Have you ever wondered about this thing called 'interfaith dialogue' - the dialogue so beloved by our weak politicians and clergy? Well, wonder no longer. Please let me elucidate...
For dialogue with an enemy - and make no mistake about it, Islam is the enemy of the liberal and democratic West - please read my earlier article here - to serve any purpose, there must be a possibility of finding some middle ground. A compromise must be found. If it is not possible to find a compromise, then engaging in dialogue becomes not only futile, but meaningless, too. Engaging in such a dialogue with Islam, a so-called 'interfaith dialogue', is precisely that: futile and meaningless.
You might well ask how I can say this with such certainty. Well, the answer is really quite simple to comprehend...
In Islam, we have a faith which is diametrically opposed to everything Christianity says is true. The tenets of both faiths couldn't be more different. Christians are taught that God had a Son, born of the Virgin Mary, who came down to earth and died for their sins, quasi to redeem them, to save them. Hence, Jesus Christ is their Lord and Saviour, their Redeemer. He died on the cross to save their souls. Further, to Christians, God is loving and forgiving, merciful and compassionate indeed.
Muslims are taught, by contrast, that God never begat a son; indeed, in Islam it is sacrilege to believe so. The whole concept of the Trinity, so essential to the belief system of a Christian, is considered to be shirk, or polytheism to any practising Muslim.
Furthermore, Jesus in Islam, although revered as a major prophet, is nothing more than this. He is not considered to be the Godhead. Muslims have an unshakeable belief that God is unique and one - tawhid - and cannot conceive of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Christians, in their eyes, are considered to be guilty of polytheism for believing in the Trinity! The abstract concept of there being three bodies in one - actually just like the human body - is beyond their understanding and comprehension.
So, to believe that Jesus is man's Saviour and Redeemer is totally and utterly alien to Muslims. As far as they are concerned, indeed as far as they are convinced, Jesus was not crucified at all. They believe that a look-alike was crucified in his stead!
For a devout and practising Christian, there can be no compromising on these issues; likewise, for a devout and practising Muslim, there can also be no compromising on them, either.
So would someone like to explain to me what all this 'interfaith dialogue' is about? For what compromise is there to be? Perhaps I'm missing something; but I don't think so.
You see, the differences between Islam and Christianity are so clear in even the basic understanding of the concept of God in the two religions. The name for God in Islam is Allah. Allah is also the name for God for Christian Arabs. But the Christians' understanding of God (and the Christian Arabs' understanding of Allah) is very different from the Muslims' understanding of Him. For anyone seriously to believe that these two deities are the same, he would have to be seriously deluded. To a Muslim, Allah is to be feared; to a Christian, He is the kind and understanding and merciful Father.
The fact of the matter is clear: 'Interfaith dialogue' is a mechanism thought up by the weak and ineffectual in a desperate attempt to find a solution to the growing chasm in Western society, a chasm between the ever-growing Muslim population and the rest. (Do we ever hear calls for 'interfaith dialogue' from Muslims?) But it is merely a Band Aid. It will never solve the problems that have been shored up for us over the past few decades, never solve the problems of increasing tensions which will inevitably ensue.
Truth is: Our politicians, because they have lacked the foresight to see the inevitable outcome of their lax immigration laws, because they have lacked the courage to enact sensible laws to stem the growing problem of immigration in this country, and because they have failed to lead, they have got us all into a fine mess. Believe me: The storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. It's only a matter time now before we will witness their devastation.
©Mark Alexander
22 comments:
Dzien dobry Pan Sobieski,
Aren't Islam and Christianity related?
Couldn't you just agree to disagree?
Mark, just read an article and would be interested in your thoughts. The author was wondering why there have been no attacks on U.S soil since 9/11. He had two thoughts. They sound conspiratorial and out of left field but anyway...
First: the Sword of Damocles: This is a suitcase type nuke planted at Mecca. Any attack by Al Qaeda on the U.S mainland again and it goes off..??!! I don't know but an interesting idea.
The second is wild: bio-diesels and bio-fuels are all the rage right now. They're made from - e.g. soya bean oils and animal fats - added to fuel = better for the environment.
Here's the kicker. Pig fats can be used as easily as anything else. To cut a long story short, jet fuel, truck fuel, etc, made with pig fats would permeate the breathable atmosphere with pig fat molecules, harmlessly absorbed by humans, (almost identical to human molecules) but certain humans with certain paranoid beliefs may not like the idea and they may not go to paradise being contaminated and all...hmmm, what a far out idea!!
Just the thought might stop a few suicide bombers if they knew they were going to hell and not to 72 virgins in paradise?? The more I think about it...a bit demoralizing...for the enemy, you think??
Leelion:
All that sounds extremely far-fetched to me! Indeed, the theories sound so far-fetched that they leave one not knowing what one can say. I must say that I do like the pig-fat idea, though. :-) What a delicious thought! The idea that we could stop all those Muslims getting their 72 virgins with just pig-fat molecules is, perhaps, too good an idea not to explore further. I dare say, though, that our PC politicians wouldn't dare use them for fear of upsetting their Muslim 'friends' in high places. Think of all the money they'd lose in bribes!
By the way, who is supposed to have planted the 'Sword of Damocles' in Makkah?
This concise and incisive post really gets to the kernel of the problems "interfaith" presents.
There can of course be no such dialogue with islam in the sense that islam can ever adapt to Christainity.
Christains will always have to bow to muslims perceived "superiority" as a religion.
"Interfaith" is just what you describe, a band-aid, stuck over the differences with the hope that the wounds might heal.
Our communal History shows otherwise, that far from healing, such attempts produce more conviction in the moslim mind,
that their idea of islam as the only true religion, is correct.
And it serves to convince the moslim that Christianity is inherently weak and will succumb to them in due time.
Indeed it may, should these sops calling for "interfaith" (what a diabolical concction that word is) ever succeed in diluting to a homeopathic consistency, the essence of the Christain beliefs.
I wonder do the priests that follow this heresy, ever tell their parishoners the reality of the islamic beliefs, or do they even understand themselves, what the position of islam is regarding Jesus?
Mark your words are a tonic. The patient needs strong medicine to recover.
bialy tov., you are young and you believe that your material existence is guaranteed. Good luck on your long journey of discovery.
leeleon, I think such matters are wishful thinking, and probably arose at the end of a waccy-baccy cigarette!
There just isn't enough pig-fat to go around, most of it goes into salami.
It is a curious notion to wonder how the clerics would deal with the problems of breathing pig fat exhaust gas! I am sure they would find a verse or to in the koran to get around it though, and it's not exactly kosher either!
Bld:
Great post, as ever! You have such a refreshing way of looking at these issues. :-)
Mark,
I haven't been around the blogosphere much in that past few days. I needed a bit of a break, had work to catch up on, and was working on an important artice. But right now I can't post that article as Blogger is not taking new posts at the moment.
Now, to this article of yours...You know that I agree! Interfaith dialogue is so much BS. Any success with these dialogues results from (1) lack of commitment to the tenets of Christianity on the part of the Christians and/or (2) giving in to Muslim demands, at the peril of all of us.
There is no compromise possible on the faith level! Christianity will tolerate differences, Islam will not.
BLD summed up very well exactly how I see the matter: There can of course be no such dialogue with islam in the sense that islam can ever adapt to Christainity.
Christains will always have to bow to muslims perceived "superiority" as a religion.
Well, right here is one Christian who will not compromise the tenets of my faith!
Does anyone know anything about Heather? Heather hasn't been around for a while now. Her presence is missed.
And what about WHIDFYT?? His presence has also been missed.
Always:
I haven't been around the blogosphere much in that past few days. I needed a bit of a break, had work to catch up on, and was working on an important artice. But right now I can't post that article as Blogger is not taking new posts at the moment.
As you know, I haven't been around the blogosphere much lately, either.
I, too, have had a lot of trouble with Blogger today. I have been trying to correct a 'typo' this afternoon, but it won't allow me to do so.
I have also been trying to correct some of those links that have been removed; but again, I have been unable to add any. I hope things improve as the day progresses.
Mark,
Blogger is really fouled up today. I've seen this kind of thing happen before, and once the resolution took a full 48 hours.
Ah, well. I'll wait it out. I have no other choice, really. But this glitch sort of ruins the blogburst effect my little group was striving for.
I haven't seen anyone, but I don't know anyone, either.
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Islam only ever talks to its enemies (everyone that isn't muslim) for the purposes of gaining time for a better attack position.
Interfaith feel-good bullshit won't work. The entire history of Islam has been murder, rape, bloodshed, and conquest. Western crybabies think that suddenly everything will be better if we just "sit down and talk."
It's a stupid cliche, tired, and unwelcome.
I see that Mussolini agrees with my opinion of interfaith dialogues.
Mark, that pig fat thing is so outrageous isn't it! Some folks have good imaginations. btw, there's an old Gary Cooper movie called "The Real Glory", (1939) where he is fighting Muslims and stops the war by declaring any Muslims killed will be wrapped and buried in pigskins. Might be worth a look. Sorry if my posts are off topic here. Lee
Mussolini:
Islam only ever talks to its enemies (everyone that isn't muslim) for the purposes of gaining time for a better attack position.
Exactly.
Interfaith feel-good bullshit won't work. The entire history of Islam has been murder, rape, bloodshed, and conquest. Western crybabies think that suddenly everything will be better if we just "sit down and talk."
Fairyland stuff, isn't it?
It's a stupid cliche, tired, and unwelcome.
Yes, most unwelcome, too!
Always:
Hopefully today will be a better Blogger day for us all.
Leelion:
I'll have to check out that film one of these fine days.
Forrest Shalom:
the only contact between moslems and christians should be EVANGELISM.
That's a damn good idea! The trouble is this: The established Church here in the UK, i.e. the Anglican Church, has forgotten the meaning of the word.
There is NO relationship between Christianity and Islam to my knowledge. Christianity is a religion of love, peace, forgiveness, grace and redemption -- there is only good news (gospel) in Christianity; Islam is a murderous death cult and there is not one shred of good news -- only hatred, intolerance, retribution and terror. bialy tovarishch, if you think these two are related please explain how as your assertion "beggars belief" as far as I can see....
US Iconoclastic Patriot:
Well stated! I'd also like to read what Bialy Tovarishch has to say in response to your post.
The relationship is only one of distorted plagarism.
Mohammad grafted his fantasies on to the God of Abraham through Abraham's son, Ishmael, claiming that it was Ishmael, not Issac, whom Abraham offered as a sacrifice to God. He cunningly did this to try and convince the Jews and Christians that Islam was a credible continuance of their own faith, and therefore they would follow Islam.
Mohammad incorporated a very garbled version of Holy Scripture with his devilish revelations, claiming that it is the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) who tampered with, and rewrote, Holy Scripture.
So the relationship is a false and devious one, one not based on Truth at all.
Some may be interested in this paper on the subject.
Quoting from the paper that I linked to in my previous post...
The fact that Moslems share Levantine monotheism with us thus makes them more, not less, antagonistic to us on a religious level. Hopes for reconciliation on the grounds of common monotheism, as opposed to a realistic "good fences make good neighbors" civilizational détente, are wishful thinking.
The widespread belief in the non-Muslim world that Islam accords respect to the Old Testament and the Gospels as steps in progression to Mohammad’s revelation is mistaken. Modern Muslim apologists try to stress the supposed underlying similarities and compatibility of the three faiths, but this is not the view of orthodox Islam.
... demonstrates the futility of any "inter-faith dialogue" as Islam will never accept a triune God anymore than Christians can deny the deity of Christ.
Instant stalemate!
So what exactly is the objective of such dialogue?
The only sensible outcome would be one of genuine mutual respect for religious differences, and while Christians are willing to play ball, Muslims will never do so because Islam decrees that Christians and Jews are the enemy to be either converted or slaughtered.
The verse in Surah 2 about "no compulsion in religion" has been abrogated by multitude verses in Surah 9.
JudahQ:
The relationship is only one of distorted plagarism.
That says it all! And in a few words, too.
JudahQ:
Excellent post there. It says it all. That's it: It's stalemate.
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