Muslim leaders in Britain are accusing groups like the British National Party (BNP) and the English Defence League (EDL) for fueling racial hatred towards Islam, in an attempt to capitalize on the recent brutal killing of British soldier Lee Rigby.

What must be the Christian response to these attacks?

How can we continue to oppose false religion and Christless philosophy gripping both Britain and the European Continent?
We must be radical. But we must begin by re-defining what it means to be a ?radical Christian?. We cannot allow this phrase to be hijacked by journalists so that it becomes synonymous with hate and killing. This would be a media coup for the powerful anti-Christian lobby. The Media have already made the word ?fundamentalist? synonymous with hate, intolerance and violence. Every person who takes the Bible seriously is branded ?fundamentalist? and therefore a potential threat to society.
The pure meaning of ?radical? is ?that which goes back to the roots of something?. Our faith is rooted in the person of Christ ? his teaching, his example and his work of redemption. Jesus came to save a lost humanity. This is our only hope and we must proclaim his message of salvation clearer and more boldly that ever. Only the transforming power of the Holy Spirit can save a person, a nation or a society.
But preaching alone is not enough. We must?show?them the doctrine of Christ and live as true, radical disciples of Christ. At root, Jesus? message was about love ? love to God and our neighbour. The truly radical Christian takes the words of Jesus and lives them out uncompromisingly. This is the ?extremism? we should be known for.
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you (Matthew 5:44)
If everyone who named the name of Christ showed more of this form of radicalism, the world would be a much better place.

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Runners continue to run towards the finish line of the Boston Marathon as an explosion erupts near the finish line of the race. Two simultaneous explosions ripped through the crowd at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.

According to some reports authorities have a number of people of interest they are investigating; one “person of interest” was reportedly being questioned at a Boston hospital, and another person was being sought who was seen trying to enter a restricted area near the marathon route just 5 minutes before the explosions took place.
The two deadly bombings took place about 12 seconds apart about 100 to 150 yards away from one another near the finish line of the marathon route. It has emerged that medical staff were also pulling ball-bearings from some victims, sparking reports that the explosive devices may have contained ball-bearings to maximize the carnage from the blasts.
The large explosions were initially confirmed to have killed two, with more than a dozen in critical condition. However, the death toll was raised to three on Monday evening, with an 8 year old boy said to be one of those who had been killed by one of the blasts.
Authorities and eye witnesses have confirmed that many of the injuries taking place included amputations.
It was also reported later on Monday that as many as three other explosive devices were found near the finish line, and they were dismantled by bomb squad officials.

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Boko Haram Islamic Nigeria Militant

In today’s “secular society’ anyone who takes the Bible seriously is usually dismissed as a “religious fundamentalist’ and often grouped with other so-called fundamentalists, especially those who hold to radical Islam. In this way Bible believing Christians are said to be no different from the kind of Muslims who were responsible for the 7/7 bombings in London or indeed Boko Haram terrorists.

There have, at times, been Christian fundamentalists who resorted to violence in the pursuit of their cause. For example, some calling themselves Christians committed murder in their battle against abortion in the USA. The Oklahoma bombers of 1995 were said to have been influenced by extremist “Christian’ militia groups. Both Protestant and Catholic paramilitary organisations were involved in terrorism during the “troubles’ in Northern Ireland.

But those who do such things deny the clear and unambiguous teaching of Jesus who said, “My kingdom is not of this world, otherwise my children would fight”, and who also said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” But the issue is not so clear when it comes to Islam whose founder declared in what is claimed to be a direct word from Allah in Surah 47:4, “So, when you meet those who disbelieve, smite (their) necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them).”

If fundamentalism means taking a religious text seriously, then we need more Christian fundamentalism, not less, and the term should be used as a complement reserved for those Christians who are truly following Christ in today’s world. But the term is not used in this way at all.

Through an examination of the Koran, other Islamic texts and the example of the prophet Muhammad, this documentary argues, through a sober and methodical presentation, that violence against non-Muslims is and has always been an integral aspect of Islam. Features interviews with noted experts on Islam including Robert Spencer, Serge Trifkovic, Bar Ye’or, Abdullah Al-Araby, and former terrorist Walid Shoebat.

You can watch the full video here

Fundamentalism refers to a tendency said to be found in all major religions today which, not only interprets religious texts literally, but also seeks to implement religious teaching through aggressive political means – the very opposite to the teaching of Jesus who repudiated such politicising of the gospel.

The gospel is about proclamation and persuasion, not coercion or control. In Luke 20:22-25, Jesus separated the claims of church and state showing that state or government had no right to determine the religious views of its citizens.Whenever the church lost sight of this, disaster was not far behind – whether we speak of the efforts of Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, or John Calvin and his attempts to introduce a form of theocracy in Geneva during the Reformation, or the botched attempts of more recent times, such as the efforts of the Right wing Moral Majority to “make society Christian’ through aggressive Christian political campaigning in the USA. Such an approach denies to people created with free will their God-given right to choose their religious beliefs according to their own conscience.

This is why the term “fundamentalist’ does not apply to us, or indeed, most evangelicals in Britain today. While we uphold the “fundamentals’ of the Christian faith, we are not fundamentalist in the modern meaning of the word.

If a Christian is to be called “fundamentalist’ with all the intended negative and derogatory overtones of the word, simply because he or she takes the words of Christ in the Gospels literally, is it right to place that person in the same category as a Muslim “fundamentalist’ who takes the teaching of Muhammad and that of the Qur’an equally seriously?

The issue here is not merely that of sincerity.We ought to give the benefit of the doubt to all so-called fundamentalists and be ready to believe that they may be sincere, at least, even if they are wrong or misguided. But the issue is concerning the truth or viability of their views when tested and subjected to close scrutiny. I would suggest that, without hesitation, any rightminded person would respect the “fundamentalist’ Christian who seeks to take literally the words of Christ where he says,

“…love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…” (Matthew 5:44).

Or, for that matter the words of St Paul who in Romans 11:14 & 17-19, echoes Christ’s teaching,

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse….Repay no one evil for evil… do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to God’s wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. “

Surely, the same amount of respect should not be shown to those who seek to live their lives by the literal, and natural, understanding of such texts of the Qur’an as, “Those who reject Islam must be killed. If they turn back (from Islam), take (hold of) them and kill them wherever you find them…” Surah 4:89.

This shows that the indiscriminate use of the term “fundamentalist’ to apply to all people of faith who take their religious texts seriously is so superficial as to be intellectually lazy, if not downright dishonest.

These issues are being hotly debated today.With the rise of modern Muslim fundamentalism and its connection to global terror, many both from within Islam and external commentators on these events are at pains to disassociate Islamic extremism from the “true nature of Islam’. Moderate Islam has yet to rise up and prove itself to be the “true Islam’ of the Qur’an and of Islamic history.

This leaves us with the stark differences between Khalifa of Islamist ideology or the kingdom of God as taught by the Christ of the gospels. The choice is simple – you can accept or reject either one or both of these alternatives, but one thing is sure, you cannot with integrity dismiss them both as the empty claims of fanatical or fundamentalist religion.

The post Boko Haram Explains Why It Kills Christians, Desire for an Islamic Nigeria appeared first on Colin Dye.

Militants of the islamist terrorist organisation Boko Haram in Nigeria

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The Norway Killer, Anders Behring Breivik, calls himself a christian

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