Christian Churches and Jewish Synagogues are eerily silent regarding the true nature of the Islamic ideology and the threat it poses. A search of the websites of the major Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist and Catholic denominations shows an absence of understanding of the Islamic threat. Instead, there is typically the simplistic injunction to “love your neighbor” and “embrace all believers in God or Allah – we are all God’s children.” A call for ecumenicalism – “discover what we hold in common” - is often the priority when churches refer to Islam. Jews simply succumb to the Stockholm syndrome and don’t say anything just to get along though their subliminal fears from their past.
Churches fail to understand and teach the diametrically opposite and potentially deadly doctrines of Islam. Christianity: Love and forgiveness; Islam: Intimidation and submission. Christianity: Tolerance; Islam: Intolerance. Christianity: Apolotical; Islam: Political. Our churches have not grasped the concept “that when tolerance becomes a one way street it leads to cultural suicide" as stated by Lt. Col. Allen West. Opposites even exist in the beliefs concerning end times: The Christian "savior" (Messiah) is the Islamic anti-Christ, and the Islamic savior (Mahdi) is the Christian anti-Christ. God and Allah are not the same. Their differences are striking for those who care to understand them.
Here is one example of how one mainline church is teaching about Islam.
When will the churches wake up? Sure, “the meek will inherit the earth. But the meek don’t need to remain ignorant. Their culturally diverse political correctness will corrupt their beliefs. At a minimum our churches need to be teaching the true nature of Islam in their Sunday School classes. Teaching commonalities is nice. We have things in common with Scorpions (we are all God’s creatures) but, really, the differences are very important. Differences are essential to convey to its members. There should be strong words from the pulpits concerning these differences. There are numerous sermon topics that can spring from defining such differences: God and Allah: Are they the same? Who is the anti-Christ: Christian and Islamic Interpretations. Love and forgiveness: Contrasting perspectives. And my favorite: Terror: Christian or Islamic? There are countless relevant sermon topics on this subject.
Churches waste significant time and energy bashing the so-called Christian “cults” (the “big three”: Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Christian Scientists) which in fact hold 95% in common and promote the same morality and culture. These are the wrong boogie men. That energy needs to be reprioritized and devoted to revealing facts, motives, and actions about Islam.
The churches don’t have to “preach hate” to get the truth across. Truth is not hate. The facts are not hate. The church really needs to get a spine and enhance awareness among their leadership and members of the critical distinctions between Islam and Christianity before they are subject to persecutions that make it even more difficult and painful to reveal the truth. There is something compelling about the expression “the truth shall set you free.” Once we are intimidated against revealing the truth we cease being free.
Information and training are essential. Sunday School classes, seminars, sermons, retreats, special events, special guests are all needed to help inform.
Church Teaching Curriculm:
One of the best sources of teaching aids to help Christians understand the Islamic threat is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Political Islam. They have a series of self-study materials that can be readily adapted to small group study. HERE is a list of them. The Center also produced a series of 13 excellent MP3 discussions on Islam that supplement the texts that can be purchased.
One posssible curriculm outline for teaching Islam in church Sunday Schools and seminars is offered below:
I. Why Islam matters:
Possible allocation of time for sections:
Session One: Sections I, II, and III.
Session Two: Sections IV, V, and VI.
Session Three: Sections VII, VIII, and IX.
Session Four: Sections X and XI.
Churches desparately need to educate their leaders, laymen, and congregations about Islam. Start with the materials above. Let me know what additional teaching materials are available that tell the truth about Islam and demonstrate the stark differences from Christianity.