Soccer for Suiciders

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from WorldNetDaily, January 3, 2003, with a headline: “Suicide Soccer Tournament—A Palestinian soccer tournament has been named after the suicide bomber who killed 29 people and injured 140 last year during a Passover Seder, according to the official Palestinian Authority Daily, Al Hayat Al Jadida Hamas member, Abd Al-Baset Odeh, walked into the dining room of the Park Hotel in the coastal city of Netanya on March 27th and detonated an explosive device amid 250 guests participating in the holiday meal. The soccer tournament’s seven teams also have been named after Shahids, or martyrs, according to a translation of the newspaper story by Palestinian Media Watch. The paper reported today that the Tulkarm's Shahid’s memorial soccer championship tournament of the Shahid Abd Al-Baset Odeh began with the participation of seven top teams names after Shahids who gave their lives to redeem the homeland. Odeh was from the west bank town of Tulkarm. The report said that Odeh’s brother Isam will distribute the trophies.

Tom: Dave, I wonder if it’s finally dawning on people that Islam is not a religion of peace. I don’t know what it takes. Here you have a mindset and a mentality that is glorifying individuals who went in, bombs strapped to their body, and destroyed other people—men, women and children. Jews were absolutely slaughtered, and now we have a soccer tournament glorifying this act. What does it take?

Dave: They are threatening to do it in the United States as well.

Tom: I’ve never read so many—according to the papers—I’ve never read so many alarms being declared about what could take place in this country by people who have no other motivation other than to destroy us.

Dave:Tom, we have the evidence, of course, from at least some of the 19 hijackers. They were all Muslims. What they did, they all did in the name of Allah. Some of them were late for the plane, so they didn’t have time to even bring their suitcases; they left their rented cars at the curb, and the suitcases, and they ran in. And we have what they were supposed to do: “purify yourself, commit yourself to Allah, remember what awaits you, the paradise.”

Imagine a God who gives you paradise for murdering 3 thousand innocent people! What “God” is this? What kind of a religion is this? But let’s go back to what it is. Well, you know we put out an alert—we want people to sound the alarm all over the world. There ought to be an outrage, a cry of outrage from all over the world! We let Hitler kill 6 million, and the world stood by. The Muslims have killed 2 million, at least, in Sudan. They’ve killed hundreds of thousands elsewhere. Are we going to wait until 6 million are killed and keep saying this is a religion of peace? I challenge them to give us one example, one! Where does Islam ever bring peace? I just want one example.

We have Muslims fighting one another for ten years. In Algeria, they’ve killed a hundred thousand. These are Muslims against Muslims. It was infidels who had to go to the Gulf to bring peace between Muslims. Who are these people in Afghanistan that can’t get along with one another—that fight and kill one another? They are all Muslims—all the war lords are Muslims. If Islam brings peace, why hasn’t it brought peace to Afghanistan? Where do you have all the uprisings, the assassinations, the overturning of governments by revolutionary groups, and so forth?

Tom:Dave, you can go back to the history of Islam, the Caliphs that succeeded Muhammad—some were related to him. They were assassinated and murdered. This is at its root.

Dave:In-fighting going on as to who would rule, the separation between the Shiites and the Sunnis that exist to this day. An eight-year war between Iran and Iraq—Muslims on both sides killed more people than in World War I. But we don’t have to speculate about this. Are these terrorists? Are they fanatics?

Well, let’s just go to Saudi Arabia This is where it all began—this is where you have Mecca, Medina, the holiest sites, where they make their pilgrimage. This is an Islamic government. No Jew is allowed to enter Saudi Arabia. Now, there are some rare exceptions—Henry Kissinger and Senator Lieberman. You must be a Muslim to be a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Any Muslim who converts to any other religion, it is the death penalty. You want to know what it would be like in the world if Islam took over the world?

Tom:Which is their goal.

Dave:Look at Saudi Arabia. Yes, their goal is to take over the world. You can’t carry a Bible on the streets; you can’t build or have a non-Muslim place of worship in Saudi Arabia. This is peace? This is tolerance? And this is what the world would be—you don’t have to speculate—just go back to Saudi Arabia and see what goes on there.

A woman can’t drive a car, a woman can’t leave her home without her husband’s permission and a male escort or relative. Do you want that all over the world? And how about Sudan, where they have killed so many. Go to Indonesia, they are killing them today! In Nigeria, 15 of the 19 northern states of Nigeria have adopted Sharia—Islamic law. They are killing Christians by the thousands, burning down Christian churches. This is peace and tolerance?

Tom, I’m sorry, I get a little bit upset. How can you possibly say that? Let’s pray for these dear people because I’m concerned for Muslims who are afraid to believe the gospel because if they do, it’s off with their head!