A strong call is being made for Christians in the Caribbean to wake up and stand firmly against a deliberate move by Muslims to push Islam into resistant nations.
In a recently held online forum on the growing popularity of the Muslim faith in the United Kingdom, the failure of the Christian church to assert itself and fearlessly present the undiluted Gospel to the people was flagged as a major cause behind the massive growth of the Muslim community in that country.
UK based author Tim Dieppe has been closely studying the rise of the Muslim community in the British territory and warns Christians in the Caribbean not to relent on reinforcing the Judeo-Christian worldview.
Dieppe, who is the head of policy at the advocacy group Christian Concern, shared several considerations with regional church leaders about the rise of Islam in Christian nations in an online forum dubbed, “The UK’s Capitulation to Islam: Lessons for the Caribbean.” The forum was hosted by the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) on July 22.
In response to the possibility of Muslims flexing their muscles in the region Coalition chairman Dr. Wayne West was characteristically candid with Freedom Come Rain.
“If the church doesn’t respond, if the church allows cultural Marxist ideology to supercede Christian responsibility to stand for God and evangelise, we will end up in the same position as the UK.”
Current data suggests that in 1960, there were just 105,000 Muslims living in the UK. However, by 2021, the number mushroomed to 3.9 million or 6.5% of the entire population. It is estimated that by 2050, 17% of the population of the United Kingdom will be Muslims.
A deeper dive into the UK data indicates that 10% of the people in higher education are Muslims, which is higher than the population of Muslims in the general population. Muslims also account for some 18% of the people in British prisons.
More young people are turning to Islam, while the Christian population is aging and rapidly diminishing. The average age of Christians in the UK is 51, while the age of the Muslim population is 27.
Dr. West is urging local churches to spread the Gospel and take a stand for God and for Christ. He admonished Christians to stand up for the Gospel and the faith that has been handed down through generations.
“Jamaica must not do like Europe and go secular because that will leave a vacuum. The secular people thought that they would just be able to bring in LGBTQ and so on and live without God, but what is [happening] is that, what is imposed on them is Islam, and that is going to happen if Jamaica becomes secular,” said Dr. West.
Curaçao-based Pastor Said Flores, who moderated the forum, noted that the Muslim community, while still a minority in the UK, is a powerful group that influences the laws and is publicly endorsed by the monarchy. He also pointed out that Muslims have their own banks and other social services.
“The Muslim culture with Islam at its core is very different from the Judeo-Christian values of the West. Different in an undesirable sense. It’s not for nothing that they are fleeing their countries,” he told Freedom Come Rain.
He noted that the 800-strong Muslim community in Curaçao is steadily growing.
Jamaican Pastor Joseph Buckland, who also attended the forum, noted that British forces do not harass Muslims when they pray in public.
“The UK police do not arrest Muslims when they bow down in prayer on roads and block traffic; but when Christians pray, without blocking roads, they are forcibly driven away or arrested…The UK government is afraid of being tough on Muslim violations of UK laws, for fear of being accused of “Islamophobia.” Pastor Buckland told Freedom Come Rain.
Dr. West, however, cautions Jamaica against going this route where freedom of speech is compromised, especially in fear of Muslim push-back.
“Truth is a force of nature and if we can suppress truth, you prevent people from hearing what really is, and that’s one of the things that the Muslims are seeking to do in the UK at the moment; they have succeeded in having truths about Islam suppressed.” In the US 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom for Jamaica, it was noted that there were 1,500 Muslims living on the island. However, Muslim groups in Jamaica put their membership at 6500. Recent counts have identified 14 mosques across the parishes. The majority of which are located in St. Mary.
