Islam

After the events of 9-11 and our current battles with Iraq and
Afghanistan it is easy to label all Moslems as terrorists and
discriminate against them. I used to be quite critical of the American
interment of Japanese Americans during World War II, but now I can see
these events in a different light. I have known a few Moslems in my
life and have found them all to be polite, gentle, and reasonable
people. We even had some stay with us during the Idaho Dance Festival.
They were delightful people and we grew to love them. There are Moslems
who have attended BYU-Idaho and I daresay that they observed the code of
honor better than many of the other students.

As a result of their fears and discrimination against Moslems, many
Moslem students and visitors have left the United States. This is sad
because I believe that the main goal of the terrorists was not to
instill fear in Americans, but to make us hate Moslems so that the
Moslems would return to their own countries and not become "corrupted"
by the "great Satan" of America.

Thus to combat hatred and terror we must use love and reason.
Although I do not believe that current Islam is the true religion of the
one God of Heaven, they do have some truth. There is no doubt that most
Moslems are more conscientious about keeping the commandments of God
than the majority of those who profess to be Christians. While it is
true that Mohammed and his followers used force to gain most of their
converts, the people they conquered were mostly Pagan idol worshippers
and at least now they have some knowledge of the true God. There is even
scriptural evidence that foretells the coming of Mohammed and Islam. In
Isaiah 19 the prophet says, "And in that day there shall be an altar to
the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt.. and he shall send them a
savior and a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be
known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day.In
that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria even a
blessing in the midst of the land whom the Lord of hosts shall bless,
saying blessed by Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and
Israel mine inheritance." Whether you call Him Allah, Jehovah, or Jesus,
He is still the same Eternal Being and apparently had plans for all of
the descendants of Abraham, Egypt, and Israel included. America's
support of Zionism is a direct fulfillment of ancient and modern
prophecy. The LDS church even sent the Apostle Orson Hyde in 1841 to
dedicate the land of Palestine for the return of the Jews.

However, those who think that Islam is some benign, idyllic society
should not delude themselves. Just as modern "mainstream" Christianity
has strayed from many of the principles taught by Christ and Peter,
there are elements that have hijacked Islam for their own evil purposes.
There have always been those who would do evil in the name of God. It
was "Christian" ministers who incited the mobs that martyred the prophet
Joseph Smith and his brother and championed the movement to drive some
of my ancestors from Nauvoo. While in the past power hungry men used
Christianity as an excuse to wage war, there is no comparison between
modern Christian leaders to those who presided over the Inquisition. To
compare Christianity's wars of past centuries with the consistent
warring of Islamic nations and armies is like comparing apples to
oranges. The Christian crusades and wars against enemies and those with
different beliefs are miniscule compared to the jihad or holy war waged
by Islam since its inception. Mohammed conquered Mecca not by reason,
long suffering and persuasion, but by the sword. His first act in the
conquered city was to destroy the city's religious icons and statues.
The continued bloody conquest of the Middle East and beyond was carried
out by warriors that were promised a place in paradise if they died for
the cause. By contrast, the vast majority of Christian converts came
through missionary work. The "conversion by the sword" doctrine is still
practiced by many Moslems today. For example, a recent letter from Al
Queda warned of impending destruction if America does not convert to
Islam and stop supporting Israel. I would contend that any religion
that uses force and coercion to gain converts or retain members must be
grouped with the other false religions of the planet. For the God I
know would never force anyone to heaven. As I recall, it was Satan who
first proposed forcing all who came to earth to be obedient thus
guaranteeing all a place in Heaven. In today's Islamic states the
religious laws (or at least the ruler's interpretation of those laws)
are enforced by gunpoint and worse. In the news recently there was a
case of a young woman who was gang raped in Pakistan by Moslem men who
did so in order to punish the woman's family. Tell me what God would
condone such an atrocity?

Moslems seem to have little tolerance for criticism of their religion
or Mohammed as evidenced by the recent riots in east Africa over the
Miss World pageant. I believe there is still a death warrant out for
Salmon Rushdie, a man who published a book which some thought was
critical of Mohammed. My son in Canada on a mission recently had dinner
with a family that converted from Islam. He said the family dared not
tell any of the other members of their extended family about their
conversion to Christianity because under Islamic law they could be
killed. Many times these assassinations are carried out by members of
their own family as was the case of a young girl killed by her Moslem
father in the Midwest a few years ago. The girl's crime was
disobedience to her parents.

Comparing Christianity and Islam today shows that most democratic
Christian nations would rather not go to war, and would only do so to
defend their lives, liberty, rights, and families. Most anti-war
movements are championed by Christian religious leaders. By contrast,
in the Moslem world, many terrorist organizations and states are
supported by or founded by Moslem clerics, ayatollahs, and mullahs.
Hamas, the Taliban, and Iran are all examples of Moslem fundamentalists
who support terror. They loudly condemn the oppression of Palestinians,
yet remain conspicuously silent when despots like Saddam and the Taliban
kill thousands of Moslems, most of whom are their own countrymen. While
swarms of police roam the streets to ensure women are properly veiled,
where is the relentless pursuit of justice to root out terrorists? While
it can be said that most Moslems do not support terrorism, there seems
to be a great tolerance of terrorists in their ranks. Western nations
go out of our way to avoid civilian casualties. The Israeli army takes
great precautions even at the peril of their own lives to prevent the
killing of innocent women and children, while the Islamic terrorists
purposely target helpless women and children, often killing them in
their own homes.

Islamic fundamentalists today still have the same goal of conversion
and domination by the sword, only now they are using bombs and oil as
their weapons. The United States will never bow to tyranny and those
who wish to dominate the world. Just as we fought against the evil
empire of the Soviet Union, we must also stand up and fight against
those who would use God as an excuse to destroy liberty. "Then conquer
we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: "In God is
our Trust!" And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o'er the
land of the free and the home of the brave."

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