From the June 2005 Idaho Observer:

By their actions ye shall know them

Since Sept. 11 it has become the general feeling among Americans that Islam is a violent religion. I am a Christian but was compelled to begin looking into Islam after warmongering neocons like Michael Savage (Weiner), Bill O’Reilly and Dr. Larry Bates aroused my curiosity by constantly vilifying this old (yet youngest) of the major world religions. Wanting to know the passages from the Qur’an (the holy book of Islam) that supported the claims that followers of Islam are called upon to destroy Christians and Jews, I decided to look into the Qur’an for myself.

Though I will probably never be an authority on Islam, I have spent time reading, asking questions and studying the subject with the intent of determining if Muslims are called upon to kill Christians and Jews. I even called in as a guest on radio programs that were discussing the Qur'an. The odyssey has been extremely rewarding. Not only have I been able to determine the fallacy of claims that devotion to Islam is a declaration of open war against "infidels," I have also been able to prove once again the cliché we’ve been proving to ourselves since childhood: "When I point a finger at someone, three fingers are pointing back at ME!"

by Wesley Ewers

Religion defined:

In dictionaries and in law, the word "religion" simply refers to a set of beliefs and all law has a basis in some identifiable religious system or set of values. By this standard, even the estimated 850 million secularists, agnostics and atheists in the world can be categorized as adhering to belief systems---or religions.

Christianity

Christianity’s 2 billion followers represent about one-third of the world's population and they are called Christians. The most significant concentrations of Christians are found in Europe, North America and South America. Though there are several very distinct Christian denominations, they all hold Jesus as the Christ, the son of God, and hold the Holy Bible as the inspired word of God. The God of the Holy Bible is the God of Israel.

In the Old Testament, God demanded strict obedience to His Law and required blood sacrifices of animals as atonement for sin. He also allowed Israel to be conquered and taken into captivity for disobedience.

The requirement for blood sacrifice for sin was changed when He sent His Son Jesus to be the perfect spotless blood sacrifice to die for our sins. After Jesus ascended into heaven, it was through Jesus that people could find life everlasting.

Most Christian's await Jesus’ second coming (Matt. 24:30).

The major divisions in this faith came with the formation of Catholicism (beginning in 313 AD) and the Protestant Reformation, inspired and led by Martin Luther in 1517 AD.

Non-Catholic Christians did exist before 1500 AD and were heavily persecuted, even executed. The Inquisitions of the 12th and 13th centuries and persecution of the Waldenses were evidence of Catholic intolerance for non-Catholic Christian believers. The Crusades of the 11th-13th centuries, an attempt to stop the spread of Islam while looting the Middle East, was led by the Catholics under the authority of the Pope.

Islam

There are approximately 1.3 billion followers of Islam, or 22 percent of the world’s population, and they are called Muslims (or Moslems). The most significant concentrations of Muslims are found in North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Indonesia. The word "Islam" essentially means, "The peace that comes when one’s life is surrendered to God."

The Qur'an (commonly referred to in English as the "Koran"), the holy book of Islam, translates to "recitation."

Muhammad (AD 570-632) is their prophet, but not their god, who is named Allah. Muhammad spoke the Qur'an through the voice of an angel (who came to him identified as Gabriel) over a period of 23 years.

The Qur'an is about 4/5 the size of the New Testament and is divided into 114 chapters called "surahs." Muslims worship the Qur'an much the same as Christians worship Jesus. Islam recognizes the Old Testament and New Testament and looks upon Abraham, Moses and Jesus as good prophets.

Muslims are expected to (1) Make a confession of faith. (2) Engage in ritual prayer five times a day (3) Practice almsgiving, both voluntary and imposed (4) Fast during the month of Ramadan (5) Make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once during their lifetime.

My investigation into Islam revealed no teachings indicating racial superiority. One criticism of Jesus is that He was only concerned with Israel.

In 624 AD when Islam began to spread, it was met with great opposition from the existing polytheistic nature worship in the deserts of the Arabia. Islam won the struggle and brought better social values and a broader concept of humanity to the Arab world. Islam is also credited for bringing better conditions to slaves and women. The Islamic Empire stretched into Spain by 711 AD and held at least part of that country until 1492.

Islam brought science and trade to Europe during the Dark Ages. Ibn Sina of Burkhara wrote his "Canon," which remained Europe’s medical textbook for more than 500 years. Al-Khwarizmi of Baghdad introduced "Arabic" numerals and "al-jabr (algebra)." Arab navigators and astronomers brought the compass from China and perfected the astrolabe. Technical words like "cipher," "almanac," "logarithm," "azimuth" and "zenith" come from the Arabic language.

Neoconned again

Mainstream neocon broadcast personalities like Dr. Bates, O’Reilly and Savage (Weiner), insist that the Qur'an preaches war on all non-Muslims and promises sex and glory in the afterlife.

While there is some strong language in the Qur'an, most of that language is defensive such as 2:190: "And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you, but aggress not: Allah loves not the aggressors."

And 2:217: "Fighting is ordained for you, though it is repugnant to you."

The Qur'an has a few promises of forgiveness, mercy, and bliss for any who strive or die for the cause of Allah; however, the often-repeated neocon claim that "72 virgins" await the faithful who martyr themselves for Allah is a wild exaggeration to which there is no reference in the Qur’an. It does, however, reveal the lustful mindset of the neocon mouthpieces who insist upon planting such thoughts in our minds.

Adherents to Islam are not instructed to exaggerate, lie or falsely vilify their enemies in times of war, yet it is commonplace for alleged Christians and alleged Jews to bear false witness against their enemies.

The most obvious example is how 19 box cutter-wielding Arab terrorists have been blamed for 9/11 though over half of those named as suicidal hijackers have turned up alive.

This pattern of setting Muslims up as terrorists has been going on for at least half a century. Israeli MOSSAD agents were caught red-handed setting up bombs in U.S. buildings and leaving behind evidence implicating Arabs in an incident in Egypt known as the "Lavon Affair (1954)."

Fast forward again to 9/11 and we find that alleged 9/11 hijacker Mohammad Atta’s passport magically survived the explosion and demolition of the Twin Towers and was found, where it was evidently planted, in the 9/11 rubble.

Judaism

Judaism is ranked twelfth of major religions with just 14 million adherents worldwide who are called Jews. The largest concentrations of Jews are found in the Middle East and on North America’s Atlantic seaboard. Most Christians believe that the Torah or Pentateuch—the first five books of Moses (Old Testament)—is the book of Judaism.

This is not correct, however. The Talmud—more specifically the Babylonian Talmud—is the book of both orthodox and reformed Judaism.

The 1969 American Heritage Dictionary defines the Talmud as, "The collection of ancient Rabbinic writings consisting of the Mishnah and the Gemara, constituting the basis of religious authority for traditional Judaism."

The 1949 Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines the Torah as Jewish Literature and Talmud as Jewish Law.

There is a tiny sect of Jews called Karaites who go by the Old Testament only, and they are persecuted by other Jews.

The Talmud was the Oral Tradition—commentary on the Law begun by some of the Tribe of Judah during Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC. It was codified and written down from 200-500 AD. In 1935 the Talmud was translated into an English version called the "Soncino Edition."

The Talmud is the size of a small set of encyclopedias with something like 30 volumes. It is not for sale at Judeo-Christian bookstores or for borrowing in public libraries. The full set in English can, however, be found at large university libraries. I personally perused an edition available at the University of Washington in Seattle about 15 years ago. I copied several pages to confirm what I had been told about Talmudic Judaism: That the bureaucratic mindset permeating the western world is of Talmudic origin.

According to Rabbi Louis Finklestein in his exhaustive, two-volume work "The Pharisees" (1938), Talmudic Judaism was born of Pharisaism. "Pharisaism became Talmudism. But the spirit of the ancient Pharisee survives unaltered. When Jews study the Talmud, they are actually repeating the arguments used in the Palestinian academies," Rabbi Finklestein wrote.

The Talmud exalts the Jew and even claims that God himself has to come to the Rabbi for answers to questions about scriptures. Talmudic Judaism teaches that everyone who is not Jewish, especially Christians, are animals here to be harvested, cheated, even killed without penalty. Every kind of perversion one can imagine—rape, sodomy, pedophilia, genocide and theft are described and condoned in the Talmud.

Soferim 15, Rule 10: "Even the best of the gentiles should all be killed."

Sanhedrin 43a and 107b: "He (Jesus) and his disciples practiced sorcery and black magic, led Jews astray into idolatry and were sponsored by foreign, gentile powers for the purpose of subverting Jewish worship…He was sexually immoral, worshipped statues of stone, was cut off from Jewish people for his wickedness and refused to repent."

This is exactly what Jesus condemned in Mark 7:13.

The Talmud's basic law is that Jews are people and that non-Jews are animals to be harvested, deceived, tricked and cheated by Jews. This belief is not appreciated by non-Jews who have resorted to kicking the Jews out of their host countries 79 times in history; over the centuries, several popes have ordered the Talmud be burned.

The Jews claim that 4 billion (yes, billion) Jews were killed by Roman Emperor Hadrian during his reign (AD 117-138), while world population at about the time of Christ is estimated at about 250 million.

More recently, pro-Jewish organizations continue to insist that Hitler murdered 6 million European Jews during WWII when the total population of Jews in Europe at the time was about 4.7 million.

My findings on Christianity, Islam and Judaism

I have a new respect for Islam after reading of its true beliefs and history. For the most part, it is a civilized, agreeable set of beliefs.

However, I find Judaism the most offensive, loathsome, vile belief system I have ever studied. I still remember becoming physically ill some 20 years ago when a friend informed me the Talmud condoned and gives guidelines for grown men to sexually violate 3-year-old girls.

Islam honors Jesus as a good prophet. Judaism hates Jesus and Christians and would crucify Him again today if given the chance.

I pray that true Israel will throw off this evil spell, realize who she is (True Israel) and obey God’s law so that things will go well in true Israel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Regarding those mainstream neocons and allegedly Christian ministers who exaggerate and lie to vilify Islam to encourage trusting Americans to help the country of Israel murder innocent Arabs- 2nd Chronicles 19:2: "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord and so bring wrath on yourself (and America) from the Lord?"

How bout it Dr. Bates, Savage (Weiner) and O’Reilly? How about it Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Jack Van Impe?