"Whether Islam Is Peaceful?"

I recently was discussing this issue with a group of people from my University on a webmail list service and thought I'd just post the discourse and a recent article from Worldnet.com that supported what I had originally stated.

[I've deleted names and any references to others who may not wish to have their name attached to what could be considered a very inflammatory conversation. The discussion began with an email showing photos from a demonstration in England in which the demonstrators made clear that their intent was to take over England first and the rest of the world for Islam. Sorry the photos were not saved when I saved the emails.] (My posts are in blue bold)

Subject: Peaceful?

These photos certainly give one pause. -- A Give this time for all the pictures to come up and be sure and read the end.... These Pictures tell it all! Muslims have stated that England will be the first country they take over! These are pictures not shown on American TV or in American Newspapers (as they might help Bush's war on terror), but were forwarded to me by a Canadian Friend who thought Americans ought to know! These pictures are of Muslims marching through the streets of London during their recent "Religion of Peace Demonstration."
-A

While it is hard to not sit in judgment of some people who act like this, I would like to hope that we as Christians first and people as well will remember that this is some people who are Muslim not the whole of the Muslim culture..please remember that there was a time in history that people who claimed to be Christians did things and said things that were horrible like this as well. I'm sure if you stop and think about the history of America you can find many examples of this. Let's be strong enough to not judge the whole by some!!!!
NP

While I agree that we should be careful of generalizations, it has become clear in the last several years that the overwhelming majority of Muslims embrace these themes as demonstrated by their unwavering support for groups such as Hezbollah, Al Qaeda etc. While Christians had a similar period of time (Crusades), the difference is that the hypocrisy of the Crusades and other abuses eventually lead to a shakeup in the church and the Protestant reformation; which was a return to the true Christian values both inside and outside of the Catholic Church. Since the Muslim Imperial expansion began during the time of Muhammad, there has been no such reform or spiritual awakening within the Muslim community, the reason is very clear, when your authoritative text advocates and even dictates that you are to spread the faith even by the sword, then there is no moral equivalent to counter-act that extremism. In this context, if they are convinced in their heart that Islam is the truth, then they are betraying their faith when they reject its commandments, as Christians we should understand this better than anyone. The painful truth is that this conflict is becoming more heated and hurtling towards a major confrontation, as Christians we should be spiritually prepared for it, because this enemy (and they are our enemy) has shown that they are not above randomly killing others who profess a faith other than their own. This is the time to prepare yourself for the ultimate test, when they come and ask you to reject the truth and bow to Islam (as they did to two kidnapped Fox News personnel) what will you and I do?
J

J,
I think you have some good things to say. But I do have some feedback. The overwhelming majority of Muslims do not actually embrace these themes. As a matter of fact, parts of their authoritative text teach living at peace with non-Muslims. We must remember that Islam is not a monolithic belief system--Muslims can hold many different philosophies and attitudes. It's simply the most vocal Muslims who advocate violence, but, because dissent is discouraged in most brands of Islam, there is no noticeable internal controversy regarding proper attitudes towards the West. Also, the majority of "Christians" do not live according to true Christian values--in fact, there are many, even in the USA, who would advocate a modern-day "crusade." But we, as followers of Christ, know that our only warfare is spiritual, as Ephesians 6 explains. The sad fact remains, though, that "Christianity" so-called can foment much discrimination and hatred. Let us be neither scared nor hateful, but let us see every person (regardless of his/her ethnicity or creed) through eyes of love that recognize his/her need for the life-transforming power of Christ.
Grace and peace to all, N

Dear N,
Thanks for your thoughts, I agree with you. In an attempt to clarify my position that may have been misunderstood, the overwhelming tone of my response earlier was to posture this conflict as "true Christians" should see it (as a spiritual battle). The sad truth is that our moral and spriritual foundations in the United States have been so eroded that we cannot and will not politically or socially approach this as a war with Islam; however, that is the war we currently find ourselves in the midst. Granted, it is a war with a minority within the religion of Islam, but the underlying goal of the enemy is the subjugation of all non-islamic countries. In the natural we rarely see the continuity of the enemy because it appears to be broken up groups and factions from various countries, but the reality is that the religious leaders (Mullahs, Imams etc.) are the true power base of many of these Islamic countries and their power transcends national boundaries. It is this underc urrent of leadership that empowers and drives the Bin Ladens of the Muslim Faith. While the outward appearance is one of many non-unified Muslim countries, the underground acts in concert and works towards common goals, exactly the situation that was realized in Lebanon during this last conflict when Israeli troops were fighting Hezbollah (who were financed, supplied and in some cases directly supported by Syrian and Iranian military). In any event, while the majority of Muslims may not "embrace" this radical belief, their silence allows the few who do to march forward unabated. As it was in Nazi Germany, for evil to triumph, good men must only stand by silent. In this context, the silence in the Muslim world has been deafening. With all of this said, the secular and non-enlightened segments of our country do not understand or even comprehend the true nature of the struggle. Therefore, I do not see the west as being able to adequately combat this in the natural. In essence, their blinded eyes cannot see nor discern the truth before them. But as believers I think we should look with our spiritual eyes wide open and see the danger as it truly exists. When I think of the "enemy" it is not the human faces of Muslims that are pictured, but rather the minions of Satan that drive them. Because were it not for the grace of God and his blessing of salvation, there would I go also. In the end, we as believers must acknowledge the battle to join it and then to do so on our knees.
In him, J

The Following article appeared on Worldnet.com about 2 days after this email discussion took place, i was surprised to see that several of my observations were confirmed by recent government analysis of the motivations behind suicide bombers. - Jay



[Article from Worldnet.com]

Suicide bombers follow Quran,concludes Pentagon briefingTasked with pinpointing motivation, analysts findterrorists 'rational actors' following 'holy book'

Posted: September 27, 200610:17 p.m. Eastern© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

With suicide bombings spreading from Iraq to Afghanistan, the Pentagon has tasked intelligence analysts to pinpoint what's driving Muslim after Muslim to do the unthinkable.
Their preliminary finding is politically explosive: it's their "holy book" the Quran after all, according to intelligence briefings obtained by WND.
In public, the U.S. government has made an effort to avoid linking the terrorist threat to Islam and the Quran while dismissing suicide terrorists as crazed heretics who pervert Islamic teachings.
"The terrorists distort the idea of jihad into a call for violence and murder," the White House maintains in its recently released "National Strategy for Combating Terrorism" report.
But internal Pentagon briefings show intelligence analysts have reached a wholly different conclusion after studying Islamic scripture and the backgrounds of suicide terrorists. They've found that most Muslim suicide bombers are in fact students of the Quran who are motivated by its violent commands – making them, as strange as it sounds to the West, "rational actors" on the Islamic stage.

[Photo of Palestinian child pretending he's a suicide bomber]

In Islam, it is not how one lives one's life that guarantees spiritual salvation, but how one dies, according to the briefings. There are great advantages to becoming a martyr. Dying while fighting the infidels in the cause of Allah reserves a special place and honor in Paradise. And it earns special favor with Allah.
"Suicide in defense of Islam is permitted, and the Islamic suicide bomber is, in the main, a rational actor," concludes a recent Pentagon briefing paper titled, "Motivations of Muslim Suicide Bombers."
Suicide for Allah a 'win-win'
"His actions provide a win-win scenario for himself, his family, his faith and his God," the document explains. "The bomber secures salvation and the pleasures of Paradise. He earns a degree of financial security and a place for his family in Paradise. He defends his faith and takes his place in a long line of martyrs to be memorialized as a valorous fighter.
"And finally, because of the manner of his death, he is assured that he will find favor with Allah," the briefing adds. "Against these considerations, the selfless sacrifice by the individual Muslim to destroy Islam's enemies becomes a suitable, feasible and acceptable course of action."
The briefing – produced by a little-known Pentagon intelligence unit called the Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA – cites a number of passages from the Quran dealing with jihad, or "holy" warfare, martyrdom and Paradise, where "beautiful mansions" and "maidens" await martyr heroes. In preparation for attacks, suicide terrorists typically recite passages from six surahs, or chapters, of the Quran: Baqura (Surah 2), Al Imran (3), Anfal (8), Tawba (9), Rahman (55) and Asr (103).
CIFA staffs hundreds of investigators and analysts to help coordinate Pentagon security efforts at U.S. military installations at home and abroad.
The Pentagon unit is especially concerned about a new wave of suicide bombings hitting Afghanistan.
Suicide bombings have killed more than 200 people in Afghanistan this year, up from single digits two years ago. On Tuesday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest and killed 18 outside an Afghan government compound. Last week, a suicide bomber riding a bike killed at least four NATO soldiers. And earlier this month, a suicide car bomber rammed into a U.S. military convoy near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, killing 16 people, including two American soldiers.
500 suicide bombers in reserve
The U.S. command in Afghanistan now warns that a suicide bombing cell is operating inside the Afghan capital. Meanwhile, the Taliban's top military commander told ABC News he has 500 suicide bombers at his disposal.
"We have so many of them that it is difficult to accommodate and arm and equip them," Mullah Dadullah Akhund said. "Some of them have been waiting for a year or more for their turn to be sent to the battlefield."
The emergence of a suicide cell in Kabul troubles military analysts because suicide attacks are the most effective weapon Muslim terrorists can use against the West. The Rand Corp. predicts they'll pose a serious and constant threat to the U.S. for years to come.
The U.S. intelligence community is growing increasingly worried, as well.
"Most jihadist groups will use suicide attacks focused primarily on soft targets to implement asymmetric warfare strategy," warns the just-declassified executive summary of the National Intelligence Estimate on the global terror threat. "Fighters with experience in Iraq are a potential source of leadership for jihadists pursuing these tactics."
Many scholars and media pundits, however, insist Muslim suicide bombers are not driven by religion.
"Beneath the religious rhetoric with which [such terror] is perpetrated, it occurs largely in the service of secular aims," claims Professor Robert A. Pape of the University of Chicago. "Suicide terrorism is mainly a response to foreign occupation rather than a product of Islamic fundamentalism."
He says U.S. foreign policy is more a factor than faith.
"Though it speaks of Americans as infidels, al-Qaida is less concerned with converting us to Islam than removing us from Arab and Muslim lands," Pape said.
But what about the recent video by Adam Gadahn, the American al-Qaida, warning fellow Americans to convert to Islam before al-Qaida attacks again?
"He never mentions virgins or the benefits Islamic martyrs receive in Heaven," Pape asserted.
In fact, Gadahn notes 36 minutes into his speech that Allah reserves the highest rewards – "honors and delights" – for martyrs in Paradise.
"[He] promised the martyr in his path the reward over and above the reward of the believer," Gadahn said. "He has promised them honors and delights too numerous to go into here."
The 9/11 hijackers and the London bombers made martyrdom videos. In their last testaments, they recite the Quran while talking of their "love of death" and "sacrificing life for Allah." Seven martyrdom videotapes also were recovered by British authorities in the foiled transatlantic sky terror plot.
Before the 9/11 attacks, the hijackers shaved and doused themselves with flower water in preparation for their weddings with the beautiful virgins in Paradise. "Know that the women of Paradise are waiting, calling out 'Come hither, friend of Allah,'" according to a four-page letter circulated among them titled "THE LAST NIGHT." "They have dressed in their most beautiful clothing."
But are the virgins scriptural or apocryphal? French documentarian Pierre Rehov, who interviewed the families of suicide bombers and would-be bombers in an attempt to find out why they do it, says it's not a myth or fantasy of heretics.
He says there's no doubt the Quran "promises virgins" to Muslim men who die while fighting infidels in jihad, and it's a key motivating factor behind suicide terrorism.
"It's obviously connected to religion," said Rehov, who features his interviews with Muslims in a recently released film, "Suicide Killers." "They really believe they are going to get the virgins."
He says would-be Muslim suicide bombers he's interviewed have shown him passages in the Quran "in which it's absolutely written that they're going to get the girls in the afterlife."
Muslim clerics do not disavow the virgins-for-martyrs reward as a perverted interpretation of the Quran.
And even Muslim leaders in the West condone suicide bombings. British scholar Azzam Tamimi recently told 8,000 Muslims in Manchester, England, that dying while fighting "George Bush and Tony Blair" is "just" and "the greatest act of martyrdom." Earlier, he said it's "the straight way to pleasing Allah."
And the founder of an allegedly mainstream Muslim group in Washington – the Council on American-Islamic Relations – also has given his blessing to suicide bombings.
Addressing a youth session at the 1999 Islamic Association for Palestine's annual convention in Chicago, CAIR founder Omar Ahmad praised suicide bombers who "kill themselves for Islam," according to a transcript provided by terror expert Steve Emerson's Investigative Project.
"Fighting for freedom, fighting for Islam, that is not suicide," Ahmad asserted. "They kill themselves for Islam."
Osama bin Laden has encouraged "Muslims brothers" to defeat the U.S. and U.K. with suicide attacks.
"I tell you to act upon the orders of Allah," he said in 2003, "be united against Bush and Blair and defeat them through suicide attacks so that you may be successful before Allah."

Message from Jay to any readers:

Anyone having found my blog and reading through this entire first post, welcome! My hope is that it gives you some food for thought on these events and the conflicts which are challenging our world. I am a christian who is currently attending Law School at a very conservative university and the above email discourse shows that even christians are often divided and confused on the current events and struggles that our country finds itself; however, in the end we should all seek to know the truth and make up our own mind based upon it alone.

Best wishes,
Jay
"And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free"