The article below is from MSNBC: It is followed by my own commentary.
AMSTERDAM – A Roman Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands has proposed people of all faiths refer to God as Allah to foster understanding, stoking an already heated debate on religious tolerance in a country with one million Muslims.
Bishop Tiny Muskens, from the southern diocese of Breda, told Dutch television on Monday that God did not mind what he was named and that in Indonesia, where Muskens spent eight years, priests used the word “Allah” while celebrating Mass.
“Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn’t we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? … What does God care what we call him? It is our problem.”
RESPONSE:
OK, let’s get the theology straightened out first. Then we’ll discuss the idiocy. First theology. Then idiocy.
What’s in a name? There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea of one God going by several names. After all, people go by first names, last names, middle names and nicknames. In the Bible God did go by several names but he was always the same person. He was always the same God. And He went out of his way to command that we worship no other god but him. Before the days of Mohammad, Allah was the name of a moon god. That’s because Arabs were once polytheistic. Yes Mohammad taught monotheism but let’s face it: Using the name of a moon god wasn’t getting the new movement off to a very good start.
Now, the Koran teaches that Allah is the same God as the God of the Bible. That is not true and I could prove that is not true even if they used the word “God” instead of the word “Allah”.
The God of the Bible is a trinity. The Koran denies the trinity. The God of the Bible claims Jesus was God. The Koran denies that Jesus was God. The God of the Bible says we can be forgiven of our sins through Jesus. The Koran teaches no such gospel. And very important: The God of the Bible does not command us to go around killing people in the name of religion. The Koran does. Allah is not God. How sad that a Catholic Bishop would not know this.
Now I can just imagine what some of you are thinking: “Bob who are you to say that Allah is not God?” Who do I have to be? I’m just a simple man who is not running for public office, who does not need the help of the United Nations, who does not need to raise funds for some university, who therefore is free to speak his mind. I’m just a simple man who has read what the Bible actually teaches. I have read the Koran as well, cover to cover, and I’m telling you: Those books are not talking about the same God. You’re free to believe what you want. But if you chose to believe they are the same God you have chosen to believe something untrue. It’s just that simple. So much for the theology.
Back to the idiocy. This bishop made an idiotic statement. Does he think that by appeasing Muslims, Muslims are going to stop killing us?
How long will it take before we learn that appeasing terrorists only guarantees more terror? When the allies gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler they were hoping to inspire better relations. Well, they inspired him all right. They inspired him to occupy Austria and attack Poland. After the attack on Poland, England and France declared war on Germany. But a declaration was all they did. They did not in fact wage war. This also inspired Hitler so he attacked France. The allies just couldn’t seem to get their feet in the water so Adolph helped them out a bit.
Evil tyrants see appeasement as a sign of weakness and it is a sign of weakness. They see appeasement as a green light to attack again. And after we give in on one demand, they will always be back with more demands.
Most of the attacks in Israel were done after Israel made some kind of deal with the Palestinians. After they gave back Gaza, Hamas went into Gaza and started firing rockets into Israel. Surprise surprise. I almost fell out of my chair when this happened. And why did 9/11 take place? Because Alchida was led to believe they could get away with it.
But you already knew all of this. You knew it way back in grade school. This phenomenon is as old as the playground bully. Did you ever see a bully appeased?
“Hi…Ah, my mom packed an extra sandwich for you so you won’t have to take mine any more.”
“Oh? Well I’ll tell you what, spazz. Why don’t I just take both sandwiches?”
“Listen you better stop picking on me or you’ll have to see the principal. She’s already written you 16 resolutions. Say, instead of picking on me, let’s get to know each other. I’d like to make an effort to understand you better. Do you come from a dysfunctional family? Was your Christmas last year not as merry as it could have been? Breathe deeply and close your eyes. I suspect that inside your bully facade there’s an inner child trying desperately to get out.”
Yes, that will curtail the bully at your neighborhood school.
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