Letters to the editor, September 2010
‘Islam does not promote tolerance’
I was horrified to read my statements taken completely out of context in “Can Christians and Muslims coexist?” (Page 1, June). Please let me clarify. My e-mail to your reporter said the exact opposite of what he wrote.
While some individual Muslims are broad-minded, Islam does not promote tolerance. In fact, the constant brutality of the culture fostered by Islam attracted some Muslims in Yendi, Ghana, to Christianity.
Christian converts were persecuted in Yendi, at times fleeing for their lives. The Hadith demands, “Whoever changes his (Islamic) religion, you kill him.” This is not vague or optional. See www.islamonline.net. Where Islam controls the civil government of a country, foreigners are tolerated, but renouncing Islam often is legally punishable by death.
After 9/11, some Muslims in Yendi apologized to us as Americans, not as Christians. Ordinary people everywhere associate America with generosity.
Muslim patients, including men, appreciated my praying with them, because they acknowledge that physical health and spirituality are linked, and they do see Christ as a prophet. But while there were exceptions, Muslims in Yendi were not generally respectful of women, instead taking advantage of the power of the strong over the weak, often with deception. Had your reporter asked me about women directly, instead of cutting and pasting from my general e-mail, I would have described a Yendi woman who was forced to grovel as she entered and exited the room to bring her husband his meals.
That typifies the Islam I observed.
Linda Benskin | Austin, Texas
Board has no plans to close California school
I’m writing in response to the short article regarding Pacific Christian Academy in the August 2010 issue of The Christian Chronicle (Partners).
I have been on the board of directors of Pacific Christian Academy for over 30 years, and Chuck Lanier has been administrator for over 23 years. During those years and before, we have had good times and hard times. We know that we only exist by the grace of God and through the prayerful support of his servants.
The Lord has blessed us for the past 92 years, and we fully expect him to continue for at least another 92. The board has never entertained the thought of closing the school.
We are pleased that our enrollment is once more gradually increasing as we make plans for the 2010-2011 school year.
Like any Christian endeavor, we continue to need both your prayers and financial support.
Thomas Nicholas | Graton, Calif.
I was horrified to read my statements taken completely out of context in “Can Christians and Muslims coexist?” (Page 1, June). Please let me clarify. My e-mail to your reporter said the exact opposite of what he wrote.
While some individual Muslims are broad-minded, Islam does not promote tolerance. In fact, the constant brutality of the culture fostered by Islam attracted some Muslims in Yendi, Ghana, to Christianity.
Christian converts were persecuted in Yendi, at times fleeing for their lives. The Hadith demands, “Whoever changes his (Islamic) religion, you kill him.” This is not vague or optional. See www.islamonline.net. Where Islam controls the civil government of a country, foreigners are tolerated, but renouncing Islam often is legally punishable by death.
After 9/11, some Muslims in Yendi apologized to us as Americans, not as Christians. Ordinary people everywhere associate America with generosity.
Muslim patients, including men, appreciated my praying with them, because they acknowledge that physical health and spirituality are linked, and they do see Christ as a prophet. But while there were exceptions, Muslims in Yendi were not generally respectful of women, instead taking advantage of the power of the strong over the weak, often with deception. Had your reporter asked me about women directly, instead of cutting and pasting from my general e-mail, I would have described a Yendi woman who was forced to grovel as she entered and exited the room to bring her husband his meals.
That typifies the Islam I observed.
Linda Benskin | Austin, Texas
Board has no plans to close California school
I’m writing in response to the short article regarding Pacific Christian Academy in the August 2010 issue of The Christian Chronicle (Partners).
I have been on the board of directors of Pacific Christian Academy for over 30 years, and Chuck Lanier has been administrator for over 23 years. During those years and before, we have had good times and hard times. We know that we only exist by the grace of God and through the prayerful support of his servants.
The Lord has blessed us for the past 92 years, and we fully expect him to continue for at least another 92. The board has never entertained the thought of closing the school.
We are pleased that our enrollment is once more gradually increasing as we make plans for the 2010-2011 school year.
Like any Christian endeavor, we continue to need both your prayers and financial support.
Thomas Nicholas | Graton, Calif.
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