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REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

8/21/2007

Can’t We Allah Just Get Along?

Islam Peace.bmp

In case you had any doubt that Western Civilization is mired in a crisis of suicidal self-loathing and pre-emptive surrender, a Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands has publicly commented that Christians should begin to refer to God as “Allah” so as to make Muslims like us better -- or at least bomb us less.

Unused to having their demands met before actually making any, a Muslim group responded that it had made no such request -- although now that it’s known to be within the realm of possibility, I’m sure it will be considered as a future point for increased “tolerance.”

The bishop in question is Tiny Muskens (“Muskens” apparently being the Dutch word for “cojones”), who professes to believe that he is fostering understanding between religions with his spiritual version of “Would you like me better if I were blonde -- or at least less obviously Christian?”

Perhaps rather than trying to increase understanding between religions, the Bishop (as a Christian priest and all) might want to focus on increasing understanding of, you know, Christianity. Oh wait, I might have just committed a hate crime with that thought. Please forgive me. The Bishop’s appeal for appeasement is said to come at a time of rising tensions between Islam and Christianity in Holland --“rising tensions” apparently being the Dutch words for “violence by Muslims.” Oops, hate crime.

One wonders where Christianity would be today had Christ had apostles of the same bent as Muskens. A concise history of the faith might read: and then, after Christ died on the cross rather than yield to demands that the message of his faith be corrupted, the apostles carried his message to Rome -- but nobody noticed since they decided to call God “Jupiter” and just tried to get along. Who needs the blood of the martyrs when compromise and groveling work so well?

Thankfully, the Bishop’s grand idea has been overwhelmingly rejected by the Dutch public, but it comes on the heels of other disturbing efforts to hide the horrible Christian nature of Christianity from Muslim sensibilities. As reported last year by the Brussels Journal, the bishops of Brussels opened up their churches as sanctuaries for Muslim Illegal aliens hiding from law enforcement in Belgium. To make them feel more at home, the altar was removed, the statue of the Virgin Mary was hidden under a cloth (burkhas -- not just for living females anymore!) and the churches were festooned inside and out with Green banners bearing the name “Allah” in Arabic script. Doubtless, this made the churches less offensive to the fugitive Muslims within. In unrelated news, church attendance by actual Christians in Europe is down for some reason.

At the risk of committing yet another hate crime by bringing up the obscene subject of proselytizing the gospel, I would remind the bishops that the Muslims in Europe represent a special opportunity for them -- unlike Muslims in Muslim countries, the bishops can try to convert these to Christianity without fear of prosecution by the government. They’ll probably get killed for trying, but then I guess that’s why bishops such as these seek to promote understanding between religions, rather than the spread of their own religion. Again, the apostles burned with the passion of the faith. Muskens and friends smolder weakly in the spirit of compromise.

Also, issues of core principle aside, does anyone really believe that Muskens’ gesture of subservient compliance would reduce tension with Islam one mite? Suppose we did call God “Allah,” there’s still the minor source of conflict that Islam is aimed in large part at co-opting Christians and that the Koran specifically denies the divinity of Jesus Christ, or that he was crucified or resurrected. And oh yeah, because the teachings of Jesus are thus considered invalid, there’s about a thousand other differences too. Lack of a shared vocabulary is not really our central problem.

And to be blunt, we could all covert to Islam tomorrow and it would not reduce Islamist violence in the slightest, since the only folks more likely to be killed by Islamists than us infidels are other Muslims. Would we become Sunni or Shia, by the way? Personally I’m shopping the Alawite sect just to maintain my reputation for being a bit different. Of course being a bit different is a capital offense to Islamists.

Conflict is always unpleasant and burdensome -- but it is not always wrong or to be avoided. If you believe in something transformative and significant, that carries consequences and can entail suffering. If your faith is deemed offensive, it is your duty to offend; and if your identity as a Christian divides you from others, this division is acceptable. If such thoughts sound too deep to have come from me, they didn’t.

“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." -Luke 12:51-53

There are worse things than conflict. Loss of one’s core identity is surely among these. More and more, Western Christianity seems embarrassed by its own existence.

I am uncomfortable talking about religion, both because I think it is a very personal thing and because I believe I make a poor choice of spokesman for anything Holy (hint: my beatification is not exactly pending). But when church leaders themselves seem embarrassed by their own faith and so eager to compromise its ancient traditions, something has gone very, very wrong.

Let us pray that, when necessary, God will save the Faith from the Church.

by Mac Johnson in Human Events, 8/21/07

(contributed by Rob Maroni,
team member of Allegiance and Duty Betrayed)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The bishop in question is Tiny Muskens (“Muskens” apparently being the Dutch word for “cojones”)

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!

Great article.

Anonymous said...

Also from Mac Johnson (not as recognized as he should be):

America Must Surrender Before We Accidentally Win

For those who have staked their political future on American defeat in Iraq, this has been a worrisome week. Just days after two long time critics of the war from the Brookings Institute wrote in the New York Times that the "Surge" in Iraq was changing the direction of the conflict, a military analyst for the Associated Press writes that he sees the new tactics working as well, and a new Gallup poll out today shows growing support for the war.

Clearly, the need for immediate surrender is growing if the politics of failure are to succeed.

Anonymous said...

Who needs the blood of the martyrs when compromise and groveling work so well?

It would be hard to find more well phrased sarcasm.

This is an excellent piece of writing.

Anonymous said...

What a spot on analysis of stupidity posing as religious leadership. Especially:

Also, issues of core principle aside, does anyone really believe that Muskens’ gesture of subservient compliance would reduce tension with Islam one mite? Suppose we did call God “Allah,” there’s still the minor source of conflict that Islam is aimed in large part at co-opting Christians and that the Koran specifically denies the divinity of Jesus Christ, or that he was crucified or resurrected. And oh yeah, because the teachings of Jesus are thus considered invalid, there’s about a thousand other differences too. Lack of a shared vocabulary is not really our central problem.

Kudos to Mr. Johnson.

Anonymous said...

When I think about it, what the heck do I care what a Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands says about anything.

Is this really a sign of the times? I think not.

Anonymous said...

Cooper, I don't think this is a sign of the times either. But I also think too much suicidal behavior happens in the west and it's getting worse.

Like the 6 imams who purposefully disrupted the plane and then are successfully suing, and that studying the Koran is required in a growing number of school districts. And, like it or not, a growing number of "Christian" clergy are criticizing us for not showing more respect to the Muslim religion. I even heard one minister in my area say "We all worship the same God, why can't we all try to get along."

When you also think that our Congress wants defeat in Iraq and moans about the treatment of the prisoners at Gitmo you have to wonder whether we have a chance of winning this war.

Anonymous said...

Whither Western Civilization?

I try to be neither unduly pessimistic nor optimistic — just honest. My honest opinion is that the rich West has already passed the point of being able to wage sustained battle with our enemies.

Such efforts require sacrifice and a fairly universal committment by the citizens within. We show no capacity for either.

In response to the series of retreats by America against terrorism from 1979 to 2001, Osama bin Laden famously expounded that America was a paper tiger who would fold when struck. Immediately following 9/11, the nation and its leaders were aware of this fact — even quoted it often — and sought to disabuse Muslim terrorrists of that belief. Now, just five years later, we have done more to confirm bin Laden’s analysis than dispel it.

If confronted with a serious threat for survival, the West would have to summon a cultural-superior mindset, intent on destroying our enemies based on the sincere belief that our civilization is worth preserving over their’s. It is crystal clear that there are millions of westerners on the Left who wouldn’t even entertain the idea, and a large swath who would actively root for, if not aid, our enemies under any variety of college-campus and liberal website rationalizations.

Additionally, there are millions more who live in a post-ideological comfort zone. They would seek to reach an accomodation with the Islamists, whereby the marching mullahs would be given carte blanche, provided they agreed to let this generation of pampered people live out their lives in prosperity.

Iran knows this. That is why they openly plot the killing of US and British soldiers, sponsor a wide array of murder-groups, dismiss the pathetic UN, sprint straight toward a nuclear arsenal, and now, kidnapp and propogandize British soldiers, and have their agent ramp up the attack on the West in Iraq.

Al Qaeda and others know this too, and it is for this reason that we can no longer hope to win a serious confrontation with Islam.

Andre should be thrilled these days. It is now clear that the conservative tilt of the 1980’s and the rightward blip after 9/11 were little more than the occasional downward slip on the line graph of a rapidly rising stock. The universities, the media, Hollywood… they are all as committed to the bizarre suicide ritual of multiculturalism and anti-western venom, as they ever were in the 1970’s. And today, unlike then, even the Democratic Party can be counted on to suckerpunch the efforts by westerners to defend themselves, while giving effusive support to the most radical opponents of civilizational survival. Yes sir, these are great times for the postmodern, domestic enemies of western liberalism.

For the long, proud, 2,000 year history of our civilization, not so much.

(Published by the Constitution Club back in April)

Anonymous said...

It sounds like the bishop could have been part of those young "students" a few years ago (I think they were at UCLA, Berkley, Stanford, or some other left coast crazy school) chanting "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western civilization has to go!"

Remembering your Old Testament:

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

Anonymous said...

Even though I agree with John Cooper that this isn't the norm, there are an awful lot of "Christian" leaders and their followers who go around preaching "getting along" with radical Islam. If you're a Christian and you don't understand the difference between the two religions and the two gods, it might be time to dust off your Bible.

Anonymous said...

Smithy, I concur completely. There are too many half-Christians in this world.

Anonymous said...

Joanie, your "Quote of the Week" applies so much to the War in Iraq.

joanie said...

I totally agree, Lori.

Anonymous said...

CAN ANYBODY "GET YOUR MIND AROUND" THIS ?

U.S. sponsors Islamic convention
By Audrey Hudson August 27, 2007

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/NATION/108270070/1001

The Justice Department is co-sponsoring a convention held by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) — an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing federal terrorist funding case — a move that is raising concerns among the Justice's rank and file.
Justice lawyers have objected to the affiliation with ISNA, fearing it will undermine the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in Dallas.
"There is outrage among lawyers that the Department of Justice is funding a group named as a co-conspirator in a terrorist financing case," said a Justice lawyer who spoke to The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity.
According to an e-mail from Susana Lorenzo-Giguere, acting deputy chief of the Voting Rights Division, the sponsorship will involve sending government lawyers to man a booth for the Labor Day weekend event in Illinois.
"This is an important outreach opportunity, and a chance to reach a community that is at once very much discriminated against, and very wary of the national government and its willingness to protect them," Mrs. Lorenzo-Giguere said in an e-mail obtained by The Washington Times.
"It would be a great step forward to break through those barriers. And Chicago is lovely this time of year," Mrs. Lorenzo-Giguere said.
ISNA is one of more than 300 unindicted co-conspirators in a case against the Holy Land Foundation, whose top officers are accused of raising money for Hamas.
Justice spokesman Erik Ablin said the agency participates in the annual convention to educate Muslims about their civil rights.
"The Civil Rights Division will have a table at the ISNA convention over Labor Day weekend to hand out literature and answer questions about the division's work. The ISNA convention attracts more than 30,000 American Muslims every year, and the division has had tables at the convention in previous years," Mr. Ablin said.
The Justice Department declined to say how much the sponsorship will cost.
"This is just staggering, it's outrageous," the lawyer said. "Lawyers from the Civil Rights Division traveling to Chicago on the federal dime. This will cost thousands of dollars."
A second lawyer responded to Mrs. Lorenzo-Giguere's e-mail questioning the participation and said it "seems like an odd time for one part of DOJ to lend credence and visible support to ISNA at the same time DOJ prosecutors will be called on to defend their decision to name ISNA as a conspirator."
"Presumably the prosecutors have determined that they might need that testimony admitted; I hope we don't undermine their position," the second lawyer said. "Needless to say, [the Holy Land Foundation trial] is a very significant case."
Mohamed Elsanousi, director of communications and community outreach for ISNA, says the annual convention is open to anyone who provides services or information of value to convention participants.
"For many years, we have welcomed representatives from U.S. government agencies who wish to share information about their services and have the opportunity to reach out to the Muslim American community," Mr. Elsanousi said.
The convention features book signings, musical entertainment and seminars on family, community service and political activism.
But the first lawyer also pointed to a morning session on "the threat and reality of U.S.-sponsored torture" as contrary to the department's mission. The Justice Department was responsible for signing off on the legality and constitutionality of interrogation techniques.
"The extensive news coverage by the U.S. and international media sources makes it all too clear that the grim abuses in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and the sending of detainees to secret prisons around the world that are known to torture during interrogations, are not isolated incidents, but rather constitute policy of the U.S. government," the schedule of events said.
"This session will describe the nature of U.S.-sponsored torture, the effects of torture on its victims, the efforts of the U.S. religious community, and what you can do to help end U.S.-sponsored torture," the schedule said.