Posted on 11/28/2006 10:40:19 AM PST by 2banana
WASHINGTON: Many college students go through a spiritual crisis but rarely does it turn out as it did for Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a Jew who converted to Islam and went to work in a small town in Oregon for a charity that has since been linked to Al Qaeda.
Gartenstein-Ross, 30, has now changed tacks again, converting to Christianity and using his background as a former Islamist insider to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation crack down on Islamist terror networks in the United States.
...
Adopting Wahhabism, the Saudi rigorist interpretation of Islam, he stopped shaking hands with women, listening to music, wearing shorts, and playing computer games. He grew a full beard, endorsed the gay-bashing and conspiracy theories of his mentors, and found himself praying for the victory of mujahedeen, or Muslim holy warriors, around the world.
...
"We all grew up in homes where answers were not given to us, and we were looking for a sense of direction that we initially found within Islam," said Gartenstein-Ross.
Raised by "New Age Jewish" parents in Ashland, a small southern Oregon town infused with hippie culture and boasting a well-regarded Shakespeare theater festival, Gartenstein-Ross went to college at Wake Forest University, a conservative campus in North Carolina. He felt out of a place there until he bonded with a Kenyan-born Muslim leftist activist who inspired him with his moderate religious beliefs. He converted to Islam in 1997 during a semester abroad in Venice after meeting local Muslims whose free-flowing manner appealed to him.
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Gartenstein-Ross started work for the office in December 1998, running day-to-day operations and overseeing special projects. In one, a prison outreach program, Al Haramain handed out Wahhabist-annotated Korans to prisoners and maintained a database with the names and whereabouts of inmates who received the foundation's material.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
He's done the "Grand Tour" of faith. Glad he's landed on Christianity.
We don't know how sincere his Chritianity really is...
He looks like a lightweight. Gives me the creeps.
Wonder what he'll want to be next?
I've heard Islamics described in many ways, but "free-flowing" isn't one of them.
This guy is obviously searching for the spiritual life his parents never gave him. Wonder if he'll eventually return to his Jewish heritage?
man has too many directions to follow
Next is Hinduism, then Buddhism, the Taoism, then....
Yep. "You will know them by their fruits."
He probably meant free-flowing with facts.
The ones I work with have a problem with this as well.
Seems like "taqiya" to me...
Covering his bases for the afterlife.
Has he tried Jainism yet? They're the ones who won't even step on an ant on the sidewalk without major remorse.
That's it, kid - keep doing it until you get it right. Pick Taoism next - at least you won't have to give up any of its principles to try something else. ;)
"I'm waiting for the Messiah...no, wait, I'm following Muhammad...no, wait, the Messiah is Jesus! Yeah, that's the ticket...no, wait, ..."
Ya, but what's the next stop? Scientology?
How did this guy miss Scientology?
He better hurry through them. Because he left Islam he is apostate and subject to being killed.
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