Today I received a copy of the controversial film Obsession: Radical Islam in the mail. I didn’t request the film and I don’t know how they got my name and address. I usually find myself wary whenever I receive anything for free, especially when an election is just days away. Yet I found my curiosity peaked as I looked over the packaging and decided to watch.
The movie production is slick and uses mostly news footage and interviews to convey that radical Islam is a serious issue for the national security of the United States. They focus their attack on extremist propaganda and the indoctrinating of a new generation of violent youth who hate the West and Judeo-Christian culture. The irony, of course, is that the film was sent to 28 million homes and distributed in newspapers across the United States. But regardless of intentions, it made me glad that I’d read a good portion of the Koran a few summers ago.
Whether you realize it or not, we will be encountering an increased influence of Islam in our daily lives. You will have to choose how to respond to its growing presence in the Des Moines metro. There is no doubt that you will have to decide what to think about Islam. So rather than running out and grabbing a copy of Obsession, I’d recommend learning what the Koran says about Christianity. For example, The ‘Imrans 3:19 says, “The only true faith in God’s sight is Islam.” That’s a pretty exclusive statement, and you should know the source. The Bible is equally exclusive in John 14:6 when Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Just as I would want people to judge Christianity upon the Bible and not televangelists, so too we should judge Islam by the Koran and not by a non-profit film. While such films help to bring violent extremism to public discussion, we do no one favors by getting a majority of our information from secondary and tertiary sources. Am I recommending that you go and read the Koran this week? Not necessarily. Just be aware of where you get your information and how those sources are perceived by others. Radical Islam is worth understanding. But help yourself and our country by getting your facts straight first.
