My latest in PJ Media:
That inexhaustible fountain of Leftist propaganda, Salon on Saturday published a bubbly piece by Ashima Krishna, “an architect and historic preservation planner,” enthusing about how “churches in neighborhoods that aren’t doing well [in] areas that are less attractive to developers looking to turn a profit” have recently been converted into houses of worship of other religions. In the course of her excitement, Krishna likened this phenomenon to one of the bloodiest jihad conquests in history, which apparently has her full endorsement. Just another day at Salon.
“In Buffalo, New York,” Krishna informs us, “two empty Roman Catholic churches were recently converted — not into apartments or offices, but into other places of worship. One became an Islamic mosque, the other a Buddhist temple.”
As far as Krishna is concerned, this phenomenon has no downside: “With immigrant and refugee populations growing in post-industrial cities across the U.S., the conversion of vacant Christian churches into new places of worship can preserve historic architecture and strengthen burgeoning communities.”
What’s more, she says, this conversion of worship spaces has a noteworthy historical precedent: “Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia famously switched from a Christian church to a mosque in 1453. The same sort of conversions have been taking place in Buffalo’s East Side. Many former Catholic churches have, over the years, been converted into other denominations…But several former Christian churches in Buffalo’s East Side also now serve as sites of worship for other religions. Two mosques, Bait Ul Mamur Inc. Masjid and Masjid Zakariya, used to be Saint Joachim’s Roman Catholic Church and Holy Mother of Rosary Polish National Catholic Church, respectively.”
The same sort of conversions have been taking place in Buffalo that took place in Constantinople in 1453? Really? The Hagia Sophia “switched” from a church to a mosque? This is akin to saying that Jews switched to lampshades in Nazi Germany. The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS recounts how, after over 700 years of trying, the warriors of jihad finally entered the great city on May 29, 1453. When they did, they made the streets run with rivers of blood. Muslims raided monasteries and convents, emptying them of their inhabitants, and plundered private houses.
There is much more. Read the rest here.
Isntlam says
I just hope the FBI is bugging these new mosques.
Terry Gain says
Not a chance. It’s still Obama’s FBI.
Marshall Gill says
Really. They are way too busy trying to overthrow the government. Today’s FBI is even more corrupt than when it was run by Hoover, and that is saying something.
n says
It’s sad that people are losing their faith due to the pressures of modern life and other sociological reasons, like drugs or unworthy clergy or leftardation. A new age of faith may soon be upon us as people realize that utopia is easy to promote but harder to produce.
Terry Gain says
A new age of faith is upon us. It’s called Islam.
somehistory says
n
It would be a great thing if there was a “new age of faith” where people returned to learning about Christ and putting “Faith in the Father, have faith also in me” as Christ said.
But Jesus indicated that this would not be the case when, as He spoke of His return asked, “When the Son of Man arrives, will He really find the faith on the earth?” He also said that “few are on the narrow and cramped road leading to life.”
He knew what He was talking about and “few” have real faith today. Much like His words about the “Days of Noah”, when men were eating and drinking, women were marrying and being given in marriage, and “they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away….So the presence of the Son of Man will be.”
FYI says
Too true.
The prophetic teachings about Christianity predicted an apostasy[Matthew chapters 24,25} and decent into barbarism.
The funny thing is that this info is in a book that allah claims he gave to Jesus{k5:46}and at the time the koran was written,confirms as true k3:3,even telling muhammed to consult those who know the Bible as a reference k10:94:i.e The Gospel
“WE bestowed on {Jesus} the Gospel wherein are guidance and a light”
k5:46
The prophetic teachings in the Gospel confirm the survival of Christianity.
Empty churches do not imply Christianity is over:in fact,in a way it is a good thing as AUTHENTIC Christians emerge
and the phoneys are exposed.
the details are in a book called the Gospel: a book that allah claims to be the author of,a book he wrote and gave to Jesus:muslims do not know that the koran points to a source that predicts the downfall of their Arab cult,islam.
Westman says
It appears that religion is waning in the US until you look at the the behavior and fervor for Socialism and suddenly realize that Socialism IS a religion without designated church buildings. The centers of religious indoctrination are the schools and universities; buttressed by failing media that is replacing news with propaganda in a desperate effort to survive. Perhaps the survivors can print the “Little Red Book”.
Religion is a matter of faith and too many citizens now place their faith in Socialism.
Krishna’s conclusion that previous Christian churches being converted to non-Christian churches is a sign of religious growth and improving religious health is absolutely false – those church conversions are a result of immigration.
b.a. freeman says
nothing wrong with immigration, Westman, not even when the immigrants are non-christian. the problem arises when the they are gang-bangers. and whether the gang is ms-13 or islam, it’s still a gang, and as a general rule, those folks need to be kept out.
that said, i have no problem with church buildings being turned into houses of worship of non-christian religions. churches aren’t buildings; what *really* matters is the people who meet in the church buildings, and what they believe. if the pews are empty and the members believe that being on a list of members will get them into heaven, then there is no church. worse yet, if the pews are full of people who subscribe to the religion of “what’s happening now,” with the members all gung-ho to get rich or serve “social justice,” then it’s a social club and is no different than a building filled with rotarians or political activists. that kind of church building is *already* no longer a church. as U so aptly noted, the SJWs who fill the pews of mainline christian denominations – kinda-sorta fill, since their membership has been plummeting over the past 50 or 60 years – worship socialism.
+1
Aussie Infidel says
‘n’ remarked, “It’s sad that people are losing their faith due to the pressures of modern life and other sociological reasons.” I’m an atheist, and have been for over 70 years, and have no desire to preserve any faith, as I regard them all as primitive nonsense. All faiths are simply beliefs in the supernatural – for which there is not a shred of evidence. But while most faiths are relatively benign – and should be tolerated – others like Islam are a toxic mix of religion and violent politics – AND SHOULD BE BANNED FORTHWITH AS A RISK TO NATIONAL SECURITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY.
Nevertheless, asking people who have rejected their faith and become atheists, to revert to their previous beliefs, would be asking them to abandon all the rational scientific evidence that caused them to lose their faith in the first place – and to once again believe in magic. But life doesn’t work that way – normally, an individual’s knowledge only increases over time; it does not decrease. The resultant cognitive dissonance would render the exercise futile.
However, I can understand your dilemma, as I have been actively involved in this issue for over 50 years. To me, what’s really sad is that many people are also losing their moral compass and their capacity for critical thinking, while avoiding the greatest political issues of our time – THE RISE OF BOTH THE LEFT AND ISLAM – AND THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE TWO.
People flock to concerts and sports venues in their millions to watch their favorite pop singers and sports stars in action – which is their right of course. But they regard entertainment as the most important matters in life, and neglect their civic duties. Many of them are even too lazy, or apathetic to go to the polling booth on election day and vote. I know people here in Australia (where voting is compulsory), who do not know who the Prime Minister is, and I’m sure that in the US some people would not know who their President is – despite all the fake news and sex scandals. Such people are social and political morons, and deserve everything they get. However, many politicians must take responsibility for this state of affairs, because of the way they behave in public life, and the disastrous ideologies they cling to.
Those people who promote a utopian future, are mainly far-Leftists. I came from the left, so I know what motivates such people – and believe me, it’s all Marxist ideology, and the politics of envy.
While Christianity is declining, it is being replaced by another much more sinister faith in the form of Islam. And although many of those aiding and abetting the infiltration of Islam are atheists, primarily they are Leftists who ironically for many decades, have allied with Islam to oppose Christianity.
Unfortunately, on leaving their former faiths, many atheists have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Not only have they lost their faith, but also their ethics and morals – or whatever they had of them.
However, the Christian churches are also to blame for this sorry state of affairs. For decades, we atheists and humanists were actively involved in Australia in trying to get ethics classes included in the school curiculum. But it was all in vain. We were opposed tooth and nail by the Christians, who regarded atheists as ‘evil’. They were concerned that ethics classes would “teach the wrong thing” and undermine their religious instruction classes – even though the proposed curiculum was based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as our Constitution and laws. So nothing was implemented until 2011 when New South Wales schools finally ran the first such program. But the program is not available in all states, or in all schools, and it has left a vacuum in the minds of many students. And now we are paying the price for that neglect.
gravenimage says
Yes–you find both dhimmitude and resistance to Islam both among people of faith and atheists.
Kerry Wade says
Anyone who thinks “the return of Christ” will solve the problem of Islam is plain kidding themselves. Its just another fiction, ‘hope is the worst of all belief’s’ I think one philosophy said (or something like that). It merely prolongs the agony.
gravenimage says
No one should count on this. We need to oppose evil ourselves.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
I read this piece yesterday over at PJMedia. The Hagia Sophia is the greatest cathedral in Christendom, a world marvel of engineering for its time. What its been reduced to hurts bad. Salon’s very low quality analysis, right down to rooting for the enemy, hurts bad too.
Tony Naim says
She is soooo stupid. Had she been there at the time her fate would have been no different than the Byzantine king who was killed by the Invading savage Turks.
gravenimage says
Grimly true. Just note what Muslims have done to Hindus when invading their lands.
crawford421 says
The emperor’s body was never definitively identified — ISTR they found one in silk pants that resembled what he was wearing, but the body was too mangled to be identified.
Besides, she wouldn’t have just been killed. She’d have been killed, tortured, raped — and if she was lucky, in that order.
The Hagia Sophia was filled with people seeking refuge and praying for their salvation when the city fell. It became a slaighter house. About the only charitable thing you can say about the Turks is they didn’t destroy all the art in it over the centuries.
gravenimage says
I think the Muslims were just too lazy to do more than plaster over it.
Angemon says
Right, because Catholic Churches are knows to have minarets and crescents and no crosses whatsoever…/sarc. off
SAFI says
And as we all know Islam has no issue with frescoes and statues depicting Mary and kuffar saints… no reason to worry moslem squatters will respect all that.
gravenimage says
Salon Endorses the Bloody Seizure of the Hagia Sophia by Jihadis
…………………
Yes–hideous insanity. Hagia Sophia was the greatest cathedral in Christendom. To pretend that it was not being used or that this “switching” to a Mosque was voluntary on the part of the conquered Christians is utterly grotesque.
GreekEmpress says
+1000!
gravenimage says
Thank you, GreekEmpress.
sidney penny says
“Ashima Krishna’s egregiously tone-deaf article is just one more example of the establishment media’s universal tendency to minimize, ignore, or deny outright the reality of Islamic jihad, and to whitewash Islamic doctrine and history.”
Is that not the case everywhere especially in the Western and non Islamic world?
A fear of their violent minority Muslim population? or in the example of places like India a very large violent minority Muslim population.
A fear of being called racist?
A fear of being called “Islamophobic”?
StacyGirl says
Go to Salon’s vomit inducing fb page (after dinner). They have a post about the awful mega-churches scourging the American landscape. They should be taxed! They are charlatans! The ‘worshipers’ are idiots! Wow, it’d be almost worth it to welcome the caliphate.
elee says
Would she have us submit to any damned “caliphate” in the world? Would she make us an Ottoman fiefdom? Would she murder a million and a half Armenian Christians and then say it was all lies about Muslims? Why is she allowed to hold office and not serving penitentiary time?
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
“Putin warned Bush about impeding attack TWO DAYS before 9/11 – ex-CIA analyst”
https://www.rt.com/news/468133-putin-warned-bush-911/
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
This is the real reason celebs attack Trump:
“Actor Robert Davi: I’ve Been Offered ‘Everything’ By Hollywood to Denounce Trump”
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/09/05/robert-davi-ive-been-offered-everything-by-hollywood-to-denounce-trump/
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
A new force to help counter the Southern Poverty Law Center:
https://www.freeamericalawcenter.com/
somehistory says
This woman ‘writer’ must really hates Christians and Christianity to gloat so much about churches being bought and turned into barracks where moslims meet and talk of their own hatred of Christians and what they intend to do to them…slice their necks and the necks of the Jews.
She pretends to be interested in history and the preservation of historical places and landmarks. It is a **pretense** or it is of no great thing in her life, so that it is easily overcome by her hatred of Christians. Will she do a followup and show some photos of the “preservation” of the historical aspects of the churches being converted to barracks? For that, she could go to Rick Steves. He has filmed such things in other countries.
To compare what was done to those who were slaughtered after sacking the cathedral, to buying up unused property is much like moslims and others, comparing things they don’t like, or current events, to the Holocaust. (For examples, type this into a search engine: comparisons to the Holocaust).
Perhaps she has come to realize that as she hates Christians, moslims hate everyone, so she has to try to get on their **good** side…Hint; they don’t have a good side…by writing such a piece about the takeover of churches by moslims in their “conquest” of everywhere, even in the U.S.
Her writings won’t save her when the moslims come knocking at her door. “it’s all about the “**takeover**’, baby.”
Lydia Church says
There is no God but Yahweh, and Jesus is His Son!
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, all God!
allah is the devil, and mohammed is the devil’s messenger!
And this sums it up:
“Really? The Hagia Sophia “switched” from a church to a mosque? This is akin to saying that Jews switched to lampshades in Nazi Germany.”
Nailed it!!!
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
Nice turn on the Shahada.
Relic says
“turn a profit”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkaSxmvZnGs
Dapto says
This present pope as destroyed Christendom.
Paul J says
Not just him. When people turn from God because of the things people (priests in particular) do then you end up with empty churches and a society ripe for take over. There is no unity in Christendom when you have One true Church and 1000’s of Protest; ie Protestant sects ( all bitching with each other over who is the right one). Rock concerts in auditoriums sucking in gullible people and leading them astray will of course result in empty churches where sacred rituals and quiet contemplative prayer have been ridiculed and abandoned. We reap what we sow. I await now the anti Catholic vitriol that this post will generate. DEUS VULT.
gravenimage says
There are people who love music who are also devout Christians. Christianity is not anti-Music as is Islam. And there is nothing anti-Catholic in noting this.
Paul J says
I never said music is anti Christian. These rock’n’roll pastors in their $50million jets and million$ lifestyles are the false prophets that Jesus warned us about. That was the point.
SamB says
It is difficult to make sense Ashima Krishna’s thinking patterns. A person whose roots lie in India where Muslims wrests and demands acres of land on a daily basis and now seconds the expropriation of the Sophia Hagia. Yes, Ashima, it may no longer be a Church through historical factors which you have failed to research. Secondly , Islam is in cold war with Christianity because it is the only faith that is in competition with it through missions(da’wa). But ,your appreciation of the Muslim influence on the Sofia Hagia has not gone unnoticed. Thanks for supporting Islam whilst you are enjoying you stay in a Christian majority society. We will revisit your appreciation when Pakistan annihilates the Kashmir!
J D S says
I somewhat agree that Church doors are closing and churches are being sold to other groups.
Where does the fault lie? Rightist the door if we Christians. Jesus told us to evangelize, spread the gospel,,and grow and that took place rarely on in Christianity. Many of today’s Muslim countries were Christian and they fell to Muslims…not because Christians just quit but because a Waring, bloodthirsty, land grabbing group used FORCE, FEAR, ENSLAVEMENT and the APOSTATE LAW. Not so with the west we have just quit and I dare anyone to say that the world is better off without Christian values..It just isn’t!!!! I know for a fact because I have lived in both times and today is the worst partly because our government turned God out and partly because we as Christians just quit what Jesus told us to do and those things let Satan in. We can see Satan at work st every turn and he is at full force in islam.. Who is to blame for this???
Think carefully before answering.
SAF says
The Communist goal to destroy the Catholic Church from within… is. Bella Dodd and her 1000 Communist Priests entering the Catholic Church sealed the deal. Priests turned away from the tabernacle and in essence from God. Nuns became “worldly” and many left the convents leaving a skeletal group of sisters.
Sacraments were withheld that children would accomplish service work. My child was told not to mention God or Jesus or wish anyone a Merry Christmas. (Catholic Charities) (which is a communist front) … the Virgin Mary herself said The errors of Communism would Spread Throughout the World, unless Russia was consecrated to her Sacred Heart.. I would say, her warning is nearly fulfilled.
Reziac says
That’s okay; I endorse Christendom retaking the Hagia Sophia….