propaganda poster.

Lull in Terrorism Masks a Deepening Jihadist Threat, Dutch Report Warns

by Abigail R. Esman, IPT News
March 1, 2019

It's been a relatively quiet year for jihadists in the West, with only six attacks in Europe, compared to 20 in 2017. This, combined with the military fall of the Islamic State, has led politicians and pundits alike to declare a victory of a sort: ISIS is defeated, they announce, or condemn concerns about potential Islamist terrorist attacks as racist "Islamophobia."

They are wrong.

A report issued earlier this week by the Dutch National Coordinator of Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) confirms that Muslim extremism, and particularly Salafism, is on the rise across Europe, as are recruiting efforts to radicalize European Muslims through Salafist schools, mosques, and social groups. 

What's more, ISIS continues to be a threat, largely through the possibility of returnees – Europeans who fought with ISIS and now are trying to come home – bringing their ideology and training with them. ISIS, meanwhile, continues to recruit through propaganda, most of it online. And despite their losses, the Terror Threat Report Netherlands report (known as the DTN report, for Dreigingsbeeld Terrorisme Nederland) says that both ISIS and al-Qaida are prepared to attack Europe "at any moment."

Raymond Ibrahim: 'Field of Blackbirds’: The 630 Year-Old Reason Eastern Europeans Dislike Islam

This essential historical summary by Raymond Ibrahim — one of the leading scholars on Islam's 1400-year continuing jihad against Christianity — offers compelling reasons for Eastern Europeans' distrust of Islam. 

They remember, "those years—1541 to 1699, when the Islamic Ottoman Empire occupied Hungary—are replete with the massacre, enslavement, and rape of Hungarians."

The United States should learn from the abhorrent experience of our Eastern European brethren under the sword of Islam, and adopt their sane policy of prudent refusal to allow unbridled and unvetted Muslim immigration to America. 

Battle of Kosovo painting by Peter Radicevic, 1987

'Field of Blackbirds’: The 630 Year-Old Reason Eastern Europeans Dislike Islam

by Raymond Ibrahim, June 15, 2019


Why Eastern Europeans are much more reluctant to accept Muslim migrants than their Western counterparts can be traced back to circumstances surrounding a pivotal battle, that of Kosovo, which took place on June 15, 1389, exactly 630 years ago today. It pitted Muslim invaders against Eastern European defenders, or the ancestors of those many Eastern Europeans today who are resistant to Islam.

Because the jihad is as old as Islam, it has been championed by diverse peoples throughout the centuries (Arabs in the Middle East, Moors (Berbers and Africans) in Spain and Western Europe, etc.). Islam’s successful entry into Eastern Europe was spearheaded by the Turks, specifically that tribe centered in westernmost Anatolia (or Asia Minor) and thus nearest to Europe, the Ottoman Turks, so-named after their founder Osman Bey. As he lay dying in 1323, his parting words to his son and successor, Orhan, were for him “to propagate Islam by your arms.”

This his son certainly did; the traveler Ibn Batutua, who once met Orhan in Bursa, observed that, although the jihadi had captured some one hundred Byzantine fortresses, “he had never stayed for a whole month in any one town,” because he “fights with the infidels continually and keeps them under siege.” Christian cities fell like dominos: Smyrna in 1329, Nicaea in 1331, and Nicomedia in 1337. By 1340, the whole of northwest Anatolia was under Turkic control. By now and to quote a European contemporary, “the foes of the cross, and the killers of the Christian people, that is, the Turks, [were] separated from Constantinople by a channel of three or four miles.”

Mark Durie: 'The Qur’an’s Turn To Violence'

"A careful reading of the Qur’an’s text reveals a movement which was faltering under the weight of the non-arrival of a prophesied doomsday scenario. This movement was then saved – and transformed – by a shocking and epoch-making announcement that the swords of believers were to be considered an act of God."


This landmark article by Dr. Mark Durie, based on his groundbreaking new book on the Qur'an, upends the standard approach to understanding the shift of Islam from a relatively benign religious movement (in its so-called "Meccan Period") to an aggressive and militaristic religio-political ideology (typically identified as beginning with the "Medinan Period"), which expanded rapidly through the sword and bloodshed to conquer and subjugate huge swaths of the ancient Christian World lasting over a millennium — vast areas of North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Europe — and which is directly responsible today for the new era of global martyrdom of Christians in the 21st century, the relaunch of Islam's 1400-year-old jihad against the followers of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Durie's enormous contribution to Quranic studies reveals the desperate and opportunistic theological motives behind Muhammad's — and Islam's — embrace of outright hatred and bloody jihad against non-Muslims. The false prophet and forerunner of Antichrist now stands clearly revealed as the maniacal tool of a bloodthirsty "god," justifying the waging of divine wrath on those who reject Allah and his messenger.


The Qur’an’s Turn to Violence

by Mark Durie, June 7, 2019

The Problem Of Peace Vs. Violence

It is widely recognized that, on the topic of violence, the Qur’an speaks with more than one voice. Some verses speak for peace, and others for war. The conventional explanation is that the difference hinges on the migration of the early Muslim community from Mecca to Medina: in Mecca Muslims were persecuted while Muhammad and the Qur’an preached non-violence and tolerance, but in Medina an Islamic state was established, and Muhammad gathered an army, leading it to triumph in battle against non-believers.

A Conventional Explanation

A conventional Islamic theological interpretation is that in Mecca Muhammad and his community were weak, vulnerable and persecuted, so Allah wisely commended patience and forbearance. However when their power was established in Medina the Muslims were commanded to fight for the cause of Allah, ushering in the triumphant advance of the religion.

It is indisputable that there is a progression from peace to violence in the Qur’an. But is the conventional explanation for that shift supported by the text of the Qur’an itself? Does this explanation make the best sense of the Qur’an?

"If we read the Qur’an with an ear for changes in its theology around the transition between the (so-called) ‘Meccan’ and ‘Medinan’ verses, a different story emerges."

A Different Story To Be Told

In my recently published book, The Qur’an and its Biblical Reflexes, I argue that the traditional explanation is based on a misreading. Setting aside the whole Mecca-Medina narrative (for a whole host of reasons), I argue that if we read the Qur’an with an ear for changes in its theology around the transition between the (so-called) ‘Meccan’ and ‘Medinan’ verses, a different story emerges. This is a story about a crisis of faith and how it was successfully resolved.

NY Times slanders Jihad Watch, tries to cover for Minneapolis' Somali community, the 'terrorist recruitment capital of the US'

"More men and boys from a Somali American community in Minneapolis have joined – or attempted to join – a foreign terrorist organization over the last 12 years than any other jurisdiction in the country."

The NY Times just featured an article by Astead W. Herndon, titled, "‘These People Aren’t Coming From Norway’: Refugees in a Minnesota City Face a Backlash," in which the following false and libelous statement is made:

Every weekday, he sits in the same spot at Culver’s restaurant — the corner booth near the Kwik Trip — and begins his daily intake of news from xenophobic and conspiratorial sites, such as JihadWatch.org, and articles with titles like “Lifting the Veil on the ‘Islamophobia’ Hoax.”

Of course, Jihad Watch, run by the indefatigable Robert Spencer (who just survived a serious health incident, and thankfully is returning to top form in writing on and warning about Islam and the global varieties of the jihad threat) is anything but "xenophobic and conspiratorial," with its sober postings of well documented news reports on Muslim jihad plots and terror attacks, and examples of dhimmitude, cover-ups, and willing capitulation by politicians and media before professional Muslim victimhood organizations like CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations, itself named by the US Dept of Justice an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Terror Funding Trial, the largest such terror funding case in history).

But Herndon's piece is too busy painting ordinary Americans as bigots afraid of immigrants, reactionary adherents to "white replacement" theory to present the full picture. Take this section:

Their [the Somali refugees] increased presence — and an attack at a mall in 2016, when Dahir Adan, a Somali-American refugee living in St. Cloud, stabbed 10 people — has emboldened a loosely connected network of white, anti-immigration activists who are trying to pressure local and state Republicans to embrace an increasingly explicit anti-Muslim agenda. 

Across the state, this network includes conservative radio hosts, think tanks and digital media that focus on anti-refugee news in Minnesota, as well as small community groups like C-Cubed, which repeatedly invite anti-Muslim speakers to town, leading to clashes and protests.

The stabbing attack by Somali refugee Dahir Adan (he can't be Somali-American and be a refugee, can he?) is the only specific news story cited which gives an honest glimpse into the effect mass Muslim immigration is having on Minnesota. The article makes only passing reference to "anti-refugee news" before returning to its narrative, ignoring widespread terrorist recruiting of Somali Muslims as reported in detail  by Hollie McKay of Fox News:

More men and boys from a Somali American community in Minneapolis have joined – or attempted to join – a foreign terrorist organization over the last 12 years than any other jurisdiction in the country. 

FBI stats show 45 Somalis left to join the ranks of either the Somalia-based Islamic insurgency al-Shabab, or the Iraq- and Syria-based ISIS combined. And as of 2018, a dozen more had been arrested with the intention of leaving to support ISIS. Both numbers are far higher than those of alleged terrorist wannabes who left or attempted to leave the country from other areas in the country where Muslim refugees have been resettled. 

In the case of the Somalis, it's no longer just the men. Early last year, a female was apprehended by authorities on charges of supporting providing material support to Al Qaeda and arson.

McKay's reporting provides hard facts from the FBI itself on the link between Minnesota Muslims and Al Shabaab and ISIS back in Somalia,

With by far the largest Somali American population in the United States - estimates of up to 100,000 - the insular ethnic community in Minnesota offers a rich recruiting ground. Investigators told Fox News that early on, al-Shabab recruiting was almost exclusively word-of-mouth. One family connection to a contact in the terrorist group would be pulled in as a recruit, in a process that was repeated as the ranks of the al-Shabab grew.

The Minneapolis and St Cloud Somali Muslim community has proved to be a ripe target for jihad recruiters, who prey on the Islamic culture's innate distrust of the infidel to motivate a people already predisposed to not assimilate into American culture to join and actively support America's enemies:

Muslim Children in Philadelphia Proclaim True Islam: 'We will chop off their heads, subject them to eternal torture'

Is this what Muslims do in mosques when they think no one is paying attention? 

For context on this shocking video (and the transcript below), it is essential to know that four separate studies performed in the first decade of the new century revealed that upwards of 80% of mosques in the United States either openly taught violent jihad as an essential pillar of Islam or sold and distributed books and materials advocating for violent jihad to overthrow the USA.

These mosque studies predated the rise of ISIS/Islamic State by at least several years. In the age of ISIS we see similar disturbing levels of support for the Islamic State and violent jihad in America and around the globe.

With this context, here is the harrowing video from a mosque in Philadelphia:



CHILDREN IN PHILADELPHIA MUSLIM SOCIETY: WE WILL SACRIFICE OURSELVES FOR AL-AQSA; WILL CHOP OFF THEIR HEADS, SUBJECT THEM TO ETERNAL TORTURE

MEMRI, May 3, 2019:




On April 22, 2019, the Muslim American Society Islamic Center in Philadelphia (MAS Philly) uploaded a video of an "Ummah Day" celebration to its Facebook page in which young children wearing Palestinian scarves sang: "Glorious steeds call us and lead us [to] the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The blood of martyrs protects us… Take us, oh ships… until we reach our shores and crush the treacherous ones… Flow, oh rivers of martyrs!" A young girl read a poem praising martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Palestine, and she asked: "Will [Jerusalem] be a hotbed for cowards?"

Another young girl read: "We will defend [Palestine] with our bodies… We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque… We will subject them to eternal torture."

MAS Philly belongs to the Muslim American Society (MAS), which has 42 chapters in the United States and one in the United Kingdom. MAS' website says that its mission is to "move people to strive for God-consciousness, liberty and justice, and to convey Islam with utmost clarity," and that its vision is "a virtuous and just American society."


Following are excerpts:

The Miracle of the Holy Fire - God's Encouragement to Christians following the rise of Islam

"Miracles come when they are needed, and it seems that the Holy Fire first came when it was needed most — during the time of the Islamic oppression of the Church, when the Christians suffering under the yoke of Muhammad most needed confirmation that their faith in the crucified and risen Christ was true." — Fr. Lawrence Farley

Today, May 2, 2019, the Holy Fire arrived at a wonderful parish I am closely connected to, by circumstance and by the heart. Alas, I could not travel to be with them to greet and receive the Holy Fire, brought all the way from Jerusalem, but it did spur me on to read up on the annual Miracle of the Holy Fire.

In doing so, I came across a typically wonderful article by Fr Lawrence Farley. It is his quote at the top of this post, and his observation is no less true today than it was when the Sword of Islam cut its wide and bloody swath across the Christian world, decimating churches and slaughtering and subjugating Christians across the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, and even into Western Europe, the Balkans, Italy, and Russia.

Today, 80% of the countries where Christians suffer the worst persecution are Muslim majority and/or an Islamic dictatorship. Muslim persecution of Christians worldwide jumped almost 15% from 2017 to 2018, also according to Open Doors' World Watch List.

Christians in the West and in the USA and Canada are being increasingly pressured to acquiesce to the secular agenda. While open persecution of Christians in America has recently been highlighted by lawfare against Christian bakers and florists, outbursts of demonic hatred against Christians is encountered everywhere. Just recently, the peaceful Abbot Tryphon of Vashon Island was assaulted by a tormented soul who saw his cross and could not hold back his venom, and truly like a serpent, struck a potentially deadly sucker punch without any warning.

So, the Holy Fire remains with us, a visible annual miracle, a gift from God to bolster the faith of Christians the world over.

More sucker punches — and Muslim jihad terror attacks — are surely coming. Just ask the persecuted Christians in Nigeria and elsewhere.

But for now, let us give thanks for this powerful miracle.

What Good is the Holy Fire?

May 15, 2017 · Fr. Lawrence Farley, No Other Foundation

The so-called “Holy Fire” is the name given to the fire that appears on ends of the candles of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and others every Holy Saturday. The Patriarch, accompanied by a church crammed filled with others, awaits for the annual miracle every Holy Saturday. On that day the Patriarch strips himself of his holy robes and enters the Tomb of Christ with a bundle of unlit tapers, says certain prayers, and then awaits for his tapers to be miraculously lit from heaven. He is not disappointed: his tapers are miraculously lit every year and he emerges from the Tomb with the flame to the tumultuous shouting of everyone in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

VIDEO: Orthodox Church in Florida hosts Robert Spencer for address on Muslim Persecution of Christians

Thanks be to God for this brave Orthodox parish hosting the fearless and indefatigable Robert Spencer, to speak the truth about Islam and Muslim persecution of Christians.

Robert Spencer is, of course, the director of the Jihad Watch blog, and author of bestselling books such as The Truth About Muhammad, and his newest book, the essential title, The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS.

The Orthodox Church has a long memory when it comes to Islam's 1400-year war against Christianity. Sadly, very few Orthodox Christians are willing to face the truth about the false prophet Muhammad and the heresy of Islam, which St John of Damascus called a "superstition" and a "forerunner of the Antichrist."

Fortunately, intrepid Orthodox priests like Fr Josiah Trenham of St Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside CA and others are warning and educating about Islam. In August 2017 Fr Josiah conducted a wide-ranging and most edifying interview with Robert Spencer.

This address by Mr. Spencer, hosted by St Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Naples, Florida, is another landmark event in the ongoing effort to educate and warn Christians about the true nature of Islam, Muslim persecution of Christians, and the Same God Heresy.


Video: Robert Spencer speaks at Christian Rights and Freedom Institute, explains why Muslims persecute Christians

Jihad Watch, February 12, 2019:




"On January 21, 2019, I had the honor of speaking at the Christian Rights and Freedom Institute at St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Naples, Florida, on the Muslim persecution of Christians. I explained why those Muslims who do persecute Christians actually think that when they do so, they’re doing something right and righteous."

Raymond Ibrahim: "Islam: The West’s 'Most Formidable and Persistent Enemy'”

"What is now called 'the West' is actually the westernmost remnant of what was a much more extensive civilizational block that Islam permanently severed, thereby altering the course of 'Western' history." - Raymond Ibrahim

The below article by Raymond Ibrahim presents a condensed synopsis of the core presentation of his new book, Sword and Scimitar, which I intend to review here as soon as possible. 

When it comes to understanding the threat to Christianity and the West from Islam, having a long view of history is essential. This is Raymond Ibrahim's forté, tracing the inexorable continuity of Islamic history and its relentless imperative to wage jihad against the Christian world.

In the words of Hilaire Belloc, whom Mr. Ibrahim cites below, we hear a dire warning from a serious observer of history:

The whole spiritual strength of Islam is still present in the masses of Syria and Anatolia, of the East Asian mountains, of Arabia, Egypt and North Africa. The final fruit of this tenacity, the second period of Islamic power, may be delayed —but I doubt whether it can be permanently postponed.

Islam: The West’s 'Most Formidable and Persistent Enemy'

by Raymond Ibrahim, American Thinker, Feb 13, 2019

Hilaire Belloc, 1870-1953

At the height of Western dominance over Islam in the early twentieth century, the European historian Hilaire Belloc made a remarkably prescient observation that may have seemed exaggerated at the time:

Millions of modern people of the white civilization—that is, the civilization of Europe and America—have forgotten all about Islam. They have never come in contact with it. They take for granted that it is decaying, and that, anyway, it is just a foreign religion which will not concern them. It is, as a fact, the most formidable and persistent enemy which our civilization has had, and may at any moment become as large a menace in the future as it has been in the past (from Belloc’s The Great Heresies, 1938, emphasis added).

Anyone who doubts that Islam has been “the most formidable and persistent enemy which our civilization has had,” should familiarize themselves with Islam’s long offensive record vis-à-vis the West. A succinct summary follows:

According to Islamic history, in 628, the Arabian founder of Islam, Muhammad, called on the Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius—the symbolic head of Christendom—to recant Christianity and embrace Islam. The emperor refused, jihad was declared, and the Arabs invaded Christian Syria, defeating the imperial army at the pivotal Battle of Yarmuk in 636 (see my MA thesis on this battle, which one prominent historian described as the world’s “most consequential”).

This victory enabled the Muslims to swarm in all directions, so that, less than a century later, they had conquered the greater, older, and richer part of Christendom, including Syria, Egypt, and North Africa.

Their drive into Europe from the east was repeatedly frustrated by the Walls of Constantinople; after the spectacularly failed siege of 717-718, many centuries would pass before any Muslim power thought to capture the imperial city. The Arabs did manage to invade Europe proper through and conquered Spain but were stopped at the Battle of Tours in 732 and eventually driven back south of the Pyrenees.

For more than two centuries thereafter, Europe continued to be pummeled by land and sea—untold thousands of Christians were enslaved and every Mediterranean island sacked—in the ongoing Muslim quest for booty and slaves, as what historians have dubbed “the Dark Ages” descended on the continent.

' NOT THE SAME GOD' - Franklin Graham delivers robust Christian response to the latest Islamic jihad terror attack

"Graham reacted strongly to a recent Islamic terror attack in Strasbourg, France, warning that radical Islam continues to be a major global threat."

There are so few Christian voices stating the obvious, that the obvious is in decline. 

'AXIOS' to Rev. Graham for having the courage and conviction to boldly rebuke those who hold to the Same God Heresy, to bravely condemn the false religion of Islam, and to blast weak Christian leaders like Pope Francis who deny that Islam is behind jihad terror attacks. Graham recently stated that

Islam “is behind the violence and jihad we’re seeing in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and here in this country. 

“It’s a religion that calls for the extermination of ‘infidels’ outside their faith, specifically Jews and Christians.”

Franklin Graham: Allah and the Christian God ‘Not the Same’

by Thomas D. Williams, PhD, Breitbart News, December 16, 2018:

Celebrated evangelical pastor Franklin Graham reacted strongly to a recent Islamic terror attack in Strasbourg, France, warning that radical Islam continues to be a major global threat.

In a two-part tweet Saturday, Rev. Graham, the son of the prominent Christian leader Billy Graham, reminded citizens that Islamic extremism has not ceased to be a menace to the world and that, contrary to popular opinion, the Muslim idea of God is very different from the God worshiped by Christians.

Radical Islam continues to be a huge threat around the world. I thank God for the hard work of the French police & law enforcement who tracked down terrorist Cherif Chekatt. Remember the families of those whose lives were taken and the many wounded. 1/2 https://t.co/edjAvRxde7

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) December 15, 2018

Contrary to what some may say, the god of Islam & the God of the Christian faith are not the same. The God of the Christian faith is Creator of the Universe & sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to save us from our sin. He can change every heart who will put their faith in Him. 2/2

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) December 15, 2018

In the past, Rev. Graham has said that bloody jihadist attacks should not surprise anyone, since hatred and violence against nonbelievers are central to the teachings of Islam.

“Why does Islam hate so much?” Graham asked in a 2016 Facebook post. “It’s because the Quran teaches its followers to hate.”

“Jews, Christians and others are to be subdued so that Islam may ‘prevail over all religions,’” he added. “It’s all in the final chapter of the Quran—‘Kill or be killed in battle, and paradise awaits,’” he said.

Graham has been an ongoing critic of theories that would equate Islam to Christianity.