The Religion of Hope or Fear?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims that homosexuality doesn't exist in his nation and there's a good reason for that--those who are merely suspected of being homosexuals in Iran are arrested and hauled before a religious kangaroo court where they are condemned to be executed by hanging.

Thus, both Islam and Christianity condemn homosexuality as an abomination before God but they deal very differently with those who practice that lifestyle. True Biblical Christianity offers homosexuals a way out of that lifestyle and the eternal condemnation it brings through the cross where Jesus Christ willingly died for the sins of the world while Islam offers only capital punishment for those who are caught practicing that lifestyle. Thus, Islam's method for preventing homosexuality involves the threat of death while Christianity's method is to offer God's grace through Christ's atonement on Calvary's Cross for those who truly confess the sin of homosexuality and repent of that lifestyle. Of course, those who refuse to repent of the homosexual lifestyle will never enter the kingdom of heaven, (1Corinthians 6:9-10) even if they claim to follow Jesus Christ as Lord.

So the question that some will ask is this: Who deals with moral depravity more effectively? Muslims will tell you that Islam deals with depravity more effectively by allowing for zero tolerance through Shariah Law. In nations such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, thieves who get caught stealing lose their right hands; women suspected of being unfaithful to their husbands are stoned to death and homosexuals are hanged.

While the fear of dismemberment and death may certainly provide a strong deterrent against crime and moral depravity, it doesn't change human hearts. The brutal oppression of the old Soviet Union kept crime and decadence in check throughout that political empire for nearly 70 years until it finally collapsed about 20 years ago. Then, crime, corruption and violence exploded across much of Eastern Europe because multitudes that were ignorant of God and had previously been restrained only by brute force were suddenly set free.

And so, Christianity restrains through one's recognition of a Holy God and his subsequent fear of God's supreme authority. Solomon wrote: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7) Thus, true restraint begins with one's recognition that one can only be absolved of sin through repentance, confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and an honest pledge to turn away from sin and live a holy life dedicated to honoring God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son.

Under Islam, moral restraint comes only by fear of death rather than the hope of eternal life through Christ. And that is a hope that neither Islam nor any world religion can provide.