TW,

I have done as you requested, responding with what I believe is constructive criticism. I have changed the order of things for better flow, and have been more exacting when it comes to Islam. Much of what you said was accurate, but not everything. I have done the same when it comes to Yahuweh's message.

We differ slightly on your premise. While we both see the rise of Islam as a consequence of mankind's errant thinking and bad behavior, you have added the idea that this is Divine judgment. I see it simply as a result of our poor choices.

Most of the punishments presented in Scripture are the result of us or others choosing poorly rather than God choosing to punish us. In the end, the vast preponderance of those who will be judged, will not be punished, but instead will simply cease to exist. To punish these souls on earth, and not spiritually, doesn't seem consistent to me.

Yada

WHY ISLAM IS RISING IN OUR LAND, AND HOW TO RESPOND

The Big Issue

Suppose Islam took over continental Europe and our British Isles – would it alter the way you live and the way you view the world? Would it change your perception of God? Could you make sense of why a rational, loving God, a God who is an advocate of free choice, would allow such a thing to happen?

Before I ask you to consider why He is permitting Islam to rise, I shall endeavor to explain what Islam is. The facts that follow about Islam are rather different from those taught in classrooms of 'comparative religion,' but you may easily verify them for yourself.

Islam for beginners

The qur'an includes a couple of verses advocating peace, and I am glad of them. These verses were cited by Muhammad when he was in Mecca. He later moved to Yathrib, today's Medina (the start of the Islamic Era), and changed his policies, abrogating the peaceful revelations, when fighting became advantageous. Scores of verses from the Islamic Era command Muslims to "Fight and kill the unbelievers wherever you find them; seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every strategy of war" (section 9, verse 5) and "Fight… until there is no more resistance… and the only faith is that in Allah" (8:39).

So you may wonder, how do the many violent passages relate to the relatively few peaceful ones? The Islamic principle for resolving contradictory statements in their scripture is to have later verses cancel out the earlier ones they contradict. This is known as the "doctrine of abrogation" (Arabic: naskh). It is derived from qur'an 2:106 (because the qur'an is not laid out chronologically, the second surah was actually the first in the Islamic Era and the 90th overall). Here is that pivotal passage presented by the five most popular and respected Islamic translations. (Note: the words within the parentheses do not exist in the text and were added by the translators to clarify what Allah had actually said.)

Surah 2, Verse 106:

AA When We cancel a message (sent to an earlier prophet) or throw it into oblivion, We replace it with one better or one similar. Do you not know that God has power over all things?

NQ Whatever a Verse (revelation) do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring a better one or similar to it. Know you not that Allâh is able to do all things.

PK Nothing of our revelation (even a single verse) do we abrogate or cause be forgotten, but we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah is Able to do all things?

SH Whatever communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?

YU None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things?

This is far worse than it may seem at first blush. Each of the qur'an's peaceful and tolerant passages were recited by Muhammad early on in Mecca and the hoard of jihadist verses all came later, "abrogating, canceling, and replacing," the peaceful ones. This reality is something all good Muslims know. It is what makes them terrorists.

Muhammad himself led 75 raids on villages and caravans during the first ten years of the Islamic Era. He declared: "I have been made victorious with terror" (Sahih of Bukhari vol.4, bk.52, saying no. 220). He, and his god Allah, boldly and repeatedly stated that they had no time for followers who would not fight, calling them "hypocrites". The qur'an specifically promotes this vicious behavior, calling the resulting spoils of fighting "lawful and good." The oldest extant books chronicling Muhammad's life and his formation of Islam, Ishaq's Sira (Biography) and Tabari's Tarikh (History), are dominated by tales of Islam's initial brutality, of assassinations, mass murder, grand theft, the advancement of the slave trade, and ruthless acts of terrorism against defenseless civilians.

That is not to say that Muhammad was simply a terrorist. He was also polygamous, having as many a two dozen wives and concubines. He was incestuous, taking his adopted son's wife Zaynab. He was a pedophile, having sexual relations with Ayesha, a nine year old child, when he was fifty-three. He was a rapist, forcing himself sexually on women captured during terrorist raids. And he was a slave trader, financing Islam by the proceeds of human bondage. Worse, Muhammad is the exemplar for Muslim men—the qur'an says so. For this reason, the qur'an (4:24, 23:5-6 and 70:29-30) permits Muslims to have sex with women they capture, justifying rape.

Allah is himself a deceiver (3:54, 8:30), so that deception (taqiyya) is advocated to further Islam. An example of this is the quoting of the abrogated peaceful verses out of context to fool non-Muslims into believing that Islam is civil. When Muslims claim that Islam is a 'religion of peace,' they mean that peace will exist once they have conquered the entire world. An example of taqiyya is the ignorant claim that "jihad is a spiritual battle," not a physical one. And yet the command to go out bodily with weapons to kill is included in virtually every reference to jihad in the qur'an.

Muslims divide our planet into dar al Islam (house of Islam) and dar al harb, which means 'house of war.' Islam has always spread by warfare, for which Muslims hold non-Muslims responsible because of their refusal to accept Allah. Conquered people must convert to Islam (i.e., make the declaration of faith and perform Islamic rites), become virtual slaves (Christians and Jews are theoretically "tolerated" (as dhimmi) provided they pay a penal tax, do not proselytise, and abrogate all of their human and civil rights), or be killed.

Islam and Christianity: a tale of two founders

A Muslim obedient to the founder of his religion, and to his god and scriptures, will be a man of war. That is what Muhammad and Allah commanded, and there is no higher authority within Islam. Simply stated: all good Muslims are terrorists. Only bad Muslims are peaceful (and good Muslims are ordered by Allah to kill them).

'Fundamentalist religion' can be a misleading phrase, because religions are not the same. What matters is where you place your trust, and in whom you rely. A Christian who follows the way of Christ will be a man of peace. The opposite is true, however, in Islam. A Muslim who follows Muhammad's example will be a terrorist.

Part of Islam's deception is that it calls all of the Hebrew prophets who brought us the Bible, Islamic prophets, including Yahushua ("Jesus," whom the qur'an calls Issa, Arabic for Esau). But then the qur'an explicitly (3:59, 4:171, 5:72-5) denies the divinity of Yahushua/Jesus, which is the basis of Christianity. It is this convoluting and counterfeiting of testimonies that forms the basis of Islam and the qur'an. An example of taqiyya toward the church is the Islamic umbrella category of 'Abrahamic religion,' to lull naïve Christians into supposing the two faiths are equivalent. And yet the Islamic Abraham, like the Islamic Moses, David, and Yahushua bear no resemblance to the historical and Biblical characters. In fact the message of the qur'an is the antithesis of that found in the Bible.

Crescent moon rising

The vastly higher Islamic birthrate, Islamic immigration into Europe, conversions to Islam from the spiritual vacuum of secular humanism, and marriage of Muslim men to others, together are paving the way for an Islamic takeover of Europe in a generation or so. Muslims originally came here (ironically) for the better quality of life than in Islamic lands (which remain the least economically viable, least educated, and least free nations on earth), but now want the oppressive policies they left imposed on us. An increasing number of fundamentalist Muslims openly reject Western democratic values. Many of those want Shari'a law, barbaric Islamic law, imposed on the West. And these Muslims will stop at nothing, including terrorism, to achieve their goal.

Already the Muslim fraction of the population in Europe matches the proportion of dedicated communists who took over Russia nearly a century ago. When the Prime Minister of Iraq visited Britain he said that the extremism he found in mosques here would not be allowed in Iraq. Even in Britain, where Islam appears to be more virulent than on the Continent, not all Muslims are devout; but there is booty for all in a revolution.

Islam is impending judgment

Returning to the question of why God may be allowing such an immoral scourge to rise in the West, we have a number of possibilities. First among them is that Yahuweh, the actual name of the God who inspired the Bible, is an advocate of freewill. And thus from this perspective, the rise of Islam is nothing more than the consequence of mankind's poor choices.

(TW: I am confident that the reason Islam is growing is entirely mankind's fault. We collectively have made far too many bad choices. It's not God's doing, but ours.)

A second possibility is based upon the understanding that God is both just and moral. Therefore, the rise of Islam could be impending judgment for something. And this is the option I which to explore.

(TW: This is the position staked out publicly by American evangelicals, most notably, the late Jerry Falwell. I don't agree with it. Yahweh despises Islam and would not use it for any purpose. Further, very few among us will actually be judged and punished. Most will simply cease to exist. That said, consequence is a derivative of morality and justice. Our bad choices and bad behavior has a consequence. One such consequence is the rise of Islam.)

Proverbs (14:34) states that righteousness raises up a (gentile) nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. This principle lets us see further than secular historians; one wrote in the 1930s that he could see no pattern in history, but "only one emergency following upon another" (H.A.L. Fisher, in the preface to his History of Europe). What sins have we as a nation been committing in recent generations that we were not doing before?

One change is that, from the social revolution of the 1960s, we have become so promiscuous as to wreck our family structure and stability. God takes family so seriously that he commanded capital punishment for adultery in ancient Israel, so is sexual promiscuity the sin responsible? The reason for this is Yahuweh's purpose for creating humankind was to have a familial relationship with us. As a result, family and marriage, childbirth and nurturing, home and sacrificial love, serve as a tangible metaphor for His Scriptural message.

The secular scholar J.D. Unwin published a book called Sex and Culture in 1934. Among more than 80 distinct cultures over time and geography he found almost total correlation between the rise of a people and their adherence to biblical sexual morality (abstinence before marriage, enduring fidelity within it), and the fall of a people within 2-3 generations of going promiscuous. That is surely God at work enforcing His moral law, even among peoples that have never heard of him (see Leviticus 18:24 for the Canaanites as an example). He did not make adults to bear the breakdown of sexual relationships, let alone the torn children of such relationships, who are innocent victims.

Our statistics for extramarital births, unmarried cohabitation, divorce, and children living with one parent have never looked like they do today since records began several hundred years ago. All have rocketed from 2-5% in the past to 20-40% since the 1960s. The consequences include an avalanche of broken hearts, children (who become the next generation) having no stable role model, sexually transmitted disease, and murderous abortions. How does that look in God's eyes?

Britons like to think our way of life is better than that of Muslims, but it would be inaccurate to suggest that God supports our current behavior, or that He will tolerate it for long. Our way of life has more freedom, which Yahuweh supports, but with freedom comes responsibility and accountability.

Based upon our behavior and arrogance, we owe an apology, first to God, but also to our ancestors. The inhuman austerity and oppression of Islam is a punishment that would fit the crimes of hedonist secular humanism (notably feminist excesses, abortion clinics that killed the children who have been replaced by Muslim immigrants, pornography, perversion, and large-scale drunkenness – all put down under Shari'a law)—as is the freedom of choice.

Judged by what belief system is in the driving seat, we are a secular country today. Muslims are understandably confused, because our constitutional arrangements suggest that this is a Christian country and in street polls well over half of Britons say they are Christian (although fewer than 1 in 10 of those go to church, and fewer pray regularly in their own words or read the Bible; fewer still know what Yahweh actually wants from us). While it is no wonder Muslims think that Christians are immoral, Islam's moral code is the inverse of that presented in the Bible. So even if Christians perfectly emulated the behavior of Yahushua/Jesus, good Muslims would see them as bad.

Many EU countries face the same problem. The Netherlands, Denmark and sexually liberated, feminised Sweden have acute problems with Islamic unrest, including an epidemic of rape. France has a larger Islamic minority than Britain, and Brigitte Bardot has recently been before the politically correct French courts (again) for speaking out about the rise of Islam in her land. She is right, but does she realize that her image and her films may have contributed to that rise?

The basis for a response

Yahushua/Jesus told us to fight evil within before going out to fight evil in the world. That applies also to our nation. We cannot expect to overcome the challenge of Islam unless we put our own house in order. We might sing "There'll always be an England…" but only Israel has that promise. Once a year we sing "Britons never never NEVER shall be slaves," but even Israel did not have that guarantee – as the Jews learned when the Babylonians came—and then the Germans. We live on an island, but that does not mean that we are isolated, or that we are exempt from accountability. At this time our choice is stark: restrain our own hedonism, or lose our cultural identity in a painful way.

Practically, what can we do? If you love your country, have sex only within marriage. Set an example. Christians must witness to Yahuweh's loving truth, as credible examples, to both secular people and Muslims (for their sake, although the best way to deal with an enemy is to make him your friend). But listeners must be free to reject Yahuweh's testimony, His plan of salvation. It's that "freewill" thing again. Our job is lovingly share the truth while at the same time, compassionately expose lies. The Renewed Covenant (New Testament) suggests that the called out assembly (church) will be a minority (Matt 22:14), so we must work within the freedoms our democracy provides to undo the subversion of the education and tax-and-welfare systems by which our children are taught that sexual sin is harmless fun and its consequences are subsidized. This subversion fuels the fire. At the same time we must find politicians who are realistic about Islam. Even more important still, we must combat the replacement morality of Political Correctness, whereby evil is tolerated, even promoted, and judgment is condemned. Without good judgment, the battle cannot be won.

Politics of irresponsibility and response

How can this be achieved? Real choice at general elections is dwindling as political correctness spreads. This is a hugely unpopular creed with the British people, and I suspect that our leaders have had their consciences seared, to bring this scourge on all of us. In Whitehall, Islamic terrorists must now be called anti-Islamic terrorists despite their open admission of their motivation and its consistency with Muhammad's commands. The government believes that Islam is slow to grasp its multiculturalist agenda; it enacts indiscriminate totalitarian anti-terror laws and throws money at Islam to get the multiculturalist message across – which Islam simply pockets. This treatment alienates other law-abiding faith communities and is a suicidal moral principle. The situation also encourages Muslims to vote Labour, which perhaps explains the reluctance of a Labour government to curb Islamic immigration (legal and illegal).

None of our present political groupings show willingness to grasp the nettle. Even an army coup to fight Islam would miss the religious and spiritual connection, and thus be destined to fail. But suppose that disenchanted MPs from each of our present parties founded a new party, together with leaders of immigrant communities who originally came here for our social stability. Suppose also that this party had a foreign policy of leaving the European Union (although it is tactically better to be expelled by Brussels for non-compliance), and domestic policies determined explicitly by what is good for the family together with realism about Islamic intent. I believe they could win an election. The country could then begin, painfully, to be turned round. Whitehall would be a good place to start. Although the leaders of such a party would mostly be Christians, they should not restrict its electoral appeal by calling it a Christian party.

(TW: This was the first plank of the plan proposed in Tea With Terrorists. The hero of the story forged a union of informed and moral people by telling the truth. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen, not here, not there. Besides, there are too many problems besides immorality and Islam. Both nations have long since passed the point of no return. Hope is now individual, not collective. It is why I spend all of my time writing Yada Yahweh.)

The stakes

What is at stake? An Islamic revolution would be the largest upheaval ever in the life of our nation – greater than the Norman Conquest (in which both sides shared a mediaeval Christian worldview), greater than any invasion by the Spanish Armada or Napoleon would have been, more shocking even than if we had lost World War II. We should be delivered into 'the hands of those that hate us' – and Muslims have nursed that hatred for thirteen centuries. They believe that, after they have repeatedly stormed Europe and/or been repelled (Straits of Gibraltar in 711, Constantinople 718, Tours/Poitiers 732, Constantinople 1453, Granada 1492, Vienna 1529, Lepanto 1571, Vienna 1683), Allah is handing it—us—over to them.

What would happen under Islam? Every aspect of our morality would be changed, our freedoms would all vanish, and every church building would be closed and demolished or converted to a mosque. Our way of life would be completely upended, our very history rewritten. (Did you think that the outcomes at Tours and Vienna were good, or that our enemy in World War II was evil because of his anti-Semitism?) When I hear the music of Bach, Mozart or Schubert, or see Vermeer's paintings, or Shakespeare's plays, or the beauty of a French vineyard, it is only by fixing my eyes tightly on Yahushua/Jesus that I can bear to consider what might lie ahead for our civilization – for I doubt that Europe can save itself even if we succeed. But I know I should keep my eyes on Yahuweh anyway, and that I will be happier for it. Salvation and the deepest joy never lay in even the greatest human creations.

A Bigger Issue; The End

On a larger scale, World War III is coming and it is between Islam and the West according to Yahuweh's prophets. World War IV will follow, and it will be advanced by global secular humanism – the 'New World Order' advocated publicly by George Bush Snr and Gordon Brown, among others. Both systems hate Yahuweh, and as a result, these wars will spawn the Antichrist world dictator prophesied in the Bible (Revelation 13 in particular), who will be as totalitarian as Muhammad, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler and has modern surveillance and other technology. He will persecute those who call Yahuweh "Father," but yet His family will survive (Matt 16:18). The Bible tells us that he will be overthrown when he marches on Yisra'el (those who strive with God, a.k.a., Israel) and the (Yahuwdym, those who are related to Yah, a.k.a., Jews) call at last on Yahuweh for help, finally recognizing that He and Yahushua (Yah Saves) are one (Matt 23:37-24:31; Rev 19—and most of the book of Zechariah). Exactly 2000 years (forty Yowbel) after His Passover sacrifice when they rejected Him, God will return on Yowm Kippurym, the Day of Atonement, to overthrow Antichrist and rule the world in peace and justice during the Millennial Sabbath.

With Yahuwdym/Jews back in the Promised Land we are the generation which will witness the final culmination of human history. Conditions will get much worse before they get better. But don't fear, because God prophesied they would. Get to know Him, come to trust His Word and rely on His promises. Invest the time to prepare yourself, each day becoming ever more like Him. And then engage, exposing and condemning that which is wrong while at the same time witnessing to the truth. You may not save Britain, but you will contribute to the salvation of many. And those you do not save will be left without excuse.