Do we present a killer and rapist God or a savior God?

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)

Pay us a visit at the PeacemakersTeam

Where is the God of Peace?

Can a God of peace be so violent and brutal?

Where is that God of mercy and love that prophets of old preached? Where is that God who so loved the world that He sent His Son to proclaim peace, love and everlasting life? Where is that God who did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved? (John 3:16-17)

Violent people make God to conform to their mode of thinking and behavior. They create a God who acts like themselves, and who treats people unkindly.

Why rob God of His true character and being?

Being angry and violent in character, violent people cannot present a deity who is non-violent. The deity they proclaim is like them; violent and angry.

Read Rockeybell’s testimony…

Militants present a non-compassionate, non-merciful and angry deity.

They use religion to cause pain on fellow human beings

They create a vengeful supervisor of suicide bombers; a leader of killers of innocent people; one who supervises the killings of innocent lives.

They dictate to God how God must behave and what He must want.

They become angry when we tell them that a merciful God is not unmerciful and violent. They attack us because we present God as kind, benevolent and merciful; they see us as weak or timid. They prefer a God who is violent.

The God of the militants is a militant. His love is different from the non-militant God.

They tell us that God is merciful… that God is compassionate. Yet they present to us one who is always angry and one who does not forgive. They present to us one who orders his people to decapitate people who do not accept his teachings. Instead of explaining and convincing people to understand him, they preach fear and death!

Jesus told His followers,

“Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52-53; New King James Version)

Jesus taught us to love, to tolerate and to forgive. He said God can defend Himself, and so we do not need to fight and kill for God.

Listen to our audio messages…

Man’s duty is to warn and not to compel (Ezekiel 3:18-21). The choice to accept rests with the hearer.

In the Bible when Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal, and the people rose up against him, wanting to kill him, his father, who incidentally was priest for Baal, said that the people should let Baal plead for himself, because it was his altar that had been torn down (Judges 6:28-32).

In the Qur’an we read, “There is no compulsion in religion …” (2:256) and “If you strive (or fight) you strive (or fight) for yourselves, for God does not need the help of his creatures …” (29:6).

If God cannot defend Himself, how then can God defend His worshipers?

Jesus told His followers,

“Whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.” (Luke 10:10-12; New King James Version)

Jesus told His followers not to compel people. He also told His followers,

“… the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.” (John 16:2-3)

People are maliciously attacking our site because we preach peace and we tell people not to hate

They are maliciously trying to hijack our site and prevent us from spreading the words of love

On April 23, 2015, a total of 2,104 malicious login attempts were recorded from across five (5) different countries. On April 25, more attacks from other countries were still being recorded; some even from Thailand, Italy, France, etc. The attacks have not stopped. By 28 April, we have experienced 2,305 malicious login attempts.

Anger, hate and violence is everywhere. Persuasion, however, is the preferred Christian method of presenting views or beliefs.

People will not happily love and serve you if you use force. You will always have to force them to love you, and that would not be genuine love.

You may want to learn about winning without attacking…

Religious Intolerance

Religious intolerance is destructive

We are being constantly attacked and threatened

Attackers and hackers are attempting to disrupt our programs. They want us to stop discussing the evils that others are propagating. They think that, as we discuss the evils propagated by their fellow believers, the world will regard all of them as evil.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Anger and intolerance are the twin enemies of correct understanding.”

In their anger, some of them even resort to using brute force to make us give up.

However, instead of hitting back at them, the Bible entreats us as Christians to adopt the non-violent way. We hope they will understand that, their actions will rather make people to see them as enemies of peace and truth.

They constantly attack and hack our site because they are not comfortable with the truth

They know that we are not against their religious beliefs; we do not attack what they believe. It is the angry and violent method some people use in promoting their faiths that we oppose. We believe that people should be allowed to make their own choices. The attackers, however, do not want people to have their freedom to choose. They want to stop us from promoting peace and the freedom to choose, so that they can continue to promote violence, anger and mayhem.

Their actions confirm our writings; that some people love violence and cannot tolerate different views.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God,” (Matthew 5:9).

For books on peacemaking and how to make people listen to you visit…

Peacemakers should always help other peacemakers to promote peace. Genuine seekers of truth and peace will fight for truth and peace to prevail.

People proclaim they are preaching a God of peace and of love. Yet they promote violence and brutality; as if the deity they preach is a violent one.

Whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, an African Traditional Religionist, Buddhist, Hindu, etc., attacking people to make them accept your religion is not the right way to promote a God of peace and love.

God is Almighty; He does not need the help of frail humans to fight His battle. He rather fights and delivers His children from the hands of enemies. People who kill other people and force their beliefs on people are not promoting the way of the peace-loving God. Jesus told His followers,

“… a time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me,” (John 16:2-3; New King James Version).

The Qur’an says, “Let there be no compulsion in religion…” (2:256), and in 29:6 we read, “And whoever strives, he strives only for himself. Verily Allah stands not in need of any of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn, and all that exists).”

God told Ezekiel to warn the people and leave them to decide for themselves. Man’s duty is to warn, not to compel (Ezekiel 3:18-21). The choice to accept rests with the hearer. God does not coerce people. Jesus said we should not use force to make people accept God, (Luke 10:5-12).

We live in an age of hate and violence

Communities nurture hate and instil in their offspring anger and hate against people they disagree with. Violence is being perpetuated, and religions are using violence to promote their cause.

Why should innocent people suffer when other people have disputes? Why do terrorists pick on the helpless to destroy?

How can a God of peace and love use violence to make people love Him? Can’t He use His tremendous power to turn the minds of people to love and worship Him without resorting to violence?

Jesus asked us to conquer by persuasion and not by force or threat.

Martin Luther King said, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

God is Love, and Jesus taught us to promote peace through love. He taught us to love our enemies, to love those who curse us and who spitefully use us.

People of other religions, after listening to my radio message, call me on the phone to explain that their fellow believers who use violence to promote their religion are not true believers. These kind and gentle people are not happy when their fellow believers use hate to promote their faith. However, it is not my duty to say what their religion advocates. They should come out boldly to tell the world that their fellow believers who use hate and violence are not helping to promote their cause.

Paul asked the Galatians, “Have I, therefore, become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16)

We speak against violence, and not against the religion they believe in.

To learn more about the Peacemakers, please visit ….

Power of Persuasion… Part 4… Conclusion

Winning by persuasion

Jesus demonstrated the power of persuasion when He communicated with hostile or difficult people

A Samaritan woman had lived with several men. She needed salvation. Jesus knew the woman would not accept the truth from Him because of the hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans. He, therefore, started a friendly dialogue to make her talk to Him.

She was surprised that a Jew would ask a Samaritan water to drink. Jesus ignored her remark and dealt directly on her spiritual need.

He led her patiently, with persuasion, to the point where she could assimilate the truth and admit her sins.

With enmity out of the way, and Jesus now a friend, she could ask for the living water that Jesus said He had. Through that woman, the rest of the Samaritans came to hear Jesus, and believed in Him (John 4:5-42).

Abraham Lincoln asked, “Am I not conquering my enemies when I make them my friends?”

Know more about The Peacemakers Team

What the Qur’an also says about compelling people

“And whoever strives, he strives only for himself. Verily, Allah stands not in need of any of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists)…” (29:6; The Noble Qur’an: English translation of the Meanings and Commentary.)

Again we read,

“And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers? It is not for any person to believe, except by the leave of Allah, and he will put the wrath on those who are heedless.” (10:99-100)

Why then do militants compel people to accept their religion?

Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness.”

Coercion, hate and violence do not win people’s sympathy.

Militants use violence to promote their religion, and yet they claim they promote a peaceful God, and a peaceful religion.

The New Testament presents a tolerant and peaceful way
Jesus asked His followers to use persuasion

Jesus said we must not pray for the destruction of our enemies. We should rather pray that they do not succeed in their evil ways. I pray that evil people will change and become good and peaceful children of God.

You may want to take a look at some eBooks…..

Smashwords

Kindle

The Bible way of treating enemies

When the Syrian army came to capture Elisha, he prayed and they became blind and helpless. Elisha asked the King not to kill them, but feed, treat them well, and send them safely back to their home country (2 Kings 6:8-23).

Jesus would not allow His disciples to call fire on the Samaritans. They wanted to do as Elijah did (2 Kings 1:9-12). Jesus told them the Spirit of the Christian (of the New Testament) is not the same as the Old Testament (Luke 9:51-56). The Spirit in the Christian is loving and forgiving; Christians are to love even their worst enemies.

Learn to listen even when you disagree with people

We like to listen to what we agree with. However, we should also learn to listen to what we disagree with. We learn a lot about the person who is speaking when we listen; we learn why he or she is angry or why he or she has a different view.

Neuropsychologists (and neuroscientists) explain that, when we are alone and speaking to ourselves, one part of the brain speaks while the other part listens.

We must, therefore, learn to listen.

Angry people do not like listening to people; they want to speak while everyone else listens to them. If you do not listen to people, people will also not want to listen to you.

Effective listening starts with learning to respect other people’s views

Do not argue, do not debate, and do not force your views on people.
Do not strive to prove them wrong. Do not attack their views; you will indirectly make them dislike you.
Discuss; do not give instructions. Explain and give valid reasons.
Be friendly. See your opponent as a friend and not an antagonist.
Listen to their objections and address them candidly.
Tolerate and don’t be sarcastic in your remarks.
Smile …. don’t be angry.

Persuade; do not force

John Locke said,

“The care, therefore, of every man’s soul belongs unto himself, and is to be left unto himself…. No man can be forced to be rich or healthful, whether he will or no. Nay, God Himself will not save men against their wills.” (John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration; Prometheus Books, Buffalo, 1990, page 35)

Visit us at

How Christianity wins without attacking

Winning without attacking people

Violent, intolerant people become angry when they fail to convince people to accept their views.
Angry husbands brutalize their wives and children when they are unable to make them accept their views.
Religious militants attack people and force their religions on them.

Compelling people to accept your views will not make them love you

Jesus taught His followers to use peaceful persuasion.

Aesop illustrates this in a fable, the North Wind and the Sun.

The North Wind and the Sun argued about who was stronger. They agreed to try their powers upon a traveler, to see who could strip him of his cloak. The North Wind, gathering up all his force, came whirling furiously down upon the man, and caught up his cloak to wrest it from him; but the harder he blew, the more closely the man wrapped it round himself. Failing, he called upon the Sun to see what he, too, could do.

At first, the Sun beamed gently and warmly upon the traveler. The traveler, feeling the genial rays of the sun took off his garment, and walked with it hanging loosely on his shoulders. The Sun continued gradually until he finally released his full strength. At last, the man, overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream that lay in his path, before completing his journey, more lightly clad.

When the Wind tried to wrest the cloak from the traveler, he fought back; on the other hand, when the Sun suggested that it was uncomfortable for him to wear his cloak in that heat, the man accepted the suggestion.

Convincing the listener is more effective in winning a person

Do not compel people to believe. Jesus said,

“But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.” (Luke 10:10-12)

Biblical Christianity is non-violent

God has tremendous power to control people’s minds to worship Him. Yet, He has chosen not to do so. Being a loving God, He does not send suicide bombers to kill innocent people.

Why do Islamic militants prefer using force to make others accept their views?

The Qur’an, in 29:6, says, “And whoever strives, he strives only for himself. Verily, Allah stands not in need of any of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists)…” (The Noble Qur’an: English translation of the Meanings and Commentary.)

The Qur’an emphatically declares that, “There is no compulsion in religion,” (2:256)

Again we read,

“And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers? It is not for any person to believe, except by the leave of Allah, and he will put the wrath on those who are heedless.” (10:99-100)

Why then do Muslim militants compel people to worship Allah?

Suicide bombers attack and kill people because they believe that when they die in the attacks, they will gain paradise. The militants, therefore, do not commit the atrocities on God’s behalf.

Jesus used love and persuasion to win Zacchaeus, (Luke 19:1-10)
He used persuasion to make the Samaritan woman understand Him, (John 4:7-30)
He said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you,” (Luke 6:27-28)

For further reading visit: http://www.peacemakersteam.com/books.html

Christianity wins without attacking — Christianity wins by love. Jesus taught us to win without attacking.

True and saving religion should have the power to appeal

Genuine religion should be able to persuade and draw people to itself. When we use force we rather emphasize the negative judgments people have formed of us.

Killing innocent people, and abducting defenseless girls and women in the name of God does not help promote God’s cause.

Burning villages and churches, and killing Christians and people who do not accept their religions rather make the victims to hate the attackers and their religions.

We present a wicked, hardhearted God when we are intolerant and violent.

Winning Without Attacking — Rockeybell speaking on “How to communicate with hostile people.”

The Christian God is non-violent

The Christian God loves
He is truly compassionate.
He does not terrorize people.

Share your views with us on winning without fighting, and how can we make the world peaceful.

Visit us at The Peacemakers Team

Conquering Without Being Violent

Communicating with difficult people, anger control and making people listen

Tag: Qur’an