What You Need to Know About Islam

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What You Need to Know About Islam

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You cannot understand much of what is taking place in today's world without some understanding of Islam. This religion is at the heart and core of much of the unrest and violence sweeping the world today.

This was forcefully brought home to me when I recently spent two weeks in Israel.

Israel is demonized by many in the West, yet it is the only true democracy in the region and the West's only true ally. Its population is less than 2 percent of that of its 300 million Arab neighbors. Israel's size totals only about 1/6 of 1 percent that of the Arab world, yet it is constantly threatened and attacked.

Not long before I arrived, a young Israeli father was killed when Arabs threw a large rock through his car windshield, striking him in the face and killing him, with the resulting crash killing his one-year-old son who was with him.

On the evening that my wife and I left Israel, the teenage nephew of the driver who took us to the airport was in surgery for multiple stab wounds he'd received several hours earlier. He'd been talking with some children when an Arab slipped up behind him and stabbed him repeatedly. He barely survived.

Israelis live in a very dangerous neighborhood. During our visit, Syria's president threatened to unleash a missile barrage on Tel Aviv—no doubt to deflect attention from his increasingly brutal crackdowns on protesting Syrian citizens.

Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens Israel's very existence. Israel is so tiny that only two or three nuclear warheads would destroy the entire nation. And now one of Israel's worst fears is being realized, as elections in Egypt will put Islamist parties in charge of government—which means that three of the four countries with whom Israel shares borders will be openly hostile to Israel's existence.

What's at the heart of the long conflict over Israel? Many place the blame on Israel for its continued control over some of the lands it captured in the 1967 Six-Day war. However, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the charter of which calls for the liberation of "Palestine" and the destruction of Israel, was formed in 1964—three years before Israel captured those lands. The "Palestine" that they demand be "liberated" is the Israel that was founded under UN auspices in 1948!

The roots of Arab hostility run much deeper. They go back to the religion that overwhelmingly dominates the Arab world—Islam.

In Islamic theology, Islam is destined to subjugate all other peoples, cultures and beliefs. Israel has the misfortune to be on the front lines of what historian Samuel Huntington termed Islam's "bloody borders," surrounded on three sides by Muslim countries, with the Mediterranean Sea at its back and nowhere else to go.

Islamic leaders have repeatedly called for Muslims to reclaim Muslim lands "from the River to the Sea"—i.e., from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, meaning no more Israel at all.

Israel is only one target of Muslim hostility. Of the dozen or so armed conflicts and civil wars currently taking place around the globe, Muslims are involved in nearly all of them—most often as they continue to try to expand Islam's "bloody borders" into new territories.

You need to understand the beliefs that drive Islam's followers. Yes, not all Muslims are violent toward non-Muslims. But enough are that it has created a clash of civilizations between Islam and the rest of the world. This issue of The Good News will give you the information you need to make sense of it all.

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Comments

  • laura rowles

    And many atrocious things have been done to innocent people throughout the centuries in the so-called name of Christianity. Terrorism is not solely the domain of militant muslims. In the British Isles we have been dealing with Christian terrorists in Ireland for many years, and they have killed countless people.

  • Rolando De Leon

    "....the only thing that separate man from animal is, that man knows he will die....this is unacceptable to man, what ever is his religious belief is...."weather you are christian or muslim you will not live here on earth forever.
    This is the root of all conflicts. Man does not want to be alone. Afraid to die alone. Afraid to face his Maker alone.

  • Les

    E.J.
    To make the claim that we and Islam are the same in our efforts seems a little (a lot) simplistic. Do you listen to the news and all the Islamic terrorism that goes on daily. How many buildings have we blown up that were full of innocent people? Do you notice how many missles are being shot toward Israel daily?
    Gen. 16:11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

    Islam fights even when there is nothing but Islam to fight with.
    Les

  • E.J.Mims

    Les,
    I am not contending the fact that there are many fanatics in the religion of Islam...but there are many christian fanatics also. No, we have not, openly, bombed or terrorized other nations, but terror comes in many forms...we are just more sophisticated in our methods. How many 3rd world nations have our intelligence agencies covertly, in the name of democracy, cause regime-change...against the will of the majority of the populaces of those countries?

    Don't get me wrong, there is no other nation on the face of the planet that I would rather be a citizen of rather than the USA; but, let's not sugar coat what we do and demonize what is done to us in response. People(s) all over the 3rd world don't just hate us for no reason....don't be naive. And yes, I do listen to news reports about the unrest and violence in the Islamic world; and I thank God every day that the reported violence has not yet reached "my street".

    My "simplistic view", is sometimes needed to get to the root of the many problems that keep nations, religions, & peoples at odds for centuries. Just because we are followers of Christs' teachings doesn't mean that we are applying His Teachings to our foreign policies. Calling ourselves christians does not automatically legitimize us as being "right", and vice versa for Muslims, Hindu, or any other "religion". The primary purpose for religion should be to so inspire and enlighten its' followers so that their actions in whatever area of business or government will be a direct reflection of the highest ideas & ideals of a believing God-fearing son or daughter of God. I personally, am appalled at the atrocities committed in the name of The Eternal Faher & His Sovereign Son Christ Jesus....and that goes for all faiths. Do I support Israels' right to exist...yes. Do I believe Muslims to b wrong in trying to destroy Israel...yes. I also believe that, in the middle east, both muslim & jew...in most cases,have forgotten what they are really fighting for, and it has become a conflict of ogoing vengence for the deaths of family and friends. How Sad. In reality, our involvement in the middle-east is simply about "OIL", and the effect it has on our economy...especially if the "flow" should stop...or should I have said "OIL" and "GREED"? Be well my brother.

  • E.J.Mims

    Although I agree with your take on Islamic Expansionism, it is no different than our own brand of Colonialistic Expansionism. Their excuse is that they want to convert the whole world to Islam....our excuse it that we are spreadig democracy & freedom. It all boils-down to two cultures willing to destroy precious human life for the sake of propping-up its' own belief-system. They believe that their religious belief is the God-accepted faith, and we believe that ours is the God-accepted belief...and in every other part of the civilized & uncivilized world those peoples believe the very same thing about their perspective faiths. The conflicts, based on religious doctrines, but acted-out in the name of some political agenda, are really just holy-wars in disguise.....ang God does not favor the killing of His mortal children by ungodly leaders & armies. He has given us intelligence enough to be able to tolerate our differences while peacefully resolving our territorial disputes in a humane manner. Each nation will always have the capacity and the right to defend itself from all invaders, foreign & domestic. We all are such children when it comes to our spirituality and the doing of The Will of God. It is no wonder that other more advanced civilizations have avoided contact with such a barbaric species as the human inhabitants of our lonely little quarantined planet. When will we grow-up, and take our place in the highly organized and well-managed celestial government of Christ, and rise above our "spooky" conceptualization of cosmic realities and Spiritual Truths? "Children, put down your sticks, and return to class....you have so much to learn.

  • Les

    Very good article by Scott Ashley, informative and to the point.
    Thanks,
    Les

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