The doggedly persistent and increasingly violent protests over the past two weeks in the Muslim East over obscure cartoons published in the Secular West have raised anew deep concerns about the rising tide of Islamic ji’had. Just consider the math:
Even if only 1 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims were to end up being seduced by the global call to ji’had preached by the likes of Osama Ben Ladin, Western governments and moderate Muslim regimes would still have to deal with some 12 million ji’hadists dispersed throughout more than 60 countries. And if only 1 percent of these 12 million were to actually commit themselves to “martyrdom operations,” the West would still have to deal, over the course of the next generation at least, with some 120,000 suicide bombers.
These are sobering figures. And they are not the least bit theoretical--this is in fact, the new reality of life in this poor fallen world of ours.
This coming weekend, I will be discussing this and much, much more at a worldview conference hosted by the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Tullahoma, Tennessee. I will lecture four times on a Biblical response to such perilous times. In addition, we will have several question-and-answer sessions with plenty of opportunity for good interaction. I am praying that this will be a rich and challenging weekend for the good folks at Covenant, in Tullahoma, and throughout the surrounding area.
7 comments:
Woody: Bless you. You're point about the evangelization of our communities is quite excellent. Thank you.
George,
Thanks for making the trip to Tullahoma. That's my home town, and I'm thankful for Covenant Church's presence there. I'll tell my father about the conference and ask him to help spread the word.
Chris: The conference begins at 7 PM on Friday and then continues Saturday morning. I conclude my four talks around noon.
Stephen: I believe Covenant PCA will be making the tapes available.
John: There certainly are a few places in the Koran where the call to ji'had could be interpreted as an exhortation to some kind of an inward struggle or a spiritual battle. But, the vast majority of the ji'had references issue an altogether unabiguous call to kill or murder or subdue or subjugate the "hated infidels." My book Blood of the Moon has several pages of examples of this. In addition, this sad reality is reflected in the fact that there has never been a time when Islamic history was not marked by the violent and revolutionary tactics of terror, assassination, and suicide attacks. Alas, no honest reader can avoid concluding that men like Osama Bin Laden are actually "good" and "faithful" Muslims.
I see now. Thank you Dr. Grant, that helps a lot. You know I do believe that the expression rings true with you sir, that you are "a gentleman and a scholar."
Stephen: Well, the issue is not how I might interpret any of the Koran, but how a particular Muslim might. And the fact is Muslim's are forced to pick and choose among the many contradictions of that book. The result is that some Muslims are good men like Dr. Hassaballa. And some are more consistent to the historic teachings of Islam like Osama Bin Ladin.
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