[Defend]

After watching the tape, I have a few thoughts - although I am coming from it with my perspective as a citizen, my view as a citizen is rooted in my beliefs as a die-hard "fundamentalist" (read conservative evangelical) Christian.

As far as Christians influencing the Islamic world, abroad and at home, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about it. Below are some bullet point observations.

- The booth was looking to convert. Anybody uninterested in converting would by default not be welcome.

- The guy who seemed to be the "interviewer" for the Christians could have gone about this in a much more culturally sensitive way. Think PSYOP, not politically correct. The cross on his neck? maybe. The necklace and the shirt? It was for show.

- The security guards seemed to be normal volunteer security. They over reacted to a perceived threat. They let emotions run hot.

- The ladies behind the cameras did not seem well suited for the job. They were aggressive and ready to passively dominate, such as when they kept repeating over and over "That is assault. In America that is assault. This is America".

- If I were one of the Muslims in this situation, the entire incident would have tarnished my view of Christians and Christianity. From first hand experience, Christians are portrayed as aggressive, insensitive, conniving operators with anything but Muslims best interest in mind. An encounter such as this would cement that idea in my mind.

My conclusion is that much more harm that good will come out of this incident. It can easily be used to promote the Islamic attitude towards Christians. It gives a bad rap to Christians in general.

Now, is there a right way to achieve the outcome they claimed to have (ask questions and get answers)? I say yes.

- If the interviewer spoke Arabic, he should have made his introductions and gotten permission to film in Arabic.

- The group should have been up front about their objectives. Hopefully their objectives were to help the average American Christian gain a better understanding of the "Islamic" attitude towards terror, and to accurately portray said attitude in the finished product they were turning out.

- The cameras should have been on tripods, in a stationary position. You can't intimidate a camera into moving, and you can't claim to be threatened by a stationary object.

- Camera operators should have been small framed women. Small framed women are much harder to portray as a threat or intimidate than any other gender/body type. Honest to goodness I saw this in cross-examination a hundred times. Guys make asses of themselves when they try to use power tactics on a doll. Doing so would only have cemented the stereotype that Muslim men disrespect women.

- If the Muslim group still refused to cooperate, cut your losses and move on. No need to make a scene. A simple statement later can make the point. "such and such a booth refused to take questions on camera." Would have left a better image of the Acts 17 Apologetics group in my mind.

If your goal is to cause a confrontation, don't do it in the name of Christianity. If your goal is to win hearts and minds for the glory of God, more power to you.

-Out