The President and false teachers getting it wrong on the NYC mosque

Randy made some good points about the NYC Mosque that President Obama and others are so heartily endorsing.  I put the key line in bold below, as it highlights how one could support the religious freedom of the Muslims to build the Mosque while simultaneously pointing out how wildly insensitive and wrong it is.  After all, isn’t it condescending to Muslims to act like they can’t ever be criticized?

It seems President Obama has finally come out with his views on the mosque that is being built at the center of the 9/11 attacks. According to this article, the president said “Muslims have the right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.” I would certainly agree with this comment.

However, I would also say that just because someone has the right to do something, that doesn’t make it right to do it. I think building the mosque at the base of what had been the twin towers is a slap in the face to everyone who lost a family member there, and to many of us who watched those towers fall. As an American, I have the right to feel that way. I also have the right to go to New York and picket the place (if it is ever built) and the right to tell others my opinion here on my blog.

Some people think Obama is a closet Muslim and that his response is further proof.  I disagree.  I think it is just bad leadership.  As I said during the campaign when those accusations arose, I don’t think he is a Muslim. I also don’t think he is a Christian. I think it is pretty obvious whom he worships.

A typical bad response supporting Obama and the Muslims came from false teacher Chuck “Jesus is not the only way” Currie, who kissed up to Islam in President Obama Hosts Iftar Dinner; Speaks Out In Support Of New York Mosque.

Of course, like other theological Liberals, Chuck is too ignorant or cowardly to state the obvious: Christianity and Islam can’t both be true.  Even if you support religious freedoms — which of course I do — then if you are an authentic Christian pastor (or even a plain old follower) you should be eager to point out the truth.

For example, when politely discussing Islam you can simply work in the fact that in Sura 157 of the Koran — an allegedly perfect book — the death of Jesus on the cross is explicitly denied multiple times, whereas in Christianity it is an oft-repeated and foundational claim that He did die on the cross.

And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of GOD. In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him – they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him. Instead, GOD raised him to Him; GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.

Koran, Sura 4:157-158

Therefore, we can’t both be right on this essential truth.  So where do the facts line up?

• with Islam, which has one guy in a cave 500+ years after the fact receiving a vision he originally thought was from Satan?
• or with Christianity, where even secular historians agree that a real person named Jesus died on a Roman cross?

That’s just one example.

Oh, and while Chuck & Co. are championing religious freedom, why are they afraid to criticize Islam and its suppression of these freedoms in Muslim dominated countries?  While encouraging Christians to support Muslims and religious freedom in the U.S., why can’t they even acknowledge the state of Muslim dominated countries and the creeping Sharia in even non-Muslim countries?

While supporting the legal right to for the Muslims to build the Mosque, why not acknowledge the legal right of others to criticize the Mosque?

And why aren’t they speaking out against the religious persecution of Christians in Dearborn, Michigan?

I’ll tell you why: Because they are inconsistent, cowardly fakes who love the world more than the one true God.

Do I support religious freedom?  Of course!  I support it all around the world. Christians should pray for and support religious freedom everywhere:

1 Timothy 2:1–4 (ESV) First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Do I discriminate against Muslims?  Of course not.  I hired a guy named Mohammad, who is from Pakistan.  This may come as a big shock to you, but it turns out that he is Muslim.  Go figure!  Do I think his religious views are wrong?  Of course.  Do I treat him fairly?  Of course.  My closest friend at work is a Muslim (albeit a nominal convert) and I have shared the Gospel with him many times.  But our friendship isn’t contingent upon him converting to Christianity (as much as I hope and pray that he does).

Do Muslims have a legal right to build to build a Mosque in NYC?  Of course.

Is it thoughtful of them to do so?  No.

Should false teachers and President Obama have the guts to criticize the Muslims for their insensitivity?  Of course.  Will they?  So far they haven’t.  Instead of just acknowledging their legal rights they have endorsed the whole enterprise and encouraged us to support Muslims.

Roundup

From the “Good, I’m not the only one!” category, Alyssa puts spinach in her shakes as well.  They really don’t impact the taste much and it makes the shakes more nutritious.  I could never eat cooked spinach. 

One of my first posts was about my Veggie Boy shakes.  We just replaced our vendor by splurging on a Vita Mix and I’m glad we did.  The old one had a 2 HP motor as well but didn’t nearly blend as well as this one.  Oh, and the old one was “arcing,” which is apparently a bad electrical thingy.  I had noticed the blue sparks when the lights were low but just ignored them for a while.  Having lots of fun with the new blender. 

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Adult stem cells used to restore sight to patients blinded by chemical burns – now that is great news.  And they didn’t have to destroy human beings to find the cure. 

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Extra creepy: Planned Parenthood to offer "insemination services," marketing lesbians – they prefer to kill the ones conceived naturally then sell the ones conceived artificially.  Because every kid wants a sperm donor Dad and Lesbian Moms. 

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Female condoms with teeth – yikes.  You read that right.  Hope it works to punish rapists and/or reduce rapes.  It definitely has potential for misuse, but given the rate of rapes in some countries I can see why some would find it appealing.

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Glenn on The Catholic Eucharist: Unbiblical and Idolatry

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Good analysis of the Islamic event in Dearborn, Michigan, USA.  This should be front page news.  It is “creeping Sharia” law, where Muslims get more and more aggressive with their demands and restrictions on the religious freedoms of others.  

Again the value of video footage simply cannot be understated. On Sunday evening the weekend of their arrest, after being released on bail, David Wood and Paul Rezkallah returned to the Arab Festival in Dearborn, MI, to conduct something of an experiment (along with a friend, Antonio Santana). Instead of going inside the festival, they stood outside of it and distributed pamphlets of the Gospel of John in Arabic and English. The video of the experience is incredible.

For three individuals standing on a public street handing out religious pamphlets in an American city, the Dearborn Police Department responded in under five minutes with a total of eight uniformed officers and arrested them. This is the assault on the rights and freedoms of Americans that is taking place in Dearborn, Michigan. Every year for three days in June, pursuant to a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Borman, the protections of the First Amendment are suspended within the Arab International Festival and its “outer perimeter” which, as we can tell from David’s experience here, apparently constitutes a five-block “buffer zone.” So anywhere within that five-block perimeter and the festival itself, the rights and freedoms of Americans is curtailed.

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Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,politics,pro-life

Mega Roundup

AP Bias: Name That Party Blasts Repubs, Leaves Dems Unnamed in Stories – same author identifies party affiliation for one side but not the other.  This is very common.

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Obama flip-flops on health care mandates – now it IS a tax – When he adamantly said the requirement to buy insurance wasn’t a tax, what he really meant was that it was a tax.  Clear?  And you can totally trust everything else they promised about the bill none of them read.

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Glenn on Unbiblical Catholic Sin, Purgatory and Indulgences – this is an important issue.  While I know many Catholics who don’t hold to these doctrines or are unaware of them, Catholic catechisms still teach un-biblical concepts of purgatory and indulgences.  For example:

Catechism, Para 1471: …“‘An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.’” ‘An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.’ The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.”

As Glenn notes:

Scripture tells us our sins are forgiven in Christ and that He paid the penalty for that sin. Since Christ was purged for our sin, there is no need of purgatory, and if there is no need for purgatory, then there is even less need for indulgences to pay for lessened time in purgatory.

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The Wasp Evolution Forgot – interesting take on a wasp and its associated tree that both forgot to evolve for 34 million years or so.  It reminds me of an aquarium that had to change a sign about how some species had evolved over the years, until they found a specimen that was really old (200,000 years, I think).  “Oops, what we really meant to say was that it must have perfected itself long ago.”  Such is the way of tautologies.

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Democrats Kill Free Checking Accounts – More counterproductive big government actions.  Now those of us who obey the rules get to pay the fees for those who overdraft their accounts.  Swell.  One more reason to join a Credit Union.  Either the Democrats didn’t see that consequence coming or they didn’t care.  Both are bad.

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Christians Taken Away in Handcuffs, Cameras Confiscated, While Muslims Chant "Allahu Akhbar!" on US Soil – Amazing.  This isn’t the first time the 1st Amendment rights of Christians have been trampled at these public Islamic events.  More details here.

I tweeted from my phone late last night that David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi (Acts 17 Apologetics Ministry) and two other Christians were arrested and taken away in handcuffs by the Dearborn, MI police. . . . David and Nabeel have reported on their experience here, having been released after spending the night in the Dearborn jail (they will never deal with the stories of the persecution of the early church in the same way again, I assure you). I do hope proper legal representation will lead to a meaningful civil action that will re-establish the rule of law (not Sharia) in Dearborn. As long as their cameras are not tampered with or destroyed, that should be the result, if justice prevails.

But I ask my readers to consider well what would have happened had the situation been reversed. What if Muslims were dragged away in handcuffs to the jeering chants of "Hallelujah!"? What kind of response would have come from such an event? Would not CNN and all the rest be on the spot? How much violence would you expect to see? One wonders.

This should be front page news in every paper and the lead story on CNN and the like.  Don’t hold your breath.

Please watch this video from 2009.

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The FCC has no good reason to regulate the Internet.  As Red State summarizes from this video, here are three good reasons they should leave it alone:

1. There’s no actual need for them to regulate it.
2. The FCC will just muck it up anyway.
3. They FCC is mostly doing this to continue justifying their existence and expansion.

Unlike many other industries, the Internet has absolutely exploded and thrived without government control.  Does anyone really believe that once you give government power that they won’t abuse it?

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Video by Ray Comfort — good example of what the average person believes and what the Bible teaches and how to navigate the conversation. 

 

Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,politics,pro-life