I saw this video a couple months ago, and didn’t really share it ’cause I felt like it lent itself a little too much to fear mongering. And we’ve not been given a spirit of fear. I also felt like the “call to action” at the end was a little cheesy.
But I’ve decided to share and hope that you’re just mature enough to not give in to fear or hatred.
I decided to share it ’cause the staff was talking this morning and Pastor mentioned meeting a Lebanese man on the way to Florida a week or two ago. The man mentioned that Americans simply do not understand the mindset of the Muslim world, and that they are set on taking over the world. That sounds like a fantastic conspiracy theory, but current events would lend some credence to the idea.
This is just for stats. For awareness.
Another good resource is the film Obsession by Honest Reporting. You can even watch a 27-minute, mini version of it here.
Moral of the story? Pray. Be bold in your faith. And have/adopt at least three babies.
Lent itself a little too much to fear mongering? A little? Yikes, that video is about nothing but fear mongering.
It’s a good thing Christianity is greater than culture.
It’s also a bit disturbing to think that having more children is the way to combat this “problem.”
[…] response to this video, at least from where I first saw this video and in the YouTube description, is that we should have (or adopt) more babies. Sorry, but […]
I do have a lot of understanding with Muslim belief and culture, and I have to truly say that many of them don’t approve of the radicals. That is why there is somewhere around 45 million Muslim refugee’s fleeing from the radical regime. So while that video is good, we must also know that the majority of Muslims are peaceful people. In addition most Muslims actually respect and honor Isa (Jesus) he is one of the greatest prophets, furthermore Muslims are told to read the gospels so they can know more about Isa. So, this is an amazing thing the koran it tells Muslims to read about Jesus, and this is the message that we should bring. I saw this video a little over 3 years ago, and I remember the fear I felt towards the people I felt God was calling me to. I agree that we should understand the difficulties that are involved with the entire Christian/Muslim community and take some safety measures, but at the same time God is already working on them from the beginning. I think to truly “understand” the Muslim world we should meet them where they are, in Chicago the India and Pakastan village, and many other mosques around the Chicago area. Also know that in the last 25 years more Muslims have come to know Jesus as savior than the past 1300 years prior, so praise God for that.
…Also, if you want a good book for understanding Muslims from a way different view (and much better in my opinion) its called “A Muslim’s Heart” by Edward J hoskins if you want a copy i can get you one for 5 bucks.
The “have babies” comment was tongue-in-cheek. Perhaps a little too much so.
Again – I was going for stats/facts and awareness, here. There’s a mindset to radical Islam that most Westerners don’t understand, and it may end up being to our hurt.
Next time I’ll listen to my gut and just not post the video.
Jake – Thanks for your perspective too. That’s cool to hear about more people coming to Christ!
I think we’re sort of missing the point here. The point is not Muslims, and whether most of them are peaceful or not. The point is Islam. The religion, not the culture. And I believe Lex’s rather broad disclaimer explains why her own objective in sharing this was not to cause fear or distrust of a people group. Keep a level head when watching a video like this…though it may be [fill in your own, possibly slightly exaggerated adjectives here]. I’ll agree that the video’s language about immigration was sweeping and generalized. But the statistics are what she was after.
I’m glad you posted the video. This kind of dialogue needs to happen.
If you’re just going for facts/stats/awareness, what do you want us to be aware of? The dangers of radical Islam? If that’s the case, why the video (which makes no distinction between radical and peaceful Muslims)? It seems to me that the video has a very clear agenda–namely that all Muslims are bad and that their growth needs to be countered (granted that isn’t stated so much as implied). I think that kind of propaganda is dangerous in its own right.
If you want to talk about the dangers of radical Islam, do that. But don’t lump all of Islam in with the extremists. I get annoyed when people do that with Christianity.
I don’t think that’s the agenda of the video at all. It definitely could have been more PC, but I think the point of the video was to highlight the demographic shift going on because there are some pretty big cultural shifts that will come along with it.
Christianity IS greater than culture, but Christians are not isolated from culture. People have to deal with the implications of the culture they’re living in.
And there is a very intentional mindset in fundamental Islam that believes in winning/conquering the world for their god – and imposing their idea of culture. We hear about the violent ones day after day, but there isn’t much attention given to the subtle demographic shift that is going on. With quotes like the one from Muammar al-Gaddafi on the records, it’s not something that anyone can easily write off as a crazy, right-wing conspiracy theory.
I, for one, like a lot about Western culture. I like our freedoms. There are far more moderate Muslims around the world than extremists, yes, but they’re not the ones vying for power either. And I’d be hard pressed to name an Islamic nation that supports a culture I’d look forward to living in.
That’s the awareness I meant to draw out. The video’s a bit creepy, but numbers on a page are less engaging and I thought we could get past just trying to separate ourselves from the crazies who hate Muslims.
How many would have guessed that Germany expects to be an Islamic nation by 2050? I don’t make the point because all Muslims are bad people and woe to Germany, but because there are some big cultural implications that go along with that. That’s all.
Long time no see Lexi, hope all is well!
Anyhow… Watched the video… How someone does not pull concentrated fear mongering out of this is kind of beyond me, a rather ‘see what you want to see’, but that is just my opinion.
Considering the shift in colors/brightness and a menacing tone both in music and voice when the word Islam comes in to the screen is disturbing. I’m a creative director by trade, I know how to use visual/audio communication; this is a fear mongering video.
BUT I don’t believe that why it was posted. The message, taking out the method, is still the same. Islam is the fastest growing culture, and people should pay attention as it has one of the worst cancers out of any culture or religion right now; radicals, extremists, etc.
The message that should be taken away from the video?
Christianity is a culture (not by definition but the nature of any organized religion), and so is Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, etc. But at the end of the day, a person is a citizen, of a country, and needs to be aware of it’s countries needs and how to help their fellow beings… The # of Muslims, of Jews, of Christians, of atheists, blah blah etc etc. None of that matters, what matters is that you help raise a world that is best for everyone to have the same standard of life, as religion is a luxury when it’s a choice; respect and help others that inherited it.
Hey, Mike! I was just thinkin about you the other day. Weird.
Okay, okay – it’s fear mongering. 🙂 Maybe I’m still a little too naive, or too black-and-white. But thank you for drawing a line between the producer’s apparent intentions and mine, and bringing a little clarity to the conversation that I couldn’t.
Seems we’ve been Snoped. Doh! A friend just sent me a link to a Snopes article on this video, which basically says the stats are of questionable accuracy. They’re not denied outright, but there are significant questions (they note the drop in fertility rates among Muslim women in Europe). Despite all the rhetoric (my own included), perhaps the real question is how should we respond to news of the growing population of a different faith? My point was that the negative overtones of this video aren’t helpful and don’t align with the love, grace, hope we’re supposed to have as Christians.
Cool. Good to see another side to the thing. You never know anymore.
Agreed that posting-intentions aside, the response is what’s really key. And I agree that the negative overtones aren’t helpful. Maybe next time I’ll just post the stats for discussion. Thanks for the Snopes link.
“Muslim demographics” (Lex)
See a debunk of this faked video (although funny, especially the 8.1 children/woman fertility rate of Muslims in France) in Tiny Frog, Muslim Demographics, 2009-05-03, Duncan Macleod, Muslim Demographics on YouTube Abuse of Statistics, 2009-05-11, Steve Letendre, Muslim Demographics Debunked, 2009-05-26.
“I saw this video a little over 3 years ago” (Jacob Zarris)
Really? The video is 3 years old?
Thanks for the info, Nicolas. I’ll be sure to check that out. I love the accountability that naturally comes with discussing anything online. 🙂