I understand Jihad...
Jihad is a "holy struggle against evil".
For moderate or liberal Muslims, this is a spiritual "good and evil" struggle, mostly fought in the head, in the heart, and defeated by prayer and study of the Quran.
For extreme Muslims, Jihad is literally a fight to the death.
The problem I have is that, in Christianity, we treat people who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior, then kill, hate, and destroy other people as non-Christians.
Christianity has it's own struggle against the forces of Satan, and for the huge majority of us, that's a spiritual struggle, also.
But, if someone comes claiming Jesus as Lord, then hating a person, it makes about as much sense as the aliens in Mars Attacks, who tell people "we come in peace, take us to your leader", then bring out their ray guns and kill all the Congressmen.
I guess the problem I have with the Muslims is that even the extreme factions of Islam that believe in Jihad are still considered "brothers in the faith". Osama Bin Laden is not considered a heretic by most of the clerics in Islam. They accept that his "struggle" is real, with guns and bombs, and that's OK. Funding pours out of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran to keep him operating. That "struggle" is a real fight for a lot of Muslims.
How many Christians would accept Branch Davidians (David Koresh, Waco) as Christian Brothers?
Glen Austin
