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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, PO BOX 13, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AL, Northern Ireland. Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net |
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‘PRESIDENTAIL PERSPECTIVES’ Could Bush learn from Lincoln? |
It has become a feature in recent years for American Presidents to host a dinner in the White House for prominent Muslims to mark the end of the month of Ramadan and October 2005 was no exception. The full text of what President George W Bush said can be viewed on http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051017-5.html but in an edited report of his remarks he is quoted as follows –
‘Ramadan is the
holiest time of the Muslim year. According
to Islamic teaching, this month commemorates the revelation of God's word to
the Prophet Muhammad in the form of the Koran. For more than a
billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of heartfelt prayer and togetherness. It is
a time of fasting and personal sacrifice. It's a time to give thanks for
God's blessings through works of charity.
America is
fortunate to count such good-hearted men and women among our fellow citizens. We have
great respect for the commitment that all Muslims make to faith, family, and
education. And Americans of many backgrounds seek to learn more about the rich
tradition of Islam. To promote greater understanding between our cultures, I
have encouraged American families to travel abroad, to visit with Muslim
families. And I have encouraged American families to host exchange students
from the Muslim world. I have asked young Americans to study the language
and customs of the broader Middle East. And
for the first time in our nation's history, we have added a Koran to the White
House Library. (Applause.)
All of us
gathered tonight share a conviction that America must remain a welcoming and
tolerant land, in which our people are free to practice any faith they choose. We reject
every form of ethnic and religious discrimination. As I said in my second
Inaugural Address, we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage
of bigotry at the same time.
We also share
a common hope for the future -- that our children and grandchildren will grow
up in a safer and more peaceful world. Delivering on that
promise to future generations requires action from our generation. We must
stand confidently in the cause of freedom -- including the freedom of people
everywhere to practice their faith in peace. We must also firmly oppose all who
commit evil in God's name. I am grateful to the Muslim nations that have joined
our coalition in the war on terror -- including many nations that have been
victims of terror themselves.
As we work
together to defeat the terrorists, we must be very clear about the enemies we
face. The killers who take the lives of innocent men, women, and children
are followers of a violent ideology very different from the religion of Islam.
These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder
against anyone who does not share their radical vision, including Muslims from
other traditions, who they regard as heretics.
As we
celebrate this special Iftaar (fast-breaking), we renew
the ties of friendship that bind all those who trace their faith back to God's
call on Abraham. We recognize the many hopeful works we have
achieved together. We look forward to learning more from each other in the
years ahead.
I'm so grateful that you
joined us today. I wish you a blessed
Ramadan, and may God bless you all’. (Applause).
This
‘edited report’ arrived with me at just about the same time as I received an
article written by Abdullah Al-Araby, the author of the booklet ‘Islam
Unveiled’ – this booklet is available from us at the price of £3.50 [includes
post and packaging]. The article written by Abdullah Al-Araby is
entitled ‘The Islamisation of Europe: America take note before it’s too
late’. [Copies available from me upon request].
Herewith
are extracts from Abdullah Al-Araby’s report and please note how they
stand in complete contrast to the perspective of Islam expressed by George W
Bush.
‘It has been said, “Those who ignore the lessons of history are
bound to repeat them.” … When the topic of the serious ramifications of the
Islamic invasion of America comes up, few people register sufficient concern…
Our government and our entire population would be wise to look, listen and
learn from what countries in Europe are suffering as the result of unchecked
Islamic population growth… The Muslim population of Europe is now estimated to
be around twenty million strong… The price tag for naively permitting that
degree of growth has proven to have dire consequences…
Naive
and good-hearted Americans often complain and cite various reasons for
rejecting any suggestion that the growth of Islam should be a point of
concern. They figure, why criticise
other religions? Why can’t we all just
live and let live? Surely, civilised
societies should pride themselves on tolerance towards those of other beliefs
and grant freedom of religion to all citizens.
No one should care about how or what others worship, as long as they
worship peacefully. Another test is
whether or not a religion infringes on the rights of others. Islam misses on both counts. It’s not peaceful because at various
junctures it infringes on the rights of others to worship as they choose. Once it gains dominance, it is totally
intolerant of other religions… The thing that makes Islam different is the fact
that it is more than a religion. Islam
is a political, social, and economic way of life, cloaked in religious
garments… Full compliance brings the promises of rewards in this life and in
the hereafter. Non-compliance dictates harsh punishments both here and in
eternity. As a result many Muslims are
willing to kill and to die for the cause of religious fervour. These factors,
combined with Islam’s inherent tendency to violence, make it difficult for it to
co-exist in society with other religions…
Islam
is never satisfied to be one religion among many. It has to be supreme - the one and only. “the
(only) religion (acceptable) before God is Islam.” Surah 3:19 Within Islam, freedom of religion is
never an option. Allah says, “If anyone
desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him.” Surah
3: 85.
Domination
is the name of the game. Islam’s
objective is to obtain influence superior to that of all other religious
groups… Omar M. Ahmed, chairman of the board of CAIR (Council
on American-Islamic Relations) said once at a banquet, “I urge Muslims
not to shirk their duty of sharing the Islamic faith with those who are on the
wrong side.” He added, “If you choose to live here [America],
you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam. Islam isn’t here
to be equal to any other faith but to become dominant.”…
Bat
Ye’or is a history expert on the subject of
“dhimmitude;” how Islam treated the People of the Book, Christians and Jews,
throughout history. She originated
the term “Eurabia” to underscore the growing influence of Islam in
Europe. In a recent article titled, “How
Europe Became Eurabia” she states: “Beyond a fleeting
awareness, the overwhelming majority of Europeans and Americans do not
understand the new Eurabian entity, which is only the first step in a steady
progression toward its Arabisation and Islamisation’… The Islamisation
of Europe becomes more obvious as time goes by. Thanks to the Saudi funds,
beautiful mosques are erected in large cities…
Some
Christians dismiss concerns about the possibility of Europe becoming Islamic
before the end of the century as unrealistic and pessimistic. It must be remembered, however, that most
Islamic countries of the Middle East were once Christian. Christianity was
completely eradicated from many of these countries, while some still have just
a symbolic presence. It is rather naive
to presume that the same could not happen to Europe. There is a lesson that
America must learn from Europe’s experiences with Islam… That which is
happening to our brothers and sisters across the Atlantic is subtly in progress
at this moment in America.
What a
contrasting assessment of Islam [from that of President Bush] and its influence
upon society by one who knows Islam from intimate first-hand experience and
study. As for the Koran having been added to The White House Library – could
you imagine the President of Israel honouring the SS by adding a
copy of ‘Mein Kampf’ to the Knesset library – it just wouldn’t
happen! Perhaps you think that’s an unfair comparison but ‘Mein Kampf’ was
the written justification for the Nazi’s ‘final solution’ and the
Koran is the written justification for those Muslims who carry out their
sickening attacks upon ’infidels’ and Christians in particular. In the Koran, Sura 47:4 ‘When you meet the unbelievers in the
battlefield strike off their heads’ is the text used to justify the Muslim
practice of beheading non-Muslims. A few weeks ago in
Indonesia the following atrocity [reported by Associated Press] took place -
Unidentified assailants attacked a group of high school
girls on Saturday in Indonesia's tense province of Central Sulawesi, beheading
three and seriously wounding another, police said. The students from a private
Christian high school were ambushed while walking through a cocoa plantation in
Poso Kota subdistrict on their way to class… the heads of three
victims were found several miles from their bodies. Two were left near a police
station and another in front of a newly built Christian church… the
wounded student told police that there were six masked attackers who were
wearing black shirts. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, but
Central Sulawesi has a roughly equal number of Muslims and Christians. The
province was the scene of a bloody sectarian war in 2001-2002 that killed
around 1,000 people from both communities. At the time, beheadings, burnings
and other atrocities were common.
I want now to return to the title of this
article and explain the sub-heading of
Could
Bush learn from Lincoln?
Shaun Willcock, in his book “Holy
War” Against South Africa, which charts the history of
that once great Evangelical/Christian country that was eventually brought to
its knees by a concerted coalition comprising Rome, Apostate Protestant
churches in the World Council of Churches and the Marxist terrorists of the
ANC, writes the following on pages 25-26 –
‘While religious liberty is the best course a
government can pursue, it being the work of the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin
and of false religion and draw them to Christ, and not any government’s duty to
make one denomination the “State Church”; yet it is the government’s duty to
protect its citizens from those who are dangerous to the well-being of society.
[Observation by Cecil - This government duty is clearly outlined
in Romans 13:1&3] The Roman Catholic institution in general
and the Jesuits in particular are dangerous to the well-being of any society,
as history has proved…Let anyone who doubts this ponder carefully the words of
the American President, Abraham Lincoln who was assassinated by a man under
orders from the Jesuits. Lincoln said:
“Till lately I was in favour of the unlimited
liberty of conscience as our constitution gives it to the Roman Catholics. But
now, it seems to me that sooner or later, the people will be forced to put a
restriction to that clause towards the Papists. Is it not an act of folly to
give absolute liberty of conscience to a set of men who are publicly sworn to
cut our throats the very day they have their opportunity for doing it? Is it
right to give the privilege of citizenship to men who are the sworn and public
enemies of our constitution, our laws, our liberties and our lives?…Is it
not an absurdity to give to a man a thing which he has sworn to hate, curse and
destroy? And does not the Church of Rome hate, curse and destroy liberty of
conscience whenever she can do it safely? I am for liberty of conscience in its
noblest, broadest, highest sense. But I cannot give liberty of conscience to
the Pope and to his followers, the Papists, so long as they tell me, through
all their councils, theologians and canon laws, that their conscience orders
them to burn my wife, strangle my children and cut my throat when they find
their opportunity” [Source of quote: ’50 years in the Church of
Rome’ by ex-priest Charles Chiniquy – page 503 of the Protestant Literature
Depository; London 1886 Edition or pages 300-301 of the Chick Publications 1985
Abridged Edition].
Perhaps you may think these allegations against Rome are without
foundation or in today’s language somewhat ‘over the top’. If that is the case
then consider these quotations cited by Dr Loraine Boettner in his
scholarly book entitled Roman Catholicism. Dr Boettner wrote on page
426 –
‘Dr Marianus
de Luca SJ [Jesuit!] Professor of Canon Law at the Georgian
University in Rome, said in his Institution of Public Ecclesiastical Law, with
a personal commendation from pope Leo XIII, in 1901:
“The Catholic
Church has the right and duty to kill heretics because it is by fire and
sword that heresy can be extirpated. Mass excommunication is derided by
heretics. If they are imprisoned or exiled they corrupt others. The only
recourse is to put them to death. Repentance cannot be allowed to save
them, just as repentance is not allowed to save civil criminals; for the
highest good of the church is the duty of the faith, and this cannot be
preserved unless heretics are put to death”
The official
newspaper of the large Roman Catholic diocese of Brooklyn, New York, The
Tablet, in its issue of November 5, 1938 declared:
“Heresy is an
awful crime…and those who start a heresy are more guilty than they who are
traitors to the civil government. If the state has the right to punish treason
with death, the principle is the same which concedes to the spiritual authority
the power of capital punishment over the arch-traitor to truth and Divine
revelation…A perfect society has the right to its existence…and the power of
capital punishment is acknowledged for a perfect society. Now…the Roman
Catholic Church is a perfect society and as such has the right and power to
take means to safeguard its existence”.
Rome’s
bloody history of persecutions and killings would have been well known to
Abraham Lincoln so his reservations about affording Roman Catholicism unchecked
liberty, particularly the activities of the Jesuits, were well founded. In my
own lifetime there has been a shameful attempt by the Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association to shield the general public from the truth of Rome’s murderous
track record. Dave Hunt in his book ‘A Woman Rides the Beast’ wrote
on page 391 –
‘So eager are many evangelicals to work with Catholics that they
accept Rome’s self-serving revision of history without checking the facts for
themselves…Even well-meaning evangelical organisations and leaders at times
have suppressed the facts in order not to offend the Catholics whom they hope
to evangelise. Wilson Ewin gives a classic example:
The BGEA [Billy Graham Evangelistic Association] acquired the
printing rights [for a special edition] of…the classic Henry H Halley Bible
Commentary entitled Pocket Bible Handbook…[It] described [Rome’s]
martyrdom of millions…[In its 1962 Billy Graham Crusade Edition] the Graham
Association…removed all these pages [Source
of quote: ‘Today’s Evangelicals Embracing the World’s Deadliest Cult’ by Wilson
Ewin – page 57].
The same deletions were made from the additional special Crusade
editions in 1964 and 1969. As a result, readers were denied dozens of pages of
vital historical fact. These pages recited the evil of some of the popes as
well as Rome’s persecution and slaughter of Christians for centuries even
before the Reformation’.
Again
perhaps you’re thinking that all that sort of persecution is a thing of the
past and doesn’t happen today. The Evangelical
Times of August 1988 carried this report – ‘A prominent Mexico
City newspaper has quoted a Roman Catholic priest who says he believes
Protestant ‘sects’ should be compared to the AIDS disease because “AIDS destroys
the defence of an organism against illness; thus the ignorance of the faithful
in regard to the doctrine of God leaves them exposed to the attacks of…the
sects”…The most scathing attacks were directed at the Summer Institute of
Linguistics (Wycliffe Bible Translators)’.
In
a report written by Victor L Simpson of The Associated Press that was
published 25th January 1999 in The Monitor [McAllen,
Texas] it was stated that ‘A million faithful packed a dusty Mexico City
racetrack Sunday to hear a call to arms from Pope John Paul II – a summons to
take to the streets and confront the challenge of Protestant evangelism…John
Paul urged his audience to ignore the seductions of what he called ‘fallacious
and novel ideologies’ and to spread the word of the church’.
In
the light of such ‘war-mongering’ sentiments should it really then be a
surprise to anyone to read this report that appeared in the British Church
Newspaper of 16 September 2005 – ‘Native mobs in Mexico’s Jalisco state
have driven Christians from their homes and threatened to burn them to death.
One of the few refugees who was able to speak Spanish, Jesus Nunez Carrillo
told La Jornada newspaper on 19 August “Catholics of the town went through
the community with machetes and clubs, shouting they were going to kill us and
burn us alive”. The town leaders have insisted that if the Huichol
Christians wish to return to Agua Fria, they must renounce their faith and
return to native traditions and rites – such as drinking liquor and using
hallucinatory peyote – which are practised alongside Roman Catholic customs…The
refugees are temporarily housed in the Seventh Apostolic Church of Tepic, whose
Pastor is Jesus Estrella Candelario. The threat of being burned to death
especially alarmed them as last February traditionalists set fire to the
house of Agua Fria evangelical Hermelinda Vazquez de la Cruz. Barely
escaping with her children, she suffered severe burns on her back, which now
require her to use a walker’… More than 10 Huichol Christian leaders went
to Agua Fria on August 16 to meet with town authorities. But upon arrival, they
were driven away when townspeople shouted, “Get out, get out, get out”!’
When
we look at the hostility of Rome over the centuries towards faithful
Christians, we are reminded of the truth found in Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the
Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” – some things cannot
and will not change and that applies to Rome’s fixed and determined opposition
to the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
President
Abraham Lincoln recognised the totalitarian nature and the true intent of Roman
Catholicism and so he issued that soundly based caveat against ‘giving the
privilege of citizenship to men who are the sworn and public enemies of our
constitution, our laws, our liberties and our lives’. If he were alive
today to witness the dynamic growth and influence of Islam in the Western ‘free
world’ then I believe he would issue a similar caveat about granting ‘the
privilege of citizenship’ to Muslims because he would see in Islam a
totalitarian nature and a true intent identical to those he had discerned in
Roman Catholicism.
In
his speech in the White House to Muslims in October 2005 President Bush
demonstrated his lack of such discernment and in fact he echoed the foolish words
of his spiritual mentor, Billy Graham, who some years ago
said in interview with David Frost that “We [Christians} are
a lot closer to Islam than we think we are”.
President
Bush could learn a lot from President Lincoln when it comes to evaluating the
danger posed by the growing presence and influence of Islam in his country. But
then, he hasn’t even learnt from the wise words of President Lincoln of the
similar danger posed to the USA when it comes to Roman Catholicism.
On
Saturday 12 November 2005 the new USA Ambassador to the Vatican, Francis
Rooney, presented his credentials to Pope Benedict XVI. In his address Mr
Rooney said –
Your
Holiness,
I have the distinct honour to present to you my credentials as Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy
See. I wish to extend warm greetings from President George W. Bush and the
American people. I am grateful to President Bush for the opportunity to
represent him and my country to the Holy See. It is a particular privilege to
be the first American ambassador of your pontificate…
The United
States looks to the Holy See as a partner in efforts to spread peace, encourage
democracy, and to defeat terrorism. This task will require long-term efforts
among like-minded partners to overcome the intolerance and hatred that lie at
the heart of those determined to spread terror. From the moment of the 2001
terrorist attacks against the United States, the Holy See has been a consistent
voice in condemning religiously inspired terrorism…
Your
Holiness, I believe the United States of America and the Holy See share a
mutual respect and common goals. I am confident we will succeed in our
determined efforts to bring our world the gifts of peace, justice, freedom,
economic opportunity and democracy -- for all.
Thank you
Your Holiness.
In
closing, let me state that whilst both Rome and Islam have sought to and still
seek to enlarge their influence in this world by both the threat of and the use
of violence that is not how Christians should seek to counter the designs of
both Rome and Islam. Unlike them, for Christians, “the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of
strongholds” [2 Corinthians 10:4].
Pastor John MacArthur
in his Study Bible comments on this verse ‘The metaphor [used
by Paul] would have been readily understandable to the Corinthians since
Corinth, like most ancient cities, had a fortress [on top of a hill south of
the city] in which its residents could take refuge. The formidable spiritual
strongholds manned by the forces of hell can be demolished only by spiritual
weapons wielded by godly believers – singularly “The sword of
the Spirit” [Ephesians 6:17] since only the truth of God’s Word can defeat
satanic falsehoods. This is the true spiritual warfare. Believers are not
instructed in the New Testament to assault demons or Satan but to assault error
with the truth. That is our battle’.
Let
us today resolve, just as Paul encouraged young Timothy, that we will “endure
hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” [2 Timothy 2:3] so that “we
may please him who hath chosen us to be soldiers” [2 Timothy
2:4].
Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 16 November 2005