Islam, religion of peace.

If it hasn't been lifted already, this article lifts the veil on what is intended for infidels like me. "But Islam is a religion of peace! You can't judge all Muslims by the actions of the crazy few!" OK, granted. You're right. I can't. In fact, as someone who lived in a Muslim country as a boy, I have always had a huge amount of respect for Muslims. They treated me so kindly as a child. They were good to my whole family. I loved Muslims. And as a young man, one of my best friends was a guy with whom I worked named Mohammed.

But back then, I didn't know much about Islam qua Islam, so let me spell it out. There is the Realm of Islam and the Realm of War. If you are not living in nations controlled by Muslims, you are in the Realm of War, and it is allowable to make war on you by whatever means necessary. The Koran includes lying as part of this (see Surah 3:28 in the Koran).

For those who live in Muslim lands, furthermore, you are considered a dhimmi. Dhimmi are subject to greater than normal taxation and even slavery (a Muslim cannot licitly enslave another Muslim, although there is plenty of historical precedent for their having done so; Christians, on the hand? Ask the current residents of southern Sudan.). The higher taxation is supposedly because infidels need more security, since, otherwise, government officials can't be held responsible when Muslim citizens attack them precisely for being infidels. This is a large part of the reason why the formerly Christian peoples of northern Africa, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey are now mostly Muslim (granted, Monophysitism, Nestorianism, and other heresies played a contributing part).

This is what the ayatollahs and imams and mullahs have planned for you, friends. They want you to be like them, in terms of religion. They want you to either be like them or suffer the dhimmi's fate. This is the same sort situation that prompted the Crusades (those were not a case of the big, bad Christians attacking the peaceful, wise Muslims; the Crusades were called in response to an appeal for help againts the attacking and maruading flyers of Islam's flag; they were essentially wars of assistance and defense). The war on terror is really a war for the ability to worship as we choose. (Keep in mind that the "radical" and "crazy" strains within Islam represent at least 10% of its adherents, and then do the math: There are 1 billion Muslims in the world).

Don't believe me? Consider that the largest mosque in Europe is less than three miles from the Vatican. It is huge. Then answer me these question: Where is the largest church in Saudi Arabia? When was the last time a building permit was allowed for building a new church in Turkey? How long has the Greek Orthodox seminary been closed and why (keep in mind, there has not been an Orthodox patriarch in recent memory who did not graduate from this seminary)? How easy is it for churches in Egypt, Turkey, Sudan, etc. to get permits to make ordinary repairs? If you don't know the answer to these questions, then you simply have to Google them. News sources such as Fox, Reuters, CNN, AP, etc., have done stories on these subjects in recent years. The answer to the first one may be hard to find, so I'll tell you: There is not a single standing church in that country (there is at least the ruin of one out in the middle of the desert).

Why aren't we paying attention?

Postscript: At the recent Synod on the Middle East held at the Vatican, an Iranian Muslim scholar told the Synod Fathers that there were no problems of tolerance in his nation. Again, they are allowed to lie. They make the Communists look like pikers when it comes to this art.