The "Enemy"

News today out of Somalia, a lawless country, that four Somali Christians working at a Christian orphanage have been beheaded by radical Muslims. These Christians were killed for refusing to deny their faith in Jesus Christ.
This callous disregard for human life and the "convert-or-die" attitude are two hallmarks of the radical, militant Islam that underlies Islamic terrorism worldwide. Too many Westerners still think that we can negotiate with these terrorists or come to some sort of "life and let live" agreement with the radicals. The unfortunate reality is that such accords are probably not possible. Islamists, such as these radicals in Somalia, are literally following the Koran's command to make war on the infidels and to kill those who renounce Islam. They will not stop until the entire world is "Muslim" (with all the "infidels" dead) or until they are dead.
This sort of evil has been around for hundreds of years; it is part and parcel with much of Islam's history. These radicals are not going away, but we need to be aware of their motives if we are going to develop an effective response. Our current approach is to try to create win-win scenarios. That doesn't work well when the other side's only interested in "I win-you lose" and will not settle for anything less.
One part of the solution is highly active missions efforts on the part of Churches worldwide. If the Gospel can take root in this Islamic cultures, there will be fewer Muslims from which the radical sects can draw their resources and personnel. Another part of the solution is developing another energy source besides oil. If the Middle East, the source of oil and the money for most Islamic terrorism, no longer had billions of dollars at its disposal, many of these terrorists would cease to be a threat. There are other pieces to the puzzle, including the use of military force. But I won't discuss those here. One last thought, on the difference between radical Islam and radical Christianity: "The radical Muslim kills you when you refuse to believe; the radical Christian prays for you when you refuse to believe."