Wednesday 28 April 2010

An Open Letter To AnsweringIslam Concerning Sam Shamoun by Yahya Snow

Recently, one of my colleagues alerted me to some harrassment and insults he had received at the hands of Sam Shamoun

Sadly, this is not an isolated case; I have personally been the subject of Sam Shamoun's harrasment and hounding (as well as other colleagues of mine). This is far from the behaviour of a gentleman. My colleagues and I, do not warrant such abuse.

We appreciate Sam Shamoun has a history of misdemeanours and has left a trail of insults, hatred and name-calling directed at Muslims and their faith but one would have thought Shamoun would have matured with age (the man is around the age of forty now); given his recent repertoire of abuse this clearly is not the case.

Recently I rebuked Sam Shamoun's colleague (David Wood) due to his "obnoxious" behaviour; this rebuke only came about due to the unwilling nature of those (Christians) around Mr Wood despite my prompting that they need to rebuke him as his behaviour was clearly out of control (dare I say...unChristian). This rebukes seems tohave had apositive effect on some ofthe Christians in his circle.

Shamoun's situation carries parrallels, though Shamoun's case is much more severe due to the prolonged nature of his venom...I ask the Answering Islam team to rebuke Sam Shamoun, better still in my view there is no place for somebody of Shamoun's disposition in the field of apologetics; perhaps now is the time for Samuel Green or a senior colleague to say "thanks Sam but no thanks" and part company.

Surely now is an opportune time to dispense with the services of Sam Shamoun, there are a number of young Christian apologists who could fill the void quite easily without clogging it with the abysmal hate Sam Shamoun engenders.

Perhaps more worrying to those who hold the Bbile in high esteem, Shamoun seems to be interpolating his own wording into the Bible; he is editing the Bible in order to support his arguments. This is not on!

The choice is certainly down to Mr Green and his colleagues but the view from the trenches is that of Shamoun portraying Christianity and Christian values in a poor light. To be frank, Christians and non-Christinas are being repelled by his behaviour and these calls of a rebuke are certainly in merit of swift and decisive action.

The Nadir Ahmed-Sam Shamoun days are well and truly over...if only others can realise this reality and aid us in elevating the discourse to a higher (and more noble) ground.

Dare we imagine Sam Shamoun realising the awkward position he puts his colleagues and his fellow Christians and falling on his sword and leaving the scene in an upright manner.

Jesus Is Not Gay

Proof Jesus Was Not Gay by Yahya Snow

There is no evidence showing Jesus to be gay

The claim that Jesus was gay is based on no evidence whatsoever; hence is intellectually flawed from the beginning. Jesus never said he was gay, nor did he ever commit a homosexual act, the fact remains there is no evidence for Jesus being gay, none whatsoever.

Suffice to say, in academic circles it is the responsibility of the claimant to bring evidence for his claim; quite simply the one making such claims about Jesus has no evidence whatsoever. Therefore to claim he was gay would be a claim which lacks any evidence and thus is dismissed as unscholarly and essentially this claim is designed to incite reaction provoke and aggrieve those who hold Jesus as a holy individual (namely Muslims and Jesus) and ultimately challenge people’s attitudes towards homosexuality, especially those within conservative religious groups

This does lead to the question as to what basis they make their claim upon. Well, quite simply they build their claim upon the silence of Jesus, (i.e. he never claimed he was not gay) and the fact he never got married or had a relationship with a woman.So from the outset you can see their claims are based on nothing but mere conjecture on their part, nothing substantial at all.

Nevertheless there is evidence that Jesus was not gay. To show this evidence I will employ a methodically rational approach in highlighting the fact Jesus was not gay.

Asking a man whether he is gay or not

If you see a person on the street and you want to ascertain whether he is gay or not you have a few routes you can take in order to find out what sexual persuasion the person is of.
The first route is the most direct and possibly the quickest; simply ask the man. Nobody asked Jesus this question. Jesus lived in a community, as well as during a time, in which homosexuality was not something which was discussed and frowned upon greatly, thus asking a man whether he was gay would have been an insult and even taboo. So, in order, to show Jesus was not gay we can use alternative reasoning.

Does the man have a wife?

The second way of finding out whether a man is gay or not is to check if he has a wife or girlfriend. If this is the case then this would surely show he is not gay. Now we know Jesus did not take a wife nor did he have any such relationship with a woman. So we must employ alternative reasoning as this method yields no benefit to out purpose.
However, before moving on to the next line of reasoning, as a way of side note; many people find it unusual that Jesus did not marry and the claimants try to use this to support their “gay” claim. This simply shows their lack of deep understanding concerning the life of Jesus.

Reasons why Jesus never married

Jesus was thought to have been amongst the Essenes who were strict Jews who practiced abstinence of all sexual relations or as Pliny described them as people who “abjure sexual love”. Thus they avoided sexual lust of any kind (i.e. avoided marriage etc) and focussed on spirituality and learning making them ascetics. Concerning Jesus; “it appears as if he was educated under the hard discipline of the Essene teachers” thus it is of no surprise that Jesus followed ways which avoided any sexual feelings and never married.

So this helps explain the lack of marriage on the part of Jesus, so it is unfair for the claimants to try and dishonestly capitalise on this and suggest homosexuality. Would they suggest homosexuality of the Pope or nuns due to their avoidance of marriage (abstinence), of course not, thus it is unfair to do this with the example of Jesus. The fact that Jesus was not a man of material means meant he could not support a wife coupled with the information of Jesus being similar to the Essenes in mindset concerning avoiding marriage provides powerful reasons behind Jesus not marrying.

The views of Jesus concerning gays and homosexuality

Going back to our methodology of reasoning, given that the man is single and we cannot ask him directly whether he is gay; what else can we do to find out whether the man is gay? Well we could always be indirect and ask him concerning his views on homosexuals and homosexuality. Thus any views opposing homosexuality would be enough to indicate the man is not gay as he must be taken at face value. Jesus he was anti-homosexuality.

Jesus did not agree with homosexuality and he opposed it and condemned it. As we know, Jesus was an honest man who was not afraid to stand up for his beliefs thus we know we can take Jesus at face value. Now, we must realise that Jesus could not have been gay as he did not support homosexuality. One may ask for references concerning Jesus’ views.

Jesus promotes marriage between man and woman as natural and as the only legitimate union. Jesus is reported to have said:

4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'
5 and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?
6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19: 4-6)

If that is not sufficient then there is further (and even stronger) evidence of Jesus opposing the idea of homosexuality. Jesus is reported to have said:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)

So, we see through this quotation that Jesus was supporting the Law; we also know Jesus was an expert and a teacher of the Law. So what does the Law say about homosexuality? We can get the answer from Leviticus which reports:

" 'Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. (Leviticus 18:22)

In fact Leviticus goes further by reporting:

" 'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. (Leviticus 20:13)

Thus we realise that the Law teaches us that homosexuality is an abomination, it is a sin. As Jesus supported the Law we can clearly say Jesus did not support homosexuality at all. The Law also supports the death penalty for homosexual sex. Jesus hates the act of homosexuality and supports the death of those involved. Therefore Jesus could not have been a homosexual.

Further evidence shows Jesus not to be gay

Of course there is other evidence supporting this and showing to us that Jesus was not gay. Assuming you wanted to find out if an individual was gay but could not speak to that individual you could always ask his relatives and friends. The relatives and friends of Jesus never claimed he was gay rather they considered him to be a holy man and wise.

We must remember that people in those days did not consider homosexual people as pious, holy or wise thus we realise from this that Jesus was not gay as he was thought to be a holy and wise man. This is also shown by Josephus, the Jewish historian who described him as “a wise man” [1]. We can also note that the enemies of Jesus never accused Jesus of being homosexual despite their hatred towards Jesus and their desire to slander him and sway people away from his teachings. What we can infer from all this is that nobody who knew Jesus or knew of him thought he was gay even amongst those who hated him.

Based on all this overwhelming evidence pointing to the fact that Jesus was not gay we can safely say that the “gay” claim against Jesus is unscholarly and untrue.

Christians and Muslims do not believe Jesus to be gay either

Finally it is important to mention those who believe in Jesus, the Christians (Trinitarians and Unitarians) and the Muslims. What do these groups believe concerning Jesus? Well, the Trinitarian Christians do not view Jesus as a homosexual, whilst the Unitarians and Muslims would have similar beliefs in believing he was a Prophet like all other Prophets, i.e. heterosexual and not homosexual. In fact Muslim sources teach us that Jesus will get married when he returns and even procreate (i.e. he will have children). [2] [3]

Summary of the evidence proving Jesus was not gay

1. There is no evidence of Jesus being gay.

2. Jesus never claimed to be gay.

3. Jesus opposed homosexuality. He did not agree with it and considered it a sin.

4. The friends and family of Jesus did not believe he was gay.

5. Even the enemies of Jesus never claimed he was gay despite their hatred of Jesus.

6. Christians (Unitarians and Trinitarians) and Muslims do not believe him to be gay

7. Muslims believe Jesus will marry and have children, thus he thought of as heterosexual.

Conclusions

In the light of such reasoning and evidence we can dismiss the “gay” claim as fanciful and based on mere conjecture as it lacks any truth or evidence to it whatsoever. The evidence in fact points to the fact that Jesus was not gay. It is intellectually dishonest on the part of those who make the “gay” claims or use such claims to try and pursue their personal agenda. I would appeal to them to be factual and avoid such baseless claims; it reflects poorly upon them.

Disclaimer

In the way of a disclaimer; this article was not written due to homophobia or to upset any gay people. This article sets out to do academic and intellectual justice to the memory of Jesus as it appears people with less than sincere intentions have began to use their claims concerning Jesus in order to pursue insincere personal agendas.

Note: all Biblical quotes are from the NIV Bible.

References

[1] Jewish Antiquities, Flavius Josephus, Wordsworth Editions Limited 2006 pg 780

[2] Mishkat al-Masabih, 3:47

[3] Ibn Al Jauzi in Kitab al Wafa

Thursday 22 April 2010

Acts17Apologetics Displaying Nudity and Insulting Muslims, Mormons and Hindus???

David Wood Displaying Nudity and Insulting Muslims, Hindus and Mormons

Wood uploaded a post on his blog showing a clip from SP insulting Muslims, Hindus and Mormons; he also displays the submission video (which contains nudity)

And this man is Christian??? Where is Nabeel to admonish him??? Where is Negeen to admonish him??? Minoria??? Any Christian with a backbone and decency would rebuke him...

Here is my latest post (which I submitted to his comment section) just in case he decides to censor it:


Meant to have read
Why was a clip from SP shown on this blog

Also...I have just clicked on another vid from this post...I had to stop watching as it was displaying nudity (or semi-nudity..I didnt watch it all...I would not ask others to view it either)

What is going on here,David?

Are you guys getting some sort of gratification from this???

You do realise JESUS would not support this post.

The one who made this post (David Wood) has absolutely breached any religious trust he had, furthermore he has lost all religious credibility he had (if he had any in the first instance).

How can you even dishonour what you (Christians) hold in sanctity by displaying this material on a blog which simulataneously attempts to discuss religious Books such as the Bible and religious figures such as Jesus. Surely this is not the place for such obscene material?

I own the NIV Bible and I can honestly say I do not even undress in view of it nor watch a Hollywood movie/listen to music whilst it is on display. I guess i am old fashioned...respect and decency is clearly close to extinction now :(

People; I appeal to what shreds of piety we have left...surely postings like this one do not belong on a blog discussing theology and even preaching a religion.

I can honsetly see why Atheism is becoming more appealing in the world as those who represent faith work assiduously in undermining faith...this post being an example of this!

The one who made the post should hang his head in shame

The sychophants and spineless ones amongst us who are afraid to lend critique to the one who made this post (David Wood) ought to take a long hard look at themselves and develop some fortitude


Nabeel Qureshi and other Christians...please do the decent the thing by rebuking him and reconsider any affiliations you have with him

Here is another example of Wood's anti-Christian nature (I appealedto a Christian, Nabeel, to rebuke him concerning this too):

http://thefactsaboutislam.blogspot.com/2010/04/question-for-nabeel-qureshi-concerning.html

Wednesday 21 April 2010

Debate: David Wood Vs Yahya Snow: Does Islam Allow Sex With Prepubescent Girls?

David Wood is found wanting in this debate. Wood argues for the position that "Islam does allow sex with prepubescent girls" While Snow argues against him.
Wood had no evidence and was caught lying about Tafsir.
Snow proves from Islamic sources that Islam does not allow sex with prepubescent girls.

The debate is in chronological order, four parts.

Part 1: Wood starts the ball rolling by claiming "Islam CERTAINLY allows sex with prepubescent girls"

Part 2: Snow challenges him on this and brings evidence to show he is wrong.

Part 3: Wood is found wanting and distorts Tafsir in order to try and prove his case. He asks Snow for references concerning part 2.

Part 4: Snow delivers a devastating blow. He gives references and brings more evidence to disprove Wood. He exposes Wood's misquoting and distorting of tafseer literature and points to the fact that Wood has shown no evidence for his claim.

Quote of the debate (by Yahya Snow): "David Wood brought a pen knife to a gun fight (a very small pen knife)"

Part 1: David makes his claim. by writing:
"Islam certainly allows sex with prepubescent girls"

Part 2: Yahya Snow challenges him and disproves his claim.




Part 3: Wood Responds by bringing his own interpretation of the Quran and changing tafseer literature. Wood simply leaves himself open and Snow finishes him off in the final exchange.




Part 4: Yahya Snow ends the debate in spectacular fashion by disproving Wood with evidences, showing Wood to have no evidence for his claim and exposing the deceit and distortions which Wood presented.