About 25 years ago, I had the privilege of attending an Oxford Union debate.  I was living in England for the purpose of assisting the local British Christians in outreach to their increasing number of Muslim neighbors.  And while there is very little reason to say this very often, I had finished up work on my Master’s Degree in Muslim Studies before moving to England.

Another American who was working in London at the time had invited me and another American colleague to join his guest team for the debate.  The debate topic was “Is Islam Compatible With the West?”  There were obviously two sides to this debate.  There was a liberal contingent there to seek to convince everyone that Islam and the West can just get along.  On that side was a female reporter who had been captured while in Iraq by Muslim forces, and her argument amounted to, “they didn’t treat me that badly”.

What was most interesting to me was that the radical Muslims sided with the Christian contingent.  We were on the side of incompatibility.  The more a person understands religious faiths, the more they will understand the incredible chasm of values and beliefs that lie between the major world religions.

That event occurred over 20 years ago, and I still will strongly defend the argument that Islam is NOT compatible with the West.  And this conviction comes from a deep dive in my Master’s degree into Islamic theology.  A careful reading of their source texts, including the Qur’an and some of the Hadith.

But as a student of comparative religions, I know how annoying it can be to study what people are supposed to believe according to theoretical religious sources.  Many people believe OTHER than what their texts say.  But my conviction also comes from meeting and talking religion with MANY Muslims.  I am incredibly grateful for nominal liberal Muslims who don’t take their faith very seriously.

But I have met many kind and normal Muslims who understand the doctrine of Jihad well.  Many ‘good citizens’ would welcome Sharia Law.  Most all Muslims understand and believe that their religion (which at its core combines state and religion) should become the way of the world.  They want all people to become Muslims just like I want ALL people to follow Christ.

But I do not believe that ANYONE can be forced to become a Christian.  They do believe that a people can be forced to become Muslim.  Christianity was never to be spread through violence and in history when and where it has been (e.g. the Crusades) it is against the clear teachings of our Lord.  Where Islam has spread by violence, it is under the direct example of their founder.

It is easy for us to assume that everyone thinks like us.  Everyone values what we value.  Everyone just wants to live in peace.  The standard of ‘live and let live’ sounds great on paper.  But the West would be wise to consider the meaning of the suicide bomber.  He is teaching us something of a value system barely coherent to the secular Western mind.  He is a complex amalgamation of foreign theological notions, unprecedented zeal, and a will to bring destruction that is hard for a healthy Westerner to fathom.

Islam has been working over Western Europe for a few decades.  And now I see the same work beginning to take root in America.  I’ve heard it said that you can look to Europe to see where America will be in 20 years.  And 20 years ago I lived in Europe.  And the battle was being fought for the mind of Europe.  Even then, churches were closing their doors and an incredible number of churches were being converted to Mosques.

My goal here is not to fear-monger.  And to be honest, my goal is not to even be political.  My fundamental concern as a Pastor is the health of the church. My concerns are for the theological, the doxological, even the ecclesiological.

I am glad for the freedoms to worship in this culture.  I am glad that we lack a state church.  I am glad that we are free to worship God.  I am glad that the call to prayer doesn’t wake me up every day.  And I believe it will remain that way as long as we acknowledge that it is particularly Christian doctrines that have caused this freedom.

The reason Islam is not comparable with the West is this simple reality.  Islam has no room for freedom of religion.  It is dangerous to be a Christian in Riyadh.  It is not dangerous to be a Muslim in Chicago.  The reason is foundational to the religious ideals of the two very different faiths.  Christianity values freedom of religious expression because faith in Jesus MUST be a choice.  Islam values control because the faithless are to be killed or subjugated.

The West is welcoming.  And Islam is a devourer of cultures.  We must love our Muslim neighbors, but we must not let them gain control.  Their control is not something merely foreign to the West.  The control exercised by Islam in Islamic countries around the world is something antithetical to the West.