Reverting to Christianity in Kosovo

Below is a link to an excellent article by Gates of Vienna. I encourage you to take the time to sit down and read it. It will leave you with an accurate perspective on the Islamic climate in Kosovo, which we will be battling, not the people mind you, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Enjoy.

Christopher Deliso, the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West, wrote a fascinating article last month at Balkan Analysis about the changes that are occurring in the newly independent state of Kosovo.

The situation is complex. Yes, there is still the threat of radical Islam, which established and strengthened a network of mujahideen after 1999 under the UN protectorate. The radicals channeled Saudi money into the building of mosques and used financial incentives to convert Albanian Kosovars to their cause.

Yes, organized crime maintains a substantial presence, running drugs, trafficking in prostitutes, and selling weapons throughout much of Europe from their base in Kosovo.

But outside the rarefied circles of Wahhabist zeal in the KLA and affiliated groups, the hold of Islam on Kosovo is not that strong. In his article Mr. Deliso analyzes the reasons for this, paying particular attention to the history of forced conversions that were inflicted upon the local Catholic population by their Turkish overlords in the Balkan borderlands of the Ottoman empire.

Much of the population has a deep collective memory of its Christian past, and retains a cultural attachment to the Catholic church. Even though Islam is in the ascendant with the independence of Kosovo, many Kosovar Muslims are re-converting to Christianity.

It's lengthy, but well worth the time.