The Muslim religion is probably the fastest growing religion for minorities in the United States, according to a true story that was written by Rick Mathes, a well-known leader in prison ministry. He stated that some annual training sessions on diversity that are usually required for maintaining employment by some employers gives information on this religion as well as others. During these training sessions there are sometimes presentations by speakers who represent and explain each of their different belief systems. It is particularly interesting that the presentation of the basic tenets of Islam doesn’t state that most clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad (Holy war) against the infidels (non-believers) of the world, and teach that by killing an infidel, which is a command to all Muslims, they are assured of a place in heaven. In essence all followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of the Islamic faith so they can go to Heaven.

Along with Mathes, I have a real problem with trying to imagine the Pope commanding all Catholics to kill those of the Islamic faith or the Protestants doing the same in order to go to Heaven! I also have a problem with accepting the Islamic faith as equal to my own when many of their clerics are telling their followers to kill me for my faith in Jesus and My God tells me to love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. I would rather serve my Jesus who tells me to love my enemies (the Muslims who would like Christians dead) because I am going to Heaven and God wants them to go there with me, than to serve an Allah who tells them to kill me for my faith in order for them to go to Heaven without me.

The so-called 'Diversification' training seminars are usually not very honest and forthcoming about the true tenets of the Islamic faith. The Christian way of dealing with and exposing the truth about the Muslims’ belief system is not acceptable to those who purport that all religions are equally beneficial. The Christian way is to conquer not by killing, but by loving others into the kingdom of God. We go to convert them to a loving faith, not a killing faith. They are trying to convert us to a killing faith, and if we don’t accept it, they want us dead.

The Proselyting of other faiths to our own faith has been a long-standing practice of Christianity. Unfortunately history tells us that Christians tried it the Muslim way at times, and it only backfired on us. The Crusades and other persecutions of non-believers and believers alike that were carried out by some in the early Catholic Church were devastatingly non-productive, and that is much of the reason why we have this holy war cry against us now. Christian proselyting should always be done out of love for our fellow human beings and always done with love toward them. Neither force, nor violence will attract people to any faith, unless, of course, they already have a pre-disposition toward it.

As I mentioned before, Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. In the scriptures, St. Luke tells us of one instance where a Samaritan town rejected the Savior, and the disciples asked Jesus if they should call fire down from heaven and destroy them. But Jesus rebuked them and told them, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you have. I did not come to destroy lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:55-56). Then they moved on to another village. Mark 6:11 tells us that we should simply shake the dust from our feet as a witness against those who don’t receive the words of Christ and then move on to others who will accept the word.

Neither Christianity, nor Islam, nor any other religion can be forced on someone with out a backlash of the heart. If the heart rejects the tenets of the faith, it is not whether or not practice follows, but when open rebellion will take place. Islam practices may attempt to convert by threat of death or blind acceptance, but at some point people who disagree with their tenets will rebel. They may pretend to follow that religion if it were forced on them, but until there is a change of the heart and mind, they will never truly believe that religion. Repentance, which is a change of heart and mind, is necessary for any real change of Faith. It is the standard by which God tells us we must accept Jesus as our Sovereign and Savior. And Jesus never forces faith on anyone.