Joys of Muslim Women

I recently got an email titled: "Joys of Muslim Women" that purported to be from Egyptian woman NONIE DARWISH, yet 2/3 of it refers to Nonie in the 3rd person. 

My initial reactions:
(1) This SOUNDS like it has a ring of truth in it, but since they (whoever REALLY wrote the email) quote a person and reference a book, I want to make sure. 
(2) I searched about.com's urbanlegends pages and found this this great site.
(http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/religion/a/joys_of_muslim_women.htm). 
(3) After realizing that, like most emails I get, this is a TWISTING of truth. Therefore, if I'm going to form an honest opinion, I'm going to have to read the book referenced in the email: Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law by Nonie Darwish. (Amazon.com has this book HERE.)
(4) This will be a better journey if others join me in reading this as well. I invite you to buy or borrow a copy of this book and let me know you're reading it. I'd appreciate a chance to interact and discuss as we 'journey' through it together. (ONE CAVEAT THOUGH: There will be NO new books read by me until AFTER Easter. Or the day after, for that matter!)  

THIS is the text of the email as I received it:

Joys of Muslim Women
By Nonie DarwishIn the Muslim faith a Muslim man can marry a child as young as 1 year old and have sexual intimacy with this child. Consummating the marriage by 9.
The dowry is given to the family in exchange for the woman (who becomes his slave) and for the purchase of the private parts of the woman, to use her as a toy.Even though a woman is abused she cannot obtain a divorce.
To prove rape, the woman must have (4) male witnesses.
Often after a woman has been raped, she is returned to her family and the family must return the dowry. The family has the right to execute her (an honor killing) to restore the honor of the family. Husbands can beat their wives 'at will' and he does not have to say why he has beaten her.The husband is permitted to have (4 wives) and a temporary wife for an hour (prostitute) at his discretion.The Shariah Muslim law controls the private as well as the public life of the woman.In the West World ( America and Britain ) Muslim men are starting to demand Shariah Law so the wife can not obtain a divorce and he can have full and complete control of her. It is amazing and alarming how many of our sisters and daughters attending American Universities and British Universities are now marrying Muslim men and submitting themselves and their children unsuspectingly to the Shariah law.By passing this on, enlightened American and British women may avoid becoming a slave under Shariah Law.

Ripping the West in Two.

Author and lecturer Nonie Darwish says the goal of radical Islamists is to impose Shariah law on the world, ripping Western law and liberty in two.
Ripping the West in Two.
Author and lecturer Nonie Darwish says the goal of radical Islamists is to impose Shariah law on the world, ripping Western law and liberty in two.She recently authored the book, Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law.Darwish was born in Cairo and spent her childhood in Egypt and Gaza before immigrating to America in 1978, when she was eight years old. Her father died while leading covert attacks on Israel . He was a high-ranking Egyptian military officer stationed with his family in Gaza .When he died, he was considered a "shahid," a martyr for jihad. His posthumous status earned Nonie and her family an elevated position in Muslim society.But Darwish developed a skeptical eye at an early age. She questioned her own Muslim culture and upbringing.. She converted to Christianity after hearing a Christian preacher on television.In her latest book, Darwish warns about creeping shariah law - what it is, what it means, and how it is manifested in Islamic countries.For the West, she says radical Islamists are working to impose sharia on the world. If that happens, Western civilization will be destroyed. Westerners generally assume all religions encourage a respect for the dignity of each individual. Islamic law (Sharia) teaches that non-Muslims should be subjugated or killed in this world.Peace and prosperity for one's children is not as important as assuring that Islamic law rules everywhere in the Middle East and eventually in the world.While Westerners tend to think that all religions encourage some form of the golden rule, Shariah teaches two systems of ethics - one for Muslims and another for non-Muslims. Building on tribal practices of the seventh century, Shariah encourages the side of humanity that wants to take from and subjugate others.While Westerners tend to think in terms of religious people developing a personal understanding of and relationship with God, Shariah advocates executing people who ask difficult questions that could be interpreted as criticism.It's hard to imagine, that in this day and age, Islamic scholars agree that those who criticize Islam or choose to stop being Muslim should be executed. Sadly, while talk of an Islamic reformation is common and even assumed by many in the West, such murmurings in the Middle East are silenced through intimidation.While Westerners are accustomed to an increase in religious tolerance over time, Darwish explains how petro dollars are being used to grow an extremely intolerant form of political Islam in her native Egypt and elsewhere.(In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S. And Britain To elect the President by themselves! Rest assured they will do so... You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA .. Dearborn Mich. Is one... And there are others....) ( Britain has several cities now totally controlled by Muslims)
I think everyone in the U.S. And Great Britain Should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!It is too bad that so many are disillusioned with life and Christianity to accept Muslims as peaceful.. Some may be but they have an army that is willing to shed blood in the name of Islam.. The peaceful support the warriors with their finances and own kind of patriotism to their religion. While America and Britain are getting rid of Christianity from all public sites and erasing God from the lives of children the Muslims are planning a great jihad on America .. (and Britain ) ..
This is your chance to make a difference...! Pass it on to your email list or at least those you think will listen..

The 'analysis' on About.com's urbanlegends page by About.com Guide David Emery:

  Analysis: Despite the attribution at the top — "Joys of Muslim Women by Nonie Darwish" — this text wasn't written by Nonie Darwish; indeed, the bottom two-thirds of it refer to her repeatedly in the third person. Darwish confirmed via email that she did not write the article, though it is, in her words, "to a large extent accurate." She also told me her 2009 book, Cruel and Usual Punishment, better represents her views.It should be noted that while the email is at least partially based on Darwish's personal experiences growing up in a Muslim country and reading the Qur'an, it's awash in generalizations and makes pronouncements about Islam and Islamic practices that don't necessarily pertain to all Muslims.
For more on Nonie Darwish's views in her own words, see Cruel and Usual Punishment (Interview) - FamilySecurityMatters.org, 8 January 2009.
For a differing view on the Islamic faith, see Myths About Islam by Christine Huda Dodge - About.com.

Starting April 10th, will you read with me?

Seminar on Sexual Wholeness

This past week has been a series of appointments (medical... mine) and funerals (both officiating & attending... all for other people). And because of my newfound ability to sleep, I actually have A LOT more energy! (Although I am still learning to sleep through the night with this CPAP machine... I have awakened a couple of times in the morning to find that I took the mask off somewhere during the night).
IN ANY CASE... I successfully finished quite a few odds & ends that have been waiting for attention. One of those projects was a news story to be submitted to our United Methodist conference newspaper about a seminar I went to a couple of weeks ago. I have no idea if it'll be published or not, so I thought I'd publish it as a post!

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“I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.”

---Jesus, John 10:10, Contemporary English Version

With the call of Christ to a full and whole life as a goal, some 150 pastors and lay people from various churches and outreach ministries gathered at the Bakerstown United Methodist Church on Saturday, February 24th to learn of ways they could minister to those who come to them with issues of sexual brokenness.

Recognizing that people of all walks of life have found pain and, at times, even abuse in their sexual lives, the seminar sought to present ways that the church can reach out to those who are hurting… whether it be from personal choices, from actions that others have done to them, or from confusion or struggles with their own sexual understanding. Presenters and speakers were specifically charged with the task of helping attendees understand the pain that many experience because of pornography, sexual abuse, incest, same-sex attractions, and sexual addictions so that they might minister with compassion rather than criticism or judgmentalism.

Grove City College psychologist, Dr. Warren Throckmorton, talked of those who desire to walk away from the same-sex attractions they feel. With an emphasis on the pain involved in dealing with these struggles, Throckmorton repeatedly spoke of the ways that many in the church have erroneously treated same-sex attraction as some kind of unforgiveable sin. Our priority, he asserted, is not whether one feels this way or that, but rather how do we follow Jesus’ teachings of chastity for the single and faithfulness for the married. That, he stressed, is not a same-sex issue, but a human issue. To treat it otherwise is to become distracted from Christ’s emphasis.

For those who have been hurt in this struggle, there is hope according to Throckmorton. Some people who have experienced same-sex attractions have been able to reorient their lives around heterosexual behavior. Throckmorton spoke of ways that the church can be a support to those with such desires, and yet still be compassionate with brothers and sisters who do not desire that kind of change.

The afternoon speaker, Victoria Kepler Didato, addressed the ways the church has, and ought, to reach out to those who have been victims of abuse. Again, the message was one of compassion and Christ-like love as we reach out to these victims. Didato has a heart for seeing the church become a safe and healing community for all who have been sexually wounded.

Individual workshops focused on specific areas of ministry, such as reaching those who struggle with pornography addictions, how to address sexuality in Biblically faithful ways without just sounding like a condemnation of this or that, and the ways that sexual trauma impacts the brain and can lead to further brokenness down the road.

Over lunch, a panel of representatives from various outreach ministries for the sexually broken were able to give brief overviews of their particular healing thrust. Tim Geiger of Harvest USA spoke of local churches being equipped to minister to sexual strugglers. John Impavido, a Pittsburgh sex therapist, spoke of the power support groups like Everyman’s Battle and SA, Sex Anonymous groups to help those addicted to pornography. Dan Cush shared about his ministry Such as Were Some of You that meets in Oaklan and provides support for those who struggle with same sex attraction.

Tracy Merrick, a member of the Western Pa. Conference Dialogue Team, also addressed those gathered over lunch regarding the differing views even in our Annual Conference regarding the specific area of same-sex attractions. Stressing compassion and grace, Merrick affirmed the need for ministries that reach out to those who have been sexually traumatized, but cautioned that “same-sex attractions do not belong in the same list.” Specifically, Merrick cited the vast number of homosexuals who are not looking for ‘healing’ or ‘reorientation.’ Merrick encouraged the listeners, “Grace and acceptance is the better ministry to gays in this larger category.”

Following the event, one of the UMC pastors who attended wrote: “Yesterday without an appointment a woman came into my office and for 90 minutes I listened. I heard terms like “I feel like I’m drowning.” “I feel lost.” “I’m scared.” I want you to know I was so much better equipped to minister to her today because of Saturday.” Dr John Seth, pastor of the First UMC of Murrysville responded, “Just multiply that times 150 others and who knows how all and who all God is going to impact and bring healing to in the coming weeks because of the seminar.”

While planned and sponsored by United Methodists, participants came from a variety of denominations and theological backgrounds.