"I set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, therefore...."

Norway has seen the unfortunate consequence of our modern world that has rejected God. As St. Paul teaches, "the wages of sin is death." Over the weekend a lone gunman, in what appears was a decided mental state, chose to bomb innocent people and open fire on teens at a camp. This truly is a horrific act. But even more disturbing is that this young man, who opened fire, was doing this because he was concerned about Islam in his country in Norway. It has been said he was a "fundamentalist Christian," but it is becoming clear that that was not the case.

My dear reader, as I said, this is the consequence of rejecting Christ in once Christian Europe. It may be however, as with so many things, a demonic influence may have influenced this young man to try to play God by taking life by means of the death and destruction he caused. His idea, it seems, was to have Europe take up arms against Muslims and Marxists.

As horrid as his actions were, there is, however, something to his concern, one must admit. If one remembers the Muslim riots in France in 2005, then one might remember that they took place there because of a perceived police brutality. But such stories of muslim influence are popping up all over Europe, even in Rome. It is true that muslims are growing in number in Europe. Consider this:


It would seem that a big battle is brewing... or is it? What you will notice in the above video is also what many in the West are continuing to do; that is, to make this a socio-political dilemma. But is it? After all, St. John Chrysostom - a contemporary of Mohammed- noted that Mohammed was a heretic. Really? Then perhaps the one thing that could save the West is the one thing that the so-called Secular Humanism (and one might argue so-called Liberalism) of the West rejects whole heartedly: namely Christian Theology. How can I boldly state this?

Consider Fr. Zakaria Botros, "Islam's (so-called) Public Enemy #1" an Egyptian Coptic priest who boldly speaks out against Islam - not as so many in the West do with political and cultural arguments, but in theological terms [For the sake of full disclosure, this Coptic priest is Orthodox and thus not in full union with Rome - though we recognize their Sacraments as valid, and the Catholic Church is seeking reunification as we speak!]. He very sincerely and wisely asks of Muslims, especially scholars, to explain certain hard questions that confront Islam:


This priest is awesome! Talk about gutsy! He just goes straight to the heart of the Islamic system of belief and asks questions. Check this out:

A little education about these things go a long way! In another article I was reading (linked to above) the author noted that this priest regularly challenges the prominent Islamic scholars of past and present. In fact, over at Jihadwatch.org one can find a few of Fr. Zakaria's explanations of a number of "interesting" facts about Mohammed and Islam. One such article, and this is NOT FOR KIDS, is entitled "The Perverse sexual habits of the Prophet." It actually has a few parts: part II, part III, part IV, and part V are found here.

These are things that most practitioners of Islam, or Mohammedans (as Catholic Tradition has referred to them) have not considered. In fact, Fr. Zakaria regularly appears on the Arab television show called "Daring Questions." For example, here when he calls into question the reliability of Mohammed's wife, who is said to have been a witness of the prophet's revelation, even though Islam does not allow women to be witnesses today! In another segment, he posed the question "Was Mohammed a prophet of God or of Satan?" And, as a sign that these things are effective in pointing to the Truth of Jesus Christ, it is said that Magdi Alam, who was publicly baptized by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI was influenced by Fr. Zakaria. In short, Our Lord Jesus Christ is the answer to the problem of so-called Muslim extremism. To find the Truth of Christ will transform our world, and help Muslims to find the Truth of God that came to us in Jesus Christ. May the Truth of Jesus Christ be made known by each of us who claim the glorious title of Catholic Christians so that all may "have life, and have it more abundantly" (Jn 10:10)!