Christianity and Islam: A Quick Comparison

For weeks now I have had it in the back of my mind to post a blog entry on this topic. And without delving too deeply into the theology of either, let me identify some starting points:

On Your Enemies:

Islam—Kill them in any way possible.

Christianity—Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" (Matt. 5:44)

Regarding Wives:

Islam—You can have several. You may divorce them for virtually any reason. To use western terminology, you can abuse them and not be concerned with the judicial system.

Christianity—Paul wrote, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" (Eph. 5:25) That's a tall order, by the way.

Sharing Your Faith:

Islam—Submit to Allah, or be an infidel. Infidels must be killed.

Christianity—We are to spread the glorious Gospel message to all the world (Matt. 28:18-20), yet must remember what Christ told his disciples in John 15:18-21:

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

The world will hate Christians, but Christians are to love the world.

Political Observations:

Islam—If you know of any country where Islam is the dominant religion (you may go back to the 7th century AD for this one) that simultaneously had a system of government where people had freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and anything resembling full democracy ("full" in this context includes women and those who are not Muslims), please identify that country in the comments below. I'm drawing a blank.

Christianity—America, for instance, was founded on Bible principles applied to law, freedom, liberty, economics, justice, and the like; and it has since become the greatest nation on earth. Other countries which have mimicked our founding political principles have been successful and allowed their peoples a large degree of freedom and justice.

As Perceived by Other Americans:

Islam—Nobody seems willing to criticize Muslims for fear of getting firebombed. Even something essentially harmless, like a political cartoon, is cause for riots.

Christianity—Nobody seems afraid to criticize and mock Christians, knowing that if they are true Christians, they will probably not reciprocate. (That whole "turn the other cheek" thing.)


Anyone have any additional comparisons? I'm willing to update the post if you have a good one.

How Religious are the People of Your State?

I encountered some very interesting statistics, complete with interactive charts, at this website. The statistics compare "how religious" the residents of each state are with regard to the following:

• Importance of religion
• Worship attendance
• Frequency of prayer
• Belief in God

Mississippi ranks highest in all four categories. Below are the percentages in each category (highest [MS], national average, Michigan, lowest [state])

• Percent who say religion is very important in their lives: 82%, 56%, 54%, 36% [NH/VT]
• Percent who say they attend religious services at least once a week: 60%, 39%, 38%, 22% [AK]
• Percent who say they pray at least once a day: 77%, 58%, 56%, 40% [ME]
• Percent who say they believe in God with absolute certainty: 91%, 71%, 71%, 54% [NH/VT]

The statistics are a sad commentary on the religious state of our country. Let's pray and work toward improvement!

A Minaret-Free Land?

In a rather surprising development, 57.5% of Swiss voters approved a constitutional ban on the construction of minarets in their country. Although speculation exists that it will be overturned by a Swiss court or the mis-named "European Court of Human Rights," for now, there will be no more minaret-capped mosques in Switzerland.

It is interesting to see that Europeans are starting to awaken to the presence—the very uncomfortable presence—of Islam in their midst. Switzerland's Muslim population is about 6% of its total.

This sentence was telling:

Sunday's results stood in stark contrast to opinion polls, last taken 10 days ago, that showed 37 percent supporting the proposal. Experts said before the vote that they feared Swiss had pretended during the polling that they opposed the ban because they didn't want to appear intolerant.

There are many people in this world who don't "want to appear intolerant" toward Islam because they fear the repercussions. To stand in opposition to Islam is to invite violence and jihad into one's midst.

One more reason to appreciate the secret ballot.

The Matesevac Family of Blogs Grows Again

Now it's a set: My brother Adam has started his own blog, too: Punditry From the Great One. The link to his blog is at right.

Like my brother Peter and myself, expect good, solid commentary on political and religious matters.

There are no other siblings in our family...but if any of my other kin start a good blog, I'll link them to this site, too!

Sarah Palin and Her Church

Some more resources of information:

Here is a Newsweek article from last week about Wasilla Bible Church. Like the New York Times article I cited a few days ago, it's a relatively liberal publication which still comes across making Palin look like a conservative churchgoer.

Here is the website of Wasilla Bible Church, Palin's current home church. According to the Newsweek article, Sarah Palin was baptized as an infant in the Roman Catholic church, began attending the Assembly of God church in her teens....

"Todd Stafford, an associate pastor at Wasilla Assembly of God, says Palin often publicly thanks Riley--now nearly 80 and still working as a prison chaplain--for bringing her to Jesus when she visits the church. She attended that Pentecostal church until she was 38 years old, when she switched to Wasilla Bible Church, saying she preferred the children's ministries there."

The church's statement of faith can be viewed here. Although some of us would be inclined to add to it or rephrase a little bit here or there, it will be recognized as orthodox by those of us who are fundamental baptists.

Here is a link to my first post on this topic.

This Should Be Repugnant to Taxpayers, Shouldn't It?

Normandale Community College, a public institution in the greater Twin Cities area of Minnesota, has a Muslim prayer room—built at least in part with the paid labor of college employees! According to this article in the unusually-liberal Star Tribune [Note: You will only be able to read "most" of the article before being beset with ads to pay to read the rest], this prayer room is home to only one religion's faith; is segregated by sex; contains literature for distribution that most of the civilized and western world finds offensive concerning the role of women; and advertises events for Muslims in the community—all of this in addition to being provided (read that: Paid for) by the college and its supporting taxpayers.

On top of all that, the college used the last functional racquetball court on campus for this place.

If the fundamental, Bible-believing Christians on that campus asked for a chapel on campus, built at least in part by the college in college facilities, that (while open to all) was only to have, say, Baptist services in it, can you imagine the outcry? It would never be tolerated! It would be a "horrifying breach of church and state!"

The hypocrisy of this is nauseating. A religion of intolerance with a long history of violence and brutality is welcomed....

Interestingly, there is no mention of the ACLU in this article, or "People for the Separation of Church and State," or any other such God-hating groups. Hmmm....do they not object to this?

Mitt Romney's "Big Speech" on His Religion

Today, as you may have heard, Gov. Mitt Romney gave a speech on his religion and faith. As a Mormon running for president as a Republican, he undoubtedly thought it important that Americans had an understanding of where he stood on these matters, and how they would (potentially) impact his decisions as president.

The text of the speech can be accessed here.

This speech is brimming with blog-worthy observations. More will be coming in the days ahead.