Well, Frodo, I mean SAM – has taken down his blog. That does not seem like the action of a warrior for the Lord, but who am I to say?
Unfortunately for him, I already have all the info I need to make his visit to Morocco…interesting. Marhababik al’hmar sghrir.
I watched some crazy Moroccan movie this afternoon, in which the plot seemed to consist of a young country girl (arobiya!) and her shenanigans. I wasn’t that impressed with her, but the actor who played Moulay Abt (guessing at the name) is gorgeous. Imagine my delight when I found him on an interview program the same evening on 2M!
“Originaire de la petite et charmante ville de Chaouen, Yassin Ahjam fait son petit bonhomme de chemin dans le monde de la télévision et du cinéma. Lauréat de l’Institut supérieur d’art dramatique et d’animation culturelle, ce jeune homme commence sa carrière d’acteur sur les chapeaux de roues avec des prestations qui lui valent l’admiration du public…”
Our friend Sam has obviously taken to heart the first verse mentioned above. While his mission may be misguided, I believe he has a good heart – he may just be a bit naive. I mean, obviously the Lord is superior to every Scottish king (except for David I – ok, joking!), but to insult all of them is just silly.
Despite his offer to discuss our differing views, based on what his close friend Ransom stated in the comments on Sam’s blog, there’s not much room for a real discussion. Ransom : “But what if your beliefs are that not everyone knows the TRUTH, the absolute TRUTH, and if you don’t at least try to share it they will never hear it?”
Well, to that, I can only respond with two quotes from the Quran. While I don’t necessarily subscribe to the belief that the Quran came directly from God (and don’t get me started on the hadiths), these quotes accurately represent my personal views.
“Unto every community We appointed (different) ways of worship, which they ought to observe. Hence do not let them dispute with you on the matter, but do call them unto your Lord: for, behold, you are on a straight guidance.”
“And if they argue with you, say (only) ‘Allah knows best what you are doing’”
22:67-68
“Do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation other than in a most kindly manner – except those of them who did wrong and are oppressors – and say ‘we believe in that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to you; for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves.’” 29:46
View from Fes has another excellent post (in a long string of them) entitled “Evangelical Missionaries in Morocco.” My personal feeling is that I appreciate when people…erm…”witness for the Lord” on a personal basis, but I loathe when individuals or groups visit another country for the specific attempt at converting its people. For example of the first instance, while on a teaching holiday (long story) in Spain, I met a really fascinating woman who professed to be a Born Again Christian. Normally, I would have avoided her like the plague, but we hit it off from day one (note: she didn’t mention her religious views until a couple of days into the program), and we were roomies for the 2 week holiday. She never forced her views on me, but when I showed curiosity, she talked about how she felt with such openness and enthusiasm that even Mme. Jaded (moi) was swayed. She said a couple of things in particular – which I won’t bore casual readers with – that really gave me more warm and fuzzy feelings about God.
Now then, to the evangelists. Can you imagine what it would be like if a group of Muslims came to, oh, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO (I’m from Columbus, so I know it well) and started going door to door? They would be strung up. People slam their doors when they see the Jehovah’s Witnesses coming down the street, so a whole flock of darker skinned men in white robes and beards would not be mistaken for the reincarnation of the Disciples, if you know what I mean.
So when this guy stated in his blog that he’s going to be spending seven weeks in Morocco “evangelizing” on an “outreach” to a “98% Muslim country” – I left him a curt little comment with an exact quote from Samir at the View from Fes (I’m sorry, Samir, but you phrased it so succinctly that I just couldn’t do better) on the illegality of such a trip and the potential ramifications. I know he’s still going to come here, so I probably wasted my time, but maybe it will make him think a little.
Also, normally I try to live and let live – if I happen upon a missionary or evangelizer here, I wouldn’t turn them in. However, this jerk insulted Scotland in the same scintillating blog entry, “Scotland has never had a king worth bowing to… it’s up to us to show them what a great King is like. Amen?” At this, gritting my teeth and muttering bits of “Scotland the Brave” (since part of my family once inhabited Dunbar Castle), I vowed to expose these wack jobs whenever and wherever they’re found.
Note that this nut is from Springfield, OHIO.