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We live in greatly troubled times where our cultural and spiritual identity is under greater threat than probably any other time in history. Since the horrors of the atrocity known now simply as ‘9/11’, the Western world has come increasingly under attack by Islamic Fundamentalists bent on converting the West to Islam and replacing existing Law with that of Sharia Law. Terrorist atrocities, perpetrated by Islamic so-called ‘Upholders of the Faith’ have, since then, become relatively common-place in the West to the extent that squads of special undercover law-enforcement officers have been formed in most, if not every, country in the Western world, specifically to deal with the threat posed by Islamic groups.
Whilst it is true to say that not every Muslim is a terrorist it is equally true to state that virtually every terrorist is a Muslim.
We have seen the ‘Great’ taken out of our national title systematically, and this nation is more likely to be referred to simply as ‘Britain’ or the ‘United Kingdom’ than anything else. Part of the foundation that made this this country great were the entrenched Christian moral and ethical values upon which modern democracy was founded. To say that they have been eroded beyond belief is an understatement. Systematically, with the move over the past few decades to a more materialistic society, Christian values have gradually become something to be derided rather than upheld by the majority of those in power, and that attitude has devolved in a seemingly unstoppable downward spiral through our society today. No longer is this nation referred to — as it was when I was a boy — as a Christian country. Now it is openly referred to by its leaders and the majority of its citizens as a Secular Society.
Increasingly, the liberal theology of secularism has been allowed to pervade all aspects of our society with its political correctness, causing the average citizen — or at least those who still care — to watch the very fabric of their culture, inherited over centuries, to erode until it’s in danger of disappearing altogether.
Despite the fact that the West, and this nation in particular, is increasingly under the threat of Islamification, it can be construed as an offence under the Race Relations Act to dare to speak publicly about it for fear of upsetting the Islamic community. Yet what those outside of that community are punished for, those within it are protected from similar punishment when they speak out because they are portrayed as a beleaguered minority.
So, whose door can the causes of the problem be laid out at? Is it the fault of the government? Or the Church? Or is it the fault of the people? I believe that it is a combination of all three. Generally speaking, given the freedom of choice, the majority of people do not naturally attend church, for the basic tenets of Christianity are not something which come naturally to people carte blanche. In times past, the authority of the Church was extremely strong, due in part to a largely uneducated factor in society. Despite their reticence, many people attended Church because they were required to by their employers, or because they were afraid of the local priest. That has changed, and today neither can be said to be true. Does this mean, therefore, that the fault lies entirely with the people? Of course not! The Church itself must shoulder much of the blame for adopting and embracing increasingly liberal theologies that, in extreme cases, deny such fundamental issues as the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection of Christ. How can people be expected to embrace something when even those appointed to teach them are in such disarray? In many areas of the modern Church those who embrace the literal truth of the Bible, stating it to be the breathed Word of God, are sneered at and castigated for their childlike ignorance in matters of spirituality. Yet we live in an age when the majority of people are searching for spiritual answers to their life-problems. In so many areas of the Church it’s true to say that it is the Church itself that has failed their flock by removing Christ from the word Christian, and then allowing Christian to be misinterpreted as Citizen.
Of course much blame for the overall situation must be laid at the door of Government, in particular the government over the last decade. Increasingly they have bent like corn in the wind in order to accommodate the demands of the Islamic Community, no doubt due to the power of the Muslim vote now that, due to the enlargement of the EEC, there has been such a huge influx of Muslims into this country. Of late we have heard the diatribe of Jack Straw postulating about Turkey’s admission into the European union, and claiming not to see any reason to oppose it. Well, the fact that Turkey is an Islamic country that will have relatively unfettered access to this country’s riches, is surely reason enough.
The Islamic fundamentalists make no bones about their aims to see Britain and the West as part of an Islamic world order. There is, of course, nothing new about this, for one of the features of current Islamic practise is the annihilation of the kafir or non-believer, and ahl al-kitab or ’People of the Book’ i.e. Christians and Jews. Both groups are regarded as avowed enemies of Islam, and the only way to avoid death for the is to submit to Muslim authority.
Our government helps to perpetrate the popular myth that portrays Islam as a peaceful and tolerant religion. History, though, has proved otherwise, for though there have certainly existed periods of relative tranquillity and tolerance, minorities and non-Muslims have always been prosecuted under Islam. In fact, Islamic ideology is based upon an intense hatred of the non-Muslim. The claim that Islam is a religion of peace is supported by their apologists on the basis that they allow non-Muslims to live within their Islamic state, yet the truth is that they only do so as dhimmi, which is a protected but non-Muslim status. This means that, at least officially, non-Muslims such as Jews and Christians are permitted to avoid execution provided they acknowledge the superiority of Islam.
As to the Christian there is none superior to God and Jesus Christ, this means that no Christian can ever acknowledge Islamic superiority. Further, as Jesus has commissioned every one of His followers to spread the gospel throughout the whole world (Matthew 28.19/20), this means that they must take the message of Salvation to all, non-Muslim and Muslim alike, for as Scripture records, all have sinned and fallen short of the righteousness of God.
How easy it would be to hate the Muslims, yet that is not the way of Christ. Rather we should pray for their salvation through Christ, and declare an ideology based upon love, forgiveness and reconciliation, rather than of hatred and fear.
The question remains then, as to how the situation can be changed. The answer has to be that the people of this once-great nation must turn to God and, bowing to His perfect wisdom, acknowledge that the only way to live is to live according to God’s holy laws. When I say ‘the people’, I mean all people of course, and that includes those in the corridors of power, both local and national.
Change can come through the power of the Holy Spirit, but we need to see those who confess Christ as their Lord praying in the sincere belief that the Power of God can and will change things. There also needs to be a change in the mindset of people long-held under the glamour of materialism, and a determination that those aspects of society such as respect, responsibility and accountability, should be embraced with a new vigour. People need to learn to respect themselves, for without self-respect there can be no respect for anything else. There needs to be a lead in distinguishing right from wrong, teaching the young in particular in this respect.
Change does not simply happen on its own. It needs a catalyst. Today, with the threat to our society’s cultural and ideological structure as never before, that is the one factor from which a catalyst can emerge. Leaders need to come forward who will lead without fear. The Church itself can and should lead the way, casting aside the liberal theologies that have so watered down the gospel as to render it ineffective, converting it to the gospel of man rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not man’s message to the world that will save it from destruction, but God’s message. Only His saving grace can provide the answer, and that answer has already been provided in and through Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. The Church leads an army of believer’s, all of who have one powerful weapon in their arsenal, irrespective of their age or status, and that is prayer. When believer’s cry out to God in prayer then they unleash His formidable power to fulfil their prayers to the eternal benefit of His kingdom.
It’s interesting to note that the Muslims worship Allah, the name being derived from the word al-ilah, the name given to the Moon-god of Arab worshippers living and worshipping in Pagan times.
Whilst Christians are urged to effectively love their neighbour unto salvation through Jesus Christ, Muslims have a great many verses in the Q’ran that incite them to kill those who refuse to submit to Allah. Here’s a few for you to read and judge for yourself:
- A Muslim must ‘fight for the cause of Allah with the devotion due to him’ (Sura 22.78).
- Muslims must make war on the infidels (unbelievers) who live round about them (Sura 9.123).
- Muslims are to be ‘ruthless to unbelievers’ (Sura 48.29).
- A Muslim can kill any person he wishes if it be a ‘just cause’ (Sura 6.152).
Of course there will be many casualties in this war, but that is one of the problems in any war. One of the most important things is to know your enemy, and yet sadly the majority of those who call themselves Christians have either very little or no knowledge in this respect. I know that there will be some who read this and view it as some form of extremist vilification of Islam. In today’s politically correct climate it may well be considered Islamophobic, yet how can that be the case when my concern is that we recognise the equality of all people, and their right to practise whatever faith they wish, even to proclaim no faith at all. Yet we, if we are to be true to our own faith as Christians, must share the Gospel with everyone, particularly in the light of our Lord’s words recorded in the Bible in John 6.14, whilst being acutely aware of what I perceive to be the greatest threat to our faith ever, I hate none, but profess only love and concern for those whom my God tells me, through His Word, are lost.
Copyright 2008, Colin Gordon-Farleigh
