Shoddy Reporting on the Religion of Islam by ABC News, Part 2

I came across a critique of the ABC News 20/20 program, “Islam: Questions and Answers.” That program originally was broadcast a year ago. The recent YouTube exposé points out 20 errors in the hour long supposed ‘news’ program. This is a second of a series of posts that will delve into the various errors made by Diane Sawyer and her fellow staff on this program. I am not quite sure whether this was just bad or sloppy reporting, or merely a succumbing to political correctness, or outright lies about the so-called ‘religion’ of peace.

Here is the video, “Whitewashing Islam – 20 Errors on 20/20 (ABC News).” Following the video is a transcript of the next error found in the ‘news’ production.
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Error #2

ABC’s Diane Sawyer says,

“In the beginning Adam and Eve, though in Islam God created them equally out of dust, not one from the other.”

David Wood responds, “Adam and Eve were created equally from dust according to the Qur’an. Diane does not give us a reference for the lovely teaching and she couldn’t if she tried, because the Qur’an does not say it. What does Qur’an say?

Surah 4:1 – O Mankind? Be dutiful to your Lord, who created you from a single person (Adam) and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve).

Surah 7:189 – It is he who hath created you from one person and out of him produced his wife that he might dwell with her.

“If that is not clear enough in …

Sahih al Bukhari 3331 – “Woman is created from a rib.”

“Are Men and women created equal from dust in Islam? Only if Diane Sawyer turns out to be a higher authority than Mohammed and the Qur’an!”

This error begs the question, “Where did Diane Sawyer get her (mis)information that in Islam men and women were created equal?” And, how deeply did she vet her sources? Who did the research for her, an Imam with a clear objective to deceive the American people?

The Judeo-Christian biblical account of creation clearly reveals that Eve was created out of Adam. Mohammad borrowed bits and pieces of the sacred scriptures when conjuring up his false ‘religion.’

The Qur’an itself is a mixture of some truth and fiction. In the case of creation, Diane Sawyer can’t even provide an accurate account of the Islamic version of creation. Maybe it is just her fanciful feminist version of creation. Regardless, inaccuracies abound in this 20/20 ‘news’ report on Islam.

Why Evil Exists in the World Today, Part 2

We see evil all around us today. TV, newspapers, and radio all chronicle the ravages of evil. I am continuing in a new series today, taking a brief break from my current series, “Armor of God.”

If you wanted someone to love you; wouldn’t you want them to love you of their own free will, rather than because they had no other choice?

God Provided the Human Race with A Choice: To Obey God or To Disobey God

God accomplished giving mankind a choice at the time of creation. He created the Garden of Eden and put in it the Tree of Life and also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Genesis 2:15-17, “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Satan used the serpent to deceive Eve. She chose to disobey God by eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam, who was not deceived, also disobeyed God by eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Genesis 3:6, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

I Timothy 2:14, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”

This was how sin originated in mankind. The source of temptation was Satan, who is the personification of evil. Eve, then Adam, succumbed to the temptation and sinned. Human nature has been fallen ever since.

The Whole Armor of God, Part 2

Today I continue my series of articles commenting on the concept and principles involved in the Armor of God, which the apostle Paul described in the New Testament. This is the topic of the Sunday school lesson I am currently teaching.

The Wiley Satan

I am often amused by the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner who seems to dodge the wiles of the coyote. By living in obedience we also can avoid the traps that the devil sets for us. Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes, "Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”

If Eve had only obeyed God she would not have gotten into the trouble she had gotten into. In the same way we may not understand the reason for something but obedience to God can keep us out of trouble and bring results. At the marriage supper of Cana Mary told the servants, do whatever He says, they did and the problem of no wine was solved and a whole lot of more wine was provided.

Consider the wiles of the devil.

The word wiles is from the Old English which comes from magic, divination, akin to wiglian, to take auspices, wince, witch.

1. A sly trick; deceitful artifice; stratagem

2. A beguiling or coquettish trick

3. Craftiness, guile

(Webster’s New World College Dictionary, fourth edition p. 1637)

Genesis 2:15-17 gives the instructions of the LORD GOD to Adam.

“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Genesis 3:1-6 shows the disobedience of Eve and Adam to the LORD GOD.

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Consider Eve in Genesis 3:1-6 and the command God gave to Adam in Genesis 2:16, 17.

1. Satan approached Eve through a serpent.

2. A question was asked of Eve by the serpent which was a minor misquote of God.

3. The serpent asked Eve, “Has God said you cannot eat of every tree in the garden?”

4. God had actually said, “Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat but of the tree in the midst of the garden you shall not eat of it, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.”

5. Then the serpent lies by saying, “You shall not surely die. God knows that the day you eat of it you will be as gods knowing both good and evil.”

6. When Eve saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise she took of the fruit and ate it.

7. Eve then gave it to Adam, her husband, and he ate it.

Notice the wile!

1. Eve being approached with a false front.

2. Eve being told a close approximation of the truth exaggerating the negative.

3. Eve was told a total lie exaggerating the positive.

4. Eve was enamored by the wonderful prospects of food, wisdom, and pleasure.

5. Eve forgot and disregarded the truth; and she believed a lie and she disobeyed God.

God is warning and instructing us so that we will not fall prey to the wiles of the devil.

Is God & was Adam androgynous?

You may wonder what does androgynous mean. It is an organism which has both sexes. A while ago Greg sent me an article, "Made in the Image of God," written by Lambert Dolphin, which he thought was pretty good. I appreciate the article but I wonder about Greg’s judgment.

Dolphin makes the assertion that when God created Adam he was of both sexes and uses the term Adam/Eve. He further asserts that it takes both sexes to fully represent the image of God and God Himself.

Dolphin writes, “Both Adam and Eve already existed as a single unit - as the word bara implies. Having already created (bara) the soul and spirit of Adam/Eve, and after having molded the first body of the first man. God now makes a division of this one compound man into male and female.” Dolphin is mixing terms in the above statement in saying the body of the first man and the spirit and soul of Adam/Eve. To be consistent the first body would have to have been both male and female at the same time. This of course is not possible for the male sex organs and the female sex organs occupy the same location on the human body. Thus males are created to be males and females are created to be females. Not both at the same time.

Those organisms which are androgynous are designed androgynous. The male and female organs occupy separate locations within the organism. One example everyone is familiar with is corn also known as maize. The tassel at the top of the plant is the male potion of the plant. The ear and silk is the female portion of the plant. They occupy different places on the plant. Thus, corn is designed to be both sexes at the same time. Humans are not.

Jesus was a male circumcised the eighth day and also the expressed image of the invisible God. Thus, God is masculine and not androgynous.