Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370: A Jihad Plot Unfolding? Plane in Pakistan?

Perhaps you have been watching the daily news reports on the missing Boeing 777 jetliner, which mysteriously and suspiciously made a U-turn, signed off, and went missing from radar and transponder signals.

What had been a search and rescue operation seems more focused now on the real possibility that the plane was hijacked to be used for a terrorist operation. Malaysia is a Muslim country, there was a Chinese Muslim Uighur on board, and questions about the pilot and co-pilot have been raised. Now national security and defense analysts are openly theorizing that the plane has been landed... in Pakistan, the former hiding place of Osama bin Laden and a known hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism and jihad terrorism.

American Muslims and Mosques Caught in Jihad Terror Plots

It would be nice if Islam were just another relatively benign monotheistic heresy merely challenging Christianity on the theological level, and articles on the abduction and ransom of 14th century Saint Gregory Palamas by Turkish Muslims, or on 7th century Saint Sophronius and his eyewitness descriptions of the Muslim devastation of the Christian churches and community of Jerusalem, were merely relating arcane fragments of history which Islam has moved beyond as it has matured into a modern 'religion of peace'.

However, this is simply not the case, as weekly and sometimes daily news reports prove time and time again.

Muslim communities themselves are often part of the problem, as four separate studies over the past fifteen years have consistently shown that 80% of mosques in America teach and advocate jihad and the overthrow of America and the replacement of the Constitution with Sharia law. Recent Pew Research polls show 75% of Muslims in Europe believe there can only be one interpretation of the Quran, and 65% believe Islamic law supersedes secular law. The numbers in America are hardly more encouraging:

There are reasons to believe that not all American Muslims are enthusiastic about religious liberty...  For example, a 2012 poll conducted by Wenzel Strategies found that fifty-eight percent of Muslim-American citizens believe that criticism of Islam or Muhammad should not be allowed under the U.S. Constitution. Forty-six percent said that Americans who criticize or parody Islam should face criminal charges, while one in eight respondents felt that such crimes merit the death penalty. Another forty-two percent said that Christians do not have the right to evangelize Muslims. (from William Kilpatrick, Has the Church in the U.S. Succumbed to the Charms of Islam?)

These are extremely ominous numbers which paint a picture of a hostile, alien culture in our midst, worse so in Europe.

Polls and studies attempt to trace the contours of the Muslim American mindset, but when deeply held beliefs manifest in behavior, the threat to society is seen to be real and serious. Here are some current stories of American Muslims striving to literally follow the example of Muhammad and the commands of the Quran:

Michigan: Muslim arrested for plotting to join jihad terrorists of Hizballah in Syria

Virginia State Legislature commends (not condemns) mosque with jihad terror links

California: National Guardsman, convert to Islam, plotted to bomb LA subway, arrested for trying to aid al Qaeda

Florida: Muslim plotted to plant explosives in Tampa’s party district as payback for Osama’s death

Western Arrogance and Decline

"Having reduced our faith to a life-style choice and comforting holiday traditions, we Westerners cannot imagine a religion whose believers take its commands seriously, and see the world as the arena of a long spiritual struggle they are destined to win."

By Bruce Thornton, FrontPage Magazine — March 17, 2014

Thanks to Raymond.

For three centuries the West built up enormous economic, cultural, and military capital that dwarfs and dominates that of the rest of the world. Other countries may hate and resent Europe and the United States, but they still have to imitate, adapt, or steal the technology, financial systems, and even popular culture of the West. Yet this dominance has come at a price for Westerners, one that contains the seeds of our decline.

One baleful effect of this achievement has been the erosion of the virtues and ideals that created Western dominance in the first place, a phenomenon long recognized as the cost of national success. Two thousand years ago the Roman historian Livy, surveying the wreckage of the Roman Republic, invited his reader to contemplate the “life and manners” of his ancestors that led to their dominance, and “then, as discipline gradually declined, let him follow in his thoughts their morals, at first as slightly giving way, next how they sunk more and more, then began to fall headlong, until he reaches the present times, when we can neither endure our vices, nor their remedies.” Livy specifically linked this decline to the vast increase of wealth that followed the success of Rome, and that “introduced avarice, and a longing for excessive pleasures, amidst luxury and a passion for ruining ourselves and destroying every thing else.”

Clichés, one might say, but no less true for that. The astonishing wealth of the West, more widely distributed than in any other civilization, the abandonment of religion as the foundation of morals and virtues, the transformation of political freedom into self-centered license, and the commodification of hedonism that makes available to everyman luxuries and behaviors once reserved for a tiny elite, have made self-indulgence and the present more important than self-sacrifice and the future. Declining birthrates, a preference for spending on social welfare transfers rather than on defense, and a willingness to beggar our children and grandchildren with debt in order to finance these entitlements– all bespeak a people whose wealth deludes them into thinking that they can imprudently ignore the future and indefinitely afford these luxuries that in fact insidiously weaken the foundations of our social and political order. This process is more advanced in Europe than in the U.S., but we in America have been steadily moving towards the same mentality.

Islam is Ireland’s 'Fastest Growing Religion'

Orthodox Christianity is second-fastest in growth, mostly due to immigration.

St Patrick, Enlightener of Ireland
(Feast Day: March 17)

A tragic and sobering report for the Feast of St Patrick of Ireland (an Orthodox saint from the first millennium, by the way).

As Christianity withers in the Western world, people seeking something authentic, and who might be especially well disposed to Orthodox Christianity, are being deceived by superficial aspects of Islam (modesty, rigorous prayer, fasting, etc.) and led away from Christ.

We now live in an age of near total apostasy, where Christianity is dying because hardly anyone is living it in an authentic manner. Is it any wonder that seekers would reject Christ because of the lukewarm nominalism of so many of His so-called followers, and embrace instead a belief system which requires commitment and sacrifice, and offers community and belonging?

Put another way, can we rouse ourselves enough to present a compelling reason for sincere seekers to choose Jesus Christ?

Fr Seraphim Rose, in a 1977 talk on St Patrick and St Gregory of Tours, concluded with these remarks:

When we think of someone like St. Patrick, our attitude should not be merely: "Aha, that was a long time ago, that was inspiring; but now—well, what's the use?" 

On the contrary, in the activity of St. Patrick we should see the activity of a contemporary person, of a soul who was burning with zeal and love for God. He has gone to that country where we are to be citizens, if only we will strive. We are all of the same nationality, the Christian race. 

St. Patrick's life should be for us a contemporary thing, something which applies to us today. Whatever inspiration we can take from it, is for us right now. And however much fruit this bears, depends on how much we love God and how much opportunity there is. The inspiration is ours for free.

Let us keep this word in mind as we read about Islam's growth in Ireland today.


Shamrock Crescent: Islam Is Ireland’s Fastest Growing Religion
International Business Times, Feb 21, 2014
h/t Creeping Sharia

The Republic of Ireland may be intimately associated with the Roman Catholic Church, but the fastest-growing faith on the emerald isle is Islam — at such a rapid rate that Muslims are projected to replace Protestantism as the second-most popular religion by the year 2043.

Ireland’s Central Statistics Office reported that between 1991 and 2011, the percentage of Irish residents who were Muslim jumped from 0.1 percent to 1 percent (equating to about 49,000 people). By 2020, Ireland’s Islamic population will more than double to at least 100,000. The increase is attributed to both immigration and population growth. 

The second fastest-growing faith in Ireland is Orthodox Christianity, largely due to immigration from Eastern Europe — doubling in just five years between 2006 and 2011 to more than 45,000 people.

As their numbers climb, Muslims in Ireland have embarked on projects to build more mosques, including a new $50 million complex in north Dublin that will commence construction in 2014 and become the country’s largest mosque.

  

St Gregory Palamas as a Model for Christians in our new 'Age of Jihad'

For the Second Sunday of Great Lent, on which the Orthodox Church commemorates St Gregory Palamas, I would like to emphasize St Gregory's abduction by Turkish Muslims in 1354.

As other writers on Islam have repeatedly made clear, the capture of Christians and holding them for ransom, exchanging them as hostages for Muslim prisoners, or simply killing them to terrorize other Christians, dates back to Muhammad himself, and is an established norm in Islamic jihad. It is being more and more used by jihadist groups today to achieve their ends. (See here and here for examples.)

“As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, ‘When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks’ (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4)” — Abu’l-Hasan al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance), trans. by Dr. Asadullah Yate, (London), Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1996, p. 192; as cited on Jihad Watch.

Last year we lamented the abduction by Muslims of Bishop Paul and Bishop John in Syria. The Muslims killed their driver in the ambush. The bishops' whereabouts and condition are still unknown.

Then there is the recent abduction of Mother Pelagia and the nuns from Mar Thecla Monastery in Maloula, Syria. Thankfully they were not harmed, but were released in an exchange for female Muslim prisoners.

St Gregory Palamas was held captive for a year, eventually being ransomed by the Orthodox Serbs. He was severely weakened by the ordeal, but had been able to encourage a number of Orthodox Christian communities who had been struggling as subjugated dhimmis under their Ottoman Muslim overlords. Archbishop Gregory also engaged his Muslim tormentors in several debates, which were transcribed, and present a vivid picture of St Gregory as a fearless Confessor of the Orthodox Faith, in spite of his life hanging in the balance.

I have set up a special post on St Gregory Palamas, which presents much more detail on his year as a prisoner of the Muslims, as well as his defense of the Orthodox faith in his debates with his captors.

In our age of renewed Islamic jihad against Christians all around the globe, St Gregory Palamas, rightly revered for his defense of Orthodoxy during the Hesychast Controversy, should be more widely recognized as a Confessor and Defender of Orthodoxy against the heresy of Islam. His life is a model for all Orthodox believers, hierarchs, clergy, monastics and laity, as to how to present the Orthodox Gospel of Jesus Christ against a militant enemy, and how to bravely endure as a true confessor and witness (martyria) of the Lord.

Crucifix-less Nuns Indirectly Confirm Islamic Hostility for Christians

by Raymond Ibrahim — March 12, 2014

Now that the group of Syrian nuns held captive for three months by jihadi forces have been released (in exchange for prisoners held by the Syrian government), they have confirmed  that “they did not feel comfortable wearing their crosses and crucifixes.”

Indeed, back on February 18, I discussed how pictures of the nuns showed no pectoral crosses in “Kidnapped Nuns No Longer Bear the Cross.”  This was in keeping with the fact that Islamic law bans Christian “dhimmis” from showing their crosses or Bibles around Muslims.

Still, the Guardian’s first line of the nuns’ release is “Nuns say they were not forced to remove crosses during captivity,” because “the group’s leader, Mother Pelagia Saayaf, who heads the Mar Takla monastery, said: ‘We took off our crosses because we were in the wrong place to wear them.’”

Yet does this diplomatic response not speak for itself concerning, not just contempt for the cross, but for Christians in general?  For it simply means that, by wearing crosses they would have exposed their Christian identity — and that would not have been a wise thing, considering they were in “the wrong place,” that is, a place hostile to Christians.

And does it not stand to reason that those hostile to Christians would be hostile to Christian symbols?

Metropolitan Hilarion: 'We Must be Prepared to Stand Firm in Our Faith Against a World that will War Against Us'

"The triumph of Christ’s love over worldwide evil is the cause of our celebration."

A most encouraging 'word' from Metropolitan Hilarion, in his message to the ROCOR Eastern American Diocese, on the occasion of its 80th anniversary:

When we think about what the next 80 years might bring, we must be prepared to stand firm in our faith against a world that will war against us as it wars against Christ and His Church... 

For this reason, Christ our Savior warned his followers: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19 ). Christ also comforted them, saying: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)... 

Despite the temptations of the outside world, life in the Church has been peaceful and fruitful. Let us look back and remember the hundreds of reverend clergy who were ordained and served our Diocese throughout its 80-year history. How many thousands more were saved through the Holy Church because of these pastors and monastics? 

Every Divine Liturgy that has been served in all of our churches and monasteries over the course of 80 years has been a triumphal proclamation of Christ’s victory over the world! Every communion of the Holy Mysteries has brought people into the salvific fold of the Church, making them members of the one Body of Christ. Prayer and the divine services are the air that the Church breathes, without which life in Her, and union with Her Head—Christ—is impossible! 

If we continue to live our lives within the saving fold of the Church, we shall have no cause for worry or despair when faced with the trials and temptations of the world, for we know that we are safe with Christ in His Holy Church, against which even “the gates of hell shall never prevail!” ...

We must cultivate within ourselves the chief virtue of every Christian—love. “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another,” said our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (John 13:35 )...

We call upon all of you to strengthen your prayers and continue expanding your involvement in the daily life of the Church...

The triumph of Christ’s love over worldwide evil is the cause of our celebration during this 80th anniversary. In order to cultivate this love within our hearts, let us be mindful of the words of Saint Nektary of Optina, who said: “Pray that the Lord will rule in your heart. Then it will overflow with great rejoicing and happiness, and no kind of sorrow will have strength to disturb it.” This is how we are called to live and grow with Christ. This is how we must thank our Creator and celebrate all of the accomplishments of the past 80 years...

Read the full message, which includes a stirring invitation to join in celebrating the opening of the new diocesan center at St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Howell, NJ,  on November 14-15, 2014.

‘Christians Are Living in Fear But Don’t Want to Leave Their Homeland’ – Archbishop of Homs

AINA via Pravmir — March 14, 2014

NEW YORK — In spite of an uncertain future, the Christians in Syria want to stay put. This was the message delivered by the Melkite Greek-Catholic Archbishop of Homs, Hama and Yabrud, Msgr. Jean Abdo Arbach. He told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need: “We Christians are living in fear, the future is uncertain, but we want to stay in our homeland.”

Despite reports to the contrary, the 61-year-old native Syrian said, 20,000 Christians of various denominations currently live in Homs close to the border with Lebanon, and about 200,000 in the Homs region. Many of the faithful, including Melkite, Greek-Catholic, Syrian-Catholic, Maronite, Greek-Orthodox and Orthodox, have now returned to the city of Homs, according to the prelate.

Syria: Rakka Christians Forced to live as Dhimmis under Strict Islamic Law

via
RAKKA CHRISTIANS: WE DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO SAY, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Pravoslavie — March 14, 2014
Follow link for video report...

See also: SYRIA: Christians Forced to Comply or ‘Face the Sword’

In its weekly column, "Voices from the net", the FRANCE 23 Arabic French TV channel showed an interview with a resident of the Syrian town of Rakka (Ar Raqqah, Racca), who told about the new phase of persecution of Christians by Muslim extremists.

Muslim Jihadis march in Rakka. January 2014. AP Photo/militant website

Late in February of this year, the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" extremist Muslim group, obliged Christians, living in the Syrian governorate of Rakka, to pay Jizya (a tax levied against non-Muslims) and to observe a certain number of new rules, dealing with performance of religious rites, appearance, meals and drinks.

The militants also banned any restoration of the monasteries and churches they had destroyed. Although some towns of the northern governorate were de facto under control of the armed "Syrian opposition" as early as March 2013, the terrorists were developing their expansion until they occupied all the territory of the Syrian governorate.

CIA Chief: Jihad a Product of Injustices, Economics, and Ignorance

Here is another look at the defective view of Islamic supremacism and terrorism held by CIA Director John Brennan and the Obama administration.

by Raymond Ibrahim, March 13, 2014

CIA director John Brennan is at it again—equivocating over the nature of jihad by evoking paradigms familiar to the West.

Last Tuesday, “during an event at the Council of Foreign Relations, Brennan was asked about the ‘war of ideas’ surrounding Islam, which the questioner said many Americans tend to equate with violence.”

The CIA chief responded by saying that al-Qaeda’s ideology is “a perverse and very corrupt interpretation of the Qur’an”; that “al-Qaeda has hijacked” Islam; that “they have really distorted the teachings of Muhammad.”

Even so, “that ideology, that agenda of al-Qaeda,” confirmed Brennan, “has gained resonance and following in many parts of the world.”

So what is the CIA chief’s explanation as to why such a “perverse and very corrupt” understanding of Islam—one that has “distorted the teachings of Muhammad”— resonates among Muslims?

He gives none—other than to say that this ideology is “fed a lot of times by, you know, political repression, by economic, you know, disenfranchisement, by, you know, lack of education and ignorance, so there—there are a number of phenomena right now that I think are fueling the fires of, you know, this ideology.”

Interestingly, if you watch the video clip of Brennan talking, you will note that he only “you knows” in the above quotation (four times) and right before it, when he says that al-Qaeda has “distorted the teachings of Muhammad, you know, for violent purposes.”

The rest of his talk is relatively smooth.

Could Brennan be self-conscious of his own equivocations—hence all these stilted “you knows” in one sentence?

Could he be aware of the Rand Corporation report on counterterrorism, prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense in 2009?   It found that “Terrorists are not particularly impoverished, uneducated, or afflicted by mental disease. Demographically, their most important characteristic is normalcy (within their environment). Terrorist leaders actually tend to come from relatively privileged backgrounds.”