الغواص
27-04-2002, 07:52 AM
EVANGELICAL MISSIONARIES UNDERCOVER IN MUSLIM WORLD
>THEIR MISSION: TO WIPE OUT ISLAM
>By Barry Yeoman, Mother Jones, May/June 2002
>
>"The Stealth Crusade," Mother Jones magazine's May/June cover story,
takes
>readers inside a Southern university where evangelical Christians are
>trained to go undercover in the Muslim world and win converts.
Reporter
>Barry Yeoman wrote the article after attending an intensive two-week
course
>at Columbia International University in South Carolina. The CIU
course,
>taught by Rick Love, international director of a Christian group
called
>Frontiers, focused on stealth strategies for winning converts while
>disguised as teachers, aid workers, or businesspeople.
>
>Love acknowledges that Muslim converts face "imprisonment, torture,
even
>martyrdom," and critics point out that stealth proselytizing disrupts
the
>delivery of humanitarian aid and fuels resentment of Westerners. "But
to
>those at the heart of the movement, including Rick Love's students,"
writes
>Yeoman, "any damage done by their work is outweighed by the importance
of
>their mission: to wipe out Islam." As one fellow student who worked
>undercover as an English teacher in Kazakhstan put it to Yeoman,
"Satan has
>deceived [Muslims] away from a relationship with their creator God."
>
>One of the more controversial tactics taught by Love and others is
>"contextualization," a technique that calls on missionaries to take on
>Muslim names, dress in veils and other local clothing, prostrate
themselves
>during prayer, and even fast during Ramadan. As CIU Professor David
Cashin
>put it, "We must become Muslims to reach Muslims." This practice is
>particularly troublesome to other religious groups that provide
>humanitarian relief without proselytizing. As Donna Derr of Church
World
>Service told Mother Jones, "Groups that have the need to proselytize
color
>us all with the same brush," making it harder to win the trust of
>communities her group is trying to help. Mother Jones reports that the
>number of missionaries trying to convert Muslims has increased
fourfold in
>the past decade, to more than 3,000. The urgency they feel about
their
>mission is underscored by Warren Larson, who directs Muslim studies at
CIU.
>"Islam is biologically taking over the world," Larson told his class.
>
>Excerpts from the article:
>
>"We see Islam as the final frontier," says David Cashin, a professor
of
>Intercultural Studies at CIU [Columbia International University] who
used
>to don Muslim clothing and pursue converts in the tea shops of
Kalioloir,
>Bangladesh. Like many of his fellow evangelicals, Cashin regards the
>Islamic world as the hinterland that must be penetrated before the
Messiah
>can return"
>
>"The issue is the disproportional power relationship," says Ibrahim
Hooper,
>a spokesman for the Council On American-Islamic relations, a
Washington,
>D.C.- based organization that works to promote a positive image of
>Muslims. "They use their resources to coerce people to do what they
want
>them to do."
>
>To read entire article, pick up the May/June 2002 Mother Jones
magazine at
>your local newsstand or go to http://market.motherjones.com/
><http://market.motherjones.com/>
>
>THEIR MISSION: TO WIPE OUT ISLAM
>By Barry Yeoman, Mother Jones, May/June 2002
>
>"The Stealth Crusade," Mother Jones magazine's May/June cover story,
takes
>readers inside a Southern university where evangelical Christians are
>trained to go undercover in the Muslim world and win converts.
Reporter
>Barry Yeoman wrote the article after attending an intensive two-week
course
>at Columbia International University in South Carolina. The CIU
course,
>taught by Rick Love, international director of a Christian group
called
>Frontiers, focused on stealth strategies for winning converts while
>disguised as teachers, aid workers, or businesspeople.
>
>Love acknowledges that Muslim converts face "imprisonment, torture,
even
>martyrdom," and critics point out that stealth proselytizing disrupts
the
>delivery of humanitarian aid and fuels resentment of Westerners. "But
to
>those at the heart of the movement, including Rick Love's students,"
writes
>Yeoman, "any damage done by their work is outweighed by the importance
of
>their mission: to wipe out Islam." As one fellow student who worked
>undercover as an English teacher in Kazakhstan put it to Yeoman,
"Satan has
>deceived [Muslims] away from a relationship with their creator God."
>
>One of the more controversial tactics taught by Love and others is
>"contextualization," a technique that calls on missionaries to take on
>Muslim names, dress in veils and other local clothing, prostrate
themselves
>during prayer, and even fast during Ramadan. As CIU Professor David
Cashin
>put it, "We must become Muslims to reach Muslims." This practice is
>particularly troublesome to other religious groups that provide
>humanitarian relief without proselytizing. As Donna Derr of Church
World
>Service told Mother Jones, "Groups that have the need to proselytize
color
>us all with the same brush," making it harder to win the trust of
>communities her group is trying to help. Mother Jones reports that the
>number of missionaries trying to convert Muslims has increased
fourfold in
>the past decade, to more than 3,000. The urgency they feel about
their
>mission is underscored by Warren Larson, who directs Muslim studies at
CIU.
>"Islam is biologically taking over the world," Larson told his class.
>
>Excerpts from the article:
>
>"We see Islam as the final frontier," says David Cashin, a professor
of
>Intercultural Studies at CIU [Columbia International University] who
used
>to don Muslim clothing and pursue converts in the tea shops of
Kalioloir,
>Bangladesh. Like many of his fellow evangelicals, Cashin regards the
>Islamic world as the hinterland that must be penetrated before the
Messiah
>can return"
>
>"The issue is the disproportional power relationship," says Ibrahim
Hooper,
>a spokesman for the Council On American-Islamic relations, a
Washington,
>D.C.- based organization that works to promote a positive image of
>Muslims. "They use their resources to coerce people to do what they
want
>them to do."
>
>To read entire article, pick up the May/June 2002 Mother Jones
magazine at
>your local newsstand or go to http://market.motherjones.com/
><http://market.motherjones.com/>
>