Islam's Global War against Christianity

By Patrick Poole

From American Thinker

From Nigeria to Indonesia, Christians are under siege in virtually every single country in the Muslim world, the victims of countless acts of discrimination, depredation, brutality, and murder that are so widespread and systematic that it can rightfully be called the new Holocaust. This time, however, the perpetrators of this Holocaust aren't wearing swastikas, but kufi skull caps and hijabs.

Some of the oldest Christian communities in the world are subject to relentless attack and teeter on the brink of extinction at the hands of the "Religion of Peace": Palestinian Christians in Gaza and the West Bank; Assyrian, Syriac and Chaldean Christians in Iraq; Coptic Christians in Egypt; Evangelical and Orthodox Christians in Eastern Ethiopia and Eritrea; Armenian Orthodox Christians in Turkey; and Maronite Christians in Lebanon.

Several of these communities date back to the beginning decades of Christianity and all have weathered wave after wave of Islamic persecution for centuries and more, but in the very near future some will simply cease to exist. In our lifetime, the only trace of their past existence will be in footnotes in history books (and probably only Western history books at that).

Karl Keating's Appeal for Catholics

Karl Keating, owner of the website www.catholic.com recently sends email to subscribers for an appeal to all concerned Catholics.

His appeal is about Dan Brown's recent attack on Catholic belief in his book the Da vinci Code...


If you thought The Da Vinci Code was bad, wait until you hear about this hateful smear! Receive 5 free copies of Catholic Answers’ new answer guide, Angels and Demons.Details below . . . or click on this link now! http://www.catholic.com/angels.asp

Dear Friend of Catholic Answers,

I’m sure you remember the virulently anti-Catholic, and basically anti-Christian movie, The Da Vinci Code, which infested the world’s movie theaters last year and raked in $758 MILLION at the box office. Although The Da Vinci Code was fiction, it was sold to audiences under the false premise that it was “really true.”Consider these examples of the heresies and blasphemies with which The Da Vinci Code was rife:

* Jesus is not God. He was only a man.

* Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.

* Mary Magdalene is to be worshiped as a goddess.

* Jesus got Mary Magdalene pregnant, and the two had a daughter.

* That daughter gave rise to a prominent family line that is still present in Europe today.

* The Bible was put together by a pagan Roman emperor.

* Jesus was viewed as a man and not as God until the fourth century, when he was deified by the Emperor Constantine.

* The Gospels have been edited to support the claims of later Christians.

* In the original Gospels, Mary Magdalene rather than Peter was directed to establish the Church.

* There is a secret society known as the Priory of Sion that still worships Mary Magdalene as a goddess, and this group is trying to keep the truth alive.

* The Catholic Church is aware of all this and has been fighting for centuries to keep it suppressed and often has committed murder to do so.

* The Catholic Church is willing to and often has assassinated the descendents of Christ to keep his bloodline from growing too large.

Words cannot describe the absurdity of these assertions. You wouldn’t expect any discerning individual to take them seriously. But that’s the problem: apparently there aren’t too many “discerning individuals” around these days.

The Da Vinci Code was taken seriously by millions of gullible people, egged on by the media, which ran news stories and documentaries exploring the premises of The Da Vinci Code.One such “documentary”—produced by ABC and titled “Jesus, Mary, and Da Vinci”—was hosted by a Catholic reporter, Elizabeth Vargas, who basically said, “Gosh, what if these things are true!”Ridiculous?

Yes. But worse. Scandalous! As you know, giving scandal is one of the most serious sins anyone can commit. God does not take it lightly when someone causes one of his children to fall.

That’s why Jesus’ words about causing scandal were recounted in three of the Gospels, when he said:Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matt. 18:6; cf. Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2)

The Da Vinci Code—written by novelist Dan Brown—did indeed give scandal, both as a novel and as a Hollywood movie. The novel sold more than 70 million copies (more than any other fictional work in U.S. history) and has been translated into over forty languages. The movie has been seen by more than 60 million people worldwide. And with every screening, more souls are brought nearer to the point of losing faith in Christianity in general and in the Catholic religion in particular.

You see, all it takes is to plant a seed of doubt—which is what The Da Vinci Code does so cleverly—to shake the faith of weak Catholics, nominal Christians, and anyone who was even considering a conversion.

Dan Brown knows his book is pure fiction, but he doesn’t care. According to the New York Times, Brown has made $250 million off The Da Vinci Code novel. And that’s not counting what he made from the movie. (He was paid six million just for the rights. Tens of millions more ended up in his bank account from movie tickets and DVD sales.) And now he’s going to do it again—with yet another attack on the Catholic Church.

His first novel in this anti-Catholic series (written and published before The Da Vinci Code) is titled Angels and Demons—and it too has become a best-seller because of the media hype over The Da Vinci Code.

Angels and Demons is described as “a science vs. religion thriller set within a Swiss physics lab and Vatican City.”

Whatever.

I won’t go into detail about the plot. But it’s basically another one of Brown’s fictional conspiracy theories—complete with Vatican intrigue, dark secrets, sex scandals, murders, Masons, assassinations, you name it. The only thing he didn’t include is a Keystone Cops chase scene.

I have no problem with mysteries/thrillers. But Dan Brown is trying to slime the Catholic faith to make a buck. And when he leads audiences astray—as he clearly did with The Da Vinci Code—he gets into serious trouble on a moral level.

As I mentioned, God does not appreciate being mocked. Nor does he look kindly on those who cause his children to sin. But again, Dan Brown doesn’t care. He calls himself a Christian—and he claims that his movies cause people to “think,” “debate,” “dialogue,” etc.

He says Christians should “use the book as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith.”Right. But introspection and exploration should be based on fact, not outright fiction. And especially not fiction that blasphemes the Son of God.

Would Brown write a similar novel encouraging “debate” about the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion? Or “exploring” the idea that the Nazi Holocaust never happened?

Would he even live to see another day if he wrote insulting fiction about Mohammed?

No.

So he picks on the easiest target of all: Catholics.

We’re an easy target for several reasons:

1. We don’t fight back like we should; instead, we just hope that this guy will get lost.
   
2. We’re used to being picked on and misunderstood, so we’ve lost our sense of outrage.
   
3. We know we’re right, so it doesn’t bother us when people attack our faith. And
   
4. Many of us don’t know our faith and just clam up and offer zero resistance.
   

We’re easy prey for bullies.But that’s not the case here at Catholic Answers. Not by a long shot.We do defend the faith. And when it gets dragged through the mud (as in The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons), we stand up and fight.

Often, we take the fight to the enemy. And that’s why I’m writing to you today.I need your help to persuade director Ron Howard to decline the invitation to make the Angels and Demons movie. Would you be able to send us a gift of $35.00 or more? Click here. http://www.catholic.com/angels.asp

Howard was the director of The Da Vinci Code—and he’s being wooed to come back and direct Angels and Demons.But it’s not a done deal.Why? Because the critics hated The Da Vinci Code. People were falling asleep during the movie or else getting up and walking out—even at the Cannes Film Festival where it debuted.

Howard is quoted as saying that the overwhelmingly negative reviews were “frustrating” to him. Serves him right, though. Catholics and Protestants alike—by the millions—asked him to take out the anti-Catholic/anti-Christian stuff, and he ignored us.

Apparently he didn’t mind making an anti-Catholic/anti-Christian movie. In an interview with Newsweek, he was quoted as saying, “It would be ludicrous to take on this subject and then try to take the edges off. We’re doing this movie because we like the book.”

The “edges” Howard describes are what the Da Vinci controversy is all about: a deep, dark conspiracy about hiding the true nature of Jesus. But the hit he took for making that movie should tell him that a director of his talent shouldn’t make movies that insult and mock God.

And that’s what we need to communicate to him—before he signs on as director of Angels and Demons—by sending him the enclosed postcard by the tens of thousands.Ron Howard needs to re-think his role as director of another mediocre movie based on a mediocre novel with a controversial, highly insulting, and blasphemous message.

And this time, it’s different.

Howard has been stung by The Da Vinci Code because of the poor reviews it received. Now it’s time to tell him to decline Angels and Demons—if for no other reason than to redeem himself for making The Da Vinci Code.

So right now, I ask that you to mail a postcard to Ron Howard. Tell him as a faithful Catholic, you were offended when he made the anti-Catholic movie The Da Vinci Code, which mocked Jesus Christ and your religion.

Tell him that you understand he is now considering being the director for Dan Brown’s similar story Angels and Demons, which insults the papacy and the Vatican.

Urge him to reject any offer to make Angels and Demons and use his God-given talents to make movies that uplift the good in all of us.

Please send your postcard to

Mr. Ron Howard
c/o Imagine Entertainment
9465 Wilshire Blvd.,
7th FloorBeverly Hills,
CA 90212USA

And then, please send us a gift of $35.00 or more so we can have the funds necessary to do battle against Angels and Demons, which is set to be released right before Christmas of next year. (How convenient.)

Click here now to donate and receive your 5 free copies of Angels and Demons. http://www.catholic.com/angels.aspWe’re going to produce a special report to expose Angels and Demons for what it is: Catholic-bashing of the worst sort. And then we’ll distribute it to parishes across the country in order to alert our fellow Catholics about the danger of this new movie.We need gifts of $35, $50, $100, and even $500 and $1,000 to make that happen. Or else Angels and Demons will do more damage to our people. Please donate now to help with this very important project.http://www.catholic.com/angels.aspWe fight now or regret it later.Please let me hear from you soon.Sincerely in Christ,Karl KeatingP.S. The latest reports in the news media indicate that Tom Hanks has signed on to star in Angels and Demons, as he did in The Da Vinci Code. But apparently it took a really big paycheck. One source says, “It’s the biggest salary ever paid to an actor in the history of Hollywood.”I’m reminded of the question Jesus asked in the Gospel, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?” Answer: nothing.So please pray for Tom Hanks.And send a special gift to Catholic Answers. Click here. http://www.catholic.com/angels.asp

It’s time to fight—and we need your help!

A Muslim Friend's Letter to Slain Father Ragheed

ROME, JUNE 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of a letter written posthumously to Father Ragheed Aziz Ganni by a Muslim friend of his who is a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Father Ragheed and three deacons were shot and killed in Mosul, Iraq, on Sunday after Mass.

* * *

In the name of the compassionate and merciful God,

Ragheed, my brother,

I ask your forgiveness for not being with you when those criminals opened fire against you and your brothers. The bullets that have gone through your pure and innocent body have also gone through my heart and soul.

You were one of the first people I met when I arrived to Rome. We met in the halls of the Angelicum and we would drink our cappuccino in the university's cafeteria. You impressed me with your innocence, joy, your pure and tender smile that never left you.

I always picture you smiling, joyful and full of zest for life. Ragheed is to me innocence personified; a wise innocence that carries in its heart the sorrows of his unhappy people. I remember the time, in the university's dining room, when Iraq was under embargo and you told me that the price of a single cappuccino would have satisfied the needs of an Iraqi family for a whole day.

You told me this as if you were feeling guilty for being far away from your persecuted people and unable to share in their sufferings …

In fact, you returned to Iraq, not only to share the suffering and destiny of your people but also to join your blood to the blood of thousands of Iraqis killed each day. I will never forget the day of your ordination [Oct. 13, 2001] in the [Pontifical] Urbanian University … with tears in your eyes, you told me: "Today, I have died to self" … a hard thing to say.

I didn't understand it right away, or maybe I didn't take it as seriously as I should have. … But today, through your martyrdom, I have understood that phrase. … You have died in your soul and body to be raised up in your beloved, in your teacher, and so that Christ would be raised up in you, despite the sufferings, sorrows, despite the chaos and madness.

In the name of what god of death have they killed you? In the name of which paganism have they crucified you? Did they truly know what they were doing?

O God, we don't ask you for revenge or retaliation. We ask you for victory, a victory of justice over falsehood, life over death, innocence over treachery, blood over the sword. … Your blood will not have been shed in vain, dear Ragheed, because with it you have blessed the soil of your country. And from heaven, your tender smile will continue to light the darkness of our nights and announce to us a better tomorrow.

I ask your forgiveness, brother, for when the living get together they think they have all the time in the world to talk, visit, and share feelings and thoughts. You had invited me to Iraq … I dreamed of that visit, of visiting your house, your parents, your office. … It never occurred to me that it would be your tomb that one day I would visit or that it would be verses from my Quran that I would recite for the repose of your soul …

One day, before your first trip to Iraq after a prolonged absence, I went with you to buy souvenirs and presents for your family. You spoke with me of your future work: "I would like to preside over the people on the base of charity before justice" -- you said.

It was difficult for me to imagine you a "canonical judge" … And today your blood and your martyrdom have spoken for you, a verdict of fidelity and patience, of hope against all suffering, of survival, in spite of death, in spite of everything.

Brother, your blood hasn't been shed in vain, and your church's altar wasn't a masquerade. … You assumed your role with deep seriousness until the end, with a smile that would never be extinguished … ever.

Your loving brother,

Adnam Mokrani
Rome, June 4, 2007
Professor of Islamic Studies in the Institute for the Study of Religion and Culture,
Pontifical Gregorian University


Original text: Arabic. Translation by ZENIT.