COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]    Islam Hates To Hear The Truth
 
[1]       SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 451A]
 
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.   1 Corinthians 15:33, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
As shown in Proverbs 13:20, [AV] “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”  And 1 Corinthians 5:6, [AV] “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” clearly makes the point that a little evil will ultimately corrupt all who give into it.  The evil ones who have thus been corrupted per 2 Peter 2:2, [AV] “And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”  
 
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO, 
 
1) http://iris89.conforums.com/ 
 
2) http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/ 
 
3) http://religioustruths.lefora.com/ 
 
4) http://religioustruths.boardhost.com/ 
 
5) http://religioustruths.forumsland.com/ 
 
6) http://religioustruthsbyiris.createmybb3.com/ 
 
7) http://religioustruths.forumotion.com/ 
 
To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/thread/1417398076/last-1417398076/Digital+Book+On+18+Part+Follow+Christ+Bible+Study 
 
Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
 
[2]       Islam Hates To Hear The Truth:
 
INTRODUCTION:
 
Pope Benedict XVI made remarks on 09/14/2006 that angered many members of Islam.   He quoted Emperor Manual II Paleologos of the Byzantine Empire whom members of Islam later took by sword and forced all to convert and/or leave their own land which members of Islam stole.   Of course, members of Islam do not want to hear these facts, i.e., that they stole the land of the Byzantine Empire and forced all in Jihad to convert at the edge of the sword or leave, but truth should be made known even if it is by the leader of another group which also has committed many wrongs in the name of religion - its really the kettle calling the pot black situation.
 
Also, members of Islam incorrectly blame the Catholic church for the Crusades, but conveniently overlook the fact that they, members of Islam actually lit the fuse for the Crusades, i.e., they conveniently ignore cause and effect.
 
But first a definition of terms to assist the understanding of all.
 
Cause = Something that brings about an effect or result [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Effect = 1. To cause to come into being, 2. To bring about often by surmounting obstacles: accomplish, b. to put into effect. [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Result = 1. Something that results as a consequence, issue, or conclusion, [from a cause or action] [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Therefor a cause is something that gives rise to effects or results as a consequence.    For example, if you light the fuse leading to sticks of dynamite the effect or consequence will be an explosion.   How big or destructive the explosion depends on the placement of the dynamite.   In an open field, the effect or consequences will be minimal, but in a crowded building the, the effect or consequences could be very significant.
 
THE TRUTH WITH RESPECT WRONGS OF THE OTTOMANS AND THEIR SUCESSORS:
 
A Muslim source gives this account, but neglects all was done by force of the sword, <<" The Caucasus region lies outside central Asia, but it too was absorbed ...by Russia in the late eighteenth century, and its Muslim populations once, attached to those of the Ottoman and Safavid empires, have become linked to those of central Asia. Islam was first introduced to Azabayjan and the surrounding areas by the Arab conquests in the seventh century. It was reinforced by the Seljuk migrations in the eleventh century. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Golden Horde introduced Islam to the northern Caucusus, and the influence of the Crimean Khans and the Ottoman empire helped spread Islam among Caucasian peoples in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The hold of Islam on the local people prepared the way for later preachers who would make the Caucusus the bastion of Islamic Resistance to the Russians which it has remained till this day." [ source - http://www.sunnahonline.com/ilm/seerah/0075.htm]>>.
 
Now forced conversion has always been the order of the day for Islam as shown in an article by Michelle Malkin, <<"Forced conversions in Islamic history are not exceptional-they have been the norm, across three continents-Asia, Africa, and Europe-for over 13 centuries. Orders for conversion were decreed under all the early Islamic dynasties-Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, and Mamluks. Additional extensive examples of forced conversion were recorded under both Seljuk and Ottoman Turkish rule (the latter until its collapse in the 20th century), the Shi'ite Safavid and Qajar dynasties of Persia/Iran, and during the jihad ravages on the Indian subcontinent, beginning with the early 11th century campaigns of Mahmud of Ghazni, and recurring under the Delhi Sultanate, and Moghul dynasty until the collapse of Muslim suzerainty in the 18th century following the British conquest of India.
Moreover, during jihad-even the jihad campaigns of the 20th century ...the (dubious) concept of "no compulsion" (Koran 2:256; which was cited with tragic irony during the Fox reporters "confessional"!), has always been meaningless. A consistent practice was to enslave populations taken from outside the boundaries of the "Dar al Islam", where Islamic rule (and Law) prevailed. Inevitably fresh non-Muslim slaves, including children, were Islamized within a generation, their ethnic and linguistic origins erased. Two enduring and important mechanisms for this conversion were concubinage and the slave militias-practices still evident in the contemporary jihad waged by the Arab Muslim Khartoum government against the southern Sudanese Christians and Animists." [source - Islam's long history of forced conversions by Michelle Malkin], and Front Page Magazine of Andrew G. Bostom of August 29, 2006 in relating the kidnapping of two reporters said, <<" Fox News journalists Steve Centanni and his accompanying cameraman Olaf Wiig were released on Sunday, August 27, 2006, following almost two weeks of captivity. ..As depicted in this disturbing video, Centanni and Wiig were forced to convert to Islam, and recite an anti-Western diatribe, complemented by treacly Islamic apologetics.
 
During the brief press conference...both men preferred to focus on the plight of the kind and benevolent denizens of Gaza. Momentarily acknowledging the coercive nature of their "conversion", Centanni admitted off camera, "We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint". .."[source - Front Page Magazine of Andrew G. Bostom of August 29, 2006]>>, clearly shows Islam's standard operating practice has not changed from its inception.
 
One writer said, <<" Among the deeds of the great founders of religions, such as Zoroaster, Confucius, Buddha, Moses, and Christ, one can find nothing comparable with Muhammad's plundering of caravans, ambushing of tribes, massacring of prisoners of wars, and enslaving of the women and children. Nor did any of these religious leaders have as many wives as Muhammad. In these and similar performances, Muhammad is unique and unparalleled.[source - "Fruits of Plunder" http://pnews.org/PhpWiki/index.php/FruitsOfPlunder]>>.
 
WITH RESPECT WHO CAUSED THE CRUSADES:
 
Let's look at what was really the cause of the Crusades that Islam blames on apostate (counterfeit) Christians, and a usual Islam is found to be responsible and the fuse lighter.   Now here are the facts,  <<" Most of Islam blames the apostate (counterfeit) Christians for the Crusades, but in reality Islam caused the Crusades which were the effect or result or consequences of a malicious wrong act by Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.   How so?    Well simple, in 1009 this Caliph sacked the pilgrimage hospice in Jerusalem and destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was later rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor, but this event was remembered in Europe and was the spark or cause for the crusades.
 
Now let's look at what an encyclopedia says, <<" This background in the Christian West must be matched with that in the Muslim East. Muslim presence in the Holy Land goes back to the initial Arab conquest of Palestine [[They stole land that did not belong to them from the Hebrews and others.]]in the 7th century. [b]This did not interfere much with pilgrimage to Christian holy sites or the security of monasteries and Christian communities in the Holy Land of Christendom, and western Europeans were not much concerned with the loss of far-away Jerusalem when, in the ensuing decades and centuries, they were themselves faced with invasions by Muslims and other hostile non-Christians such as the Vikings and Magyars. However, the Muslim armies' successes were putting strong pressure on the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire.
 
A turning point in western attitudes towards the east came in the year 1009, when the Fatimid caliph of Cairo, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem destroyed. His successor permitted the Byzantine Empire to rebuild it under stringent circumstances, and pilgrimage was again permitted, but many stories began to be circulated in the West about the cruelty of Muslims toward Christian pilgrims; these stories then played an important role in the development of the crusades later in the century.
 
The immediate cause of the First Crusade was Alexius I's appeal to Pope Urban II for mercenaries to help him resist Muslim advances into territory of the Byzantine Empire. In 1071, at the Battle of Manzikert, the Byzantine Empire had been defeated, and this defeat led to the loss of all but the coastlands of Asia Minor (modern Turkey)[[Another land theft.]]. Although the East-West Schism was brewing between the Catholic Western church and the Greek Orthodox Eastern church, Alexius I expected some help from a fellow Christian. However, the response was much larger, and less helpful, than Alexius I desired, as the Pope called for a large invasion force to not merely defend the Byzantine Empire but also retake Jerusalem.
 
When the First Crusade was preached in 1095, the Christian princes of northern Iberia had been fighting their way out of the mountains of Galicia and Asturias, the Basque Country and Navarre, with increasing success, for about a hundred years. The fall of Moorish Toledo to the Kingdom of León in 1085 was a major victory, but the turning points of the Reconquista still lay in the future. The disunity of the Muslim emirs was an essential factor, and the Christians, whose wives remained safely behind, were hard to beat: they knew nothing except fighting, they had no gardens or libraries to defend, and they worked their way forward through alien territory populated by infidels, where the Christian fighters felt they could afford to wreak havoc. All these factors were soon to be replayed in the fighting grounds of the East. Spanish historians have traditionally seen the Reconquista [[Retaking of lands that belonged to them.]] as the molding force in the Castilian character, with its sense that the highest good was to die fighting for the Christian cause of one's country.
 
While the Reconquista was the most prominent example of Christian war against Muslim conquests, it is not the only such example. The Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard had conquered the "toe of Italy," Calabria, in 1057 and was holding what had traditionally been Byzantine territory against the Muslims of Sicily. The maritime states of Pisa, Genoa and Catalonia were all actively fighting Islamic strongholds in Majorca and Sardinia, freeing the coasts of Italy and Catalonia from Muslim raids. Much earlier, of course, the Christian homelands of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and so on had been conquered by Muslim armies [[More land grabs by Islam that should be returned]]. This long history of losing territories to a religious enemy, as well as a powerful pincer movement on all of Western Europe, created a powerful motive to respond to Byzantine emperor Alexius I's call for holy war to defend Christendom, and to recapture the lost lands, starting at the most important one of all, Jerusalem itself.">> [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
 
So as can readily be seen, the actual cause of the Crusades was the land grabbing [[Stealing.]] by Islam from both the Hebrews and the apostate (counterfeit) Christians, and the final straw was the malicious sacking of the pilgrimage hospice in Jerusalem and the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
 
Interesting side note, the Hebrews when they retook some of their lands, the whole of Palestine really rightly being theirs, permitted the Al-Aqsa Mosque to remain on their former temple site showing a compassion very different than that exhibited by the land grabbing [[Stealing.]] members of Islam such as Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.   Of course, as we all know, the land grabbers [[Stealers.]] hated the Hebrews for rightly wanting their land back that had been stolen from them centuries earlier by Islam.  But of course they do NOT LIKE the effect or consequence of having to pay for their wrong act, the cause, land grabbing of others land, most notably that of the Hebrews." [source - Islam Does Not Know Difference Between Cause and Effect or Result: by Iris the Preacher]
 
CONCLUSION:
 
The entire middle eastern turmoil with respect the State of Israel is because Islam does not like giving back and/or forced to get out of lands they stole and pillaged.  However, they like to blame those being wronged for the results.  The Byzantine should be given back their lands and nations and the ancestors of all forced converts should revert to whatever their ancestors were.
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Islam Protest Hearing The Truth:
 
INTRODUCTION:
 
Pope Benedict XVI made remarks on 09/14/2006 that angered many members of Islam. He quoted Emperor Manual II Paleologos of the Byzantine Empire whom members of Islam later took by sword and forced all to convert and/or leave their own land which members of Islam stole. Of course, members of Islam do not want to hear these facts, i.e., that they stole the land of the Byzantine Empire and forced all in Jihad to convert at the edge of the sword or leave, but truth should be made known even if it is by the leader of another group which also has committed many wrongs in the name of religion - its really the kettle calling the pot black situation.
 
What the Pope quoted was a far cry from an even worse truth.   For starters, Islam sacked Rome in 846 A.D. and never paid for the damages done so the Pope and NOT Islam should be protesting loudly.    Of course this was NOT their only evil attempt to convert by the figurative sword and then try and throw the blame on the other side.   This has been Standard Operating Procedure for Islam to the present time.
 
How so?   Let's look at the most recent example, the State of Israel - Lebanese dysfunctional situation.   In a 'nut-shell' the situation was caused by a criminal group, Hezbollah, that Lebanese gave sanctuary to crossing an international boundary and murdering eight (8) Israelis and kidnapping two (2) Israelis with a view of creating turmoil.   Then crying when Israel justly struck back saying Israel had committed atrocities, but the truth is Islam has the inability of many to distinguish between cause and effect in the crisis between Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Israel (year 2006).  Many point to the number killed and which side did it, i.e., hospital in Israel and town of Qana in Lebanon, but ignore the fact that both are but effects of a causative act.  Now the causative act that resulted in so much adverse effects, destruction and death, was of course the previously mentioned surprise unprovoked across boarder attack by a criminal organization, Hezbollah, given tacit approval by the government of Lebanon who even permits members of this group to be members of its parliament.  So this attack was the 'trigger' and/or cause responsible for all the adverse effects, death and destruction, that results; therefore, total responsibility for all the effects rest solely on this criminal organization and the Lebanese government for permitting their operation in Lebanon, i.e., on Islam.
 
ISLAM'S ATTOCITIES THAT ACTUALLY WERE THE FUSE FOR THE CRUSADES:
 
Let's look at another fact than many are NOT aware of, Islam actually brought on the Crusades by their own evil actions against so called Christians, the Roman Catholics and the Eastern or Orthodox Church.
 
First let's consider that Islam sacked Rome in 846 A.D., here is one account of this evil activity on Islam's part, <<" These crises were aggravated by the rise of another foreign power, the Arabs or, as the Middle Ages Italians called them, the Saracens: these newcomers, sailing from their bases in Northern Africa, had conquered Sicily and had began a steady penetration of Southern Italy. Infiltration of band of pirates brought terror in the territories around Rome. Under Pope Paschal I (817-824) all the spoils of the holy martyrs were transferred into the walls. But this move did not prevent a groups of Muslim to predate the St. Peter's Basilica itself, which was outside the ancient walls, sacking it in 846. In 852 Pope Leo IV commissioned therefore the construction of another wall around an area on the opposite side of the Tiber from the seven hills of Rome, which has since been called the Leonine City."
[source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
 
To wit, in 846 Rome is attacked.   This sack of Rome by the Muslims transcended in intensity and horror of human carnage any that had occurred in the past.    The Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the surrounding
buildings, are razed. Thousands of priests, nuns, and innocents are slaughtered. Although the city of Rome was not destroyed, the attack focused on the sacred center of Christendom, in the hope of anihilating the Christian faith. [references, to be called reference T - 1. Brehier, Louis. "Crusades." Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm. K. Knight, 2005, 2. Coffman, Elesha. "Secrets of Islam's Success." Christian History. Vol. XXI, No. 2, Issue 74, 16-18. Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 2002, 3. Crawford, Paul. "A Deadly Give and Take." Christian History. Vol. XXI, No. 2, Issue 74, 19-24. Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 2002, 4. "History of the Arabs." http://www.historyworld.net. History World, 2005, 5. Lattourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity: Beginnings to 1500. Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2003, 6. Lewis, Bernard. Cultures in Conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, 7. Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. New York: Shocken Books, 1984.
Moosa, Matti. "The Crusades: An Eastern perspective, With Emphasis on Syriac Sources." Muslim World. Vol. 93, Issue 2, 249-290. April, 2003, Rempel, Gerhard. "The Crusades." http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc1/lectures/21crusades.html Western New England College, 2000, 8.
Renick, Timothy M. "Crusader Zeal." Christian Century. Vol. 122, Issue 2, Jan. 25, 2005, 9. And Riley-Smith, Jonathan. "Rethinking the Crusades." First Things. Issue 101, 20-23. March 2000.]
 
And here is a timeline history of evil acts by Islam that lit the fuse for the Crusades that Islam likes to point their fingers at so called Christians for starting and carrying out.   As usual, Islam is the causative agent for turmoil, but falsely accuses others for what Islam brings about as will be shown by the time line of History of provocations by Islam:
 
624 Battle of Badr. Expulsion of the Jews from Madina.
627 Battle of the Trench. Expulsion of the Jews at Banu Quraiza.
630 Conquest of Makkah. Battles of Hunsin, Auras, and Taif.
634 Muslim armies stormed out of the Arabian Peninsula and began
their conquests.
635 Siege and conquest of Damascus.
638 Christian Jerusalem and Syria conquered by Muslim armies.
641 Muslims conquer Persia.
642 Conquest of Egypt from the Christians, followed by the rest of
North Africa.
647 Conquest of the Island of Cyress.
648 Campaigns against the Christian Byzantine. The armies of islam
launch a series of attacks against the Christians in the east that
culminate in the siege of its capitol Constantinople in 673.
651 Naval battle against the Byzantine.
666 Raid of Sicily.
672 Conquest of the island of Rhodes.
673 Siege of Constantinople. Muslim armies lay siege to the Byzantine
Christian capitol, Constantinople. The siege lasts for five years,
until the final capture of the city in 678.
688 Construction begins on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
711 Conquest of Spain begins.
716 Invasion of Constantinople.
725 Muslims occupy Nimes in France.
732 The Battle of Poitiers in France. Charles Martel halts the advance
of Muslims into Central Europe in this decisive battle.
737 The Muslims are defeated in Avignon, France.
756 Founding of the Umayyad State in Spain.
777 Battle of Saragossa in Spain.
792 Invasion of Southern France.
805 Campaigns against the Byzantines. Recapture of Rhodes and Cypress.
818 Capture of the islands of Izira, Majorca, and Sardinia.
831 Muslims capture Palermo, Italy.
839 Muslims occupy all of southern Italy. Capture of the city of Messina
in Sicily. This is the main assault on Europe before the First Crusades.
Th goal of Islam appeared to be the destruction of Christianity, hence
its thrust to attack the heart of Christendom, the Papal Seat in Rome.
846 Rome is attacked. The sack of Rome by the Muslims transcended in
intensity and horror of human carnage any that had occurred in the
past. The Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the surrounding
buildings, are razed. Thousands of priests, nuns, and innocents are
slaughtered. Although the city of Rome was not destroyed, the attack
focused on the sacred center of Christendom, in the hope of annihilating
the Christian faith.
909 Sicily and Sardinia fall to the Muslims.
937 The Church of the Resurrection (Church of the Holy Sepulchre) is
burned down by Muslims. Many more churches in Jerusalem are
attacked and burned.
966 Anti-Christian riots in Jerusalem.
970 Muslim Fatamids invade Palestine and destroy it through a century
of war, which devastated the Jewish population.
973 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is burned to the
ground by Muslims.
1003 Al-Hakim begins his persecutions by destroying the Church of
St. Mark in Fustat, Egypt. He continues his persecutions by destroying
the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem in 1009. And later in
1012, he issues many oppressive decrees against Jews and Christians. [reference - reference T previously given].
 
So we can see indeed that Islam was NOT a religion of peace as they falsely claim, but committed many evil acts of aggression.  Finally, others struck back at them and called their strike back the Crusades.  Now in evil hypocrisy Islam tries through false propaganda to blame so called Christians for the Crusades.  As usual Islam fails to distinguish between cause and effect since it would show them in an evil light, so let's review cause and effect:
 
Cause = Something that brings about an effect or result [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Effect = 1. To cause to come into being, 2. To bring about often by surmounting obstacles: accomplish, b. to put into effect. [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Result = 1. Something that results as a consequence, issue, or conclusion, [from a cause or action] [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Therefor a cause is something that gives rise to effects or results as a consequence.    For example, if you light the fuse leading to sticks of dynamite the effect or consequence will be an explosion.   How big or destructive the explosion depends on the placement of the dynamite.   In an open field, the effect or consequences will be minimal, but in a crowded building the, the effect or consequences could be very significant.
 
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE START OF THE CRUSADES AS SHOWN BY HISTORY?
 
If we listen to Islamic propaganda, it was of course the so called Christians, the apostate (counterfeit) Christians, but it was in reality Islam by their continued attacks on so called Christianity previously detailed in timeline forum.   But let's look at how Islam tries to put the blame always on the victim, <<""The derogatory remarks of the Pope about the philosophy of jihad and Prophet Mohammed have injured sentiments across the Muslim world and pose the danger of spreading acrimony among the religions," the AFP news agency quoted the resolution by the country's national assembly as saying.
 
In India, which has a sizeable Muslim population, Minority Commission Chairman Hamid Ansari said: "The language used by the Pope sounds like that of his 12th-Century counterpart who ordered the crusades..."[source - BBC].
 
As shown above, Islam is in denial and does NOT WISH to see or hear the truth, but to cover it up with misleading propaganda.  Now let's look at the facts, <<" Most of Islam blames the apostate (counterfeit) Christians for the Crusades, but in reality Islam caused the Crusades which were the effect or result or consequences of a malicious wrong act by Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.   How so?    Well simple, in 1009 this Caliph sacked the pilgrimage hospice in Jerusalem and destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was later rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor, but this event was remembered in Europe and was the spark or cause for the crusades.
 
Now let's look at what an encyclopedia says, <<" This background in the Christian West must be matched with that in the Muslim East. Muslim presence in the Holy Land goes back to the initial Arab conquest of Palestine [[They stole land that did not belong to them from the Hebrews and others.]]in the 7th century. [b]This did not interfere much with pilgrimage to Christian holy sites or the security of monasteries and Christian communities in the Holy Land of Christendom, and western Europeans were not much concerned with the loss of far-away Jerusalem when, in the ensuing decades and centuries, they were themselves faced with invasions by Muslims and other hostile non-Christians such as the Vikings and Magyars. However, the Muslim armies' successes were putting strong pressure on the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire.
 
A turning point in western attitudes towards the east came in the year 1009, when the Fatimid caliph of Cairo, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem destroyed. His successor permitted the Byzantine Empire to rebuild it under stringent circumstances, and pilgrimage was again permitted, but many stories began to be circulated in the West about the cruelty of Muslims toward Christian pilgrims; these stories then played an important role in the development of the crusades later in the century.
 
The immediate cause of the First Crusade was Alexius I's appeal to Pope Urban II for mercenaries to help him resist Muslim advances into territory of the Byzantine Empire. In 1071, at the Battle of Manzikert, the Byzantine Empire had been defeated, and this defeat led to the loss of all but the coastlands of Asia Minor (modern Turkey)[[Another land theft.]]. Although the East-West Schism was brewing between the Catholic Western church and the Greek Orthodox Eastern church, Alexius I expected some help from a fellow Christian. However, the response was much larger, and less helpful, than Alexius I desired, as the Pope called for a large invasion force to not merely defend the Byzantine Empire but also retake Jerusalem.
 
When the First Crusade was preached in 1095, the Christian princes of northern Iberia had been fighting their way out of the mountains of Galicia and Asturias, the Basque Country and Navarre, with increasing success, for about a hundred years. The fall of Moorish Toledo to the Kingdom of León in 1085 was a major victory, but the turning points of the Reconquista still lay in the future. The disunity of the Muslim emirs was an essential factor, and the Christians, whose wives remained safely behind, were hard to beat: they knew nothing except fighting, they had no gardens or libraries to defend, and they worked their way forward through alien territory populated by infidels, where the Christian fighters felt they could afford to wreak havoc. All these factors were soon to be replayed in the fighting grounds of the East. Spanish historians have traditionally seen the Reconquista [[Retaking of lands that belonged to them.]] as the molding force in the Castilian character, with its sense that the highest good was to die fighting for the Christian cause of one's country.
 
While the Reconquista was the most prominent example of Christian war against Muslim conquests, it is not the only such example. The Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard had conquered the "toe of Italy," Calabria, in 1057 and was holding what had traditionally been Byzantine territory against the Muslims of Sicily. The maritime states of Pisa, Genoa and Catalonia were all actively fighting Islamic strongholds in Majorca and Sardinia, freeing the coasts of Italy and Catalonia from Muslim raids. Much earlier, of course, the Christian homelands of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and so on had been conquered by Muslim armies [[More land grabs by Islam that should be returned]]. This long history of losing territories to a religious enemy, as well as a powerful pincer movement on all of Western Europe, created a powerful motive to respond to Byzantine emperor Alexius I's call for holy war to defend Christendom, and to recapture the lost lands, starting at the most important one of all, Jerusalem itself.">> [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
 
So as can readily be seen, the actual cause of the Crusades was the land grabbing [[Stealing.]] by Islam from both the Hebrews and the apostate (counterfeit) Christians, and the final straw was the malicious sacking of the pilgrimage hospice in Jerusalem and the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
 
Interesting side note, the Hebrews when they retook some of their lands, the whole of Palestine really rightly being theirs, permitted the Al-Aqsa Mosque to remain on their former temple site showing a compassion very different than that exhibited by the land grabbing [[Stealing.]] members of Islam such as Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.   Of course, as we all know, the land grabbers [[Stealers.]] hated the Hebrews for rightly wanting their land back that had been stolen from them centuries earlier by Islam.  But of course they do NOT LIKE the effect or consequence of having to pay for their wrong act, the cause, land grabbing of others land, most notably that of the Hebrews." [source - Islam Does Not Know Difference Between Cause and Effect or Result: by Iris the Preacher]>>.
 
So as can clearly be seen, Islam is responsible for the Crusades launched by so called Christianity since it was the response to the evil and continuing attacks from Islam.  Islam says it does not convert by the figurative sword, but of course as can be seen from the above this is just an un-truth. 
 
CONCLUSION:
 
Many of Islam claim that others have a misconception of Islam because they claim it is spread by the 'sword', but let's look at the facts from Muslim sources themselves.
 
Muslim forces overran the Byzantine Empire by force, i.e., use of the sword, and eventually forced all to convert to Islam or get out, i.e., they stole the land and people belonging to the Byzantine Empire. Here is the proof in their own words, <<" It was not until the 10th century that the Turks reverted in any great number. Islamicization was accomplished largely through the missionary efforts supported by the Samanids, whose Muslim state of Central Asia straddled the river Oxus. At the end of the 10th century a group of Turks destroyed the hegemony of the samanids. Subsequently, those victors were themselves vanquished by a mighty group of nomadic Turks led by the descendents of a chieftain named Seljuk. Following a significant victory in 1040, the Seljuks divided the spoils of war. Seljuk's grandson Tughril received direction of the Seljuk thrust into the Islamic heartland. A combination of sound leadership, military prowess, unbridled energy and zeal, as well as a deteriorating economic and political situation in the Islamic territories in their path, enabled the Seljuks quickly to make themselves masters of the Iranian plateau, taking Isfahan in 1043. Sweeping down from that region into the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent in 1055, Tughril took the Caliphal seat of Baghdad.
As Seljuk leadership became more politically ad culturally more sophisticated, and identified its interests with those of the urban elites it had conquered, the more it became necessary to keep the predatory Turcomans out of the settled areas. The Turcomans were encouraged to satisfy their thirst for plunder and adventure in the north against Christian kingdoms in Georgia and Armenia. There they joined other Muslim warriors for the faith (ghazis) in the Holy struggle for the greater glory of Islam.
 
It was in Byzantium that the ghazis found a rich lode worthy of their efforts. Its own internal difficulties compounded the threat posed by the ghazis. Fifty years of strife between the bureaucracy and the army had weakened it. However under Alp Arslan, the Seljuks chose to maintain a tranquil northern flank whilst moving against the Shi'ite Fatimids in the south and the Byzantines and the Seljuks reached an accord in 1070.
 
This stalemate with Byzantium ended the following year, when the Emperor Romanus Diogenes gathered a large army and marched eastward across Anatolia. In august 1071 the two armies clashed at Manzikert near lake Van. At first the battle went in favour of the Emperor; but the tide swung and Romanus was captured (some sources say through treachery), and his army fled. Anatolia was now open to permanent Turkish settlement to become the Seljuks of Rum (Arabic term for Roman empire)." [source - www.sunnahonline.com/ilm/seerah/0075.htm under the title of Seljuks of Rum]
 
Also, they tried to steal much of Europe by force of the sword to convert them to Islam per <<" This clearly shows how they love to obfuscate and distort the issue of whose land it is, but this has always been the Standard Operating Principle (SOP) of the greedy members of Islam. Let's look at the facts, as previously shown by an Australian newspaper, 95 percent of the violence and destruction we see in the world so far in 2006 has been caused by greedy members of Islam, such things as train bombings, their different sects bombing each other's mosques and killing each others members, suicide bombers, road side bombs, bus bombings, kidnapping of other peoples soldiers to ignite violence, going irrationally insane over stupid cartoons, etc.
 
As one anonymous poster on the Internet said, <<" Mahmoud Ashour, the former deputy of Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque, the Sunni Arab world's most powerful institution, told Al-Arabiya TV immediately after the pope's speech that, "It is not enough. He should apologize because he insulted the beliefs of Islam. He must apologize in a frank way and say he made a mistake." (Forget the fact completely of the flipping Ack-madman of Iran saying all the crap he has about the Holocaust, wiping Israel off the map and killing Christians. Who has apologized for the Kobar Towers? The USS Cole? The American Embassy's? 9-11" [source - an anonymous poster on the Internet]>>, who really well summarized the present situation and Islam's denial of reality.
 
As A. M. Whittaker said, <<"Reasons for the Crusades
Upon reflection, I could only wonder how the Crusades could come about; what sparked this reaction from Christians who are supposed to love their enemies and be committed to peace?
 
I shall list the various reasons...
1. 613 Persians capture Damascus and Antioch
 
2. 614 Persians sack Jerusalem
 
3. 633 Muslims conquer Syria and Iraq...(all provocations previously listed in this article along with many more in a time-line of provocations)""[source A. M. Whittaker]>>.
So the Pope was correct, but too soft with respect the quotation of an Byzantine emperor.   It is high time that the Muslims give back the land and goods they stole from the Byzantine Empire and the ancestors of the people they forced to convert revert back to what they were before.
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BIBLE AND RELIGION – BOTH TRUE AND FALSE – AT   WWW.JW.ORG

COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]    PROVOCATION AND EVIL BY ISLAM, A SAMPLING FROM HISTORY AND THE PRESENT:
 
[1]         SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 453A]
 
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.  26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,  27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.  28  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:  29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?   Hebrews 10:24 – 29, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
All believers in Moses time were required to bring offerings to the place of worship per Exodus 25:2, [AV] “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.”  And in the First Century all true worshippers of Almighty God (YHWH) were to per Acts 2:42, [AV] “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”  Now our time is the time per Romans 13:11, [AV] “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”  In fact, if you know how to do good and do it not this is counted as sin against you per James 4:17, [AV] “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”  
 
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO, 
 
1) http://iris89.conforums.com/ 
 
2) http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/ 
 
3) http://religioustruths.lefora.com/ 
 
4) http://religioustruths.boardhost.com/ 
 
5) http://religioustruths.forumsland.com/ 
 
6) http://religioustruthsbyiris.createmybb3.com/ 
 
7) http://religioustruths.forumotion.com/ 
 
To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/thread/1417398076/last-1417398076/Digital+Book+On+18+Part+Follow+Christ+Bible+Study 
 
Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]       PROVOCATION AND EVIL BY ISLAM, A SAMPLING FROM HISTORY AND THE PRESENT:
 
 
INTRODUCTION:
 
The Pope Benedict XVI's comments made on a visit to Germany angered members of Islam when he quoted a 14 th. Century so called Christian emperor, Emperor Manual II Paleologos of the Byzantine Empire, the Orthodox Christian empire which had its capital in what is now the Turkish city of Istanbul, who said, "Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things."
 
Of course, Islam said the Pope was only trying to vilify Islam and did NOT understand the term 'Jihad,' but what are the real facts, the truth, in keeping with John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Authorized King James Bible; AV)?
History and current events will show the truth that throughout its history, Islam has perpetuated itself and made converts with the proverbial use of the sword, but that members of Islam are now in denial with respect to this fact.   In fact, they are so much in denial of the truth, they deny that 'Jihad' or Holy War means actual warfare and evil provocations; yet some members of Islam immediately show that Jihad does mean actual warfare and evil provocations even today.   Let's look at a statement by members of Islam that show the true nature of Jihad, <<" DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iraqi militant group led by al Qaeda vowed a war (Jihad) against worshippers of the cross" in response to a recent speech by Pope Benedict on Islam that sparked anger across the Muslim world.
 
"We tell the worshipper of the cross (the Pope) that you and the West will be defeated, ...said an Internet statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq's branch of al Qaeda.   We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement.  
 
It was posted on Sunday on an Internet site often used by al Qaeda and other militant groups.   Pope Benedict said on Sunday he was deeply sorry Muslims had been offended by his use of a Medieval quotation on Islam and violence. The remarks outraged Muslims and triggered protests and attacks on churches in several Arab towns.
Another militant group in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunnah, also vowed to fight Christians in retaliation.
 
"You will only see our swords until you go back to God's true faith Islam," it said in a separate Internet statement.
Al Qaeda in Iraq and other militant groups have staged suicide bombings and killings of foreign forces and members of the U.S.-allied government and security forces." [source - Reuters 9/18/2006 @6:40 AM ET]>>.
 
Now let's look at some of the evil provocations by Islam on a time line of history:
 
HISTORICAL TIME LINE OF EVIL PROVOCATIONS BY ISLAM:
 
Provocations of evil by Islam against others:
 
624 Battle of Badr. Expulsion of the Jews from Madina (Al Madinah al Munawwarah ) although they had lived there for over 1,000 years and were NOT squatters as are the Palestinians on the lands given to the Israelites by the true God (YHWH) of Abraham.
.
627 Battle of the Trench. Expulsion of the Jews at Banu Quraiza, historical note, <<" After Muhammad's entry in Medina and the subsequent Battle of Badr, a member of the Banu Qaynuqa was alleged to have murdered a Muslim woman, and was killed in retaliation by a Muslim, leading to a chain of revenge killings. Arbitration failed, and full scale war broke out, until Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, an old ally of Qaynuqa, interceded on their behalf and persuaded Mohammed to send the entire Banu Qaynuqa into exile, consequently confiscating their land and property. The intersession of ibn Salul saved the Jewish tribe but gained him the enmity of Muhammad.[1] The conflict led to a ruling that such future action by any of the other parties to the Constitution of Medina would constitute a voiding of their benefits under the system, and subsequent punishment. The punishment was legally left up to the amir - the leader of the Islamic army - as to whether it should be execution, slavery, exile, or simply merciful forgiveness.  And Disagreements between followers of Islam and people of other beliefs, or between different Muslim groups, have at times resulted in the persecution of non-Muslims or other Muslims in Muslim ruled areas. Persecution in this sense refers to any arrest, imprisonment, beating, rape, torture, murder, execution or ethnic cleansing based on belief in a contrary religious practice. This persecution can extend to confiscation and/or destruction of property, or incitement to hate." [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>.
 
630 Conquest of Makkah. Battles of Hunsin, Auras, and Taif.  The facts in Islam's own words, <<" The conquest of Makkah takes one even further back in time. Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his son Ismael had purified and raised the foundation of Bait-Allah, the House of Allah, the Kaaba in Makkah, for the sole worship of God. Later the people degenerated into shirk (polytheism), associating partners with God. The Arabs started believing in hundreds of gods and goddesses, and kept stone idols in the Kaaba.
 
With the historical conquest of Makkah and the return of Islam to Arabia, the Kaaba was cleansed and purified. As he entered the Kaaba and smashed the idols, the Prophet recited, "And say, the Truth has come and falsehood gone, verily falsehood is bound to perish". [source - IslamiCity, http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=DT0411-2519]>>.
 
634 Muslim armies stormed out of the Arabian Peninsula and began their conquests of forced conversion by the proverbial sword and by stealing the lands of others by force.
 
635 Siege and conquest of Damascus, an example of, <<" This is how Islam spread by sword. So much for religion of peace. Submit to arab way of life(Islam) or die."   Muslims' movement speak for itself, even today after 1400 years of bloodshed." [source - Iranian Weblog, http://www.iranian.ws/cgi-bin/iran_news/exec/view.cgi/2/4793]>>.
 
638 Christian Jerusalem and Syria conquered by Muslim armies.   The Muslims took Jerusalem by force, i.e., stole the city and then levied a tax on the so called Christians and Israelites, its rightful owners, <<"The history of Islamic Jerusalem begins with the conquest of the city by Arab Muslims under Caliph Umar in AD 638. 'Umar was a relatively magnanimous conqueror and allowed the Christians a measure of religious freedom, in return for the traditional jizya tax levied by Muslims from non-Muslims. He ensured that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was safeguarded for Christian worship, and, despite the subsequent influx of Muslims from Medina, the city retained a largely Christian character' [source - Jerusalem and Islam by Patrick Sookhdeo, http://www.c4israel.org/articles/english/e-e-00-0-sook-jerusislam.htm]>>, but worse evil is to come as we will later see in this time line of history.
 
641 Muslims conquer Persia was nothing but a land steal by force and a forced conversion by the proverbial sword, <<" After the battle of Jalaula the Persian emperor Yazdjurd went to Rayy and from there he moved to Khurasan where he set up his capital at Merv. >From Merv, the emperor sent a call to his people to rise to a man to drive away the Muslims from their lands. In response to the call, hardened veterans and young volunteers from all parts of Persia marched in large numbers to join the imperial standard.
 
The Persian forces were required to assemble at Nihawand south of Hamadan. Mardan Shah the son of Hurmuz was appointed to the chief command of the Persian forces. The banner of Kavah, regarded by the Persians as the harbinger of victory was unfurled and entrusted to Mardan Shah by the emperor.
 
As the Persian forces assembled at Nihawand their number exceeded 60,000. They were fully equipped, and were fired with the urge to drive away the Muslims from the Persian soil. As Mardan Shah surveyed the Persian forces, he thought that no power on earth could defeat them. He was very bitter against the Muslims. Addressing the Persian forces he said: "[source - Expansion of Islam and Military Campaign by Wponline.Org, http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Articles/companion/18_umar_bin_al_khattab.htm]>>.    Clearly shows Islam as an imperial force out to steal the land of others and make forced conversions, a false religion.
 
642 Conquest of Egypt from the Christians, followed by the rest of  North Africa, <<" When the Muslims conquered Egypt, Alexandria was the capital of the country. When the Muslims conquered Alexandria, most of the Byzantine population evacuated the city. The vacant houses were occupied by the Muslims. Alexandria was the queen of cities. Amr bin Al-Aas and the other Muslims with him were much attracted by the city. Amr wanted to make Alexandria the capital of Muslim Egypt." "[source - Expansion of Islam and Military Campaign by Wponline.Org, http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Articles/companion/18_umar_bin_al_khattab.htm]>>.    Also, the Muslims destroyed the wonderful library of Alexander, <<"However, when a Christian called John informed the local Arab general that there existed in Alexandria a great Library preserving all the knowledge in the world he was perturbed. Eventually he sent word to Mecca where Caliph Omar ordered that all the books in the library should be destroyed because, as he said "they will either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy, or they will agree with it, so they are superfluous." Therefore, the books and scrolls were taken out of the library and distributed as fuel to the many bathhouses of the city. So enormous was the volume of literature that it took six months for it all to be burnt to ashes heating the saunas of the conquerors." [source - Bede's Library, The Mysterious Fate of the Great Library of Alexandria}>>.    Sounds like modern times when the Taliban, members of Islam, destroyed to giant historical Buddhas clearly proving religious tolerance not part of Islam, once more.
 
647 Conquest of the Island of Cyress is just one more example of Jihad by Muslims in their lust to plunder and steal what belongs to others and to force conversions by the proverbial sword.  Notice how closely Islam's inception is associated with war. From 623 to 777, a span of only 154 years, there are over 83 significant military conflicts involving the Muslims recorded.
 
648 Campaigns against the Christian Byzantine.   The armies of islam launch a series of attacks against the Christians in the east that culminate in the siege of its capitol Constantinople in 673.  The provocations and evil battles launched against the Byzantine Empire for the purpose of imperialistic expansion and conversion by the proverbial sword by Muslims starting around 648 resulted in what we call The Crusades was Western Europe playing defense for over 90% of the 1000 years of Muslim expansion.  Places like Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary do not remember the Crusades as expansionist Christianity. They remember it as the only times they had any help. These countries absorbed the damage and protected Europe for centuries.
 
<<"Also from Bernard Lewis: Islamic histories did not record the Crusades as such until recently. The invasions were often only part of tribal wars amongst themselves, and several factions actually allied with the Christians from time to time for reasons of their own. Only when Muslims began to study in the West in the 1800's did they "discover" the Crusades." [source - Bernard Lewis]>>.
 
651 Naval battle against the Byzantine, just more wicked provocations by Muslims that forced so called Christians to lunch the Crusades as a defensive measure.
 
666 Raid of Sicily, <<" Muslims under Ibn Hudayj raid Sicily. Meanwhile muslim forces of Caliph Muawiya conquer the state of Fazzan in what is now Libya. " [source - Everything2 article by Mauler]>>.
 
672 Conquest of the island of Rhodes.
 
673 Siege of Constantinople. Muslim armies lay siege to the Byzantine Christian capitol, Constantinople. The siege lasts for five years, until the final capture of the city in 678, then the Standard Operating Procedure of Islam was put into place, steal the land from whom it belonged - the Byzantines, and force their conversion by the proverbial sword.  The Byzantines had to either convert to the false religion of Islam or leave the property that belonged to them.  This evil act proved very successful as can be shown by the fact that about 99% of Turkey is now Muslim and the biggest church of the so called Byzantine Christians became a mosque and then a museum, but of course should revert back to its true owners.
 
688 Construction begins on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.  The Muslims stole the land from the Israelites that had been given them by the true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, and took it for their own - plunder and thievery.  They even built the Dome of the Rock on the site of the ruined temple of the Israelites <<" is a famous Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. It was built between 687 and 691 by the 9th Caliph, Abd al-Malik. It is sometimes called the Mosque of Umar , as 2nd Caliph Umar prayed at the site after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 637." [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>, and the gracious Israelites when they retook Jerusalem back even allowed it to stay, can you imagine?
 
711 Conquest of Spain begins , <<" In 711 CE Tariq ibn Ziyad, the governor of Tangiers, landed in Gibraltar with around 10,000 men, mostly Berbers (indigenous North Africans). He had some of Roderick's Visigoth rivals as allies. In the same or following year in the Cadiz province, Roderick's army was decimated and he is thought to have drowned as he fled. The Visigothic survivors fled to the north of Spain, and within a few years, the Muslims had taken over the rest of the Iberian Peninsula bar a few areas in the Asturian Mountains bordering France. [source - http://www.sunnahonline.com/ilm/seerah/0075_popup9.htm]
 
As can easily be seen, the greedy Ishmaelites, note this refers only to the greedy Ishmaelites and not all Ishmaelites,  were out to swipe land NOT belonging to them and used Tariq ibn Ziyad, a Muslim general, to accomplish this terrible wrong. This of course is not being peaceful in any way.
 
716 Invasion of Constantinople - refer back to 673 for details on this evil Jihad by Muslims.
 
725 Muslims occupy Nimes in France.  In their lust for that which belonged to others, Muslims even occupied Nimes in France, what provocation and wickedness.
 
732 The Battle of Poitiers in France. Charles Martel halts the advance of Muslims into Central Europe in this decisive battle.  As can be seen, Muslims were continually out to steal and pillage from others and to evilly convert by the proverbial sword; however, here they met their match, <<"Charles Martel (or, in modern English, Charles the Hammer) (23 August 686 - 22 October 741) was the Mayor of the Palace and duke of the Franks. (Whatever the titles, he ruled the Frankish Realms.) He expanded his rule over all three of the Frankish kingdoms: Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy. Martel was born in Herstal, in what is now Wallonia, Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida (or Chalpaida).
 
He is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as an action saving Europe from the Muslim expansionism that had conquered Iberia. "There were no further Muslim invasions of Frankish territory, and Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization."
 
Though primarily remembered simply as the leader of the Christian army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel was a truly giant figure of the Dark Ages. A brilliant general in an age generally bereft of the same, he is considered the forefather of western heavy cavalry, chivalry, founder of the Carolingian Empire, (which was named after him), and a catalyst for the feudal system that would see Europe through the Dark Ages. (Although recent scholastic findings have suggested he was more of a beneficiary of the feudal system than a knowing agent for social change.)" [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>.
 
737 The Muslims are defeated in Avignon, France.  See 732 above for details.
 
756 Founding of the Umayyad State in Spain is a typical evil and suppression of others, but here are the details on the Umayyads in Spain, <<" Under the Umayyads, the Muslim empire grew rapidly. To the West, Muslim rule expanded across North Africa and into Spain. To the East, it expanded through Iran and ultimately to India. This made it one of the largest empires in the history of West Eurasia, extending its entire breadth.
 
However, the Umayyad dynasty was not universally supported within Islam itself. Some Muslims supported prominent early Muslims like az-Zubayr; others felt that only members of Muhammad's clan, the Banu Hashim, or his own lineage, the descendants of ?Ali, should rule. There were numerous rebellions against the Umayyads, as well as splits within the Umayyad ranks (notably, the rivalry between Yaman and Qays). Eventually, supporters of the Banu Hisham and Alid claims united to bring down the Umayyads in 750. However, the Shi?at ?Ali, "the Party of ?Ali", were again disappointed when the Abbasid dynasty took power, as the Abbasids were descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and not from ?Ali. Following this disappointment, the Shi?at ?Ali finally split from the majority Sunni Muslims and formed what are today the several Shi?a denominations. .)" [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>.
 
777 Battle of Saragossa in Spain.  As usual, the Islamic SOP was in full force.
 
792 Invasion of Southern France, just another attempt to steal other's lands and to force proverbial conversion by the sword on the part of Islam.
 
805 Campaigns against the Byzantines. Recapture of Rhodes and Cypress, just another attempt to steal other's lands and to force proverbial conversion by the sword on the part of Islam.
 
818 Capture of the islands of Izira, Majorca, and Sardinia, just another attempt to steal other's lands and to force proverbial conversion by the sword on the part of Islam.
 
831 Muslims capture Palermo, Italy, just another attempt to steal other's lands and to force proverbial conversion by the sword on the part of Islam.
 
839 Muslims occupy all of southern Italy. Capture of the city of Messina in Sicily. This is the main assault on Europe before the First Crusades.  Th goal of Islam appeared to be the destruction of Christianity, hence its thrust to attack the heart of Christendom, the Papal Seat in Rome.  Jihad in action, clearly showing it to be an evil force or action to just another attempt to steal other's lands and to force proverbial conversion by the sword on the part of Islam.
 
846 Rome is attacked. The sack of Rome by the Muslims transcended in intensity and horror of human carnage any that had occurred in the past. The Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the surrounding buildings, are razed. Thousands of priests, nuns, and innocents are slaughtered. Although the city of Rome was not destroyed, the attack focused on the sacred center of Christendom, in the hope of annihilating the so called Christian faith.  Some historical details of the evil Jihads of Islam, <<" These crises were aggravated by the rise of another foreign power, the Arabs or, as the Middle Ages Italians called them, the Saracens: these newcomers, sailing from their bases in Northern Africa, had conquered Sicily and had began a steady penetration of Southern Italy. Infiltration of band of pirates brought terror in the territories around Rome. Under Pope Paschal I (817-824) all the spoils of the holy martyrs were transferred into the walls. But this move did not prevent a groups of Muslim to predate the St. Peter's Basilica itself, which was outside the ancient walls, sacking it in 846. In 852 Pope Leo IV commissioned therefore the construction of another wall around an area on the opposite side of the Tiber from the seven hills of Rome, which has since been called the Leonine City."
[source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>.
 
909 Sicily and Sardinia fall to the Muslims.  Just another attempt to steal other's lands and to force proverbial conversion by the sword on the part of Islam.
 
937 The Church of the Resurrection (Church of the Holy Sepulchre) is burned down by Muslims. Many more churches in Jerusalem are attacked and burned.  As usual, the Muslims practice evil against others by destroying what belongs to others and this evil and provocative practice continues to modern times, some of which are as follows:
(1) World Trade Center - 9/11 - unprovoked attack and mass murder by Muslims.
(2) London Subway Bombing by Muslims
(3) Continued mosque bombings in Iraq by Muslims.
(4) Suicide bombings in Israel by Muslims.
(5) Suicide bombing of a wedding reception in Jordan by Muslims.
(6) Daily roadside bombings in Iraq by Muslims.
(7) Train bombings in Spain my Muslims.
(8) Riots and car burnings and murders in France by Muslims.
(9) Suicide bombings in Iraq by Muslims.
(10) Car and truck bombings in Iraq by Muslims.
(11) Unprovoked murder of 8 Israelis and the kidnapping of 2 by Muslims to provoke turmoil and violence in Lebanon and Israel by Muslims.
(12) Unprovoked murder of 2 Israelis and the kidnapping of 1 by Muslims to provoke turmoil and violence in Gaza by Muslims.
(13) Bombing of restaurants and cafes in Bali, Indonesia by Muslims.
(14) Bombing of a trains in India by Muslims.
(15) Take over of a grammar school in Russia resulting in the deaths of many students by Muslims.
(16) Attempted shoebombing of a plain by a Muslim.
(17) Conspiracy to bomb about 10 planes going from UK by Muslims.
(18) Attempted murder of several Indian politicians in Kashmir by Muslims.
(19) Many violent acts by Muslims in Afghanistan.
(20) Murder of a girl by Shiite Muslims in Iran.
(21) Conspiracy to bomb trains in Germany - as previously posted for you.
(22) And the list could go on and on, get it?
 
966 Anti-Christian riots in Jerusalem.  Just one more evil provocation by Islam.
 
970 Muslim Fatamids invade Palestine and destroy it through a century
of war, which devastated the Jewish population.  As usual till this day, Muslims want to steal/posses what belongs to their brother tribe, the Israelites, the descendents of Abraham's son Isaac.  Why?  Greed, that is why.  Just another evil Jihad.
 
973 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is burned to the ground by Muslims.  This evil provocation speaks for itself.
 
1003 Al-Hakim begins his persecutions by destroying the Church of St. Mark in Fustat, Egypt. He continues his persecutions by destroying the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem in 1009. And later in 1012, he issues many oppressive decrees against Jews and Christians.  This was the final evil provocation by lustful Islam bent on pillage and stealing and destruction of what belonged to others that brought on a defensive position by so called Christians called the Crusades.  Actually, The Crusades was Western Europe playing defense for over 90% of the 1000 years of Muslim expansion. Places like Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary do not remember the Crusades as expansionist Christianity. They remember it as the only times they had any help. These countries absorbed the damage and protected Europe for centuries.
 
Bernard Lewis states, <<"Islamic histories did not record the Crusades as such until recently. The invasions were often only part of tribal wars amongst themselves, and several factions actually allied with the Christians from time to time for reasons of their own. Only when Muslims began to study in the West in the 1800's did they "discover" the Crusades." [source - Bernard Lewis]>>.
 
CONCLUSION:
 
Members of Islam incorrectly blame the Catholic church for the Crusades, but conveniently overlook the fact that they, members of Islam actually lit the fuse for the Crusades, i.e., they conveniently ignore cause and effect.  But let's make this fact very clear as follows:
 
Cause = Something that brings about an effect or result [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Effect = 1. To cause to come into being, 2. To bring about often by surmounting obstacles: accomplish, b. to put into effect. [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Result = 1. Something that results as a consequence, issue, or conclusion, [from a cause or action] [source - Webster New Collegiate Dictionary].
 
Therefor a cause is something that gives rise to effects or results as a consequence.    For example, if you light the fuse leading to sticks of dynamite the effect or consequence will be an explosion.   How big or destructive the explosion depends on the placement of the dynamite.   In an open field, the effect or consequences will be minimal, but in a crowded building the, the effect or consequences could be very significant.
 
So we can see, Islam continued to launch evil Jihads against others, but cries crocodile tears when others respond in defense, and this only after 100's of years of provocation.  Thus, Islam, and NOT the Catholic church (both of which are false) is responsible for the Crusades and all that resulted from them.
 
[References - 1. Brehier, Louis. "Crusades." Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm. K. Knight, 2005, 2. Coffman, Elesha. "Secrets of Islam's Success." Christian History. Vol. XXI, No. 2, Issue 74, 16-18. Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 2002, 3. Crawford, Paul. "A Deadly Give and Take." Christian History. Vol. XXI, No. 2, Issue 74, 19-24. Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 2002, 4. "History of the Arabs." http://www.historyworld.net. History World, 2005, 5. Lattourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity: Beginnings to 1500. Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2003, 6. Lewis, Bernard. Cultures in Conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, 7. Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. New York: Shocken Books, 1984.
Moosa, Matti. "The Crusades: An Eastern perspective, With Emphasis on Syriac Sources." Muslim World. Vol. 93, Issue 2, 249-290. April, 2003, Rempel, Gerhard. "The Crusades." http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc1/lectures/21crusades.html Western New England College, 2000, 8.
Renick, Timothy M. "Crusader Zeal." Christian Century. Vol. 122, Issue 2, Jan. 25, 2005, 9. And Riley-Smith, Jonathan. "Rethinking the Crusades." First Things. Issue 101, 20-23. March 2000.]
 
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COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]    India Taken by the Sword by Muslims From 10 Century On:
 
[1]       SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 455A]
 
Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:   Psalms 64:2, [AV] “
 
Yes, the wicked will abound in the conclusion of the end times and seek to do evil against the genuine followers of Jesus (Yeshua) as foretold at Psalms 56.6, [AV] “They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.”  This is because per
Psalms 109.2, [AV] “For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.”  
 
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Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
 
[2]       India Taken by the Sword by Muslims From 10 Century On:
 
INTRODUCTION:
 
Some individuals that wish to hide the true reality of history say, <<" Islam was not spread by the "sword" in the Asian provinces. It was through trade and therefore interaction(s) that led many to accept Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia and other nations in that region. There was no campaign. ">>, and even said, <<" The Jizyah could be reduced and there is no fixed rate. Which means that the past case in Syria under the Ummayyads was done incorrectly. Any past injustices because of the misapplication of Jizyah was done out of ignorance and without proper knowledge and even open injustice. The taxes are NOT supposed to oppress anyone. There is an hadith(s) on the issue of not allowing the taxes to oppress the citizens of the state. ">>. However, this individual did NOT mention that Syria was taken by force and its aboriginal inhabitants were taxed by the Muslim invaders who had no legitimate right to be there and that the aboriginal inhabitants were forced by the proverbial sword to convert to Islam.
 
But individuals like this are just obfuscating the issue either as a cover-up and/or denial of the truth, but let's look briefly at the history of the Muslim conquest of India and attempts to convert Hindus either by the proverbial sword or by economic pressure.
 
MUSLIM SUBJECTION OF INDIA FROM THE 10 CENTURY ON:
 
Let's first look at what the "History of the Indian Subcontinent" says on the Muslim invasion, <<"Yet, a careful perusal of the surviving record appears to indicate a picture that is far more complicated and far less flattering than implied by the court chroniclers of Ghouri and Ghaznavi (or by their present-day admirers). Just as official histories of the invasion of Sindh have been unduly romanticized (and sanitized so as to exclude uncomfortable facts and analysis), so too have been the conquests of Punjab by the Central Asian Turks.
While there is no doubt that both Ghouri and Ghaznavi possessed remarkable military skills and intellect, and fought with great shrewdness, persistence and tenacity, their achievements in other domains are somewhat more questionable. And the price of their military victories is not to be so easily dismissed. It is especially important to note that the impact of their military campaigns was felt very differently by different sections of the North Indian population.
 
First, it should be noted that there is considerable variance of opinion as to the motives of Ghouri and Ghaznavi as they attempted to overrun Northern India from their Turkic capitals in what is now Afghanistan. Whereas Utbi, Ghaznavi's court historian looked upon his military expeditions as "holy wars" for the 'extirpation of idolatry' and 'propagation of Islam', it is curious that even Multan (which had already come under Islamic influence) was not spared, and was also repeatedly attacked. If religious fervor were indeed a primary motive for the attacks, then it must be stated that the issue was more the assertion of Sunnism over the Shia and Ismaeli currents that had come to prevail in early 11th C Multan and Sindh. In any case, Indian historians such as Mohammad Habib are inclined to discount the 'Jehadi' dimension, and see economic and political factors to be of greater significance." [source - History of the Indian Subcontinent ]>>.
 
And, let's look at what an encyclopedia says on the Muslim conquest of the Indian sub-continent, <<"Like other sedentary societies in history, the Indian sub-continent has been attacked by nomadic tribes throughout its long history. In evaluating the impact of Islam on the sub-continent, one must also note that the sub-continent was a frequent target of Central Asian tribes who arrived from the North West. With the fall of the Sassanids and the arrival of the Caliphate's domination of the region these tribes began to contest with the new power and were subsequently integrated into it giving rise to Muslim dynasties of Central Asian heritage, generally the Turks. In that sense, the Muslim invasions of the 10th century onwards were not dissimilar to those of the earlier invasions in the History of Central Asia during the 1st through to the 6th century. What does however, make the Muslim invasions different is that unlike the preceding invaders who assimilated into the prevalent social system, the Muslim conquerors retained their Islamic identity and created new legal and administrative systems that challenged and usually superseded the existing systems of social conduct and ethics. They also introduced new cultural mores that in some ways were very different from the existing cultural codes. While this was often a source of friction and conflict, it should also be noted that there were also Muslim rulers who in much of their secular practice absorbed or accommodated local traditions.
 
The first incursion by the new Muslim successor states of the Persian empire occurred around 664 CE during the Umayyad Caliphate, led by Mohalib towards Multan in Southern Punjab, in modern day Pakistan. Mohalib's expeditions were not aimed at conquest, though they penetrated only as far as the capital of the Maili, he returned with wealth and prisoners of war. This was an Arab incursion and part of the early Umayyad push onwards from the Islamic conquest of Persia into Central Asia, and within the limits of the eastern borders of previous Persian empires. The last Arab push in the region would be towards the end of Ummayyad reign under Muhammad bin Qasim, after whom it would only be resumed under the "Turk" dynasties with more local capitals, who supplanted the Caliphate and expanded their domains both northwards and eastwards.
 
It took several centuries for Islam to spread across India and how it did so is a topic of intense debate. Some quarters hold that Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam by laws favoring Muslim citizens, and the threat of naked force: the "Conversion by the Sword Theory." Others hold that it occurred through inter-marriage, conversions, economic integration, to escape caste structures or at the hands of Sufi preachers. ..
 
One estimate of the number of people killed, based on the Muslim chronicles and demographic calculations was done by K.S. Lal in his book Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India that between 1000 CE and 1500 CE, the population of Hindus decreased by 80 million (implying that Muslims killed 80 million Hindus). His work has come under criticism for both its accuracy as well as his agenda.[[probably the greatest Genocide of all history was committed by Muslim murders of Hindus]].
 
Not all Muslim invaders were simply raiders. Later rulers fought on to win kingdoms and stayed to create new ruling dynasties. The practices of these new rulers and their subsequent heirs (some of whom were borne of Hindu wives) varied considerably. While some were uniformly hated, others developed a popular following. According to the memoirs of Ibn Batuta who travelled through Delhi in the 14th century, one of the previous sultans had been especially brutal and was deeply hated by Delhi's population. His memoirs also indicate that Muslims from the Arab world, from Persia and Turkey were often favored with important posts at the royal courts suggesting that locals may have played a somewhat subordinate role in the Delhi administration. The term "Turk" was commonly used to refer to their higher social status. S.A.A. Rizvi (The Wonder That Was India - II), however points to Muhammad bin Tughlaq as not only encouraging locals but promoting artisan groups such as cooks, barbers and gardeners to high administrative posts. In his reign, it is likely that conversions to Islam took place as a means of seeking greater social mobility and improved social standing." [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>.
 
And, "A Brief History of the Early Origins of the Conflict Between Islam and India" says, <<"One of the most revealing areas of early Islamic history was its actions in present-day India. The contrast of Indic religions like Buddhism and Hinduism with Islam during the Muslim expansion into South Asia in the 10th to 12th centuries reveals the foundations of conflicts we see played out around the world today, namely between Pakistan and India. Understanding the past is the first step to solving the issues the world faces today. The early entrance of Islam into South Asia reveals the source of the tensions facing Pakistan and India today. Although Pakistan would not emerge as a nation until centuries later with the exit of the British from India, it is important to see that that conflict was not created in a void, but was rather a direct continuation of ancient, but extremely influential Islamic empirical past.
Indic religions by nature have nothing to do with laws or the state, while in Islam, the two cannot be separated. Muslims will not follow any other system than that of Allah, and anytime man's law is considered sovereign, it becomes a denial of God. These fundamental differences between the two religions had tremendous implications for the ancient conflict between the Islamic Empire and India that began as early as the 10th century BCE and ended only with colonization by the British. It is through the eyes of these distinct religious differences that the nature and processes of both distinct sides can be understood. The nature of early Islamic expansion into India can be seen as a continuation of the power and hegemony it held since the time of the Prophet Muhammad. The process of Islamic expansion into India up to the formation of the Delhi Sultanate can best be described simply as colonialism. In India at the time of Islamic expansion, the nature of political formation at the time was based on its civil society, and as a direct result of this Indian direct rule, the Islamic Empire was at the same time aided and hindered in its progress into South Asia.
Both the nature and process of Islamic expansion are constantly intertwined, and must be analyzed as such. Muslims did not immerse themselves in the culture or the languages of the peoples that they conquered and brought into their empire. The populace was to be simply used as a means for financing the empire. Taxation, not identification, was the primary goal. This can be seen early in the development of the Islamic Empire. The fact that Islam was founded as a monotheistic religion implies that any other culture or religion is consequently wrong in their own beliefs. There was no room for an untaxed tolerance of other religions- tolerance came at a certain price. In addition, the initial function of the Caliph was to spread Islam to the rest of the world. In that there was only one universal law, it was necessary to take over all other governments and states. Nothing could be more against Islam than people across the world living under other sets of laws that were not from the one and only God. It was from this that the idea of Jihad emerged, and still can be seen today. Up until this time, power was pursued in polities, but with Jihad, it was the spread of the one truth of Islam that was pursued. Religion and war come together in the birth of Islam, and nomadic Bedouins begin to rule nations.
 
Looking at the early people of the Bedouin nomads can also do much to explain the nature and process of Islamic expansion into India. Bedouins did not have enough property to collect any taxes, nor was there agriculture. As a result, there was no division of labor or social stratification. As a result of this, there was no idea of a state or a government. The Prophet Muhammad would bring together the ideas of state, politics, law, and religion when he arrived on the scene. However, the Bedouins still did not have a form of revenue collection, and as a result it became clear that there was a need for a state to exist. Now the Muslims raided the Byzantine and Greek Empires with ferocity, bringing back vast sums of wealth for their fledgling state. They also turned and took over states that already existed, such as the Persia and Syria. The concept of another nation to Muslims was always something that was external- to be taken over from the outside of Islamic society, never integrated. For example, when Syria was conquered, they remained on the outside, setting up "Garrison Cities" (forts) to collect taxes. The Muslims left the Syrian bureaucracy entirely alone, content to simply collect revenue which they would send off to Medina. In the beginning, Muslims were not initially interested in converting the populations that they conquered. They could not tax converted populations at the rates that they could tax the infidel. Islam continued to take over nations, but was not accountable at all to the people they conquered. Revolts occurred all over the Empire at various times, showing that this was indeed not an integrated society, but rather one that was to collect taxes alone. This nature and process defined Islamic expansion into India.[source - A Brief History of the Early Origins of the Conflict Between Islam and India by David Clem]
 
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A Concise History of India by Barbara D. Metcalf and Thomas R. Metcalf
 
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COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]    Right and Wrong Forms of Showing Reverence
 
[1]     SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 457A]
 
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.  2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:  4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.   Matthew 6:1 – 4, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Jesus (Yeshua) clearly warned against those figuratively blowing their own horn about their good works to heighten their esteem among men were really not righteous as he revealed at Matthew 5:20, [AV] “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  But be like Tabitha as recorded at Acts 9:36, [AV] “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.”  And NOT like the Jewish religious leaders in his day as recorded at Luke 18:11 - 12, [AV] “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”  
 
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Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
 
[2]       Right and Wrong Forms of Showing Reverence
 
WORSHIP OF MEN OR MANMADE THINGS IS CLEARLY WRONG:
 
There is a right and a wrong showing of reverence.  Reverence clearly is wrong if it is a forum of worship of men and/or man made things. For example, Muslims believe in makeing prayers towards a certain direction, towards the Kaaba, in Mecca, which is a form of idol worship.  This is of course a showing wrong reverence for a large masonry structure the Kaaba in Mecca which they consider the 'holiest' place in Islam. 
 
The Bible clearly shows reverence of man and manmade objects to be just plain wrong.  Here is what yhe Bible says about showing reverence to man made objects at Isaiah 44:9-22, "They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
10  Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
11  Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.
12  The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
13  The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
14  He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
15  Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
16  He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
17  And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
18  They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
19  And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
20  He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
21 ¶  Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
22  I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." (Authorized King James Bible; AV) .
 
And, the Bible goes on to show idolatry in any form is wrong at Acts 7:40- , "Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
41  And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42 ¶  Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.' (AV).
 
SHOWING RESPECT TO THOSE WHO REQUIRE RESPECT IS NOT NECESSARILY WRONG IF IT IS NOT WORSHIP:
 
Of course this does not mean it is wrong to show rulers honor and respect, Romans 13:7-10 clearly shows we should do this, "Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (AV).
 
In fact, we are specifically told to render reverence to the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, the creator of all there is, at Hebrews 12:9, "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? " (AV); and, Hebrews 12:28, "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: " (AV).   And wives are told to show honor or reverence to their husbands at Ephesians 5:33, "Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. " (AV).
 
So we can see we should pay the proper reverence or honor to those deserving it, but guard against paying the wrong form of reverence in the form of idolatry or worship of either man and/or man made objects; therefore, there is a right and a wrong form of reverence.
 
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COMBINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND THE RARE FRUIT TREES AND VEGETABLES.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
 
[1]  SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 390A]
 
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.  2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:  4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.   Matthew 6:1 – 4, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Jesus (Yeshua) clearly warned against those figuratively blowing their own horn about their good works to heighten their esteem among men were really not righteous as he revealed at Matthew 5:20, [AV] “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  But be like Tabitha as recorded at Acts 9:36, [AV] “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.”  And NOT like the Jewish religious leaders in his day as recorded at Luke 18:11 - 12, [AV] “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”  
 
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Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]       Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the Miracle Fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is a plant with a berry that, when eaten, causes sour foods (such as lemons and limes) subsequently consumed to taste sweet. This effect is due to miraculin, which is used commercially as a sugar substitute. Common names for this species and its berry include miracle fruit, miracle berry, miraculous berry, sweet berry, and in West Africa, where the species originates, agbayun, taami, asaa, and ledidi.
The berry itself has a low sugar content and a mildly sweet tang.  It contains a glycoprotein molecule, with some trailing carbohydrate chains, called miraculin.  When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing sour foods to taste sweet. Miraculin works by binding to sweet receptors on the taste buds. At neutral pH, miraculin binds and blocks the receptors, but at low pH (resulting from ingestion of sour foods) miraculin binds protons and becomes able to activate the sweet receptors, resulting in the perception of sweet taste.  This effect lasts until the protein is washed away by saliva (up to about 60 minutes).
The names miracle fruit and miracle berry are shared by Gymnema sylvestre and Thaumatococcus daniellii, which are two other species of plant used to alter the perceived sweetness of foods.
History
The berry has been used in West Africa since at least the 18th century, when European explorer Chevalier des Marchais, who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to its native West Africa, provided an account of its use there. Marchais noticed that local people picked the berry from shrubs and chewed it before meals.  An attempt was made in the 1970s to commercialize the ability of the fruit to turn unsweet foods into sweet foods without a caloric penalty, but ended in failure when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classified the berry as a food additive.  There were controversial circumstances with accusations that the project was sabotaged and the research burgled by the sugar industry to prevent loss of business caused by a drop in the need for sugar.  The FDA has always denied that pressure was put on it by the sugar industry, but refused to release any files on the subject.  Similar arguments are noted for the FDA's regulation on stevia now labeled as a "dietary supplement" instead of a "sweetener".
For a time in the 1970s, US dieters could purchase a pill form of miraculin.  The idea of the "miraculin party" was conceived then.  Recently, this phenomenon has enjoyed some revival in food-tasting events, referred to as "flavor-tripping parties" by some.  The tasters consume sour and bitter foods, such as lemons, radishes, pickles, hot sauce, and beer, to experience the taste changes that occur.
Characteristics
The plant is a shrub that grows up to 20 feet (6.1 m) high in its native habitat, but does not usually grow higher than ten feet in cultivation.  Its leaves are 5–10 cm long, 2-3.7 cm wide and glabrous below. They are clustered at the ends of the branchlets. The flowers are brown. It carries red, 2 cm long fruits. Each fruit contains one seed.
Cultivation
The plant grows best in soils with a pH as low as 4.5 to 5.8, in an environment free from frost and in partial shade with high humidity. It is tolerable to drought, full sunshine and slopes.
The seeds need 14 to 21 days to germinate. A spacing of 4 m between plants is suggested.
The plants first bear fruit after growing for approximately 3–4 years, and produce two crops per year, after the end of the rainy season. This evergreen plant produces small, red berries, while white flowers are produced for many months of the year.
The seeds are about the size of coffee beans. Without the use of plant hormones, the seeds have a 24% sprouting success rate.[citation needed]
Today, it is being cultivated in Ghana, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and South Florida.
Miraculin is now being produced by transgenic tomato plants.
Uses
In tropical West Africa, where this species originates, the fruit pulp is used to sweeten palm wine. Historically, it was also used to improve the flavor of maize bread gone sour.
Attempts have been made to create a commercial sweetener from the fruit, with an idea of developing this for patients with diabetes.  Fruit cultivators also report a small demand from cancer patients, because the fruit allegedly counteracts a metallic taste in the mouth that may be one of the many side effects of chemotherapy.  This claim has not been researched scientifically,  though in late 2008, an oncologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida, began a study, and by March 2009, had filed an investigational new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.[
In Japan, miracle fruit is popular among patients with diabetes and dieters.
The shelf life of the fresh fruit is only 2–3 days.  Because miraculin is denatured by heating, the pulp must be preserved without heating for commercial use.  Freeze-dried pulp is available in granules or in tablets, and has a shelf life of 10 to 18 months.  (source - retrieved from   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum  on  1/21/2013) 
In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)[for more details, go to  www.jw.org].
 
The small fruit has the color of a cranberry, the shape of an almond and tastes like a flavorless gummy.
The "miracle fruit" makes acidic foods, such as lemons and grapefruits, sweet and candy-like.
But after chewing the fruit and rubbing the pulp against the tongue, the berry, known by a promising name -- "miracle fruit" or Synsepalum dulcificum -- releases a sweetening potency that alters the taste buds.
For about 15 to 30 minutes, everything sour is sweet.
Lemons lose their zing and taste like candy. Oranges become sickeningly sweet. Hot sauce that usually burns the tongue tastes like honey barbecue sauce that scorches as it trickles down the throat.  (source - retrieved from   http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/25/miracle.berries.weightloss/index.html  on  1/21/2013)
To see a small picture of the fruit, go to,  http://www.miraclefruit.org/
How this tree and other plants absorb water from the ground.   Plants have developed an effective system to absorb, translocate, store, and utilize water.  Plants contain a vast network of conduits, which consists of xylem and phloem tissues.  These conducting tissues start in the roots and continue up through the trunks of trees, into the branches and then into every leaf.  Phloem tissue is made of living elongated cells that are connected to one another and responsible for translocating nutrients and sugars (carbohydrates), which are produced by leaves for energy and growth.  The xylem is also composed of elongated cells but once the cells are formed, they die.  The walls of the xylem cells still remain intact and serve as an excellent peipline to transport water from the roots to the leaves.
 
The main driving force of water uptake and transport into a plant is transpiration of water from leaves through specialized openings called stomata.  Heat from the sun causes the water to evaporate, setting this ‘water chain’ in motion.  The evaporation creates a negative water vapor pressure.  Water is pulled into the leaf to replace the water that has transpired from the leaf.  This pulling of water, or tension, occurs in the xylem of the leaf.  Since the xylem is a continuous water column that extends from the leaf to the roots, this negative water pressure extends into the roots and results in water uptake from the soil.  [adapted from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=follow-up-how-do-trees-ca ]
 
Clearly this clever water transport system shows a superior intelligence of the Creator (YHWH).
 
 
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Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth."Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to www.jw.org!