Threats of Christmas Terror

Many times I have been confronted by people who tell me that the Bible contains incitement to violence too, and so the Qur'an's incitement to violence is either beside the point or disingenuously one-sided. Among many important and necessary answers to this is the fact that jihad terror exists no matter what evil anyone else may be doing, so it's just irrelevant to invoke the Bible. Another is the empirical fact that when people speak of "Ramadan violence," they generally refer to violence done by radical Muslims, while the common understanding is that "Christmas violence" refers to violence done not by Christians, but to them. There is good reason for this common usage: no matter how politically incorrect the fact may be, there is no global network of Christian terrorists, but there is such a network of Muslims. (There are other essential answers to the question regarding the Bible and the Qur'an, which I discuss at some length in Islam Unveiled.)

A summary of Christmas terror past and present, courtesy Elizabeth Kendal of the World Evangelical Alliance, with thanks to Freedom Now News:

"Christmas 1999: A series of terror attacks planned against Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land and Amman (Jordan) were thwarted.

"Christmas Eve 2000: At around 9 pm, 18 bombs exploded almost simultaneously outside churches in seven cities across central Indonesia, killing 15 people and wounding 96. Another 31 unexploded bombs were recovered.

"Christmas Day 2002: In Pakistan, three girls were killed and 14 believers wounded when two masked men dressed in burkas threw grenades into a church in the village of Chianwala, 65km northwest of Lahore. Explosives were also found near a church in the Pakistan capital of Islamabad.

"Christmas 2003 is equally foreboding:

"* INDONESIA: a Jakarta police chief has warned that intelligence information suggests Jakarta could well be the target of a bombing campaign this Christmas. Police officers will be stationed at more than 240 churches throughout Jakarta and its suburbs.

"* IRAQ: intelligence indicates that Iraq also may experience major terror attacks over Christmas, although reports admit it is unclear what the targets might be.

"* ITALY: security will be increased at some 8,000 major Christian sites in Italy, including St Peter's Square, after a warning from Mossad (Israeli Intelligence Service) that there was a 'high index of probability' that 'an important symbol of Christianity' would be the target of a terror attack between Christmas and New Year. The Via della Conciliazione, the main road leading to St Peter's Basilica, will be closed every night until 25 December, a precaution officials say was unprecedented.

"* SRI LANKA: the situation in Sri Lanka is extremely tense due to the death last week of the prominent and much revered Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Ven. Soma Thero, a champion of Buddhist nationalism. He was in Russia receiving an award at the time of his death. An autopsy revealed he suffered a fatal heart attack. However, Sri Lanka's 'Supreme Council of Monks' has called for his death to be investigated, saying they suspect foul play. Sri Lankan media have speculated there is a Christian conspiracy. According to the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (EASL), tensions are running so high that churches across the nation are postponing Christmas celebrations. Ven. Soma Thero's funeral will take place on 24 December, Christmas Eve. EASL is requesting prayer for the nation."

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The other salient difference is that while comparatively few Christians read the Old Testament without subordinating it to the New Testament and comparatively few Christians take the Bible as both literally true and as a blueprint for the social order, it is dominant, mainstream and emphatic Muslim teaching that the Quran, every word of it, is a direct and infallible revelation from God Himself via the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammed. For Christians, the Book is a witness to Christ; for Muslims, the Book is the equivalent of Christ: the incarnation of God in Word made, not flesh, but language.

Stephen is basically right. One might also mention that just as the Bible contains an order of revelation (putting it very simply, NT abrogrates OT in places), so too the Qur'an has an order of revelation - there are verses which abrograte others.

The problem is that the newer verses are the more violent ones and these abrogate the "peaceful" ones. I get very disappointed when I hear people saying "Islam is a religion of peace" and then citing what any half-decently-educated Muslim knows is a verse that is now redundant. The classical exegetes (e.g. al-Tabari) recognised, for example, that the "Sword Verse" (Q. 9:5) abrogates dozens of previous "peaceful" verses.







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