July 22, 2008
The Facts
The New York chapter of Islamic Circle of North America is spending $48,000 to put up placards on the New York subway system to promote Islamic religion. They say it is to educate America, because “we deserve to know”. Representative Peter King, a Republican from New York, is opposing the campaign, and is asking the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority to reject the proposal.
My View
In America, religious believers are just as free to advertise their religious faith as anyone else. It’s part of our civil rights. However, I do not agree with them that “I deserve to know”. I have absolutely no desire to “understand” their religion just as I am sure they have absolutely no desire to understand my religion (I haven’t seen, heard, or read of a single case where an Islamic leader was trying to educate their followers on the primary religion in this country, Christianity). The only thing I care about is them or any other organization, religious or not, trying to impose their belief upon me, and/or taking my rights away in order to promote their belief. And under Islamic teachings, it can be argued whether anyone has any rights unless they subscribe to Islam.
I spent nearly five years in several countries in the Middle East; countries that were dominated by Islam. And I’m here to tell you that if anyone tried this tactic in those countries, they’re likely to wind up in jail. Now I know there are certain Christian groups that have tried to set up shop in some of those countries to convert people to Christianity, and they have had some limited success. But these groups are usually only allowed in countries where westernized countries have heavy influence. Quite frankly, I do not think they should be there trying to convert those Islamic believers. If an individual has a desire to convert, without being coerced or forced, that is their business and they should be allowed to do so.
Anyone could argue that all religious faiths have a desire to convert the entire world to their faith. That’s been going on for 2,000 years or more. But some faiths are more heavy-handed than others. How many of us have had members from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints come to our front door trying to convince us we should give up our church and go to theirs? And Catholics have a very strong program, heavily financed, to bring in new members. But Muslims, in their very teachings, make it very clear they want Islam to rule the world, regardless of what some in our country are saying. As a very minority group in a very big democratic society, does anyone actually expect them to openly admit that their intent is to convert us all? Not hardly.
As far as me being educated, I have already educated myself to some degree. Just as I have with the King James version of the bible, I have read the Quran; in fact, two translations of it, although there is little or no translation for some things. And the only reason I acquired and read them was because I was fed up with both opponents and proponents of Islam giving me their biased and slanted interpretations. What I found was, as with the King James version of the bible, the Quran leaves an awful lot to interpretation. However, there are some Sura’s and verses that are very clear. And there are some that are contradictory to each other, as is with the King James version of the bible. Therefore, depending on your agenda, you can make it read what ever you want it to. So it comes down to the teachings of the so-called “educated” leaders. My concern is not what they are saying in public; it’s what they are saying in their private. The latter is usually where revolution begins.
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