JESUS CHRIST IS YOUR LORD??? THEN PLEASE FOLLOW HIS TEACHINGS.

Submitted by Chris G. (United States), Jul 12, 2007 at 19:55

Listen my friend, if Jesus Christ is your Lord God and Savior, then please follow what he teaches instead of spewing out irrational hatred about a religion that you know only about apparently from Fox News and evangelical Christian websites. What does Jesus Christ preach in the book of Mathew. Just like I tell Muslims to better study their religion, I ask you to please study what Jesus Christ himself said of how we are to deal with those we perceive as enemies.

The clarity you say you bring is nothing but simplification of a complex series of conflicts into one simple "Good Guys Vs. Bad Guys" explanation. I'm sorry but the world is not that simple and human beings especially are not simple. I would love to know how many Muslim countries you have lived in and if you have ever tried to get to know any Muslims as friends (without trying to convert them or attack their religion)?

Remember those past wars against Israel? They did not happen out of nowhere. Serious conflict between Muslims and Jews in that region did not happen until mass migration of Jews in Israel began in the late part of the 1800's and early 1900's. Furthermore, no other Arab countries are threatening Israel aside from Iran. The majority of Israel's threats today are from terrorist groups of Islamic extremists. The Arab League even for the first time sent a delegation to Israel to work with them towards a lasting peace process with Fatah (and to undermine Hamas) because their own countries are being threatened by Islamic fundamentalism.

Did you know that today Turkey and Jordan even have joint military exercises together? Even in the 1973 war, Jordan only sent a token military force to the Yom Kippur War just so that their regime wouldn't get overthrown by Arab nationalists and Palestinian para-military groups. Jordan also has normal trade relations now with Israel. Let me be clear, I am not defending Arab nations in their past wars against Israel, but I also believe in looking at those wars in the political context of the eras in which they took place rather then lumping them all together in some apocolyptic vision of your own making that has little basis on factual evidence..

Take Egyptian President Nasser for example...that guy wasn't an Islamic extremist. He was an Arab nationalist extremist and a hardcore Marxist. Like Saddam Hussein later, he only used Islam when it was convenient for him, but followed fairly hardcore Marxist ideologies. So please don't confuse Arab nationalism with Islamic extremism...true they both hate Israelis, but they are two different animals with very different overall agendas.

I have lived in Muslim countries all over the world and I have never been threatened with death if I did not convert. If this is the goal of most Muslims, then why didn't they threaten me with that option while they had total power over me? Even in Saudi Arabia I was never threatened. Also why is it that my Muslim friends and Jewish friends here in America all get along just fine and even enjoy having interfaith worship together worshiping God in our own ways? I'm quite sure that you don't believe in interfaith services, but what I have seen has been amazing with the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic communities working together to do good things in my citiy's communities such as feeding the poor, building homes for the poor, improving education, and fighting bigotry and hatred, .

Finally, do you not realize that what you are doing is promoting Al-Qaeda? You are essentially saying that Al-Qaeda and all other Islamic extremist groups are the TRUE Muslims and that all the moderates who speak out against them are all either wrong or lying. How on Earth do you know all of their hearts and minds? Last I checked only God knew all of our hearts and minds. So unless you're a mind reader, please don't lump all Muslims together and please quit promoting Al-Qaeda as the champions of Islam. If anything they have proven to be the destroyer of Islam as they further the split between Sunni, Shi'a, and Sufi Muslims.

Their message appeals to hatred just as the Nazis did during WWII. However, unlike the Germans, the majority of Muslims are not following them to commit terrorism and other attrocities. However a small minority do follow them and what we need are better ways to first identify and track them, but more importantly to refute and de-legitimize the roots of their belief systems using their own religion against them. I know its possible because I've done it and others have done it successfully. What is frustrating as hell however is that there is no funding available for such counter-propaganda programs on either a small or large scale. I am afraid, that most politicians are clueless and without answers. Or even worse they have a simple black and white, good guys vs. bad guys, cowboys vs. indians type of mentality when it comes to fighting the war on terror.

If you want to believe in trying to make Armeggeddon come true with self-fullfilling prophencies (actively and purposefully creating conditions for a world war) then may God forgive you. Personally I choose to follow what Christ taught on how to deal with our enemies and I pray that God will protect both Christianity and Islam from being further perverted by hatred and fear.

Do you want to see Christianity in action? Go and find some English speaking Islamic radicals on the internet (look under Salafi forums and Salafi chat rooms) and tell them you are an American Christian and you believe that their gaols of destroying Israel and America are wrong and their hearts are poisoned by Satan. They will probably insult you and say that you will die. When they do that, just keep telling them that you love them as a brother, that you forgive them, and that God loves them and can forgive them if they repent from evil. If you say these things and stay true to such language, I guarantee you that you will get an interesting reaction that most often results in them suddenly being much nicer in their langauge and more respectful. Try it sometime as an experiment to see for yourself. If a Muslim extremist considers himself to be a pious Muslim, they generally respect pious Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

So thats all I challenge you to try doing....simply follow the teachings that Jesus Christ taught in the Book of Mathew...and yes I know there are other books and those are good as well, but if the Book of Mathew is wrong, then either Jesus is a liar or the New Testament is corrupted.

Chris G.

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