Yes, but… And it’s a very big “but.”
First, non-Muslims need to be aware that there are various stages of Jihad, depending on the situation Muslims find themselves in. If–as in the US or Europe–they are vastly outnumbered and not in control, they are taught to embrace toleration, peace, dialog, etc. etc. so that they are seen as good citizens and nice people. The second stage is when they find themselves to be in the minority, but a large enough minority so they can influence the society around them. We see this in the US all the time–school districts that ban pork in school lunches, occupational dress exceptions made for hijab-wearing women, and most recently a Wegmans (NY grocery chain) that hired a cashier and allowed her to put up a sign saying that if customers had pork or alcohol, they should go to another cashier. She was allowed to do this by her immediate manager, who was another Muslim. Wegmans has since come to their senses and given her an alternate job. I don’t think I have to elaborate on stage 3. You see stage 3 on the nightly news. When Muslims control the government….well, that’s the end. There’s no going back.
Second, I would bet that 99.999% of non-Muslims have absolutely no idea how organized and committed Muslims are to evangelization (or “da’wa” --propaganda–as they call it). It is seen as the duty of all Muslims. So from street corner preachers to the local mosque (“open houses”) to large international organizations, they are extremely well organized and well funded. There are 15-point plans on Muslim websites on how to convert Christians. So if you have a “dialog” night at your local church, the Christians will come with the intent of gaining some understanding of Islam. Muslims will come with the intent of converting everyone there. If you don’t understand that, it’s hopeless.
To see the extent of Muslim influence, just have a look at who is funding the departments of Middle East studies at US universities. Invariably it’s Saudi Arabia or the Gulf States. At Georgetown, well-known author and advocate of Muslim-Christian amity and harmony John Esposito is director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Ask yourself how objective Esposito can be when his paycheck comes from the Saudis.
Third, the level of sophistication of Muslim apologists has grown immensely in the last 30-40 years or so. In the past, Muslim Imams didn’t speak English (or other European languages) that well, weren’t familiar with the Bible or Christian theology, and didn’t really know how to deflect Christian criticisms. That’s all changed. Ahmed Deedat, a South African Indian Muslim, now dead, started a world-wide movement. His disciple, Zakir Naik, also a South African Indian Muslim, has followed in his footsteps. Both have accents, but both are fluent in English. And today you have native-English speakers from 2nd or 3rd generation Muslims (usually Indians/Pakistanis) who speak perfect English, are usually well educated, and know Christianity intimately. A good example is Shabir Ally, a Muslim Indian born in Guyana, but who moved to Canada as an infant. He has a BA in Bible Studies and a PhD from the U. of Toronto in Islamic Studies. All of these people–Deedat, Naik, Ally, and many others–can quote chapter and verse from the Bible on any subject.
Fourth, Catholic religious education is woefully inadequate (I don’t know what happens in Protestant churches, but I suspect the same). Children are taught prayers, church laws, Bible stories, etc., which is all very nice. But ask them why they believe in the Trinity–what support do we have for that in the Bible? Ask them why they think Jesus is God. Ask them how they explain the textual variations in the Gospels or inconsistencies like those found in the Resurrection narratives in each Gospel. I would bet almost all would be completely clueless. These are the main areas Muslims attack–successfully.
Go to Youtube. Search on “converts to Islam” or “Islamic da’wa” or the names I’ve mentioned above and watch some videos. If there is a debate or a Q&A session, it’s like watching the Muslims shooting fish in a barrel. For example, in one Q&A session with Ahmed Deedat (see above), a girl asked him if it wasn’t demeaning for a women to wear a veil. Ahmed immediately shot back: “You don’t even read your own Bible. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians (and he gave the verse number, but I don’t remember it!) told women to wear veils. Why don’t you obey St. Paul? Why are you criticizing Muslims for simply following St. Paul?” The girl stammered a little and retreated. Pitiful. [There is a rebuttal of course–if you read the verse, it actually tells women to wear a head covering *while praying. And of course until the 1960s women did wear a head covering when they entered a church. But as far as I know it was a custom, not a church law. And of course then you have to look at the historical situation–Paul was talking to the Corinthians, who were Greek. Greek women historically did not cover their heads while praying (in any religion). Romans and Jews did. Paul was Jewish and a Roman citizen. Naturally he opted for the custom that was more familiar to him.]
Yeah, I sure haven’t seen it though there do seem to be some folks who play that game, they do not represent the authentic Catholic beliefs and so are just about as meaningless as all those other folks who 