Book-burning is not Christian

The extent to which some parts of the media seem to be determined to blow up the significance of an obscure man's threat to burn a Koran is extraordinary. Why, I wonder? It's been a running news item even here in Kenya.

Here is a helpful response from Colin Hart, director of the Christian Institute: "Book-burning is not Christian"

The exception that proves the rule...

I can't help noticing, but...

• If a church (though as you look into this one, it seems to be a personality cult around the leader) threatens to burn another religion's holy book, then it's a major international news event for a week, and presidents past and present will be commenting on it.
  

But...

• When other religionists burn down Christian-owned businesses, homes and churches (not books), on a regular basis (as happens in several countries), it rarely makes the news at all.

Should we conclude anything from this? Just asking...

Recent Changes in Christian Approaches to Islam

A new and worthwhile paper from the Barnabas Fund - "Recent Changes in Christian Approaches to Islam".

Apostacy From Islam

Did you know...

All schools of Islamic law specify the death sentence for an adult male Muslim who chooses to leave his faith. Most give the same punishment for women. The law also imposes many other penalties on apostates, and provokes powerful hostility towards them amongst Muslims.

And did you also know...

But change is possible. Some liberal Muslim scholars have argued that the apostasy law should be abandoned, so that people can leave Islam without fear of reprisals. In late 2009 a group of mainstream Muslim leaders in Britain asserted that “people have the freedom to enter the Islamic faith and the freedom to leave it”. These voices will be strengthened by non-Muslims also calling for repeal of the law.

Learn more about Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo's latest book which is on this topic, here.

The Islamic Law of Apostasy - The Barnabas Fund's Campaign For Its Abolition

I commend to you... The Islamic Law of Apostasy: join our campaign for its abolition

"Islam: at war within itself"

Very informative piece from the Barnabas Fund, here.

Support for Algerian Christians

"Algeria has seen a sharp rise in official and unofficial discrimination against Christians over the last few months. Since the beginning of this year, some 20 churches have been closed; many of them have been operating officially for many years. There have also been numerous arrests of Christians, often on questionable charges."

Read more and what you can do to help here: http://www.barnabasfund.org/email/email.php?id=193

The I-word

You surely worked out that the answer to Monday's question was...

Amongst all the blaming of "male relatives", "the Saudi establishment", "the government", etcetera, the BBC report in question (whether following the lead of the organisation "Human Rights Watch" or not, I don't know) somehow, somehow, somehow managed to not even question as to whether Saudi women being denied their human dignity and treated by as children might be something to do with their Islamic beliefs. Inexplicably, the BBC managed to not even mention Islam at all in the article.

On the same day the BBC also ran a story about how Islamic scholars were proclaiming Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, was rightly proclaimed by the Koran as the centre of the world. Yet the Koran didn't even get a footnote in the explanation of why Saudi women are treated as second class citizens. Go figure...

Patrick Sookhdeo on Islam in Britain

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo is a leading authority on Islam and movements within present day Islam.

Christian TV internet provider Premier TV features an interview with Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, in "Off the Shelf" with Victoria Laurence. The interview discusses Patrick Sookhdeo's new book "Faith, Power and Territory" and focuses on the issue of Islam in Britain today and how it will impact British society now and in the future.

Link here.

What's wrong with this picture?

Read this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7358448.stm

What's the elephant in the room that the BBC and/or Human Rights Watch somehow, somehow, somehow, didn't notice?

Radical Islam's Threat to the Western World

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, a former Muslim, is one of the most knowledgeable and recognised authorities on Islamic theology and practice in the world today.

Recently he spoke to "Focus on the Family" in the US on the theme "Radical Islam's Threat to the Western World". You can get the Internet audio stream from here:

Part one: http://listen.family.org/daily/A000000880.cfm

Part two: http://listen.family.org/daily/A000000881.cfm

Christianity and Islam

In October 2007, the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan issued a signed statement on behalf of 138 Muslim clerics, titled "A Common Word Between Us and You".

Just over a month later, over 300 Christian scholars signed a reply, drafted by Evangelical Christians at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, "Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian
Response to `A Common Word Between Us and You`"

The Barnabas Fund, which works on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Islamic world, was very disturbed by the reply. You can read their response to the Muslim document here:

http://www.barnabasfund.org/news/archives/article.php?ID_news_items=342

And their response to the Yale reply:

http://www.barnabasfund.org/email/email.php?id=94

Both links above are very informative for understanding more about the methods used by Muslim scholars in addressing inter-faith issues, which undiscerning readers will not be aware of.
Because of the "front-line" work they do in hotbeds of Islamic persecution, in contrast with the more relaxed atmosphere that prevails in the academy where the Christian scholars work, the
Barnabas Fund's insights are particularly valuable.