What Would Happen If We Could Export Some
Unique USA Cultural Distinctives to Islamic Countries?
There was a concentrated effort in the days following the terrorist attacks on the United States to divorce the actions of the terrorists from the religion of Islam. President Bush led and continued to lead the way in promoting the idea that those of the Islamic faith are a peaceful and loving people far removed from the terrorists who also practice the faith of Islam. Some headlines and articles were devoted to the subject of Islam being "hijacked" by the terrorists!
Here in the U.S. the followers of Islam are a small minority and their sphere of influence is extremely limited. Under the provisions of the U.S. Constitution they are free to practice their faith and worship publicly in their mosques without hindrance as are Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, practitioners of witchcraft, or some cult group that severs chickens' heads and drinks their blood in a bizarre religious ritual!
The Quran, sacred book of Islam, does stress that the way of Allah is the only true way and those who do not accept Allah are to be regarded as unbelievers, including Christians and Jews. In fact at one point there is an admonishment not to take any Christians or Jews as friends as spelled out in the section known as The Dinner Table 5:51:
"O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people."A desire for Allah to destroy Jews and Christians is expressed in the Quran at The Immunity 9:30:
"And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!"Jesus is mentioned in the Quran as is His mother, Mary. As could be expected, His deity is rejected as is the fact of His crucifixion. There certainly are Muslims who are familiar with the heart of the Christian message which declares that Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, was sacrificed for the sins of every human being and forgiveness is possible only through Him. Here are a couple of statements from the Koran in the section known as The Women 4:157, 171:
"And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure……. O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Isa son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Marium and a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and His apostles, and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one God; far be It from His glory that He should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector."
Osama bin Laden was representative of one who took the Quran to its logical conclusion -- namely, that the world is to be purged of all unbelievers who do not or will not accept Allah as god and the Quran as the standard "guide book."
The United States has always been identified religiously as being "Christian" and was founded on Judeo-Christian principles as revealed in the Old and New Testament scriptures. God has been recognized from the very beginning and the nation has further acknowledged this God in a unique way by the inscription of "In God We Trust" on coins and currency as well as the Pledge of Allegiance phrase, "one nation under God with liberty and justice for all." Notice that God is not referred to as Allah, Buddha, Vishnu, or any other title of some deity of the many false religions in the world!
Yet in spite of huge numbers professing belief in God within a Christian context, and a majority of elected officials at all levels identifying with the Christian faith, there are no U.S. laws that force people to be Christian in faith, nor are Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists or other religious expressions forbidden by law to publicly assemble and bear witness to their faith. They are also free to put forth an effort to convert outsiders (unbelievers) to their faith without fear of reprisal.
However, in Islamic controlled countries the religious freedom such as all citizens (including the Muslims) enjoy in the U.S. is practically non existent, with only the Muslims having full privileges in expression and experience of their faith!
The Questions
Here are some interesting questions to ponder in light of how life is lived in a society dominated and controlled by Islam.
What do you suppose would happen if…….
We in the U.S. were able to export a large number of our abortionist doctors (term used loosely) into the Islamic countries -- how well do you suppose they would get along in the Islamic culture, and how prosperous would they become? How many Muslim women would be paying a few hundred dollars a "pop" as the expression has been used here in the U.S. to describe the destruction of an unborn child? Hint - you need to become familiar with Islam's view of abortion before attempting to answer the question.
We were able to export our robust and expanding pornography enterprises into the Islamic countries -- how well would entrepreneurs do financially as they peddled their merchandise saturated with every kind of sexual immorality and perversion that the unregenerate heart can muster? And it would surely be exciting to Muslim youth and children as they accessed this moral sewerage on the internet just as our U.S. children and youth are able to do, in spite of all the noise about "controls."
We were able to export the sodomite/lesbian "cartel" with its political/social/ religious agenda into the Islamic countries -- how much progress do you believe those people would make -- as much as they have here in the U.S. with powerful people in government, church, mass media, TV and movie industries giving strong support? Can you see the leadership in the Islamic countries giving their support to the sodomite/lesbian way of life? Come to think of it, why have we not heard detailed news summaries as to what gay Muslims and lesbian Muslims are up to these days? We've certainly heard a lot about gay "Christians" and lesbian "Christians" have we not?
Here is a news release just as it appeared in the January 2, 2002 edition of the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat:RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Three Saudi men were beheaded yesterday for committing acts of sodomy and "seducing young men," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Ali bin Hatan bin Saad, Muhammad bin Suleiman bin Muhammad and Muhammad bin Khalil bin Abdullah were executed in the southwestern mountain resort city of Abha in Asir province, said the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
We were able to export our TV and movie industry officials along with actors and actresses to produce the identical material such as they do here in the U.S. -- you know, the kind of material that in most cases carries an R rating -- how long do you think they would be in business, and how long do you think those actors and actresses would live in multimillion dollar homes and drive their luxury automobiles, if their incomes were limited to money coming out of the pockets of Muslims -- that is, if they lived the lifestyles they do now and produced exactly the same kind of material as they do now and market it under the guise of "entertainment?"
If we were able to change some of our special "breed" of home grown theologians, seminary professors, and pastors into Muslims and export
them into Islamic countries -- the condition being that as this particular group has been accustomed to denying certain basic truths of the Bible such as reported
miracles in both Old and New Testaments (long time favorite targets have been Jonah in the OT and the virgin birth of Jesus in the NT, for examples), the
significance of the life, crucifixion, resurrection, and promised return of Jesus Christ, Jesus being the exclusive source of salvation from sin, peace and
acceptance with God, and hope for time and eternity, God's standards for human sexuality, and the horrible reality of hell as a possible place of eternal destiny
for those rejecting Jesus Christ -- so this group would maintain the unbelieving, skeptical spirit and apply it to the Quran! How popular do you believe these people
would be in the local mosque as they presented their messages punctuated with unbelief regarding the teachings of the Quran? What do they do with heretics in Islam?
Get the picture? In the world of many Muslims the U.S. is a corrupted country -- the evidence is everywhere to behold and if its citizens will not convert and acknowledge Allah as the only god, then it must be destroyed! Allah would sanction such a mission.
Note these statements from the Quran:
The Immunity: 9:123 - "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil)."
The Cow: 2:191-193 - "And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed the limits. And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers. But if they desist, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors."
Muslims living in the U.S. likely do not feel as strongly about these things due to being influenced by the corrupting elements just as are Christians, with the result that both groups tend to be more tolerant and much less aggressive in resisting that which is destroying the nation morally, ethically, and spiritually. And there is also a "feel good" about ourselves thing as a result of those get togethers where Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others sit down together and "dialog," seeking to lay aside "differences" with no one getting radical and insisting that they have an exclusive claim to truth and the reality of Who and What God is and what, if anything, He has done or is doing in this world. Christians who jump aboard this ecumenical "band wagon" have to totally ditch the statements of Jesus Christ in order to be accepted in this unholy mixture, otherwise they will be treated with the utmost hostility. You can get along with anybody of any religious persuasion as long you don't insist that Jesus is the living God incarnate, that we are called to fully repent of all sin and accept Him as Lord and Savior since He is the only way of forgiveness, peace, and acceptance with God for time and eternity!
But it is in facing what would happen if the aforementioned "export" experiences really did take place and Muslim response to the same that we can see why persons such as Osama bin Laden and others such as he consider themselves involved in a "holy war" against infidels with the United States being the "great Satan!" He is not a raving lunatic nor filled with cynicism -- one major TV network news anchor in pure ignorance tried to paint bin Laden with the cloak of cynicism -- he is simply a very dedicated and zealous Muslim with a mission. Review again the Quran statements on fighting against unbelievers and slaying them if necessary so that eventually only the religion of Allah will exist! If bin Laden were really the mad man that the president and mass media people portray him to be, he would not make any reference whatsoever to Allah, much less give praise and thanks to him!
The "war" of course continued as President Bush pursued the agenda of ridding the world of terrorism and those who participate in such -- uh, with the exception of those who in the spirit of terrorism violently destroy about the same number of unborn children every day as persons who were killed on September 11th in the terrorist attacks!
Most disturbing is the fact that in spite of rallies, some "prayer" gatherings, the revived spirit of unity and patriotism, the shouting of "God Bless America!" and repeated singing of the song by that title, there has been no honest acknowledgment much less a desire to forsake our corrupted sinful ways and turn to Almighty God for mercy! Political and religious leaders who should be at the forefront challenging the citizens of this nation to repent and turn to God are totally tongue tied on this subject -- but the tongues can wag a mile a minute if you mention the name, Osama bin Laden!
If anything there seems to be a growing spirit of arrogance that says, "We WILL do thus and so to all terrorists…we WILL rebuild…we WILL provide security for the citizens of the U.S., etc!"
History provides an abundance of bitter and tragic lessons as to what happens to a people when they have corrupted themselves in relation to the God in Whom they claim to trust.
If the U.S., saddled as it is with political and religious leadership totally insensitive to the nation's need for full repentance, continues its present course, we will prove to be no exception when it comes to the chastising and ultimate judgment actions of God. And who knows what part those fanatic followers of Allah may play in this drama! God has been known to temporarily use heathen at times in His mysterious purposes!
For further reference:
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Clayton D. Harriger
Elder in full connection
W PA Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church
And former pastor of
Gipsy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) November 1999 through November 2019.
Gipsy PA
UPDATED August 25, 2023
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