Yoda said, "Very hard to see the future is."
I have always enjoyed thinking about and discussing what the future might be like. Looking at trends and movements, the ebb and flow of different worldviews, it is a challenge to try and look out and have a good idea of what awaits me and my children and grandchildren. (I don't have any of those yet, but I see them in my future. :)
Ever since 9/11, most of us have been made painfully aware that there is a global movement intent on killing us and destroying our way of life. For whatever reasons, it is quite evident that they are very committed to a very different future than most Western cultures.
Recently I sent this essay to all the members of my family. It is written by Mark Steyn, a syndicated columnist. I found the essay somewhat difficult to read as he seems to go down rabbit trails at times and uses big words that I don't always understand. But the core of his points were very clear and very scary regarding the future. I highly recommend that you wade through this to get what he is saying.
Today, I came across another interview on Hugh Hewitt's blog with Father Joseph Fessio, Provosty of Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida. I sent this to my family as well as it confirmed and even expanded my understanding of what the future may hold. It is essentially the view of the current Pope regarding Islam.
I see real problems for our future. On one hand, there are many reasons to be extremely optimistic. But there is one major issue. We have millions of radical Muslims whose scriptures clearly outline to them that they MUST kill the infidels. They must impose Islam on the rest of the world. If they take their scriptures seriously, which obviously they do, they have no choice but to support jihad. Clearly, not all Muslims take these scriptures that seriously, but the problem is that there are millions who do.
Christians are commanded to go into the world and teach all that Jesus has taught. Christians have taken this command seriously for over 2,000 years. Fortunately, you cannot find any command where Jesus said to kill the ones who won't believe. You won't find any statement where Jesus expected people to be forced to believe. He respected man's free will.
A major problem for the world -- especially Europe -- as Mark Steyn points out is that for many decades, the birth rate has been less than what would be required to stay stay "population neutral." Europe has been been importing workers at an astonishing rate. Most of those workers are Muslim. Most Muslims have many children. The Muslim population has been growing dramatically while the Western worlds population has been declining. America is barely growing. Most of the growth here is from immigration, legal and illegal. Most of those immigrants however, are Christian.
Europe is faced with a future where religious freedom and freedom for women is totally threatened by the intolerant religious views of Islam. Islam is rapidly becoming the dominant force in all of Europe. Islam does not "integrate" into foreign cultures well. They take over those cultures. Europe is in deep trouble when you look out over the next few decades. Truthfully, they have been in deep trouble for many decades as, on their own, they have become a culture devoid of God anyway.
America is not in the same amount of trouble, but the trends are not very good here either. I have told my children that I support the "War on Terror" mainly because I don't know what else to do. We cannot sit back and allow them to simply blow us up ala 9/11. We have to realize that these people MUST be taken on in an offensive war. But what do we do? Do we have to kill millions of Muslims who sincerely believe that they are required by scripture to destroy us? How do you fight that war? Very difficult! And this is one of the reasons I respect President Bush, even though I don't agree with him on everything. He has had the courage to confront a terrible situation. A situation that does not have easy answers.
What does the future hold? I fear it holds massive upheaval and challenge for my children and their children. I hope that somehow the "moderate" wings of Islam see the course that radical Islam is on and somehow changes their course. Will this happen? I don't think so. I believe the war on terror will be with us for a very long time. I see that in our future.
Hugh Hewitt has a list of other bloggers with opinions on the Mark Steyn piece here.
Technorati Tags:Population,Mark Steyn,Islam
Yoda said, "Very hard to see the future is."
I have always enjoyed thinking about and discussing what the future might be like. Looking at trends and movements, the ebb and flow of different worldviews, it is a challenge to try and look out and have a good idea of what awaits me and my children and grandchildren. (I don't have any of those yet, but I see them in my future. :)
Ever since 9/11, most of us have been made painfully aware that there is a global movement intent on killing us and destroying our way of life. For whatever reasons, it is quite evident that they are very committed to a very different future than most Western cultures.
Recently I sent this essay to all the members of my family. It is written by Mark Steyn, a syndicated columnist. I found the essay somewhat difficult to read as he seems to go down rabbit trails at times and uses big words that I don't always understand. But the core of his points were very clear and very scary regarding the future. I highly recommend that you wade through this to get what he is saying.
Today, I came across another interview on Hugh Hewitt's blog with Father Joseph Fessio, Provosty of Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida. I sent this to my family as well as it confirmed and even expanded my understanding of what the future may hold. It is essentially the view of the current Pope regarding Islam.
I see real problems for our future. On one hand, there are many reasons to be extremely optimistic. But there is one major issue. We have millions of radical Muslims whose scriptures clearly outline to them that they MUST kill the infidels. They must impose Islam on the rest of the world. If they take their scriptures seriously, which obviously they do, they have no choice but to support jihad. Clearly, not all Muslims take these scriptures that seriously, but the problem is that there are millions who do.
Christians are commanded to go into the world and teach all that Jesus has taught. Christians have taken this command seriously for over 2,000 years. Fortunately, you cannot find any command where Jesus said to kill the ones who won't believe. You won't find any statement where Jesus expected people to be forced to believe. He respected man's free will.
A major problem for the world -- especially Europe -- as Mark Steyn points out is that for many decades, the birth rate has been less than what would be required to stay stay "population neutral." Europe has been been importing workers at an astonishing rate. Most of those workers are Muslim. Most Muslims have many children. The Muslim population has been growing dramatically while the Western worlds population has been declining. America is barely growing. Most of the growth here is from immigration, legal and illegal. Most of those immigrants however, are Christian.
Europe is faced with a future where religious freedom and freedom for women is totally threatened by the intolerant religious views of Islam. Islam is rapidly becoming the dominant force in all of Europe. Islam does not "integrate" into foreign cultures well. They take over those cultures. Europe is in deep trouble when you look out over the next few decades. Truthfully, they have been in deep trouble for many decades as, on their own, they have become a culture devoid of God anyway.
America is not in the same amount of trouble, but the trends are not very good here either. I have told my children that I support the "War on Terror" mainly because I don't know what else to do. We cannot sit back and allow them to simply blow us up ala 9/11. We have to realize that these people MUST be taken on in an offensive war. But what do we do? Do we have to kill millions of Muslims who sincerely believe that they are required by scripture to destroy us? How do you fight that war? Very difficult! And this is one of the reasons I respect President Bush, even though I don't agree with him on everything. He has had the courage to confront a terrible situation. A situation that does not have easy answers.
What does the future hold? I fear it holds massive upheaval and challenge for my children and their children. I hope that somehow the "moderate" wings of Islam see the course that radical Islam is on and somehow changes their course. Will this happen? I don't think so. I believe the war on terror will be with us for a very long time. I see that in our future.
Hugh Hewitt has a list of other bloggers with opinions on the Mark Steyn piece here.
Technorati Tags:Population,Mark Steyn,Islam