Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Why Pope Francis Met With This Former Israeli President, Friends of Zion Founder - FRIENDS OF ZION MUSEUM CHARISMA NEWS

His Holiness Pope Francis, Israel's 9th President Shimon Peres, and Dr. Mike Evans Founder of the Friends of Zion Museum.

Why Pope Francis Met With This Former Israeli President, Friends of Zion Founder



His Holiness Pope Francis, Israel's ninth President Shimon Peres, and Dr. Mike Evans Founder of the Friends of Zion Museum. (Courtesy)
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His Holiness Pope Francis, Israel's ninth President Shimon Peres, Chairman of the International Board of the Friends of Zion (FOZ) museum in Jerusalem and Dr. Mike Evans the Museum's Founder made a joint statement promoting peace and calling for an end to acts of violence in the name of religion. Peres also, presented his Holiness Pope Francis with a unique piece of art from the Friends of Zion Founders gallery. The piece depicts a dreamlike biblical scene of Abraham answering to the high calling on a backset with the Hebrew word Hinneni meaning "Here am I."
Peres and Evans also shared the story of Irena Sendler, one of the heroes depicted in the museum. Sendler, a young Catholic nurse, smuggled approximately 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto and then provided them with false identity documents and shelter outside the Ghetto. In 1965, Sendler was recognized by the State of Israel as one of the Righteous Among the Nations. Dr. Mike Evens, founder of the FOZ museum, spoke of the importance of friendships between all people and nations, which is even more important today with raising anti-Semitism worldwide.
The FOZ museum is one of the newest attractions in the very heart of Jerusalem inviting visitors from all over the world to experience the courageous stories of those who stood by in support of the Jewish people and the state of Israel in the last 200 years. Magnificently told, the museum uses groundbreaking technology, allowing visitors to experience the unfolding story as though stepping back in time. From 3D presentation and giant touch screens to projection mapping on unique sculptures and complex roto scope animations that transform live-action video footage into a painted media.
The heroes presented in the museum include U.S. President Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Prof. George W. Bush, Orde Wingate and Righteous Among the Nations such as Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, Irena Sendler and the Ten Boom family, who risked their lives to save Jews persecuted throughout the world.
The Friends of Zion Museum opened in Jerusalem last September and has set itself a goal of serving as a bridge, connecting people from around the world and motivating more communities to come out in support of Israel.
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8 Qualities to Look for in a Good Friend - JARRID WILSON CHARISMA NEWS

Friends are easy to find. Great ones aren't.

8 Qualities to Look for in a Good Friend

Friends are easy to find. Great ones aren't. (Flickr )
Community is a big part of the life we live. And while some of us may have a bigger sense of community than others, the importance of having friends to confide in, spend time with and celebrate alongside is essential to living the community-based life Jesus has called us to.
Finding new friends is easy, but finding great friends can be quite tough. True friendships should last a lifetime, and I believe these 10 qualities are a good start when searching for friends you can truly do life with:
1. Reliable –Flakes are lame. Nobody likes to spend time with someone who constantly backs out of plans and shows up late. You'll find yourself getting more and more frustrated with this person each and every time it happens. Mind you, not everyone is perfect, but you want someone in your life who is reliable and can be counted on.
2. Trustworthy –Don't set yourself for friendship failure by befriending someone you cannot trust. Friendships with trust issues will always be a burden, especially if they are not handled carefully.
3. Driven –You are who you hang out with, regardless if you want to believe it. When you constantly surround yourself with people who are driven, it will continuously force you to evaluate your life, your goals and your dreams. Driven people make great friends. Why? Because they encourage you to step up your game for the betterment of you and your family.
4. Loving –It's always great to have friends who are loving in your life. Whether they are showing up to comfort you in a time of need or supporting you and your family during times of success, a loving friend is always a joy to have.
5. Forgiving –Grace is key to any long-lasting friendship. Friends who can forgive each other stay together. We forgive because Christ first forgave us (Col. 3:1). And while resentment is sometimes hard to let go of, showing forgiveness will always bring liberation and peace. It's always the better choice.
6. Honest –Find someone who will tell you the tough stuff, even it's hard to talk about. Honesty is key to any great friendship, and I believe having people in your life that won't hide the truth from you is something worth more than gold.
7. Supportive –Whether it is directed towards your goals, dreams or relationship with God, having friends that are supportive towards your personal goals is always a must. There is no use in spending time with people who aren't supportive of who you are or what you do.
8. Humble – Pride comes before the fall (Prov. 16:18). While there is nothing wrong with having friends who are confident in who they are and what they do, I'd recommend staying away from opening up your life to people who are "all about them." You'll want to surround yourself with people who are confident in who they are, but also willing to humble themselves and praise the success of others.
I'm sure there are plenty of other great qualities to look for in friends, but I hope these help in your journey of finding great community.
Jarrid Wilson is a husband to Juli, dad to Finch, pastor, author and inspirational blogger. His articles have been viewed by tens-of-millions, showcased on some of today's hottest talk shows, and featured on national news stations worldwide. He is a dynamic speaker whose outside-the-box perspectives have gained him national recognition from some of today's most influential Christian leaders and pastors. He is also the author of the book titled, Jesus Swagger.
For the original article, visit jarridwilson.com.
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Call to Repent of Jewish Betrayal - Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

Call to Repent of Jewish Betrayal

Wednesday, June 22, 2016 |  Charles Gardner  ISRAEL TODAY
A book dealing with a prophesied financial earthquake set to strike London calls on Britain to repent of its betrayal of the Jews.
This is among a string of sins which it is claimed have provoked the judgment of God. The list centres on how the country has forsaken its Christian heritage and moved away from the Coronation Oath through which the monarch vows allegiance to the Protestant faith.
Earthquake in the City was published in 1997 but has come under renewed focus in light of this week’s referendum as a call to come out of Europe forms a significant thrust to the prophecy on which the book is based.
The prophecy appeared to have been partially fulfilled by the serious recession of 2008. But it is believed the ‘big one’ is yet to come and that it will shake the foundations of the City of London – the world’s foremost financial centre – and probably be accompanied by a physical ’quake as warning to a nation that has forsaken the God of the Bible.
Published by Jesus Is Alive Ministries and co-authored by Clifford Denton and Paul Slennett, the book takes an in-depth look at the nature of the prophecy, along with its implications and the need for repentance.
Though given to Christian bookseller Paul Slennett way back in 1989, it is as relevant today as ever. It speaks of “alarm bells sounding all over Europe” and of an earthquake that will “swallow up the whole City. Whole companies and city institutions will collapse…, some never to rise again.”
It calls for church-led repentance which, if taken up, will lead to revival. Then it adds: “In regard to Europe, come out of her…for she will align herself with the Beast and the False Prophet who will arise and appear for just a short while.”
This echoes a biblical passage from the Book of Revelation (chapter 18) on the ultimate destruction of a great, but evil, world power – compared to ancient Babylon – that will arise in the last days before Jesus returns.
Earthquake in the City reminds readers that it was the 18th century evangelical revivals that paved the way for 19th century social reform including the building of hospitals, the abolition of slavery and child labour, and the introduction of schools for all.
But now we are in the process of throwing away our freedoms, for which we have fought at great cost. Key among these is the undermining of our sovereignty by Europe on an ever-increasing scale. Laws based on the Ten Commandments have now been supplanted by others reflecting secular values and moral relativism. And it was time we broke with the Continental link.
In addition, Britain – and the church which ought to be influencing the nation – should repent of passing godless laws allowing abortion, easy divorce, homosexuality and general promiscuity. And the City will be in the eye of the storm of a coming crash because we have made an idol of the economy. Much of the debate on this week’s referendum has centred on this factor, whereas few have raised the issue of the undemocratic values represented by the EU, or of its disturbing resemblance to the evil world system described in the last book of the Bible (Revelation).
Earthquake in the City also points out that, though given the inestimable privilege of guiding Israel to statehood through the Palestine Mandate she held from 1917-1947, Britain turned its back on the Jews. Fortunately this didn’t prevent Israel’s re-birth, but it is widely felt on these shores that we could have done so much more to help them at a time when they were threatened with extinction.
We have allowed godlessness to come in like a flood, and we haven’t raised a standard. But, as already mentioned, the prophecy adds a promise of revival if the nation repents.

Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon, and Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com
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Tuesday, June 21, 2016

The Universe Is Steadily Deteriorating and So Is the Human Race—Why Is This Happening? - MICHAEL SNYDER CHARISMA NEWS

Scientists don't know what to make of the sun's strange behavior, because according to them it is supposed to act quite predictably.

The Universe Is Steadily Deteriorating and So Is the Human Race—Why Is This Happening?

Scientists don't know what to make of the sun's strange behavior, because according to them, it is supposed to act quite predictably. (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)
Did you know that scientists have come to the conclusion that "the universe is slowly dying"?
In fact, they have found that the universe is only producing about half as much energy as it once did, and they have also found that the level of energy continues to fade. Not only that, our sun also appears to be dying. Solar activity has slowed down to a level not seen for about 100 years, and scientists are not quite sure what to make of it. Pretty much all scientists agree that the sun will die "one day," but could it be possible that it is happening faster than any of them ever imagined?
In this article, I will also include information about how the human race itself is deteriorating. There is a common misconception that humanity has been constantly improving and getting better, but scientists have discovered that the exact opposite is actually true. So why is this happening? Why is everything steadily decaying and deteriorating?
These are questions that our scientists don't really have quality answers for. But what they can see is that things are slowing down all around us. Just this week, there were headlines in mainstream news sources all over the planet that were proclaiming that "the universe is dying." Here is one example:
The Universe is slowly dying, according to astronomers who have made a study of the fall in energy levels resulting from the fusion of matter taking place in the nuclear furnaces of the stars of more than 200,000 galaxies.
A wide-spectrum survey of the galaxies has revealed the precise levels of energy generated within an immense segment of space and found that it is only half of what it was 2bn years ago—and that it is continuing to fade.
The scientists involved in the study said that they used "as many space and ground-based telescopes we could get our hands on," and the data that they were able to accumulate pointed to some pretty stunning conclusions:
"The universe has basically sat down on the sofa, pulled up a blanket and is about to nod off for an eternal doze," said astronomer Simon Driver, who led the team.
Death does not mean the universe will go away. It will still be there, but its stars and all else that produces light and stellar fire will fizzle out.
"It will just grow old forever, slowly converting less and less mass into energy as billions of years pass by until eventually, it will become a cold, dark and desolate place, where all of the lights go out," said astronomer Luke Davies.
What this tells us is that the universe was once a much more vibrant and active place.
At one time, far more energy was being produced than we are currently observing.
This also tells us that whatever process is happening once had a beginning and that it is heading toward an end.
Our sun has also been getting quieter. The following is from a BBC article that was published last year:
"I've been a solar physicist for 30 years, and I've never seen anything quite like this," says Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
He shows me recent footage captured by spacecraft that have their sights trained on our star. The Sun is revealed in exquisite detail, but its face is strangely featureless.
"If you want to go back to see when the Sun was this inactive... you've got to go back about 100 years," he says.
This solar lull is baffling scientists, because right now the Sun should be awash with activity.
Scientists don't know what to make of the sun's strange behavior, because according to them, it is supposed to act quite predictably.
Could it be possible that we are moving into a period of time when the sun's behavior will become quite erratic?
Is our sun in the very early stages of shutting down?
A study that was released earlier this year warned that because of the lack of solar activity we could be heading for a "mini ice age":
The Earth could be headed for a 'mini ice age' researchers have warned.
A new study claims to have cracked predicting solar cycles – and says that between 2020 and 2030 solar cycles will cancel each other out.
This, they say, will lead to a phenomenon known as the 'Maunder minimum' – which has previously been known as a mini ice age when it hit between 1646 and 1715, even causing London's River Thames to freeze over.
Let's certainly hope that study does not prove to be accurate, because it would likely mean widespread death and famine all over the planet in the not-too-distant future.
The human race itself is deteriorating as well. To end this article, I would like to share with you an extended excerpt from one of my previous articles entitled "Scientists Discover Proof That Humanity Is Getting Dumber, Smaller And Weaker."
As humans, it is our tendency to believe that we are somehow superior to all generations of humans that have ever come before us. But the cold, hard scientific evidence actually shows that the exact opposite is true. Compared to our ancient ancestors, our brains are smaller, our bodies are weaker and from generation to generation the number of errors in our DNA is rapidly growing. There is a finite limit on the amount of time the human race will be able to survive just based on the pace that we are deteriorating. Most people have never heard anything about this, and that is why such an extended excerpt from one of my previous articles is required. I believe that many of you will find this extremely enlightening.
This kind of information comes as a shock to many people. It is widely assumed by the general public that humanity is "progressing" and that we are better both physically and mentally than our predecessors were. But that is not the case at all. In fact, research conducted at Cambridge University shows that we are "weaker than we used to be" and that the most highly trained athletes of today "pale in comparison" to those that lived thousands of years ago.
'Even our most highly trained athletes pale in comparison to these ancestors of ours,' Dr Colin Shaw told Outside Magazine. 'We're certainly weaker than we used to be.'
The study looked at skeletons dating back to around 5,300 BC with the most recent to 850 AD – a time span of 6,150 years.
It then compared the bones to that of Cambridge University students, and found the leg bones of male farmers 5,300 BC were just as good as those of highly-trained cross-country runners.
In addition, earlier research at Cambridge University showed that our bodies are "significantly smaller" than they were thousands of years ago and that our brains are also smaller...
An earlier study by Cambridge University found that mankind is shrinking in size significantly.
Experts say humans are past their peak and that modern-day people are 10 percent smaller and shorter than their hunter-gatherer ancestors.
And if that's not depressing enough, our brains are also smaller.
The findings reverse perceived wisdom that humans have grown taller and larger, a belief which has grown from data on more recent physical development.
The decline, said scientists, has happened over the past 10,000 years. They blame agriculture, with restricted diets and urbanisation compromising health and leading to the spread of disease.
Wow.
Most movies and television shows portray our ancestors as short, stupid, hunched-over people that could barely survive in a cold, cruel world.
But the hard science is revealing a very different picture to us.
As I mentioned above, the primary reason for our decline as a species is the systematic deterioration of our genes. According to Dr. John Sanford of Cornell University, the author of Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome, each one of us already carries tens of thousands of harmful mutations, and each one of us will pass on at least 100 new mutations to future generations. Many scientists believe that this will ultimately lead to something called "mutational meltdown." The following is an excerpt from a paper by Gerald H. McKibben and Everett C. McKibben:
Geneticists have long worried about the impact of mutations on the human population, and that at a rate of one deleterious mutation per person per generation, genetic deterioration would result. Earlier reports were based on estimates of mutation rates considerable lower than what we now know to be the case. Findings going back to 2002 show that the human mutation rate is at least 100 mistakes (misspellings) per person per generation. Some scientists believe the rate is closer to 300.
Even a rate of 100 has profound implications, and the mutation rate is itself increasing. Furthermore, most, if not all, mutations in the human genome must be deleterious. "And nothing can reverse the damage that has been done during our own generation, even if further mutations could be stopped." It would appear that the process is an irreversible downward spiral that will end in "mutational meltdown."
This is incredible stuff with absolutely staggering implications. For much more on all of this, check out the video interview with Dr. Sanford.
Not only are our brains getting smaller, but humanity is also getting dumber.
This sounds strange to many people, especially considering the technological boom that we have seen in modern times, but it is actually true. In fact, a Stanford University biology professor recently published two papers in which he expressed his conclusion that humans have been getting dumber for thousands of years.
Are humans becoming smarter or more stupid? Comparing our modern lives and technology with that of any preceding generation, one might think we are becoming increasingly smarter. But in two papers published in Trends in Genetics, Gerald R. Crabtree of Stanford University claims that we are losing mental capacity and have been doing so for 2,000–6,000 years! The reason, Crabtree concludes, is due to genetic mutations—which are the backbone of neo-Darwinian evolution.
Professor Crabtree, like Dr. Sanford, is convinced that this loss of mental capacity is due to the accumulation of errors in our genes.
Based on data produced by the 1000 Genomes Project Consortium and two recent papers in Nature, Crabtree estimates in the first article that, in the past 3,000 years (approximately 120 generations), about 5,000 new mutations have occurred in the genes governing our intellectual ability. He claims most of these mutations will have no effect, while about 2–5 percent are deleterious and "a vanishingly small fraction will increase fitness." Crabtree bases his conclusion that humankind is losing mental capacity on the ratio between the deleterious and the beneficial mutations.
And to be honest, we can see the loss of mental capacity all around us.
Michael Snyder is the founder and publisher of End Of The American Dream. Michael’s controversial new book about Bible prophecy entitled "The Rapture Verdict"is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.
Draw closer to God. Experience the presence of the Holy Spirit every month as you read Charisma magazine. Sign up now to get Charisma for as low as $1 per issue.
Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog: Why do I say 7% to 10% of the world’s Muslims are Radicals?


Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

Why do I say 7% to 10% of the world’s Muslims are Radicals? Here’s why.

by joelcrosenberg
Pew-ISIS-support-poll
On Sunday, I made the following assertion during an interview on the Fox News Channel:
"There’s no question that the vast majority of Muslims — 1.6 billion Muslims in the world — are not violent. They’re not dangerous. They’re not a threat. But all the polling shows that between 7% and 10%, roughly, of the Islamic world does believe in suicide bombings, does support the Islamic State’s violence, does support al Qaeda. So this is a problem because in a world of 1.6 billion Muslims, that’s upwards of 160 million people who could be recruited and drawn into violence in the United States or around the world."
A number of you have asked for the data behind such an assertion. So let me explain the sources I've used over the years to develop a rough estimate of the number of Muslims that could reasonably be considered "Radicals." Let's start with data from 2007. Then we'll look at more recent data gathered between 2013 and 2015.
How Many Radicals Are There? (Gallup Data From 2007)
In 2008, authors John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed published a book titled, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. Esposito was a professor of Islamic studies at Georgetown University and founding director of the school’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Mogahed, herself was a devout Muslim, and was executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. (I cited their work in a non-fiction book I wrote in 2009, Inside The Revolution, about trends in the Islamic world.)
As Esposito and Mogahed stated in their introduction, “This book is the product of a mammoth, multiyear Gallup research study. Between 2001 and 2007, Gallup conducted tens of thousands of hour-long, face-to-face interviews with residents of more than 35 nations that are predominantly Muslim or have substantial Muslim populations. . . . In totality, we surveyed a sample representing more than 90 percent of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims, making this the largest, most comprehensive study of contemporary Muslims ever done.”
What these two scholars discovered was fascinating, and sobering.
First, the good news. After asking scores of different questions to test attitudes and intentions, the Gallup poll revealed that upwards of 93 percent of Muslims worldwide in 2007 fit Esposito and Mogahed’s definition of a “moderate”—that is, peaceable, nonviolent, and traditionally religious but unlikely to pose a threat to Western security interests. In Egypt, for example, 94 percent of Muslims said they would like to have a constitution that would guarantee “allowing all citizens to express their opinion on the political, social, and economic issues of the day.” In Iran, 93 percent said they wanted such personal and political freedom, as did 90 percent of Muslims in Indonesia, the world’s largest Islamic country. In Turkey, 93 percent of Muslims believed women should have the right to vote, as do 89 percent of Muslims in Iran and 90 percent in Bangladesh. Nine in ten Muslims in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Turkey, and Lebanon believed that women should have the same legal rights as men. All very good news, indeed.
Now the bad news. While the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide were moderates in 2007, about 7 percent at the time would have been classified as Radicals. That is, they were supportive of anti-American and anti-Western terrorism, believed it is fully justified, and thus were sympathetic of and potentially helpful to violent Islamic extremists. This constituted the pool from which current Radical jihadists are recruiting future jihadists, and thus they pose a serious threat to Western security interests.
“According to the Gallup poll, 7 percent of [Muslim] respondents think that the 9/11 attacks were ‘completely’ justified and view the United States unfavorably,” Esposito and Mogahed concluded. “By focusing on the 7 percent, whom we’ll call ‘the politically radicalized,’ we are not saying that all in this group commit acts of violence. However, those with extremist views are a potential source for recruitment or support for terrorist groups. . . . They are also more likely to view other civilian attacks as justifiable.”
At first glance, 7 percent may seem like a relatively small number. But the implications of such results are staggering. Seven percent of 1.3 billion Muslims equals 91 million people. It may comfort people to know that the vast majority of the world’s Muslims are peaceful people. But how comforting is it to know that 91 million Muslims are “politically radicalized”? After all, were these 91 million people to form their own country—the Islamic Republic of Radicalstan, say—they would represent the twelfth largest country on the planet, having twice the population of Spain, nearly three times the population of Canada, almost ten times the population of Sweden, and more than twelve times the population of Israel.
Extensive polling also found that the Radicals were not necessarily more religious than moderate Muslims; nor did they necessarily attend mosque more frequently or read the Qur’an more often. They were simply differently religious. That is, they were fully devoted to a radicalized interpretation of the Qur’an, such as the theologies taught by the Ayatollah Khomeini, Sayyid Qutb, and Osama bin Laden.
Moreover, these Radicals did not tend to be poor, uneducated, unsophisticated people living in some hovel somewhere, though there are certainly Radicals who come from impoverished backgrounds. According to the Gallup poll data, the typical profile of a Radical in 2007 was young, male, smart, college-educated, financially well-off, technologically literate, highly mobile, deeply determined, and thus incredibly dangerous. According to the study:
  • 49 percent of political Radicals are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-nine.
  • 62 percent are male, while 37 percent are female.
  • 67 percent have secondary education or higher.
  • 65 percent say they have average or above-average income.
As I noted in Inside The Revolution, not all scholars agreed in 2007 with the Gallup data that only 7 percent of Muslims were Radicals. Other research suggested the 7 percent figure may have actually been too low. According to a 2007 Pew Research Center poll, 28 percent of Egyptian Muslims said they believed suicide bombings against civilian targets were sometimes or often justified; 17 percent of Turkish Muslims agreed, along with 10 percent of Indonesian Muslims, 14 percent of Pakistani Muslims, 29 percent of Jordanian Muslims, and 46 percent of Nigerian Muslims. (See Andrew Kohut, “Muslims in America: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream,” Pew Research Center, May 22, 2007,http://pewresearch.org/assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf, accessed June 24, 2008.)
How Many Radicals Are There? (Current Polling Data From Pew Research)
Where are we now, nearly a decade after the sweeping Gallup study?
Second, looking closely at more recent data in recent years, I'm less comfortable saying only 7% of the Muslim world would be considered Radicals and now believe the figure is more likely between 7% and 10%. This still shows the vast majority of Muslims are not a threat to us. But, of course, 10% of 1.6 billion is a staggeringly large number of people from which the Radicals can recruit.
Here are some of the data I've been looking at:
  • Lebanon -- 0% support for ISIS
  • Israeli Arabs -- 1%
  • Jordan -- 3%
  • Indonesia (256 million people, 87% of whom are Muslims) -- 4%
  • Palestinians -- 6%
  • Turkey (80 million people, 99% Muslim) -- 8%
  • Pakistan (200 million people, 96% Muslim) -- 9%
  • Malaysia (30 million people, 61% Muslim) -- 11%
  • Nigeria (181 million, 50% are Muslims) -- 14%
While this Pew study did not look at every Muslim country, the data are helpful. They corroborate the premise that the vast majority of Muslims do not support ISIS. However, they also reveal that overall, roughly 7% to 10% of Muslims do, in fact, have a favorable view of the violent -- even genocidal -- theology, strategy and tactics of the Islamic State. In some specific countries, support for ISIS is even higher than the median.
The key finding was that after all the violence inflicted on the world since the mid-1990s -- and perhaps especially after all the Muslims that have been killed by al Qaeda in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere, Muslim support for the al Qaeda terror movement has been dropping.
  • "In our 2013 poll, a median of only 13% among Muslims across the 11-countries surveyed had a favorable view of al Qaeda," reported the Pew Research team.
  • "The highest support was in the Palestinian territories, where 35% of Muslims had a favorable view of al Qaeda. But elsewhere, less than a quarter of Muslims held a positive opinion of the extremist organization. Support was lowest in Lebanon, where only 1% of Muslims had a favorable impression of al Qaeda."
  • "Support for al Qaeda among Muslims plummeted most dramatically in Nigeria, by 40 percentage points, during the 2010 to 2013 time period, probably as a result of increased terrorist activity by al Qaeda-linked Boko Haram," notes Pew.
  • "In Jordan, [support for al Qaeda] fell by 21 points among Muslims during the same time period."
Note: while Pew finds that an average of 13% of Muslims worldwide supported al Qaeda in 2013, it seems likely that three years later that percentage has continued to drop and may be closer to 10% or 11% today.
  • In Indonesia -- again, the world's largest Islamic country -- Muslim support for suicide bombings against civilians dropped from 15% to 9%.
  • In Pakistan, support for suicide bombings dropped from 41% to just 3%.
  • In Lebanon, support for suicide bombings dropped from 74% to 29%.
  • In Jordan, support for suicide bombings dropped from 57% to 15%.
  • In Nigeria, support for suicide bombings dropped from 34% to 19%.
"For the most part, support for suicide bombing is not correlated with devoutness," observed the Pew researchers. "Generally, Muslims who say they pray five times per day are no more likely to support targeting civilians to protect Islam than those who pray less often. The only exception is the Palestinian territories, where 66% of Muslims who pray five times per day say suicide bombing is often or sometimes justified versus 49% of those who pray less than five times per day."
Conclusion
The bottom line is that is right and fair and accurate to say that the vast majority of Muslims are not violent, not dangerous and do not pose a threat to the national security of the United States or our primary allies.
But the data are also clear that roughly 7% to 10% of the world's Muslim population do hold Radical theological, eschatological, ideological and political beliefs that cause them to support the murderous vision, strategies and tactics of the Islamic State, al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. This represents upwards of 160 million people. Not all will become suicide bombers or join violent jihadist movements. But this is the pool from which the followers of Radical Islam are recruiting.
It is, therefore, critically important that American and other world leaders closely study the theology and eschatology that is motivating this minority of the Muslim world to support the killing of civilians.
If we refuse to properly study and define our enemies, we will never be able to defeat them. And if our leaders continue to misunderstand the nature and threat of the evil we face, they will continue to be blindsided by future attacks.
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joelcrosenberg | June 21, 2016 at 3:00 pm | Categories: Epicenter | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-57i