Oh, excuse me for the faux pas in the headline. What I should have said is “Victims of radical Islam.”
Except I am not convinced. Don’t get me wrong – I could be convinced. But what I keep seeing are signs that seem to indicate what true Islam does when it has the chance.
The following quote comes from a post by Amel Nona, Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, Iraq, and is an anguished cry from a shepherd for his devastated flock. It is also a frightening warning to the West: What happened to us is coming to you:
“Our sufferings today are the prelude of those you, Europeans and Western Christians, will also suffer in the near future. I lost my diocese. The physical setting of my apostolate has been occupied by Islamic radicals who want us converted or dead. But my community is still alive.
Please, try to understand us. Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here. You must consider again our reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever-growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles. You think all men are equal, but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not their values. If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home.”
Archbishop Amel Nona Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Mosul, now exiled in Erbil Corriere della Sera August 9, 2014
Sure, there are peaceful Muslims. Maybe most Muslims are peaceful. But that doesn’t tell us what true Islam is all about. Moreover, is it possible that what we call “peaceful Muslims” are nothing more than nominal Muslims? That is to say, what happens if nominal Muslims become truly committed to their faith?
A European survey, released last year, asked Muslims in six countries: “Is sharia (Islamic) law more important to you than the laws of the land you are living in?” The percentage who said yes: 66%.
Moreover, 60% wanted Muslims in Europe to return to their Islamic roots, and 54% said they believe the Western world aims to destroy Islam.
Dutch sociologist Ruud Koopmans, who authored the study, said, “These results clearly contradict what one often hears – that Islamic fundamentalism is a marginal phenomenon in Western Europe ….”
The photograph accompanying Archbishop Nona’s post shows what his church looked like before ISIS took over in Mosul. The church is now an ISIS office. Why pick the church for an office?
Well, why did Muslim conquerors of Jerusalem build the Dome of the Rock on the very site where the Jewish temple once stood? Why did Muslim conquerors of Constantinople turn the Hagia Sophia, at the time the world’s largest Christian cathedral, into a mosque? Why are churches in Europe being converted into mosques today? Why is Turkey converting churches into mosques?
Well, maybe it’s just a coincidence. On the other hand, maybe it is meant to make a point.
I think we’d better heed the archbishop’s warning.
