Strange Story

Strange Story:

I discovered sometime last week that a pair of journalists (FOX News) had been missing and presumed captive in Palestine.

Things looked much better when news came out they'd been released unharmed in Gaza after two weeks of captivity. That was not the expected outcome of the captivity, which made this result unexpected.

However, things go from unexpected to strange when I read about the reason for the release: as recounted by FOX news, they had converted to Islam. (A tip of the hat to Rev. Donald Sensing on this story.)

My first thought was of a sarcastic cartoon I saw years ago. The cartoon featured a Crusader on horse holding a spear at the throat of a Muslim soldier. The Muslim was saying, "I'm very interested in this faith of yours. Why don't you tell me more?"

The point of that cartoon was apparently that the Crusaders weren't likely to meet such people on the battlefield, or convert them. It was modern Western thought laughing at something that was totally foreign to its worldview.

The concept is funny when we think of our distant ancestors doing it. It is less than funny--it is frightening--when we realize that there are men alive today who would do the same to us. Disturbingly, forced conversion is now an example of how to avoid death while in captivity to these men.

As Rev. Sensing comments, avoidance of religious coercion in modern America has reached the level of arguing whether a cross on a city monument is a government agency establishing religion. At times, it seems that certain forces in public life seem bent on removing religion from the public sphere.

And now we learn that some religious men will hold a gun to a man's head as a method of proselytization.

Perhaps we should, as a nation, gladly invite religion into the public sphere. As long as the believers understand that coercion of religious belief is out-of-bounds.

There's a lot more to be said about conversions to Islam, forced conversion, and Western culture--but Rev. Sensing seems to have covered most of it. I'll refrain from repeating what he said.