Born Again in the USA

January 14, 2009
Posted by
The Voice of the Martyrs

The title of this post is taken from the title of an article written by Judith Evans who is a British columnist from The Guardian  - Born Again in the USA:The strange tale of a Muslim Palestinian sniper turned Christian missionary


I found this article very interesting because I've heard numerous interviews with Tass Sada and even had a short conversation with him while talking about setting up an interview to talk to him.  And while I haven't yet read his book, Once An Arafat Man, I've heard enough about it to think that Ms. Evans doesn't quite understand the miracle of Jesus converting a Muslim man. (Let alone converting anyone else)

Here's a few  parts of her article, I thought were interesting:



What changed Saada, however, will to some seem less palatable. He is now a Christian missionary. Subscribing to an American brand of evangelical Protestantism, he says he has visions and premonitions, and hears the voice of God. In Once an Arafat Man, released in Britain this week, he tells the story of his violent past, and his introduction to Christianity through his friend Charlie in 1993:

    Before I knew it, I was on my knees ... I lost all awareness that Charlie was even in the room. A light came into my field of vision – a talking light ... The light said in an audible tone, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.' I didn't know at that moment that these words were a repetition of what Jesus said during the Last Supper. As far as I was concerned, they were a message from Jesus solely to me.


Like many episodes in his life, Saada's conversion reads like a fable, polished after the fact (possibly by his co-writer, Dean Merrill). But even if we take it as a given that he experienced – at least in his own terms – a genuine revelation, it remains to be asked what can be gained from the book by readers to whom Jesus has not chosen to appear in a ball of light?


She sounds skeptical to me.  Read the rest of the article as I linked above and then tell me what you think.  I also found the part where she mentioned Isaac and Ishmael interesting because it shows her biblical ignorance.  Tell me what you think.  Comments are moderated.