More Thoughts on Islam

Just this morning I came across an old article written by Dr. Ravi Zacharias just after 9/11, entitled "Steadying the Soul While the Heart Is Breaking." I was struck by something he recounts in that article and was reminded of the DVD that I mentioned previously by something else he says. I wanted to share both with you this morning.

Dr. Zacharias recounts the answer given by a Middle Eastern leader to the question, "When will the terrorists killing stop in your part of the world?" The answer: "When they love their children more than they hate us." It's a profoundly insightful reply, isn't it? What does it say about a culture, a religion, that is driven by hate to so completely disregard life, their own and ours? How can the "God" of such a culture or religion be even close to the same God that we worship, the God of the Bible (even if we just look at Genesis 1-16)?

The other comment that Dr. Zacharias makes that so reminds me of the DVD deals with why these terrorists and others like them prey upon the West:

"Distributed liberty will always be vulnerable to the heinous acts of wicked men and women. That, by the way, is the very reason the Christian and the Christian faith will always be vulnerable to abuse by those who seek to attack it. America, which could only have been framed from a Christian worldview, cannot make anti-blasphemy laws, but Muslim nations and states can and do. There is a difference and we had better be absolutely clear about it. The Christian cannot legitimately impose his faith across a land. But at the same time we are given a unique privilege. In America no one need fear preaching the Gospel and inviting men and women to trust in Jesus Christ. The same cannot be said in many Islamic nations today. It is a fundamental difference in our commitment to freedom. The message of the Gospel is not compulsion but freedom. In this lies a crossover between our politics and our faith. Just as the Christian is vulnerable to all kinds of mockery and abuse in the academy and the public square, because there is no compulsion, so also the same possibilities exist for democracy to be abused in a religiously pluralistic society. Is it because democracy and Christianity are identical? Not necessarily. But it is because of a fundamental tenet of self-determination shared by both. With that essential fact, we will always be open to plunder, disrespect, and attack by those who are determined to mock it. It is the price of freedom."