Never Compromise With Islam!

A Letter From a JTO Reader:

Dear Brother in Christ,

I am so pleased that you have taken the courage to stand against Islam even when it seems unpopular to do so in our Orthodox circles. Indeed, it is a common saying throughout the Islamic World: "First the Saturday people and then the Sunday people." In fact, in Palestine alone, the PLO and Fatah broadcasts actually state this in Arabic. Our critics often rebuff us saying that "But Yasser Arafat married an Orthodox Christian lady." To which I will reply: "Even if this is so, so did Emperor Diocletian have a Christian woman as one of his concubines. Muhammad also had a Coptic Christian wife amongst his many. Yet despite those facts, it did not stop either of these godless men from actually persecuting the Christian believers not to mention the Jews."

We have been betrayed as Orthodox Christians by our own leaders not to mention others, whom we have trusted for the well-being of our souls. Whilst appearing to oppose ecumenism, they have given Islam uncritical acceptance. May the Lord God requite this of such men! It is obvious that they have not learned from the life and teachings of our Saints and Fathers. Have we forgotten as Orthodox Christians that many of the saints martyred were during both the periods of Ottoman Empire and various Caliphates in power? Have we also not learnt from our Blessed Father, St. John of Damascus either? St. John of Damascus despite being a vizier to the Caliphate in Syria, was not exempt from false charges and even had his hand cut off, only to be healed by the miraculous intervention of the Mother of God. Notwithstanding, he never compromised with Islam the way our leaders have compromised. He was not corrupted by either power or the environment and was in fact unscathing in his attack on Islam. In his book, The Fount of Knowledge, we find a detailed critique of Islam by him. He even goes so far as to state that the Allah whom Muslims worship is nothing short of an idol. He even goes so far as to call the Muslims: "Mutilators of God" in answer to their charges of calling us Christians: "Associators of God". Elsewhere, St. John of Damascus refers to Muhammad as: "the apostle of Satan" and also to him as "the prophet of Satan".

Let us learn from the life and teachings of the Blessed St. John of Damascus and understand that Islam is a foe not an ally. Let us also not make the mistake of our forbears in the past, by giving alliance to Islamic forces at the expense of our sanctity. This is how we lost Constantinople to the Turks and Syria and Egypt to heretical Muslims.

Yours in Christ,
Timothy Kwoh

Read The History Of Jihad
Notice: the above link is certifiably anti-religion and anti-Christian as stated in their "About Us" section. The site advocates humanism and science as a substitute for belief in God. Ironically, this promotion is a religion in itself. The site has value in terms of displaying the history of religious conflict, however, in the opinion of JTO, the site lacks merit as to its conclusions that all religion, including Christianity, is man-made and based falsely on man's innate need for psychological fulfillment.