"...if we be honest with ourselves,
we shall be honest with each other." ~ George MacDonald
"...if we be honest with ourselves,
we shall be honest with each other." ~ George MacDonald

Recommended Reading and Viewing on the Persecution of Christians in the Islamic World

Violence in the Name of God: Mark Durie Answers Twelve Questions about Christianity and Islam

The Third Choice by Mark Durie (see also Australian Imams Stand Up For Shariah by Mark Durie)

After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East by Elizabeth Kendal

The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam by Bat Ye'or (contains about 200 pages of primary source documents)

The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer

It's All About Muhammad by F.W. Burleigh

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise by Dario Fernandez-Morera 

Catastrophic Failure by Stephen Coughlin

Surrender by Bruce Bawer

Journeys into the Heart and Heartland of Islam by Marvin W. Heyboer

Islam and Science by Pervez Hoodbhoy

Free speech can be highly offensive, but we must have the strength of character to allow people to say things we personally find offensive, because free speech is the foundation of all other freedoms. The following video shows why this is so and why we must guard it jealously. (The speaker is wrong when he says we have "a duty to offend." Yes, some will find the truth offensive, but we must not aim to offend. We should speak the truth in love. See Eph 4:15.)

If we do not allow freedom of speech governments, powerful corporations, and large cults will manipulate the truth and present the narrative they want you to hear. The following video is about how they are able to do it and do do it.

See also Fighting the New Commissars

When westerners think about governments manipulating the kind of information the public receives, they usually only think about how western governments manipulate information. But all governments play that game. The following is about how the Pakistani government has been manipulating some of the people at Facebook to enforce their oppressive laws. It could be easily argued that some of the people at Facebook have blood on their hands.

If you watched the video about Facebook you are probably a bit shocked and are wondering how this could have happened. The following video explains how this kind of thing has been brought about. If this is true, we should expect it to get a lot worse.

That is just one of the ways some governments which are hostile to America and the West have been trying to manipulate information. (This is not new. The USSR used to try to do it.) Since 9/11 many radical groups and governments have been spreading myths about what happened on that fateful day in an attempt to undermine the Wests resolve to fight the "war on terror." (I do not like that description. Wars are not launched against tactics. Terror is simply a tactic which is employed to spread the fear of Islam and to make people afraid to criticise it; thereby allowing it to spread unhindered.) And the foolish and weak minded have been helping them to do so. See 9/11

The following video is about Bernard Lewis. His writings heavily influenced how the west responded to terror in the name of Islam.

The following is part 1 of 5. All five are well worth the time.

It is becoming more and more apparent that Islam cannot be reformed. If that is the case, this is the only answer. (Note: He is not advocating the restriction of speech, he is simply pointing out how freedom of speech could be used to turn the tide.) The best way to combat lies is not with restriction of speech, but with freedom of speech.

Perhaps that seems like an extreme measure, but whether we like it or not, we must allow such ideas to be argued for. If we do not allow open discussion and debate where all views are heard, the problem of Islamic terrorism will not be put to an end.

Without freedom of speech we will probably have a very inaccurate understanding of history, and consequently respond inappropriately to conflicts which have a long history. This is why books like The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer and The Third Choice by Mark Durie are so important.

 

Islam's Crisis of Apostasy

Theocracy