The Scriptorium

Here are two very good articles that explain why we cannot depend on moderate Islam in the war on terrorism. (Hat tip: Steve and LGF)

Muslim ‘Moderates’ And Terrorism

The Spectator also gives a good introduction to the long history of terrorism and brutality in Islam, and explains why Islamic scholars have thus far viewed the violent teachings of war, hate, and murder in Mohammed’s later writings as valid for today over the more peaceful teachings of his earliest writings in Mecca.

It is probably true that in every faith ordinary people will pick the parts they like best and practise those, while the scholars will work out an official version. In Islam the scholars had a particularly challenging task, given the mass of contradictory texts within the Koran. To meet this challenge they developed the rule of abrogation, which states that wherever contradictions are found, the later-dated text abrogates the earlier one. To elucidate further the original intention of Mohammed, they referred to traditions (hadith) recording what he himself had said and done. Sadly for the rest of the world, both these methods led Islam away from peace and towards war. For the peaceable verses of the Koran are almost all earlier, dating from Mohammed’s time in Mecca, while those which advocate war and violence are almost all later, dating from after his flight to Medina. Though jihad has a variety of meanings, including a spiritual struggle against sin, Mohammed’s own example shows clearly that he frequently interpreted jihad as literal warfare and himself ordered massacre, assassination and torture. From these sources the Islamic scholars developed a detailed theology dividing the world into two parts, Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam, with Muslims required to change Dar al-Harb into Dar al-Islam either through warfare or da’wa (mission).

So the mantra ‘Islam is peace’ is almost 1,400 years out of date. It was only for about 13 years that Islam was peace and nothing but peace. From 622 onwards it became increasingly aggressive, albeit with periods of peaceful co-existence, particularly in the colonial period, when the theology of war was not dominant. For today’s radical Muslims — just as for the mediaeval jurists who developed classical Islam — it would be truer to say ‘Islam is war’. One of the most radical Islamic groups in Britain, al-Ghurabaa, stated in the wake of the two London bombings, ‘Any Muslim that denies that terror is a part of Islam is kafir.’ A kafir is an unbeliever (i.e., a non-Muslim), a term of gross insult.

Muslims must stop this self-deception. They must with honesty recognise the violence that has existed in their history in the same way that Christians have had to do, for Christianity has a very dark past. Some Muslims have, with great courage, begun to do this.

Secondly, they must look at the reinterpretation of their texts, the Koran, hadith and Sharia, and the reformation of their faith. Mundir Badr Haloum has described this as ‘exorcising’ the terrorism from Islam. Mahmud Muhammad Taha argued for a distinction to be drawn between the Meccan and the Medinan sections of the Koran. He advocated a return to peaceable Meccan Islam, which he argued is applicable to today, whereas the bellicose Medinan teachings should be consigned to history. For taking this position he was tried for apostasy, found guilty and executed by the Sudanese government in 1985. Another modernist reformer was the Pakistani Fazlur Rahman, who advocated the ‘double movement’; i.e., understanding Koranic verses in their context, their ratio legis, and then using the philosophy of the Koran to interpret that in a modern, social and moral sense. Nasr Hamid Abu-Zayd, an Egyptian professor who argued similarly that the Koran and hadith should be interpreted according to the context in which they originated, was charged with apostasy, found guilty in June 1995 and ordered to separate from his wife. . . . . .

Are we one step closer to the mark of the Beast? (Hat tip: Houston Sweidman)

The FDA has now approved the Verichip, a small chip that, when placed under the skin, allows you to be identified by a 16-digit number picked up by a scanner. That number can then unlock a plethora of information about you.

Apply this to Bible prophecy for a second. Under the Antichrist’s rule, all people will be required to take the “mark of the Beast” in order to buy and sell. Not that long ago, this kind of tracking and identification system would have seemed impossible. Not so today with our advanced technology and the invention of technologies like the chip. In fact, it’s already been suggested that these chips could be used as a debit card, allowing you to make purchases by simply having the seller scan your chip and debit your account. This could easily be used on a global scale just as credit cards are used around the world. In our end-times scenario, a single purchase would identify you as the enemy.

If you’ve ever thought it seems unlikely that very many people would allow their privacy to be invaded to this extent, consider that a whopping 80% of people polled said they would be willing to have the chip implanted for certain purposes. Keep in mind that this will happen after the rapture, when the majority of the population will probably know little about Bible prophecy, or will have already rejected the Bible as false. As an added incentive, the punishment for not taking the mark will be death. Under these circumstances, it’s easy to imagine 100% support from all but the tribulation saints.

I’m not predicting that the Verichip will be the mark of the Beast. We can’t know for certain when or how that prophecy will be fulfilled. What I am saying is that such a system of government control is more possible and believable now than it ever has been in history.

They’re here. They have FDA approval. But are Americans ready to get chipped?

Getting chipped means having a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip implanted in your body. The chip — about the size of a large grain of rice — lies dormant until a special scanner is passed within six inches of the implant. Then it emits a radio signal that beams a 16-digit number to the scanner.

For security uses, that 16-digit number acts like an electronic key. For medical uses, the number is linked to medical records. Doctors to whom you’ve granted access — emergency room doctors, for example — can use the key to quickly get hold of your medical records.

Who would want such a thing? That depends on how you ask, says Scott Silverman, CEO of Applied Digital, which makes the FDA-approved RFID called VeriChip.

“When we first announced VeriChip, a network poll asked people if they would put one in their bodies,” Silverman tells WebMD. “Only 9 percent said yes. After FDA approval, 19 percent said yes. When former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson joined our board, the rate went up to 33 percent. But our own study shows that if you ask people whether they would have a VeriChip implant to identify their medical records in case of an emergency, the positive response goes to 80 percent.”

The chip got FDA approval in October 2004. Since then, Silverman says, some 2,000 people worldwide are using them for medical or security purposes. But soon he expects that millions of people will get VeriChip implants every year.

Fox News

Here we go again. Another pseudo-Christian denomination voting to condemn Israel for protecting itself from terrorism. When was the last time you heard of a vote to condemn suicide bombings that target Israeli civilians? Or, a condemnation of the Palestinians who launch rockets at Jewish settlements? Unfortunately, you’ll probably never hear it.

I believe there is a great deal of support for Israel among Christian denominations. I know these liberal, anti-Semitic churches are the minority, even though several are mainstream denominations. But, once again, the majority is a silent one. Ben and I have come across people quite often who, upon learning that we’re Christian, automatically assume we’re anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian. It saddens us that, when Jewish friends go to our website, they’re always surprised to find out we’re pro-Israel Zionists. I hope more Christians will speak up for the majority so we don’t continue to be lumped in with anti-Semitic, Biblically ignorant groups like this.

The general assembly of the Disciples of Christ has adopted a resolution calling for Israel to dismantle its West Bank security barrier, passing the measure by a clear majority on Wednesday in a vote that was postponed by a day.

Although amended slightly before the vote, the resolution was nearly identical to the one adopted earlier this month by the closely related United Church of Christ. As in that case, the Simon Wiesenthal Center was among the most vocal of Jewish and Christian groups calling for the church to dismiss the resolution. On Wednesday, it expressed its extreme dissatisfaction at the vote’s outcome.

“The resolution is an abomination,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “It is shocking and depressing that a vanguard of social activism like the Disciples of Christ would be so blind and deaf to Jewish suffering,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

After speaking with many of the delegates to the general assembly in Portland, he added, “I believe that this does not represent the grassroots members” of the Disciples of Christ church. And we in the Jewish community need to see that it does not become representative of them.”

The center had arranged for Tzippi Cohen, a survivor of the Cafe Hillel bombing in Jerusalem in 2003, to address the assembly before the vote, but the Disciples of Christ denied her that privilege in a late schedule change.

“I have no doubt that had theses delegates seen the human face of the victims of Palestinian terrorism, the outcome could have been much different,” Cooper said. . . . . . . . .

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Jerusalem Post

As the Gaza withdrawal nears, Rabbis, students, families, and angry Israeli’s are still infiltrating Gaza to stand in solidarity with their brethren, who face yet another raising of their homes and deportation. Many protesters are staying with families, some are staying in bomb shelters (the safest place when in Gaza), and others are staying in old buidlings or wherever there is room. They’ve come to support those who are hurting, and pray for God’s protection. As one Rabbi explained, they aren’t there to commit violence, but to stand with their fellow Jews.

“The newspapers make it seem like all these crazy protesters came here to live and start trouble,” he said. “Really, people in this community came peacefully to study Torah and show solidarity. We don’t have a violent thing about us.”

Violence, however, is not far off. Hamas is still firing an average of 3 mortars and rockets a day. At least five rockets and eight mortars were shot at Katif this week, two in Nezer Hazani.

The religious Jews staying in Gaza, when asked what they will do when told to leave, don’t believe the evacuation will happen. Judging by history they may be right. God has been watching over the Holy Lands.

Lutz [a Rabbi staying in Gaza] explained, “Everyone in power who tried to give up the land of Israel failed and was forced from the government. In 1979, with the Sinai it was different because that was not part of Israel.

“But [Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin failed with Oslo. [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu [who negotiated the Wye River Accords to give contiguous territory to the Palestinians] lost his government. Barak failed completely [after offering the Palestinians Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the eastern section of Jerusalem at Camp David.]

“So too, this plan will not go through. No one, not even Sharon, can take the land of Israel from the people of Israel.”

While Jews are planning their stand against the IDF, Hamas is using it’s official radio station in Gaza to broadcast instructions to terrorists in the field, and direct the firing of mortars and rockets at Gaza’s Jewish communities. I’m sure you haven’t seen mention in the MSM of the 120 rockets launched at Gaza settlements just in the past week. That’s because it’s only terrorism when an American or European is injured or killed.

With Hamas broadcasting their targets and ordering rocket and mortar attacks on 106.7 FM, complete with military instructions, you would think it would be quite easy for the Palestinian Authority to track down these terrorists and put a stop to their daily attacks. But, why should they? As the AP consistently reports, Israel has already broken the cease fire agreement and left it in tatters by killing a few terrorists in retaliation. Thus, the media has declared the cease fire dead and freed up Hamas to continue attacks with wild abandon.

Hamas’ broadcast schedule also included a sermon encouraging solidarity with the Jihadists in Iraq and praised the attacks on Americans and the British. Now, THAT should count as terrorism. After all, it’s American’s not Jews. Threats against America or Europe are worthy of investigation, right? *crickets chirping*

WWII death camp uniforms for pullout

Some residents of the northern Gaza settlement of Elei Sinai said Thursday they planned to wear Nazi concentration camp prisoner uniforms when security forces evacuate them from their homes during the disengagement. The striped uniforms, which were to include yellow Stars of David with the word “Jude” sewn on to the lapels, have already arrived. Those who plan to wear the uniforms are angered that Sharon has done little to provide a life for them after the evacuation.

But protest organizers are hoping to see many settlers join them, Itzik Gabai, one of those spearheading the protest, told Army Radio.

“I can’t find any difference between what is happening to us now and what happened then [during the Holocaust],” said Gabai.

He said the government has not offered any housing solutions for the settlers, except temporary campsites.

“The Sela [Disengagement Administration] directors have come out with different announcements that there is a solution for every settler,” said Gabai. “I don’t see any solution – they haven’t provided any solution.”

Israel Plans High-Tech Barrier Around Gaza

If the Jews in Gaza are successfully thrown out of their homes, Sharon has already drawn up plans for protecting Israel from the very terrorists he’s rewarding with land and a more strategic position from which to launch rockets.

Israel is increasing security at its border with the Gaza Strip in anticipation of next month’s withdrawal, the army said Thursday, disclosing details of a high-tech complex to ring the coastal strip with what it hopes will be the world’s most impenetrable barrier.

The barrier system will surround Gaza with fences, electronic sensors, watchtowers mounted with remote-control machine guns, and hundreds of video and night vision cameras, the military said.

In the West Bank on Thursday, Israeli forces killed an Islamic Jihad activist in an arrest raid, the military said. Soldiers surrounded a house in the village of Shufa and ordered everyone out. The activist’s father emerged and said no one else was inside, but a dog sent in by soldiers found the suspect, and soldiers killed him.

Army Radio reported he was involved in the July 12 suicide bombing in the nearby city of Netanya that killed five Israelis.

These are the new residents of Gaza, and this is what’s required to live next to them. I’ll never understand why the Israeli government continues to negotiate with murderers.

After reading the extreme security measures that will be required to protect Israel from Gaza terrorists, consider Vice Premier Shimon Peres’ recommendation.

Visiting Gaza on Thursday, Vice Premier Shimon Peres called for massive international aid to upgrade the crossings for the good of the Palestinian economy.

“We don’t want to leave Gaza and keep Gaza closed. We want to facilitate movement of people and movement of goods,” Peres said during a tour of two of the crossings.

WHAT?!! You need security barriers, fences, watchtowers, sensors, and machine guns to protect yourselves from the animals you invited to live next door, and you want to make the movement of people and goods easier and more convenient for these new neighbors? Is there any doubt who those border crossers will be and what kind of goods they’ll be moving?

And finally, speaking of machine guns, where are all the PA M-16s? That’s the headline of a Jerusalem Post article today.

U.S. Gen. Wm. Ward said he cannot account for thousands of M-16 assault rifles, which Israel gave to the PA. Another official offered no clear way to stop Hamas from getting American aid money.

Israel’s counter-terrorism policy: When hit with a wave of terrorist attacks, rockets, mortars, and suicide bombers, the first step should be to give your enemy your land, your people’s homes and businesses, and easy access across your borders. For good measure, give them your M-16 rifles as well. And don’t forget the humanitarian aid money for Hamas.