UI – Part 74 –  NOT Live-And-Let-Live

 In the USA Today Monday December 6, 2010 edition an editorial entitled Soul-searching in Portland, struck my eye.  In brief the commentary dealt with the question of why such a liberal, open-minded, tolerant community, referred to as a “cheerful, quirky, out-of-the-way Portland”, was the potential target (thankfully averted) of a home-grown terrorist.  Mohamed Osman Mohamud wanted to “smash a happy scene to a million bits” including women and children.  The aim was at a Christmas tree lightening ceremony where thousands were to gather.  This is not a major center or hub, like New York, London or Paris.  It was Portland, Oregon.  The people here are more focused on the Christmas holidays and college football than terrorism.  They thought they lived in a pluralistic microcosm of the US where a “live-and-let-live spirit extends” to everyone. 

What this tells us all, and the Muslims in Portland even, is that Islam is not a live-and-let-live ideology.  There are Muslims that stress their love of Allah as foremost, yet forget the intense and harmful nature of this ideology that has taken hold in many controlled areas of the world.  My contention:  Muslims that live for their Allah as God are being awakened to the fact that something is amiss.  If they can perceive the Ideology for what it is, or what it has become, they may realize that this ideology is being masked as a religion, even a theology,  that has as its god a monotheistic vengeful god that by man has been transformed to be a god of this world, not of the eternal realm.

The God of Eternity

The God of eternity tells all believers that they are not of this world and that vengeance is not theirs; it is for God alone, at his time and at his place.  Christ told his followers that very thing, ‘you will be hated because of me’, but he did not tell them to kill for what they believed.  They might die for what they believe, but not in battle with apostates, only as martyrs.

Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a name, and a new book so titled, that will present a modern man, a man of the early 1900’s through the end of WWII that saw the atrocities of a maniacal human who saw the Church (of Jesus Christ) as a community of humble and weak followers.  He espoused a country of strong and ruthless men, calling themselves leaders, but for a cause less than humane and more like the building of a temple for men to honor man (themselves and their accomplishments – Babel); man as defined by Hitler.  It was to be a religion for Hitler and Germany, but not for God.  This diabolic leader resisted dissent, imprisoned his detractors, and wanted to eradicate Christianity and the saving grace of the Lord from the hearts and minds of the people.  He fought the Church (of God), and created his own Reichskirche (Church of the Reich).  It was his Ideology that was to transform Germany and raise an army.  It was to separate the Church of Germany from salvation, as suggested by Bonhoeffer.

The Ideology of Islam

I point this out as a concern for the Ideology of Islam and the multiple autocratic leaders that have been harvested to sew seeds of further destruction when there is not a perfect meeting of the minds.  The Amadinijad’s (Iran), Khomeini’s (Iran), Bin Laden’s (Al Qaeda), Hosni Mubarak’s (Egypt); Dr. Abdullah Gül (Turkey), Ali Abdullah Saleh (Yemen), al-Bashir (Sudan), Muammar Gaddafi (Libya), King Abdullah (Saudi Arabia), Talabani (Iraq), SHEIKH HASINA (Prime Minister of Bangladesh), Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (Indonesia), Bashar Assad (Syria), Michel Suleiman (Lebanon), Abdullah II bin al-Hussein (Jordan), Asif Ali Zardari, (Pakistan), and others.  There are many fields under cultivation for Allah, with restraint, attacks, oppression, convictions, and persecution against those of the opposite camp, not under the same tent, or revering the same god.  There are also training facilities in many of these areas, and others, such as Afghanistan, where recruits for terrorist acts, to be committed while shouting Alahu Akbar, are taught and encouraged against infidels wherever they be.  The West is a primary target, which includes Europe and the USA.  There are efforts, with evidence of potential success, to grow from within a non-Muslim area, in NYC and Portland. 

There are those in the Portland Muslim community that affirm, “Our religion says we cannot kill innocent people.  This is the reason we left….(wherever they left)”, the article notes.  There are two ways to read this statement, 1.) the definition of “innocent” may simply include only those who believe in Allah. Infidels are not considered ‘innocent.’  2.) Those who wish not to kill innocents may want to consider a new path, a different ideology, truly a different theology, where the killing of any, the killing of infidels, is not considered.  That would not be Islam. 

Tom Krattenmaker, the author of the article, mentioned ‘categories’ for certain Muslims, such as “extremist, radical jihadist, terrorist.”  He followed this with the statement, “If we’re going to make sweeping, damning generalizations, let’s make these the subject of our condemnations.  Let’s make these the focus of our efforts to isolate and defeat an enemy.”  He asks for a pass to those Muslims not so categorized. I have no problem with that.  Except?  OK then, who are the extremist, radical jihadist, terrorists?  What do they most look like?  When do we start to profile?  If I read his article correctly there is a bit of double-speak here.  The subject of our condemnations are clearly those that do not accept the concept of “live-and-let-live” in the same way most Americans might.  Where has that been most visible, under what umbrella, under what tent, under which Ideology?  The answer – Islam! 

Victimless Muslims

If we are concerned for the victimless Muslims, then they should also be concerned and they must do something about it.  If they cannot change their ideology, they must consider 1.) modifying it to eliminate all reference to killing others, the infidel crowd – and providing the leadership to support and encourage this change, 2.) eliminating the latter, Medina, parts of the Quran that superseded the Mecca parts to remove vengeful notions and focus on plurality – but then another sect or tribe arises subject to apostasy claims, 3.) Adopting a new Scripture, maybe even Baha’i, or 4.) finding another theology more befitting their personal beliefs (something other than Islam). 

Maybe God is telling Muslims who are scrambling, who are suggesting Mohamed Osman Mohamud “ruined it for everybody” (those being the Muslims that relocated to America and Portland for reasons of tolerance), who “counter charges that there was now proof…that Islam is inherently violent and evil”, and defend their ideology when terrorist acts continue unabated, fatwas are declared it seems daily, and react negatively at the image of Muslims in headdresses and covering their heads, AK-47’s at the ready, they are in the wrong boat; they are under the wrong tent.

There is the need for a cleansing, a cleansing of the evil spirit that is in view over the world and suggested as god, according to Muhammad, Allah, the mullahs, the Imam’s, the Khomeini’s, and the ulema.  Islam needs to evolve as a new order; possibly another order, or no order under Allah at all, but under God.  It started with God and the Jews, and then was followed up with God, His saving Son, Jesus.  Salvation was made possible by the grace of God.  Why would anyone want to change that? 

Humanists

We also have the Humanists and the atheists; they just won’t accept any divine God.  They live and they die. They live in a created world – OK – who did that?  They may ‘let live’ in between, but without regard for hope or love. How empty.  Who do they have to forgive them – or they need no forgiveness.  We all need forgiveness as we all sin.   Thanks be to God.

It may be the humanists, the atheists and the secularists that actually rise up against Islam as they enjoy their freedoms, without guilt, and would not want that to change.  They have no god to fight for except themselves; their god may be their sin(s); their god is present in the material world, the one in which Satan reigns. They will fight to protect whatever sin they most love, to allow it to continue, to be considered acceptable by society, changing society if that is needed.  That is what the Reich regime tried as well – to change society, to accept the temple of their order, to make Germany what a godless person would much prefer – even to do it in the name of an idol, a god, masked to whatever extent possible as the God of the people, hoping in time they would be one in the same – the god of the godless man.  It did not happen then; it will not happen now. 

We Can Now See the World from Portland too

We can now see the world even from Portland.  We just need to look ever so much more closely and then it jumps out before you, a huge bug on the windshield smashed and destroying the perfect view.  It is happening and we all must be aware, we must Understand Islam, and we must prepare for more calamities.  So too must those calling themselves moderate Muslims.

Our Prayer

May the God of the Universe, our Creator, the One who allows Satan to reign, bring peace; this is a constant prayer, along with hope for the poor and the downtrodden.  May those whose hearts are hardened to the truth be softened to see the window that opens to an eternal beautiful view of what comes next.  May those whose hearts and minds embrace God, His Son who provided salvation for all, remain strong, find a closer walk with God through the Word, the Word wherein God reveals himself.  The truth provides freedom.  There is fear of the unknown; there is fear of the cataclysmic events that will transpire to rid the earth of Satan, his demons and his followers; but be confident that when you believe, know God, you will be excused from the calamities that hit the unbelievers forcefully and constantly.  You will see His kingdom; you will see God as never before imagined and you will be like him.

Grace and Peace,