Islamophobia in America is gradually reaching epidemic proportions. The toll that such toxicity will exact on our core constitutional values is slowly becoming apparent. But few seem to realize that surrender to suspicion and fear also brings with it a heavy moral and spiritual price. When Christians (and sadly much of the hatred is being mobilized by churches) bear false witness against our neighbors and fail to live up to Jesus' command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, we abandon the constitutive practices of Christian life.
Christians violate basic religious commitments and obligations by fanning the flames of hatred and sowing the seeds of violence. The most dramatic example of Christians betraying their own values is the call by the Dove World Outreach Center for a Quran-burning day to mark the ninth anniversary of September 11. Some outreach!
Those who have the most to fear from this virulent disease are Muslims. But Sikhs and others likely to be mistaken for Muslims also have reason to worry. In the wake of 9/11, Indians and others who were "Middle-Eastern looking" were attacked. A Sikh man, Balbir Singh Sodhi, whose turban made him a conspicuous target, was among those who were murdered. The toxic mix of racism, founded on the ignorant assumption that Muslims must come in some variety of brown, and widespread religious illiteracy make for a dangerous cocktail.
After noting the risks posed to Muslims and racialized others who appear to be of another religion, it must also be said that the carriers and transmitters of this disease are vulnerable to moral corruption and religious malpractice.
Christian partisans seem to forget that the Ten Commandments, which many love to post in public but few seem to read in private, prohibit bearing false witness against neighbors (Exodus 20:16). To malign a global religious community, to caricature the Prophet Muhammad, to insult and even burn the scriptures of another faith -- such actions manifestly violate a core ethical mandate that is supposed to order Christian life.
To tell untruths about the traditions of our neighbors is an exercise in bearing false witness. Ignorance is no excuse. Christians should realize that they are sure to misrepresent the most cherished convictions of coworkers and neighbors if they elect to abide in ignorance. When Christians refuse to engage in the patient truth-seeking study of other traditions, they fail to perform the work that love requires. By remaining in ignorance, they leave themselves prone to easy manipulation by unscrupulous politicians who spread misinformation and foment fearmongering.
Christians who do not know much about their neighbors' traditions place themselves in a position of moral vulnerability. When we speak about traditions we do not know, we are sure to get it wrong. And when that speech is driven by anxiety and apprehension, it is a safe bet that we shall bear false witness. In so doing, Christians compromise their own spiritual lives.
Adopting a posture of truth-telling and love does not mean that Christians are bound to uncritical silence about other religious traditions. Just as Christians should expect to be called out when they engage in racist behavior that is sanctified by appeal to religious rhetoric -- as in the case of Christian arguments on behalf of racism, slavery and apartheid -- so it is possible to speak in loving criticism about what seems awry in the traditions of others. Truth spoken in love is a far cry from slanderous speech. The former can be a part of a deep interreligious friendship; the latter violates trust and ruptures relationship.
But the labor of judgment is a precarious business. It must be remembered, after all, that the KKK, Christian militia members like Timothy McVeigh and abortion clinic bombers are all Christian terrorists. It is worth asking why this conjunction of terms is never seen in the press.
Few expect every church to apologize for these extremists. Would it be fair for our Muslim brothers and sisters to ask why American Christians have not collectively and forcefully denounced these extremists or the still very recent systematic brutalizing of black bodies under Christian slavery, slavery that was far from an isolated exception but was instead a national norm sustained by appeal to the Bible? A microscopic minority of Muslims perpetrates acts of terror, and yet all Muslims are held to blame. Slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and lynching were part of the very fabric of American life. They were condoned and even endorsed by American Bible-believing Christians. The racist legacy of these past wrongs still persists. Many American Christians find it easy to tarnish Muslims in general but have yet to come to terms with America's Original Sin!
My point is that no religious tradition is innocent of grievous, even calamitous moral harm. The weighty work of repentance, redress and repair falls upon all traditions alike.
Faced with this sobering truth, Christians in particular must return to the core guiding principles of faithful living. Of these principles, none is more central and precious than Jesus' reiteration of the ancient commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31).
That calling to love is irreparably harmed when the degraded culture of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib spills out into American life at large. When Christian churches hold Quran-burning days and when rally organizers urge protesters to bring dogs because Muslims hate dogs, we are not far from the Abu Ghraibification of American life. When practices that mimic torture spill out into the country at large, civic life is corrupted and the Christian calling to Christ-like living is eviscerated. When paranoia strikes deep, we risk losing not only our country but indeed our very souls.
Follow John Thatamanil on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jjt1
Church plans Quran-burning event - CNN.com
Evangelical Leaders Pan Qur'an Burn Plan | Christianity Today | A ...
Little Green Footballs - Quran-Burning Church Pastor: 'Islam is of ...
Preacher wants to burn the Holy Quran on 9/11---Your thoughts ...
Burning the Qur'an? 'Wherever they burn books, they will in the ...
When Yeshua Hammashich, or Jesus Christ, spoke of the end of the age, He took into consideration all that opposed the way of truth, all sin, and all opposition to God. He had a tendency to "bottom line" certain discussions, and the bottom line of Christianity is this: all things and all persons will be resolved to the glory of God for His purposes, not ours.
The sheer contrast defies the human experience for articulation.
Umm??? Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS!
We ALL share this knowledge, Jew, Muslim and Christian. But for how long will the world tolerate our disagreements and mischief making? The death of the innocents is forbidden by ALL the faithful of God. Aggression is worse that murder.
What of the 99% we all SHARE together?????
The love of God.
All the best
Knute
TR Knudtson
there are many reasons for this. chief amongst these would be the moral & religious superiority that christians claim to have over all other religions, save possibly that of judaism: not surprising since they share much of the same history...and the same "god".
this lack of understanding of what others believe underlies much of the mistakes and misconceptions that the west make when it comes to muslims in general. such paucity; coupled with a strident bias born out of the events of 9/11 sufficiently drive the fanaticism that we see today.
to be sure, this fanaticism is not exclusionary. simply observe many of the rants & actions by some in the east and one can conclude that there are culprits on BOTH sides.
religion has often been used as a matter of historical; cultural; moral; ethical...and political...superiority. this has been the source of all the conflicts ever waged in the name of "god".
in its efforts to maintain this "illusion of superiority", religion has abandoned its more pure & mystical center which is unfortunate because it is only at this level that we become aware that at heart ALL religion is basically saying the EXACT SAME THING...!!!
ultimately, what is REALLY shows is that humanity has such a long, long, way to go before it truly recognises the TRUE aim of religion.
As such, it is not "religion" which abandons its principles. Only people can do that. And they manage to find ways to inflict intolerance and injustice on each other under many pretexts, "religious" or not.
thank you for your post...!
You'd have to be more specific about WHICH religions you feel are "dictatorships." The Quakers, for example, have no real hierarchy, which precludes any question of "dictatorship."
After all, if it isn't "religion," it's some other thing being used as a political tool that is the basis for most wars and conflict. History shows that over and over any religious tenets provide mere "cover" for motives that have nothing to do with the basis tenets of the religions they purport to represent.
Not only is it "un-Christian" but it also goes against basic human decency.
BTW, Muslims are free to own all the Qurans they wish in the US. Only one's personal bible is allowed when one visits a muslim country. What does that suggest to you regarding the likely welfare of printed bibles if muslims were to take over the US? This is let alone that in a muslim country, a convert to Christianity has a life expectancy of less than 24 hours. For some, that could even be thought of as a clue.
So, I've got moment with obviously not a lot burning on my plate right now to approach this peculiar statement.
There is no "the Christian church" and at the same time many spiritual leaders are Christian. It is possible, likely even, that words mean something different to you in which case any sort of dialog could prove confusing at best.
But I take what might be your point; Christianity is not about *mysticism* per se, but rather service to your neighbors and through that service making yourself pleasing to God. If that is your meaning, then it is a *feature* and not a defect to not have *spiritual leaders*.
and the major religions aren't sincerely interested in promulgating their own mystical traditions for obvious reasons.
but such is the nature of things in kali yuga!
However, why should we not be free to call out the dangers of religion like islam and christianity? It seems like it's ok now to dissect christianity, but if you criticize islam you raise the ire of westerners and muslims alike. It is clear that islam is an evangelical religion, just like christianity. In fact, the two religions are barely distinguishable from each other if you look to their holy books. They are full of bloodshed, violence, genocide, tribalism, and the concept of the non-believer being the "other" (infidel, heathen). And each believes their religion to be the ONE TRUE RELIGION. There are many individual christians and muslims who are "progressive"; that is to say that they ignore the many offensive commands in their holy books. The foundational religions are dangerous. We need only look to the history of both to see that - horrific violence and oppression has sprung from both beliefs.
I am offended by the term "islamophobia" because I don't think people think before they use it. We should always be able to criticize beliefs, especially when they are based only on myth.
This is rather an uneducated point of view in my opinion. Christianity does NOT call for conversion by bloodshed (ancient Judaism, on the other hand, *does*), but Islam clearly calls for forced conversion by war if necessary.
The rest of your comment is pretty close to my experience with the main difference being that Christians exclusivism is pretty much "next life" stuff and Islam's exclusivism is RIGHT NOW.
With regard to the exclusivism, I think the attitudes of christians and muslims are not that different. Christian culture has had the influence of the Enlightenment, however, as well as division among christians which led to the rule of law as opposed to theocracy. But-for these influences, based on history, I would think any government ruled by christianity and islam would be pretty much indistinguishable. Except for the burqa's, maybe.
Isn't the freedom to define your own words great! Long live the United States of America where we can give any word any meaning any time.
I am still waiting for proof that YOU exist. Let's see if you can do that, right here, right now.
You might say, I could come visit you. Yes, and any person that dies may well go visit their God. Ah, but after visiting you, I could return home, which a person that visits God, does not -- well, actually, sometimes they DO. Such a person knows perfectly well his or her God -- merely cannot prove it to YOU.
So, after I return from Cleveland or wherever you are, I try to tell my friend Joe that you exist. *I* know you exist, but he does not, and nothing I say or do constitutes proof.
Of course, there is in the back of my mind the nagging feeling that the man I met in Cleveland might not be YOU.
So you see, without a definition of God, he could be standing next to you RIGHT NOW, and you would have absolute proof -- and not know it!
It was an attempt to set up some examples rather than just take the easy way out and declare what ought to be obvious; and that is you cannot prove the existence of a self-willed individual that has chosen not to be proved and is not under your control, which by any definition of any God that I know, is indeed the case.
Occasionally I ask a person demanding proof, what sort of proof would be acceptable? THAT is when we find out that he has already got a definition of a God, a picture, and until and unless he sees THAT god, there isn't one. This glowing, 10 foot tall semi-transparent being with glowing eyes standing there saying, "I am God!" -- when in fact he may just be one of God's flunkies -- how are YOU going to know this being is even telling the truth?
They're not Christians. They're hypocrites. Whereas Jesus promoted tolerance, these people don't know how to do anything except hate: non-Christians, LGBTs, non-whites, etc. Jesus proscribed amassing wealth, and the church leaders do just that.
What's a "u"?
In what way are you different?
Perhaps some examples to illustrate your love, tolerance and kindness (not!) to others: “I only hear what Billo the Clown says when Stewart, Colbert, Olbermann and Maddow heckle it.” “If only the wingnuts could get raptured and leave the rest of us to evolve.” “there are some sick people out there” “Why would anyone want to love hate-filled people?” (Indeed; you tell us!) “These are obviously self-hating gays.” “I've got a better idea. Send Ann Coulter and her ilk to another planet, and then the rest of us can evolve.” (Why cannot you evolve right now?)
1] Not demonstrating the love of Christ toward those you disagree with is not the same [even remotely the same] as bearing false witness. Bearing false witness is intentionally lying about what you know is the truth.
2] Muslims are not our 'brothers and sisters' unless you are a universalist. Even a cursory review of the Bible and the Quran or the core tenets of Islam and Mainline Christianity clearly reveal diametrically opposed views of God and salvation. Both proclaim exclusivity - not inclusivity. You are either in or your not.
3] Christians are ethically bound by Scripture to defend their faith, share biblical truth, live by biblical standards; and to do it all with love in their hearts. We are not called upon to accept false and contradictory teachings. Under our constitution we are bound to tolerate the right of others to believe differently but we are not obliged to accept their differing beliefs.
Now I would like to replace the word "Islam" with "Christian", and re-write your post. I feel the same way about BOTH religions. They are both false and dangerous and we should speak the truth at every opportunity.
I see. *Your mother has yellow teeth, so you feel obliged to point this out and every other flaw that you observe and which is undeniably true. (*Figure of speech, I have no idea about your mother -- it is a common type of situation where I do NOT speak the truth, but neither do I lie).
In those cases where you do feel compelled to "speak the truth" it helps to actually have some of it.
To say "Islam is false" has almost no meaning. "Islam" is not a logical assertion that can be either true or false, same with "Christian".
Since you have not spoken truth, I suppose we can assume that an opportunity has not arisen :-)
1] Are you open-minded to the possibility that Biblical Christianity is true?
2] Could you share specifically where the Bible makes claims that are false and dangerous?
Jesus made it clear that He came for all, and that everyone was to be considered or brother or sister in Christ.
... we are bound to tolerate the right of others to believe differently but we are not obliged to accept their differing beliefs.
Refusing to defame Islam is not the same as accepting their beliefs. Only a very small percentage of Muslims turn to violence, and refusing to tar all of Islam with that brush is being truthful. In contrast, emphasizing violence is untruthful, e.g. a lie.
Before accusing me of defamation, please make specific points about where I made false claims concerning Islam meant to damage the character or reputation [this is the definition of defamation].
Why do some Christians and activits give encouragement to those who claim a high and holy right to injure the most precious religious feelings of Muslims, This sort of hatred may make some people to inevitably interpret this as a permission to injure Muslims and may lead to needless violence on all sides.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/maybe-god-rejects-the-bib_b_666896.html
By burning the Quran, the critics are showing a callous disregard for others sacred scriptures and the precious feelings of 1500 million Muslims.
All religions must respect each others feelings rather than they burning each others flags with the result that a vicious circle of offence, outrage and anger develops. If the conflict continues this vicious circle of hatred will continue and we should not underestimate how serious and tragic its long term effects might be in terms of vendetta, revenge and in some cases senseless terrorism causing the lives of innocent people.
It was the Jewsih poet Heinrich who said that people who start by burning books will end by burning people
We should also recognise that absolute docrines of freedom are themselves rigid. The West is developing an intellectual culture which has many marks of insensitivity and callousness. This has as much potential for cruelty as the uncivilized tribal Talibans or the Al-Qaeda madness.
Some mad and lunatics will inevitably interpret this as a permission to injure Muslims
This can be taken a couple of ways. One way is to suppose that everything YOU call scripture was given by inspiration of God. That seems unlikely. The other way is that everything that was given by God, and subsequently written, is scripture. That is simply the definition of the word and thus becomes somewhat circular or tautological.
As such, one might presume that *some* of the Bible is not *scripture*. Some presume this, some do not. It's not much of an anchor I suppose.
"All religions must respect each others feelings"
Why? Who is going to compel them to your vision?
"It was the Jewsih poet Heinrich who said that people who start by burning books will end by burning people "
What makes Heinrich more worthy to predict the future than any other person?
"Some mad and lunatics will inevitably interpret this as a permission to injure Muslims"
Mad and lunatics do not need permission.
There are laws on libel, race relations, communal violence and hatred, blasphemy and hate speech, child pornography etc. etc in all countries. Who compels that the laws on these are executed in order to ensure that the people co-exist and live decently.
Have you taken mad and lunatics literally not figuratively.?
Ok, I McVeigh was a right wing terrorist, and I am no fan of christians at all...However, this is false.
Timothy McVeigh was not a christian. I dont mean this in a true Scotsman way, I mean he said he wasnt a christian, much less a member of a christian militia. There are plenty of crazy christians you could pick from, to include the KKK.
However, this use of McVeigh is sloppy, and incorrect....and is kind of ironic given the context of the article
The Muslims welcome the intellectual criticism of Islam and the Quran, debates, discourses and discussions on inter-faith related matters by scholars. People believing in religions can challenge many things on religion based beliefs, but when it comes to pure, logical monotheism, a strong belief that there is one and only True Almighty creator by whatever name you call the creator, the sustainer and the loving God, Islam stands unique and the Christian approach is not that universal, a big number of Anglican bishops themselves do not accept the Bible account of Trinity and Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God Almighty or the one and the only begotten son of God and the rest. But in spite of many sects in islam every sect accepts the single version of the Quran every word of it
There are hundreds of things to criticise Islam with but not its monotheistic approach to God.
Jesus was one of the mightiest messengers of God as was Solomon, Moses, Abraham, David, Joseph, Isaac, Lot and many others.
The Quran mentions the names of 25 of the Biblical prophets including Jesus Christ the Messiah.