The graffiti said “Infidels!,” which is clear enough, along with “Qur’an 3:151” and “Qur’an 19:88,” which is not mentioned in this article.
3:151 is “We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve for what they have associated with Allah of which He had not sent down [any] authority. And their refuge will be the Fire, and wretched is the residence of the wrongdoers.”
19:88 is “And they say, ‘The Most Merciful has taken a son,” and the following verse makes it clear that this is not good: “You have done an atrocious thing.“
So on the face of it, this is Islamic anti-Christian polemic against the Christian idea of Jesus as the Son of God, along with an unmistakable hint of menace: “We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve.”
So if Muslims painted this graffiti on these churches, I hope they are found before they end up going on jihad — although usually if someone issues a threat like this, he is otherwise harmless, having spent his jihad impulse on spray paint. However, I am not at all sure that Muslims are behind this. Muslims generally don’t refer to Qur’an verses in this fashion; they more often refer to them by the name of the chapter and then the verse number, so that they wouldn’t say “Qur’an 3:151” but “Ahl e-Imran 151,” and not “Qur’an 19:88” but “Maryam 88” or “Surat Maryam 88.”
This is not always the case, of course, and if the graffiti artists were Muslims they might have chosen to write the citations that way so that they’d be easier for Infidels to look up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this graffiti turned out to have been painted by some non-Muslims, in a misguided attempt to draw attention to the reality of the jihad threat and how jihadis target Christians. If so, it was stupid, as it only serves the spurious campaign of Islamic supremacists and their Leftist enablers to portray any opposition to jihad terror as a victimization of the Muslim community: they claim that Muslims are being unfairly victimized by counter-terror efforts, in an attempt to end those counter-terror efforts and enable jihad terror to advance unopposed. If this turns out to have been done by non-Muslims, Hamas-linked CAIR and its allies will claim that it was an attempt to vilify Muslims, and the reality of the jihad terror threat will again be buried beneath an avalanche of politically correct nonsense about “Islamophobia.” Fr. Marcotte, obviously a USCCB company man, is already thinking along those lines below, when he asks: “Is this someone that’s trying to incite people against Muslims?”
Meanwhile, note the absurdity here: “‘We condemn this, and I read the verse, most importantly what that showed me is the ignorance who actually misquoted or misinterpreted the Quran,’ resident Nassim Khaled, a volunteer at a local Islamic center.” But these Qur’an verses were neither quoted nor interpreted, much less misquoted and misinterpreted. All that was painted on the churches was the verse numbers. Nassim Khaled appears anxious to divert people from the literal meaning of the verses that the graffiti artist invoked. If only he could divert the Islamic jihadists.
“3 Columbus churches vandalized with graffiti overnight,” WTHR Channel 13, August 31, 2014 (thanks to all who sent this in):
COLUMBUS, Ind. – Columbus Police said they’ve never had anything like it – three churches vandalized in the same night.
Someone spray painted them on the outside. It’s the words used, though, that have some people asking if this was more than a prank.
“It was just one word. It said ‘Infidels!’” Father Doug Marcotte said of what was spray painted on Saint Bartholomew’s Catholic Church in Columbus overnight Saturday.
Parishioners saw that, along with the word “Qur’an 3:151” on their way into mass Sunday morning.
“It’s certainly not a warm and fuzzy verse. It talks about the infidels, their refuge being the fire,” explained Father Marcotte.
Specifically, that passage of the Qur’an reads: “We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve for what they have associated with Allah of which He had not sent down [any] authority. And their refuge will be the Fire, and wretched is the residence of the wrongdoers.”
Saint Bartholomew’s wasn’t the only Columbus church vandalized.
“It’s really bizarre and the fact that they hit two other Christian Churches. It’s not like we’re all in a line. So why did they pick the three of us,” asked Father Marcotte.
Outside East Columbus Christian Church and Lakeview Church of Christ, members there found the same kind of graffiti Sunday morning.
“Is there somebody that really believes this that we’re all infidels so they felt the need to write it all over our church? “ asked Father Marcote. “Is this some sort of nasty prank? Is this someone that’s trying to incite people against Muslims? I mean I don’t know,” he added.
Columbus Police said they’re looking at surveillance video to help figure it out.
Until they do though, parishioners at Saint Bartholomew’s have been unsettled by the defacing of their church, at the very least.
“There’s a lot of bad stuff being done in the name of Allah and so when people see this happening in Columbus, whether that was truly the person’s intent or there’s something else going on, It makes people nervous. It makes people upset. It makes them scared,” said Father Marcotte.
Columbus police would not comment on whether they had alerted federal authorities to the vandalism because of its nature. The priests at Saint Bartholomew’s said they’ve been contacted by members of the local Muslim community in Columbus who have condemned the vandalism and offered to help clean it up.
Liz says
This is my hometown and I am furious that this is getting swept under the prayer rug and written off as teen vandalism. This is a hate crime and terrorism against Christians.
Emilie Green says
Initial police assessment,
~Christian churches only tagged
~Tag lines are of Koranic verses
~Those verses speak of terror directed towards non-Muslims
~Muslims (males especially) are known to be hostile to any religion, actually any thing or concept, which is not Islam
ASSESSMENT: NOT A HATE CRIME – REPEAT, NOT A HATE CRIME.
All Department Personnel to move this case file to the Inactive Section.
Copy of Assessment Report to Bishop McManus
Jay Boo says
True that we don’t yet know if this was a Muslim.
But we do know that Muslims not only treat women as property but also their god.
This is understandable because Allah is nothing but an excuse using cheap stage-prop invented by Muhammad.
Whoever did it might have realized that writing “Qur’an 3:151″ and “Qur’an 19:88,” would have a more immediate reaction from non-Muslims.
Let us hope that the coexist ‘inter-faith crowd’ wakes up.
Jay Boo says
Is Indiana a no sharia law state?
Lanny Camden says
Reading the verse I see they used the Q and the apostrophe in the name. They took care to do so. Most who twitter and use the name in America like to write KORAN. But there is no doubt that it could be rumblings of what is coming. The Koran is very specific of what to do with those like me who would refuse to join a false religion like Islam.
If you can truthfully respond to this question you can see the difference. Who has the greatest favor and inheritance with the owner of the house and property? The rude servant who works for the owner or the legitimate SON whom the FATHER loves and trusts. This question will separate the teachings of the Koran from the Bible.
ibn Muslim says
So Allah is Christ? Christ does not have a son…
gravenimage says
The repulsive ibn Muslim wrote:
So Allah is Christ? Christ does not have a son…
……………………….
Clearly *this* pious Muslim has no problem with the idea of his fellow Mohammedans threatening Christians and vandalizing their churches.
Instead, he is just out to emphasize the tenets of his violent creed.
AnneM says
God does have a Son and His name is the Lord Jesus!
Kepha says
Ibn Muslim:
The Word of God is coeternal with the Father, and became flesh for our salvation. For us, the unity of God is a living richness (something like how a man and his wife are one flesh). You, however, who believe in an uncreated Qur’an, are the one guilty of shirk, not us.
Jaladhi says
“There’s a lot of bad stuff being done in the name of Allah and so when people see this happening in Columbus, whether that was truly the person’s intent or there’s something else going on, It makes people nervous. It makes people upset. It makes them scared,” said Father Marcotte.”
This guy doesn’t know what is he talking about – “lot of bad stuff being done in the name of allah”!1 Has he ever read Quran – this bad stuff is from direct order by allah and that is why pious Muslims carry it out. Will do him good if comes out of PC induced slumber before talking!! Muslims do most heinous crimes and yet these people of no guts to call spade a spade!! Yellow belly cowards!!
Anon says
Churches should not have to, but should, install high-res IR-capable security cameras to help fight such vandalism and indeed crime in general. Perimeter alarms can alert/text building managers nearly instantly these days. I mean, MOSQUES all across the country are going high-tech. We don’t “want” it to be this way but we are in the early stages of defense against physical Jihad and therefore we must make use of technology.
Of course, it will require the work, action, and awareness-initiates of NON-Muslims to correct such vandalism, threat, and physical Jihad in society, while “moderate” Muslims stand asise and spout forth deception and apologetics.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MUSLIMS AND MOSQUES IN THAT AREA PAY FOR, AND OFFER TO INSTALL, SECURITY CAMERAS AND A PERIMETER ALARM SYSTEM FOR THAT CHURCH.
Davegreybeard says
@ Robert Spencer
“…I wouldn’t be surprised if this graffiti turned out to have been painted by some non-Muslims, in a misguided attempt to draw attention to the reality of the jihad threat and how jihadis target Christians. If so, it was stupid…”
In this extremely rare instance Robert, I respectfully disagree.
ANYTHING that gets a fair sized group of Christians off their asses and prompts them to read threatening passages in the Quran is a good thing.
What will inevitably follow are lengthy discussions of the true meaning of these passages. This will also lead SOME in the group to additional reading, and discussion of the Quran and Islam. All of this is EXACTLY what we need much more of.
I wish these churches were close by, because I would stand out front after services and hand out the leaflets that I have written on Islam, Muhammad and the Quran. What a perfect opportunity to shed a little light on the Devils own religion, Islam.
Consider what is happening in the news, with ISIS and very public beheading of Americans. I believe as a Nation, some of us are finally starting to pay attention. It is time to put relevant passages of the Quran in the faces of our fellow Infidels – NOW, before they doze off again.
And yes I agree with you that it’s probably better than even odds that it was Infidels who did this. Even if so, like the Boston Tea Party, it’s a good thing.
gravenimage says
davegreybeard wrote:
I wish these churches were close by, because I would stand out front after services and hand out the leaflets that I have written on Islam, Muhammad and the Quran. What a perfect opportunity to shed a little light on the Devils own religion, Islam.
………………………..
Dave, it may not do any good, but it *might*—why don’t you contact the churches and see if they will make your leaflets available if you send them?
http://www.saintbartholomew.org/
St. Bartholomew Catholic Church
1306 27th Street
Columbus, IN 47201
I couldn’t find an email address, but here’s their phone number:
812-379-9353
Besides Father Marcotte their site lists a Reverend Clement Davis as Pastor.
Here’s Lakeview Church of Christ:
http://www.lakeviewchurchofchrist.org/contact-us.html
Lakeview Church of Christ
4040 N 150 W
Columbus, IN 47201
Phone number:
812-376-6361
And email:
information@lakeviewchurchofchrist.org
They have individual contact people and their phone numbers on their contact page.
All I found for East Columbus Christian Church is their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/East-Columbus-Christian-Church/250080795093023
Hope this is helpful.
gravenimage says
This is not always the case, of course, and if the graffiti artists were Muslims they might have chosen to write the citations that way so that they’d be easier for Infidels to look up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this graffiti turned out to have been painted by some non-Muslims, in a misguided attempt to draw attention to the reality of the jihad threat and how jihadis target Christians…
……………………………..
This is one of the very few times I disagree with Mr. Spencer.
I think there are far more threatening Mohammedans out there than there are sneaky Counter Jihadists.
As for the phrasing, if they had just written the Sura, I doubt that *any* of the Infidel readers would have had the slightest idea what they were talking about, and the threat would not have worked as well.
More:
Meanwhile, note the absurdity here: “‘We condemn this, and I read the verse, most importantly what that showed me is the ignorance who actually misquoted or misinterpreted the Quran,’ resident Nassim Khaled, a volunteer at a local Islamic center.”
……………………………..
Just laughable—how can the mere reference of a Sura be a “misinterpretation”?
Even more absurd, of course, is the idea that a citation is “misquoted”.
The rhetoric from Muslim apologists has gotten so knee-jerk. But then, do many of the Infidels even notice?
More:
“Is there somebody that really believes this that we’re all infidels so they felt the need to write it all over our church? “ asked Father Marcote. “Is this some sort of nasty prank? Is this someone that’s trying to incite people against Muslims? I mean I don’t know,” he added.
……………………………..
Good grief. Notice that the very first thing this dhimmified individual thinks is not that this is likely a Muslim threat—but instead the work of some ‘Islamophobes’ out to ‘make Islam look bad’…
After all, pious Mohammedans are committing genocide against his fellow Christians in Nigeria, Sudan, and the Islamic State, and are selling his sister Christians into sex slavery in those places—and he is instead fretting that someone is “trying to incite people against Muslims”.
Madness…
Kepha says
I hope this gets a lot of American Christians aware of what Islam truly teaches, and fires them up for mission and evangelistic outreach to Muslims. May there be tens of millions of Rifka Bary’s in American Islam’s future.
I’d also like to know which churches, and how their people take these acts of vandalism.
As for the “hate crime” angle, I’d say they should just hold the police department’s feet to the fire and make some arrests and prosecutions for old-fashioned vandalism. I think the whole “hate crime” meme is just privileging the clients of Leftist politicians. Then again, some Muslim Yoots (especially if they’re of color) being prosecuted for a “hate crime” will probably end with a Federal Judge striking down the whole concept in a fit of panic when he realizes that it can be turned on the Left, too.
CogitoErgoSum says
Is a Daniel necessary to read the writing on the wall? There is no doubt that for each of us our days are numbered, but let us not be weighed upon the scales and be found wanting. Let us be proud of being called infidels by those who would divide and conquer us while remaining united and ever faithful to the One in whom we place all our trust.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_writing_on_the_wall