A Christmas Gift

In the event you're trying to decide on a worthwhile charity for a Christmas donation, here's a particularly timely one that you might consider.

As you surely know -- unless you're been in hiding or watch only MSNBC -- the Christian community in Mosul, Iraq has suffered greatly since the forces of the Islamic State (aka, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) took control of the city two years ago. Thousands who fled in advance are now refugees while many who remained in the city were slaughtered by ISIS simply because they were Christians.

The refugees are in dire need of help as they face a cold winter. They need kerosene for heaters and stoves, warm clothing, and funds for rent and other basic necessities. These people, who hope to return to their homes, fear that much will have been destroyed by ISIS and by the fighting between ISIS and the Iraqi forces trying to liberate the city.

Asia News, a Rome-based Catholic news website run by the P.I.M.E. missionaries and focusing on Asia, has re-launched their Adopt a Christian from Mosul campaign with the goal of relieving the severe difficulties faced by these suffering people. Go to this link and scroll down to the bottom of the page for donation information: Donate.

Share your Merry Christmas with another who probably hasn't experienced one in some time.

Atrocity in Orlando

Early Sunday morning, not far from where we live here in central Florida, a young Muslim man murdered at least 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub before being shot dead by law enforcement. The FBI quickly declared the murders an act of terrorism and indicated that the lone terrorist had possible connections with the Islamic State.  The FBI also revealed that this young man, a native-born American citizen of Afghan descent, had made two trips to Saudi Arabia in recent years and had been investigated several times for connections with terrorists and for threats of violence, but they had subsequently "closed the case." 

His beliefs, however, were nothing new and seem to have been formed years ago. His high school classmates report that on the morning of September 11, 2001, he openly celebrated the terrorist attacks. We have also learned that his ex-wife had to be rescued by her parents after only four months of marriage because he had beaten her so frequently she feared for her life. And it now seems his father, an Afghan living in the USA, actually ran for the presidency of Afghanistan. His father also hosted a California-based satellite TV show in which he regularly condemned the United States and strongly supported the Taliban. Indeed, despite this questionable background the Orlando terrorist was permitted to continue his employment with a major security firm that is a key subcontractor with the Department of Homeland Security and the Central Intelligence Agency. 

None of this apparently triggered any alarms within the local, state or federal law enforcement bureaucracies. As a security professional, he therefore had no problem legally purchasing the two weapons he used in the attack.

I realize that, unlike the FBI investigators, we have the advantage of hindsight, but I can't help but wonder whether political correctness played a role in the lack of scrutiny this man received from both his employer and law enforcement. Did his immediate supervisors fear the backlash that might arise if they had disciplined or fired him because of the threats he had made to coworkers and others? Did he get a pass because he was a Muslim? After all, that's exactly what happened in the case of the Fort Hood terrorist, an Army psychiatrist who was investigated by the FBI for his terrorist connections and then went on to murder 13 innocent human beings. Lots of red flags that seem to have been overlooked.

My major concern, however, is that as a nation we apparently have not accepted the obvious fact that we are at war and have been since well before September 11, 2001. Equally disturbing, we seem unable to define the enemy. For example, just moments ago I  heard one supposed expert declare that we are engaged in a "war on terror." It would seem that few people recognize the stupidity of such a statement. Terror is not our enemy; rather, it is a means of waging war. One might as well say we are engaged in a war on strategic bombing or a war on anti-personnel mines. It makes absolutely no sense unless one's purpose is to obfuscate. It's not unlike the president blaming the Orlando atrocity on guns rather than on the Islamist terrorist who repeatedly pulled the trigger. At some point, if we hope to defeat our true enemies, we must be willing to identify them. Quite simply, we are at war with Islamic Jihadists, those Muslims who believe that Islam must wage war with the infidel nations -- i.e., the rest of the world -- and are more than willing to use terrorism to achieve this goal.

Of course, most Muslims just want to live their lives and have no desire to join the jihadists in their war against infidels like you and me. But a surprisingly large percentage of the world's Muslims accept much of what the jihadists preach. Islam's teaching on homosexuality is particularly relevant given what happened in Orlando where the terrorist chose as his target a nightclub catering to the LGBT community. By doing so he actually carried out the demands of sharia or Islamic law which calls for the death sentence for homosexuality. It's important to realize that many, if not most, of the world's Muslims believe that sharia should be the "law of the land" throughout the world. In many Muslim nations a majority believe the death penalty should be applied for such offenses as adultery, homosexuality, and apostasy. Indeed, in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and several other Muslim nations, homosexuals are regularly executed. Even here in the United States too many Muslim leaders preach the same. Ironically, just a few weeks ago, an imam speaking in Orlando stated that gays should be executed "out of compassion."  (See the video below.)

To see the eye-opening results of the Pew Research polling of Muslims worldwide on these and other issues, click here: Muslim Beliefs about Sharia.

Strangely, though, the notables of the political left are so blinded by political correctness they cannot accept even the most obvious truths. Yesterday I read that lawyers of the American Civil Liberties Union had declared, quite incredibly, that the "Christian Right" was responsible for the terrorist attack in Orlando because "they created this anti-queer climate." And, trust me, the ACLU includes the Catholic Church among the Christian Right because of its moral teaching on the homosexual lifestyle. The Church, of course, does not in any way condemn homosexuals, who like the rest of us are sinners for whom our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died. We don't condemn the sinner; we condemn the sin.

The left simply cannot bring itself to criticize Islam and instead attacks the soft target of Christianity knowing it has little to fear from Christians. I cannot recall having heard any Christian leader call for the killing of homosexuals, and to my knowledge no terrorist attacks have been perpetrated by Methodists, Episcopalians, Jewish rabbis, Benedictine monks, or the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Pray for the dear souls, God's children, who lost their lives in Orlando. Pray for those who mourn them. And pray for our nation as its citizens try to decide which adolescent to elect as our president.

G. K. Chesterton on Islam

I thought my tiny but select group of readers might find these comments by the great G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) of interest:

“…but out of the desert, from the dry places and the dreadful suns, come the cruel children of the lonely God; the real Unitarians who with scimitar in hand have laid waste the world. For it is not well for God to be alone.” -- from Chesterton's wonderful book, Orthodoxy, a book every human being should read. It was written 108 years ago, in 1908.

“There is in Islam a paradox which is perhaps a permanent menace. The great creed born in the desert creates a kind of ecstasy out of the very emptiness of its own land, and even, one may say, out of the emptiness of its own theology. It affirms, with no little sublimity, something that is not merely the singleness but rather the solitude of God. There is the same extreme simplification in the solitary figure of the Prophet; and yet this isolation perpetually reacts into its own opposite. A void is made in the heart of Islam which has to be filled up again and again by a mere repetition of the revolution that founded it. There are no sacraments; the only thing that can happen is a sort of apocalypse, as unique as the end of the world; so the apocalypse can only be repeated and the world end again and again. There are no priests; and yet this equality can only breed a multitude of lawless prophets almost as numerous as priests. The very dogma that there is only one Mahomet produces an endless procession of Mahomets. Of these the mightiest in modern times were the man whose name was Ahmed, and whose more famous title was the Mahdi; and his more ferocious successor Abdullahi, who was generally known as the Khalifa. These great fanatics, or great creators of fanaticism, succeeded in making a militarism almost as famous and formidable as that of the Turkish Empire on whose frontiers it hovered, and in spreading a reign of terror such as can seldom be organised except by civilisation…” -- from Chesterton's brief book, really a eulogy, on Lord Kitchener (1917).

“When people talk as if the Crusades were nothing more than an aggressive raid against Islam, they seem to forget in the strangest way that Islam itself was only an aggressive raid against the old and ordered civilization in these parts. I do not say it in mere hostility to the religion of Mahomet; I am fully conscious of many values and virtues in it; but certainly it was Islam that was the invasion and Christendom that was the thing invaded." -- from Chesterton's book, The New Jerusalem (1920)

The above comments make one wonder what Chesterton would have thought of Islam today, particularly those expressions of Islam that manifest themselves as ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, et al.

Hatred and Truth

Some years ago, as an employee of a large multinational company, I had frequent interaction with a colleague who despised Israel. His hatred was so deep, so all-encompassing, that he believed Israel, a nation about the size of New Jersey, was the ultimate source of all the world's problems. I can recall sitting next to him in the company cafeteria on the morning of Sepember 11, 2001. As we watched the horrendous events of that morning on a large screen TV, I suggested that it was probably the work of Islamist terrorists. He just groaned and said, "No way. The Israelis are behind this. You'll see." The next day I asked him if he'd seen the news footage of Palestinians dancing in the streets as they celebrated the attacks on New York and the Pentagon. Yes, he had seen them but he was certain they were phony: "Probably some old file footage they threw on the air." As you might expect he became a full-fledged truther, convinced that 9/11 was the work of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. Over time, though, it became clear that the nation of Israel was not the real target of his hatred. On several occasions he let his guard down and grumbled about the "(bleeping) Jews". He was nothing more (or less) than a garden variety anti-Semite.

Truthers: 9/11 an Israeli plot?

My former colleague is, of course, not alone in his hatred. It's very much in vogue today to despise Israel for doing anything that promotes its continued existence and to overlook any violence against Israel by its neighboring Muslim states. And yet, when we take even a cursory look at Israel's enemies, what we find are a collection of despotic regimes that make every effort to focus their citizens' hatred on Israel. This, of course, is a strategy of distraction. If those in power can convince the people that all their ills originate with Israel and the Jews, the people will be less likely to turn their attention to the despots who rule them. Adolph Hitler was fairly successful doing much the same back in the 1930s.

When it comes to Israel, though, one often hears that, as a nation, it should never have been brought into being, that the Jews were latecomers who evicted the land's rightful inhabitants, the Palestinians. I've expended a lot of energy arguing against this, but when someone is motivated by an irrational hatred, no argument will move him. And then, the other day, I came across an article written by Dennis Prager, an unapologetic supporter of Israel. The article compares the creation of two nations -- Israel in 1948 and Pakistan in 1947 -- and asks why the legitimacy of Israel is so often questioned while that of Pakistan is universally accepted. It's an interesting question and the obvious answer is as disturbing as my former colleague's deep-seated hatred. Here's a link to Prager's column: Why is Pakistan More Legitimate than Israel?

Christian Persecution in Pakistan

The United States and Israel have shared a special and close relationship since Israel's founding. Although, like any relationship, it's had its ups and downs, our common dedication to individual freedom and representative, constitutional government have kept the relationship close. Ironically, Muslims in Israel have more political freedom than their co-coreligionists in any other Middle Eastern state, and certainly more than that experienced by Jews and Christians who live in Islamic nations. I would also argue that Israel is really the only nation in the Middle East that reflects the values of Western Civilization. This becomes particularly important as the Christian populations of most Middle Eastern countries decrease, largely as a result of persecution by Islamists. As the radicalization of the Islamic world increases, Israel may well be our only reliable ally in the region.

ISIS Murdering Christians

Our president, however, seems to be more willing to appease our sworn enemies than to support our beleaguered ally. The recent agreement with the Iranians is an obvious example in that it provides a definite pathway to the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon. It also provides this regime with billions to spend on delivery systems and the support of its puppet terrorist organizations. One can only wonder how the Israelis, along with the other gulf states, will respond to the very real threat posed by a nuclear Iran with lots of cash to spread around among its terrorist friends. I can foresee no possible positive outcome as a result of this agreement.

The president has labeled those who do not support the agreement as "crazies" while his supporters blame the Zionist lobby. I have never thought of myself as a crazy Zionist, but I guess that's what the administration thinks I am...of course I'm joined by a majority of the American public. (See CNN poll.) I also suggest you read this article by Steve Apfel in The American Thinker in which the author exposes the "blame the Zionists for humanity's ills" bogeyman for what it is.

Pray for our nation and its political leadership. And pray for the Christians of the Middle East. They are a courageous people, unafraid to declare their faith in the presence of murderous hatred. Could we do the same?

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death..." [Rev 12:10-11]

Islam Destroys Its Own Heritage...and Ours

There have been more than a few news stories in recent years describing the destruction of ancient sites and artifacts by so-called fundamentalist Muslim groups such as the Taliban and the Islamic State (ISIL, ISIS, whatever...). I suppose the first to make actual headlines was the Taliban's 2001 destruction of two giant statues of Buddha that had been carved into an Afghan mountainside 1,500 years ago, before the advent of Islam. Taliban soldiers spent an entire day pulverizing the statues with dynamite, rockets, artillery and tank fire. This was, of course just the beginning of a far more widespread destruction ordered by Mullah Mohammed Omar, then the Taliban's spiritual leader. It was recently learned that the good mullah died of TB In Pakistan a couple of years ago. Anyway, while he was still alive he stated that he really didn't want to destroy the Buddhas, but eventually went along with it because the West was more concerned about saving the ancient statues than feeding the starving Afghan people. The fact that he and his followers were largely responsible for that starvation seemed to escape him. Of course he also came to believe he was simply following Islamic teaching that declared all images to be nothing less than idolatry and, therefore, worthy of complete destruction. Presumably, his decision also gave the Taliban troops some needed target practice in the absence of women, children and infidels.

One of the Bamiyan Buddhas - 1963 (left), after destruction (right)

Shortly after the destruction of the Buddhas was confirmed, Unesco's director-general, Koichiro Matsuura, was all aflutter and stated: "Words fail me to describe adequately my feelings of consternation and powerlessness as I see reports of the irreversible damage that is being done to Afghanistan's exceptional cultural heritage." Boy, did he nail it: "consternation and powerlessness" -- the perfect description of the United Nations at work.

The Taliban, who make the Byzantine iconoclasts look like rank amateurs, continued their frantic work of idol destruction until our response to the 9-11 attack forced them to realign their priorities...at least for a time. Allowed by the Pakistanis -- another of our helpful and loyal Middle Eastern allies -- to operate in Afghanistan from bases across the border, the Taliban are making a comeback of sorts. Should they succeed and once again rule Afghanistan, one can only assume they will pick up where they left off and find other Buddhas to erase.

The Taliban are not unique. Since our departure from Iraq, the Islamic State now controls a large hunk of Iraqi territory, not to mention its expanding presence in Syria. Actually the Islamic State has a presence in much of the Middle East and North Africa. See the map (below) to get a sense of the reach of this growing threat, one that our president labeled the J. V. team. 

Islamic State control and influence

The Islamic State has become infamous largely for its televised beheadings of Christians and others whose beliefs conflict with their own. It's enough to say that the warriors of the Islamic State behead those they consider infidels in direct obedience to Quran 8:12 witch is pretty explicit:

"When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them."

Like the Taliban, the Islamic State doesn't stop with murder and mayhem. It also considers all shrines, monuments, temples and churches -- any relic of infidel idolatry -- to be worthy of only one thing: complete destruction. They even destroy mosques if they happen to reflect religious thinking contrary to their understanding of shariah. In Iraq the Islamic State has been bulldozing or blowing up countless Muslim shrines and tombs. For example, last year in Mosul ISIS destroyed what Muslims believe to be the tomb of the prophet Daniel along with the tomb and mosque of the prophet Jonah. They haven't limited their destruction to Iraq, but have obliterated many ancient Muslim tombs and mosques in Syria, Libya and wherever else the Islamic State exerts control. They have also murdered any Muslims, including even Imams, who might object.

Islamic State destroyed the Mosque of the Prophet Jirjis in 2014

Of course, the Islamic State has focused most of its destructive energy on the Christian churches of Syria and Iraq. Many of these churches date as far back as the 6th and 7th centuries. They are now gone, completely destroyed. In too many instances worshipers were inside these churches and perished when their spiritual homes were blown up or burned.

Islamic State destroying artifacts at the Mosul Museum

The Islamic State has also targeted many of the most ancient sites in the Middle East. Nimrud, a 13th -century B.C. Assyrian city, has been leveled as have a number of other equally ancient cities, virtually all of them World Heritage Sites.

Mosul Christian Church destroyed; four children murdered

As a result of all this, Secretary of State John Kerry has threatened "to comprehensively document the condition of, and threats to, cultural heritage sites in Iraq and Syria to assess their future restoration, preservation, and protection needs." But that's not all. UNESCO has labeled the destruction of Nimrud a war crime and the UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the Islamic State's destruction of cultural heritage. Wow! If these actions by the global community don't put a stop to the destruction, nothing will. I wonder if the State Department and the UN will also document the widespread murder of Christians, so widespread it borders on genocide, by the Islamic State wherever it holds sway. After all, there's nothing like a document or two to strike fear in the hearts of barbarians.

Of course, none of this is new in the Islamic world, neither is it limited to destruction carried out by the Taliban and Islamic State. In 2011 Egyptian Muslim mobs attacked the L'Institut de l'Egypte, a truly venerable institution of learning in Cairo. It contained a 200,000 volume library that focused on all aspects of Egyptian history and life. The mob attacked it with Molotov cocktails and burned its entire contents while soldiers of the regime (then strongly affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood) stood by laughing.

The mob outside the Burnded-out Shell of L'Institute de l'Egypte

These same mobs, again abetted by the police and the military, have destroyed Coptic Christian churches regularly throughout Egypt.

Interestingly, Muslims not only object to the shrines and churches, historic and modern, of other faiths, but they also seem to enjoy destroying their own heritage. For example, over the past 30 years the Saudi government has destroyed over 98% of the Kingdom's historic and religious sites -- this according to the UK's Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. This would be similar to the Catholic Church demolishing every Gothic and Romanesque Cathedral in Europe. Even the most secular of atheists would object, if only on aesthetic and historical grounds.

I can recall, back in my high school years (over 50 years ago), reading a book that described the destructive nature of Islam as it spread across the Middle East and North Africa. It would seem very little has changed.

Of course, while we bemoan the loss of so many churches and ancient historic sites, we must focus first on the genocide being carried out throughout the Islamic world. The Christian communities, that have been a vibrant part of the Middle East since the time of Christ, are being systematically destroyed while we sit back and do little or nothing. Oh, yes, we have been doing something: we've been enabling the Iranians, in effect giving them billions which they will happily funnel into any number of terrorist organizations. 

Pray for the brave and faithful Christians of the Middle east.