Bioterrorism is a serious threat. But it stems from a more basic issue.
The true problem facing America and the civilized world is not so much
weapons of destruction, but instead the ethnic conflict that breeds
the
terrorists who seek to use them. In this sense, Islamic dogma can be
viewed not only as the basis of Muslim faith, but also as the seed
of a
religious intolerance that is breeding nomads, neighbors, networks
and
even nations into adherents of terrorism.
The core of the crisis created by the recent terrorists' attacks in
America does not reside in any particular terrorist act, but instead
stems from the cultural clash between Western religious freedom and
prosperity on the one hand, and on the other, the religious intolerance
and wide-spread poverty that is so prevalent among Islamic nations.
Why the poverty? An economist at the University of Southern California
(Timur Kuran) reportedly says that Islamic Partnership and Inheritance
Laws force mid-Eastern enterprises to stay small, thereby denying their
development into the corporate forms so prevalent in the West.
But why is religious intolerance so common among Muslim nations? It
results from Islamic dogma that teaches anyone rejecting islam is an
"infidel." But it goes further, because many Muslims understand the
Koran to teach that infidels deserve to die. Of course, this does not
mean that Muslims are terrorists. However it leaves room for some
Muslims to become self-appointed "holy warriors" i.e., Islamic
terrorists who are committed to killing infidels for Allah.
THE KORAN
---------
What of Muslims? By far most are law-abiding, peace loving people.
Nonetheless for the most part they do not dwell in democracies, but
instead are regularly exposed to false reports dispensed by an Islamic
controlled media. These law-abiding Muslims also adhere to teachings
of
the Koran-- a manuscript originally penned after 622 AD, established
in
Baghdad early in the 10th Century, interpreted by an Islamic-controlled
clergy, and viewed through their voice as sacred by Muslim believers.
The unity and sovereignty of God, the brotherhood of believers, and
the
doctrine of divine election are but three of a plethora of teachings
that Mohammed learned from others who owned Bibles. Since he could
neither read nor write, he dictated these teachings to an attendant
scribe. Such narrations continued for years, and over time coalesced
into the "Koran", a literary account of religious exhortations on how
Arabs should conduct every day life.
Spawned in violence, history shows that the Koran evolved in the midst
of dangers under strange circumstances by an ignorant man who believed
he was inspired. Scholars find that it contains lofty idealism and
genuine poetry amid childishness, Eastern sensuality and frequent
contradictions. The latter is well documented by several scholars,
including Arthur Jeffery (referenced in: The Koran by Allen Fredrick).
These observations are used by some to impute literary instability
to
the Koran. But if this were true, how does one explain its acceptance
by over one billion Muslim adherents as originating from "Allah?"
THE ADVENT OF ALLAH
-------------------
Borrowing from Dr. Fredrick's paper: "The Koran," he observes that:
'Well over one-billion people today accept the Koran as a sacred
writing from Allah in a religious faith known as Islam. The symbol
of
Islam is the crescent, which traces back to Abraham's day when a moon
god was worshipped. He was the supreme deity of "OR" of the Chaldees.
This same god was worshipped in prehistoric times in Mecca where he
was
phonetically called, "Al eel La." In 640 AD Mohammed added this deity
to his religion, and today he is referred to as "Allah."' But this
raises yet another question: "On what evidence do Koran claims rest?"
Mohammed imagined that an angel came down to him at different times
to
reveal God's divine will, and to direct his behavior. But unlike the
Bible that was penned over thousands of years in 3 languages on three
continents by 16 prophets (and other writers) and yet has supernatural
coherence-- even though many writers died before others were born,
Mohammed is a self-proclaimed prophet, and evidence supporting the
claim that he is God's messenger is virtually nonexistent. Moreover
Muslim beliefs alleged to support this claim lack empirical warrant.
NECESSITY FOR EVIDENCE
----------------------
History confirms that it can be dangerous to believe things without
evidence, and that much evil has been done by people who believed they
were chosen by God for special tasks. Certain christians, for example,
believed they had been divinely commissioned by God to recapture Holy
Lands from the Muslims (1096-1291 AD). The result was senseless murder
of innocent people during 7 periods of conflict known as the European
Crusades. Others believed they had a divine decree to recapture the
Holy Sepulchre through the hands of children. This resulted in the
Children's Crusade-- 50,000 unarmed children, all of whom perished
along the way.
History also records the Inquisition-- here a group of christians
believed they had a divine edict to combat heresy. This went under
State control (1480 AD) in Spain, was abolished (1772 AD) in France,
but continued throughout pockets of Europe from 1233 until 1834 AD.
But these and earlier evils obtained notoriety because of the nature
of
the evil, but not because of the number of people killed. The number
was actually small when compared to the number of deaths from other
causes viz., the total was only one-hundredth of one percent of the
population, whereas general lawlessness and the plague halved the
population just in the 100 years that followed 1320 AD.
Even so, the basic cause of these evils was not that christians thought
they were divinely commissioned to recapture Holy Lands, or that they
had a divine decree to recapture the Holy Sepulchre through the hands
of children, or a divine edict to combat heresy. The root of this evil
was that people believed things without evidence. Even more important,
the senseless killing it produced had nothing whatsoever to do with
God.
EVIL THRIVES ON DECEIT
----------------------
In 1933, a small man named Adolf Hitler convinced the Reichstag to
give
him absolute power. He later had college-trained, intelligent people
build sophisticated ovens intended for the mass extermination of the
entire race of Jewish people. Why? Because people believed that Jews
were racially inferior, and that others were racially superior. Hitler
sold that belief to countless thousands of educated people, despite
the
fact that not one shred of evidence existed to support it. The result
was that some six million Jews were gassed and cremated in the name
of
progress. But examples of evil that results from believing a lie can
be
found elsewhere-- and where it has nothing to do with God.
In 1917, Nikolai Vadimier Lenin engineered a people's revolution in
the
name of the working class. He did so based on beliefs he acquired in
part from a book written 69 years earlier by Friedrich Engels and Karl
Marx entitled: "The Communist Manifesto." This book put forth the
thesis that man could usher in paradise on earth through his own
efforts. There was no evidence to support this belief. Nonetheless
it
was accepted without evidence by otherwise intelligent people.
The result was premeditated atrocities and wholesale slaughter on a
scale unknown in the annals of recorded human history. So horrible
was
the oppression, that people chose to risk death against insurmountable
odds rather than to live under it. In Cuba alone, 35,000 people lost
their lives trying to escape, and the number exterminated within the
county is unknown. In Albania, 150,000 were systematically liquidated
(1944-1977 AD); in Tibet 250,000 (1955- 1971); in Yugoslavia 500,000
(1945 AD plus two later purges). One-million were exterminated in
Vietnam, not counting those who died in the war, nor the half to one
million who drowned trying to escape (1954-1980 AD). Three million
out
of a population of 8 million were liquidated, not counting those who
starved to death (1970-1980). In Europe-- 3.5 million were killed.
In
Russia-- 45 million, and in China, over 50 million were murdered.
Our understanding is desensitized by the sheer magnitude of the
slaughter. But this occurred in our modern and enlightened 20th
Century-- a time when never before had we had so many universities
and
schools of higher learning, and so many educated people. Yet never
before have we had this scale of horror and wholesale atrocity, as
has
occurred in our modern and enlightened 20th Century. Estimates of the
blood bath range from 85 million to 130 million. The numbers differ
because some of the figures do not include premature deaths from
pre-planned famines and inhumane imprisonment and heart-breaking
deportation and slave concentration camps, and civil warfare and court
ordered executions and wide-spread epidemics and cruel torture.
But these evils were done by self-professing atheists. Therefore this
had nothing whatsoever to do with God. The insane belief that man can
usher in paradise on earth has not only ushered in the most grotesque
kind of inhumanity ever seen by mankind, but it also brought the world
to the brink of a nuclear holocaust whose implications defy rational
description. The foundational point, however, is that history confirms
that evil results when we believe things without evidence.
THE CASE FOR CHRIST
-------------------
There is not one shred of evidence that man can usher in paradise on
earth, and there is likewise an evidential vacuum that Mohammed was
visited by angels or commissioned by God. This is not so with Jesus
Christ. His bodily resurrection is as secure as history can make it.
The New Testament is supported by 8000 manuscripts in the Latin
Vulgate, 5000 in the Greek-- and a 1000 earlier versions. Here the
critic is embarrassed by the wealth (and quality) of the materials.
The world recently spent almost a trillion dollars to avoid global
catastrophes from Y2K computer failures in transportation, banking,
telecommunications, and power distribution (to name a few). As 2000
AD
approached, our government sent experts to third world countries and
Russia, fearing nuclear reactor meltdowns in cities, and on nuclear
submarines. Why? Because the world's calender is pinned to the birth
of
Jesus Christ! The reason 1999 became 2000 AD is because "AD" is "Anno
Domini" i.e., Latin for "The year of our Lord." The zeros that
threatened computer collapse occurred because Jesus Christ was born
2000 years ago. No other being on earth has had such global impact.
THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST
----------------------
Over ten thousand documents support the veracity of the New Testament.
Many of these record that Jesus Christ not only changed water into
wine, but that it was the best wine the people had ever tasted; that
Jesus not only calmed a raging storm-- but it was so fierce, those
living there were sure they would die; that Jesus not only walked on
the sea, but when another tried it moments later, he sank; that Jesus
not only raised the dead-- but in one case the documents record the
stench from the decay of the corpse in the tomb; that Jesus not only
fed 5000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves-- but there were 12 bushels of crumbs
left over; that Jesus not only healed numerous dumb, lame and blind
people-- but the miracles were so widely known, thousands followed
Him
wherever He went; that Jesus not only healed numerous lepers-- but
the
cures were done in public and were instantaneous.
The most significant thing, however, is that His enemies never denied
one of His miracles. These documents show that on 5 separate occasions,
Jesus Christ predicted His death and resurrection, and that He
deliberately staked everything on His claim that He would publicly
return from the grave 3 days after being publicly put to death. His
death was confirmed by a spear in His side, and His tomb was sealed
by
Rome's best under penalty of death. Not only does the evidence show
that Jesus Christ bodily returned from the grave, but that He made
public appearances on at least 15 separate occasions during the 40
day
period following His resurrection, including one appearance to over
500
people (six independent testimonies, three eye-witness accounts).
THE DEITY OF CHRIST
-------------------
The evidence not only indicates Jesus Christ exercised control over
the
supernatural in the form of miracles, but that He also exercised power
over the grave by His bodily resurrection from the dead. The evidence
demonstrates a display of divine Authority wholly consonant with Jesus
Christ's claim to Deity.
Moreover, since the evidence confirms the Identity He claimed, is there
not reason to believe that He was truthful regarding His Mission as
God's only provision for sin? He said, "You are from below, I am from
above; you are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore
to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that
I
am He, you shall die in your sins." (John 8:23-24)
The hypothesis here is that God came to earth in the Person of Christ.
The question is, "Do the historical facts and the hypothesis concur?"
If God came to earth, wouldn't we expect Him to perceive life
differently than other men? And to behave in a perfect manner? The
shortcomings of Moses and David are listed in the Bible, and those
of
Mohammed are a matter of public record. But even Christ's enemies
publicly declared that they could find no fault in Him.
If God came to earth, wouldn't we expect His Words to be the greatest
ever spoken? And His influence to be lasting and universal?
If God came to earth, wouldn't we expect His entrance into human life
to be unusual (the virgin birth)? Wouldn't we expect Him to perform
miracles? Wouldn't we expect Him to have power over death?
The hypothesis and the facts concur.
THE HUMANITY OF MOHAMMED
------------------------
But in the case of the Mohammed all we find is a man who believed that
he was chosen by God in a special way. All well and good. But what
evidence supports this claim? How do we know that Mohammed was visited
by angels rather than dreams, hallucinations or even as some suggest,
epileptic fits? The question here is not Mohammed's sincerity, but
the
facticity of what Muslims believe. Some ask, "Why would Mohammed have
voiced such teachings if they weren't true?" The answer may lie in
his
upbringing. Borrowing from Dr. Fredrick:
"Mohammed was born in the time period 570-580 AD in humble circumstances.
His father died before he was born, and his mother died when he was
age
six. He was raised an orphan and later worked for a wealthy woman
fifteen years his senior whom he later married at age twenty-five.
She
died about 620 AD and he then remarried an increasing number of women,
stopping at about twelve wives. Wealth acquired from his first marriage
permitted him to pursue his own tastes.
As he traveled, he noticed two things about the Jews and Christians
that he met: They were prosperous, and they had a sacred Book
(Scripture). He also noticed two things about his own people: They
were
impoverished, and they had no sacred book. Thus was born the sincere,
albeit exaggerated utterances of a man who believed that he had a
divine message, and a divine warrant for its delivery".
However, and not withstanding the countless millions who revere
Mohammed as God's prophet, the lack of evidence in support of this
claim means that there is no logical basis to accept the Koran as a
sacred book. If this is true, then the recent terrorist attacks across
our globe may be yet another indication of the evil that results when
we accept beliefs without evidence.