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Philly is blessed with a generous allotment of public space at its very center. On any day of the week, weather permitting, there are throngs of people at LovePark, DillworthPark and near the Clothespin. Around this 45-foot-tall sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, I’ve seen an assortment of petty hustlers selling everything from loosies to oddball T-shirts, such as one that said, “IF YOU SMELL SOMETHING STINKING… IT’S ILL-ADELPHIA BECAUSE WE’RE THE SH!T. Black Israelites can often be found nearby. Wearing studded wrist bands, studded belts and studded vests over studded, knee-length, fringe tunics, they rail against white people and gays. I’ve seen these guys not just in Philly, but Washington D.C. and Minneapolis.
Today, a beefy dude sporting a chain necklace with the Star of David thundered, “God is going to destroy this homosexual land! God is going to destroy this lesbian land! Barack Obama has done as much as he could, to push the homosexual agenda. I remember the don’t ask, don’t tell, in the military. Obama started that! You all love that stinking African, but he’s disgusting. He’s not your people, black man! He’s a conniver! Stop having sex with the big whore… called America.”
Among the displays, there’s a plastic kneeling Virgin Mary with “DEVIL” on her forehead, “666” on her right cheek, a moustache drawn with magic marker over her lips, “WHORE” on her chest, and “SLUT!” over her crotch.
A board with a white Jesus had “666,” “Image of the Beast” and “IMPOSTER” as captions.
Another board, “ISLAM IS IDOL WORSHIP AND A LIE!!”
Black Israelite Display
A “WE ARE NOT AFRICANS” board features unflattering photos of Africans, such as a boy’s face caked with animal feces, a terrified girl being held down and about to have her clitoris sliced and several people with huge lip plates.
An explanation, “MUST read and think about this: There were many Dark skin Nations which were created but not all Dark Nations are the same. The original Ishmaelites are dark skin but are not Africans, the East Indians are dark skin but are not Africans, the Natives of Australia are dark skin but are not Africans, neither are you so called Negroes which are dark skin are not Africans according to biblical history and prophecy.”
Jesus is black, and only blacks, Hispanics and Amerindians can go to heaven. “The white man is the devil the Bible speaks of. The white man will join the cops to kill the black man! The white man will become a politician to pass laws to kill the black man, the Hispanic man and the native man! The white man will kill us because we have no protection! The white man was a murderer from the beginning. When Cain murdered Abel, you know that story, God put a mark on him, and the mark is his blood showing forth through his skin. That’s why white people look red! So-called Caucasians ain’t white, they’re red, and it’s not just their necks that’s red, they’re red all over!”
A couple years ago, a black lady told me, “You know, they used to only talk about black people as the chosen people, but now they include Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Mexicans. They just want more followers.”
Today, the Black Israelites had an unwelcome guest, and that’s Michael Grant, better known as Philly Jesus. Twenty-nine-years-old, Michael has become a fixture around this area. As he pranced and smiled in front the Black Israelites, a old black woman screamed, “Cut that shit out! You ain’t Jesus! Hey people, he got arrested last week! Jesus doesn’t get arrested!” The old woman forgot that Jesus was arrested. I mean, that was the denouement of his earthly visit.
Other blacks took photos with Michael and tipped him. A smiling, suited black man shook Michael’s hand. Two kids around 15 asked Michael to bless them, which he promptly did, free of charge. As they walked away, I noticed they were handcuffed to each other. It was some kind of fashion statement.
When Michael wasn’t riling up the Black Israelites, he was dancing among the jets of water of DillworthPark. Done, he stood in the shade of dwarfish trees and told me about his life. After two weeks of unseasonably cold weather, it finally warmed up, so more skin was showing, and more smiles. There were bright colors everywhere. Knowing they won’t freeze that night, even the homeless cheered up.
I dress like this to remind people about Jesus. I’m a Christian, and this is a way for me to share my faith. I’ve been doing this for two years.
Sometimes people get angry. People look at me and they don’t know what to think. They’re like, Is he serious? Is he joking? So they come up to me and find out, and I tell them I’m sincere. I’m sincere about what I’m doing.
I’m not doing this to mock Jesus. I’m a Christian.
Watching Bible movies, you know, watching Jesus movies? God, He led me to do this. They bring Jesus to the movies. I bring Jesus to the streets.
I use my passion for the theatrical art to bring Jesus to life.
I was raised in the theater, on stage. When I was young, my mom would put me in, like, plays, musicals, so I’ve always had that in me. My mom was an actress, and I’m an actor too.
I just use that talent for acting to bring Jesus to life.
This is America, so, you know, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, people can express themselves, and dress any way they want, so, you know, that’s what I’m doing.
I’m expressing that right. You shouldn’t care what people think of you, you should only do what makes you happy.
God, he knows our hearts. People don’t like what they don’t understand, you know. People are quick to judge.
Sometimes I get spit at. People spit at me. I get death threats. People say, “I’ll kill you!”
One time I was in a bar, someone took a drink, spit it all over my face, like a glass of wine. They put it in their mouth and spit it all over me, on my white robe, because they were offended. This was at Howl at the Moon on 15th Street.
It’s a nightclub. I went in there dressed like this because I want people to know that Jesus was a friend of sinners. He was a friend of everybody.
I go to nightclubs to dance, I love dancing, and to drink wine.
I only drink wine. I don’t drink hard alcohol or beer, I just drink wine. Red wine. I don’t drink every day. I drink, like, probably two or three times out of a week.
I like to have a glass of wine with my dinner. Jesus drank wine. Jesus’ first miracle, He turned water into wine, and at the last supper, He had blood and wine. When I drink wine, I eat bread with it.
Before I had Jesus come into my life, I drank the hard stuff. When I used to shoot up heroin, I used to drink bottles of vodka. Hard stuff. Hennessy.
Just the other day, I was arrested at the Apple Store. I’m an Apple customer. I have an Apple phone. I go into the Apple Store nearly every day for the last two years. Never had a problem. When I went in there that one time, an employee looked me up and down. He said, “Come on, dude, you’ve got to take this somewhere else!” And I said, “No, I’m allowed in here like everybody else.” So I stood my ground, and I got locked up.
They twisted the story. I carry a little cross. It’s a little bigger than me. They said it was blocking an aisle, which is not true. I carry my cross everywhere. I take the bus with my cross. I go into restaurants and bars with my cross. I go everywhere with my cross.
My cross is in the garage today.
Now I’ll have to go to court. That wasn’t the first time I was locked up. I was locked up in 2014, because someone handed me money at LovePark. I don’t charge. If someone comes up to me and says, “Yo, can I take a picture with you?” I don’t charge, but tips are welcome, you know. It’s a donation. Someone handed me money, and a cop saw that, so he said I was soliciting, “You have to leave the park.” I said I wasn’t leaving because it’s a public park, so I got locked up, for two hours.
People who like what I’m doing, they give me donations. It’s enough to survive. I get something to eat, and I use it for transportation. I bounce around. I don’t have a house of my own, I don’t pay bills, I couch surf. I bounce around between my friends and family. I have a lot of friends.
Before this, I used to shoot heroin and smoke crack. I used to rob and steal from people. I used to break in everywhere. I was hooked for seven years.
I was run over by a car when I was 19, so the doctors were giving me pills… for the pain, and that’s how I got hooked on drugs.
I wasn’t an addict before. I did start to smoke marijuana when I was twelve.
I was born in Philly, in the Northeast, around Cottman Avenue.
I finished high school. I went to college for a little bit. I studied recording engineering.
I’m still doing music. I’m a rapper.
The first single to my album is coming out soon, this summer. It’s called “High.” It has nothing to do with drugs. I’m high on God.
I was raised Roman Catholic. I still go to church, but I don’t consider myself a Catholic or follower of any religion. I’m a believer of Jesus.
I want to do this forever, until I leave the earth.
When I stop looking like Jesus, I’ll turn into Moses. As I get older, and have gray hair, and wrinkles on my face, I’ll be Philly Moses.
I don’t know if the country is in trouble. No one knows. Only God knows.
God can come back any second. No one knows. It says in the Bible that God will come like a thief in the night. He’ll come when he’s least expected.
I just live my life one day at a time and just hope for the best, you know, and try to keep a positive mind.
This is the worst it has ever been in human history. With all the wars, you know, all the diseases, it seems like it’s building up. The earth is getting overpopulated with people. There’s more stuff, more technology, which is hurting the earth. Human beings are like parasites to the earth. See all the cars? And they’re, like, giving out all the gas, the carbon monoxide? It’s bad for the atmosphere. The earth is, like, you know, wanting to cleanse itself. That’s why the earth is acting up. That’s why you have these earthquakes. That’s why you have these tornadoes. It’s the earth trying to cleanse itself.
The Bible talks about this. These are the signs. The signs will come. These are the warning signs.
The signs are all around us. The end of the world can happen right now. As we’re talking, you can see a big tidal wave just wash over everything, or an asteroid, you know, it can just boom! You never know. The same thing that killed the dinosaurs. Remember the dinosaurs? They’re extinct. Something drastic happened to them.
I’m a Democrat.
I’m registered as a Democrat. I believe that human beings have the right to vote.
I voted for Bernie Sanders. I voted for Obama, yes.
Obama is the best president we’ve ever had. Ever.
Personally, I don’t agree with the transgender stuff, but it is what it is. In the Bible, you know, it does say you’re not supposed to do stuff like that, according to the words of God, but the Bible also says, everyone is a sinner. No one’s perfect. Only God’s perfect.
Jesus saved me when I was at my lowest. I’m a lot better than what I was, I’m off the drugs, but I still have my struggles, you know. As a human, I have doubts, fears, anxieties, like how am I going to get married? Have kids? Sometimes I worry about the future. I’m trying to travel the world, you know, stuff like that, and it takes money to do those things. I’m trying to figure out how to generate an income.
I used to be a banquet server. When I was in high school, I used to serve wines and hor d’oeuvres at special events. I used to be a dishwasher. I used to work in a restaurant as a waiter. Stuff like that.
I’ve only been to Florida, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.
Last week I went to Times Square for the first time, to scope it out. I was dressed normally. Now I want to go back as Jesus once a week. I like New York because it’s bigger. I like to be around lots of people.
My parents don’t agree with this, they don’t like it, but we’re still talking.
The last thing I want to say is, “Peace and love. Love one another. Treat others the way you’d treat yourself.”
Linh Dinh is the author of two books of stories, five of poems, and a novel, Love Like Hate. He’s tracking our deteriorating socialscape through his frequently updated photo blog, Postcards from the End of America.
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They hate whites, blacks, Muslims, gays, women and want to flood the country with illegal aliens from Mexico. They want to destroy all white people. They believe they are the genetic descendants of the original inhabitants of the “Holy Land.”
They sound like “Israelites” to me.
Dear Linh,
Another great portrait. I had only vaguely heard of this particularly brand of black Israelites before, it sounds like they are an offshoot of the Nation of Islam (which is of course, not Islamic, more something like a Mormonism for black people, only not having given up on extreme segregationism).
I am offended by how they deface images of Mary and Jesus, but agree with the right to do such things.
Am amused by the costumes, and the devotion to junk food or at least overeating displayed by what must be under the costumes.
It is interesting that the founder of the NoI was not a black American, but a part-white, part-Maori occultist from New Zealand.
Philly Jesus sounds like a true Christian, good that he has recovered from a hellish time, he says he wants to see more of the world, I would suggest that Korea and the Philippines, possibly Japan, he may be able to get the money to pay for his travels.
In the Philippines, if he were to participate in a Passion play.
In lapan, if he were to appear on TV, and allow mockery.
In Sth. Korea, I’m sure that if he made it clear that he’s just doing it from devotion, and not claiming to be the real thing, I would guess some churches would like him to be around.
Closing here.
Dear Linh Dinh – I bet you would not have surprised by those anti-Christ , anti-Mary, and hatred towards all statements, if you had studied Babylonian Talmud.
Some Christian Bible NIVs have already deleted the word “Virgin” for Jesus’ mother’s name. It’s only the 2 billion Muslims who refuse to submit to the Jewish interpretation of Jesus and his mother Mary. They still believe that Jesus was born to a Virgin Mother who died as a Virgin lady.
In October 2014, a Pennsylvania appeal court upheld the ‘Black Chosen Peoples’ rights to spew hateful slurs at passerby on city-owned property in Philadelphia. Unlike over 8 million American Muslims, these hatemongering Black Jews, known as the Israelite Church of G-d in Jesus Christ, have been calling White folks DEVIL and women being WHORES based on their interpretation of the Bible. They also claim that both Moses and Jesus were Blacks from Nazareth and Egypt. Watch a video below.
https://rehmat1.com/2014/10/23/black-jews-white-race-is-devil-and-women-are-whores/
Poor Rehmat.
Ever-confused and short of knowledge.
The later (a couple of centuries after the earliest of Christian mss) Jewish account claims that Jesus, or Yeshuah, or Isa, if you like, was the offspring of a legionary named Pantera, and Mary.
I think it is (or was) in the Talmud, the tale also recurs in Polysebius and one of the other late-classical writers who opposed Christianity (and I am pretty sure that would have been the side I would have been on, if I had been a Roman citizen of the time, then again, if so, my wife would likely be Christian and convincing), the Pantera tale is clearing a fake dragged from Jewish sources.
However, I am a Christian. so, although I like some heavy metal, I never listen to Pantera, they probably don’t even know what their band-name means.
Thanks, Linh Dinh. Back in the early 2000s I felt myself urged along a path I came to call a reviving Christianity. No flashes of light, no foxhole illumination. Just a daily nudging that told me that something was wrong, very wrong, with the standard-issue rationalist, secular world-view.
I don’t know anything about Philly or Philly Jesus, but it does look like he’s on an evangelical mission.
You reminds me Netanyahu’s definition of evangelic Christians. “I know they’re bastards, but don’t tell them that. We like them on our side,” Bibi said.
Talmud clearly claims that Jesus was product of rape by a roman soldier and Jesus’ mother Mary was a whore. It also claim that all Christians are evil and destined for hell-fire for ever.
Israeli historian Israel Shahak in his masterpiece book, “Jewish Religion, Jewish History” wrote that burning copies of New Testament and spitting on Cross and priests are “religious duties” of religious Jews.
“The very name Jesus was for Jews a symbol of all that is abominable, and this popular tradition still persists. The Gospels are equally detested, and they are not allowed to be quoted, let alone taught, even in modern Israeli Jewish schools,” wrote late professor Israel Shahak.
Bob Simon reports the plight of Christians under Jewish Israeli rule at CBS News 60 MINUTES (watch video below). Israeli ambassador in Washington, Jewish supremacist Michael Oren, tried to bully CBS to kill the 12-minutes segment related to religious bigotry and social discrimination of native Palestinian Christian forcing them to leave Israel.
On April 1, 1978, former Jewish terrorist Menachem Begin, as prime minister of the Zionist entity, declared preaching Christianity to Jews in Israel a crime punishable with five years’ imprisonment and three years’ imprisonment for any Jew who converted. So much so, even if a Christian give a Gospel leaflet to Israeli Jew, he violate the law.
https://rehmat1.com/2012/05/07/plight-of-christians-in-jewish-occupied-palestine/
Kooks need love too, I guess.
Rehmat,
I agree with most of your earlier posts, the only part I really disagree with is your claim that Islam has the only correct interpretation.
Sorry for my previous post, I had not read yours closely enough. You seem to have done the same with mine. Most points are the same.
‘It’s only the 2 billion Muslims who refuse to submit to the Jewish interpretation of Jesus and his mother Mary.’
was the sticking point for me, the Christian interpretation has nothing to do with the later Jewish slander. I am not a modernist or moderniser in terms of faith, and despise those churches that have become so.
The full sentence following that is very recent doctrine, only in the Catholic Church, and I am pretty sure that ‘immaculate heart’ is not intended to mean ‘died a virgin’. After all, she had children by Joseph.
Again, my apologies for not paying enough attention to the points of agreement.
“Obama is the best president we’ve ever had.”
This man needs help.
“I agree with most of your earlier posts, the only part I really disagree with is your claim that Islam has the only correct interpretation. ”
Where did you find your above “interpretation” in my post?
Many Christian and Jews who converted to Islam, claims that Holy Qur’an is the only Divine book that like OT, NT, and Talmud that doesn’t curse biblical prophets or calls Jesus “bastard” or his mother Mary “whore” (sic).
If you read the history of OT and Talmud, both were written rabbis hundreds of years befor the NT was authored in Rome in 325 CE.
Here is how 2 billion Muslims believe in Jesus.
https://rehmat1.com/2009/01/10/searching-for-jesus-as-eh/
That is so silly. People need to grow up. But then… those are freaks and freaks will be freaky.
More dangerous is now it’s now mainstream for adults to live rest of their lives stuck on teen fantasy fiction.
In Japan, so many are stuck on video games and anime.
In the US, we have adults stuck on comic book movies.
Maybe it ties in with trans-sexualism and homo fantasies. We are disconnected from reality.
https://mic.com/articles/143112/school-principal-says-reading-harry-potter-and-game-of-thrones-causes-brain-damage
In a way, I guess fantasy is a driver of progress and imagination.
After all, people needed to fantasize flying before they could build machines that could fly. Da Vinci failed to make a flying machine, but he dreamed it and it was such dreams that finally led to one.
People had to fantasize about speed before creating trains and automobiles.
Fantasy creates desire, and desire fuels innovation and ingenuity to realize the fantasy into reality.
And we see this is bio-engineering as well. People want to be beautiful, so there are now plans to use bio-technology to select genes that will make people more beautiful, healthy, and smarter. Fantasy fuels ingenuity, and what was once fantastical is made real.
But there is a flipside to fantasy. What if the fantasy is stupid, decadent, childish, moronic, and ridiculous? What if the fantasy isn’t worth realizing? I mean what did Bruce Jenner get by making himself into a ‘woman’?
Isn’t being human about accepting what we are than about obsessing about what we want to be(often based on trashy and shallow pop culture of celebrity)?
And if our ultimate fantasy is to be god, will it be the end of humanity when we get there… via technology?
It’s like Mason wants to be god in Bubblegum Crisis and turns himself into Largo. Is that human anymore?
Yeah. The guy allegedly worries about finding a wife and having children, yet somehow he’s going to go to New York “every week” dressed up, wander Philly parades and events frequently dressed up, etc. How about try getting and keeping a job, staying in one city — here’s a hint, NOT Philly or NYC or DC — and going on some dates. With white men like these, I’m real encouraged about our future.
Oh well, I revert to complete mocking of your nonsense.
No, i am not going to read your blog. Those people converted under duress, the threat of beheading, or pure greed.
I contrast this with the eastern Roman empire, where, for example, the scholar Zosimus, who, three or so centuries after Constanine declared Christianity as the official religion of the empire, was still able to go about his daily life, hold a high position at the court, and write very valuable works of history, despite being a believer in the older (Graeco-Roman) traditions.
There must have been many others in less exalted positions, in the same state. Justinian and Theodora don’t seem to have cared too much about the established religion at the time, but they paid lip service, and continued the Roman games, although only chariot races.
A hundred and some years later, an illiterate paranoid schizophrenic named Muhammed, who only had vague and second-hand knowledge about anything else, ran about raping, killing, and taking over at the head of his gang.
Of course, in the end, he guaranteed a guaranteed continuation of the tourist trade in Mecca, and was granted that.
Thus it remains today, under the ludicrous numbers of Al-Saud ‘royals’.
You proved the ate point by your nasty sleazy words for Muhammad. Psycho!
Pretty sad. Totally deluded. Christians do not realize that history records no evidence whatsoever of Moses, David, Jesus and many others. Contemporary figures however were found in the archeological record, but not these bible characters.
Historians and archeological researchers have concluded that the bible stories are not true and should not be considered factual or accurate. 30,000 errors are known about the bible today.
The Christian story is fabricated, taken from a single source and embellished by different authors over many years. This is the conclusion of the world’s best experts and scholars on the topic.
There was no Jesus, he was not a literal figure (even Paul did not believe in a earthly Christ but a heavenly one).
Anyone that believes in the “end-times” will do well to note that this fable has been taught for thousands of years and never fulfilled. Nor will it because the claims in the bible (such as Revelation) are inaccurate (interpolations) and never even intended for this time or age.
This dude may decide to be a fictional character, but should probably be subjected to a psychiatric examination at the earliest possible opportunity.
Dear Che,
I understand you get frustrated with Rehmat’s posts; however there’s no need to go overboard in your response. You have a tendency to make claims about Islam without any reference to sources.
Some did indeed out of greed. The rest of the story is not so simple. Here are the reasons for conversion as outlined by Michael Bonner, in his excellent book by Princeton Univ. Press Jihad in Islamic History:
1. Part of it is simple peaceful conversion:
“The larger context was an increase of tension and isolation among Christian communities that, having adopted the Arabic language among themselves, and having come to realize that the rule of Islam was definitively there to stay, found their own numbers decreasing through peaceful conversion to Islam.” That is Christianity (and keep your eye on that note about Arabic – it comes into play later); as for the others (fire-worshiping, ancestor-worship, shamanism, or localized paganism) weigh them on a scale against unambiguous transcendental monotheism – you make the call.
2. Part of it is social mobility:
“To begin with, some members of the larger group tried to join the elite. In order to do this, conversion to Islam was necessary but not enough.”
3. Lessen tax burden (the greed that you alluded to):
“One’s obligation to pay jizya thus ended on conversion to Islam.”
4. And, yes, the occasional forced conversions:
“On the whole, however, such episodes remained exceptional, like the episodes of forced conversion to Islam.”
Keep in mind also, proselytizing to the Muslim population was not allowed, so that avenue was cut off as far as being able to replenish numbers.
The importance of the adoption of the Arabic language among the Christians was a major factor as Prof. Keating outlines in her work Defending the ‘People of Truth’ in the Early Islamic Period. She describes the general policy thusly:
“Now the policy of the Abbasid caliphs to promote conversion to Islam through the promise of full participation in political and cultural life, coupled with the added incentive of relief from the jizyah, and religious and social restrictions, made it increasingly attractive for non-Muslims to abandon their ancestral religions.”
The Abbasids had promoted Arabic as the official language of the realm and the Christian communities adopted it. As their numbers dwindled, Christians set out to write apologetic works and also participated in the debates against Muslim scholars; this was now being done in Arabic. Christian scholars had mastered Greek and Latin and were able to define a technical middle ground between polytheism and monotheism for the triune god-head (though this was tricky even in these languages as one walked a fine edge, always on the brink of one heresy or another). Arabic did not play nice with this concept; Keating writes:
“Yet, although Arabic developed dramatically as a language of literature and commerce, it retained its character as a sacred language heavily laden with Qur’anic presuppositions and definitions.”
“The problem was thrown into relief when Christians tried to articulate ideas in terminology already dominated by Qur’anic images. For example, the notion of tawhid (monotheistic belief) had essentially been defined by the Qur’an to exclude multiplicity in God, as contrasted to shirk (associating others with God). This made it difficult for Christians to explain and defend the doctrine of the Trinity in Arabic as consistent with monotheism without being accused of polytheism, and consequently idolatry.”
Being a student of Arabic, I completely concur with her statement; the language is firmly coupled with the Qur’an in such a way as to predefine the parameters of the debate on the subject of monotheism.
I have not yet read this book, but I will recommend it as it is recommended by highly credible academic sources known to me. It is an account of non-Muslims living under Muslim rule through their own earliest writings (some pleasant, some not so much [usually depending on which branch of Christianity is speaking – ie. Nestorian vs. Byzantine, etc.]):
Seeing Islam as Others Saw It
Feel free to correct me using references to legitimate academic works; please don’t waste my time with self-published authors or polemic websites.
Maimonides, the greatest Jewish scholar of the latter days of the Rabbinic tradition was the court physician of Saladin (the most powerful Muslim ruler of his time).
As far as your statements about the Prophet (pbuh) – your opinion, you are entitled to it.
Though I do like how so many distractors of Islam love to pile on the epithets; it’s not enough to state he was false or stick to a couple of points of contention – NO – look on the Internet, supposedly he is paranoid, schizophrenic, womanizing, rapist (pedophile at that), war lord, homosexual, transvestite, etc. Basically, it is beyond comic book villainy. I have come across no character, even in fiction (Baron Harkonnen or maybe Ramsay Bolton gets about half way there), that is at this level of evil. No problem. One of my teachers visited from Wisconsin where a Christian group harangues any events the Muslim community puts on; they will come and say vile things and interrupt/distract the program with off-topic questions. Oh, they’ll indulge in the free food and drinks provided, but don’t have the decency to shake the hands of the Muslims when offered. My teachers and I both agree – the best thing to do is to let these people speak up; they are a proof against themselves. Anybody sitting on the fence is completely put off by their lack of character and basic human decency – the only people who listen to them are already on the bandwagon.
I remember meeting a French (white) convert to Islam; beautiful man (inwardly and outwardly [literally could have been a poster-boy for Nazi propaganda]). He told me how he converted; he had been told such vile things about Islam that he said to himself (out of amusement); I’ve got to check these nut-cases out, this is unbelievably demonic. And, of course, within a few days he discovered it wasn’t, which completely swept the rug from under the credibility of anything those people had told him. Shortly after, he was Muslim.
So please, by all means, call to your way as you see fit.
Peace.