Is Islam Truly Standing
'Shoulder to Shoulder' With Other Religions?
by JANET
LEVY July 18, 2013
Recently, Christian Bible translators considered changes that
would make Christian scriptures more palatable to Muslim audiences. Instead of
"in the name of the Father," they put forth the phrase "in the
name of Allah." "Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and the Holy Spirit" was reformulated as "Cleanse them in the
name of Allah, his Messiah, and his Holy Spirit." In addition, Isa a
prophet of Allah in the Koran who is superseded by Mohammed, has been equated
with Jesus in the Christian Bible. Of course, many Christians view this as
blasphemy.
The push for biblical changes came in large part from Christian
leaders of the "Insider Movement" who endeavor to reach Muslim
communities by encouraging Muslims to embrace Christianity by "worshipping
Jesus or Isa in the mosque." This is an accommodation to enable Muslims to
follow Jesus, yet not explicitly express Christian faith. The "Insider
Movement" has been gaining steam for the past decade and advances the idea
of the blending of faith rather than complete conversion to Christianity.
It remains to be seen if these modifications or conscious
accommodations to Islam, created by proselytizing Christians, threaten the
integrity of Christian beliefs. However, a more significant threat to
Christianity has existed for years in the form of ongoing, aggressive
interfaith activities spearheaded by Muslims who use this religious context to
shield their ulterior motive: spreading the supremacy of Islam.
This deceptive undertaking is part of the phased plan for
"civilizational jihad" put forth by the Muslim Brotherhood in "An
Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North
America." Muslims have been encouraged to form coalitions under the
guise of cooperation in order to "absorb" Western culture. They have
been encouraged to "take from people the best they have" and
"understand the benefit of agreement, cooperation, and alliance."
This effort has translated into establishing so-called "interfaith"
groups and ostensibly fostering "interfaith" activities. The problem
has been that all cooperation and accommodations are one-way, favoring Muslims
and Islam.
One recent example is the interfaith coalition,
"Shoulder-to-Shoulder," based in Washington, D.C. Coalition members
include the Islamic
Society of North American (ISNA), the Arab
American Institute (AAI), the
Universal Muslim Association of America (UMAA), and 25 national Christian
and Jewish religious groups.
Yet, the Islamic groups have long been engaged in anti-Western
activities. ISNA, an umbrella organization for Muslim Brotherhood fronts in
America, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation
Hamas funding trial. The Arab American Institute, an organization dedicated to
increasing the influence of Arab-American Muslims, has endeavored to limit the
surveillance activity of law enforcement. UMMA's stated mission is to advance
the social, economic, and political affairs of the Muslim community in America
and to dispel misinformation about Islam and Muslims. The organization has
lobbied the U.S. government and provided guidelines for the removal of
obstacles to zakat or "charitable giving," contributions to the
funding of jihad required of all Muslims and Muslim businesses and mandated by
shariah. UMMA has diligently worked to curtail U.S. law enforcement and
intelligence procedures that obstruct zakat.
The Shoulder-to-Shoulder
interfaith coalition, whose motto is "Standing with American Muslims,
upholding American values," was founded to address alleged bias against
Muslims. This is particularly ironic given ISNA's history of anti-Semitism and
promotion of and financial support for terrorism. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
religious leaders who are members of the coalition venture into the community
to speak out on "anti-Muslim bigotry," work with Congress to fight
"anti-Muslim" sentiment, and seek media coverage for their work
against alleged "Islamophobia." With the rampant persecution and
murder of Christians and Jews in predominately Muslim countries, it is telling
that no attempt is made by the coalition members to combat hatred of Jews and
anti-Christian attitudes expressed by Muslim clerics and government officials
in Muslim countries. Comments from Muslim officials in Islamic countries that
"Islam is at war with the West" draw no criticism or even attention
from Islamic members of these supposed "interfaith" coalitions.
Thus, paradoxically, while Muslims continue to burn churches and
attack Christians in the Middle East and North Africa,
Shoulder-to-Shoulder offers strategies to fight controversies such as
building a mosque at Ground Zero. The group rails against threats to burn the
Koran and fights legislation that seeks to preserve the Constitution and
prevent the implementation of shariah in America. Despite the group's routine
portrayals of Islam and Muslims as universal victims, most of the religious
violence in the world is actually carried out by Muslims who are doctrinally
obligated to attack nonbelievers.
Shoulder-to-Shoulder has developed a multitude of self-serving programs,
including the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group to promote
"interfaith" and "social justice" issues; the New
Evangelical Partnership Film Festival to "fight" Islamophobia; and
Prepare New York, which was first developed to "promote healing and
reconciliation" in anticipation of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and is now
devoted to "shifting the discussion" from "fear and
mistrust" engendered by the Ground Zero Mosque project to "one that
celebrates New York's extraordinary diversity of religious freedom and
expression." The group has also targeted specific populations with its
programs, such as Daughters of Abraham, to bring Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
women "together;" Odyssey Networks for youth to explore their
personal experience with "anti-Muslim bias;" and The Safe National
Collaborative to "bridge the gap" between law enforcement and
American Muslim communities.
In December 2011, the Shoulder-to-Shoulder coalition, as part of
the "Homegrown
Terrorism: The Threat to Military Communities in the United States"
hearings, addressed Congress, stating that their mutual goals were to
"promote tolerance" and "put an end to anti-Muslim
sentiment." The group publicly objected to the links between the American
Muslim community and radicalization and the "wrongful" connection of
the "faithful observance of Islam with suspect behavior." They
ignored Islamic doctrines that actually support such links and kept silent
about attacks by Muslims against soldiers in the U.S. military that prove the
connection.
This past April, Shoulder-to-Shoulder coalition members wrote a
letter to New York City's Mayor Bloomberg calling for an end to the NYPD's
surveillance of Muslim communities, an operation that has kept New York safe
and thwarted more than 50 attacks since 9/11. The letter was signed by the
coalition's Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy and began with the subterfuge
of "This is not a Muslim issue; This is an American issue," implying
that targeting Muslims was "un-American" and not based on reasonable
suspicions.
In February 2012, Shoulder-to-Shoulder joined with CAIR, ISNA, and
other Muslim Brotherhood organizations to demand
changes to counterterrorism training materials used by the FBI that they
deemed critical of Islam and Muslims. As a result, 700 documents and 300
presentations were expunged from the Bureau's training programs and training
personnel were reassigned, fired, or re-educated.
While Islam is portrayed as a peaceful and tolerant religion, this
is hardly the case. The Muslim Brotherhood has stated its mission in America as
a "kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization
from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands so that Allah's
religion (Islam) is made victorious over all other religions."
Furthermore, all devout Muslims are scripturally mandated to
submit to Allah's will and fight non-believers until they are subdued. So, our
misplaced efforts to engage or accommodate Islam, appease Muslims through
biblical and religious modifications, or join in apocryphal interfaith efforts,
do not result in peace or harmony with them. In fact, it serves Islamic
purposes, tightening the noose around our necks and hastening the demise of
Western civilization.
Janet
Levy, MBA, MSW, is an activist, world traveler, and freelance journalist who
has contributed to American Thinker, Pajamas Media, Full Disclosure Network,
FrontPage Magazine, Family Security Matters and other publications. She blogs
at www.womenagainstshariah.com
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