National Review recently ran this article concerning the Coptic Priest, Zakaria Botros, — “named Islam’s “Public Enemy #1” by the Arabic newspaper, al-Insan al-Jadid.”
Here is an excerpt from the article.
Though he is little known in the West, Coptic priest Zakaria Botros — named Islam’s “Public Enemy #1” by the Arabic newspaper, al-Insan al-Jadid — has been making waves in the Islamic world. Along with fellow missionaries — mostly Muslim converts — he appears frequently on the Arabic channel al-Hayat (i.e., “Life TV”). There, he addresses controversial topics of theological significance — free from the censorship imposed by Islamic authorities or self-imposed through fear of the zealous mobs who fulminated against the infamous cartoons of Mohammed. Botros’s excurses on little-known but embarrassing aspects of Islamic law and tradition have become a thorn in the side of Islamic leaders throughout the Middle East. . . .
. . .The result? Mass conversions to Christianity — if clandestine ones. The very public conversion of high-profile Italian journalist Magdi Allam — who was baptized by Pope Benedict in Rome on Saturday — is only the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, Islamic cleric Ahmad al-Qatani stated on al-Jazeera TV a while back that some six million Muslims convert to Christianity annually, many of them persuaded by Botros’s public ministry. More recently, al-Jazeera noted Life TV’s “unprecedented evangelical raid” on the Muslim world. Several factors account for the Botros phenomenon.
Go here for the entire article.
[ht:TH]
I think Zakaria Botros is one-sided in that he only mentions the questionable aspects of Islam and none of Christianity. However, I applaud him for exposing the hypocrisy and bigotry in Islam, some of which are in direct contradiction to the Qur’an (not that the Qur’an is completely faultless). I just wish it’s not done with such an evangelical bent. An open discussion, without any proselytising, would be better.
By: Penny on March 26, 2008
at 5:23 am
Thanks Penny.
Concerning your comment “I just wish it’s not done with such an evangelical bent. An open discussion, without any proselytizing, would be better.”
I would think that the only world in which such discussions could take place between a Muslim and Christian would be one where neither actually believed what they were saying.
I think Botros is convinced of the claims of Christianity, which would necessitate the “evangelical bent” of which you speak.
I do appreciate your sensitive comments. Thanks for contributing. Hope to hear from you again.
Mooney
By: jeffmooney on March 26, 2008
at 8:47 am
Dr. Mooney, do you know more about Botros? is he a muslim convert? educational background? etc it’s very suprising to see that such a show would even be allowed on t.v. don’t they hold a pretty tight grip on media contents?…. i stand corrected on my assumption.
thanks for the article.
By: amechi on March 26, 2008
at 10:12 pm