of the Islamic faith suddenly decided to stop trying
to kill people. You would no longer need to arrive at the airport an hour and half before your flight time, the national guard
would be back in the US attending to natural disasters, there would be no need for a Department of Homeland Security,
and terrorism experts would all be on welfare.
With Islamic groups having such a predictable track record, I'm puzzled by efforts to defend this faith. London Mayor Ken
Livingstone has urged Britons to restrain from demonizing the Muslims in the wake of a foiled double car
bomb plot.
"In this city, Muslims are more likely to be law-abiding than non-Muslims and less likely to support the use of violence to
achieve political ends," he told BBC Radio. "All I am interested in as mayor is that we try to prevent all acts of violence
whether it is by a disaffected young member of the (far-right) British National Party, or by an Islamist or a Wahhabist
supporter," he said ("Don't Demonize Muslims," Yahoo News, July 2, 2007).
Like a lot of conservative Christians, I've just about lost all respect for President Bush. History will probably rank his
administration somewhere next to the catastrophic Carter years. The breaking point for me has been his endless kowtowing to
Islam.
President Bush has given such frequent praise to the followers of Mohammed, some Evangelicals have started to wonder if apart from being the
Commander in Chief, he is also the Theologian in Chief. Here are a few choice quotes from the Muslims For Bush website:
“The Islam that we know is a faith devoted to the worship of one God, as revealed through The Holy Qur’an. It teaches the
value and the importance of charity, mercy, and peace.” November 15, 2001
“Because this great nation of many religions understands, our war is not against Islam, or against faith practiced by the
Muslim people.” January 5, 2002
"Islam is a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. It's a faith that has made brothers and sisters
of every race. It's a faith based upon love, not hate." President Bush, September 10, 2002
"I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America's gift to
the world," Bush replied. "It's much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same God," November 2003
" America believes that as a European power, Turkey belongs in the European Union. Your membership would also be a crucial
advance in relations between the Muslim world and the West, because you are part of both. Including Turkey in the EU would
prove that Europe is not the exclusive club of a single religion, and it would expose the "clash of civilizations" as a
passing myth of history." June 29th, 2004
In his latest move to appease Islam, President Bush said he will name a special envoy to the Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC), which represents 57 Muslim countries. Bush would be the first president to make such an appointment. He made the announcement at a ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of the Islamic Center of Washington. It was
Bush's third trip to the mosque.
State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos said, "The important thing is that we all know and understand that belief is
central," says Gallegos. "Belief in God is central to our existence on earth, and ... the president is working to ensure that
Muslims know and understand that our faith and their faith coincide and that we live together in harmony."
All this kissing up to Islamic nation has gotten us nowhere. Polls show unprecedented levels of anti-American feeling in the
Muslim world. In Saudi Arabia, 79 percent had an “unfavorable view” of the US . In Jordan and Pakistan , 65 percent of the population
has a negative view of America. Iran, surprisingly, was one of the friendlier countries with only 52 percent of the folks there giving
us the thumbs down.
The mayor of London, President Bush, and the folks at the State Department are clearly way off base. I wonder if they have ever picked up the Koran and
read it, talked with a former Muslim, or considered the fact that Israel has been dealing with them since 1948? In case any of them
are reading this article, here is a good place to start:
8:12 ...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.
9:005 ...slay the idolaters wherever you find them...take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every
ambush...
9:14 Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and assist you against them and heal the
hearts of a believing people.
47:4 ...when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make
(them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war
terminates...(as for) those who are slain in the way of Allah...
47:35 Be not fainthearted then; and invite not the infidels to peace when ye have the upper hand: for God is with you, and
will not defraud you of the recompense of your works...
Despite what President Bush says, the god of Islam is not the God of Christians. In my opinion, Islam is not a religion, but
rather a way of life. As long as Islam exists, Muslims will never get along with anybody except other Muslims, and even
they have fought among themselves for centuries.
You can't placate someone who is willing to blow himself up for some trivial cause. When you add the demonic dimension to this
problem, the chance to fail rises to 100 percent. Prophecy indicates there will be no lasting solution to the Arab/Israeli problem, the key
cause of most Islamic terror, until the Prince of Peace comes to put an end to all conflict.
-- Todd
When the Orwellian Orgy Begins
Anyone who has read George Orwell’s 1947 novel, 1984, can’t forget the draconian methodologies the tyrannical regime inflicted upon the people of the areas of London and other places. “Big Brother” was watching everyone and everything. That ominous terms continues to reverberate within today’s vernacular. So does the concept of the ever-vigilant watchers of the citizenry continue to haunt us.
Government kept everyone under its eyes and thumb while Planet Earth divided into separate spheres of total domination. Chaos on a global scale drove people to first accept, then welcome, such controls, although the time came when the order became much worse than the chaos it quelled. Many will remember the hoopla –particularly those who read the prophecy books leading up to that much ballyhooed year. I was one such reader (and writer) of the speculation on how close we might be to the mark of the beast, etc. The Cold War was in full bloom, and Ronald Reagan was accused by his opponents, both in this country and around the world, of having an itchy trigger finger. Computers were on the rise, technology and knowledge was on the exponential increase. All looked in place for world crisis that might call for Orwell’s Big Brother to raise his ugly head.
It is easy, in retrospect, to see that much had to come into the mix of endtime elements, before the Orwellian-like society prophesied by John, under Holy Spirit inspiration—could come to fruition.
It is with recognition that those speculations leading up to 1984 presented room for all the phenomenal developments since, that it is wise to not go overboard, thinking and proclaiming that there is nothing else in the sense of stage-setting that can come about in order to issue in the time John foretold:
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Rev. 13:16-18).
Development of the Internet; satellite and other communications technologies; the saturation of personal computer knowledge and use; the intertwining of banking through instant electronic funds transfer: all have come so far since 1984 as to make it clear that the decade of the 1980s –even the 1990s, comprised but a pioneering era. The analogy of those years could be made to the development of the steam engine and trains of the 1900s, leading to the age of modern technologies that gave us jet travel and beyond.
The factor that now enters into the equation of calculating when might arrive the God-foretold Big Brother system given in Revelation 13: 16-18 is the worldwide terrorism that threatens us. We remember the recent story, an excerpt of which follows:
“LONDON - Police thwarted a devastating terrorist plot on Friday, discovering two Mercedes loaded with nails packed around canisters of propane and gasoline set to detonate and kill possibly hundreds in London's crowded theater and nightclub district…” (Paisley Dodds, "London police foil major terror plot," Associated Press, June 28, 2007).
Britain, in particular, has been the target for the Mid-East and other terrorist organizations. Whether this was an act of amateurs or from the mind of Al Qaida types, the fact seems to be that London, in particular, is the favorite targets in the western world for those who are determined to get their way through deadly violence.
Todd and I were talking the other day about how the Brits –particularly the authorities involved in securing London--have done an amazing job of thwarting the terrorist plots as of late. It isn’t merely coincidental, we agreed, that England –particularly London, has governmental eyes in ubiquitous fashion as no other place on the planet. The news article reported further:
“[The London authorities] had the benefit of footage from closed-circuit TV cameras, hoping the surveillance network that covers much of central London will help them track down the driver of the Mercedes. The CCTV footage would be compared with license plate recognition software, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said. There are 160 security cameras in the Westminster Council, the district encompassing Piccadilly Circus and the Haymarket area, alone” (Dodds, AP).
Orwell, uncannily, had the city pegged that would have the most Big Brother like set up from his perspective of looking at the future. It is interesting to wonder if terrorism might one day soon provide the desperation and chaos that will cause the citizens on a global scale to cry for “peace and safety” in a loud enough collective voice to bring in the prophesied regime of Revelation 13.
Jesus foretold the time when that Orwellian orgy of control gets fully underway.
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21).
--Terry
