All posts tagged: Apologist

Archbishop rescinds award to Bin Laden apologist following backlash

Archbishop rescinds award to Bin Laden apologist following backlash

Published by Sam Flores

The archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn an interfaith harmony award she gave to an Osama Bin Laden apologist on the anniversary of 9/11 last week. The withdrawal follows a public backlash after the National Secular Society and other outlets revealed Tahir Ashrafi (pictured, left), as chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, had bestowed the title “Saifullah”, or sword of Allah, on Osama Bin Laden, in 2007. The council bestowed the title in reaction to the UK knighting Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was forced into hiding after the Iranian supreme leader issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for his death because the book was deemed ‘blasphemous’. Speaking in 2007, Ashrafi said: “If a blasphemer can be given the title ‘Sir’ by the West despite the fact he’s hurt the feelings of Muslims, then a mujahid [jihadist] who has been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British must be given the lofty title of Islam, Saifullah”. Ashrafi told the BBC yesterday he was only trying to convey “the hurt felt by …

Archbishop gives Osama Bin Laden apologist interfaith harmony award

Archbishop gives Osama Bin Laden apologist interfaith harmony award

Published by Sam Flores

The archbishop of Canterbury gave an Osama Bin Laden apologist an award for interfaith harmony on the anniversary of September 11th last week. Last week, Sarah Mullally (pictured, centre right) awarded Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi (pictured, left) the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation at Lambeth Palace. Ashrafi is chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council. In 2007, the council bestowed the honorary title “Saifullah”, or sword of Allah, on Osama Bin Laden. The council bestowed this title in reaction to the UK knighting Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was forced into hiding after the Iranian supreme leader issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for his death because the book was deemed ‘blasphemous’. Speaking in 2007, Ashrafi said: “If a blasphemer can be given the title ‘Sir’ by the West despite the fact he’s hurt the feelings of Muslims, then a mujahid [jihadist] who has been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British must be given the lofty title of Islam, Saifullah”. It is a criminal offence under …

From Islamic Apologist to Christian Believer – OpentheWord.org

From Islamic Apologist to Christian Believer – OpentheWord.org

Published by Sam Flores

Jerusalem’s Temple Mount with the Muslim Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque Credit: Andrew Shiva, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 A TikToker’s recent conversion to Christianity has caught a lot of people’s attention. This is largely because the British-based influencer who goes by the name of Kieos was a former Muslim who built up a TikTok following of 100,000 by promoting Islam. In an interview with The Brittannia Daily, Kieos said despite being an agnostic, he began studying different religions and religious experiences. This resulted in him embracing Islam in his mid-twenties. “It was mostly social media videos, which led me to buy and read books, and unfolded from there,” he said in his interview with The Britannia. After his conversion, Kieos traveled to the Middle East to personally experience Islam. He then began producing videos defending and promoting Islam. But after doing this for several years, he started having doubts when he discovered verses in the Koran that were contradicted by modern science. He privately approached several Muslims about his questions, but received …

‘The Apologist’ Doc Film Director Interview

‘The Apologist’ Doc Film Director Interview

Published by Daniella Wilson

Saying sorry, and doing so authentically, is not easy. But apologies can change relationships, and in the case of political apologies, can redefine history. Belgian filmmaker Kristof Bilsen’s documentary The Apologist, which he wrote, directed and produced, now explores what the act of atonement can do to victims, wrongdoers and witnesses alike – how it can reshape lives. World premiering in the international competition at Sheffield DocFest, which runs June 10-15, on Thursday, June 11, the film feels timely in an age when not a day goes by without a well-known politician or figure issuing a public apology, being called on to provide an apology, or failing to apologize. The hybrid doc, featuring actress Musia Mwankumi and actor Valentijn Dhaenens as they develop a play and explore the art and pitfalls of apologies, features cinematography by Joachim Philippe, Bilsen and Diren Agbaba, with editing by Luca Mattei and co-edited by Aaron Minnebo. It was co-written by Xan Márquez Caneda. The result is an emotional cinematic journey across continents, events, personal and collective trauma and accountability that …

Apologist Wes Huff Gives Sound Advice on the Nephilim – OpentheWord.org

Apologist Wes Huff Gives Sound Advice on the Nephilim – OpentheWord.org

Published by Sam Flores

In a recent interview with Shawn Ryan, Christian apologist, Wes Huff, delved into one of the Bible’s most mysterious beings, the Nephilim. In the process he gives some wise advice on how we should treat them. We first read of the Nephilim in Genesis 6:  4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6:4 ESV) In this verse, their appearance is connected to the marriages between the sons of God and the daughters of men. This union produced children who were called ‘mighty men’ and ‘men of renown.’ According to Strong’s, the Greek word for Nephilim means ‘properly, a feller, that is, a bully or tyrant: – giant.’ In other words, it essentially means giant. They are mentioned one other time in Numbers 13:33, during Israel’s failed effort to enter the Promised Land under Moses.1 The key to understanding what happened in Genesis 6 is …

Starmer Hammered In Fiery PMQs For Giving Peerage To ‘Paedophile Apologist’

Starmer Hammered In Fiery PMQs For Giving Peerage To ‘Paedophile Apologist’

Published by Sam Flores

Keir Starmer was accused of filling his government “with paedophile apologists” by opposition leaders during a brutal prime minister’s questions today. Starmer’s former comms chief Lord Doyle had the Labour whip removed on Tuesday over his links to a convicted sex offender. Doyle campaigned for a former Labour councillor, Sean Morton, after he had been charged with child sex offences in 2017. Though this was reported late last year, the prime minister still promoted his former aide to the upper chamber just two weeks ago. Doyle’s suspension from Labour comes days after fellow peer, Lord Mandelson, quit the party as the depth of his friendship with convicted padeophile Jeffrey Epstein emerged. The PM appointed the former Labour grandee to be the UK’s ambassador to the US last year though Mandelson was sacked in September. The Doyle scandal adds to the mounting public anger over Mandelson, and puts even more pressure on Starmer who is fighting to save his job. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch torched the prime minister over the two incidents in PMQs, saying: “The …