The Anchoress
:::SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE:::
So, a few days before Easter, Osama bin Laden – who may or may not be dead – claimed a conspiracy against Islam being headed up by an 81 year old feller who likes cats and plays Mozart.
At the Vigil for Easter, the old feller, who also wields a crozier, writes tirelessly and uses the soft answer to turn away wrath, made his gentle response. He baptized with his own hands, and publicly, one Magdi Allam, who chose the baptismal name “Christian”.
Magdi Christian Allam — or Christian Allam, however this very brave man wishes to style it — told reporters, after receiving baptism, confirmation and his first Holy Communion, “this is the happiest day of my life,” and he also had a few words to say about the current state of Islam.
Christian Allam knows that he is now a target, that in some extremist quarters his conversion is seen as justification for his death.
But Christian Allam is now justified by Christ.
I am sure the timing of this baptism was no accident. And I have read more than a few comments suggesting Christian Allam go into hiding, somewhere. But I doubt he will. He seems made of tough stuff.
Christian Allam now feeds on the Body and Blood of Christ – through his veins the blood runs both royal and supernatural. If Christian Allam is now killed for his faith he knows his place in eternity; he knows, too, that anyone stupid enough to murder him for his faith will speed Christian Allam’s way to heaven wearing a martyr’s crown – and a true martyr eats not the golden raisin nor plunders the numerous virgins; he becomes a saint in heaven, and an inspiration. He also becomes an intercessor-in-prayer for the rest of us.
So, Benedict and Chrstian Allam have made a response to Osama bin Laden and the response is: you love death; we love life. You deal in death, which is a conquered trade, for the One we follow has overcome death. Death, your idol, has no power over us, because we are alive in Christ, who was slain and who rose, and is Alpha and Omega and with us even now. We eat his Flesh and drink his Blood; he remains in us and we in him.
That’s one powerful message. I hope bin Laden, or whoever is running the increasingly unpopular deatheater glee clubs can manage to take the message in, and find a healthier hobby.
God bless Magdi Christian Allam. God bless the pope who baptized him.
:::UPDATE::: Wasting no time, Magdi Christian Allam gets right down to business and asks his fellow Muslim converts to come out of the shadows, even if it means fearing for one’s life:
In his “letter to the editor” published on Sunday by Corriere de la Sera, Allam explains that it was a meeting with the Holy Father which allowed him “to see the light, by divine grace, as the healthy and ripe fruit of a long process.”
Allam also explains that his decision came “as a gradual and deep interior meditation that I could not avoid, considering that, for five years, I have been living a shielded life,” in reference to the police protection.
“Yesterday has been the most beautiful day of my life, when I chose the most simple and explicit name. Since yesterday, my name is Magdi Christian Allam,” he wrote. [emphasis mine – admin]
Explaining the stages of his conversion, Allam said that “at some point I had to take action” after discovering that “the roots of evil are intrinsic to Islam, that [it] is physiologically violent and historically conflictive.”
[…]
But Allam says that the most decisive factor was his meeting with the Pope “whom I have admired and defended as a Muslim for his brilliance in presenting the indissoluble link between faith and reason as the foundation of true religion.”He praised the Pontiff for agreeing “to personally give me the Sacraments,” thus launching “an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church up to now too prudent regarding the conversion of Muslims.”
Addressing Corriere’s editor in chief Paolo Mieli, Allam writes: “you have asked me if I fear for my life. You are right. I realize what I am going up against, but I will confront my fate with my head high, with my back straight and the interior strength of one who is certain about his faith.”
According to Allam, in Italy “there are thousands of converts to Islam who peacefully live their faith. But there are also thousands of Muslim converts who are constrained to hide their new faith.”
In his open letter, he finally expresses his hope that these former Muslims “from the Pope’s historic gesture and my testimony may be convinced that the time has come to come out from the shadows of the catacombs.”
Whispers in the Loggia: has Allam’s translated article – My Name is Christian
Why do I have the feeling that we are seeing something momentous unfolding before our eyes?
:::End Update:::
Do go see Kate-the-Great’s exclusive: Benedict’s response to Osama Tim Blair has more.
At Inside Catholic, Zoe Romanowsky and Deal Hudson are writing on it. Zoe wonders, with the Vatican’s expressed concerns for the pope’s safety, why the baptism was so public. Hudson says, essentially, Benedict clanks when he walks!
Julie at Happy Catholic has a warning for Christian Allam. Also, please look at her post-Easter Sunday links which are uniformly great!
Prof. Bainbridge says Benedict is not lukewarm.
Margaret Cabaniss emphasizes that Benedict is a mystery to the worldly…and the press!
Opinionated Catholic says Oriana Fallaci must be smiling. Heh. I thought of that, too!
Benedict: Still a mystery after three years
Miss Kelly: I have a mustard seed and I’m not afraid to use it
Rick at Brutally Honest notes some offense taken in the usual quarters.
Related: Faith, Reason and Forced Conversions.
Abdul Rahman Thanks Pope Benedict
WELCOME: INSTAPUNDIT readers: While you’re here, please look around. If you feel our national discourse on race relations hasn'[t quite happened yet, you might find this interesting. If you can’t get enough of Hillary’s tall tales, we’re talking about them, too. Also, Freedom never cries. And astonishing Chinese Acro Ballet.
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