Eric Allen Bell: 'Why I Do Not Hate Muslims'

"The way that Islam was first spread is nearly identical to how ISIS behaves, as it follows the commands of the Quran without compromise... Fortunately, most Muslims do not actually follow the Quran..." 

"Should we all start hating Muslims now? Should the free world deliver it’s value system upon the Islamic world using missiles? Should we repeat the holocaust of the 20th Century and dehumanize an entire group of people? Herein lies a problem that gets to the core of why human beings are stuck. We seem to only know how to solve problems in such a way that creates more problems..."

Eric Allen Bell is the liberal filmmaker who, in the process of trying to expose Islamophobia in Tennessee, came to realize that there is something very wrong about Islam itself. In this article he comes "very close to the kingdom of God" in expressing both the problem with Islam, and also why we must not hate Muslims.

As an Orthodox Christian, I would add only the following, that the chief reasons we do not hate Muslims are two: (1) Because they too are created in the image of God, and therefore we are called to love them and share the Gospel with them; and (2) Because we know we too are sinners in need of God's mercy, seeking to repent and come to truly know Christ, abide in Him, and allow Him to abide in us by the Holy Spirit. If we can keep these simple truths in mind and heart, and grow in love by the Holy Spirit, then we shall be better able over time to forgive, and to share the truth in love, even with our enemies.

And, who knows. We may even come to discover that in truth, we have no enemies, for those who hate us, persecute us, and kill us for following Christ give us the supreme opportunity to love Christ to the fullest, to confess Him before men, and to exalt His Name by our own suffering and death.


Why I Do Not Hate Muslims
by Eric Allen Bell, December 22, 2016
(Follow the link for much more on Mr. Bell's website, including video and his documentary work.)


The mandate of Islam is to force the world to submit to Islam. Our leaders tell us that Islam means peace. But lying about something does not make it so. Islam means submission. Islam opposes free speech, free thought and human rights.

Sharia Law is the codification of the Quran. The Quran is the holy book in Islam. Sharia mandates the stoning of women for adultery or being raped, it requires the amputation of limbs for theft, the hanging of homosexuals and death to anyone who dares to leave Islam. Islam is the religion of approximately 1.5 billion people on the planet at this time. According to the Pew Forum, when polled the majority of Muslims believe that it is at least sometimes okay to kill innocent civilians in the name of Islam.

US President, Barack Hussein Obama has said, in response to the continuous killing of civilians in the name of Islam that, “No faith teaches this”. However, Quran 9:5 says to Muslims, with regard to the unbeliever, to “kill them wherever you find them”. Obama can lie to himself, he can lie to appease and he can lie to those who place their trust in him. But facts don’t lie.

"The Quran is... preoccupied with what to do with the unbeliever, how to enforce rules and how to engage in warfare."

Fortunately, most Muslims do not actually follow the Quran. This might be due in part to the fact that about 2/3 of Muslims cannot read or write. Or maybe they are just humane enough not to harm someone just because their holy book says to do so, on page after page after page. Although the Quran, in chapter 4, commands a man to beat his wife, most Muslim men do not. However, still a significant percentage do.

Religion is an attempt to institutionalize one’s relationship with the Divine. However, when one reads the Quran it is clear that most of the passages do not deal with Allah, the god of Islam. Rather the book is obsessed with its own author, the “prophet” Muhammad. It is also very preoccupied with what to do with the unbeliever, how to enforce rules and how to engage in warfare. There is a strong argument to be made that Islam is first and foremost a tyrannical political system, then a brutal legal system with some religious overtones here and there.

Muslim Clerics: Christian Worship Is ‘Worse than Murder and Bloodshed’...

...and building a Christian church akin to building “a nightclub, a gambling casino, or building a barn for rearing pigs, cats or dogs.”

Before we explore these statements of Muslim clerics, which incite Muslims to attack Christian churches throughout the Islamic world, let us look at a rare dissenting opinion.

Some weeks ago, in the aftermath of the Muslim jihad bombing at St Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo — in which over 25 women and children were killed — Pravmir, one of the premier Russian Orthodox websites, re-posted a news article (originally in The Tablet, a UK publication) titled: 'Attacking churches is ‘prohibited in Islamic Sharia’, says Grand Mufti after deadly bomb blast in Cairo'.

The title of the article was taken from the featured quote, which followed updates on the horrific slaughter, the worst church attack in Egypt in recent years, a quote from Egyptian President el-Sisi, and a statement from the Coptic Church. The quotation is as follows:

The Grand Mufti, the highest official of religious law in Egypt, condemned the “deplorable terrorist attack”. 

Sheikh Shawky Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam said, 

“attacking churches whether by demolition, bombing, killing those inside, or terrifying people is prohibited in Islamic Sharia”. He called for unity against “terrorism that tries to instigate sectarianism and sedition among the two wings of Egypt – Muslims and Christians – in a bid to weaken the nation”.

The article title and quote from the Grand Mufti are deeply problematic and not to be taken at face value.

First of all, Pravmir should not have merely re-posted the Tablet article, but should have provided some context for the news report, as readers skimming their news feed might catch that title and be tempted to think that "all is well, Muslim leaders are denouncing terrorist attacks, and saying it is prohibited by sharia law."

In offering context, Pravmir might have observed that the Grand Mufti's statement actually contradicts the Koran, Muhammad's example, and fourteen centuries of Islamic jurisprudence, including leading Muslim clerics of today.

The long history of Muslim persecution of Christians flows unimpeded from the supposed eternal words of Allah in the Koran, and from the example and teachings of the founder of Islam, Muhammad, collected in the hadiths. The example of Muhammad is the lens through which the Koran is interpreted. And the example of Muhammad, and the words of the Koran are clear:

Christmas and Martyrdom

"If we exchange a 'Merry Christmas' with others, we need to be mindful of the commitment we are making to the newborn Christ... to 'witness' to Him."


by Fr. Steven C. Kostoff, OCA.org, December 23, 2016:

Icon: Rachael weeping for her children.

The Gospel reading for the Great Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord is Matthew 2:1-12.  This passage proclaims the Good News that the Savior was born in Bethlehem according to the biblical prophecies.  The star guides the Magi and they, in turn, bring their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Child in acknowledgment that He is unique and a true King, testified to by cosmic signs that even the Gentile Magi can properly interpret.  Joyous as this is, there is already a hint of the ultimate destiny of Christ in that myrrh is used in the burial customs of the Jews.

On the Second Day of the Nativity, we complete the reading of the second chapter of Saint Matthew’s Gospel—2:13-23, which immediately introduces us to the tragic reality of the massacre of the innocent boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger.  The previous joy of the Savior’s Nativity is replaced by the wailing and lamentation of the mothers of these innocent children, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah:

William Kilpatrick: 'The Prophet Who Stole Christmas'

Do Muslims truly "love and revere" Jesus? Do we really, as one Muslim apologist insists in his annual holiday message, “have more in common than you think?” Not if you compare the Muslim Jesus with the true Jesus in the Gospels.


The Prophet Who Stole Christmas
by William Kilpatrick, Crisis Magazine, December 16, 2016:

Behold! The angels said: O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and in (the company of) those nearest to God.

“Before searching for this quote in the New Testament, you might first ask your Muslim co-worker, friend, or neighbor for a copy of the Qur’an … the quote is from verse 45 of chapter 3 of the Qur’an.” So writes Ibrahim Hooper, the communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). It’s the introduction to his holiday message and it’s offered as proof that “Muslims also love and revere Jesus.”

Every year around Christmastime, Hooper’s message is reprinted and with it his assurance to Christians that “We have more in common than you think.” But there’s a hitch to this message of hope. That’s because every year during Christmastime, other Muslims have a tradition of slaughtering Christians and burning down their churches—preferably on Christmas Day. If you’re a Christian living in Nigeria, Egypt, or Pakistan, Christmas Day brings both joy and trepidation. Other Christians in the Muslim world live in constant fear of abduction, rape, forced marriage to Muslims, confiscation of property, beatings, and blasphemy convictions. As Raymond Ibrahim has ably demonstrated in his monthly series on Muslim persecution of Christians, the Muslim world is permeated with a climate of hatred towards Christians.

Which raises a question: why haven’t they gotten the message—that is, the message that Muslims “love and revere Jesus”? Well, they have. Except that the Jesus they revere is not Jesus of Nazareth, but the Jesus of Muhammad’s imagining.

Middle East Christians Celebrate Christmas Under Yoke of Genocide

This important summary of the relentless jihad against Christians in the Mid-East, Africa, and throughout the Islamic world, should remind us to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the globe.


Middle East Christians Celebrate Christmas Under Yoke of Genocide
By Philippe Nassif, The Hill via AINA, December 20, 2016:

The ISIS bombing of St. Mark's cathedral in Cairo on Dec. 11 2016, the largest church in the Middle East, momentarily brought the suffering of Middle East Christians to the forefront of American consciousness.

In the days since, the coverage has subsided, with more unsettling news from the region. Lost in the news cycle is the question of Christianity's survival across the Middle East.

American media coverage of religious persecution in the Middle East, particularly violent extremism that targets vulnerable minority groups, has improved in recent years. But there is nothing like the coverage that is merited.

Minorities are, of course, keenly conscious of this -- both in the West and the Middle East. But they feel that they are invisible to most observers from the West. There have been some exceptions.

In 2011, after a New Year's Day attack on Saints Church in Alexandria, Egypt, "The Atlantic's" Jeffrey Goldberg wrote of:

"The lackadaisical coverage of what seems to be the most important story coming out of the Middle East right now. ... 

"The Salafist war on Christians in the Middle East is intensifying fairly rapidly, with profound consequences not only for Christians in the lands of their faith's earliest history ... but for the rights of all ethnic and religious minorities in the greater Middle East."

Goldberg observed that the "attack seems like a watershed moment" in a region:

"Historically intolerant of the rights of non-Arab Muslim minorities: The indigenous Africans of Sudan, who are trying to break free of Khartoum's hold; the Kurds in Iraq and Syria; Christians in Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq; and the Jewish people of Israel, among others. 

"In Saudi Arabia, of course, it is illegal even to build a church, and I'm afraid it will soon be illegal to build one in Iraq."

Goldberg's words proved prophetic. What he foresaw culminated in genocide.

New Book: STEALTH INVASION - Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and the Resettlement Jihad

This powerful new book comes at the perfect moment, to help mobilize popular support for an immediate freeze on Muslim immigration, and to help protect the USA from not only Islamic terrorism, but also the insidious 'stealth jihad' or 'civilizational jihad' which has been enabled for decades by political correctness, government collusion, and subversive activities by Muslim Brotherhood front groups.

I am well into Stealth Invasion, and did not want to wait any longer to recommend it. Author Leo Hohmann draws upon decades of experience as an investigative journalist to factually build his case, while using real-world, on-the-ground reporting to highlight the magnitude of the crisis we face.

The facts he presents are irrefutable, the pace gripping. It's a great read, and ranks right up there with Raymond Ibrahim's Crucified Again, Tim Furnish's books, and Robert Spencer's Stealth Jihad and other titles as an essential text to inform, warn, and equip Americans for the long struggle ahead to preserve our freedom to live and worship freely in our homeland.


STEALTH INVASION
Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and the Resettlement Jihad
by Leo Hohmann

Published by WND Books
Kindle Edition and Hardcover available from Amazon.

About the Author:

Leo Hohmann is a veteran journalist and news editor for online news giant WND, with a particular focus on immigration and Islam. Prior to joining WND, he worked more than two decades as a newspaper reporter and editor in suburban Atlanta and in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Publisher's Synopsis:

Americans are shocked by ongoing news reports chronicling growing chaos in Europe, where massive Muslim migration is wreaking havoc on the continent – including horrendous acts of mass terrorism, an epidemic of rape and sexual assault against European women, and large, jihadist-rich enclaves where even police are hesitant to enter.

Yet, few realize that America is heading down the same suicidal path.

As veteran investigative journalist Leo Hohmann documents in Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest through Immigration and Resettlement Jihad, an international network of mostly Muslim Brotherhood-linked activists has been building its ranks within the United States for more than three decades, aided by a U.S. immigration system seemingly obsessed with welcoming as many unassimilable migrants with anti-Western values as possible. As a result, largely secret plans for major population changes in hundreds of U.S. cities and towns are already being implemented.

As Stealth Invasion reveals, the Muslim Brotherhood has a well-defined strategy for conquering America, not necessarily with violent jihadist attacks – although we should expect those to increase – but through more subtle means collectively called "civilization jihad."

Very simply, civilization jihad calls for changing a nation by changing its people and its values – gradually, over time.

Islamic State puts out Holiday Attack List Of U.S. Churches...

...calls on American Muslims to “turn the Christian New Year into a bloody horror movie.”

Dear Muslim reader, aren't you tired of all the killing and carnage in the name of Islam and Allah? Isn't it time for you to repent of your false religion which commands such hatred and bloodlust, and turn to Jesus Christ in the Orthodox Church, that you may have eternal life? We stand ready to welcome all sincere inquirers!

Whose call will you listen to?


Exclusive: ISIS Puts Out Holiday Attack List Of U.S. Churches
by Gilad Shiloach, Vocativ, December 22, 2016 (h/t Jihad Watch):

The Islamic State published the names and addresses of thousands of churches in the United States and called on its adherents to attack them during the holiday season, according to a message posted late-night Wednesday in the group’s “Secrets of Jihadis” social media group.

A user going by the name of “Abu Marya al-Iraqi” posted an Arabic-language message calling “for bloody celebrations in the Christian New Year” and announced the group’s plans to utilize its network of lone wolf attackers to “turn the Christian New Year into a bloody horror movie.”

The Littlest Martyr: Ten-year-old Girl Wounded in Cairo Church Explosion Dies, Death Toll Rises to 27

"The bombing constituted one of the deadliest attacks on Egyptian Christians in years. The attacker detonated the bomb in the ladies section of the church, resulting in fatalities mostly among women and children."

Lord have mercy... Another holy and pure martyr received into the great cloud of witnesses:

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.   — Rev. 6:9-11

Ten-year-old Girl Wounded in Cairo Church Explosion Dies, Death Toll Rises to 27
AINA, December 20, 2016:

Maggie Momen, who died Dec. 20, 2016, was one of the 49 people injured in the suicide bombing that struck a Cairo church on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2016. (AP)

Ten-year-old Egyptian girl Maggie Moemen, who was severely wounded in the bombing of Cairo's St. Peter and St. Paul's Church last week, died this morning, state news agency MENA reported.

Moemen, who was suffering from shrapnel in the brain and damage to her lungs, had been in a coma since the 11 December suicide attack on a church in the Coptic cathedral complex.

Her passing raises the death toll of the attack to 27.

Muslim Migrants decapitate, deface, Christian statues in Germany

New outbreak of destruction in October-November 2016 follows two years of vandalism in which over forty Christian statues were destroyed, with damage a "whopping six-figure sum."

This hate-filled Islamic violence against symbols of Roman Catholic faith reflects a deep hatred of Christians, and foreshadows fierce attacks and beheadings of living Europeans, not mere statues...


WAVE OF DESTRUCTION HITS CHRISTIAN STATUES IN GERMANY
Pravoslavie, December 21, 2016:

“Not a day goes by” without Christian statues being defaced or destroyed in the small German town of Dülmen and its surrounding area, population of less than 50,000, reports Breitbart.

The wave of destruction swept through in late October and early November, leaving behind decapitated statues of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and Francis of Assissi, and and at least fifty others with missing limbs and bashed-in faces.

Local police suspect a religious motivation drives the senseless “lust for destruction” in the area where there is a dense Muslim population. 

The Atlantic: 'The Actual War on Christians - Egypt's Copts are under attack'

A fearless and essential article in a major publication exposes the systemic persecution of Coptic Christians by Muslims in Egypt. These lessons apply to wherever Christians live under Islamic rule.

Read and share widely...


The Actual War on Christians - Egypt's Copts are under attack
by Samuel Tadros, The Atlantic, December 17, 2016:

A nun cries as she stands at the scene inside Cairo's Coptic cathedral, following a bombing, in Egypt December 11, 2016

...Being a Copt was never a simple matter of attending different places of worship, but rather a salient feature shaping their lives. A Copt was a Dhimmi—the Islamic term used to refer to Christians and Jews, which means “protected person”—a tolerated second-class citizen, constantly reminded of his inferiority, and expected to behave.

Even at the height of Egypt’s experiment with liberalism from 1923 to 1952, a Copt could never escape his Coptic identity, nor, paradoxically, bring it to the public square. Under Egypt’s military rulers the Copts’ plight only worsened.

Despite proclamations of equality by the state, a Copt has never been an equal Egyptian citizen in the eyes of the law. Egyptian laws are, in fact, designed to remind him of his second-class nature.