Aggressive and Violent Islamic Expansionism Poses Threat to World Peace...a caution to the Philippines
Posted on Sunday, 8 November 2015
Aggressive
and Violent Islamic Expansionism
Poses
Threat to World Peace
…a
caution to the Philippines
By Apolinario Villalobos
There is nothing wrong with all kinds of
religion or cults, for as long as tolerance and respect among the faithful are
observed. If there is no violent or aggressive attempt of conversion, I do not
think that animosity shall be developed among the parties concerned. Conversion
should be done “indirectly” – through convincing actions by the advocates, to
show others that indeed, their religion is worth embracing. People should be
given a liberal option as to what faith they should follow. They should not be
intimidated by force, or threatened with the nozzle of a gun.
Special reference is being made to the
religious polarization of the world between Christian and Islamic faiths.
Tension between the two has slackened after the Crusade era. But, it seems that
even religion is following a cycle or giving truth to the adage that history
repeats itself, as lately, an aggressive Islamic expansionism is on the rise,
spearheaded by its extremist advocates. There is a global attempt today for the
“restoration” of Islam as supposedly the world religion, and even an aggressive
“expansion”, which to the layman could mean “mass conversion”.
Hugging cyber news pages are European
countries that are under the pressure exerted by the influx of Muslim
immigrants, purportedly victims of persecution in their countries of origin,
particularly, Syria. And, there is even an appeal by the United Nations to the
far-off Asian countries to “adopt” some of them. Some European countries, being
nearest to the origin of these evacuees were the first to offer succor and
accommodated the refugees. Unfortunately, these generous countries are now
being rocked with unrest by the same beneficiary of sympathy, in the name of
the latter’s Islamic faith. There is even a bold threat by a group of Muslims
in Denmark that their host shall become the “first Muslim country in Europe”.
The extremist ISIS group has done more than
enough destruction to the historic and Biblical countries that they occupied
and fear to the rest that they plan to overrun. Will Europe suffer the same
fate, as there could be Islamic terrorists who may have successfully melded with
the so-called “refugees” who have been accommodated by sympathetic European
countries? From Europe, will masquerading terrorists who may have successfully
blended with authentic refugees creep their way towards Southeast Asia to
muddle the harmonious and peaceful co-existence of Christians and Muslims?
While the Muslims are aggressive in their
attempt to convert others, none of such drive can be observed among the
Christians, especially, the Roman Catholics. The publicities being enjoyed by
the Vatican because of the controversial new pope, Francis, should not be taken
as an attempt to convert. In fact, there is an ongoing cleansing within the
Roman Catholic community, as shown by the purging of erring church leaders, as
well as, vehement reminders of the pope for his flock to follow the “Christian
way”. Nothing about converting Muslims, Protestants, etc. is being done in any
way. On the other hand, if the effort of the new pope is viewed by skeptics as
a convincing “Christian act” of a Roman Catholic, it is up to them to decide if
they want to jump over the fence and join the flock of Jesus.
In the Philippines, particularly, Mindanao,
the Muslims and Christians are enjoying a harmonious and peaceful co-existence.
The call for autonomy which many Filipinos deemed long overdue is more
political and not a matter of religion. In fact, it is expected that the same
clamor for political autonomy shall be raised by the rest of the regions as the
system has been proved to be effective in the Cordillera Region, although,
deemed necessary in the first place, due to the archipelagic make up of the
country.
The Philippines is a clear manifestation of
harmony if tolerance and respect among people with diverse culture and faith,
are observed. In view of the threat that is now rocking some European countries
due to aggressive religious assertion by Islamic fundamentalists, Filipinos
should be more vigilant and help each other in maintaining a steadfast
resistance against any religiously-hooded incursion that could be tainted with
evil intent. Filipinos have stood united on a foundation of strongly- welded
brotherhood that not even the corrupted political system failed to shake. This
fervent show of steadfast conviction should send a warning to the evil-minded
around the world, that the Philippines is not a breeding ground for unrest under the cloak of religion that the
misguided extremists plan to foment…as such attempt shall never and ever be
tolerated!
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