Why I Care

Really I am not a bold person. Most of the time I ignore others' lack of belief, poor discernment, or worldly attitudes. But here is a group who care about eternal issues. People who look for Judgment Day, and consider which of their actions could have an effect. They know that the Almighty exists and desire to please Him. Some of the messages in the Koran are so valid and important compared to the nonsense being trifled with in secular society that I want to reward them for their discernment.

"You are so close," I want to say. Just as I've been told by Muslims, "you are not far from Islam." I am infinitely separated from it because of the "sin of shirk." But otherwise, theologically, we are similar. I care because you are Abraham's descendants, though the Bible has much to say about who his heirs really are. It is because I can respect so much about you that I bother. And of course, there is the issue of having to fight for my survival, and that of my country and culture.

This is the duality I face. I feel great rapport, yet must keep my guard up realizing lives and freedom are at stake. I understand having a sense of spiritual freedom in believing you are obeying God. The peace in believing that counterbalances the loss of some opportunities. All who seek to live godly lose some things in order to gain others. This I understand. Yet I see and grieve for the serious oppression of women who cannot work to support themselves except illegally as prostitutes, because they are not allowed to go out. I mourn for the limitations of the rights of Christians and others within your societies. I fear for their safety, and mine as well.

I cannot ignore the issues. Many of the Jews who read or heard of Hitler's plans early on did not flee-because they believed in the rights they had within their societies. They thought that they would be safe. It cannot be true, right, or wise to ignore serious threats. Nor can it be for you to tell yourself that jihad just means some personal searching of the soul. That may be what a modern theologian has constructed, but intellectual honesty will see that is not the genuine message of Mohammed.

A book I read about the Taliban remarked that these guys did not have a comprehensive knowledge of the history and heritage of Afghanistan, or Pakistan. They had not studied the theological weighings of centuries of holy men. No. They have only the Koran, and perhaps the hadith. And they are honestly dealing with what the teachings of that book are. Let me explain why that is important from an example of my life.

I have three sisters. Years ago, I described them as "one's a lesbian, one's Jewish, and one's a lawyer. The lawyer was at the time attending a Methodist church whose pastor denied the gospel. She and her husband were networking. She's since gotten saved, as has the Jewish one. But the Lord showed me that the lesbian and the Jew were being more intellectually honest with Him. They were clearly evaluating the teachings of Christianity, saing "I believe this much and no more."

The one who was going to church for her networking, or so her husband could sing in the choir, was not being honest. In order for anyone to make any spiritual progress, they must analyze what they do believe, and be willing to throw out what they find to be untrue. And so must you. It is well and good to say, someone in the 1200's said this that I find more to my liking. But it does not address the legitimacy of those in the 600's. For if their lives or actions were in error, so is the basis of your faith.

At least have the courage to look at your foundational book, not the ones you claim to be peripheral. I do not desire to attack you, nor to insult you or even them. I believe they believed in what they did. I only desire to stimulate you and provoke thought. We have a verse that says we should provoke one another to love and good works. Please accept my efforts in this manner.

As I weigh the costs of this battle, I wonder if it is worth it. When I review the Koran, I can continue to find some nitpicking thing (or maybe somewhat more substantial) to discredit it. At the same time, I do see someone who tries in his own mind to do good. Mohammed has written many things correctly. He mourns the dead babies: girls who were discarded. He argues against adultery. He even says that women should be modest, keeping their eyes down demurely, instead of being wanton. I cannot disagree with these things. He desires to help men put aside some worldly things, in favor of prayer, and doing good deeds of helping the poor, and so on.

Perhaps he did misunderstand Christianity. There were Christian heretics who claimed Jesus was not the Son of God, and discussed other issues hard to comprehend. Certainly it would be consistent with desiring to protect God's honor and his reputation to be aghast at the thought of a Zeus-like god. (Though what kind of deity requires help to defend itself?) I wonder at the example of his uncle or cousins, or the others he acknowledges are his opponents. He seemed to have a love and respect for the God of Abraham, for the ancient traditions. I suspect the homes he grew up in were foundational in teaching the importance of godly service and activities-much more so than many of his followers whom he criticizes for desiring loot.

Let me say this first, using my country's history, before I continue my complaints against your heroes. Thomas Jefferson was a great man. He wrote the Declaration of Independence, stating all men were created equal. Yet he kept slaves. He was honorable, yet he had a black mistress after his wife died. Those who want to slander him, state that a person who is a slave cannot give permission. Even if it is not violent rape, the situation is rigged so that she would be a fool to refuse. The added benefits of greater freedom, better clothes, protection for her children, all add up to unequal freedom to refuse. She could not turn him down and do better for herself.

They see a man caught by the mores of his time, which viewed a couple of hundred years later are shocking. But he did not have to give her an honored position. He did not have to protect her children. He owned her, and according to the laws he lived under could do with them as he wished. For him to not take his rights, to give more than necessary, in fact to go so much beyond showed him to be a gracious and thoughtful, deeply good man.

George Washington has also been maligned. (He was our first president, and the general who led our troops to overthrow the world power of his day.) So much of our history has been re-evaluated that I feel some want only to destroy it, rather than acknowledge that yes, these men had feet of clay. (That is a Biblical analogy from the book of Daniel, which means they had weaknesses that flawed them.)

But I do not turn away from seeing the reality. It is true Jefferson had a slave mistress. It is true George owned slaves as well. His plantation would not have made him or his ancestors as rich as he was without it. I do not deny it. Wishing it to disappear or being mad at whomever points it out does not solve the problem. But they are mere men, not claiming more than that. They wrote or fought and brought us our independence.

It is a bit harder for me about Mohammed. Yes, he kept captives, allowed himself many wives. The social mores of ancient times allowed this. (Although with Christian tribes this should have been in the process of being eliminated for centuries.) So did Solomon. And for that matter, King David-though I don't believe they were responsible for capturing their wives. David certainly did his share of killing his opponents. Though he was instructed to destroy their goods, and he honored this, some of his followers got caught doing otherwise. (As did Saul.)

As for Aisha, this is revolting to me. Not only do I question what kind of man would take a nine year old, I wonder at what kind of father would give his daughter at six. It is kind of kinky. And I think of people who go through midlife crisis, doing things they would never have considered before. And even if I can have some understanding of what our flesh would lead us to if indulged, I cannot make the transition that it is okay for a spiritual leader, and example from God.

I used the example of David, a man said to be after God's own heart. Yet he was not without serious correction. The prophet Nathan came and rebuked him. God allowed the king's first child with Bathsheba to die,who was the result of their adultery. The Lord allowed another son to run him out of office for a while, for chastisement. And greatest of his punishments was that he was not allowed to build the temple for the Lord, though he had accumulated many riches to do so. He was allowed to make preparations but had to leave it to someone who was not a man of war.

Solomon, the world's wisest man, had his own failings. Some very significant, which he admitted sidetracked him. He was able to summarize his life in the book of Ecclesiastes, where he could state, I've tried every thing-wealth, wisdom, power, sex, but all things under the sun are vain. He concluded, serving God was the only thing that mattered. (Btw, this paragraph not only inadequately conveyed some of the world's greatest literature, it butchered it. I recommend reading the original.)

But Solomon learned from his mistakes, and repented. He was not honored for his sins. Even after repentance, our holy God requires consequences. In fact, the kingdom of Israel was taken from his lineage as a result of his behavior. After his death the kingdom was divided into Israel and Judah. His family got to keep only two of the twelve tribes. Anyone God loves, according to the Bible, will be corrected. So, that is another major sign for anyone familiar with our Scripture, a person allowed to indulge in gross sin without correction, cannot, simply cannot be from the Lord.

So the ones who knew the Lord asked Mohammed, "Is this who Allah would send as a messenger?" It wasn't merely that he was from a poor or un-powerful family. Jesus was as well. It wasn't that they questioned his education. For calling him a "poet possessed," acknowledges some ability with words.

Anyway, I grow weary from battling this. I wonder if I will be able to ever return to Morocco, if I will offend my daughter or son-in-law sufficiently that it might breach our relationship, or if I would be allowed to see my granddaughter (and others) ever again. Such is the price I am willing to pay to speak the truth. Even the possibility of death appears, for if they would put to death a woman for allowing children to call a teddy bear Mohammed (or be willing to do so), I could not expect leniency for what I have written. Nor could I retract it. I can only hope I would die even in torture rather than deny my Lord.

This is not mentioned to somehow exalt myself, as if I am some special martyr. Not so. I am as much a coward as anyone else. And even I occasionally consider what might offend another, and what might be more polite. But Jesus told us that if we wanted to be His disciple, we must take up our cross daily and follow Him. He said we must (in comparison to the love we have for Him) hate our mates, parents, children, and even our own lives, or we would not be worthy of Him.

I treasure my family. I do not desire to offend. But my debt to His sacrifice and the depth of His love far exceeds what I owe others. And I question the effectiveness (efficacy) of my efforts. I just don't know if there is a better way. (Such as suggested in I Corinthians 13, coordinated with prayer.)

Consequently I must work only as the Lord directs me. Each time I write only what I feel compelled, and have erased other parts. Sometimes I think I have only one or two posts left to have comletely covered the subject. Then something else will surface. I know there are a couple of drafts I need to polish. A few more written elsewhere remain to be typed. I need to finish reading The Choice, and answer his accusations. Whether this work might make up into a fine book, remains to be seen.

But after that, I think I will move on to another subject. I do not know. I do know I feel my time to work on this is running out, but that remains to be seen.