CHRISTIANS FIGHTING BACK

Finally, finally, finally, at last.  Christians are fighting back against rioting rampaging Moslem violence and oppression.

In Egypt back in the 7^th century AD, most all Egyptians were Christians.  Then Arabs swarmed out of the eastern deserts like human locusts to conquer Egypt and impose Islam.  The native Egyptians were not Arab, and a few of them held on to Christianity in the face of enormous intolerance for centuries.  These are the Copts.

Copts often have to hold their church services in secret, given all the government restrictions on building a church (there are no such restrictions on building a mosque).  So when Moslems found out that an "unlicensed" building was being used as a Coptic Church in Odayssat, a village near Luxor on the Nile, a mob of them rioted, set fires, and tried to burn the building down.

The Moslems expected the Copts to just passively take it as always.  But this time, January 18, 2006, the Copts fought back.  There are 30,000 folks in Odayssat – 24,000 Moslems and 8,000 Copts.  They are outnumbered, but so far they’ve held their oppressors at bay.

There are fewer than 5 million Copts against 72 million Moslems in Egypt.  It will be interesting to see if fighting back catches on among them .

In Nigeria, Moslems have been going berserk over the Danish cartoons, burning Christian shops, homes, churches, beating and killing Christians indiscriminately.  This is in the north where they are a majority, in places like Maiduguri, Kotangora, and Potiskum.  In the south, where Christians are a majority but have accepted the oppression of their Christian brethren to the north, it turned bloody this week.

In Enugu, scores of Hausa Moslems have been killed by angry Christian mobs.  Yes, it’s tragic that violence and murder was perpetrated upon Moslems who didn’t themselves engage in anti-Christian pogroms.  Yet – Christians have to start fighting back against the Religion of Violence that Islam has become.

Of far greater significance than these outbreaks in Egypt and Nigeria, however, is the decision of the Catholic Church to start fighting back against Islam.

On Monday (2/20), Pope Benedict XVI publicly demanded that Moslem countries show "respect for the religious convictions and practices of others, in a reciprocal way in all societies."  This was quickly followed by Monsignor Velasio De Paolis, secretary of the Vatican’s supreme court, telling an Italian newspaper:

"The West has had relations with the Arab countries for half a century, mostly for oil, and has not been able to get the slightest concession on human rights.  Enough now with this turning the other cheek! It’s our duty to protect ourselves."

Just as predicted, right on schedule, by To The Point, shortly after Cardinal Ratzinger’s elevation to the papacy last April.

Miracle Max in Europe revealed that the Conclave of Cardinals selected him for the express purpose of rescuing Christianity from Islam and Europe from Islamization.  That the new Pope will start by advocating a new respect for religious freedom.

That start went into high gear this week.  His next move will be to advocate the right of conversion, demanding that Moslems not be punished in their societies if they convert to Christianity (apostasy is punishable by death in many Moslem countries).

That will be followed by his encouraging Christians to evangelize Moslems.

I encourage you to go back and read the whole Miracle Max essay.

I myself am encouraged that Christians from Egypt to Nigeria to Rome have finally begun to fight back against the Religion of Violence.  It’s the only way to force Islam to become a real religion of peace.