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Is This War?

Is This War?. Part 1 The War from the East. Session 1.1 Is This War? Session 1.2 Islam – One of the Great Monotheistic Religions Session 1.3 The Fight for the Soul of Islam Session 1.4 Dar al-Islam - The House of War Session 1.5 The Global Caliphate

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Is This War?

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  1. Is This War?

  2. Part 1 The War from the East • Session 1.1 Is This War? • Session 1.2 Islam – One of the Great Monotheistic Religions • Session 1.3 The Fight for the Soul of Islam • Session 1.4 Dar al-Islam - The House of War • Session 1.5 The Global Caliphate • Session 1.6 Islam – Religion of Peace? • Session 1.7 The History of the Conflict • Session 1.8 Poverty in Islamic Nations

  3. Outline • 9/11 • Two Jihadist Visions • Is This World War III? • Islamists War Against Modernity • The War of Ideas • Will we believe bin Laden and Ahmadinejad? • Something to live and die for!

  4. September 11, 2001

  5. 9/11

  6. The Prelude • February 26, 1993 Bombing of the World Trade Center • 6 deaths • 1042 injuries

  7. The Prelude • November 13, 1995 Bombing of U.S. – Saudi military base in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  8. The Prelude • June 25, 1996 Bombing U.S. military base Dhahran, Saudi Arabia • 19 U.S. Servicemen killed

  9. The Caves in Tora Bora

  10. The Prelude • August 23, 1996 bin Laden declares war against the United States – “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places”

  11. The Prelude • February 23, 1998 bin Laden re-states Fatwa against the USA • Published in Al-Quds Al-Arabi • London-based Arab newspaper

  12. The Fatwa “The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies – civilian and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, …. and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together …. fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah.”

  13. The Prelude • August 7, 1998 Bombing U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

  14. Love Death More Than Life “These youths love death as you love life...These youths will not ask you for explanations. They will sing out that there is nothing between us that needs to be explained, there is only killing and neck-smiting.” Osama bin Laden to U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry

  15. Love Life or Death

  16. The Prelude • October 12, 2000 U.S.S. Cole attacked in Yemen • 17 Sailors killed • 39 wounded

  17. 9/11 • Sept 11, 2001 • USA attacked by al –Qaeda • 2974 people killed • From 90 countries • 318th anniversary of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the gates of Vienna • Avenging the defeat of the Muslim armies in the heart of Europe

  18. 9/11 • Targets carefully considered • World Trade Center – symbol of U.S. economic power • Pentagon – symbol of U.S. military might • U.S. Capitol – symbol of U.S. political power

  19. Two Jihadist Visions Sunni and Shia

  20. Two Jihadist Visions

  21. Is This World War III? A Tipping Point

  22. Two Fronts • Migration and demographics • Large numbers of Muslims are moving to the secular and anti-maternal Western world • Led to a peaceful Islamization of Europe in a generation • Jihad – Holy War

  23. World War III “I am firmly convinced that the world confronts a situation that is frighteningly similar to a Third World War, one every bit as serious and dangerous as the two great conflicts of the 20th Century.” Newt Gingrich Historian and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

  24. A Whole New History “And so, as I watched live on CNN as the twin Towers imploded and collapsed onto the streets of Manhattan, it was equally obvious to me that history, wherever it had been heading before the morning of September 11, had taken another turn, and a whole new history would flow from this towering inferno.” Thomas Friedman Longitudes and Attitudes

  25. Islamists War Against Modernity

  26. Clash of “Two Civilizations” “Two global civilizations appear to be poised in a complex confrontation on various levels of human activity. One is based in Muslim countries and the other in the West… Commentators are already seeing the confrontation in apocalyptic terms and calling it the Last Crusade.” Akbar S. Ahmed Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University in Washington, D.C.

  27. Where Is the Church? • Too often the church in the West lumps herself with the secular West and does not provide a vibrant 3rd way. • There are three “faith” systems vying for world influence (or domination depending on your perspective) • Islam – Monotheistic and moral • Atheism (Secular Materialism) and amoral • Biblical Theism – Monotheistic and moral

  28. Where Is the Church?

  29. The Culture Wars “These two world views [Judeo-Christian theism and secular humanism] stand as totals in complete antithesis to each other in content and also in their natural results − including sociological and governmental results, and specifically including law…. Francis Schaeffer Evangelist and Apologist

  30. The Culture Wars “It is not that these two world views are different only in how they understand the nature of reality and existence. They also inevitably produce totally different results. The operative word here is inevitably. It is not just that they happen to bring forth different results, but it is absolutely inevitable that they will bring forth different results.” Francis Schaeffer

  31. The War for the Heart and Soul of Nations • For thoughtful and committed Christians, the war is on two fronts • The Jihadist ideology from the East • The Atheistic ideology in the West • Both ideologies stand against freedom and basic human rights • Christians must stand and fight with a better set of ideas that are articulated and “fleshed” out.

  32. The War of Ideas

  33. The Strongholds of the Mind 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5

  34. Strongholds • Greek – pochuroma: 1 a castle, stronghold, fortress, fastness. 2 anything on which one relies. 2a of the arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavours to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent. • Means • Mental strongholds • Mindsets or ideologies

  35. The Goal – “New World Order” • Jihad – Global Caliphate • Secularism – One World Government • Christianity – Freedom (with responsibility)

  36. Three Great Monotheistic Religions • Judaism, Christianity, Islam • An Infinite-Personal God exists • In contrast to: • Atheism –There is no God. Man or the state is the ultimate authority. • Monism and Polytheism – nature is “God” • There is a transcendent God and metaphysical and moral truth.

  37. Three Great Monotheistic Religions • Consequences of Monotheism • Order in the universe – development of science and technology • Man the image of God – justice and human rights • Transcendent purpose in life • Foundation for transcendent truth, goodness and beauty • Progress in the material world

  38. Reason and Revelation REASON • Jews • Christians • (moderate) Muslims • Atheism • Pagan humanism NO REVELATION REVELATION • Muslims (Jihadists) • Some Christians • Some traditional religions • Pagan Animism • New Age NON-REASON

  39. How to Fight the War of Ideas • Jihadism by the sword • Secularism by intimidation and coercion • Christianity by persuasion

  40. Will We Believe bin Laden and Ahmadinejad?

  41. The West’s Grid • Moral and cultural relativism • There is no such thing as evil • All cultures are “the same” (make no value judgment) • Humankind is basically good • The root of problems is social, political and economic. • Fail to take religion seriously • See economic poverty as the driving root of the angry young Muslim men • Blind to history (this is a modern conflict beginning on 9/11)

  42. This War Is About Ideas • This war is not about economic frustration. • It is about “ religion” - belief – sacred belief systems. • the supremacy of Islam and the inferiority of the West • Bringing the world into submission to Allah and the Koran

  43. A Better Set of Ideas • Both Atheism and Islam think they have a better set of ideas. • In the West • Atheism is dying • Rise of Neo-Paganism – Post-Modernism • In the East • Osama bin Laden is capturing the minds and imaginations of the youth. • He is offering them something to die for.

  44. Something to Live and Die For!

  45. Questions • What is your response to what you have heard? • What are the implications of loving death more than life? • What are you living for? • Is there anything that you are willing to die for?

  46. Something to Die For • Secularism: “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” • Islam: Allah, the Koran, Paradise and 72 virgins! Yes, and to KILL for • Christianity: live and die for Christ and his kingdom

  47. Something to Live and Die For! • Christians are called to die for but not kill for Christ. • Symbol of Islam is the sword; of Christianity it is the cross – self-sacrifice. • The arsenal that Christians fight with: • Love and service (Gospel moves forward on the knees of the saints) • Better “ideas” – Truth, Beauty and Justice

  48. Symbols of the Faith

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