By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, BosNewsLife

Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, have been held for over four months in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, have been held for over four months in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– As the world focuses on the political turmoil in Iran, two detained Christian women are “in danger of being forgotten” amid concerns they may face execution, Iranian Christians said Tuesday, July 7.

Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, have been held for over four months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison apparently for converting to Christianity from Islam.
Iranian Christians and rights investigators said the two young women, who were arrested March 5, suffered sleep deprivation as part of police interrogations and were held in solitary confinement for three weeks in May and early June.
Later, they were put together in one small cell for about two weeks before being moved to a larger area to make place for other inmates, including many protesters who were detained following last month’s disputed presidential elections,  said Christians with close knowledge about the situation.
About 600 women were reportedly brought to Evin prison during the protests.
EXECUTION PENDING?
There was still no clarity regarding the case of the two Christian women, Tuesday, July 7, with one judge reportedly telling them they were both to be executed as ‘apostates’. “Maryam and Marzieh have responded with courage, however, telling the judge to ‘expedite his sentence’,” said Pray for Iran, an Internet initiative of Iranian churches.
After international pressure, the Iranian Government’s Parliamentary Committee reportedly removed articles stipulating the death penalty for apostasy from the Islamic Penal Code Bill, but the changes have to be approved by legislators.
“Until the Islamic Penal Code Bill is finalized by the Iranian Parliament and Guardian Council, there is still a danger that the judicial committee’s revisions may not be taken into account,” explained Alexa Papadouris,  Advocacy Director of Britain-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a religious rights group.
Apostasy along with murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, and drug trafficking are all punishable by death in Iran, and last week Iranian media reported that at least six people were hanged for murder in the same prison where the two Christian women are held.
“GREAT COURAGE”
Yet, “Maryam and Marzieh have demonstrated great courage and trust in God.
They believe the promise of Jesus that they will be given the words to speak when they are taken before judges,” said Sam Yeghnazar, founder of Elam Ministries, an organization supporting te growing churches in Iran.
Elam Ministries said the outcome of the “political turmoil” in Iran “could crucially impact the level of suffering” of the two women and other Christians who were formerly Muslim.
Besides Amirizadeh and Rustampoor, over 50 Christians were arrested, some being held for weeks in solitary confinement, several Christian sources said.
At least eight prominent Christians were killed since 1979, Elam Ministries added.
IRAN HARD-LINERS
“If the position of hard-liners is strengthened there is a real danger they could unleash more persecution against the church,” the group added.
Elam Ministries linked the attacks to concern among Iran’s leaders about the spread of Christianity in the Islamic nation. “Because Iran is a strategic gateway nation, the growing church in Iran will impact Muslim nations across the Islamic world.”
The group said in 1979, there were less than 500 known Christians from a Muslim background in Iran. “Today the most conservative estimate is that there are at least 100,000 believers in the nation.”
Church leaders have reportedly said that they believe “millions” can be added “to the church in the next few years-such is the spiritual hunger that exists and the disillusionment with the Islamic regime.”
OPPOSITION LEADER
Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi vowed Monday, July 6, to continue his campaign against the re-election of the perceived hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
However Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has banned demonstrations and accused Western leaders for their alleged “meddling” in Iran’s internal affairs, threatening to respond with a “Iron fist.”
At least 20 protesters and eight members of the feared Basij militia have died in recent protests, officials said.  They include Neda Agha Soltan, a 26-year-old woman who was shot and killed by a suspected militia sniper.
Pictures and video footage of Soltan, with blood pouring from her mouth and nose as a few Iranian men struggled to save her, have became a powerful symbol of the protests taking place over Iran’s disputed presidential election.
Authorities have reportedly forced her family to leave their Tehran home, and refused to return her body for a proper funeral.

75 COMMENTS

  1. I wish that evil pedophile, child rapist, child abuser, slave owner, murderer, liar, wife beater, polygamist, legal adulterer, whoremonger, false prophet Muhammad had never been born. In the 1,400 years Islam has brought more undue deaths in the world than Nazism and Communism combined.

    Islam is the only religion that murders apostates. Islam is the only religion that sanctions honor killings; stoning women to death; wife beating; legally kidnapping little girls, legally “marrying the little girls off” to old depraved Muslim males, and then legally raping these little girls. Islam is the only religion that hangs homosexuals by the neck until dead because of their sex orientation. Islam is the only religion that chops off hands, feet, and gouges out eyes of petty thieves; the only religion that tortures little girls in Female Genital Mutilation; and relegates all women to second class status or worse. Despite all these atrocities heaped on humanity by Islam, Islam is called “the religion of peace.” REAL HUMAN BEINGS, YOU’D BETTER WAKE UP!!!!!! WE MUST DESTROY ISLAM BEFORE ISLAM DESTROYS US.

  2. Wow…now I see why no one converts from Islam in the Middle East! If I was a Muslim there, I probably wouldn’t want to convert either; of course, I would have blind faith to aid me 😉

    Yep, kill the non-believers…truly the words of Allah the unmerciful, the unforgiving and Mohammed (sh*t be upon him). To any Muslims reading this, don’t be offended…its only the truth.

  3. Dear Maikeru,

    We respect Muslims and don’t want to offend them. The women who are now detained also do not want to offend Muslims and in their view Christ loves everyone, including Muslims. However they have chosen to have a personal relationship with Him, moving therefore away from Islam.

  4. islam is evil….

    it seeks to keep people ignorant and blind. such was the evil that it comes under
    the monicker total submission!

    Bukhari:V4B52N260 “The Prophet said, ‘If a muslim discards his religion, kill him.'”

    knowledge is key to deciphering this cancer called islam…

    Stefan Bos..
    why afford respect to a religion of intolerance when they had hundreds of years to
    try that? the only reason why muslims look friendly to you is becuase they lie.

    it is called taqiyyah. (research the word)

    Ishaq:323 “allah and his messenger are the best of deceivers.

    goto liveleak.com and type in islam, jihad, murder

    The_Hammer_Of_Poitiers

  5. WOW! I just have to say that if these people had a bit of sence they would not be living as christians in Iran. These people have seen what the power of the written word is capable of accomplishing. Someone could call himself a prophet and write down that he had spoken to a spirit or that he was the son of or sent by a god and ‘bam’ you’ve got yourself a religion. As in the past, religion is a tool used to insight masses of crazed ‘believers’ into acts of violence or whatever the so called ‘religious scholars’ deem necessary to continue their wealth generating positions as leaders of their particular form of theism. Where religion is involved, there is never a true delegation of justice for all of humanity only for those who support the cause which is keeping the leaders fat and happy, and if that means hanging an apostate or hacking off the limbs of a theif or any of the other truely horrific things that this so called religion practices, so be it, just know that none of us can claim ignorance of what this relion is up to now!!

  6. Dear Russ Fuoss,

    It seems they were not free to leave the country after they became Christians. Perhaps they stayed also because they wanted to share what they regard as the Good News of Jesus Christ with fellow Iranians and love their country. I agree with you that many bad things have been done in the name of religion. I don’t think these women would call themselves ‘religious’ at all. Their faith is based on a personal, ongoing, relationship with Christ.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  7. Wow, the opening comment by Philip says it all. The more I hear about Islam, the more I see what an epic struggle between good vs evil this really is! Osama Bin Laden said it best when we was quoted as saying “The biggest difference between our cultures, is that the West loves life and we love death”.

  8. Islam is the cancer of this planet, plain and simple. How can any informed nonMuslim disagree? I agree with Philip: It needs to be eradicated for the sake of humanity. WWIII is good with me, as long as it’s the Islamic world against the rest of us and we can destroy this cancer once and for all.

  9. Iran (as most Islamic nations) are in direct violation of the United Nations Human Rights Declaration. Where is the outrage? Where are the sanctions? The UN is a joke, as is the so called “Religion of Peace”. This is the same UN that allows that Iranian madman to speak in their own chambers and mock our values.

  10. The religion of peace is at it again, proving once again, how peaceful it really is!

    Folks in the media and the politicians in the media need to stop lying through their teeth and tell it like it is, Islam is not a religion of peace, it is a religion of death and violence. We need to stop pretending, because that is what is happening, we are all pretending it is a peaceful religion when cases like this clearly show the opposite.

    Clearly, if Islam were a religion of peace, it would leave the two women go and them choose for themselves what is best for them.

  11. Those women have every right to leave the islam religion to convert to Christianity. Those evil islamic authorities in Iran have no right to tell people how to live their lives. May God protect those Iranian Christian women, so that they will not be executed. It is no wonder why the islamic rule of Iran is very very very very corrupt. The islamic religion is nothing, but a political ideology, that makes peoples’ lives much more miserable than better. That is why I see people leaving islam, for the sake of freedom and liberty.

  12. Dear The Hammer Of Poitiers,

    I didn’t say speak about the Islam religion. My focus was more on Muslims. We have nothing against Muslim people. The Christians detained in Iran have nothing against the Muslim people as well and would argue that Christ wants to be their Savior and Lord as well.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  13. To Stefan Bos

    You have nothing against these barbarians who have spoilt just about every country on this planet with their moronic and violent ideas. What kind of a pacifist are you? This evil cult is responsible for all the violence in the world today.

  14. Dear Rajesh,

    I am not sure which cult you are talking about. Why you think I am a pacifist? All we know that these two Christian women have been detained because they became Christians. It’s difficult to see what responsibility they have for violence in the world.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  15. I am rather concerned about some of the replies here. Don’t you people see that it is not the religion but the people who are misusing it??? I recall the pope very recently likening homosexuals to the world climate crisis and as for the catholic church’s role in the spread of HIV in Africa (don’t use condoms – abstain – ha ha LOL LOL) – well it’s laughable that people still listen to that old goat! Many “modern” countries, despite having a secular constitutional law, abide by this catholic mafia nonsense, forbidding abortions. And i could go on and on about any religion – what about judaism – huh? Women only allowed to have sex when at their most fertile! Fantastic – they are just reduced to breeding machines.
    Open up your eyes, people!
    PS GM in girls is in no way sanctioned by islam but by stupid old cultural habits. many non islamic communities across Africa are practicing this barbaric act, many of them christian too!

  16. To Hana,

    There are ignorant problems and antiquated ideas with any religion, but you dont see Jews capture people and threaten their lives for only wanting to leave the faith! Look at the long list of “offernings” from Islam at “thereligionofpeace.com”. Its true, it is people, not religion thats doing this, but this “religion” is giving these maniacs all the justifiaction they think they need to rape, steal and kill in their self serving fashion, all in the name of a false prophit!

  17. I hope and pray that God would make Christians in these countries even bolder. It seems the slaughter of Christians is well under way in Pakistan, and now in Egypt, too. This is the price of a lot of conversions. The numbers must be increasing to the point of causing panic in the imams and the ruling thugocracies.

  18. Hana,
    It seems to me that your concern is that too many people have already opened their eyes, and see Islam for what it truly is. Islam is an ideology, one that explicitly seeks political and social dominance over every person on the planet. Islam is not simply a belief about Allah. It is a word that means Submission. Islam is a set of rules that establish a social hierarchy in which Muslims submit to Allah, women submit to men and all non-Muslims submit to Islamic rule.

    This article was about two women who are being prosecuted for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, a “crime” that carries the death penalty. What does this have to do with the Pope or Aids in Africa or Judaism? You are either a Muslim apologist or a Muslim who does not want others to know, the deep roots that the death penalty for apostasy has within Islamic tradition.

    How is it that so many followers of Islam are misusing it ? Why are there so many misunderstanders of their “Peaceful” faith ? Why do Islamic countries such as Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan recognize the crimes of apostasy, heresy, and blasphemy as a crime punishable by death ? Why is the Mullacracy of the Islamic Republic of Iran currently engaged in a systematic campaign to track down and reconvert or kill those who have changed their religion from Islam ?

    Why it is that there are so many Muslims who apparently misunderstand Islam, and think that it enjoins them to commit acts of violence. How is it that so many Muslims don’t seem to be acquainted with the “Peaceful” religion and its “Gandi-like” prophet ? Are men really superior to women as the Qur’an says? Are women intellectually inferior as Muhammad taught? Does propagating material (the Qur’an) that openly curses people of other religions amidst random calls to violence really improve the health of our societies? Is it right to keep women as sex slaves, merely because the Qur’an explicitly allows it in multiple places? Should atheists and homosexuals have to choose between the noose and an outward profession of faith in Allah?

    Why are Iraqi gays being targeted and killed in what rights campaigners say is some of the worst violence against the community in recent years. At least 68 gay and transgendered men have been killed over the last four months, according to the London-based rights advocacy group Iraqi LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender), bringing the total number of killings of Iraqis because of their sexuality to 678 since 2004.

    Hana, did you really write “Open up your eyes, people!” ……………….. well that IS laughable !!

  19. Rich, there is much truth in what you say. In regards to evil Muslims, it is The Islamic War Manual, sometimes called the Qur’an, that goads or incites evil Muslims to commit grave atrocities. From 109 evil passages of The Islamic War Manual, I cite only a few:

    “O ye who believe. Fight those of the disbelievers, who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty,”(Sura 9 Verse 123).

    “As to the thief, male or female, cut off his or her hand, a punishment by way of example, from Allah, for their crimes, and Allah is exalted in power,”(Sura 5 Verse38).

    “… take them and kill them wherever you find them and choose no friends or helper from them,”(Sura 4 Verse 89).

    “O believers, do not take your fathers or brothers as allis, and friends if they prefer to disbelieve,”(Sura 9 Verse 23). Friendly bunch aren’t they?

    “Infidels are your sworn enemies,”(Sura 4 Verse 101).

    “Make war on the infidels around you,”(Sura 66 Verse 9).

    “Be ruthless to the infidels,”(Sura 48 Verse 29).

    “Fight those who believe not Allah nor the Last Day,”(Sura 9 Verse 29).

    “Kill the disbelievers wherever you find them,”(Sura 2 Verse 191).

    “The unbelievers are the worst beasts in the eyes of Allah,”(Sura 8 Verse 55).

    “Take neither the Jews, nor the Christians for your friends,”(Sura 5 Verse 61 and Sura 60 Verse 13).

    Now do you understand why many Muslims hate your guts, and would love to cut your throat? But be careful. Not all Muslims take their “religion of peace” seriously, and we can thank God that they don’t.

    FRIENDS, WE MUST DESTROY ISLAM BEFORE ISLAM DESTROYS US!!!!!!

  20. Hana: kindly consider that others on this site love the Holy Father, and you have gravely misrepresented his views. Also, there is one country in Africa that subscribes to the Church’s teaching on condoms and it has the lowest HIV rate by far on that continent: Uganda.

    http://feminine-genius.com/AIDS%20–%20Africa.pdf

    Islam is degrading to the dignity of all persons, made free in the image and likeness of God; but it is more degrading to women, who are not seen as equal to men. Prayers for these two heroic women for their fidelity to the Risen Lord.

  21. I have always been greatful that I was brought up in a non-religious home so that I have never encountered the imprisoned feeling that those brought up in strict homes live their lives trying to break free from. Religion and politics are bedfellows.

  22. I don’t think it is a stretch to suggest Islam is a totalitarian political movement posing as a religion. In science fiction they are akin to the Borg sharing a “hive” mentality.

    At some point, if current trends persist, there will be a major civilizational conflict that may end up in a pogrom. At this point it is not certain which side will win. What I am fairly certain of is if Islam is to be saved/changed it has to be from within. It will be very difficult however because of a fondness for the mythical caliphate.

  23. Religion is a poison for every modern human being, instead of religion we can learn humanity , peace and tolorance as of these two innocent Iranians girls they are so brave to stand so strong in front of the bearded guy and say get on with it. As an Iranian I know it is a horofiying experience. You need to be very very brave to do such a thing. They will torture you in the way that nobody can believe. These people are extremly dangerous. I hope these two brave young women find a way to get out of this jail and I hope soon Iran be a free country the way it was when Cyrus the great was a King. Long Live Free Iran

  24. Dearest Dumb Hanna,
    I’m sorry but you seem to believe that morality includes accepting the mental/sexual disorder of homosexuality and the homicide of babies….It would figure that you have a hard time understanding the view points of adults.I am starting to believe that Christians and Muslims need to team up and get rid of all the liberal freaks in the world then we can fight it out later.

  25. Dear Rick,

    Apparently you hate the world, we would appreciate however if you would argue with someone without calling him or her names.

    Best regards,

    BosNewsLife News Center

  26. Hooman, what’s wrong with religion if it’s a nice religion? For example, Jesus Christ taught to: “Love you neighbor,” “Love your enemy.” “Feed the hungry.” “Clothe the naked.” Jesus Christ also taught to obey the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill.” “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor.” “Thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s goods.” “Honor you father and mother.” And more nice things. Now, how can you object to the above teachings? Why do you call such teachings “poison”? Could it be because you could not follow the above teachings?

    Those two beautiful Iranian young women are ready to die for Jesus Christ and His beautiful doctrine. Why do you find that objectionable? Hooman, I’ll bet you don’t have the courage of those beautiful two Iranian young women. And I’ll bet that’s what is bothering you.

  27. gsk:kindly consider that others on this site love the Holy Father, and you have gravely misrepresented his views. Also, there is one country in Africa that subscribes to the Church’s teaching on condoms and it has the lowest HIV rate by far on that continent: Uganda.

    Absolutely untrue, the lowest AIDS rates in Africa are in the North African Muslim majority nations of Algeria, Tunisia,Morocco & Egypt-all lower than even .5%.

    Even in Sub Saharan Africa, AIDS rates in Islamic nations are markedly lower-with Senegal having just .8%, Mali, Niger etc around 1%-far lower than Uganda.

    And before you claim that this is due to Islamic extremism, all these nations are very tolerant, Senegal’s first President Leopold Sanghor was a Christian in a 90% Muslim nation, the son of a Muslim mother & a Christian father. Senegal has legalised prostitution & has no death penalty, let alone stonings.It has full freedom of religion. So has Niger & Mali.

    Its all the African Christian nations which have the highest AIDS rates, North African Muslim nations have some of the lowest AIDS rates globally, even in sub Saharan Africa, AIDS is disproportionately high amongst the Christian nations.

    Uganda had a three point programme, A for abstinence, B for be faithful & C for condoms so condoms were part of the programme as well.

    Even with all that, it has AIDS rates many times higher than Muslim Senegal.

    Historically Christianity has managed to kill more than Islam, seems its still continuing the killings with AIDS!

    Tch,tch.

  28. Fawzia is going to tell us that the Jews were responsible for world war 2 next, I’m sure!
    This just goes to show you that when people are free to speak their minds there is no limit to the level of ignorance that is witnessed. Like Roscoe said, This article was about two women who are being prosecuted for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, not about AIDS in Africa.

  29. What’s the difference between religion and a cult.
    Religion is spiritual…. cult is not
    Religion teaches peace…Islam does not
    Religion says love….Islam say hate
    Religion says forgive…Islam says kill

    Just because islam has lots of followers, doesn’t make it a religion. It is at its core a cult.

    Muslims have been conned and need to face the truth. Please examine the true words of the Quran and ask yourself if these are the words from a loving god?

    There are 2 courageous girls that have found the answer.

  30. Let’s pray for these beautiful girls and DO something because praying is not enough, we have to free them out of jail and execution. It is not right to die for what you believe because God created us free and gave us the talent of choosing. Respect each other and DO something instead of wasting your time fighting here.

  31. Rich:Fawzia is going to tell us that the Jews were responsible for world war 2 next, I’m sure!
    This just goes to show you that when people are free to speak their minds there is no limit to the level of ignorance that is witnessed. Like Roscoe said, This article was about two women who are being prosecuted for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, not about AIDS in Africa.

    Nope I’m not, I am from a Muslim family, but I’m not even Muslim anymore, there were many issues I had with the faith, anti Semitism being one of them.Both my family & my countries’ laws have unconditionally accepted my choice.

    However, just like AIDS statistics, its another fact that historically, Islam has been significantly more tolerant of Jews than Christianity, Jews in huge numbers sought shelter in Islamic countries to flee persecution from Christians, there were multiple pogroms against them right upto the 20th century.

    What I wrote was a response to gsk’s foolish statement, who claimed that the lowest AIDS rates in Africa were in Uganda-a claim that flies in the face of all known facts.

    We can see that the lowest rates in Africa are all in the Muslim nations, from Algeria,Tunisia,Morocco,Egypt to even Senegal.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_HIV/AIDS_adult_prevalence_rate

    So who was responsible for World War 2? Why the man who claimed that by killing 6 million Jews he was doing the “Lord’s work”-Hitler!

    Many other times he said stuff like claiming his Lord & Saviour was a fighter.

    He claimed to be a Catholic, he was never excommunicated, neither did he opt out-the Church’s prayers contained the words, “perfidious Jew” upto the 1960’s.

    Jews have lived in Islamic lands, like Christian lands for millennia while all haven’t been havens of tolerance, no Muslim has yet killed a 6 million Jews equivalent doing “Allah’s work!”

    All this tolerant Christianity is a very recent phenomenon!

    Besides why do so many Christians support Israel? Coz they believe that once all the world’s Jews are settled there,Jesus will come a Second time, drag all non believers including Jews to Hell & take them to Heaven!

    This support for Jews comes with the hopes of their final annihilation.

  32. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    I am sure that many bad things were done in the name of religion. However I personally, and other believers having a personal relationship with Christ, would not consider themselves religious. I don’t recall Hitler statements about a “Lord and Savior”, but am sure that he was not a real Christian, perhaps only in name, or as a religion. The Bible-believing Christians I know support Israel. Not because they want Jews to go to hell, but in Apostle Paul’s footsteps they wish every Jew and non-Jew would come to have a personal relationship with Yeshua Ha-Maschiach, or Jesus Christ, as many non-Jewish Christians often call Him. Jesus was born from a Jewish mother, underscoring that antisemitism is against the Bible, God’s Word. So your words that “This support for Jews comes with the hopes of their final annihilation” is, with all due respect, nonsense. Yes, churches have been antisemitic, often because they became religious institutions. Yet a personal relationship with Him is more important than any church. The Bible says in Proverbs 18:24 “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down His life for his friends.” By the way, there is a difference between the rapture of the Body of Christ (his church, which includes Jewish and other Israeli people and others who accept Him as their Lord and Savior) and the Second Coming, about seven years of tribulations, according to the Bible. Israel will be restored, peace will rein, for 1000 years.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  33. Dear Stefan Bos,

    Hitler did make those statements, they’re available all over the internet, just do a google search & see for yourself.He also self identified as a Catholic, he wasn’t excommunicated, nor did he leave the Church. There are only two ways of quitting Christianity, aren’t there-either one stops identifying oneself as a Christian, or the Church excommunicates him, neither of which happened to Hitler.

    As for him not being a true Christian, only in name, then that can be said about all intolerant Christians throughout history, even Muslims claim that those committing violence in its name aren’t true believers at all.

    Historically Christians have executed people for blasphemy, apostasy & many other crimes,slaughtered millions of Jews & other non believers-same as Muslims have.Many passages in the Bible like Deuteronomy & Leviticus warrant such behavior.

    Currently there are quite a few extremely tolerant Muslim nations as well like Senegal,Niger,Mali etc.

    As for Jews & other non believers going to Hell, that is Christian belief.
    JOHN 3:16
    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
    whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

    Titus 3:5a
    “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
    mercy He saved us”

    Book of John
    “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not
    is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the
    only begotten Son of God.”

    Matthew:18:3
    “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as
    little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

    According to Christian belief, people like Anne Frank will go straight from Hitler’s gas chamber to God’s gas chamber! Good people like Gandhi,Einstein etc will all suffer eternal torture, making your God far more cruel than Hitler!

    More than two thirds of the world doesn’t believe in Jesus, so 4 billion souls will suffer eternal torture, far more than Hitler’s 6 million!

    Btw, Islam too claims that non believers will suffer in Hell & one fifth of the world is Muslim, unlike Christianity, that % is growing fast! And if Muslims are the ones who are right, its you & other Christians who’ll burn in Hell for selecting the wrong God, course if you got it right, Muslims along with Hindus, Buddhists, animists & other non believers will burn in Hell despite most of these folks living the most perfect of lives!

  34. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    It’s difficult for me to see how a God who indeed gave “His only begotten Son” for you and me, as pointed out in John 3:16, can be deemed “cruel”. There are also many Jews who believe in the Messiah. How can you say that “the Jews” will go to hell? Plus, at the end of the day, God sees the heart. It’s not important for Him whether or not we “identify” ourselves as believers, ‘Christian’ or whether the church has ex-communicated us. In fact, Jesus condemned the hollow tradition, or ‘religion’, and hypocrasy of in this case Pharisees in Matthew 15:7-9: “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” To answer your concerns: I am sure that Adolf Hitler is NOT in heaven, whether he called himself Christian or not. At the same time: There are many people who have still not heard the Gospel, but that does not mean that everyone rejects Him. I am sure that name-Christians have slaughtered people. But, once again, based on Gods Word, the Bible, we can only conclude that Christianity has nothing to do with “religion”, which is about rules, regulations, or even church hierarchie. You mentioned “Many passages in the Bible like Deuteronomy and Leviticus warrant such behavior” such as slaughter. However you talk about an era when there was NO Christian church yet and the Law given to the people of Israel in the Old Testament was ruling. Yet, Jesus came to fulfill that Law as nobody could keep it (for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” in Romans 3:23) and set us free from it. Therefore Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” So He accomplished the Law by paying the ultimate price for us at the cross and rising up from the death. So we don’t have to die or ‘slaughter’ people because they can not keep the Law or religious practices. It as Apostle Paul writes: “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” So we can have a personal relationship with a loving, freedom-loving God, a Heavenly Father, as revealed by and in the Lord Jesus Christ: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. That’s not cruel but, I would argue as a journlist, the best News ever and for everyone, whether gentile or Jew, to have. The Gospel in a nutchell.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  35. Dear Stefan Bos,

    How exactly did God make this huge sacrifice by sending His Son to Earth for 33 years? If He had sent His son to Hell for say 10000 years, it’d still be some sacrifice, but a paltry human life for 33 years?

    Anyone would tire of incessant Heavenly Delights & want to spend some time with some new amusement, by being incarnated on Earth for a change, besides Jesus had a pretty great life by the standards of those days-had a healthy body, never gave birth, lost no children in infancy, finally after three days spent in pain, went straight off to Heavenly bliss for eternity, why, He might have forgotten this whole earthly adventure by now!

    The avarage woman of those times who gave birth to 10 children with 100 hours labour pains & lost six of those in infancy sufffered far more than Jesus, besides Jesus knew the whole stuff would soon be over & He’d be back to Heavenly Delights.

    As for Hitler being in Hell or people not having heard the Gospel, those aren’t my concerns at all, the problem is that billions have heard the Gospel & still not believed. Anne Frank lived surrounded by Christians, so did Einstein, Gandhi lived in a country colonized & exploited by Christians eager to narate the Gospel,Christians have colonized, or taken over many continets of infidels & eagerly narrated the Gospel, still two thirds of the world remain non Christian, many of those people are exceptionally good, but they’re all supposedly destined for Hell.
    Btw, as I said, if its Islam which is true, then Christians are the ones who”ll go to Hell.

    Had God simply appeared in the football field during the World Cup instead of sending His “Son” to live in a healthy body for 33 years, suffer three poxy days on the Cross & go right off to Eternal Bliss in Heaven, or for that matter dictating books to Muhammad in a cave-both these events not being accepted by a majority of the world-many more people could be taken to Heaven by God!

  36. Dear Fawzia Uzman, Don’t forget that Hitler had very much the ideology of Islam. In Islam, a Muslim is allowed to lie if it advances his evil Muslim ideology. You’ll find that in the Taqqiya. Hitler also was a genuine 100% liar. All evil men are liars. Haven’t you noticed that? Your prophet Muhammad was a child molester, child rapist, child abuser, murderer, wife beater, polygamist, adulterer, whoremonger, but he portrayed himself as a good person.

    I see that you don’t know much about Catholicism. When a Catholic commits grave sins, he is excommunicated ipso facto. I doubt that Hitler was ever a Catholic. There is no indication of that anywhere. If he was a Catholic, then he automatically excommunicated himself.

    If Hitler was a Catholic as you say, why is it that he never prayed? Why is it that you can’t find a picture of him visiting a church? Why did Hitler teach atheism and taught his followers that there was no God? Nazism and Communism were atheistic ideologies.

    All you are trying to do is make excuses in an attempt to hide the grave evils of Islam. If it’s true that you are a good person, did you know that you’re not an authentic Muslim? When will you wake up and discover that Islam is truly a very wicked, cruel ideology? Muslims now have a very bad reputation. If you are truly a nice person, why don’t you denounce Islam and simply say that you are a moral person trying to do good. By the way, if you live in a backward Muslim Third World Country, don’t tell anyone that you have denounced Islam. Keep it a secret; otherwise an evil Muslim will practice his religion of Islam and slit your throat for apostasy with his curved Muslim dagger. Murdering apostates is a unique crime of Islam. I’m sure you know that by now. No other religion does that. Doesn’t that tell you something?

    Here are more unique crimes of Islam: Honor Killing: only Muslims practice that crime. And this cruel punishment can be for a very minor thing such as a daughter or sister failing to wear a Muslim rag on her head, or because the poor soul innocently talked to an “infidel.”

    Stoning women is another crime practiced only by Islamists. That’s awfully cruel, so cruel that no one else in the world can understand except a Muslim.

    Wife beating is allowed by Islam. No other religion allows this.

    Islam allows old depraved Muslim male sex perverts to kidnap a little child as young as seven years old, then allows the old depraved Muslim male sex pervert to force the little child to “marry” him, and then allows the old depraved Muslim male sex pervert to rape the child with impunity. Did any of these old Muslim sex perverts ever ask the child if she likes this depraved Islamic custom? I’ll they never have asked.

    Islam is the only religion that hangs homosexuals by the neck until dead because of their sexual orientation. I find it odd that homosexuals are murdered here on earth but are rewarded with 28 little homosexual prepubescent boys with pearly eyes and all that other Muslim BS in a Muslim paradise, if these earthly homosexuals die in Allah’s cause, especially if they murder “infidels.” What a stupid religion. That Allah, the god of the Muslims, sure has some kinky ideas, don’t you think? Like I said, be careful if you leave stupid Islam. Islam will murder you if it finds out you have turned your back on all that evil.

    I’ve never read any other religion doing the following except Islam. Islam tortures little girls by cutting off their clitoris. Again, I find it odd that The True God of the Christians and Jews endows little girls with a clitoris, but evil, depraved, sadistic Muslims chop off the clitoris in the name of Allah, the god of the Muslims, the god of cruelty, the god of torture, the god of stupidity, the god of bloodletting, the god of wickedness. Remember that these are all unique crimes of Islam and only Islam.

    Islam is the only religion that relegates women to second class status, even beautiful mothers. Again, I find it odd that men are created with flesh of their mothers, but somehow, these stupid Muslims say that they are greater than their mothers as soon as they pop out into the world. Fawzia, you might argue that you are also part of your father. However, friend, don’t forget that your father also came from the flesh of a beautiful mother. I’m sorry friend, but your religion is awfully stupid. Don’t you dare relegate your beautiful mother to second class status. If I catch you doing that, I’ll throttle you, and I’m big enough to do it. You treasure your mother, sisters, or wife if you have any, and love them, and treat them with equal rights of justice.

    Islam teaches that all “infidels” are going to hell. That’s awfully stupid. Why are all “infidels” going to hell? Is it because “infidels” don’t practice the unique crimes of Islam? Friend, you’d better wake up!!!!!

    Fawzia, Islam is the only religion that practices polygamy legally.

    Islam is the only religion that allows private brothels. Not long ago, I read that a Muslim pervert in a Muslim Third World Country had 85 wives. Now, if that isn’t a private brothel, then what is it? Friend, all of these are unique Muslim crimes. There are many more unique Islamic crimes. If you’re a civilized Muslim, I won’t be afraid to become your friend. I had to write this way, because we shouldn’t hide the truth. May the true God bless you. I won’t ask Allah to bless because that idiot is a very cruel god.

  37. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    Jesus suffered as an innocent man more than anyone else in history. Not only because he was innocent, but also because he took the entire sins and pain of the whole world on his shoulders. I don’t know how healthy he was. Although he lived a life without sins, the Bible talks about his human nature, when his tears even became blood before he was delivered to the Romans, for his humiliation and death. You may call that “a paltry human life”, I call it craze from a living God. However I also told you that my joy is NOT in his humiliation, but in His resurrection. If he would be in hell, as you apparently wish, there would be NO salvation. as Apostle Paul writes: “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” Why you don’t ask Him personally about his suffering and resurrection?

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  38. Dear Phillip Saenz,

    Hitler proclaimed himself to be a Christian, said that he was a Catholic & would always remain so, said that by killing Jews he was doing the Lord’s Work, as for him being Muslim & practicing taqiyya, how do I accept someone as a Muslim except if that person accepts that religion?

    There are many evil men & women in the world, many live in many Latin American countries who might call themselves Christian but haven’t ever heard of Islam, how ridiculous is it to brand them all Muslims if they don’t even know that such a religion exists?

    As for me being a Muslim, I have written it out here that I am not a Muslim, I fully accept all the claims that you make about Muhammad.

    As for Hitler automatically excommunicating himself from his Catholicism, it seems that its your knowledge that is lacking here. Hitler claied multiple times to be a Catholic, while the Church has banned Galileo’s books for hundreds of years, Hitler’s Mein Kampf was never banned.

    The Catholic Church has executed millions of apostates,dissenters,”Witches” etc for millennia, killed hundreds of Cathars, a rival Christian sect & so on before it became this benign thing that its now.The Catholic Inquisition continued till the mid 19th century & even forcibly converted thousands in far off India, amongst other places. The Church abducted & forcibly converted little Jewish boys like Edgardo Mortara right upto 1858.

    As for murdering apostates, thats’ a little rich coming from a Christian, Christians did that right into the 19th century.

    The Church has murdered hundreds of apostates for millennia. All Muslim countries don’t murder apostates, many like Senegal,Sierra Leone,Niger, Mali have no incidence of such acts.Islam is 600 years younger to Christianity, 600 years ago, Christianity was murdering apostates & “witches” on a daily basis.

    Cutting off clitoris: Again, you show your remarkable ignorance, this is practiced by all Africans regardless of religion in certain parts of Africa.

    The world’s oldest Christian nation is Ethiopia, this practice is regular amongst the Christians & the Jews there, the Coptic Church of America whose members are Egyptian Coptic Christians refuses to baptise uncircumcised girls, but its unheard of in Muslim Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia etc which are also in Africa. Muslims in Egypt are all Christian converts to Islam, Christianity in Egypt was practicing clitoridectomy for 600 years before Muslims began to rule Egypt & are still practicing it.

    An extensive UNICEF Study in 2005 in Africa showed that its not limited to any particular faith & equally prevalent amongst African Muslims, Christians, Animists etc.

    As for relegating women to second class status, this is again rich coming from a Christian, a religion that burnt,drowned & killed numerous women for the crime of “witchcraft” after third degree torture for centuries, although its given up such practices in the last 200 years, except in Africa where Christians, mainly Pentecostals are still killing “witches”.

    The West allowed married women to own property only in the late 19th century, Muslim married women have always owned property.Upto the 19th century, Christians refused painkillers to women giving birth as they were supposedly enduring God’s punishment to Eve.

    Islam & polygamy: Again false. Monogamy amongst the Christians is a result of Roman monogamy, Christians in Africa are polygamous, Jews in Ethiopia & the mid East are still polygamous.Christians in Swaziland & may other parts of Africa have multiple wives & private brothels as well, which is why men outlive women in those African Christian nations as they catch AIDS from their infected husbands even if they marry as virgins & African Christian nations have such higher rates of AIDS compared to African Muslim nations.

    I have already given up Islam but I am not myopic like you, fully able to see the faults of one religion but unable to see the faults of another.

  39. Dear Stefan Bos,

    How exactly is Jesus completely innocent? Do pigs & fig trees belong to no one? Doesn’t one have to pay compensation to the owners of pigs they drown & fig trees they chop off?

    Jesus sent 200 pigs to their deaths by drowning. Is animal abuse not a sin?

    I along with numerous other humans haven’t drowned or strangled a single animal like that.

    As for asking Him, I along with two third of the world have already asked. 66.5% of the world,more than 4 billion people aren’t Christian, they have apparently received no answer. And many of those people-Einstein, Anne Frank, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama are exceptionally good people who have led very moral lives but chosen to not accept Christ.

    According to your belief, all those good people will burn in Hell for eternity.And many who have accepted Christ include those whose ancestors were forcibly converted by good Christians during the Inquisitions or when their lands were occupied or colonized by Christians, yet your preaching, colonization, inquisition & ethnic cleansings have only converted less than a third of the world.Maybe your God needs to improve His communication skills.

    Btw, how can you be sure that its your God & not Allah who actually exists & won’t send you to Hell.

    Both Islam & Christianity claim that non believers aren’t saved, killing in your God’s name has stopped for some time, killing in Allah’s name is continuing.

  40. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    Jesus did NOT drown the not 200 but 2,000 pigs. But even if he would have done that, that would not be a sin, in other word against the Old Testament Law of that time and looking to the status of pigs in Jewish religion.

    He came to fulfill, accomplish, the Law given to Moses, with his death and resurrection. He paid the price for our sins, death. I do not read anything about Him drowning pigs, especially not AFTER His resurrection when he proved to be the Lord Jesus Christ, and had fulfilled the Law.

    Back to your example: In fact it were the demons who asked Him whether they can continue in the pigs as described for instance in Mark 5:1-13: “1They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.[a] 2When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil[b] spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
    6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” 8For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

    9Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

    “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

    11A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.”

    Jesus could ofcourse have allowed demons to go out somewhere else, endangering other people, but I trust you agree it was much better to allow this unclean spirits in unclean animals. We read later in that chapter that the man was healed, and that he later preached about what happened to him and that the people “were amazed”. Many of them became believers. As for asking Him. You said earlier you and two thirds of the world had “rejected” Him. You apparently must know many, billions, of people personally. How can you ask someone if you reject him? The Bible says however He will answer you if you ask. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7).

    You said that many have accepted Christ whose ancestors were “forcibly converted” by “good Christians” during the “Inquisitions
    or when their lands were occupied or colonized by Christians.” Clearly those involved in these crimes were name-Christians and/or followers of a religion which has nothing to do with Christianity.

    Take for instance James 4:8 (New International Version) “8Come near to God and he will come near to you.” In other words, it requires action of individual people. Nobody can be forced to become a Christian. Signing a document and/or saying you are a Christian, or following religious traditions, doesn’t mean you are really a Christian.

    Many Christians faith persecution because thy accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. However Philippians 4:6-7 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
    to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” So once again, it requires a personal decision. No Church, group, armed organization can “force” you to become a Christian.

    There may well be Christians whose ancestors were involved in crimes. Many bad things happened in the name of religion. But that doesn’t say anything about their personal relationship with a living, loving God. He does not have grandchildren.

    You said, “God needs to improve His communication skills”. I am very surprised about that remark, because He is clearly The Master of Communications in His Word, the Bible. You ask me: “How can you be sure that its your God & not Allah who actually exists & won’t send you
    to Hell.”

    Well having a personal relationship with Christ and having experienced countless miracles when covering war zones and other difficult situations there is no doubt in my mind that indeed He is who He says He is. Actually God revealed Himself to me through Jesus Christ, about whom is written for instance in John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

    And Jesus said in John 14:6-7: “I AM the way, the truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

    I am sure that ethnic cleansing and other crimes have happened in the name of religion. That’s why I am not religious and thank Christ that he set us free from the Law of Moses, which required all kind of religious rules, from the way people slaughter meet to what they eat, to never make mistakes.

    Galatians 3:23-25 says it well. “23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ[a] that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  41. Dear Stefan J. Bos,

    Oh so 2000 pigs were killed instead of 200! How lovely isn’t it? Such kindness to animals!

    As for Jesus being perfectly within Jewish laws of the time in killing pigs, but then Jewish law of that time, as set forth by Jesus’ Daddy(who is also Jesus) also clearly said many other lovely stuff didn’t it?

    It ordered women who didn’t bleed on their wedding night for whatever reason & whose parents couldn’t produce bloody sheets to be stoned on their Daddy’s doorstep, amongst other such lovely ideas!

    Jesus could of course outlaw such stuff like stonings, yet even as an All Powerful Deity He chose not to cast out Devils from pigs in any other way apart from drowning them!

    If an animal abuser today drowns two thousand, no less,animals of any sort, be they pigs, sheep, cows, horses,camels, koala bears, pandas or whatever for any reason apart from food by drowning them, they’d be called sadistic animal abusers, but of course, Jesus did such stuff but is still called sinless by you!

    As for rejecting Christ, Christians have repeated the Jesus story to many people, often there were many inducements to convert, often the result of not accepting Christ was a painful death or banishment. Christian countries in Europe have colonized much of the world in the past, draining those nations of their wealth, impoverishing millions & giving people many inducements to convert, Christians from Europe have freely stolen Native Americans lands while simultaneously urging them to convert, of course Jews have faced appalling treatment for millennia urging them to convert-still only less than a third of the world have “found” Christ.

    Btw, what of those people who haven’t accepted Him for whatever reason? People like Einstein, who called the Bible “childish myths?” Or people like Gandhi who led an exemplary life, who chose not to become a Christian & fought for the freedom of his nation which was colonized, exploited & impoverished by Christians? Or people like Anne Frank who was born Jewish & never accepted Christ?People like atheist Linus Pauling, four times Nobel Laureate who led a very nice & worthy life?Or people like agnostic Bill Gates & Warren Buffet,who contribute more to charity than many believers? Or billions of other nice folks?I know quite a few very nice people myself who remain Muslims,Hindus, Buddhists, non believers & lead perfectly noble lives,love their spouses & children & contribute to socety.

    Will they now suffer excruciating torture in Hell for Eternity, far worse than Jesus made the pigs suffer or even Hitler made the Jews suffer? Will rejector Anne Frank burn in Hell straight from Hitler’s gas chamber? Gandhi who fought for the dignity & independence of millions who were subjugated & exploited by Christian colonizers will be subject to permanent torture in Hell? Einstein who gave the world scientific theories which revolutionized the world will now be made to suffer perpetually by your God for not somehow believing in Jesus?

    Thats’ what your religion says. Btw, again if its the Muslims who’ve got it right, its you who’ll suffer despite being(I’m sure) a very nice person, while Muslims enjoy in Heaven, again through no fault of yours but choosing the wrong faith!

  42. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    You seem to be very concerned about the well-being of pigs. Again, Jesus did NOT drown the pigs, the demons did. Again I would suggest to you that He died and rose up from the death NOT for pigs or animals, but for you and me. We just have to accept Him as Lord and Savior, even though we may sometimes behave as pigs. As for stoning. Once again Jesus came to fulfill, accomplish, the law by taking all that suffering on Himself. The Law only came into being after people rejected God and choose sin as described in the Old Testament in Genesis. However in John 8 Jesus forgave a woman involved in adultery: “3And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4they said unto Him, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned but what sayest thou?”

    6This they said testing Him, that they might have cause to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not.

    7So when they continued asking Him, He lifted Himself up and said unto them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

    8And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

    9And they who heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the eldest even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing in the midst.

    10When Jesus had lifted Himself up and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?”

    11She said, “No man, Lord.” And Jesus said unto her, “Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more.”

    So he did NOT stone. You ask me: “Will rejector Anne Frank burn in Hell straight from Hitler’s gas chamber?” First of all: How do you know she rejected the Lord? The same can be said about the other examples. There have even been suggestions that Einstein became a believer later in life. However I do want to point out to you that the Bible says we are ONLY saved by faith NOT by “good works”, whatever that may mean. One example: Ephesians Chapter 2, verses 8,9,10: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Does that mean we should not help the poor or be involved in charity? Ofcourse not. And often, we are transformed by our faith in Christ. But “good works” alone will NOT save us, according to the Bible. You speak about my “religion”. Again, I told you before, that I do NOT have a religion, but a personal relationship with Christ. I am very confident about that faith. I hope you too.
    You ask me many questions. I would encourage you to ask Him personally, which is possible at any time. He loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you, as spelled out in my adjusted previous comment.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  43. Dear Stefan J. Bos.

    I couldn’t care less about pigs, don’t like them particularly but irrespective of my dislike, I am very concerned about ethical treatment towards all beings capable of either feeling pain or dying, I think all deserve to have a good life & not be cruelly killed for absurd reasons, I’m sure an Almighty God, which Jesus claimed to be could find other ways of destroying demons than killing animals by the very cruel method of drowning.

    If the animals were 2000 koala bears instead of pigs, I would feel perhaps a little worse as koalas are so cute, but pigs do also have the same rights to life, drowning is a very cruel method of death.

    Now coming to what I am indeed concerned with-not pigs but humans like you & me-very good humans who lead very good lives but are supposedly destined for eternal torture in Hell for no apparent reason.

    Thats’ 4 billion humans, far more than Hitler’s meagre six million & they’re supposedly destined to be tortured far longer than Hitler ever tortured anyone & far longer than any pain Jesus suffered for three days, coz they simply can’t believe the Jesus story or accept Him anymore than they can believe in Allah or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

    There’s no reason why the Jesus story should be true anymore than there is reason Allah is true or the Flying Spaghetti Monster & the Pink Unicorn are true.

    People like Anne Frank, who is supposedly destined to be tortured by your God for eternity, Gandhi who will suffer far more than he suffered under Brits,Einstein, those lovely Thai Buddhists, Indian Hindus & Jains, & my Muslim relatives & friends who do so much good-all will supposedly spend eternity in Heaven.

    I care not much about pigs, except that I think if Jesus could change laws about stonings, he could do the same about pigs,driven Devils out in some other way & not let innocent pigs die an excruciatingly painful death, but this is quite unimportant to me.

    I do care a lot about Anne Frank, Einstein,Gandhi, the Dalai Lama & other 4 billion good people.I care a lot about my Muslim grandma who has donated all her life’s earnings to charity to start girls’ schools & orphanages, but doesn’t believe in Jesus & will supposedly burn in Hell for Eternity.

    Yeah, sure Jesus loves me a lot, He also loves Anne Frank a lot, BUT if we somehow can’t believe in His fantastic story, we’ll burn in Hell for all Eternity.What type of love is this? There are lovers like that, who kill their girlfriends if they love some other guy or if they fail to reciprocate. Is Jesus far worse than even those guys, He’ll torture those who fail to love Him back for Eternity but yet not appear personally in front of them?

    I care about all those innocents who’re supposed to suffer for Eternity for no good reason. I care a lot. I care about you too, in case its Allah who’s the Real God & you’re supposed to end up in Hell despite your belief.

    I’m not particularly concerned about pigs, only people like Anne Frank & Gandhi who will now supposedly suffer far more than Hitler or the Brits made them suffer respectively-but you always seem to avoid looking directly at issues which might lead to discomfort & angst for your good self.

    Best Regards,

    Fawzia

  44. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    I think I have made clear that Jesus did NOT drown the pigs, the demons did. No surpise as they are unclean spirits. And they are liers. John 8:44 (King James Version) explains where they come from: 44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” They had no intention to really stay in the pigs…At the same time, while it’s nice to be good for animals, including pigs, people are more important according to the Bible, as they were originally created in His image. (King James Bible) Genesis 1:27 says:”So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” God wants nobody to go to hell. Please read John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That’s not what I say, that’s what God says in His Word, the Bible. If you have complaints, I think you should go directly to Him. Why you don’t ask Him about it? I did NOT avoid your comments about Hitler and Anne Frank. I told you that I am sure Hitler is NOT in heaven. I also told you that I am suprised that you believe that Anne Frank is in hell. How do you know she rejected the Lord? As for the almighty God Jesus claimed to be, I can only say that he was careful not to speak often about His Godness before his death and resurrection. Jesus proved Himself to be the Lord Jesus Christ after he died and rose up from the death for our sins. Philippians 2:5-7 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” I am not sure what Allah or Muhammed has done for you personally. But I know what Christ has done for me in Whom I have eternal life, something I wish for you as well. Again I would cite Ephesians Chapter 2, verses 8,9,10: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” So we are not saved by our works, but but faith alone. Does that mean we should not help the poor or be involved in charity? Ofcourse not. And often, we are transformed by our faith in Christ. I really can not answer your questions about Ghandi, Einstein, your caring grandma or whoever comes to mind. However once again, I would suggest you turn to Him and His Word to find out. Once again: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7). As I told you I have nothing with religion, and am happy to have a living relationship with a living Lord. I will not make this an endless discussion, not because I am afraid, but BosNewsLife is here to cover the news, including about the two young women who are still jailed as we speak for the simple reason that they have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  45. Dear Stefan Bos,

    Thank you for devoting so much of your time to my queries & views. Yes I know demons supposedly drowned the pigs, not Jesus-the point is that Jesus decided to destroy these demons by the method of sending them into pigs, thus making pigs drown & thus causing their deaths. As an Almighty entity, He surely possessed the abilities to destroy demons in multiple other & kinder ways which did not involve the deaths of 2000 innocent animals, but no, He decided to drive out demons by a method which killed 2000 animals.

    Of course, the whole story of demons getting into animals or humans & then needing to be driven out by drowning animals is ridiculously absurd, just as absurd as the medieval Christian beliefs that some women have made a pact with Satan, are “witches” & deserve to be killed after terrible torture forcing them to confess to ludicrous crimes!

    There’s no reason for me to believe your demons driven into pigs story anymore than there is reason to believe women are witches!

    However, as the absurd story stands, it shows Jesus deciding to destroy demons by killing thousands of innocent animals, which is wrong-many people I know haven’t committed such acts & are thus more sinless!

    As for humans being more important, I never disagreed with you on that one. As for Anne Frank rejecting the Lord, well thats obvious. She was born into a Jewish family,poured her heart out in her Diary yet wrote not a word about accepting Jesus as her Saviour! There’s simply no basis for claiming she accepted Jesus, anymore than there is basis to believe that Queen Elizabeth II converted to Allah! Not just Anne Frank, but billions of Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu & other non believing nice girls like her who never accepted Christ are all supposedly now suffering torture in Hell according to your Scriptures.

    Its written in your religion’s book that people who don’t accept Jesus aren’t saved & thus suffer eternally, while those who accept Him suppposedly spend eternity in Paradise!

    Gandhi, Einstein & billions of other good people haven’t accepted Jesus & explicitly so!

    I have told you multiple times that Allah & Muhammad did nothing whatsoever for me, which is why I’m not Muslim anymore,however they seem to have given many people, including my loved ones great sense of purpose, joy & a desire to do charity, the exact same stuff which Jesus has given you.

    As for turning to Him & finding out, again you are avoiding what the Bible clearly says, that all these good people are to suffer simply for disbelief. I have no more reason to believe that Jesus rose from the dead anymore than I believe that Osiris, the ancient Egyptian God rose from the dead. After all, belief in Osiris lasted four millennia, twice as long as belief in Jesus & Osiris came frst.

    Many have heard this Jesus story many times, often this story was accompanied with financial & other rewards, yet 4 billion souls have found it juat as unbelievable as you find the Osiris story, most of those four billion people are good human beings who have lead honorable lives, yet according to your Bible, they’ll suffer in Hell far worse than Hitler or any other human made others suffer, simply because they’ve found this story unbelievable!

    And again I repeat, although Muhammad & Allah seem just as unbelievable to me, more than a billion people accept that story too & that Scripture also says that non believers burn eternally in Hell, so if its they who’re right, you’ll go to Hell & spend Eternity there inspite of all your belief & charity!

    Of course, in either case, Anne Frank, Gandhi, Einstein, the Dalai Lama & of course I & billions other non Muslims\non Christians are doomed!

    Thus, burn in Hell or live happily in Heaven depends on choosing between two ludicrous stories, if either is true, a majority of the world’s people, including billions of good people are doomed eternally!

    It would be amusing if it weren’t so pathetic.

  46. Fawzia Usman, I see you’re still there. I’m not going to argue with you because it’s a waste of time arguing with someone like you. I’m more interested in putting a stop to crimes that are being committed at present by Islam. I’m not interested in crimes that were committed hundreds and even thousands of years ago simply because there is no way that I can rectify those crimes of the distant past. I don’t know why you even mention them unless it’s because you hate something or someone. I do mention Islamic crimes because Islamists have not evolved like Christians and Jews. By that, I mean that Muslims are still committing the same crimes, and I want them to stop the way Christians and Jews have stopped.

    As for Adolph Hitler, you can argue back and forth all you want, but he was not a good man, and I’m glad he’s gone. How could the Catholic Church excommunicate Hitler if he wasn’t a Catholic? When will you produce a picture of Hitler attending a religious service, any service? Let me repeat once again, Nazism, founded by Adolph Hitler, and Communism were both atheistic.

    I’ve noticed that you’re not interested in putting a stop to Islamic crimes that are being committed at present. I wonder about your motive. I am beginning to wonder if you are truly a good and sincere person. Instead of taking someone’s word over the internet, why not buy the universal Catholic Catechism and read it if you want the correct teachings of the Holy Catholic Church? Don’t forget that there are many detractors that want to destroy Christianity. So it’s better to go to the source and get the correct explanation.

    Fawzia, you’re being very silly if you think that the Catholic Church condemns anyone to hell. The job of a true Christian isn’t to condemn anyone, but to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. We Christians don’t know where you are going. But the Catholic Church does teach that anyone has a chance to get to heaven, no matter his religion, if that person is a good, sincere person who is trying to please God. Yes, you too have that chance even though you are not a Christian. So you see, we’re not as evil as you think.

    I don’t know if you believe in the Cause of all causes, but may that Cause bless you anyway.

    Incidentally, the Holy Catholic Church isn’t a Christian sect.

    Sincerely

  47. Let’s have a logical discussion. Islam has declared war on the west. Islam frankly has declared war on everybody who doesn’t follow this faith. Always has, always will. The very definition of Islam is “peace” IF (and this is a huge IF) “one submits and surrenders to their god and sharia way of life.” IF you don’t…all bets are off and there is NO peace.

    We should have a debate on Islam. It is the cause of over 95% today’s wars and conflicts…and 99% of terrorism in the name of a religion.

    The facts are clear…1,400 years ago war was declared on us by an ideology of hate and violence which arose at the time and was proclaimed by a barbarian who called himself the Prophet Mohammed. Of course, I am referring to Islam. Remember…he didn’t go tent to tent asking, “Hey…would you like to become Muslim?” He used force and terror…you CANNOT ignore this history.

    The foundation of the Islamic faith, the Koran. The Koran’s core theme is about the duty of all Muslims to fight non-Muslims; an Islamic Mein Kampf, in which fight means war, jihad. The Koran is above all a book of war ““ a call to butcher non-Muslims (2:191, 3:141, 4:91, 5:3), to roast them (4:56, 69:30-69:32), and to cause bloodbaths amongst them (47:4). Jews are compared to monkeys and pigs (2:65, 5:60, 7:166), while people who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God must according to the Koran be fought (9:30).

    We in the West have no problems with Jews or Christians, but it does have problems with Islam. It is still possible, even today, for Muslims to view the Koran, which they regard as valid for all time, as a licence to kill. And that is exactly what happens. The Koran is worded in such a way that its instructions are addressed to Muslims for eternity, which includes today’s Muslims. This in contrast to texts in the Bible, which is formulated as a number of historical narratives, placing events in a distant past. Let us remind ourselves that it was Muslims, not Jews or Christians, who committed the catastrophic terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid, India and London; and that it was no coincidence 99% of all terrorists are those following 1,400 years of Islam and Koranic doctrine.

    I acknowledge that there are people who call themselves Muslims and who respect our laws. However, the Koran does have something against them. For it is stated in the Koran in Sura 2, verse 85, that those believers who do not believe in EVERYTHING the Koran states will be humiliated and receive the severest punishment; which means that they will roast in Hell. In other words, people who call themselves Muslims but who do not believe, for example, in Sura 9, verse 30, which states that Jews and Christians must be fought, or, for example, in Sura 5, verse 38, which states that the hand of a thief must be cut off, such people will be humiliated and roast in Hell. Note that it is not me who is making this up. All this can be found in the Koran. The Koran also states that Muslims who believe in only part of the Koran are in fact apostates, and we know what has to happen to apostates. They have to be killed…just like these two Iranian Christian converts. After all, the judge was simply following the laws of Islam. Human rights? In Islam? Are you kidding me??

    The Koran is a book that incites to violence. In addition, the Koran incites to hatred and calls for murder and mayhem. The Koran is therefore a highly dangerous book; a book which is completely against most civilized legal orders and our democratic institutions.

    BTW…there can be no such thing as “moderate Islam”…. As Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said the other day, and I quote, “There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it”…. Islam is in pursuit of dominance. It wishes to exact its imperialist agenda by force on a worldwide scale (8:39).

    Apart from conquest and forced conversion, Islam is also hell bent on installing a totally different form of law and order, namely Sharia law. This makes Islam, apart from a religion for hundreds of millions of Muslims also, and in particular, a political ideology (with political/constitutional/Islamic basic values, etc). Islam is an ideology without any respect for others; not for Christians, not for Jews, not for non-believers and not for apostates. Islam aims to dominate, subject, kill and wage war.

    We need to discuss why Islam is such an terrible religion…by their texts, their founding, and more so…by their ACTIONS of yesterday and TODAY.

    Enough is enough…let’s discuss why islam MUST be addressed by logic, rational and yes, FORCE!

  48. Dear All,
    Those of you who defend any religion or ideology need to know religion made us inhuman , what Muslims are experiencing today Europe experienced before , Christianity , Judaism , Islam are all man made,if there were came from the supposed God, Bible would have been written by Christ not after his death, Or Quran by Muhammed not after his death, almost all the holy books came in to life after the death of those so called prophets, why God can’t just send a book to any of his prophets and say , ok guys you gotta follow this ??!!! Because even though Jesus or other prophets might be good guys but after their death some people who we call them Mullahs , Clergies , Priests , holy father needed to make money out of this mess , So they created Christianity and Judeism and Islam. Although Islam story is very different. Muhammed was a criminal from the beginning.

    After Christianity and all those crusifictions and burning witches in Europe they have decided to modernize it and they adapted the Christianity with needs of today’s people. though Mullahs of Islam did not have this understanding to adapt themselves with the new world, because simply they are bunch of idiot criminals.

    Today in any religion you can call others infidel when they don’t agree with you, and God knows some jews and Christians believe crusifiction was a good idea like the guy who killed John Lennon, Lets open our eyes and see this world in different angle. Lets be human , in order to be peaceful and human you don’t need a religion. Lets help each other build this destroyed planet and promote prosperity and peace, Why can’t we drop what ever religion we have be friend with eachother? Who knows what really happened some 2000 years a go? what does it matter? Be critical thinkers and analyse something before you believe in it.

    Peace and Love,

  49. Philip Saenz,

    I too am not interested in rectifying crimes committed hundreds of years ago, its not possible to do that but I just wanted to show you your hypocrisy, Islam started 600 years after Christianity, it just might need more time to catch up in many areas. If you claim that its only Islam which demeans women, well Christianity’s positive attitude towards women & “witches” is only a few centuries old, it has tremendously tortured women & non believers till the recent past, Islam will probably get rid of these attitudes soon. Do you know honor killings are completely absent in the world’s largest Muslim nation Indonesia, & the world’s largest matriarchal group are the 8 million strong Muslim Minangkabau?

    I am very interested in rectifying crimes committed in the name of Islam, I am working with an organization that preaches against honor killings, as I am a school student, my resources are presently very limited but I contribute half my salary that I get babysitting & washing cars towards the girls school that my Muslim grandmother has started in Afghanistan. I could’ve spent that money on new clothes or on a new cellphone, I choose to make my small contribution towards a community I come from, even if I don’t practice the faith anymore.

    But now, lets’ learn about you. Other than holding fallacious beliefs that its only Muslims who cut off girls’ clitorises, what is your contribution towards stopping certain barbaric Christian customs that happened not hundreds of years ago but is still happenning?

    Like the child “witches” still being killed at the urging of Christian pastors in Nigeria?

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/dec/09/tracymcveigh.theobserver

    What steps have you taken to stop these killings?

    Or for that matter, how exactly have you saved girls’ clitorises from beig cut off amongst Christians in the world’s oldest Christian nation-Ethiopia & amongst Coptic Christians in Egypt?Both these people are still cutting off girls’ clitorises to this day, not in the distant past. And yes, they’re Christians, have been Christians for two millennia.

    Btw, I had pasted the world’s AIDS statistics once, I’ll do that again for your benefit.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_HIV/AIDS_adult_prevalence_rate

    You can clearly see that te worst AIDS rates in Africa are in the Christian nations, which also hold the dubious distinction of the world’s lowest life expectancies & in many of those nations like Zimbabwe & Swaziland, men outlive women which is unnatural.

    The Muslim African nations like Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco & even Senegal & Mali have far lower AIDS rates & women outlive men.

    Its interesting to note here that Muslim nations like Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco etc have also some of the lowest birthrates, showing high contraceptive use. Condoms are widely available in Muslim Senegal, giving it the lowest AIDS rates at just .8% in Sub Saharan Africa.

    The Christian countries ban condoms, women are infected from their husbands even if they marry very young & as virgins, giving them lower life expectancies than men. Even Uganda has may times the AIDS rates of Senegal.

    How are you helping out the Christian “child witches” of Nigeria, the girls’ whose clitoris are cut off amongst Christians in Ethiopia & these AIDS ridden women who die in millions amongst Christians in Africa, excepting by spreading misinformation & lies?

    Oh & your Cause, I don’t care much either way but I do believe in full freedom of religion & of course I think its appalling if anyone is compelled to accept or reject any religion.

    However, may Muslim nations also have full freedom of religion-Muslim Senegal, Niger, Mali haven’t killed any apostates & freely allow missionary activities, yet not many have been won over to your Cause there.

    Perhaps thats’ good, Muslim Senegal with .8% AIDS might become 18% AIDS ridden & have lower life expectancies for women with Christianity & a condom ban, you know! 😉

  50. @ Philip Saenz,

    Regarding the Catholic Church & non believers, again the belief that nonbelievers & people of other faiths get to go to Heaven is extremely new, only a few decades old, earlier they believed that both nonbelievers & unbaptized babies don’t get Paradise, innocent babies go to “limbo”.

    The Catholic Church massacred Cathars & even rival Christian sects for centuries, yes in the present day, its become very benign, however many Christian sects like the Pentecostals, the fastest growing, hold that all non Christians end up in Hell.

    That is what the Bible says as well.

    JOHN 3:16
    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
    whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

    Titus 3:5a
    “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
    mercy He saved us”

    Book of John
    “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not
    is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the
    only begotten Son of God.”

    Matthew:18:3
    “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as
    little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

    Incidetally there are more than a few passages in the Quran which also say that non Muslims, specifically naming Jews, Christians & anyone else who believes in One God & do good work go to Heaven.

    Many Muslims believe in this too, for example in Senegal, interfaith marriaes are common, the First President Leopold Sanghor was the son of a Muslim mother & Christian father & a Christian.

    The Holy Catholic Church once killed witches after excruciating torture, while the Catholic Church has stopped, Evangelical pastors in Nigeria are still continuing.

    The Church liturgy till 1961 called Jews “perfidious Jews” words Hitler grew up hearing, Muslims historically have been less anti Semitic but of course recent decades have seen a change.

    Christians in African nations which practice Christianity have overwhelmingly more AIDS while Muslim African nations like Algeria, Tunisia & Morocco have the lowest AIDS rates even by global standards.

    Yes, in some areas Islam is still notoriously backward, but then its 600 years younger, it just might need more time catching up, Islam is no worse than the Catholic Church was 600 years back & better in many ways, including AIDS rates than the Church is even currently!

    Take a lesson from the Bible, learn to pull the plank out from your eyes before complaining about the speck in someone else’s eyes.

    Sincerely,

    Fawzia.

  51. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    I know you are very concerned about the pigs and other animals on this planet. Let me once again say that He did not decide, but “allowed” the demons to go into the pigs. They drowned them. I know you are sad about the pigs. But would it not be more terrible if they would have gone into people? About the God Almighty I can only refer to my previous e-mail, that Jesus became the Lord Jesus Christ again, returned to the Father in his Might AFTER his death, in other words his humiliation for which He left behind His glory, for you and me, and resurrection. This is still a broken world, but the Bible says he will return and restore His glory here. No He was (and is) not a sinner. But as you don’t believe the story anyway, why the endless discussion? I don’t know what was in Anne Frank’s heart. You say she did not accept the Lord, but nowhere I read that she rejected Him. I also have some news for you. No, unbaptized children are NOT doomed. Baptism is NOT essential to be saved, but it is a logical consequence after becoming a Christian. My parents, for instance, did not baptize me, but “dedicated” me to the Lord when I was a baby as in their view, and I share that, people should make a personal decision for Christ and decide whether they want to be baptized or not. God has no grand children. Just because your parents are Christians, doesn’t mean you are a Christian, although the world and even the Church may say so. I think John 3:16 says it all: JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It requires a personal action. You may find that gruesome, I call it endless love from a real loving Father who has given us a free choice. He does NOT impose His will on you. You always talk about hell. I would say someone who is without God in his or her life on this earth is already living in death. Once again I do NOT have a religion. Your concerns about churches, religions, ‘Christians’ who commit crimes, I share to a certain extend. But once again there is a big difference between religious, name-Christians, and those who are Christians based on the Bible rather than traditions. That does NOT mean they are without sins. However in Christ they are forgiven. That’s why I think your first reference should not be people, the church or any religion, but His Word, the Bible. I think you should ask Him, instead of endless accusing people here in this forum. Yes we know ‘Christians’, Muslims and many other have made mistakes and so does the Church. But that doesn’t say anything about having a personal living relationship with Christ, although that will impact our actions. If you have complaints about His teachings, why you don’t complain to Him? He may even be willing to explain you better than I can through His Word.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  52. Dear Stefan J. Bos,

    I am not unduly concerned with pigs, certainly not with pigs who died in thousands two millennia back, however your excuse that its better Jesus allowed the demons to go into pigs because they’d have gone into humans instead is utter bollocks. No wonder with all the troubles, two thirds of the world remains unconvinced!

    As an Almighty Lord, Jesus could have destroyed demons by many ways which do not involve the deaths of either pigs or humans,he could have simply killed them in multiple ways which did not involve 2000 no less innocent deaths by painful drowning.

    Anyway, the whole stuff is as I said absurd, if demons can enter pigs or humans in one such absurd story, they can do so again, they can bewitch innocent kids in Nigeria & then those Nigerian child witches would need to be killed as well! 😉

    As Voltaire said, “Those that can get you to believe in absurdities can get you to commit atrocities!”

    So Jesus supposedly took 33 years out of His Eternal Bliss in Heaven, spent 3 poxy days on the Cross & went right back to His Heavenly Delights & if for whatever reason I find this story unbelievable, I’m supposedly going to burn in Hell!

    But many other holy books also have such stories, the ancient Egyptian God Osiris too rose from the Dead, taught the ancient Egyptians agriculture & even had a Son Horus!

    There’s little reason to find your story more convincing than the ancient Egyptian story!Thats’ why after all the persecutions, so many millions of even Jews remain unconvinced!

    So you will refuse to accept Anne Frank rejected your Lord, even if there’s ample evidence she never accepted Him, however, if she didn’t you are perfectly comfortable with the idea of her being burnt in the Lord’s Hell, straight from Hitler’s Hell!

    Well, Gandhi, Einstein & millions of other such good people have explicitly rejected your Lord, there are millions of little Jewish girls like Anne Frank(I have a few Jewish friends myself)who don’t believe in Jesus!

    Had your story been so convincing, with all the torture you guys have put Jews through two millennia, at least all Jews would’ve been conviced as would Muslims in at least the tolerant nations & other Hindus, Buddhists etc in previously colonized nations.

    Instead, the Christian story remains just one among multiple such claims, just like Allah & Muhammad’s claims, many people have been moved by Allah too & performed great actions & led utterly noble lives while having a personal relation with Allah!

    The fact is that millions of people in the world have accepted as truth one of multiple religious stories, you find meaning & solace in the Jesus story, most of my relatives do in the Allah story & have a personal relation with Allah & believe that gives them Eternal Life, many believe in Shiva, Krishna, YHWH,the Chinese folk Gods, the Shinto gods etc-& all these religions have produced men & women of exceptionally good morals which seem to show their religion’s goodness as well as others of great wickedness which bring shame on their religion.

    I do not have God in my life, neither did amongst others four times Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling-how dare you suggest we lead incomplete lives or deserve to suffer endlessly?

    Linus Pauling, amongst many other non believers has contributed far more to the world than many Christians, had a good marital life & raised four children well, why should innocent & good people suffer simply coz they can’t believe in one particular version of an unbelievable story?

    And most non Christians DO have God\s in their lives, have a personal relation with Him or Her, only they have a different name & different text as their reference point.

    My grandmom is extremely devout & this devotion gives her the courage to visit her girls’ schools in Kabul even though she’s old & frail & its risky. She always shares her thoughts with a God, only she calls Him Allah & she urges me to ask my questions to Allah too(she knows that I disbelieve & she respects my decision)in much the same laguage you use, she too says that Allah gives everyone full choice to believe or disbelieve.

    Just like your parents “dedicated” you to Jesus, my great grandparents dedicated my grandma to Allah & she like you also believes in free choice, the only difference being she that through an accident of birth, she was born to Muslim parents & remained dedicated to Allah, while you were born in a Christian home & remain dedicated to Christ!

    Also, the texts of both texts, while mentioning free choice, also mention that those not choosing Jesus or Allah are supposedly doomed!

    You remain with the free choice of Christ, never having considered Allah, grandma remains with her choice of Allah!

    I know my grandma is an exceptionally good woman, you I think are a very good person too, yet due to accidents of birth & the supposedly free choices that you made due to these mere accidents of birth, either of you are doomed according to Christianity & Islam’s religion’s books.

    Grandma also says that Allah can explain my doubts even better through His words, have you tried that? I know some Christians who somehow got conviced Allah is the Right Choice(& some Muslims who went in the opposite direction) too you know! 😉

    They no longer believed in the Jesus story, began believing in Allah, if all their good morals remain the same, should they be punished simply for choosing one of two absurd & fanciful stories? Or if two Muslims hear the Jesus story, one accepts that, one disbelieves that, but both lead very moral lives & both have a personal relationship with God(only they call that Lord Jesus & Allah respectively) does one deserve Heaven & the other Hell?

    Both Islam & Christianity speak of free will, supposing one story is correct, the billions following the wrong faith deserve to be punished eternally? It is highly likely that most people will choose to remain in the faith of their parents, children born to Muslim parents will generally choose Allah, those “dedicated” to Jesus will choose Him, so are you even doing people a favor by narrating the Jesus story or Allah’s story, given that most people will reject that(like you reject Allah) & then the consequences will be eternal torture?

    Re unbaptized babies: I know that they don’t go to Hell or any other such nonsense, that was just my response to Philip Saenz who said that te Catholic Church now says that other non believers also get to Heaven, I pointed out that till recently the Catholic Church even said that unbaptized innocent babies end up in Limbo!

    Best regards

    Fawzia

  53. Philip Saenz requested:

    How could the Catholic Church excommunicate Hitler if he wasn’t a Catholic? When will you produce a picture of Hitler attending a religious service, any service?

    Your wish is my command Philip Saenz, here are ample pictures of Hitler & the rest of the Nazis attending Church, come on, feast your eyes!

    http://nobeliefs.com/nazis.htm

    Well, now even after Hitler’s personal admission that he is a Catholic & will always remain one, you continue to claim that he wasn’t, Muslims say the same stuff about bin Laden & other jihadis.

    Anyway, since there’s a famous saying “Is the Pope Catholic?” to state the obvious, I assume that Popes were indeed Catholics?

    Well, Pope Pius the IXth ordered the kidnapping of a little Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara as late as 1858, he was snatched away from his Jewish family & forcibly raised Christian, despite all the sufferings of his parents.

    Did the Pope excommunicate himself too after this dastardly act?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgardo_Mortara

    Hitler raised in a Catholic Church which till recently was prone to such acts & regularly hearing the words “perfidious Jew” in their liturgy, naturally claimed that he was a Catholic, will always remain so & felt that he was doing the “Lord’s work!”.

    This reminds me of these Iranian women, again I repeat as a religion 600 years younger than Christianity, Islam might just need some more time to catch up in many areas.

    I don’t care much about these stuff, just telling you coz you asked.

  54. To Phillip Saenz, Zak & others who pick out violent passages from the Quran or tom tom misogynistic verses & practices, have you guys taken the same long, hard look at your own faith Christianity, because several believing, practicing Christians, even evangelists & apologists have.

    As Ralph Peters says: As a believing Christian I must acknowledge that nothing in the Quran is as violent compared to what the Lord orders Joshua.”
    http://www.nypost.com/seven/09072006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/islam_haters__an_enemy_within_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm

    Evangelists like Phillip Jenkins & Dinesh D Souza have come to similar conclusions after reading both books:
    http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/03/08/dark_passages/?page=full
    http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NzY3NjU1ZGNkNWQzNzE5NzlhODMyZGUxNDUyMGY1ZGI=

    Here’s a nice selection of the violence, misogyny, cruelty & absurdity in the Bible & the Quran.
    http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/

    Yes, I know that Christians have lately managed to explain away such passages, give freedom of religion, say Old Testament verses don’t apply etc, but so have many Muslims & Muslim nations,in another few centuries Islam as the youngest faith would probably reach the same maturity that Christianity has.

    Such hypocrisy won’t land you anwhere, many of my Muslim relatives, on being told that Islam is uniquely violent have read the Bible, & found it just as bad,nor are Muslims unfamiliar with Christianity’s blood soaked history.I don’t think its possible to destroy a faith of a billion plus people, especially not with lies & overlooking the flaws of your own faith.

    Its amusing to learn from Zac & others that they don’t have problems with Judaism, coz they had horrible problems with Judaism & Jews’ supposed deicide till very recently! 😉

  55. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    Just to combine my reactions. You say that my “excuse that its better Jesus allowed the demons to go into pigs because they’d have gone into humans instead is utter bollocks.” Well honestly I don’t think so. I am pleased the unclean spirits went into unclean animals rather than people at that moment. You say Jesus could have destroyed the demons as an ‘almighty God’. That would be against Gods Word, and therefore a sin. The Bible makes clear that at the moment the devil, also known as Satan, who leads the demons, is still ruling this broken world. Jesus acknowledged that in Matthew 4:8-11 when he was challenged by the devil: “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to Him, “All these I will give you, if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! for it is written, ‘You shall worship The Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.'”

    Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” Once again the devil “left”, just as the demons did by going into the pigs you are so concerned about. ((They were searching for a home, but as lying beings, they obviously drowned the pigs, inflicting material pain but no spiritual pain on the people nearby, who actually were “amazed”, the Bible says.)) The reference to “and Him shall you serve” was about the future, when indeed the devil and his demons will be destroyed. But that will be in a new world, where the Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, will rein, according to the Bible. Secondly you say ‘Almighty God’. When Jesus spoke to the demons, it was before he died and proved Himself to be the Lord Jesus Christ by rising up from the painful death at a cross with which he paid the ultimate price for our sins, so we too have eternal life.

    Apostle Paul writes how important it was for Jesus Christ to rise up from the death first. “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not” (I Corinthians 15:14-15). Now you may wonder: Ok, but why He did not destroy the demons AFTER his ressurrection? The truth is, according to the Bible, that Satan has already been defeated; he just hasn’t been removed yet from this earth where he is still ruling. The Return Of Jesus Christ with his believers to the whole world will mark the end of Satan’s rule and influence on earth for 1,000 years, and after a short time, forever. He will soon get all that’s coming to him, and he knows it. “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:12 RSV). So the Satan will be destroyed at God’s time. Again you mention Anne Frank and other people who do good works.

    I think I already told you that I don’t read anywhere that Anne Frank rejected the Lord. I think God sees the heart of everyone; he is NOT interested in how good our works are are in the eyes of the world, or our religion. As a matter of fact he was victorious over religion, represented by the Law of Moses with all its obligations and works, by His death and resurrection. We are ONLY saved by faith not by good works, according to the Bible. Romans 3:28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Romans 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

    AND ALSO READ ABOUT EVEN ABRAHAM, considered to be very important by both religious Jews, Muslims, Christians. Romans 4:1 “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” You can be angry with me about that, but I would suggest you are at the wrong address. Why not ask Him personally to explain it to you?

    Does that mean we shouldn’t help the poor etc.? Ofcourse we should help the needy. Christ will transform your heart. However also read Matthew 6:1-4: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” He doesn’t care if you are a Nobel Prize winner, Ghandi, or a street sweeper. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Everyone. Regardless of ethnic, religious or status background. I wish you and your family His love.

    Finally something about your comments somewhere that Christians explain the Old Testament verses are not relevant. The http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ conveniently overlooks the fact that Jesus Christ has accomplished the Law of Moses by dying for us at the cross, taking all the pain suffering sins for us, and rising up from the death. Secondly there was NO CHRISTIANITY in the Old Testament yet. Logical, because the Body of Christ, His Church, only began AFTER His mission on earth was finished. After he died, rose up from the death and went to the Father to prepare a place for us. So when Christians read the Old Testament, we thank the Lord that no longer these punishments are needed as we have been saved by Jesus Christ. Jesus already says for instance in Matthew 5:39: “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person.
    If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

    Or: “You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those
    who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44). The previous sentence was a reference to the Old Testament reality. However in the second sentence he says how it is now. Even in the Old Testament however you can already read that God wanted to save the world, not by violence. 1 Samuel 17:47: “It is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves;”, I believe a clear reference to what he planned to do for the world in His Son.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  56. Dear Stefan Bos,

    Again as for that whole absurd story of demons wanting to go into humans, going into pigs instead, 2000 pigs dying by drowning et al & of course Satan, well that story is as believable or as unbelievable as children in Nigeria being bewitched or Allah dictating a book to Muhammad containing manifold instructions or Jupiter & Juno ruling over Mt. Olympus!

    There’s no more reason to believe this unbelievable account anymore than there is reason to believe in Osiris, Isis, Horus, Shiva,Baal, Krishna, Buddha, Allah, Poseidon or any other such tale, no more reason to believe Christ’s claim to be God than Krishna’s claim to be God.You born into a Muslim family in Turkey, a Buddhist family in Thailand or any other family would likely believe another equally absurd tale as the truth & your parents would “dedicate” you to another Lord!

    I believe that you have accepted multiple times that only those who accept Jesus as the Son of God is saved! Well, then you are comfortable with 66%+ of the world doomed, however noble they are!Good for you, that the Lord has filled your hearts with such kindness, that the thought of 4 billion good people suffering doesn’t fill you with dread! 😉

    Gandhi & Einstein have explicitly rejected Jesus! Gandhi remained Hindu, Einstein identified with Judaism but called the Bible “childish myths!”They are good people & many a Hindu, Muslim or Buddhist sweeper who somehow cannot believe in the Jesus story is according to your faith burning in Hell too!

    You can proudly say that the Lord doesn’t care whether one is a Noble Laureate or sweeper, but He cares so much whether they believe in Jesus that He’ll burn them in Hell for disbelief!

    Allah says the same thing, belief & be saved, disbelief & burn! I know quite a few Christians whose hearts have been transformed by Allah too ! Remember if that story is right(there’s no plausible reason you’re right & that is wrong) you’re going to be unsaved, while the billion + Muslims will be saved!

    How, except by repeating your Scriptures words ad nausem, can you prove that its you who’s got the right story capable of “saving” & the Muslims have got it wrong?

    Both Scriptures make the same exclusive claims! How, excepting by quoting your Scriptures (Muslims will quote theirs & prove you wrong!), can you prove that YOU got it right & Muslims got it wrong?

    Re Skeptics Annotated Bible, I don’t care whether the Lord no longer does such stuff or not! Point is He did once! Just like I don’t care if someone has stopped being a rapist, violent genocides, I wouldn’t like a person who did such stuff once!

    Your Lord clearly ordered stonings, genocide; ethnic cleansings etc, stories like Lot’s story are still used to persecute homosexuals! That is bad enough in my eyes!

    Last time asking you: Since you claimed its only by “faith” NOT works that we’re saved, Muslims tell me the exact same line, please go ahead & prove how I(& you) can be saved by faith in Christ & NOT Allah?

    Remember, Muslims will repeat their scriptures as counterevidence!

  57. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    You are totally free to believe the Bible or not. I am NOT “comfortable with 66% of the world doomed, however noble they are!” I think I have explained you in many examples of the Bible that God came to save everyone. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s what the Bible says, not me. By faith and accepting His
    grace we are saved. Rom. 11:6, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” So however “noble” you may be in the eyes of this world, according to the Bible people are only saved if they accept His love in Jesus Christ. That’s the Bible, Gods Word. Not mine. You ask: “Last time asking you: Since you claimed its only by “faith” NOT works that we’re saved, Muslims tell me the exact same line, please go ahead & prove how I(& you) can be saved by faith in Christ & NOT Allah?” The answer is simple in for instance John 14:6 (New International Version): “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He did not say I am ‘a’ way, ‘a’ truth, and ‘a’ life. He said THE way, THE truth and THE life. It’s up to you whether to accept that or not. I don’t know what Muhammed or ‘Allah’ has done for you personally. I know what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for me. For that I thank Him as much as I can.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  58. Stefan J. Bos,

    Don’t you GET the meaning of “evidence”? No wonder you guys fail to convince so much of the world after 2000 years of persecuting Jews for “deicide”, ethnic cleansings, colonizations & Inquisitions! 😉

    I asked you, how is it that its Jesus who saves from Hell & not Allah? You quote words of the Bible, well I’ll quote a bit of the Quran too for you as counterevidence!

    Here:

    Those who disbelieve the revelations of Allah, theirs will be a heavy doom. Quran 3:4

    Those who disbelieve will be fuel for the Fire. Quran 3:10

    Those who disbelieve shall be overcome and gathered unto Hell. Quran 3:12

    Non-muslims will be punished by Allah for their nonbelief. Quran 3:19

    There you go! More than a billion people believe in the Quran, two billion in the Bible! Just like your word against mine, without additional evidence doesn’t constitute “proof”, similarly the Bible’s words v. the Quran’s words are no proof! 😉

    Its nice to hear again that you accept your God’s decision about non believers not getting to go to Heaven, let me requote what Philip Saenz said:

    “Islam teaches that all “infidels” are going to hell. That’s awfully stupid. Why are all “infidels” going to hell?”

    Well, you see Philip Saenz, our Christian friend here, Stefan Bos says the exact same thing! 😉

    As I’ve told you before, neither Allah & Muhammad, nor Christ have done anything for me!Both Muslims & Christians have preached at many people & even if thats’ failed, they have persecuted multiple people, all to no benefit! Neither has managed to win over half the world, yet most people’s parents faith indeed does much for them, their parents “dedicate” them to it, they hold onto it for life & gain much satisfaction from the faith & thank that particular Lord!

    But for an accident of birth, you would’ve been “dedicated” to Allah, Buddha or Krishna & thanked those gods as much as you could!
    You would quote those Scriptures as evidence!

    Incidentally, evil humans like Stalin also somehow followed Jesus or Allah’s policy, they too wanted people to accepted their Stalinist ideology & then be allowed to live, or they’d be slaughtered!

    The Creator of the Universe has supposedly authored a Book, unfortunately there’s not just one Book that claims to be from the Creator of the Universe, there are multiple such books, each making exclusivist claims!

    You quote from the Bible, supposedly as its written by the Creator of Our Universe, my grandma & other Muslims’ quote from the Quran as they believe those are from the Creator of our Universe!

    A simple wrong choice, or an accident of birth can thus doom most folks!

    Even if we leave aside Anne Frank, 6 million other Jews were butchered by Hitler in his gas chamber! Those Jews died still clinging to their faith & their faith doesn’t accept Jesus as God’s Son! Thousands of Muslims died in Srebrenica, believing & clinging to Allah & faith in Allah too doesn’t accept Jesus!

    But they too had a God in their life, like Muslims have a God, they worship & thank Him as much as they can & it does loads for them! Will Jesus now take over from Hitler & make those Jews suffer eternally for disbelief & being born into the wrong family?

  59. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    I don’t know who you mean with “you guys” involved in ethnic cleansing, persecution of Jews, the Holocaust etc.
    I think I have made clear there is a difference between religion and real Christianity. I am sure many things have
    been done in the name of Christianity as I pointed out in my many comments exchanges with you.
    Persecution of Jews has nothing to do with Christianity. In fact, Jesus was born of a Jewish mother.
    The first disciples were Jews. How can a Christian possibly be anti-Semitic? As for evidence. I can only speak
    for myself and say that I have a daily relationship with Christ. I have also experienced His protection and love
    during very difficult journalistic assignment in war zones, including Iraq, Beirut the Balkans and elsewhere. I could
    share with you the many miracles in my life, yet I don’t think that would convince you either. Ofcourse I quote from the
    Bible as that is God’s Word. It says about searching for “evidence” as you call it in John 20:27-29 where Jesus says
    “Blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway.'” This is the full verse: “Then he said to
    Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless
    any longer. Believe!’ ‘My Lord and my God!’ Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, ‘You believe because you have
    seen me. Blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway.'” I also would like to point out once again that
    Christ wants to save everyone, including Jewish people and Muslims. You apparently know better than me that Anne Frank
    and all other six million Jews are going to hell. I would be the last to say that. As I pointed out to you God sees the heart.
    Yes my God is a God of love. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
    whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And Yes I believe what Jesus said:
    in John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
    If you don’t like that or don’t want to accept that, that’s your choice. But I would suggest you go for more questions
    directly to Him and His Word, the Bible.

    Best regards,

    Stefan J. Bos

  60. Dear Stefan Bos,

    I DO NOT know who or why is going to Hell, nor do I claim to know, I don’t even know if there’s a Heaven or Hell!

    As for miracles in your life & Jesus’ words & the incredible protection that Jesus has provided you in Balkans, Iraq & Beirut-suffice to say that millions of Jews have experienced the same protection & love in war zones from YHWH(who they persistently claim has no son, thus Jesus according to Jews isn’t His Son!), millions of Muslims from Allah, millions of Hindus from Krishna, Shiva, Ram, Kali etc.

    I have had Muslim relatives share their “miracles” with me, they told me that it was Allah who protected their lives in times of utmost difficulty, how they managed to survive life threatening diseases etc.

    My cousin, my aunt’s daughter had leukemia as a child, her parents or her(then) only sibling, her sister’s bone marrow didn’t match with hers, her dad had undergone a vasectomy, he managed to reverse that & have another child whose marrow matched & my cousin is healthy now! They thank Allah for this!

    As for going to Hell, you keep repeating verses that say that belief in Jesus is neccessary, Jews DO NOT believe Jesus is the Son of God!Except Messanic Jews, a fundamental characteristic of Judaism is that Jesus isn’t accepted by them!

    Nor do Muslims, Muslims call their God Allah & add SWT meaning Allah has no sons! Thus they do not accept Jesus as Son of God!

    Your God may well love Jews & Christians, but He also wants them to accept Jesus as Son of God, which they don’t!If they don’t accept Jesus as Son of God, its you, not me repeating the Scriptures that they don’t get to go to Paradise!

    Yes I have read the Bible & its claims & the Quran & the contradictory claims!

    Oh & intolerance in the name of Christianity, well you could well claim that its not due to Christianity, Muslims would claim the same thing, that those doing the persecutions weren’t “real Christians” or “real Muslims”.

    Yeah, sure your God is a God of Love! He’ll not appear personally to Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus etc, there’ll be other books like the Quran around which will make the exact same claims to be God’s words, more than a billion people will believe that book or other holy books & those who don’t believe Jesus is God will not have eternal life, yet he loves!;-)

    Reminds me of Muslim honor killing husbands, who also love their wives, yet will kill them if they don’t return his love & have an affair with another man! 😉

    Fact that often persecutions had happened in these faiths names & the majority of the world’s followers of Jesus or Allah are the children of believers whose parents have dedicated them to those Gods.

    If just reading the Bible, or for that matter the Quran were sufficient to convince the world, so many wouldn’t remain unconvinced! 😉

  61. Dear Fawzia Usman,

    Thanks for clarifying that you too don’t know for sure that the six million Jews who suffered in the Holocaust will all go to hell. Sorry but your previous e-mails on Christianity seemed to suggest that you had the impression that’s what I thought. From which I could only conclude that you apparently know more than I on this issue. “Perhaps he has some connections there”, came even to mind. I am happy you set the record straight.

    Also the Bible suggests that actually we are already dead without the Lord Jesus Christ as no human being, an ancestor from the sinful Adam, can have eternal life so in a way without Him. Therefore we have to become a new creation, or born-again, in Jesus Christ, according to the Bible. 1 Corinthians 15:50 (New International Version): “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” The Good News is that Jesus, who was the second Adam, but without sin, paid the price for our sins (death) and with his resurrection went ahead of us in a New Life, according to Romans 6:6 (New International Version) for instance: “6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin—” Also, God did raise “Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:24-25) and “Because Christ lives, we too shall live” (John 14:19).

    That many in the world don’t accept Christ as their Lord and Savior doesn’t surprise me. The Bible speaks of a broken world, and as I told you before in our previous conversation, currently the devil rules here on earth, but that’s going to change very soon. Christians are, as you can see from the previous verses, not from this world anymore, although still here for a while. This explains also why
    many Christians are persecuted (at least 100 million, according to Open Doors, a respected international advocacy group).

    About miracles in my life, you confirm that it would make no sense to mention them to you as evidence. I am in good company however.
    “Blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway,” says the Lord in John 20:27-29. As for healings you mentioned, I have no doubts that others, including even witches, can heal people. But they can not provide salvation and eternal life. That’s only possible through Jesus Christ, according to His Word. I call that the biggest miracle of all. Not whether someone is healed in a temporary human body.

    Your “He’ll not appear personally to Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus ” surprises me. What a nonsense. Jesus Christ came for everyone, ESPECIALLY for the Jews and Israel. The Bible says in Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

    And: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:30-31).

    Religious Jews also believe in Jesus the Messiah. The difference is that Messianic Jews and other Christians have come to the understanding thet He already was on this earth and will come back, while they believe He still has to come. Also I did not yet
    mention that the dedication to the Lord by my parents, as we discussed earlier, does ofcourse NOT mean I became a Christian at
    that moment. It was their wish, their prayer. I had to make that personal decision myself later.

    I disagree that “just reading the Bible” is insufficient. I do think however it is good for people to seek other believers to study God’s
    Word and encourage each other as the Body of Christ in a hurting world. Finally: I am not going to make this an endless discussion. I would suggest once again that if you have questions or protests about His Word, you should go directly to the Lord. Why wait? He is willing to answer you, according to the Bible.

    Matthew. 7:7-11: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

    I will not make this an endless discussion on this forum. I think you made your points, I made mine. If you want to learn more about the Christian faith I can send you some links and you can also click the Worthy Prayer button on the Website.

    God bless you,

    Stefan J. Bos

  62. As an Indian we were devastated when we saw the demolition of Babri Masjid and the heinous Gujarat riots. We really were ashamed of calling ourselves “Indians”. But after seeing this in Iran and other countries things like above do start making sense.

  63. dear Fawzia Usman

    First, the Jews had lots and lots of problems – like the whole bondage in Egypt (leading to Moses and the Exodus and reason for Passover), a zillion other tribulations – being conquered, tossed out of lands, plaques and more, for the thousands of years before Christ was even supposedly a character. So, to say the problems after Christ are a repercussion for any possible participation in his or some later person’s death is nonsense. And Hitler wasn’t catholic we was agnostic, he didn’t like the church because they were against his views of Jewish people. Let’s not forget Hitler killed anyone against him including Christians. Did you know communists are atheists and have killed and continue to kill people? LET’S not forget about Stalin, Mussolini, napoleon, chairman Mao etc….. IN fact atheists have killed and continue to kill more every day, as well as Muslims. I remember reading during the crusades any Christians that lay a hand on a Jew was punished and Christians hid Jews and even Muslims in churches to save them from the crusaders, The only reason the crusades happened is because the Muslims were killing Christian pilgrims and treated them like second class citizens/including the Jews as well. Muslims were in ww2 they were allies of Hitler helping him in is death camps/talk about ignorant… They are the real Christians, not the ones who are violent. Jesus taught love not hate. Muslims were responsible for hypes for example: Armenian genocide, 9/11 and much more. Christians are the ones trying to help poor and starving children of the world, you never hear atheists or Muslims doing that do you. You never hear about Christians in the news beheading Muslims or marring 9 year old girls, or keeping sex slaves and trying to kill Jews.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n_OywOzPcQ

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT4S6BzKFrg&feature=related

    http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php

    http://christianactionforisrael.org/medigest/may00/arabnazi.html

    http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/03/honor-killing-islams-gruesome-gallery.html

    http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=armenian+genocide&um=1&biw=1152&bih=639&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw

    http://www.blessedcause.org/Quran.htm

    http://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&&sa=X&ei=sEuTTL3OK4iqcdLRrMIG&ved=0CBMQBSgA&q=ashura+day&spell=1&fp=f8742a0da852d549

    http://www.bibleprobe.com/islamapostates.htm

    http://www.islamlies.com/

    http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/03/muslims-burn-the-homes-attack-kill-christians-and-buddhists-in-bangladesh.html

    http://www.google.com.au/images?hl=en&q=muslims%20killing%20christians&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1152&bih=639

    http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/ayesha.htm

    http://www.islamlies.com/

    LOOK AT CHRISTIANITY:
    http://www.google.com.au/images?um=1&hl=en&biw=1152&bih=639&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=jesus+with+children&aq=f&aqi=g6g-m4&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

    http://www.jesuscentral.com/ji/jesus-parables-teachings/jesus-keymessages/jesus-loveoneanother.php

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLE8EY0gMX4

    http://www.google.com.au/search?um=1&hl=en&biw=1152&bih=639&q=jesus+with+children&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw

  64. Tamerlane and other Muslim warriors slaughtered tens of millions of Hindus and Buddhists, and displaced or forcibly converted millions more over the last thousand years.  Islamists in Somalia behead Christians. In Iran, they are jailed.

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