The Middle East Today

Christian Universities and Colleges: The Need to Train Instructors to Teach the Bible as Literature in Public Schools

“…Myriad Americans believe that Muslims simply object to the extent to which residents of the United States enjoy freedom (Esposito, 2002). If one means by freedom the ability to engage in vice and sin without impunity, there is probably some truth to this fact (Esposito, 2002;Nasr, 2010;Stewart, 2009). The reality is, however, that most people who lived in the 1600-1965 period would regard the above definition as tantamount to license, lasciviousness, and moral turpitude (Jeynes, 2003a(Jeynes, , 2005(Jeynes, , 2007b.…”

“…This is likely to happen for two reasons: (1) three of the great religions of the world, namely, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, believe in the veracity of large portions of the Bible, and (2) the Bible will produce added insight into what religious people frequently believe in a general sense and what they conceive about morality (Stewart, 2009). All one needs to do is examine the deteriorating relationships that the United States has with other religious nations and entities, to know that the lack of knowledge that Americans have regarding religion is affecting the success of the nation's foreign policy and the ability of American leaders to relate to, cooperate with, and have the admiration of foreign religious countries and entities (Jeynes, 2010a;Nasr, 2010;Stewart, 2009). Currently, the United States has strained relationships with several Middle Eastern countries, a number of third world countries, and the Vatican (Jeynes, 2010a;Nasr, 2010;Stewart, 2009).…”

“…This is because the United States has espoused policies that in many cases suspend their religious sensitivities (Jeynes, 2007a(Jeynes, , 2010aNasr, 2010;Stewart, 2009). For example, many administrations have maintained foreign policies that force foreign nations to practice abortion as a primary means of birth control, if that nation is to receive U.S federal dollars to support its efforts (Esposito, 2002;Jeynes, 2010a).…”

“…If, however, one's definition of freedom is more sophisticated and includes a deep liberation from the clutch of evil and the debilitating effects of evil, then Islamic objections to the lifestyle of citizens of the United States is almost totally devoid of any concern about freedom. Instead, Islamic people reject many American practices such as advertisements luring men with sexually explicit messages into purchasing items such as Carl's Jr. hamburgers, alcohol beverages, Internet services, and adult nightclubs (Esposito, 2002;Jeynes, 2010a;Nasr, 2010;Stewart, 2009). They also object to soap operas and prime time television programs that promote cohabitation, divorce, premarital intercourse, marital unfaithfulness, homosexual behavior, arrogant disrespect for parents and seniors, the portrayal of adults as fools in comparison to youth, deceit, lying, dishonesty, sexual promiscuousness, and acting out of selfishness rather than any sense of service or obligation to others (Esposito, 2002;Nasr, 2010).…”

“…All one needs to do is examine the deteriorating relationships that the United States has with other religious nations and entities, to know that the lack of knowledge that Americans have regarding religion is affecting the success of the nation's foreign policy and the ability of American leaders to relate to, cooperate with, and have the admiration of foreign religious countries and entities (Jeynes, 2010a;Nasr, 2010;Stewart, 2009). Currently, the United States has strained relationships with several Middle Eastern countries, a number of third world countries, and the Vatican (Jeynes, 2010a;Nasr, 2010;Stewart, 2009). Neither do Americans generally nor its leadership really understand the significance of the Christian revival that has taken place or the last quarter of a century, that now places China at a par with the United States in terms of the number of Christians (Xi, 2010).…”