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AR 22:13 - Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
In this issue:
ISLAM - are Christian mission organizations split over whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
+ "tenets of Islam that are incompatible with free society"
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES - the Watchtower keeps defying court orders to surrender documentation on its child molesters
Apologia Report 22:13 (1,333)
March 30, 2017
ISLAM
"The 'Same God Question': Why Muslims are Not Moving Toward Christians" by Fred Farrokh, "a Muslim-background Christian who currently serves as an International Trainer <www.goo.gl/nEawLJ> with Global Initiative." From the abstract: "Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? This 'Same God Question' has again captured the attention of the Christian public. Increasing numbers of Christians are now responding in the affirmative, especially as they seek amicable relations with Muslims. This article looks at this age-old question from the Islamic point of view, noting that Muslim scholars have not mirrored their Christian counterparts in moving toward theological reconciliation. Indeed, the foundational teachings and example of Muhammad restrict them from doing so.... Christian missiologists are split over whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God. In response to the firestorm over this topic, which recently engulfed <www.goo.gl/sE90SR> Wheaton College, 23 missiologists contributed short essays on this question. These responses were published in January 2016 by the Evangelical Missiological Society (EMS) in its Occasional Bulletin. A reading of this bulletin <www.goo.gl/9YMGwd> indicates there was no consensus among the contributors regarding the basic 'Same God Question' (SGQ).
"This article seeks to address the SGQ in greater detail, particularly from the perspective of Muslims." Themelios, 41:3 - 2016, <www.goo.gl/J4VN6Y>
Wholly Different: Why I Chose Biblical Values Over Islamic Values, by Nonie Darwish [1] -- from the publisher: "Born and raised as Muslim in Cairo and Gaza, Darwish moved to the United States in 1978 and converted to Christianity. She now serves as director of Former Muslims United <formermuslimsunited.org>, which seeks to educate the American public and policymakers about Islamic law and the threats faced by Muslims who try to escape Sharia. A senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy <centerforsecuritypolicy.org>, Darwish lectures extensively on human rights, women's rights under Islamic law, the Arab-Israeli conflict, terrorism, and radical Islam. ...
"Western countries are ignorant of true Islamic values, [she] says. ... In Wholly Different, Darwish sets non-Muslims straight about tenets of Islam that are incompatible with free society. ...
"She lays out the 'seventh-century values' of Islam that religious extremists are so intent on protecting through global warfare—values that set Islam apart from the other Abrahamic religions."
From Amazon's collection of endorsements for the book: "So many people in the U.S. and the West in general assume that all religions teach essentially the same thing, and that their message is one of benevolence, charity, and magnanimity. While that may be true for many religions, it is certainly not true of Islam, especially in regard to women, unbelievers, and other despised groups. In this eye-opening book, Nonie Darwish lays bare the shocking details of just how sharply Christian morality and Islamic morality differ. Politicians and policymakers in favor of mass Muslim immigration, and clerics who think that 'dialogue' with Muslim leaders will fix everything, should study this book carefully and heed its lessons."
- Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch <jihadwatch.org>
"[O]pen-minded non-Christians will learn valuable facts about both Christianity and Islam. Wholly Different is a book that people of all faiths should read."
- James Tolle, pastor of El Camino Metro Church, the largest Hispanic church in Los Angeles
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JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
"How Jehovah's Witnesses leaders hide child abuse secrets at all costs" by Trey Bundy -- "The leadership of the Jehovah's Witnesses has boldly defied court orders to turn over the names and whereabouts of alleged child sexual abusers across the United States.
"Since 2014, courts have slapped the Jehovah's Witnesses' parent corporation - the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York - with multimillion-dollar judgments and sanctions for violating orders to hand over secret documents.
"The documents could serve as a road map to what are likely thousands of alleged child abusers living freely in communities across the country, who still could be abusing kids. The files include the names of known and suspected perpetrators, the locations of their congregations and descriptions of their alleged crimes. ...
"Predators purposefully exploit that isolation, said Kathleen Hallisey, a London attorney spearheading similar civil lawsuits in England.
"'I think they choose those types of environments very carefully, where they know they can operate with impunity, and unfortunately, the policies of the Watchtower allow them to continue to do that again and again and again,' Hallisey said.
"In 1997, the Watchtower issued a directive calling for elders to report alleged child sexual abusers to the religion's headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. The form was to be mailed in a special blue envelope.
"That directive is the foundation of a database the Watchtower has collected and maintained for almost two decades, according to Watchtower documents. ...
"[Attorney Irwin] Zalkin <www.goo.gl/IpPdmA> is quite familiar with the details of the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal. In 2007, he negotiated a $200 million settlement for more than 100 victims of clergy abuse. After that case made news, he began receiving calls from victims of abuse in all sorts of institutions, including universities and the Boy Scouts of America.
"About a dozen of those calls came from ex-Jehovah's Witnesses. Several of them named the same abuser: Gonzalo Campos. Those cases led Zalkin to the Watchtower's secret documents.
"Campos was a Jehovah's Witness who sexually abused at least seven children in San Diego congregations in the '80s and '90s. During that time, Watchtower leaders knew Campos was abusing children but did not report him to law enforcement, according to testimony by congregation elders. Instead, they promoted him to the position of elder.
"Campos would groom his victims for abuse during Bible study sessions, according to court records. One of those victims was Jose Lopez, who was 7 when Campos abused him. ...
"In 2012, Zalkin filed a lawsuit against the Watchtower on behalf of Lopez.
"During the case, Zalkin formally requested all the letters the Watchtower had received in response to the 1997 directive. He wanted to prove a pattern, and the documents would show what the Watchtower knew about the scope of child abuse in the organization.
"In 2014, San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Lewis ordered the Watchtower to hand over the documents. The California Supreme Court upheld the order. The Watchtower refused.
"Lewis kicked the Watchtower out of court and awarded Lopez $13.5 million in damages. She expressed her own frustration with the Watchtower's tactics in her decision. ...
"The Watchtower didn't get that message. In Zalkin's next case, he again requested the Watchtower's child abuse files. Again, the Watchtower refused. This time, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Raquel Marquez threw the defense out of court. The cost of withholding the documents: $4 million.
"Finally, in Zalkin's next case, it looked like the Jehovah's Witnesses had acquiesced. They agreed to hand over the documents. But with a caveat: Zalkin could not share them with anyone.
"San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss agreed, and the Watchtower began sending the documents to Zalkin.
"But as they arrived, he noticed something was wrong. The Watchtower had only sent four years' worth of files, instead of the 19 years the court had ordered. And the Watchtower had redacted some of the most crucial information in the documents: the names of the perpetrators and the congregations.
"In June, Strauss ordered the Watchtower to pay $4,000 a day until it complied with the court's order. The Watchtower is appealing. ...
"Jehovah's Witnesses leaders have refused to discuss the cases. Last year, they issued a statement saying they abhor child abuse and comply with all child abuse reporting laws. ...
"Meanwhile, Zalkin currently has 18 lawsuits pending against the Watchtower."
"'I’ve been practicing law for 37 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it. ... They do everything to protect the reputation of the organization over the safety of children.'" Reveal, Dec 10 '16 <www.goo.gl/kFYd1j>
Hallisey wrote "We need to do more to tackle sexual abuse among Jehovah’s Witnesses" for The Times (UK), Jan 26 '17 <www.goo.gl/UWOj2z>
Also see press reports of similar Watchtower obstructionism in Australia <www.goo.gl/gEuNJe> and the United Kingdom <www.goo.gl/VVX3hv>
Wikipedia (in French) lists additional child-abuse cases in Belgium, Canada, France, and Norway <www.goo.gl/DLBGfN>
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Wholly Different: Why I Chose Biblical Values Over Islamic Values, by Nonie Darwish (Regnery, 2017, hardcover, 256 pages) <www.goo.gl/wRVMjA>
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