Jason L. Miller is the Director of Campaigns and Development at the Franciscan Action Network in Washington, D.C. One might think such a person would be minimally honest, but alas, no.
Follow his link attached to his claim that Muslims in the U.S. have been “killed just for being Muslim.” It goes to a Washington Post story from February 28 entitled “The mysterious ‘execution-style’ killings of young men in Indiana.” It says this about the victims: “Local outlets described the victims as Muslim, but Darfur People’s Association founder and vice president Motasim Adam, who visited with the families Saturday, told the Associated Press that Omar and Tairab were Muslim and Mekki was Christian.” And: “Rusty York, the city’s public safety director, told WPTA-TV that investigators do not think the killing was motivated by the victims’ religious affiliation. ‘Hopefully, you know, we’ll be able to focus in on exactly what the reason was, but as I said before, no reason to believe this was any type of hate crime, or focused because of their religion or their nationality whatsoever,’ he said.”
The Post story goes on to note that Ibrahim Hooper of Hamas-linked CAIR was on the case, and Muslims on social media were claiming that the murders were motivated by anti-Muslim hatred, but there was no evidence for this whatsoever — just an assumption by the usual victimhood-mongers. Miller accepts their version uncritically, without even bothering to note that one of the victims was Christian or that a city official said it wasn’t a hate crime.
Miller’s piece just goes downhill from there. More below.
“The ugly reality of Islamophobia (and how Catholics should stand up against it),” by Jason L. Miller, Catholic News Agency, June 28, 2016 (thanks to John):
As a Catholic, I’ve found the recent headlines about our Muslim brothers and sisters in the United States to be quite troubling. People are being kicked off of planes for speaking Arabic or for doing mathequations, and in some instances, are even killed just for being Muslim. And the 2016 election has only seemed to stoke the fear of American Muslims.
It’s actually noteworthy that the only link Miller can find to substantiate his hysterical claim that Muslims in the U.S. are being killed for being Muslim goes to a questionable case in which the victims weren’t even all Muslim and were found in a house associated with all sorts of crimes. This in itself illustrates that Muslims in the U.S. aren’t really in danger, aren’t really being killed, and that claims to the contrary are politically motivated and manipulative.
Politicians have always been quick to demonize “the other” be they Latinos, immigrants, the LGBT community, or Muslims. But somehow this year seems different. Islamophobia has been on the rise in recent years and the 2016 election has done American Muslims no favors.
Miller is as shifty with his links as Cathy Young. His link for “Islamophobia has been on the rise in recent years” goes not to hate crime statistics (which wouldn’t establish what he wants), but to a story about a professor giving a lecture about the supposed hatred the West has always had for Islam.
The Bridge Institute at Georgetown has noted that since the primary season began last March, there have been 180 anti-Muslim attacks in the US. There is no doubt that hate crimes against Muslims are on the rise. And despite the recent horrific attack in Orlando having no evidence yet to a direct link to ISIS, it’s inevitable that Islamophobic rhetoric will only increase because the shooter was Muslim.
Miller doesn’t bother to inform you that Bridge Initiative is a Saudi-funded entity designed to further the “Islamophobia” narrative; nor does he tell you that the concept of “Islamophobia” itself was developed in order to intimidate people into thinking it wrong to oppose jihad terror. The Bridge Initiative report to which he links is full of the usual fudging of the facts, such as its inclusion as an anti-Muslim hate crime the murder of two Muslims in a Florida convenience store. An Arab-American News story about those murders states: “Detectives say the motive appears to be robbery, despite some cries that it could’ve possibly been a hate crime” — and if it had been a hate crime, Arab-American News would have been all over it.
Meanwhile, note Miller’s sleight of hand regarding the Orlando jihad massacre: Miller says there is “no evidence yet to a direct link to ISIS,” but he doesn’t bother to tell you that the murderer himself, Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. He completely ignores the ideological affinity between ISIS and Mateen and dismisses the massacre on the basis of the likelihood that there was no actual contact between the killer and the Islamic State.
The whole of Miller’s article tiptoes around the elephant in the room: Islamic jihad terrorism. In his disingenuous scenario, some people were attacked by people who happened to be Muslims, and in response, racist xenophobes are demonizing and victimizing Muslims. Jihad terror? Pah! Muslims are just victims of gratuitous hatred!
Anecdotally, the Islamophobia and fear that American Muslims are feeling across the country is even worse than immediately after 9/11. I heard one story from a colleague that Muslim school children in Fairfax County, Virginia eat lunch alone in the bathroom because they’re so afraid and bullied.
How likely is this hearsay story to be true? Well, consider this: do you think school administrators would allow it? Do you think the school district would allow it? It’s beyond preposterous, especially in today’s politically correct climate.
And while all Americans, no matter their religious persuasion should be concerned about violent attacks across the globe, the vast majority of Muslims worldwide have condemned such attacks and despite the media portrayal, many have spoken out publicly. In fact, the first targets of the so called Islamic State are Muslims who end up becoming refugees fleeing from the war and persecution in the Middle East….
The condemnations — Miller doesn’t tell you — have not been backed up by any action to teach young Muslims why they should reject the ISIS/al-Qaeda understanding of Islam. The targets of the Islamic State are Muslims because they are considered to be apostates for rejecting the Islamic State’s authority — and execution of apostates is supported by all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.
It’s easy for many Americans to forget that Muslims are part of the Abrahamic tradition just like Christians and Jews. Muslims lift up many of the same messages of the Bible, celebrating the lives of Mary (who has her own chapter), Jesus (who is mentioned twenty five times), and many of the Old Testament prophets. And while Muslims are currently being demonized by some politicians, pundits, and media outlets, all Americans must not forget the history of our own country: there have been times when Irish, Greeks, Chinese, and many other groups were demonized for being “the other.”
Miller doesn’t tell you that the Qur’an repeatedly denies that Allah has a son and says that those who believe in the divinity of Christ are unbelievers (5:17, 5:72), and that those who say Jesus is the Son of God are accursed (9:30). Nor does he tell you that the Qur’an commands Muslims to wage war against Christians and subjugate them under Islamic law (9:29).
As people of faith, there are ways that we can support our Muslim brothers and sisters. Refugee Welcome dinners are being planned across the United States on June 20th ahead of World Refugee Month. You can join or plan one in your own community or join a similar initiative with Shoulder to Shoulder who are conducting interfaith Iftar dinners during the month of Ramadan. At the Franciscan Action Network, we’re part of a coalition of national Catholic advocacy organizations who are taking action. But there’s an even simpler action that each of us can take in support of our Muslim neighbors.
Catholics are being bamboozled into ignoring the impossibility of distinguishing jihadis from peaceful refugees by tendentious and dishonest articles like this one.
Now is the time for all Americans to speak out. We are better than the politicians and pundits who espouse bigotry and make Americans fear one another for being different. Though there is fear of violent acts worldwide, we must realize that American Muslims are fearful too, not just of terrorism but of what those in places of privilege and power might say or do to them because of their religion. As fellow Americans, as people of faith, and as allies of American Muslims it’s up to us to speak out against Islamophobia and fear in whatever form it manifests. Quite simply Islamophobia is wrong and to remain silent would be immoral. We are our brothers and sisters’ keepers and we must stand together against bigotry and Islamophobia, before it’s too late.
Even to the point of civilizational suicide, apparently.

pdxnag says
They too must share a desire to criminalize the horrible terror of, gasp, blasphemy. (A call to end Islamophobia includes a ban on saying, or even thinking, anything negative about Islam — and further to make Islam officially sanctioned as good, notwithstanding it’s many calls for violence against unbelievers.)
jihad3tracker says
I will save your typing fingers the effort of clicking on Robert’s link to the article above. The direct web path is:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column/the-ugly-reality-of-islamophobia-and-how-catholics-should-stand-up-against-it-3559/
THERE IS A COMMENT SECTION AT THE BOTTOM. PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO INJECT A BIT OF REALITY — AND MENTION HOW THIS IS BEING SHREDDED AT JIHADWATCH.
GIVE A LINK BACK TO HERE IN YOUR COMMENT.
billybob says
There are several excellent and lucid comments there. The commenters have really done a fine job.
CrossWare says
All professional religious organizations are looking toward approaching the new consumers the ever growing cancer: Islam. Let’s face facts. The number of church goers are dwindling, more people became atheist or just figures out one can be spiritual without feeding a big religious administration. (I am not talking about here a single preacher who could be a great guy, a cornerstone of your community). These “businesses” looking for new opportunities and Muslims are a perfect new customers. They are fanatics, anyone tries to leave are killed (or have to hide). They are blindly follow instructions from their religious leaders etc. . First they just support Islam by giving legitimacy to this CULT to suppress the voices trying to bring attention to the fact that Islam is a political system and bent on world domination. Once the islam conquered their host countries these religious organizations will change too and their “priests” will become imams. As a business person would say they are”restructuring for new business requirements”.
Ed Lee says
I disagree that the number of church goers is dwindling. I live in the northern portion of Los Angeles County (the Mojave desert). The population in the area is about 300,000. In the past 10 years there have been at least 5 new churches built (of various Christian denominations), each with membership of more than 1000. Each of these new facilities is a multimillion dollar structure. There is no decrease in the parishioners or tithing. I have relatives who live in Fayetteville, Arkansas. To describe that as the buckle of the Bible Belt is an understatement of massive proportions. Again, no diminishing of Christians there. Every one of these Christians I have met is very open and outspoken about their mistrust of Muslims due to the dualism and split personality of Islam.
Morton Doodslag says
On a hunch, I looked up “Jason L. Miller” & “gay” & “Catholic”, and got pages of articles on this topic. Jason Miller appears to write lots, and he’s cited lots, and usually glowingly, about gays within Catholicism, and he seems to chime in whenever the current Pope opines on homosexuality.
Perhaps this one likes the “boys like pearls strewn before you” in Allah’s whorehouse upstairs… Or perhaps he’s just another post-modern Social Justice Warriors cloaking his radicalism and his agenda in religious disguise.
b.a. freeman says
i, too, was once too lazy to examine islam. i, too, thought that islam was “just another religion,” and didn’t want to waste my time investigating a bogus worldview with which i already disagreed as a born-again christian. there is a large and growing muslim population in a nearby city, however, so i decided that i needed to learn about islam in order to be able to reach out to them. imagine my horror when i discovered that muhammed was a monster and that the ancient islamic conquests were just preludes to modern ones on the way!
i feel slightly justified in my ignorance of islam; yes, i was willfully stupid, and yes, i swallowed the bull taught as history in schools, but i also trusted the leadership of the nation to be on the lookout for threats to the nation’s safety. those who lead us who do not examine a potential threat are incompetent at best, and may possibly be traitorous if they wish to use the chaos introduced with islam to seize control of the State. in neither case do they deserve to be in leadership positions, nor do ordinary citizens deserve to be put into danger by their inept/traitorous actions.
AnneCrockett says
If Muslims are eating in the bathroom, it is likely because they do not want to fast during Ramadan and are scared of their co-religionists
Angemon says
Uh-oh – there goes the BLM movement…
IQ al Rassooli says
Dear readers
“As a Catholic, I’ve found the recent headlines about our Muslim brothers and sisters in the United States to be quite troubling. ” so said this despicable Pretend Christian who it is obvious knows as much about Islam & Christianity as a PIG’S knowledge of the science of personal HYGIENE!
Let me Enlighten him and JW readers about what Muhammad, his Quran & Muslims think of Christians & Christianity.
Allah is NOT the God of the Bible
I would like to put the readers on notice that although I may sound outrageous, bombastic, self assured and maybe even racist to the Politically Correct and Quran clueless dim wits, I only ask that you read the following carefully and thereafter I dare anyone prove anything I reveal as either deceptive or untrue.
To demonstrate to all of you that I only deal with the Truth, the Whole Truth and nothing but the Truth, I have over the last 12 years backed up my revelations with challenges worth 1.5 million $$$ to anyone who can prove that I have deliberately Deceived, Misled or Contorted anything. So far, I have not lost a Dime because no human being on Earth can ever debate me these subjects and wins!
Let me now start with the FACTS. All of 80% of none Muslim humanity (Christians Buddhists Hindus Jews Atheists Agnostics Pagans etc) called Kuffar/ Infidels is faced with the most existential danger to their freedoms and life by only one group of people on Earth:
Fundamentalist Muhammadan Muslims with or without Weapons of Mass Destruction as 911 had proven.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are only two ways that I know of to destroy a belief system
1. By fighting everyone who believes in it to extinction
2. Or by Proving to all decent, fair minded thinking people that beyond a shadow of a doubt based entirely upon the very scripture of the Muslims that Islam is based entirely on lies hence completely discrediting it in public and not a single believer can defend it
Please be aware that the whole structure and edifice of Islamic belief stands or falls upon a single dogma: that the god of Muhammad and Muslims called Allah is the same as the God of Jesus Moses & Abraham called YEHWEH.
Hence, by proving beyond a shadow or even a reasonable doubt – based entirely on the Islamic records – that Allah is NOT God and most assuredly NOT the same as the God of Jesus Moses and Abraham, then Muhammad is proven to have been a Pathological Liar and not a prophet and his Quran is most definitely NOT divinely inspired thus forever devastating the fiction that Islam is an Abrahamic revealed Religion.
Ladies and gentlemen, according to all religious beliefs, the attributes of God are: Forever existing, all knowing, all powerful or Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent.
I shall now proceed to prove that Allah the god of Muhammad and Muslims is utterly clueless and hence most definitely NOT the same as the God of the Bible based to start with on ONLY two of the most important verses in Muhammad’s Quran that completely and totally contradict the Christian Gospels.
Case 1:
Muhammad’s Quran states in Al Maida 5:46 “And in their footsteps We (Allah) sent Jesus the son of Mary confirming the Torah (Law of Moses) that had come before him: We sent him (Jesus) the Gospels (Ingil) therein was guidance and light and confirmation of the Torah that had come before him….”
Let me explain the inherent implications of this verse so please listen carefully~
First
Allah the god of Muslims proclaims in perfectly clear Arabic that it was he who revealed the Taurat/ Torah or the first five books of the Bible comprising Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy to Moses.
Second
This same verse also asserts that it was Allah the god of the Muslims who also revealed the Gospels/ Injil (all four Gospels) to Jesus after confirming Allah’s revelations to Moses.
Dear listeners, anyone with two brain cells of logic who knows the New Testament would also know that the Gospels were NEVER revealed to Jesus by anyone since they were written 50 to 100 years AFTER Jesus was dead and resurrected.
Hence I raise the simplest of questions: How is it possible for Allah – if Allah were the same as the omniscient God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus – NOT know this fact?
How could the angel Gabriel, the alleged messenger of Allah – who 620 years earlier predicted the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah, the redeemer of humanity – deceive Muhammad with such a blatant lie?
Allah therefore cannot possibly be the same as the God of Jesus Moses and Abraham.
I Rest my Case 1.
Case 2:
Muhammad’s Quran also affirms in Al Nisa 4:157 “ They said “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary the Apostle of Allah”; but they killed him not nor crucified him but so it was made to appear to them and …. for a certainty they killed him not…”
As I had already demonstrated in Case 1, the Quran declares that it was Allah who revealed the Gospels to Jesus and we know for a fact that this is not true BUT let us for an instance be the Devil’s advocate by willingly allowing this utterly stupid and false lie to be accepted as fact.
I recapitulate that in Case 1 Allah asserts that he revealed the Gospels/ Injil to Jesus BUT anyone having read the Gospels would also know that all four Gospels assert that Jesus DIED on the Cross and was Resurrected on the third day thus fully and totally contradicting Allah’s present revelation.
Dear listeners, there is absolutely no margin of error either linguistically or logically regarding the meaning of these verses.
These anomalies, absurdities and discrepancies in Muhammad’s Quran demonstrate that Allah the god of the Muslims has not only shown an incredible lack of knowledge of his own earlier statement but has in the Second case totally CONTRADICTED himself from the First!
Once again I would like to point out to you the OBVIOUS; if Allah were the same as the omniscient God of Jesus, Moses and Abraham – how is it possible that he was deceiving Muhammad or being in such blatant error?
Moreover, Muhammad’s Quran with this single verse obliterates the whole concept of Christianity because without Death and Resurrection, there is no Christianity.
Furthermore, every verse in Muhammad’s Quran depicting a Biblical character or story CONTRADICTS the original in the Torah the very Torah that Allah repeatedly asserts he revealed to Moses in the first place. Hence Allah cannot under any logical circumstances be the same as the God of the Bible
Since the above cases prove that Allah is NOT God and most definitely not the same as the God of the Bible, one has to come to the only possible following conclusions:
That no god called Allah and no angel called Gabriel ever revealed a single verse of the Quran to Muhammad because every single letter, word, verse/aya and chapter Sura in the Quran is the product of Muhammad’s imagination, the secretions of his WARPED mind, but very cleverly projected into the unsuspecting mouths of Allah and Gabriel to give them the aura of sanctity and divinity.
To achieve spectacular results in defeating and completely discrediting Islam as a religion in a short period of time and without war, all the TV, Radio and Newspapers in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia should reveal these facts and more and challenge the foremost Imams and clerics of Islam to refute them in public debates.
Moreover, an extremely important corollary to the above revelations based on the fact that Allah is not God and Muhammad’s Quran is utterly false, those Muslims who may start questioning their indoctrination especially among the young men will also realize that every single so called ‘martyr/ Shaheed’ who had died for the last 1400 years and will continue to die in the future in JIHAD for “the cause of Allah/ Qital Fi Sabil Allah” would not ever enjoy the Eternal Carnal, Sensual & Sexual pleasures deceitfully promised by Muhammad in his Whorehouse version of Islamic paradise with the 72 virgins.
These revelations alone when they sink in the brains of otherwise Indoctrinated Muslims will help turn thousands if not millions of them away from Islam.
Ladies and gentlemen, in about ten minutes, I have utterly discredited Muhammad as a prophet and the alleged divine origin of his Quran based entirely upon their UNGODLY ‘Holy Quran’.
We now arrive to the following very simple but draconian conclusions:
Islam is NOT a religion but a CULT belief system, the Cult of Muhammad. Therefore, Muslims are not entitled to any privileges that true religions are entitled to.
Hence no Mosques, no Madrasahs, no Hijab, no Niqab and no Sharia should ever and under no circumstances be allowed to take root in any none Muslim country and those that exist should be closed down.
For those readers who are in shock, I can and have already proven that Allah is not the same as the God of the Bible in at least 20 more cases from Muhammad’s Quran without even touching the Hadiths.
Any of JW readers who want to transmit this article to others, please do so with my blessing as long as nothing is altered from the original
IQ al Rassooli
Kafir & Proud!
Gary says
Outstanding IQ al Rassooli!! Outstanding!!
However; why do I get the sense, that no matter how many people transmit your article – WORLDWIDE – the blind Liberals will continue to refer to Quran as “The Holy Quran” and mohammad as if he’s second to none. The West seems Hell Bent on not offending muslims while exposing countless millions of men, women and children to the threat of extinction.
IQ al Rassooli says
Hi Gary
Until the second part of the 20th century Muslims called Muhammad’s Quran “The NOBLE Quran” as translated from Arabic “Al Qurn al KARIM”
Then the Muslims – as always- very slily, deceptively and deliberately MISTRANSLATED it to Holy Quran to EQUATE it with the Bible
This is part and parcel of what I call STEALTH Jihad (very slowly but deliberately) putting forth ideas and concepts that sound COMPATIBLE with Western thought but in reality they are introducing SHARIA
The WORST enemies of the American & European peoples are our leftist Media, Academia, Politicians & Clergy who continue aiding and abetting Muslims by literally ignoring all Facts & Reality because they do NOT know how to deal with Islam & Muslims
That is WHY the majority of them are attacking Donald Trump whose voice about the existential THREAT posed by Islam to Judeo-Christianity is the only SANE one so far
Mark my words that irrespective of what these clueless criminally negligent Elites will say or do, millions in Europe and the USA are WAKING UP to this threat and are going to OVERTURN the current leaders by voting them out of office and replacing them by what the leftist media call “Rightist parties”. Watch what will happen in Austria’s next election to start with
Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are egregiously GUILTY of TREASON for not allowing anyone in the Intelligence and Military to EVER associate Islam & Muslims with TERROR!
IQ al Rassooli
Kafir & Proud!
Thomas Mccray says
Excellent article, this in itself should wake up any thinking person, even uninformed muslims or Christians, but as someone else wrote, liberals will blindly, find their way around even rock solid evidence such as this, because it doesn’t fit their narrative and whatever their purpose is to promote the protection of islam and also with the things the pope has been saying lately about Yeshua(Jesus), ‘failing’ on His first mission to earth and on the cross and that He must have most definitely ‘sinned’, because the pope said ‘we’ must presume that Yeshua must have begged Joseph & Marys forgiveness for staying at the temple after they had left, because He was doing His fathers buisness, very strange statements, that go against what the gospels teach, between islam, all the other false religions and false deceived ‘ practitioners’ of Christianity, there is a need, more than ever of true, spirit filled, born again, intelligent, believers to counter all this worldly deception! Time must be short and all true believers hope and pray that it is, so that our True King will straighten this demonic mess out, as only He can! Amen!
Gary says
Wait?! Who said anything about Islamophobia?
It’s workplace violence remember?!
It’s just a boy building a clock.
It’s all about gun control.
It’s remove any reference to Islam in F.B.I. protocol.
It’s ….. Who We Are.
Richard Paulsen says
He could preach in the muslim World instead. To respect Christians.
Richard Paulsen says
As a Christian speak out against Christianophobia.
Idania says
Jason Miller, your ignorance is really overwhelming. Do you know what Islam is? Read their history. Get informed, did you know that they have declared. A Jihad war against the West? You don’t know anything and you are talking about Islamophobia? What about our own country war on Christianity? You don’t know anything of anything. You are in a blah blah crusade to confuse some people. By the way, are you on drugs? That will kind of excuse your stupidity.
Jack Holan says
This Franciscan is not out of step with the Francis Church. They are are 1.theologically in contempt of their Faith if they embrace a Faith that not only denies their faith but plans to stomp it out forever. 2. Therefore The Pontiff, respectfully is out of his mind and those who follow him. They are the ones who should be forced to retire not Benedict
Polk1970 says
Are The Franciscans the same as The Jesuits in this SURRENDER to Islam?
WillG says
Just one small problem for foolish – and dangerous – Christians who insist on defending Islam… Yes, Muslims are taught that Jesus did exist. But for them, as there is no Christian God, only Allah, who had no children, Jesus (or Isa) was not the son of God, but HUMAN. He was just another prophet like Muhammad, and a MUSLIM prophet at that. The Qoran teaches that he was not crucified, but when he died he was taken up to Paradise by Allah. Worse still, at the End of Days, Muslims believe that this Isa will return to Earth, not as the saviour of Christian mankind, but as a radical Muslim who will “break crosses” and enforce Islam on every living being. When this is done, he will die and be buried next to Muhammad. It is incomprehensible that any Christian can stand side-by-side with Muslims, knowing that they reject everything that their religion is based on.
Thomas Mccray says
Excellent! It always makes you wonder if any person who speaks so ignorantly of islam is just plain stupid or actually has a bigger agenda behind their ‘ignorance’?
Richard Paulsen says
Who is worse? Those from Mid-East coming with islam to the non-Muslim World? Or those here allowing?
eduardo odraude says
I left this comment at the website where Miller’s article appears:
Wellington says
Well done, eduardo.
Wellington says
Roman Catholicism is at a critical juncture whereby the forces of reason and knowledge, as evidenced by the previous Pope, are pitted against the forces of sentiment and ignorance, as evidenced by the present Pope. I am of no doubt that what is going on is a struggle for the very soul of Catholicism, which at its best is a gigantic plus for all mankind but at its worst is an impediment to a great deal which is sensible and right. Fluid times for the Catholic Church as is the case for the world at large.
eduardo odraude says
Wellington,
I have always admired the fact that even though you are an atheist, you recognize that religions can sometimes have important virtues, and you recognize that atheism, too, is a kind of metaphysical outlook. To my mind, that is part of the definition of an educated, virtuous atheist. Conversely, for me part of the definition of an educated religious person includes an awareness of how atheists, too, can have great virtues, moral and intellectual, and how it is good for theists or other kinds of religious people to maintain some modesty toward atheists. Albert Camus might be a good example of a noble atheist.
Wellington says
Thank you for your reply, eduardo. For the record, I am not an atheist but an agnostic. There is a huge difference if meant by atheism (e.g., Karl Marx’s kind) the DENIAL that a higher power exists. Such denial is foolish because, implicitly, it means that one denying that a supreme architect exists knows the entire universe, which is absurd, illogical and arrogant.
Of course, if by atheism is meant the BELIEF that a Supreme Being does not exist, such an atheist may be wrong but at least is not being illogical. But even considering this second definition of atheism (which is, again, at least logical though possibly wrong) I am not even this because I have no belief in this regard and this is why I am an agnostic——–I simply do not know.
But here is what I do know: 1) A person like myself devoid of faith, deficient in the eyes of many though this might be, must fall back upon philosophy and not religion because religion requires reason plus faith while philosophy (which the ancient Greeks invented) relies upon reason alone; 2) God is not just a theological concept and possibility but also a philosophical concept and possibility; 3) This is why I am an agnostic because philosophy allows for a great deal of doubt while religion, to its discredit I must say, does not. After all, in the New Testament, time and time again horrible things are threatened if one does not have faith, two examples being Mark 16:16 where Jesus himself says, “Those who are not baptized and believe are condemned” and John 3:18 where it says, “Those who do not believe are already judged.”
I do not like this. I do not accept this. I reject it even if it is true. I do not want fear used at all to compel acceptance of ultimate reality. Even Christianity errs here in this regard but, to its great credit, it has two wonderful things in its favor: 1) a superb ethical system, a true Golden Rule for all, contra Islam big time; and 2) any Christians threats, whether for the next world (which frankly I do not think exists) are just that——for the next world and not in this world, with the exception of the Christian God possibly punishing people IN THIS WORLD for not believing or doing this, that or the other thing, contra Islam again big time which alone among major religions empowers not only a deity but that deity’s followers to enforce theological dictates———and herein lies the real menace of Islam, to wit, it allows not only the deity believers believe in to exact punishment in this world but additionally its followers too.
eduardo odraude says
Okay. I stand corrected about you being an atheist — you are an agnostic.
I understand your position on Christianity, though I think you may be misinterpreting the spirit or drift of the thing, and getting stuck on certain points of the letter. I would hazard that the overall drift of Christianity is accepting of doubt and of the search for truth, despite some apparent statements here and there that might seem to point otherwise. But I prefer not to argue this just now, so I will leave you the last word if you care to have it. Regards.
Wellington says
My last word here, eduardo, is to argue no more but rather to thank you for a civilized exchange——–and to say one more thing and that is that I have no doubt whatsoever were every Muslim to wake up tomorrow a devout Christian, the world would instantly be a far, far better place.
R Cole says
The Christian clergymen are such hypocrites. As Christian town is burning down in the Islamic world – they don’t even mention it!!
Unless there is an international outrage and everyone is condemning it – and so they jump on the bandwagon too.
::
Anything to do with Georgetown University is an absolute joke – with its Saudi funded professors – namely one John Esposito. It’s like the hive for Islamic indoctrination. One Muslim student there conducted a study, which found that men who visit Mecca are more respectful of women once they returned home. It is Saudi funded!
::
This Islamophobia thing is pretty much an act – after every terrorist attack – this program is wheeled out!
I was watching this video news clip in disbelief – after a terrorist attack a few years ago – where this Islamic spokeswoman came out to the studio – and she started by saying they feared the mosque or center would be attacked. You felt like the place had been boarded up or fortified in some way – because they were really afraid. As soon as the reporter addressed her suggestion that there was a real threat – the Islamic spokeswoman instantly played down the threat level – and then steered the subject towards what she really wanted to talk about.
While westerners die – these Islamic organisations capitalize on the fear of retribution. [On this they are being brought into positions of power] And if you listen carefully to their solutions – what they want is sharia. In the US that means doing away with the Constitution.
Baucent says
“Local outlets described the victims as Muslim, but Darfur People’s Association founder and vice president Motasim Adam, who visited with the families Saturday, told the Associated Press that Omar and Tairab were Muslim and Mekki was Christian.”
Jason Miller is just another useful idiot. This killing mentioned above could have tribal or political links to the government of Sudan. Something idiot’s like Miller wouldn’t even realize.
Supplicator says
Get real! As a devout Roman Catholic I find it offensive that Jason Miller seems to suggest Islamophobia is a significant problem across the entire US. He is stereotyping, in every sense of the word, as surely as bona fide Islamaphobes suggest all Muslims are jihadists. Furthermore, his accusation is mostly anecdotal.
Perhaps his article is a call for more love for one another as Christ taught; but if you believe the red letters in the Gospels, Christ also taught in the very Gospel proclaimed at all Catholic Masses on July 3, 2016, that when peace is not returned for peace offered one should shake their dust from your feet.
If people in the US are extremely wary of Muslims it is because their fellow citizens, as well as citizens of the world, who are not Muslims have been horrendously murdered, and are continuing to be horrendously murdered, simply because they are not Muslims. For this, the evidence is far from anecdotal and significantly more of a problem than Muslims being afraid to eat lunch with non-Muslims. What’s more, it’s be happening more and more and more frequently.
While I would agree that loving one another is the ideal prescription, prescriptions generally work when used as prescribed – and even then not always. Radical Islam teaches that Christians are not even worthy of friendship, let alone love.
If he hasn’t done so, and I doubt he has, Jason Miller should read the Koran and study the Hadith. Perhaps then he, too, will scratch his head, and ask if Jesus would call on us to respond to those who would kill us for what we believe as He responded to those who killed Him for what He believed. Is Mr. Miller, willing to die for what he believes? If he is Catholic, does he believe what he says he believes or not? Perhaps he should personally confront, hand-to-hand, as I did during my 30+ years of military service, the radical Muslim who would kill him. Would he offer love and friendship and die a fiery death? Or would he invoke the “just war” doctrine in an attempt to overcome the evil that would kill him, rape his women, and subjugate his children?
Don’t get me wrong – peace for peace is the ideal answer. And for those who return peace for peace, there is peace. For those who do not, someone has to die – period.
jimbo says
It’s time for a counter-narrative. Christians, Jews, Hindus, Mormons, even Atheists and anybody else who is a “non-believer” in Islam, needs to start pointing out that non-Muslims are not Islamaphobic. Rather, Muslims are the ones practicing bigotry on a global scale. When over 1.5 billion Muslims are called to pray 5 times each day and in their prayers deride Christians, Jews, and all the rest of us non-Muslims, then such actions (one of many, many if space permitted one to list them all) are massive evidence of their own in-bred phobia. Namely, we need to call out that they are carrying out Christian-phobia, Judaism-phobia, LGBT-phobia, non-believer-phobia, and so on. Cut political correctness loose and start calling it like it is. Only then will the Muslim worldwide community begin to feel the force of the rest of humanity’s fair and just criticism of Islam’s in-humane reliance on ways that have no place in the 21st century.
Pathfinder0100 says
Tellin’ the truth about Islam and the koran is “Islamophobia” only in the mind of a muslim, isn’t it??
UNCLE VLADDI says
“WE MUST ARREST AND JAIL ALL THOSE VILE GREASY CRIME-O-PHOBES AT ONCE!”