Latinos Converting to Islam

(Hackensack, New Jersey) Current estimates indicate that "thousands" of Latinos are becoming Muslims.

From ContraCostaTimes.com:

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, mosque leaders saw the fear and anger mushrooming against Muslims and decided to reach out to non-Muslim organizations and community groups to demystify Islam and to condemn terrorism.

"When we reached out, we weren't even thinking of Hispanics; we didn't know much about Hispanics," said Mohammed Hayek, the imam at the Islamic Educational Center of North Hudson, in Union City, N.J. "But they were the ones who responded. That's when we realized that our outreach focus had to be specifically Hispanics."

Hayek brought in the head of a mosque in Ecuador and asked him to go out into the immigrant enclaves of Hudson County to talk about Islam. For four months, the Ecuadorian went out into the crowded streets of Union City and the surrounding towns, and encouraged people to ask questions about Islam and Muslims. He also visited homes and spoke to local organizations.

"Here was a Latino, someone the people in the Hispanic community could relate to, speaking to them in their own language about Islam," said Hayek, a thin man with a friendly face and wide smile. "It wasn't Arabs speaking to them, and at the beginning especially, that made a big difference."

So the Muslims go to South America to bring in a ringer to spew Islam in Spanish and many, usually Catholic, Latinos convert. I wonder if the recent announcement by the Catholics that they will function as whistle stops on the illegal alien railroad was prompted by the loss of believers to Islam?

Understandably, Catholicism has taken a big hit with its practice of harboring pedophiles. It's hard to trust a church when its leaders commit heinous sex crimes against children. According to one source:

Catholic membership has been decimated since the 1970s. An indication of the drop is the information that priests have gone from about 58,000 to under 45,000. In 1965 1,575 new priests were ordained; in 2002 only 450. The number of teaching nuns fell 94% during this time. The bishops were in charge while this decline was happening, but instead of examining their part in it, they call for disregard of America's laws.

Historically, Catholics were told to obey the laws of the country. Not anymore, at least not when it comes to harboring illegal aliens. It's also notable that both the Catholic Church and the mosques are targeting the 'immigrant' crowd for new followers.

All in all, the shift of believers to Islam has to be a troubling dynamic for the Catholic Church and I foresee the distinct possibility of heated community-based rivalries. It's not completely illogical to predict miniature re-enactments of the Crusades at the neighborhood level.