Two views on the question discussed at Conservative Conference
WorldNetDaily.com Inc., a conservative, independent news company, sponsored a “Taking America Back” conference in Miami, Fla..
WND says it is dedicated to uncompromising journalism, seeking truth and justice and revitalizing the role of the free press as a guardian of liberty, and says that it seeks to stimulate a free-and-open debate about the great moral and political ideas.
“A proposal on how to stop the spread of Islam in the U.S., suggested from the floor at WND’s “Taking America Back” conference in Miami, Fla., stirred a rousing response from the audience but received an even more impassioned reply from the platform.
“I propose a moratorium on Islamic immigration and mosque construction in the U.S.,” an unidentified attendee suggested during a panel discussion on Islam, “until the Quran is scrubbed of its passages that are incompatible with our Constitution.”
The audience responded in spontaneous applause.”
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=204865
The response of the audience reflects the growing concern Americans have about the aggressive, hateful, religious bigotry taught in the Quran, and the deepening conviction that the growth of Islam is a threat to religious and personal freedom in America.
There was a cautionary response from the panel, however, based on a real-world understanding of the nature of Islam. To expect even a single sentence of the Quran to ever be “scrubbed” from the Quran shows a lack of understanding of just how deeply devoted Muslms are to this book, exactly as it is.
No change has been allowed in hundreds of years, and no change is likely to occur in the next hundred years.
“The moratorium would be forever,” stated William Murray, chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, warning the audience that asking Muslims to scrub their scriptures was unreasonable.
A Black Christian Leader’s response to the idea of a moratorium on Muslim immigrants
Alan Keyes
“Keynote speaker Alan Keyes took admonition of the audience one step further.
“One word of caution,” Keyes said. “We get into a defensive position as Americans because we have forgotten our own roots.”
Reminding those assembled for his speech the night before – in which he contended America owes its liberties, prosperity, rights and democratic republic government under the Constitution to dependence upon and submission to God as declared in the Declaration of Independence – Keyes asserted that any immigrants of any faith who come to America’s shores should find a land brimming with irresistible, life-changing freedom, enabled by the principles of Christianity.
“If we’re in a situation where we’re afraid to have Muslims come to our nation,” Keyes stated, “it is because we have forgotten that when they get here they’re supposed to find a society based upon God.”
He continued, “The U.S. is not a fortress intended to put up battlements around a Christian enclave. Christianity’s message is to spread the gospel, not contain it. … We shouldn’t be afraid, we should be eager. It would save us the trouble of having to go over there to evangelize them. That’s the spirit that founded this country in the first place.”
With the audience visibly stirred by his challenge, Keyes gave a final, impassioned point:
“I think we’ve become timid, cowards. We’ll hide faith under a bushel?” he asked. “I don’t think that’s the road I want to go down.”
Applause erupted from his listeners again, this time even louder than before.
While I admire the positive, faith-filled confidence of Keyes’ perspective, I have a bad feeling about this. The Church in America has not even been able to stay relevant to its own children: teens and young adults are abandoning their church background, turning away from God, at an ever-increasing rate.
If the Church cannot reach its own children, what chance is there that they will be able to effect any kind of meaningful change in a militant, aggressive, persistently narrow-minded group like the Muslims?
It’s a nice idea, but Christians will have to step up their game if they think their plans and programs will influence Islam.
It seems like something God himself would need to do. Maybe it just shows my lack of faith. I sincerely admire Keyes for his faith and his rational response. I am just afraid that it is naive to think that nice Christians will change Islam – of course I could be wrong.
The Danger of Diplomacy
Meanwhile, those Americans who do not believe in God still have to decide how to respond to Islam – try to reason with it? If you are not going to quarantine it like the deadly virus it is, if you are going to allow it in, how will you deal with the repercussions?
It reminds me of the news story about the man who was attacked by chimpanzees, had his fingers, toes, ears, nose and genitals bitten off. The man’s wife commented that they had tried to reason with the chimps, to no avail.
The chimps were not interested in discussion, they were only interested in attacking and destroying. Conversation would not change that. The options were to either keep the chimps in their cage so they couldn’t hurt anyone or shoot the chimps once they got out – or let them mutilate the guy.
Sometimes diplomacy and discussion are worse than a waste of time, because they lull you into thinking you are making progress when in fact time spent talking accomplishes nothing and simply gives a dedicated enemy more room to consolidate their position. The effectiveness of diplomacy depends entirely on the willingness of the other party to:
1. speak truthfully and
2. be willing to compromise.
The chances of getting either from Islam are about zero.
I would love to be proven wrong about that.