It's not the video...

[Phil Hoover]

from my Senior Pastor, Erwin Lutzer--this will be in the bulletin, and is already online:
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It’s not the video.

The notion that a video that few people have seen is the cause of the anti-American riots taking place throughout the Middle East and beyond is, of course, foolish. The radical Islamists wanted a pretext for mayhem on 9/11, and undoubtedly were looking for some reason to vent their hatred toward America. While we decry a video that purposefully denigrates any religion, be assured that what is happening is not the fault of the filmmaker, nor is it the fault of U.S. policy—the responsibility lies elsewhere.

To get to the point: the responsibility for what we are witnessing lies with the teachings of the Qu’ran that folks like us—non-Muslims—are infidels and should be killed (see 9:5; 9:29; 66:9). Militant Islamists have a burning passion to bring about a worldwide Caliphate, in which the world will come under the umbrella of Islam. They believe America is the Great Satan that must be conquered. It should not surprise us that devoted followers of Islam are willing to join coalition forces with the intent of turning against them and killing as many as possible. Many Muslims claim that Islam is a religion of peace, but for them peace is interpreted as being Islamic rule.

Our worst possible response to all of this would be to adopt some form of censorship. For years Muslims have been working through the United Nations to enforce a world-wide blasphemy law that would make all criticism of Islam a crime, and each year they garner more support.

Please keep in mind that Christians are being killed (the estimate is 400 a day), mostly in Islamic countries. Many of them are martyred because they are accused of “blaspheming Islam.” Their crime? They believe in the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, which in Islam is the ultimate blasphemy. In other words, if a blasphemy law (otherwise known as a hate speech law) is passed, all Christians will be guilty of insulting Islam, and thus be obvious lawbreakers.

Thankfully, there are many Muslims who disagree with the extreme Islamists. We hope that some of them have the courage to speak up and defend freedom of speech for all people, including Christians. We cannot support the deliberate demeaning of any faith, but the answer to a misuse of freedom of speech is to have more speech; in other words, if a video distorts the facts, another should be made to set the record straight. We should fight error with truth, not bullets.

All for the King,
Pastor Lutzer