The Pulpit
Being Guest and Speaker at a Muslim Conference in Hartford
by Charles E. Carlson
I was honored to be a weekend guest and speaker at the Islamic Circle of North America/
Muslim American Society Conference on July 1-3. It is one of the larger Islamic family
events with several thousand in attendance, including many children and youth. I was
one of three speakers and panel members on the general subject of community activism.
Dr. Anwar Kaznie, who moderated, stated that community activism for Muslims is no
longer an option and called it a matter of survival.
Here is my introduction:
"At this Independence day celebration time for Americans we must recall the Declaration
of Independence that made 56 fair-skinned and English-surnamed men enemies of the
state and capital criminals for the act of signing a paper that begins: "We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life..."We can stop right
there because without the right to life there can be no other rights. Many do not know
that fully a third of those who signed were either killed or imprisoned and some died in
prison, others including Samuel Morse, who died in poverty as a result of fulfilling his
commitments."
The topic of my speech at this big conference in Hartford Connecticut was: THE
CHRISTIAN RIGHT, WHY IT FAILS TO DEMAND PEACE?, and how its grassroots can
be influenced to do so. This 24-slide Power Point presentation concerns the reasons
evangelical dispensational "Christians" (sometimes called the Christian Right) do not
demand peace. This talk is entitled: "We Hold These Truths" and is named after the
famous words from the Declaration of Independence. This slide show is our answer to
the war, the dilution of our money, and the church that fails to act like a church, enabling
war, when it is bound to seek peace among all men. Project Strait Gate has performed
peace vigils (pickets also fits) at no less than 51 Mega-churches and religious
organizations, including the Billy Graham Crusade, Promise Keepers, Jerry Falwell's
Thomas Road Baptist Church and his Liberty University, the Southern Baptist
Convention, and more.
The essence of this talk is already available free on audio on our website. Those who
heard message received it with heartwarming courtesy.
Two of the questions asked by attendees deserve a more thorough answer:
1) "What
progress or sign of success do you see from your program of performing vigils
(pickets) in front
of evangelical churches?"
2) "How can Muslims best
approach and influence Christians to convince them that Islam is not terrorist and that we seek peace
just as they do?"
Question 1
Project Strait Gate is 30 months old, starting with a vigil in front of a Southern Baptist
Church in posh Scottsdale Arizona where about 15 men and women dressed in church
attire picketed this church demanding peace. One attendee joined us that morning, and
the pastor talked to us and about us from the pulpit. We have found both encouragement
and hostility in our path, and we always try to take the police with us to each event.
We are there because there are leaders inside many churches who say that peace is not
an option and war is God's will. Even it we found no improvement or signs of progress, or
even if the war craze in churches was getting worse rather than better, we would still be
there because the Churches of America are the battleground for the survival of our culture.
Churches once stood for righteousness, not for war and the attendant immorality and
financial debauchery that war brings. Dispensational leaders are Scripturally wrong,
ignoring Jesus' opposition to all forms of hatred, and certainly to killing. We are asked
of our progress, we would be there even if there was no progress because it is the right
thing to do.
We are greatly encouraged by what some grass roots members are telling us. Seeds
of change are sprouting in the attitude of some church attendees. Project Strait Gate's
private church vigils are a non-scientific, rolling exit poll, revealing to those who hold
the "BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS" signs how churchgoers view the President's
wars. Among evangelical dispensationalist church leaders the President's policy still
enjoys very substantial support. But more lay members are now willing to discuss the
issue, whereas two years ago few would.
Our Arizona Project leader joined us from a church we visited. Pastors and deacons
have lately come out of the church to talk to us at length, wanting to know both why
we have chosen their church. The defining question we always ask them is:
"Do you teach that the State of Israel is the fulfillment of Biblical prophesy?"
They usually answer "yes" (we know their answer in advance) and we can tell them that
this is why we chose to visit you. Perhaps the strongest argument for what we do
comes, not from friends, but from those who oppose our objectives from the start. Recent
stories in two large Jewish newspapers tell of their concerns about a rift in the ranks
of "evangelicals," some of whom are opposed to the Israelis' policies toward the
Philistines. This worries the supporters of Israel, who carefully count Israel's support
among the various evangelical sects. One such story by The Forward, openly seeks
continued "Christian" support for Zionism, tells much to correctly define those who support
every war that is friendly to Israel; it also clarifies what "dispensationalist(s)" believe
politically; and it measures their strength.
The Forward concludes from polls, that most "dispensational evangelicals" (63% to 22%)
believe that the State of Israel is the fulfillment of Biblical prophesy. But The Forward is
worried about the weakening of support among the "broader front of evangelicals" who
now are only 52% in support of the present Israeli policy as compared to 35% of the
general public. This is The Forward's poll, not ours, and what they point out that it is a
small but tight cult views Israel as a god icon. Many who call themselves "evangelicals"
are not tied doctrinally to the unscriptural myth of the Israeli chosen people. We include
a link to The Forward story with this caveat: its author deliberately misplaces the word
"traditional" falsely associating it with dispensational evangelicals, when in fact this sect
is younger than Mormonism, a fact carefully obscured. Southern Baptists claim they
existed before Catholics, but in fact, the dispensationalism that dominated this 16 million
sect came along after Joseph Smith (also a dispensationalist in practice) allegedly found
his tablets of gold.
In contrast, the traditional followers of Christ, meaning a few like this author who share
church at home with friends, and all the millions of those associated with mainline churches,
have always believed that it is a self-evident truth that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the
Old Testament, and certainly not any nation-state, especially not the State of Israel, which
came along 1948 years too late.
We agree with The Forward, that the support for serial wars is slipping as more people
learn what serial wars do to Christian participants, to say nothing of the victims.
We also show you another equally important story entitled: "Evangelicals, Protestants
Clash on Israel," from The Jewish Times, which is also worried about the mainline
churches (those older than 150 years who have rich coffers of accumulated cash) and
who are following the lead of several Protestant churches that have voted for "divestiture."
The United Church of Christ synod is considering dropping their stock and bond holdings
in companies that do business with Israel. The churches considering divestiture have
money to divest. They are old, stagnant and cash rich, with combined pension holdings
of $20 billion, and perhaps more. This is about six times the cost of the wall Israel is
building through and around the villages of the Philistines, who are now squeezed into
starvation gulags on a fraction of the land their biblical ancestors possessed. Israel
gain billions in revenue each year from "Christian" tourism, second only to American
aid and loans.
You are welcome to help with vigils. Requests to start two new Project Strait Gate
units in major cities. No church we have visited has ever accused us of being too few to
be important to them. We often learn we are the discussion topic of the day and no
church is prepared for the experience. Six participants is a good number for most vigils.
However appearance at churches is only a catalyst for our very difficult and expensive
Internet actives. Internet broadcasts are amplifying our vigils at one big church into
virtual pickets at many more. Our objective is to reach 100,000 new church leaders
and laymen every week via Internet. This is attainable if our friends will gather list of
their own and forward every letter to local religious leaders.
Question 2)
"How can Muslims best influence Christians to convince them that Islam is not about
terrorism and that Muslims seek peace just as they do?"
A) Our acts are our witness, however, the Muslims I know are already gentlemen and
good neighbors. Being a good neighbor is not grass roots activism, it requires a lot more,
and I agree with Dr. Kaznie, who says it is a matter of survival.
Christ Followers and Muslims alike are losing the freedoms that brought us here. My
ancestors came from Sweden and yours from the far East and Mideast, some even from
Africa, yes, some of you came here from Africa not in chains, but to find peace. We
need to preserve our freedoms as our forefathers did 229 years ago.
To be an activist approaching "Christians" you need to know to whom they are talking. This
requires that we qualify "Christians" into the three broad camps: (1) Secular, (2) mainline
or traditional, meaning from one of the old establish branches such as Methodists, Lutherans,
Episcopal, Presbyterians, Catholics, and Orthodox; (3) dispensational, often referred to as
evangelical, Christian-Zionists, the Christian Right, born again, and the name "We Hold
These Truths" gives them, "Judaized-Christians" which was used in biblical times to describe
persons just like them. All the groups, including the secularist, can be separated from the
dispensationalists by a simple yes or no question that is not going to insult them. Let me
repeat this, you should learn this question if you do not learn anything else from this talk.
Ask the "Christian" you are speaking to: "Is the state of Israel the fulfillment of Biblical
prophesy?"
Most evangelical dispensationalists will constantly answer "yes" to this, and those who do
will include some from every denomination and crosses all the lines I just told you about.
Some cagey dispensationalists may waffle, answering something like this:
"Israel is corrupt and atheistic today, but in the future God will deal with her, as God has
not forgotten his chosen ones." THIS IS A "YES" ANSWER.
Followers of Christ will usually say, "NO, only Jesus is the fulfillment of biblical prophesy."
You are safe in saying there is nothing in the New Testament that supports the slaughter of
another people. I suggest you carry a New Testament in case someone challenges you
know, hand them the book and ask him to show you otherwise. You will not be disappointed.
The second imperative for Muslims in winning the confidence of "Christians" is to concentrate
on the common ground that already exists. No one I have met is more committed to pro-life
that Islam. No country on the face of the earth is less pro-life than Israel. Christians do not
know this, and are told, otherwise.
Ask a Christian if he is pro-life, and to what degree he believes in the rights of the unborn.
Most evangelicals consider themselves pro-life fanatics. You can press the agenda and ask
how he feels about the destruction and starvation of many of the children in the Middle East.
Don't be too surprised if the person denies this is happening, evangelicals are amazingly
sheltered from war facts. There will be disappointments, but you can establish common
ground around the pro-life motives of many sincere Christians.
This author is himself a former Baptist Deacon, and is certainly experienced in this neo-
movement whose first godfather was Cyrus I Scofield. Our 24-slide presentation will soon
be available to you. We hope we will have many occasions to provide our message to
other programs like this great conference of Muslim families.