Whether we want to admit it or not, "war" has been declared on the Western world, and history is being replayed -- in a global contest of ideologies reminiscent of the Crusades.

Surely our invasion of Iraq met the definition of a "just" war, and most concur that terrorism will only be abated through pre-emption. That said though, regional "hot-spots" remind us, that even the world's mightiest military may not prevail against a foe that "loves death more than life" -- unless it is combined with an unswerving national will.

Islamic scholar, Hugh Fitzgerald stated that "Jihad is rooted in central tenets of Islam as uncompromising hostility" towards unbelievers, and it's to be waged "until the final triumph." In our generation, over twenty nations have succumbed to this type of colonialism. So what choice are we left with but staying the course?

This month's commentaries, highlight the determined opposition that the Judeo-Christian world is forced to confront. However, this is not being accomplished through military might alone. Many would be surprised to learn that God is giving Egypt a central role in this Middle East challenge, where a mega-church in Cairo (a part of 600 other network churches) is using Arabs to bring Arabs to Christ.

It's at times a perplexing juxtaposition. Christians, as members of the "unarmed forces," have a mission-critical duality set before them -- balancing the moral imperatives of evangelizing the lost, while defending the world's freedom.




Speak No Evil

We live in interesting times when the current U.S. Administration must embark upon a policy that establishes a “shadow government” and deploys radiological sensors to major domestic metropolitan centers and border crossings. The executive branch is either engaged in theatrics of monumental proportion for its own ends, or it’s responsibly raising a tone of alarm to rally our national will. I choose to believe the latter. And while every generation has had its villains to contend with, the menace that the entire free world faces today, is for some reason seldom ever named by our public officials.

For reasons involving either fear of persecution and panic, or policies driven by pragmatism to outright appeasement—the world at large refuses to confront its chief threat to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as posed by the spread of radical Islam. However, from neighborhood to news media, from pulpit to politics, a more submissive public relations spin extols the virtues of Islam as a fundamentally “peace loving” religion that offers no threat. However, substituting Western ethics in place of the real objectives of the militant Muslim culture is done at our own peril. While protection for the plurality of belief systems has long been considered a basic human right in Western culture, world conquest amongst contending traditions within Islam will allow the free world no such quarter.

Sampling from amongst just a few courageous positions framed by credible sources from within the Muslim world, shows an emerging pattern of deceit and despotism as reported by:

Arab-American journalist, Nonie Darwish who in her March 2nd WorldNetDaily article entitled “The Arabs’ ‘Berlin Wall,’” exposed the rampant deception that’s inculcated at all levels of society amongst Arab-Muslims regarding their true intentions and beliefs against their world’s “infidels.” She states that “When Arabs are questioned on the reality of the behavior of Muslim terrorists trained in their country, they always answer by the idealism of Islam, saying ‘these are not true Muslims; Islam is a religion of peace.’” She goes on to report that while they confuse the reality of their culture with the idealism of their religion, they are in fact training, funding, and providing shelter for the terrorists. According to her assessment of this cultural double standard, she reports their capacity for “truth, logic, and appreciation of humanity are practically non-existent.”

New York Times syndicated columnist Tom Friedman, who exposed the battle for supremacy between the Iranian and Saudi traditions of Islam that espouse radical ideals for a “jihad by terror” which are promulgated in their schools, mosques, media and militia networks worldwide. Friedman’s columns have also identified the stratification of closed Muslim societies that sustain the deadly links between illegitimate despot, fundamentalist clerics and disenfranchised zealots. Most recently, he has also written of the Saudi monarchy’s pursuit of absolution by way of regurgitating the stale peace proposal that trades normalization of Arab relations for Israel’s retreat to their 1967 borders—an initiative that has no chance of success without a major overhaul of its untenable conditions.

Servant’s Heart, Executive Director, Dennis Bennett, who provided detailed accounts to US government officials of state-sponsored, systematic slaughter of Christian’s who do not submit to Islam in Sudan. Backed by Muslim clerics, the National Islamic Front regime in the Arab and Muslim north declared jihad, or holy war, on the south in 1989—a notion that was affirmed again last October by First Vice President, Ali Osman Taha when he stated, “The jihad is our way, and we will not abandon it.” The targeted abuse of Christian villagers in general and women in particular during these raids are shocking. Using Sudan’s oil revenues to fund their genocide, the gruesome choice of those who will not renounce their faith in Jesus Christ range from firing squads, to having a 3-inch nail driven through their skulls, to gang rape and mutilation of women, to graciously being sold into slavery.

The PBS video documentary ‘Jihad in America,’ which exposes the domestic threat that is unfolding in our own backyards by insurgent “sleeper” Muslim cells that foment hatred and terror through infiltration and the eventual assault on key targets within our open and free society.

From Algeria to Indonesia the story line is the same—radical Muslim insurgents are seeking to destabilize the current world order through spreading their perverted ideology and the use of terror. Without a doubt, as leader of the free world, America faces a long and protracted war, with our values of freedom and tolerance coming under assault from factions that promote this radical brand of Islam. How does this “close and present danger” compare to historic religious purges?

Some parallels with today’s menace can be drawn from history’s nominal Christian movements, namely periods that spawned the Crusades and Inquisitions.

This precedent for spilling another’s blood to advance a perspective of truth however, eventually gave way to what’s normative today in matters of faith—that judgment is reserved for God alone. Christianity reveals the God who instead offers forgiveness to the repentant and the means of His acceptance by grace in this dispensation. Somehow though, a growing percentage of Islam today remains in this violent 12th century time warp, with a mind-set that seeks to rid the world of the “infidel” influence by settling old scores through the scourge of terrorism.

According to Friedman, a prevalent Muslim conspiracy theory concludes that the Islamic world’s obscurity is inextricably tied to US-Israeli hegemony, and that somehow all of the Middle East’s problems would go away if tiny Israel were to disappear. Are we to really believe that 180 million Arabs need to be protected from 5 million Jews? Yet the specter of the liberating Muslim hero “Saladin” rides again in the maniacal personas of degenerates like Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Yasser Arafat—who seek nothing less than world domination for some mythical Islamic society through the demise of the West, according to best-selling author Hal Lindsey.

Throughout the tragic saga of defending Israel’s right to exist, it is abundantly clear that when Arafat’s terror organizations purposely target civilian population centers, well intentioned calls for peace ring hollow if the enemy’s real intention is dedicated to the destruction of the Jews. Likewise, Israel’s current gamble, that attempts to drive the Palestinian Authority to its knees by applying increased military pressure—will not result in peace either, since living together in harmony was never part of Arafat’s scheme, as a proxy for radical Islam.

Unlike the Palestinian’s current death spiral though, resumption of prosperity and respect for the Muslim world at large is not a “zero-sum game.” Said differently, Islam can regain its noble status without resorting to attempts to destroy Judeo-Christian society and itself in the process. Radical Islam’s present course though resembles the “Afghanistan model,” where societal infrastructure is reduced to rubble and an entire generation has no other skill to offer than to make war. Though yet to be fully realized anywhere, the true secret to success for Islam is to be found instead by “beating their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” It’s pragmatism built on peace that will win the world’s favor, and restore Islam’s reputation.

If Muslim nations really want to beat America and Israel at their own game, they should agree to objectively educate their children, to re-build the skills-base of their young people, and to divert funding for their national aspirations away from attacks on the West, in favor of a “guns to butter” strategy that redevelops their infrastructure and industry. Before this can happen though, Islamic leadership must renounce the use of terror as a means to effect change in every sphere of their influence—and from mosque to militant begin to stamp-out insurgent movements. Making substantial contributions toward war reparations—in effect taking responsibility for the menace that their leadership has spawned, could also have an endearing affect on the free world. But ideally, they need to begin the transition to open their societies, establish democratic rule, and in so doing—give their disenfranchised masses a reason for hope.

By muting the message that “evil will never advance good” for Islam, while hoping to achieve orderly change within the radical Muslim elements is tantamount to “burying our heads in the sand” and declaring “peace in our time” again. Now that terrorism has the means to destroy us, even an entire society of “Neville Chamberlains” will not be able to avert this lunatic fringe from their diabolical quest. If we thought the events of 9/11 led to pandemonium—just wait till terrorists decide to detonate even an unsophisticated “dirty bomb” that’s designed to spew radiation poison over major population centers, rendering huge areas of U.S. cities uninhabitable for a generation.

Does history’s brief test of free democratic republics have to end at the hands of despotic regimes? We are at war with an ideology that claims Islam as its spiritual father. Unless America plans to abdicate its role as leader of the free world, we need to open our eyes what’s happening, listen to something other than pacifist talk of appeasement, and—speak-out against the evil that is within our midst. What’s at stake is something far greater than the risk of offending our listener.

Roy Tanner




A People We Love…to Hate

"Therefore, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, 'It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name… And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,' declares the Lord God, 'when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land.” (Ezekiel 36:22-24).

When asked by CNN recently, why he declined the invitation to join the Israeli delegation to the Aqaba peace summit, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he had serious reservations about Palestinian readiness to implement the 'road map' and to accept Israel as a Jewish state. "We've been down this road before," said Netanyahu. "Until the Palestinians teach their children to accept Israel; until they actually go out and arrest, and even fight terrorists; and until they drop the right of return, this will remain a 'flowery path' we've been down before."

Can autonomous Palestinian and Jewish states ever expect to live side by side in peace? A decade ago, under the Oslo accords, the Palestinians pledged to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. Then too, land was to be "traded" for peace—but Palestinian attacks never ceased. Yet the provisions of the "new" road map attempt to satisfy the same objectives as the disastrous Oslo deal. While I want to be optimistic, why does anyone expect a different outcome with this latest initiative?

A better question would be, “what would it take for Muslim nations to repent of their religiously inspired passion to destroy the state of Israel?” The so-called “Palestinians,” are really a mixture of migrant émigrés from nomadic Arab descendants, Egypt and Jordan. Consequently, history suggests it’s improbable that the Arabs will be able to undo the influence of a religion that is the extension of Ishmael and Esau's 4,000-year-old hatred of Isaac and Jacob—the forefathers of the Arabs and the Israelis.

Still it begs the question, what is the crux of the issue that generates such animosity between these ancient cultures? Moreover, what accounts for the historic persecution of the Jews, and the rise of anti-Semitism throughout Europe we see today? As a culture, the Jews are some of the most talented, resourceful and civil people who have ever inhabited the planet. Their contributions to mankind in the areas of law, the sciences and the arts, permeate Western culture.

Yet even within sects of Christendom—among believers that acknowledge a common spiritual heritage with Judaism, the Jewish people remain convenient “scapegoats.” While rightly preaching Christ as the fulfillment of the (Torah) Law and the prophets, they also ascribe the Biblical promises made to Israel unto their selves, ex post facto. Based on allegorical interpretation of Scripture, this “replacement theology” fails to discern the distinctions between the irrevocable promises made to Israel and those made to the Church.

But the Jews take it all in stride. This a people that has overcome: slavery in Egypt, conquest by the Greeks and Romans, the inquisition in Spain, the pogroms in Russia, the holocaust in Hitler’s Germany, and multiple wars initiated by their Arab neighbors. Today the democratic state of Israel comprises only a fraction of its historic Davidic Empire, and what the UN sanctioned in ‘48 was 65% desert. Since then though, re-gathered Israel has literally made the desert bloom, as evidenced by their exports in agriculture and technology.

Is it possible there is a connection between their indestructible vitality as a people—against insurmountable odds, and the inexplicable loathing they receive from other nations? Hmm…maybe we should allow for the possibility that the Jews are in fact a “chosen people” of God (Isa. 44). Think about it. In a world that is repulsed by the suggestion that we really are accountable to a god other than ourselves—a world that heaps scorn upon the very idea of “one true God,” shouldn’t we expect His people would be hated as well?

Surely, God has wonderfully utilized His people Israel after all, for our good and His glory (Rom. 11). By way of His inscrutable design, one day all that was prophesied, from privilege to persecution to millennial predominance of the Jewish people—will evoke only our love for God and gratitude for His people Israel.

Roy Tanner




The Test of Peace

In the aftermath of terrorist strikes upon America’s most prominent symbols of commerce and military might, it seems as if previous calls for vengeance upon these shadowy perpetrators have been reduced in some circles to “second guessing” our administration’s declaration of war, as being too provocative. Instead of a putting our nation on a “war footing,” we hear calls for a “measured response,” and appeals for pursuing only the “legal means” of apprehending the “individuals” involved, in order that justice may be served, and peace may be restored.

The administration’s declaration of war however, was a deliberate course of action intended to broaden the aperture of retaliation options against the forces of hatred, destruction and anarchy that oppose U.S. interests. Surely the unprovoked, indiscriminant carnage visited upon thousands of innocent citizens –on American soil, set a dangerous new precedent that outstrips any recourse by way of “individual” legal means. As a result, our sustained federal and military response should be of sufficient scope to completely debilitate terrorism.

While the Christian admonishment to forgive and “turn the other cheek” should be the goal for interpersonal relationships, it was never intended for governing sovereign nations. In a perfect world, achieving a “lasting peace” would require forgiveness –or forbearing our right to retaliate. However, such an act of mercy could only be extended where there is the admission of guilt, accompanied by change in demeanor, evidenced by redressing the wrongs committed.

The test of peace for fanatics and the Islamic regimes that support them, can only be passed by renouncing the use of terrorism as a means of change, especially within the democratic societies of America, Israel and our allies. As long as the flames of generational hatred for Judaism and Christianity are stoked by the official pronouncements and inculcated through teachings from Islamic factions in Muslim mosques, schools, and training camps –there can be no peace. Sadly, we are left with the policy of, “Allow them to hate us, so long as they still fear.”

Roy Tanner