Do we present a killer and rapist God …. or a savior God?
Do we preach a peaceful and loving God, or a violent and hateful deity? Do we cause destruction and harm when we preach our religion?
Click to read the full report… Nigeria military claims recapture of key town from Boko Haram
Christianity asserts that God is kind, merciful and loving; …..that God does not destroy innocent lives. He protects and guides in the way of righteousness.
The Christian Bible describes God as
“…long-suffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.” (Numbers 14:18; New King James Version)
Islam, too, proclaims that Allah is merciful… or does it?
Every chapter of the Qur’an, except chapter 9, begins with the character of Allah as “The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
Islamic teachers tell us that Islam is a peaceful religion, and that Islam does not allow violence, except in self-defense.
Unfortunately Boko Haram, ISIS, Al-Shabab, and other militants, contradict them as they continue to perpetuate violence and atrocities in the name of God and religion.
Pointing out the evil that people do in the name of religion is not an attack on religion. It is a cry against the atrocities! Good and loving people will always speak out against atrocities even when the evils are done in God’s name.
The New York Times reported how women were enslaved and raped repeatedly. Each time, before the rapist raped the victim, he performed a prayer in front of the victim, raped her, and then performed another round of prayer in front of her. He justified his action that Allah permitted him to do that because she belonged to another religion.
Read the story here... ISIS enshrines a theology of rape
We can conquer without being violent! We can win people to our cause without attacking them.
Rockeybell has written books on how to win without being violent.
For the electronic versions visit…
Conquering Without Being Violent
Persuasion Is Better Than Force (Electronic version of “Winning Without Attacking – Why Persuasion Is Better Than Force”)
Using evil does not promote a good, kind, loving and merciful God.
That 12-year-old girl will never love the religion that permitted her to be raped. She will never be able to believe that the rapist’s God is a loving God.
Why would a merciful God send a rapist to punish her instead of teaching and guiding her to the right path? Why would God allow her to be born into that family, and then punish her for being born into that family?
The saved are to direct those not saved to the right path; not to attack and kill. Jesus would not allow His followers to command fire from heaven and consume the Samaritans as Elijah did, because He came to save lives and not to destroy them, (Luke 9:51-56).
The Bible does not allow rape, fornication or adultery, even when done in God’s name.
Do religious leaders condemn slavery and the slave trade, yet turn round and condone it in their own camp?
When we use force or use atrocities on people because they do not share our religious convictions we make them see the God we present as evil.
No compulsion in religion
The Christian Bible teaches that God does not use force to make people love Him. It instructs Christians to preach the message of God’s love and let the listener himself or herself decide (Ezekiel 3:17-19; Luke 10:5-12; Mark 16:15-16).
The Qur’an also declares,
“Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error…” (2:256)
“… And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you then compel mankind, until they become believers?” (10:99)
