On converting to Islam, one of them said “… it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns and we didn’t know what the hell was going on.”
No doubt their captors would rather die than convert to another faith but I’m sure most people would say the words with a gun pointed at their heads. Words mean nothing without the faith and belief. It’s simply self-preservation and pragmatism.
Even in Baghdad Sunni Muslims are pretending to be Shi’ites to avoid violence or death because of their religion.
Surely history tells us that you cannot convert people by force. OK, the crusaders got it wrong but Christianity basically spread by word of mouth, by persuasion and by convincing people that it is the right thing to do. They have to believe.
